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CD
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N 062CD
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Alien Ensemble's trombone man Mathias Goetz caused quite a splash when he released his eponymous debut LP under his Le Millipede moniker back in 2015 (N 042CD/LP): The multi-instrumentalist's initial offering was clearly something else, impossible to grasp, a musical vessel that carried an almost cosmic kind of song-craft. Followed by remix album Mirror Mirror (2017), it's now time for album number two: The Sun Has No Money. Following an initial warm-up round sans electricity, this new album soon begins to glow: Goetz doesn't need pedals, he boosts circulation by single-handedly playing tons and tons of different instruments -- it actually feels like thousands, easily. There are various sonic illusions... and yet Le Millipede doesn't hide anything: He's also willing to show the inner workings, the actual recording process and everything else. In short: he goes meta. Some of these melodies appear to be shadows of earlier tunes, dating back to, say, 1898 or even before that, melodies that were first registered in the Tin Pan Alley publishers' offices back in 1912 or 1917. You'll actually get to see this Alley at that point in time. You'll see the ropes, the workings. Suddenly, you can hear the shadows! Okay, so one side of this street is America. The opposite side: Russia. And smack dab in the middle: Europe. All the back-and-forth that occurs between these two poles ultimately depends on the movement of the sun. You'll get to meet Prokofiev's and Scriabin's ghost, among other spirits, reframed and published by Le Millipede's own imaginary label imprint on the historic Tin Pan Alley. Indeed there are moments on this album when Le Millipede seems to be playing Scriabin's clavier a lumieres, when his performance seems to be based on synesthesia, a wild cross-pollination of colors and sounds. In case you didn't know this: In the States, Prokofiev goes by the name Brian Wilson, and Scriabin's also known as Sun Ra -- yet another guy who's usually broke, but gets to spend a lot of time out in the sun. Together, these assorted protagonists ask the people of the Antilles for Mutabor dance-tokens and send postcards to Moondog in Germany, right back into the darkness. Le Millipede controls the very center of this hustle and bustle: going as far as to employ some southern chopped-and-screwed styles, he's 100% current and zeitgeisty!
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LP
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N 062LP
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LP version. Edition of 500. Alien Ensemble's trombone man Mathias Goetz caused quite a splash when he released his eponymous debut LP under his Le Millipede moniker back in 2015 (N 042CD/LP): The multi-instrumentalist's initial offering was clearly something else, impossible to grasp, a musical vessel that carried an almost cosmic kind of song-craft. Followed by remix album Mirror Mirror (2017), it's now time for album number two: The Sun Has No Money. Following an initial warm-up round sans electricity, this new album soon begins to glow: Goetz doesn't need pedals, he boosts circulation by single-handedly playing tons and tons of different instruments -- it actually feels like thousands, easily. There are various sonic illusions... and yet Le Millipede doesn't hide anything: He's also willing to show the inner workings, the actual recording process and everything else. In short: he goes meta. Some of these melodies appear to be shadows of earlier tunes, dating back to, say, 1898 or even before that, melodies that were first registered in the Tin Pan Alley publishers' offices back in 1912 or 1917. You'll actually get to see this Alley at that point in time. You'll see the ropes, the workings. Suddenly, you can hear the shadows! Okay, so one side of this street is America. The opposite side: Russia. And smack dab in the middle: Europe. All the back-and-forth that occurs between these two poles ultimately depends on the movement of the sun. You'll get to meet Prokofiev's and Scriabin's ghost, among other spirits, reframed and published by Le Millipede's own imaginary label imprint on the historic Tin Pan Alley. Indeed there are moments on this album when Le Millipede seems to be playing Scriabin's clavier a lumieres, when his performance seems to be based on synesthesia, a wild cross-pollination of colors and sounds. In case you didn't know this: In the States, Prokofiev goes by the name Brian Wilson, and Scriabin's also known as Sun Ra -- yet another guy who's usually broke, but gets to spend a lot of time out in the sun. Together, these assorted protagonists ask the people of the Antilles for Mutabor dance-tokens and send postcards to Moondog in Germany, right back into the darkness. Le Millipede controls the very center of this hustle and bustle: going as far as to employ some southern chopped-and-screwed styles, he's 100% current and zeitgeisty!
