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LP
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MEP 002LP
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Christian Naujoks's work has been heard and seen in a wide range of contexts, from nightclubs to concert halls, art venues, and the theater. He released three solo albums on Berlin-based label Dial Records. After his critically-acclaimed album Wave (DIAL 036CD/LP, 2016), which has been praised as a contemporary masterpiece of ambient romance, followed by numerous collaborative projects with performance artist Ei Arakawa, filmmaker Loretta Fahrenholz, and composer Ari Benjamin Meyers, among others, Christian Naujoks is back with a new record produced during his exhibition Soft Mouth Data Service at Galerie Max Mayer in Düsseldorf. Recorded live on site the eleven tracks featured on this album range from electronic ambient music, microtonal guitar excursions and abstract beats to a unique cover version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" --all characterized by Naujoks's evocative, humorously wistful approach to music-making and his self-aware yet unabashed search for fragile, intimate beauty. Showing once more that he can feign both naivete and virtuosity, camouflaging one as the other as he effortlessly dresses up art as pop and vice versa. Naujoks engages in a referential world-building that stays geared toward the here and now. In "Aberrant Joan" he combines glitched string orchestration with melodic synth-flutes that call to mind the online activism of K-pop stans. The bass line of the song diptych "No Rave" and "Ambient Rave" takes the music to a deeper dimension, echoing early '90s rave which is contrasted by Naujoks's crystal clear voice. The album closes with "Tearz", a duet for piano and drum sampler, which captures both the emotional gravity and the surprising lightness of the entire album in one track. Lacquer cut by Mike Grinser; includes inlay with liner notes by Colin Lang. Transparent vinyl; edition of 300.
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CD
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DIAL 036CD
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Christian Naujoks follows his 2009 self-titled debut (DIAL 013CD) and his piano-focused 2012 follow-up, True Life/In Flames (DIAL 024CD/LP), with his third album, Wave, a work dedicated to the electric guitar. Inspired by The Durutti Column, John Fahey, Vincent Gallo, Azalia Snail, David Grubbs, and many others, Christian Naujoks breaks the boundaries between songwriting and minimalism; between folk music and contemporary art. The recording sessions at Electric Avenue Studios were accompanied by engineering master Tobias Levin, known for his work with Kreidler, Faust, Felix Kubin, and Pantha Du Prince & The Bell Laboratory, to name a few. With Wave, Naujoks and Levin create a seductive, state-of-the-art production of ten post-minimalist guitar pieces with an appearance of the artist's signature piano style on two of the songs. This release follows Naujoks's work with his band Sky Walking (with RVDS and Lawrence) and his 2016 piano cassette on Martin Hossbach's eponymous imprint (CABACH 001CS).
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LP
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DIAL 036LP
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LP version. Christian Naujoks follows his 2009 self-titled debut (DIAL 013CD) and his piano-focused 2012 follow-up, True Life/In Flames (DIAL 024CD/LP), with his third album, Wave, a work dedicated to the electric guitar. Inspired by The Durutti Column, John Fahey, Vincent Gallo, Azalia Snail, David Grubbs, and many others, Christian Naujoks breaks the boundaries between songwriting and minimalism; between folk music and contemporary art. The recording sessions at Electric Avenue Studios were accompanied by engineering master Tobias Levin, known for his work with Kreidler, Faust, Felix Kubin, and Pantha Du Prince & The Bell Laboratory, to name a few. With Wave, Naujoks and Levin create a seductive, state-of-the-art production of ten post-minimalist guitar pieces with an appearance of the artist's signature piano style on two of the songs. This release follows Naujoks's work with his band Sky Walking (with RVDS and Lawrence) and his 2016 piano cassette on Martin Hossbach's eponymous imprint (CABACH 001CS).
