EICV7" No. 52 - Polytope

"I'm the know-nothing. I'm curious, I try to be entertaining, I try to translate the techno jargon, but in the end I'm the audience's representative." ~David Pogue

Next release comes out October 13th.

EICV7" No. 52 - Polytope ..coming soon!

EverythingIsChemical Virtual 7" No. 52 - Polytope comes out September 29th!

  

"I like things that sound like maybe they shouldn't belong." ~Mary Timony

(hopefully you checked out the last v7"?)

Ben Frost's bandcamp..

Ben Frost has recently gone "upload crazy" on his bandcamp site. Not one, not two, but FIVE new albums of post-mech Classical/IDM Ambient-Noise have been added within the last month! You'd be a fool not to dive headphone first into all of this auricular acumen.

~I just thought I'd share;]

EICV7" No. 47 - Tazmanian Tiger

"The best musicians or sound-artists are people who never considered themselves to be artists or musicians."~Richard D. James

 

Next release comes out August 4th.

EICV7" No. 47 - Tazmanian Tiger ..coming soon!

EverythingIsChemical Virtual 7" No. 47 - Tazmanian Tiger comes out July 21st! 

  

"Sound is the vocabulary of nature." ~Pierre Schaeffer

(hopefully you checked out the last v7"?)

Quality Mixtape find.. Check into 18+..

Get it here.

It seems I'm a bit behind on this LA duo as this is their second official mixta2e (which came out months ago).. 18+'s artistry is all over the spectrum, Nu R & B is distorted in between/on top of Lo-Fi Hip Hop beats & verses while Experimental IDM keeps the entire flow moving in a truly unique/somewhat disturbing fashion. There's nothing not to love on this mixtape in my opinion, assuming you like dark experimental sounds of course.

The "sort of" NEW "Azeda Booth"!? Check into Ram Hoss..

 
As Morgan (1/2 Azeda Booth + 1/2 Baths live) says on his facebook "..the NEW "would-be" Azeda Booth record..". You can definitely hear some of those tones in there.. I don't know too much about Ram Hoss, other than he has A LOT of (mostly free) music laying around out there + he has good taste in contributors;] Just thought I'd share..

EIC's 10Q's w/ Atom™

"..n a path of total robotic submission.."

Atom™

Bionic Intelligence

Atom™ Bio:

Composer and designer Uwe Schmidt is one of experimental electronic music's most prolific and prodigious post-techno experimentalists. Issuing a flood of material under a variety of pseudonyms (from singles and compilation tracks to scads of EPs and full-lengths) and maintaining an almost daunting album-a-month release schedule through his own Rather Interesting label, Schmidt's discography has expanded into the hundreds despite the fact he's only been actively recording for just over a decade. Although his first instrument was a drum kit, Schmidt became fascinated with the possibilities of analog electronics early on, trading his set for a drum machine and borrowing a four-track and some keyboards from friends. His earliest tracks were dance music-focused -- primarily hardcore techno, acid, and trance -- but by the mid-'90s his sound had departed from the monochromaticism of typical dancefloor fare into dense, complex, multi-layered sound constructions not easily reducible to any one genre. Incorporating elements of techno, acid, ambient, jazz, funk, electro,'60 exotica, and psychedelic rock, Schmidt's current work, though highly rhythmic, is hardly classifiable as dance music at all, lying at the intersection of a sort of future-anterior auteurism and tongue-in-cheek experimentalism unique in contemporary electronica. Orange Although prolific since his first singles as I, Atomu Shinzo, Bi-Face, and Mike McCoy, Atom Heart began stepping up his production in the early to mid-'90s in association with the noted trance and ambient label Fax, also based in Frankfurt. Through a number of solo and collaborative outings with Tetsu Inoue and label-head Pete Namlook, Schmidt helped to formulate the melodic hard trance and techno sounds associated with the Frankfurt scene, and also had the opportunity to dabble in other forms of electronic experimentation, particularly ambient (to which Fax almost wholly shifted its focus). He released a handful of Fax titles during this period -- including Orange, Datacide, Softcore, and Coeur Atomique -- before Namlook established the Rather Interesting label as a subsidiary of Fax dedicated to Atom Heart-related projects. Although he continues to release material under other names as well (most notably as Lassigue Bendthaus and the Lisa Carbon Trio), his focus remained on Rather Interesting, releasing a somewhat bewildering (given the consistent quality) CD every month and forging a sophisticated, singular aesthetic. Although each title was limited to a 1000-copy pressing, many of them are among the most accomplished, original examples of post-techno experimental electronic music available, utilizing complex split-channel effects and integrated melodic and rhythmic shifts with an iterative, almost mathematical (though never simply derived) eclecticism. During 1999 and 2000, Schmidt earned a higher profile among American listeners with the release of several projects, beginning with Flanger's Templates (recorded with Bernd Friedman of Nonplace Urban Field) on the Ninja Tune sublabel Ntone. In 2000, two covers albums -- Pop Artificielle as lb and El Baile Aleman as Señor Coconut y Su Conjunto -- gained a comparatively wide release. The former, distributed through Shadow, featured synth pop covers of pop hits including Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" and David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes"; the latter, an Emperor Norton release, focused on Kraftwerk songs, performed by Heart's Latin alias Señor Coconut. His Dos Tracks personality released it's debut album the following year, but it wasn't available outside of his website until 2002. Schmidt has also, with less frequency, given his hand to remixing, working over tracks from the likes of Prong, Pankow, the Swamp Zombies, and Resistance D.

