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5LP BOX
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VOD 134LP
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Rüdiger Lorenz was a German electronic synthesist and inventor of several modular synthesizer systems, who, over three decades, produced unique, exceptional electronic soundscapes in the manner of Conrad Schnitzler, Edgar Froese, Dieter Moebius, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. He is one of a very few outstanding artists who seem to never have received the recognition and fame they deserved for their artistic output. This five-LP box set focuses on his earliest self-released cassettes from the early '80s: Queen of Saba (1981), Silver Steps (1981), Wonderflower (1982), and Earthrise (1983), none of which have been reissued before now. Queen of Saba was also licensed and released on Werner Pieper's Transmitter Cassetten, which also distributed many of Conrad Schnitzler's tape releases. Earthrise, a compilation of his early works and several newer compositions, was released on the British label YHR Tapes (York House Recordings), run by David Elliott. Rüdiger Lorenz became interested in electronic music and Moog synthesizers in the late '60s. By 1972 he had built his own first Wersi Organ, followed by various amplifiers and effects boxes. In 1977 he had constructed his first synthesizers from an Elektor Formant kit. At the time of his death in 2000, he owned 38 synthesizers including three large self-built modular systems. In the late '70s and early '80s he became a member of the IEMA (International Electronic Music Association), which was established by James Finch of The Nightcrawlers, and also began running his own Lorenz Park Studio. He then became an essential part and pioneering member of the international DIY cassette culture community in the early '80s and contributed to several INKEY$ compilation tapes and the On-Slaught series on the Idiosyncratics label. With their well-established international contacts, he and another German synthesist, Peter Schäfer, started the tape label Syntape and released more than 30 cassettes between 1981 and 1985. In 1983, he began releasing musical on vinyl via his Syncord label; many of these limited records have since become in-demand collectors' items.
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CD
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BB 194CD
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Just when you thought you had heard everything that German electronic music of the 1980s had to offer, up pops an artist who has resolutely stayed off the radar all these years, in spite of having a discography which lists no less than 18 albums. (Hobby) musician Rüdiger Lorenz, a pharmacist by trade, completed an album almost every year beginning in the early 1980s, first as limited runs of two to three hundred on cassette, then switching to vinyl in 1983, and CD in 1990. His last album was released in 1998. Two years later Lorenz died -- unexpectedly and far too soon. In his youth, Lorenz became familiar with bands like Kraftwerk, NEU!, Can, and Cluster. These bands had a lasting influence on his relationship with music, guiding him toward electronica. Electronic music carried a huge practical advantage for Lorenz in pursuing his craft: he was by nature more of a loner, rather than someone who fed off the group dynamic of playing in a band. Soon after purchasing his first synthesizer set-up he quit his band and installed a studio of sorts in his living room. In 1981 he released his first cassette album. Initially intended merely as something to be handed out to friends, the music was surprisingly well received, encouraging Lorenz to persevere. Year in, year out. After work and on weekends. Most copies were sold in the USA. His synthesizer collection grew larger, containing kit pieces, home-made elements, and newly purchased units. One of his own creations, the Loran Modular synthesizer, even found its way into various synthesizer lexica. Lorenz, however, was by no means a classic electronics tinkerer. His technical skills were limited to soldering, as he admitted in a radio interview for HR3, the only interview he ever gave. Southland was created in 1984 and perfectly encapsulates the two facets that dominated German electronic music at that time: on the one hand, poppy, at times absurd tracks, informed by such pre-NDW (German new wave) musicians as Pyrolator; on the other hand more plangent, spherical music echoing Tangerine Dream and the like. His son Tim, thirteen then (now a member of Andreas Dorau's live ensemble), can be heard speaking a few lines into a vocoder on "Strange Feelings," and later, as a graphic design student, Tim prepared artwork for his father's releases. CD presented in digipak.
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LP
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BB 194LP
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LP version. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl. Just when you thought you had heard everything that German electronic music of the 1980s had to offer, up pops an artist who has resolutely stayed off the radar all these years, in spite of having a discography which lists no less than 18 albums. (Hobby) musician Rüdiger Lorenz, a pharmacist by trade, completed an album almost every year beginning in the early 1980s, first as limited runs of two to three hundred on cassette, then switching to vinyl in 1983, and CD in 1990. His last album was released in 1998. Two years later Lorenz died -- unexpectedly and far too soon. In his youth, Lorenz became familiar with bands like Kraftwerk, NEU!, Can, and Cluster. These bands had a lasting influence on his relationship with music, guiding him toward electronica. Electronic music carried a huge practical advantage for Lorenz in pursuing his craft: he was by nature more of a loner, rather than someone who fed off the group dynamic of playing in a band. Soon after purchasing his first synthesizer set-up he quit his band and installed a studio of sorts in his living room. In 1981 he released his first cassette album. Initially intended merely as something to be handed out to friends, the music was surprisingly well received, encouraging Lorenz to persevere. Year in, year out. After work and on weekends. Most copies were sold in the USA. His synthesizer collection grew larger, containing kit pieces, home-made elements, and newly purchased units. One of his own creations, the Loran Modular synthesizer, even found its way into various synthesizer lexica. Lorenz, however, was by no means a classic electronics tinkerer. His technical skills were limited to soldering, as he admitted in a radio interview for HR3, the only interview he ever gave. Southland was created in 1984 and perfectly encapsulates the two facets that dominated German electronic music at that time: on the one hand, poppy, at times absurd tracks, informed by such pre-NDW (German new wave) musicians as Pyrolator; on the other hand more plangent, spherical music echoing Tangerine Dream and the like. His son Tim, thirteen then (now a member of Andreas Dorau's live ensemble), can be heard speaking a few lines into a vocoder on "Strange Feelings," and later, as a graphic design student, Tim prepared artwork for his father's releases.
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