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LP
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N 042LP
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LP version. Includes download code. It's a well-known fact that millipedes, though frequently referred to as "thousand leggers," actually have no more than 750 legs, usually way less. Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that the band Le Millipede is actually just one guy -- who happens to play a whole lot of different instruments with his own two hands. He goes by the name Mathias Götz. Arranging various layers of piano, xylophone, glockenspiel, Stylophone, Moog, and harmonium, Le Millipede creates minimalist, instrumental pop gems, tracks with an immediate quality that seem rather simple at first listen. In fact, Götz's recordings are somewhat comparable to the work of France-born, Barcelona-based composer Pascal Comelade, known for his use of toy instruments. In both cases, there's a certain childlike quality at work, a disarming naïveté. While Comelade often uses toy piano, Götz is particularly fond of the Casio VL Tone mini-keyboard; and even though most people will associate said instrument with Trio's "Da Da Da" single, Götz actually considers it a nod to artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Arvo Pärt, and Moondog. In order to create the intricate beats of Le Millipede, Götz used a vast range of percussion instruments, including maracas, claves, darbuka, seashells, mbira (thumb piano), davul, zils/finger cymbals, small bells, caxixi, and even mules' teeth, occasionally joined by layers of tom-tom drums, snare, bass drum, and cymbals. Another key element of Le Millipede's sound is certainly the way Götz employs his voice; instead of foregrounding it and focusing on literal messages, he merely adds his vocal layers as yet another instrument. Last but not least, there's the trombone, an instrument that's probably the most obvious hint at Mathias Götz's background; he actually studied jazz trombone and composition (after learning how to build brass instruments as an apprentice). And yet, his musical approach, tastes, and skills are so wide-ranging and eclectic that, apart from recording as Le Millipede, he also plays in bands as diverse as Micha Acher's Alien Ensemble, the Münchner Hochzeitskapelle, the Unterbiberger Hofmusik, and various big bands. Following a 2007 EP with Robert Alonso as RoBErT GoEtZ, Le Millipede is Mathias Götz's full-length debut.
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CD
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N 042CD
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It's a well-known fact that millipedes, though frequently referred to as "thousand leggers," actually have no more than 750 legs, usually way less. Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that the band Le Millipede is actually just one guy -- who happens to play a whole lot of different instruments with his own two hands. He goes by the name Mathias Götz. Arranging various layers of piano, xylophone, glockenspiel, Stylophone, Moog, and harmonium, Le Millipede creates minimalist, instrumental pop gems, tracks with an immediate quality that seem rather simple at first listen. In fact, Götz's recordings are somewhat comparable to the work of France-born, Barcelona-based composer Pascal Comelade, known for his use of toy instruments. In both cases, there's a certain childlike quality at work, a disarming naïveté. While Comelade often uses toy piano, Götz is particularly fond of the Casio VL Tone mini-keyboard; and even though most people will associate said instrument with Trio's "Da Da Da" single, Götz actually considers it a nod to artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Arvo Pärt, and Moondog. In order to create the intricate beats of Le Millipede, Götz used a vast range of percussion instruments, including maracas, claves, darbuka, seashells, mbira (thumb piano), davul, zils/finger cymbals, small bells, caxixi, and even mules' teeth, occasionally joined by layers of tom-tom drums, snare, bass drum, and cymbals. Another key element of Le Millipede's sound is certainly the way Götz employs his voice; instead of foregrounding it and focusing on literal messages, he merely adds his vocal layers as yet another instrument. Last but not least, there's the trombone, an instrument that's probably the most obvious hint at Mathias Götz's background; he actually studied jazz trombone and composition (after learning how to build brass instruments as an apprentice). And yet, his musical approach, tastes, and skills are so wide-ranging and eclectic that, apart from recording as Le Millipede, he also plays in bands as diverse as Micha Acher's Alien Ensemble, the Münchner Hochzeitskapelle, the Unterbiberger Hofmusik, and various big bands. Following a 2007 EP with Robert Alonso as RoBErT GoEtZ, Le Millipede is Mathias Götz's full-length debut.
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