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Cassette
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CABACH 001CS
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Piano music performed by Christian Naujoks, as both artist and composer. Plus a track of ultra-modern techno music in the guise of Physical Therapy's phantastic "Softcore Mix." Naujoks: "Did you know that Michael Nyman actually invented the term 'minimalism' in the late 1960s? I think that is amazing. I love his film scores a lot, especially the one he composed for the Michael Winterbottom film Wonderland. I watched it on television sometime in the early '00s, at night when visiting my family (they live in the countryside in northern Germany, so there's nothing else to do). I was deeply touched by the music and it simultaneously sounded so easy to play that it made me think: I could learn that! So I ordered the sheet music and practiced it on my Yamaha virtual analog synthesizer keyboard. . . . So here is my very sincere Nyman interpretation for you. 'Unsung' is another favorite of mine. I once went to a Helmet concert in the Markthalle in Hamburg, and it was one of the loudest experiences I ever had. I played this cover version during the soundcheck of my first official Christian Naujoks concert, and Dirk von Lowtzow -- of the band Phantom/Ghost, whom I was about to 'support' that night -- came to me and said he liked it. Since Martin Hossbach and I originally conceived this release as a 'Christmas cassette,' I thought it would be nice to contribute these kind of long-time Christian Naujoks classics -- although I didn't write them by myself, but have been performing them live since almost 10 years. At one point, Martin came up with the idea to also include a remix by Physical Therapy on the cassette. So, as it's really tricky in terms of copyrights to have cover versions remixed, I composed a truly original Christian Naujoks piano piece to be transformed by Dan Fisher. I wrote some chord patterns and imagined them to be really dancey when combined with a ravey '90s-style techno beat. My impression is that Daniel and I are completely on the same page here, and he did a really great job! I can't wait for DJs to play it in the clubs."
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CD
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DIAL 024CD
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After his self-titled debut of 2009, True Life/In Flames is the second album by Berlin-based Christian Naujoks. Recorded by Tobias Levin at the Laiszhalle Philharmony Hamburg. A dense concert atmosphere sets the tone. Stringent seriality is combined with a romanticism of the minor key which one also finds in a certain corner of modern 20th-century piano music, in the vein of Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, Arvo Pärt, John Cage and György Kurtág. Deep contemplation and solemn expression paired with intellectual clarity. Each note has weight, and every sound a purpose. Unlike Naujoks' debut, True Life/In Flames completely relinquishes the use of any sort of electronically-generated sound. Instead, there is a consistent stylization of what one might call "organic sound." The figure of the bedroom producer is relieved here by that of the composer and pianist. There's a piano, played by Naujoks; there's the marimba of Martin Krause and then Naujoks' voice. This album could be designated as a suite with various movements, bracketed by the conspicuous reprise of its most song-like piece, "Moments I" and "Moments II," as well as by the economy of the unchanging instrumentation and the black and white cover photograph by Dirk Stewen that references the recording location: the Laeiszhalle of the Hamburg Philharmonic. Piano and marimba stand there on an almost cave-like stage, surrounded by music stands, microphones and stacked Egon Eiermann SE 68 SU chairs -- a company of genuine instruments. Again, Christian Naujoks embraces the world of contemporary music-loving connaisseurs. True Life/In Flames is a gift for all those hunting the unique, the deep, the outstanding. All's quiet at the beginning, as it is at the end.
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LP
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DIAL 024LP
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Gatefold LP version. After his self-titled debut of 2009, True Life/In Flames is the second album by Berlin-based Christian Naujoks. Recorded by Tobias Levin at the Laiszhalle Philharmony Hamburg. A dense concert atmosphere sets the tone. Stringent seriality is combined with a romanticism of the minor key which one also finds in a certain corner of modern 20th-century piano music, in the vein of Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, Arvo Pärt, John Cage and György Kurtág. Deep contemplation and solemn expression paired with intellectual clarity. Each note has weight, and every sound a purpose. Unlike Naujoks' debut, True Life/In Flames completely relinquishes the use of any sort of electronically-generated sound. Instead, there is a consistent stylization of what one might call "organic sound." The figure of the bedroom producer is relieved here by that of the composer and pianist. There's a piano, played by Naujoks; there's the marimba of Martin Krause and then Naujoks' voice. This album could be designated as a suite with various movements, bracketed by the conspicuous reprise of its most song-like piece, "Moments I" and "Moments II," as well as by the economy of the unchanging instrumentation and the black and white cover photograph by Dirk Stewen that references the recording location: the Laeiszhalle of the Hamburg Philharmonic. Piano and marimba stand there on an almost cave-like stage, surrounded by music stands, microphones and stacked Egon Eiermann SE 68 SU chairs -- a company of genuine instruments. Again, Christian Naujoks embraces the world of contemporary music-loving connaisseurs. True Life/In Flames is a gift for all those hunting the unique, the deep, the outstanding. All's quiet at the beginning, as it is at the end.
