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LP
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CREP 109LP
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A quietly influential figure among electronic and experimental circles since the late '90s, Berlin-based sound artist Hanno Leichtmann has been developing a sprawling and idiosyncratic vision both as a creator and curator. With a keen sense for charting new territories, Leichtmann's work spawns a multitude of languages that go from delicate ambient excursions to techno explorations or abstract sceneries on numerous sound installations, releases on such esteemed labels like Entr'acte or The Tapeworm and collaborations with artists like Valerio Tricoli or Jan Jelinek. A reflection of his keen sense of discovery. Centered around the Villa Aurora Organ, an intriguing and mostly unknown instrument built in 1928/29 by the Artcraft Organ Company in Santa Monica, California, Outerlands presents a deeply personal approach to the instrument's particular properties, very much in line with Discrepant's ethos. Consisting of a pipe organ, a wall mounted marimba and a two octave tubular bells/chimes ensemble, remotely controllable by MIDI, the Villa Aurora Organ's rich palette of sounds is translated into 12 short tracks capable of conveying the mesmerizing spirits of minimalism, exotica and devotional music. Starting with the ecstatic sound of the pipe organ, "Lucero" sets up the hypnotic mood for Outerland's excursions through moments of spiraling repetition -- "Tramonto" -- blissful contemplation -- "Sunset" or "Notteargenta" -- or underlying tension -- "Coperto." "Espera" amps up the unease, with queasy organ tones lurking beneath marimba harmonic motifs that wouldn't sound out of place on some survival horror movie, while "Miramar" or "Revello" bring an uncanny sense of familiarity through its repetitive melodies. Drifting seamlessly through a variety of moods that somehow feel connected - the outerlands are within you, if you allow yourself to let go.
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LP
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KR 049LP
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Distilling sounds from the now 70-year-old archive of the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music, the Berlin based electronic artist Hanno Leichtmann presents a stunning album which is remix, collage, and homage at the same time. On his latest work Nouvelle Aventure, Berlin's Hanno Leichtmann -- who besides his solo works, also plays with Jan Jelinek and Andrew Pekler in Groupshow and recently released his second album with Valerio Tricoli on Entr'acte in 2018 -- presents his very individual approach to the task of remixing and reworking the IMD archive. As in his previous installations (e.g. "Skin, Wood, Traps" for Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, celebrating the 100th birthday of the drum set), the electronic artist distills his sound material exclusively from a thematically fixed archive, in this case: concert recordings, lectures, and discussions from the famous Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music (Stockhausen, Nono, Ligeti, Xenakis, et al.) Originally a six-channel installation as part of "Historage" at Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, the composition is here presented as a 46-minutes stereo mix. Leichtmann sent the subjectively-chosen sounds through his unique machinery of voltage-controlled (micro-) loopers, re-recorded them and then in a last step pieced them together in his studio, primarily applying the traditional parameters of early electronic (tape) music such as amplitude, pitch/speed, playback direction, series/cuts, but most of all: repetition. The result is a stunning album and a highly psychedelic affair, as mirrored by the amazing artwork by Caro Mikalef (Cabina). Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering. 180 gram vinyl; includes download code.
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LP
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KR 030LP
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Hanno Leichtmann has long been one of the most prolific protagonists of Berlin's electronic music scene and beyond; as an experimental percussionist and electronic artist Leichtmann has released several albums under his given name, under such aliases as Static and The Vulva String Quartett, and in bands like Groupshow (with Jan Jelinek and Andrew Pekler) and Denseland (with David Moss and Hannes Strobl) on labels like Karaoke Kalk, m=minimal, Dekorder, and Staubgold. Leichtmann also composed and produced the soundtrack to Christoph Schlingensief's The African Twintowers (2007), the first DVD edition of which will follow this LP in summer 2015, five years after Schlingensief's tragic death. In addition to his musical work, Leichtmann also curates conceptual music festivals, including My Favourite Thing in 2008 and Letra/Tone in 2014. In 2013 he released Minimal Studies, on which he began building tracks using very short loops from various sample sources. This LP is an expanded reissue of Leichtmann's 2013 contribution to The Tapeworm's tape series (TTW 059CS), for which he browsed the remaining 30-plus cassettes of his once-huge collection, took little snippets of his favorite songs, ran them through a modular synthesizer system, and created about 40 short pieces, all about one minute and 30 seconds long. Leichtmann: "They are highly influenced by and, at the same time, an homage to: John Oswald's Plunderphonics, Stock, Hausen & Walkman's Me 7", and, above all, Yasuaki Shimizu's Music for Commercials." Originally released in a limited tape edition of 200 copies, Unfinished Portrait of Youth Today is now available on LP for the first time, with the addition of six previously unreleased tracks. All music created by Hanno Leichtmann using tapes, Sony WM-D6C, modular system, Telefunken EQS, and Lexicon LXP-5. Recorded at Static Music, Berlin. Mastered for vinyl by Kassian Troyer. Artwork by Stephan Mathieu and Caro Mikalef. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl. Includes download code.
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Cassette
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TTW 059CS
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All music by Hanno Leichtmann: tapes, Sony WM-D6C, modular system, Telefunken equalizers, LXP-5. Recorded at Static Music Berlin. Hanno Leichtmann writes, "When The Tapeworm asked me to do a tape which referred to tape music or cassette culture, I immediately thought of my 30-or-so remaining tapes from my (back in the days) huge tape collection. I bought a Sony WM-D6C to play them back in good quality, took little snippets of favorite songs and ran them through a modular system. I made about 40 short static pieces, all about 1:30 long. They are highly influenced by and, at the same time, a homage to: John Oswald's Plunderphonics, Curd Duca's Easy Listening 1-5, Stock, Hausen And Walkman's Me 7", and above all, Yasuaki Shimizu's Music for Commercials." Hanno Leichtmann, Berlin, May 16, 2013.
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CD
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KK 037CD
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This is Berlin-based Hanno Leichtmann's (Pole, Static, Vulva String Quartett, Kosmischer Pitch) first release under his own name. Nuit du Plomb conjures memories of days when every party, besides the obligatory dancefloor, had an ambient floor, too. Days when ambient served as a niche for creating music that just wouldn't have been possible in a band's collective and when musicians together with their entire electronic gear crouched on the floor and started jamming. Yet Hanno Leichtmann's new album has nothing to do with a glorification of the past. This is not least due to the fact that the music on Nuit du Plomb was originally made for a scenic lecture of Hans Henny Jahnn's novel The Night of Lead. It is rather a soundtrack recorded to illustrate the various scenes of the relatively unknown novel, the music supporting the sensation of images and spatiality. So although it wasn't his aim to make an ambient album, Hanno Leichtmann pushes this very diversified musical genre a little more to the fore again, proving that it hasn't been exhausted in all its possibilities. Hanno Leichtmann is best known through his current solo projects Static (City Centre Offices, Earsugar) and Vulva String Quartett (Combination), and here is another tantalizing aspect of his persona.
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LP
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KK 045LP
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