Browse by Label: A-MUSIK (GERMANY)

Artist:	L@N
Title:
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	A 005CD

CD issue by the L@N duo of Rupert Buwa Huber & Otto Muller. This includes 3 of the 4 tracks of the first L@N LP (A4), plus 2 of the 4 tracks on the 2nd L@N LP (A7), plus 2 exclusive tracks, totaling 71 minutes of blissful nod. Recorded both live and in the studio, these 2 produce multi-channeled trance electronic epics of perfectly proportioned rhythmic synchronicity. Tuned in to the German legacy of Neu-inspired propulsion, with a lovely, burning minimal edge of non-punk/acid purity, this is totally successful, subtly shifting, interface.

Artist:	PHTHALOCYANINE
Title:	Pre-Invalid
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	A 012LP

Vinyl only German release of an album previously issued on CD by the California-based Phthalo label (with a different title: Navy Warship). Phthalocyanine is Dimitri K. Fergadis, whose first single was released by Plug Research, and he represents the first American artist on the illustrious A-Musik label. "Musically, this stuff attains that 'somewhat improvised' feeling through off-kilter beat shapes & harmonically 'wrong' melody clusters unlike just about every other 'scene' currently in media recognition. And he's based in the US. Pretty unbelievable stuff, fully deserving of this official release. Hectic." -- Hrvatski.

Artist:	DAT POLITICS
Title:	Villiger
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	A 015CD

"Apparently they're an all-laptop quintet from Lille, France (although I could be wrong about the geography), borne out of the ashes of Sub Rosa recording act/post-rock entity Tone Rec. This, their third release (see Tracto Flirt on Skipp as well as a Fat Cat Split Single with Process) works it wisely, mixing the glick-beats with the glitch-melodies and sounds, with (what I'm told is) a sexy live show on the festival circuit. The first of certainly a growing wave of contemporary 'computer bands', you really can't go wrong with just about anything on this disk. I suggest investigating now to avoid imminent embarrassment later." -- Hrvatski. Limited stock.

Artist:	SCHLAMMPEITZIGER
Title:	Augenwischwaldmoppgefloete
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	A 018CD

"Third or fourth full length from Joe the carpenter (whether or not you count the reissue of the Erdrauchharnschleck cassette on LP last year, or the His Master's Cosmic Music/Schlammpeitziger LP on Gefriem) after the (deep breath) Freundlichbaracudamelodieliedgut and Spacerokkmountainrutschquartier full lengths of yore. Featuring yet more lush pop made with the same Casio CZ-230S & the little battery powered Yamaha sampler he's used for years now both in the studio and live. Quite brilliant, eclipsing any of the similarly themed but far less informed efforts being laid to tape by certain legions of American post-indie dropouts (those fools!). Necessary." -- Hrvatski.

Artist:	SCHMICKLER, MARCUS
Title:	Param
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	A 020CD

"The new release on Cologne based label A-Musik contains compositions by Marcus Schmickler that were performed and recorded over the last four years with many various musicians and ensembles. These recordings document Schmickler's interest in a confrontation with modern classical composers, they are a return of 'the living dead.' According to Schmickler, innovations are only possible by including the old. Schmickler has been known also for his different approaches with Pluramon, MIMEO, his collaborations with Thomas Brinkmann or the improviser Thomas Lehn. Param continues his series of releases on A-Musik although it presents itself less electronic and less bulky than Wabi Sabi or Sator Rotas. The original recordings of the compositions are newly edited for this release."

Artist:	BEIT & JORG SCHLICK, ANDI
Title:	Diese Wildnis Hat Kultur
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	A 021CD

"The set for the new production of the ballet Der Krieger (Graz Opera House, Studiobühne) is on a serial image concept. Projected image panels act as a stage set that forms a subtle grid background for the one-man performance (choreography: Jörg Schlick). The symphony Diese Wildnis hat Kultur (1982) forms the musical base of the dance performance. One instrument is reserved for each of the four movements: Jörg Schlick: violin, flutes, violoncello and electric guitar; Andi Beit: synthesizer. 'Minimalist form was combined with Expressionist social comment' wrote Jack Anderson (New York Times, 21.05.1985) in his critique of the première. This reference to the field of tension between the minimalist vocabulary of forms or object gesture (performers) and the expressive portrayal of social conditions hits on a fundamental aspect of Schlick's work. The symphonic composition accompanies the performance like a 'synthetic heartbeat' that corresponds to the intensity of Beethoven's 'Eroica' in terms of its tonal character. The 'deflection of the needle', the electronic display of tonal intensity and pitch of the classical symphony, acted as the score for Jörg Schlick."