Hello, how are you?

Pretty, pretty, pretty good!

What are you currently listening to?

Nothing.

Care to tell us a little bit about your latest release 'HD'; theme, favorite track(s), recording snags, etc.?

I have no favorite track, I have to admit. Throughout the process of making the album my relationships towards all of the songs usually oscillate quite a bit and at some stage I must have hated each single one of them. Once the thing was done and delivered I then finally could obtain some sort of neutral perspective on the album and have to say that until now I find it a pretty homogenic and "even" album to listen to. In general I find it very important not to have a single "mediocre" or "less crafted" track on any production. Mainly that's because I make the music for myself in the first place and therefore don't see why I should include compositions I'm not 100% fond of. The production process for 'HD' began a long time ago, when the album had a different name and concept. Throughout all those years I went back to the first batch of songs, decided to delete some, reworked others and finally composed 6 new ones for 'HD'. It's been an exciting process, especially because it took so long. Most of the initial tracks I turned totally upside-down, wrote new lyrics and more or less re-recorded everything. At some stage it felt like one of those Picasso paintings, that were started as a "flower" and ended up as "a woman's head". I like that fact that the final album now has all those "ancient" layers of sound. It contains 7 year old guitar recordings on one hand, while for example Jamie Lidell's recording was probably the very last one made for the album.

Did you find it "easier" to make a "Pop" album like this compared to your previous more noise/glitch experimentations?

Let's say, I have a gift for making any musical production a difficult one :) That's to a certain degree the fun part. I find relatively little entertainment in doing things the easy way. That is, I of course enjoy difficult ideas having simple and quick solutions, yet usually that's not the case. When I did, what then was to be called "glitch", around 1997 or so, there were no "glitch" plug-ins available, you know…making that music was a challenge, and complicated to a certain extend, because the aesthetic framework had to be invented from scratch and somehow "be done". Every type of music, may it be abstract or song oriented, a new composition or a cover version, a remix or something entirely improvised, contains difficulties and certain tasks that can be done quickly or "in depth". That said, I don't find "Pop" easier or more complicated than any other music.

How did you pick the guest spots for this release?

 I think that each of those songs lacked some specific element, which I felt could better be contributed by somebody else. Hence I was thinking about who those artists could be and so that selection came about. Perhaps the only exception would be Jamie Lidell, since I had written "I Love U (Like I Love My Drum Machine)" specifically FOR him.

