CODES: - Drone Records

world, anticipating much that was to follow in the next 15 years. A
luminous release out of print (for almost a decade?). Re-mastered by
the group for this re release.“ [label info]
* THIS HEAT – Out of Cold Storage 6 x CD-BOX (This is THIS
HEAT BOX, 2006) € 64.00
Monumentale Box mit ALLEN offiziellen Releases & dickem Booklet
sowie einer CD mit bisher unveröffentlichten Aufnahmen von der
legendären britischen Band um CHARLES HAYWARD, die aus
verschiedensten Einflüssen von Industrial bis Jazz in genialer Weise
einen ganz neuen, eigenen Stil kreierten, der bis heute absolut einmalig
geblieben ist!
“Where do you start with something like this? With a history lesson and
a 9.0 review up at Pitchfork this week I suppose... Born out of the UK
crucible that existed in the period immediately post punk (before it
earned capitals and morphed into genre all of its own...), This Heat
formed through the restless response of three twenty-somethings who
felt impelled to document their corner of 1970's London. Already faces
at the more severe end of the prog-rock scene, Charles Bullen and
Charles Hayward were joined by non-musician Gareth Williams - a
catalyst that would see them recording vast quantities of work then
editing the results down into consumable chunks of aural fortitude.
Spread over a massive six discs and further bolstered by a pretty darn
exhaustive book that interviews the surviving members (Williams
passed away in 2001), 'Out Of Cold Storage' is testament to the
unbridled virility of This Heat - with all the music very much rooted in its
era, yet also utterly timeless. Comprised of their five studio albums
('This Heat', 'Deceit', 'Health and Efficiency', 'Made Available' and
'Repeat') plus an incendiary set of live action culled from their 1980/81
heyday, 'Out Of Cold Storage' allows everyone to get hold of these
classic recordings in pristine form - a real treat given the eroded
bootlegs and mp3s that have been doing the rounds for years. Ranging
in style from the avant-rock of their eponymous debut, through to the
political polemic of 'Deceit', This Heat are spiky without the need to
resort to high-kicking comparisons with the likes of Orange Juice et al.,
with their output always a couple of steps removed from their
retrospective peers. Unafraid to disrupt their reputation through creative
right-angles, the likes of 'Repeat' and it's central 20 minutes of looped
drones and rhythms (think Can in a chiller cabinet) are seemingly at
odds with 'Health And Efficiencies' melody etched high - yet rather than
cause tension, these juxtapositions merely heighten the band's appeal
and allow you a glimpse into moments of creative perfection. Vast,
comprehensive and thoroughly indispensable, 'Out Of Cold Storage' is
the kind of collection that reasserts your faith in the music and proves
that the endless vault combing perpetrated by labels can sometimes
come good. Six shades of fantastic....“ [Boomkat]
* THROBBING GRISTLE – Heathen Earth CD (Mute Records
TGCD5, 1991) € 15.00
…. can the world be as sad as it seems?
Einer der ewigen Klassiker des Industrial und unser Lieblings-
Studiowerk von TG überhaupt! Recorded „live in the studio“ am 16.
Februar 1980. Erschein zuerst auf Industrial Records in einer Auflage
von 785 Stück. Also Bonus sind auf der CD zwei rare 7“-tracks
enthalten. “1990's reissue of this 1980 album, recorded live in front of
an invited audience at the Industrial Records studio. Bonus 7" studio
tracks ("Adrenalin" & "Subhuman") added. "Live in the studio, this
combines the best of both harrowing worlds." [label info]
* TIETCHENS, ASMUS – Geboren um zu dienen CD (Die Stadt
DS92, 2006) € 15.00
“8th part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums
between 1980—1991. Described by Tietchens himself as his
«Industrial» album, «Geboren, um zu Dienen» was originally released
on the spanish ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO label in 1986. The CD
version incl. three unreleased bonus tracks from the same period and
comes with a full colour fold-out booklet incl. liner notes by Tietchens
himself.” [label info]
„If I'd ever recorded an «Industrial» solo album, it must be «GEBOREN,
UM ZU DIENEN». Although I obviously wasn't one of the inventors of
«Industrial Music», I clearly felt an affinity to it. So I tried to learn my
lessons well adding my own musical aspects to the general apocalyptic
noises of this genre. My main concern was to dive deep into the
canonical topics of fear, hysteria, claustrophobia, machine and threat.
The end was imminent as hundreds of Pershings and SS20 all pointed
in the direction of the march up area called West Germany, the seals of
the read buttons were already broken. Even the conventional alternative
— a tank war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact — sounded like
utter apocalypse. Would we really have welcomed our brothers from the
east with open arms? This particular background has to be seen as the
main influence on GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN. I believe that many of
my colleagues also recording «Industrial» albums felt the same at that
time. IF there would have been a «Bang» it — without doubt — would
have been global.