Artist:	MÜELLER, WOLFGANG
Title:	Mit Wittgenstein in Krisuvík
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	A 025CD

"Wittgenstein in Krisuvík - translated as 'twenty-two Elf Songs for Iceland', the solo CD by Wolfgang Müeller. Wolfgang Müller, author, artist and the head of the legendary cult band Die Tödliche Doris (1980 - 1987) lives in Berlin. He is the president of the Walther von Goethe Foundation Reykjavík. In August 1995, Wolfgang Müller met the head of Iceland's Elf Department, the medium Erla Stefánsdóttir, in Reykjavik, for a long interview. To his question whether elves are only to be found in Iceland, Erla answered: 'of course not. Elves are everywhere.' And how do the communicate with each other? Is there an international elf language?, enquired Wolfgang. Amused, Erla Stefánsdóttir plucked some fluff off her red jumper and shook her head: 'elves don't speak -- they sing!' Elves' singing is normally inaudible to the human ear. Unlike music made by humans, it goes directly into the head of the listener. Hearing, therefore, is not an essential function in order to perceive it. An extremely fascinating thought for Wolfgang Müeller, who had already produced music with a hearing challenged friend in the early Eighties.

'In order to create an agreeable environment, where elves would feel comfortable, I must remain equally open to the musical, the non-musical and extra-musical,' says Wolfgang Müeller. And so, various musical styles, directions and currents are found running through on on his new CD, Mit Wittgenstein in Krisuvík. Elves and dwarves are behind all of those, inaudible and yet perceptible -- some friendly, the others wrathful; sometimes merry, serious at other times."

Artist:	GO:GOL
Title:	Gorymaaz
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	A 028CD

"Artistically seen, Andreas Gogol, musical collaborator of Simon Fisher Turner, C-Schulz and many others, has many lives. He is a filmmaker, a photographer and a musician while also being involved in several other fields of the fine arts. The music on Gorymaaz sounds as if it ran danger of falling apart and dissolving at any moment right in front of one's ears (which actually it does every now and then). Sometimes we encounter songs with a clearly discernible structure and arrangement, while its other parameters run like sand through the listener's fingers. Tonality and melodies just melt away and run into seemingly unstructured textures, for example, a blues bastard is contrasted with preposterous rock elements like distorted drums and ecstatically strummed guitars. Then again we encounter an acoustic entity which sounds as if its elements had been thrown together at random but which in the end almost miraculously fall into place and form a logic oneness. The music grates and scrapes, our ears are buzzing with distorted voices and alienated guitar sounds. While making use of all this, Gogol manages to avoid all traps of irony and plain inanities. It seems that the more serious he gets, the more absurd his musical constructions become. Nothing is garish, opulent or ornate on this album. What Gogol ultimately does is to play around with an idea, but at the same time avoiding coming too close to it. And that idea is the song. Be it voice alienation, tape speed or the tuning of his guitar -- all of Andreas Gogol's experiments are inspiring and multifaceted."

Artist:	SCHMICKLER & JOHN TILBURY, MARCUS
Title:	Variety
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	A 029CD

"Musical events which are more or less alien to each other meet in a wide and harmonically differentiated space, which is explored in different directions. Briefly, they communicate -- only to separate again. Diverse actions form a clearly discernable foreground: The piano provides flageolets and piccicati, slow arpeggi and Feldmanesque figures which move through the space supplied by the computer sounds while, at the same time combining with these. From time to time, little events rear their heads as if posing a question. A mutual pulse is an altogether rare occurrence. The piano's harmonic figures meet with computer sounds unexpectedly within a slowly changing acoustic environment. Piano pixies sing and dance serenely in a virtual space while the noises from the instrument instigate dialogues with the computer. The music is tranquil, never aggressive and is at almost every moment polyphonic in the good old sense of the word. Pretty often, the two musicians play on two different planes so that in spite of the slowness of the whole thing, the resulting complex relationships offer a lot of surprises. Once the listener has become engaged in this process, he/she will remain so and become ever more curious. The sureness and the tranquility which emanates from these musical actions, figures, shapes and processes, acknowledges and asserts the ghost of Morton Feldman, who seems to hover benevolently over these sounds: Stop asking questions." -- Johannes Fritsch.