Will you be touring the US for said release?

I hope so. I will play 'HD' on the 4th of May at the Bunker in Brooklyn and the day before at the 'Elektra' festival in Montreal, where 'HD' will have its World premiere. The 'Bunker' show then will be the U.S. premiere accordingly. There is no "tour" planned, yet that may happen sooner as you think.

Got any other projects we should know about?

The only parallel project I'm working on right now is called "Bauteile". It's a collaboration with friend and colleague Marc Behrens. The "Bauteile" composition was initially commissioned and then transmitted for the "Deutschlandradio" radio program, but as well saw a small live presentation at this year's CTM in Berlin. The now 50 minute piece we are planning to expand into it's full and final version and we will continue to work on it around April/May, and hopefully complete the composition by then. A second radio transmission is planned for 2014. Then there are all kinds of small projects going on, more like isolated tracks I am working on with or for other artists, yet, in general I have very much reduced my collaborative works since I prefer to focus on my solo stuff at the moment.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to your music?

Any early Buster Keaton movie will do.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?

What a terrible thought and ultimate nightmare! Probably that would be some field recording of insects or something alike...

Are you living your dream?

Let's say, I'm very happy with what I'm doing, and how I'm doing it. However, there is a certain amount of irrationality in it all, in the sense that one does not know why a path was chosen or how it proved to be functioning. It's all a big mystery to me and in general I believe that there are much more pre-determined factors in life than we want to believe. That said, I am aware of the fact that life may come around with all kinds of surprises, at any moment. It would be foolish to stick to a dream, apart from the fact that we use to live somebody else's dreams, rarely our own.

Thanx A™!

Atom™ is currently touring Europe (here and there) hopefully one day soon the US...

REVIEW: Atom™ - HD

8.75 out of 10

Find it here.

I wish I could say I've been following Atom™ since the beginning, and that I owned the (seriously expansive) entire discography of Uwe Schmidt's work, but that's just not true. The truth is I didn't come across his work until 2009's 'Liedgut', which is a perfect piece of minimalistic IDM heaven that I cherish/own in it's "special edition" format of course. Since that release I have been following Atom™ as much as possible, keeping up isn't too tough, but there really is a lot of terrific material there and it feels like its nearly impossible to have enough time to truly absorb it's genius. His music is unpredictable. Electronic? Yes. But within a new realm of experimentations on every new release. On 'HD' Mr. ™ has perfected Sci-Fi Tech-Pop, I personally REALLY love the form of Artsy-Electronica presented within 'HD'. It looks like I'm going to have to invest in another special edition..

First of all, let's get this out of the way.. 'HD' isn't just another "Kraftwerkian" homage/album. It's something way beyond that brand of "Smart Techno" in a much more distant future kind of way. If "Pop" music doesn't sound like this by the year 3012 I don't want to live on this planet anymore. I probably won't be alive. ..although my goal of living forever is going pretty good so far, so who knows? ::ahem:: 'HD' starts with a peculiar vocal track that sounds very obscure and peculiar/warming to the nerves (yeah, it sounds weird but trust me). "POP ESHDEEEEE!" From there the tracks stay (and stray) on a path of total robotic submission. The track with Jamie Lidell is pretty smooth, it sort of reminds me of "old school Lidell" aka "perfect Futurist Funk". And the song following that.. "Empty", oh man the message is just so cynical and spot on (LOVE IT.). German IDM through the mind of an Abstract Futurist; Uwe Schmidt you've got my full attention from here on out, please give me more releases just like this.

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: Atom™'s music is meant for quality speakers and/or headphones (please invest!). It's a "short" LP, but really terrific most of the way through. You won't believe what kind of tones and textures you'll pick up if fully immersed. 'HD' is one the best forms of Electronic Intelligent music I've heard in a long time and you'd be a damned fool to not take my word on that. ╠╢╪GԢLӴ RECOMMENDED™.