Fear, emptiness and the futility of the aesthetical, were not alien to me,
but until then I moved inside a carefully tested zone which was defined
by a spectrum of experimental forms. GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN was
an experiment in itself which first fruits I set free immediately. As if I'd to
work under a deadline I recorded the tracks hastily, not wasting much
thoughts about dynamics, duration, precision and construction. In the
same way I resolutely did rough mixes of the seperate tracks of the
pieces: what sounded dirty stayed dirty. Essentially the raw and the
unsculptured were a part of the dogma of «Industrial». The original nine
tracks plus five more (three which appear as Bonustracks on this CD)
all developed in a very short period of time. The album was released on
the spanish «Esplendor Geometrico» label, run by Andres Noarbe, in
the same year. Originally a tape only label EG released a series of
radical albums during the mid 80's, also albums by the «Industrial»
group of the same name, many which are much sought after items
today. Of course only 500 copies of the album were pressed, which still
meant a considerable financial risk given the small circle of
potentionally interested listeners. But the enthusiasm and dedication of
everyone involved lead to a self-evident «Nevertheless».
Looking back at these years it has to be noted that I established a
daring attitude then, which luckily developed positively and stayed with
me until today. The fact that a german attorneys general confiscated a
small number of the LP in 1990 deeming the cover as being immoral
(«A Call for abortion»), was registered with satisfaction. A case like this
corresponds with the mark of quality granted by the «Stiftung
Warentest». Go on Germany! “ [Asmus Tietchens, 2006]
Editorial notes:
The original masters of all the pieces incl. the bonus tracks are in
perfect condition and were used 1:1 for the transfer onto CD. Only the
fade-out at the end of «Mein erstes Erlebnis» was slightly corrected.
TROUM – SIGQAN CD (Desolation House Records, 2003) [lim.
1000] € 14.00
SOME LAST COPIES BACK IN !!
„Die finale Entsubjektivierung in drei Teilen: Studio-Version eines Live-
Programms, welches 2001 mit ULTRASOUND aufgeführt wurde... Nr. 4
in der Desolation House–Reihe.. mastering: Robert Rich, artwork: John
Bergin.” [Drone info 2003]
“Finally, the first Troum record to be widely available in the United
States, released through Relapse subsidiary Desolation House, and
we're pleased to say it's maybe their best yet. Troum are the ambientdrone
ensemble that emerged from the dissolution of proto-industrial
dronesters Maeror Tri. Unlike the primarily guitar based whir and rumble
of Maeror Tri, Troum obfuscate their sound sources, laptops, found
sounds, accordians, guitars too maybe, and the results are timeless,
mysterious, haunting, ethereal and utterly breathtaking dronescapes.
Sigqan is a lengthy three part epic, beginning with rich sonorous
foghorn like swells, that ebb and flow, separated by near silence, and
slowly building in intensity from warm crescendos to huge doomy
pulses. Eventually, these roaring rumbles joined by complementary
shimmers of high end, that sound out, and then dissipate like sonic
ripples, fading into blackness. The swells slowly grow closer and closer
until the edges begin to blur and a subtly more continuous melodic
framework begins to emerge and so begins the second movement, a
creepy and slightly ominous, slowly fluctuating slow-motion-melody,
whose lazily shifting notes keep the sonic landscape dense and rich,
and keeps the sounds from flatlining into monochromatic drones. As the
piece winds down, the dynamics and melody start to smear together
into a warm, diffused fuzzy hum, with the subtle traces of melody
sinking deeper and deeper into the dark warmth. The third and final
movement was a sonic afterthought, added/recorded later than the first
two, but is a pleasantly dreamy coda, with a slightly sunnier tone, a
keening upper register melody, stretched out into subtly slithering
iridescence with a shuffling, staticky rhythm just below the surface. So
nice.“ [Aquarius Records]
TROUM & MARTYN BATES – To A Child, Dancing in the Wind CD
(Transgredient Records TR-03, 2006) € 12.00
Nach über 2 Jahren konnte die lange geplante Zusammenarbeit von
TROUM mit MARTYN BATES endlich fertiggestellt werden. Gedichte
des irischen Dichters W.B.YEATS dienten als textliche Grundlage für
sechs Stücke voller Sehnsucht & Emotion, Drone-Harmonics treffen auf
expressiv gesungene Poesie....
“ - Profound songs inspired by YEATS-poems: The acoustic
transformation of the deepest yearning - For this release, the german
‘transcendental-drone’-duo TROUM teams up with the legendary british
singer / songwriter and EYELESS IN GAZA-member MARTYN BATES.
More than 2 years in the making, MARTYN BATES has sung & played
(mouth organ & melodica) over basic material TROUM provided –
consisting of harmonic minimal loops & basic song structures derived
from accordeon, e-bass & guitar, percussion), who were then also
responsible for the final subsequent additions mastering (adding more