Artist:	SCHMICKLER, MARCUS
Title:	Demos (For Choir, Chamber Quintet and Electronic Music)
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	A 032CD

"Marcus Schmickler's recent release on A-Musik is yet another proof of his stylistic diversity. His music defies all attempts at categorization. Schmickler appears to be well versed in all musical genres, having reached a level of perfection which seems almost unique in these times. Sui generis, as they say. Only a short while after his impressive duo improvisation with John Tilbury (Variety) and with a new Pluramon album due for release, Schmickler will once again convince critics and audiences. At the same time, this release reveals yet another aspect of his manifold musical activities -- composing for instrumental ensembles and choirs. Demos is Schmickler's most ambitious work to date. Premiered in March 2004 in Cologne, the piece went on a triumphal trip through half of Europe. Among other places, it has been performed at Cracow and the renowned Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow, where it was performed in the course of a three day festival organized especially for Schmickler. Demos -- which can be heard on this release in an arrangement for choir, chamber ensemble and electronic sounds -- deals with Nietzsche's thoughts expressed in his Zarathustra on the extent with which language could be dealt with (or addressed) as music. The piece does so on the basis of fragments from the text. The basis for (t)his philosophy Nietzsche perceived in the expression of the choirs in ancient Greek tragedy. Marcus Schmickler transcends the classic mythic emblems of ancient Greek choirs such as recitative and declamation by employing contemporary means. In the overwhelming power of the choir, Demos -- the Greek term for 'community' and commonly used for 'people' -- lets one sense the energy, which serves as a metaphor for a people and their ability to strongly voice their desires, their requests and their demands. Moreover, Schmickler's abstract and strepitous electronic sounds blend in an illustrative way with the text and the imagination of events portrayed in the dramatic performances of the choir. Thus they become projections of the clamour of an abstract mass. Demos is demanding, disturbing and suggestive in its idiosyncratic blend of sounds. This is a music which passes on the spirit of such luminaries as the late György Ligeti ('Requiem'), Jani Christou or Iannis Xenakis ('Medea'), but which in Schmickler's contemporary attitude gains a wholly different significance. Complementing the album are two excerpts of Schmickler's musical arrangements for theatre productions. All in all, this is an album which resurrects traditions as well as pursues the hitherto unheard in a unique way. In addition to that, it examines in how far constructivist and post-dramatic approaches can today inspire classic forms with new structures though the amalgamation of text, music and performative elements without betraying the qualities of the originals."

Artist:	SCHMICKLER, MARCUS
Title:	Demos (For Choir, Chamber Quintet and Electronic Music)
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	A 032LP

"Marcus Schmickler's recent release on A-Musik is yet another proof of his stylistic diversity. His music defies all attempts at categorization. Schmickler appears to be well versed in all musical genres, having reached a level of perfection which seems almost unique in these times. Demos -- which can be heard on this release in an arrangement for choir, chamber ensemble and electronic sounds -- deals with Nietzsche's thoughts expressed in his Zarathustra on the extent with which language could be dealt with (or addressed) as music. The piece does so on the basis of fragments from the text. The basis for (t)his philosophy Nietzsche perceived in the expression of the choirs in ancient Greek tragedy. Marcus Schmickler transcends the classic mythic emblems of ancient Greek choirs such as recitative and declamation by employing contemporary means. In the overwhelming power of the choir, Demos -- the Greek term for 'community' and commonly used for 'people' -- lets one sense the energy, which serves as a metaphor for a people and their ability to strongly voice their desires, their requests and their demands. Moreover, Schmickler's abstract and strepitous electronic sounds blend in an illustrative way with the text and the imagination of events portrayed in the dramatic performances of the choir. Thus they become projections of the clamour of an abstract mass. Demos is demanding, disturbing and suggestive in its idiosyncratic blend of sounds. This is a music which passes on the spirit of such luminaries as the late György Ligeti ('Requiem'), Jani Christou or Iannis Xenakis ('Medea'), but which in Schmickler's contemporary attitude gains a wholly different significance. Complementing the album are two excerpts of Schmickler's musical arrangements for theatre productions. All in all, this is an album which resurrects traditions as well as pursues the hitherto unheard in a unique way. In addition to that, it examines in how far constructivist and post-dramatic approaches can today inspire classic forms with new structures though the amalgamation of text, music and performative elements without betraying the qualities of the originals." --Joachim Ody

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Artist:	F.X. RANDOMIZ
Title:	Goflex
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	A 009LP

Artist:	HOLOSUD
Title:	Fijnewas Afpompen
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	A 011CD

Artist:	USHMI & STEPHEN GALLOWAY, MARC
Title:	There must be a (Brinkmann-)Remix
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	A 022EP

Artist:	MULLER, WOLFGANG
Title:	Mit Wittgenstein in Knisavik
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	LP + 7"
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	A 025LP

Artist:	KUBIN & COOLHAVEN, FELIX
Title:	There Is a Garden/Waschzwangmama
Label:	A-MUSIK (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	A 030EP