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12"
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DIAL 047EP
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Part 1 of a 12" trilogy of releases by Christian Naujoks on Dial. Adoring the sound of pitched-down, pre-recorded strings dressed in deep, dub-styled echoes, "East End Boys" is a song dedicated to the raw and powerful sublimity of physical sound. On the B-side, Lawrence remixes his favorite Christian Naujoks tune, "Bloom." Both tracks also available here in instrumental versions.
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CD
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DIAL 013CD
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This is Germany's Christian Naujoks' self-titled debut album for the Dial label. A composer of contemporary music, a singer/songwriter, an electronic music producer, a pop musician or maybe a conceptual sound artist -- either way you name it, you won't entirely grasp this artist. Starting off with a set of precisely-composed post-minimal pieces for piano and marimbas, flute and strings carefully recorded on analogue tape at Tobias Levin's Electric Avenue Studio, the album leads surprisingly and tenderly through a wide horizon of sonic impressions. From the indeterminate chamber music of "Two Epilogues" and the intimate vocals on the breathless revision of New Order's "Leave Me Alone," (re-titled "Off The Rose") to the subtle sound sculpturing of "Light Over The Ranges," which sounds like a neon-tinged sunrise, to the a cappella croon/Gregorian chant of "Bar 27," this release refuses to be defined, determined, or dissected. Despite all the disparity of this release, everything is in its right place, like the broken shards that assemble to create a cathedral's stained-glass window. Other surprises include a simply unheard-of 12-tone R'n'B piece "Bloom," in which Webern, Can and Prince seem to collide to form a blutopian party, as well as a concluding, fuzzed-out, half-coherent tribute to Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." Can't wait for the future? Join the mean-time radio hour with your host Christian Naujoks. Contemplative, serious meditations that give your head room to breathe while ascending into pure bliss consciousness.
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LP
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DIAL 013LP
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LP version. This is Germany's Christian Naujoks' self-titled debut album for the Dial label. A composer of contemporary music, a singer/songwriter, an electronic music producer, a pop musician or maybe a conceptual sound artist -- either way you name it, you won't entirely grasp this artist. Starting off with a set of precisely-composed post-minimal pieces for piano and marimbas, flute and strings carefully recorded on analogue tape at Tobias Levin's Electric Avenue Studio, the album leads surprisingly and tenderly through a wide horizon of sonic impressions. From the indeterminate chamber music of "Two Epilogues" and the intimate vocals on the breathless revision of New Order's "Leave Me Alone," (re-titled "Off The Rose") to the subtle sound sculpturing of "Light Over The Ranges," which sounds like a neon-tinged sunrise, to the a cappella croon/Gregorian chant of "Bar 27," this release refuses to be defined, determined, or dissected. Despite all the disparity of this release, everything is in its right place, like the broken shards that assemble to create a cathedral's stained-glass window. Other surprises include a simply unheard-of 12-tone R'n'B piece "Bloom," in which Webern, Can and Prince seem to collide to form a blutopian party, as well as a concluding, fuzzed-out, half-coherent tribute to Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." Can't wait for the future? Join the mean-time radio hour with your host Christian Naujoks. Contemplative, serious meditations that give your head room to breathe while ascending into pure bliss consciousness.
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