Standout Tracks: Pop HD, Strom, Empty, Riding The Void (yeah, I imagine it sounding like this), Stop (Imperialist Pop), Ich Bin Meine Maschine

EIC's 10Q's w/ Baths

"..infinite amount of emotions and sounds that blossom and evolve upon multiple listens.."

Baths

Playful-Perceptive Symphonic Individuality

Baths Bio:

  For mercurial L.A. music-maker Will Wiesenfeld, Baths has been a long time coming. The 21-year-old has spent the better part of his days living amidst "pleasant" and "unremarkable" in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley, so perhaps it's due to a general lack of local inspiration that Wiesenfeld's own work has never fit into a prefab box of its own. Over the last six years, under the handle of [Post-Foetus], Wiesenfeld has gainfully explored the intersections and outer reaches of both electronic and acoustic music. With Baths, his eclecticism finds its greatest focus yet, in a hail of lush melodies, ghostly choirs, playful instrumentation and stuttering beats.  Wiesenfeld's trip began at age 4, when he willed his parents into enrolling him in piano lessons. (The family upright, purchased that same year, sits in his bedroom today.) By 13, he'd begun artisting his own music using Digital Performer and a MIDI keyboard - a brief, ill-advised foray into Eurobeat that was set right when Wiesenfeld heard Bjork for the first time. Mind blown, he quickly boned up on viola, contrabass, and guitar and took the name [Post-Foetus], stringing together countless live configurations to execute his increasingly inimitable compositions. [Post-Foetus]' fourth album - a Dntel-ish, song-based melange dubbed The Fabric - was released on Mu-Nest in January.  Though Baths represents the next evolution in Wiesenfeld's oeuvre - which also includes the excellent ambient project Geotic - it came together under nigh-opposite circumstances. Last September, [Post-Foetus] was invited by L.A. electronicist Daedelus to share a bill with a handful of local Beat Music luminaries. Witnessing a burgeoning movement firsthand sparked something in Wiesenfeld that the 'burbs never could. In a fit of inspiration, Baths was born, though not into a preexisting scene. As is to be expected, this music goes its own way: fueled by spontaneity, tempered by Wiesenfeld's background in classic songwriting. Those two influences collide in glorious ways on Cerulean, Baths' stunning debut.

(interview conducted in-person, some paraphrasing will occur)

 
How are you doing, hows the tour going so far?
Will: Pretty good, no hiccups really... Well, in Utah a show got cancelled at the last moment (in support of The Postal Service) for some reason. We showed up to the venue and found out then.. A little bummed out too, I was excited for Morgan to play at this venue:( Stranded in Utah for a day I guess.
 
Speaking of the tour, how did the idea of Morgan (Azeda Booth) joining the live set come up AND (this part's for Morgan) can you please tell us what's up with Azeda Booth (where have you been/what are you doing)?
Will: I was/am obsessed with Azeda Booth. I'm friends with Katie (Braids), Braids is friends with Azeda Booth..
Morgan: Katie referred him to me. I didn't like it. ::with a smile on his face:: I'm competitive by nature, as well as a little cynical. But I trust Katie's judgement and before you knew it this odd but fun/friendly relationship evolved between us. As for Azeda Booth ::pauses:: "frozen", but maybe one day. We live in completely different parts of the world now though..

What are you listening to these days?
Both: Lots and lots of Helios.
 
Whats with the band name, what do you mean by "Baths"?
Will: I like taking baths, don't you? I don't know, I guess I just always liked the sound of it, like "washing yourself clean.."
 
Care to tell me a little bit about the new album; main theme, favorite track, etc.?
Will: I can't pick a favorite track, it's like saying I like one part of the album more than the rest. They're all equal in my mind. The album is mainly about Death, Apathy, Suicide..dark things I suppose. Writing dark is really hard for me too, I'm always in a good mood by nature. I'm not like that at all..

Morgan: The lyrics for this album are woven in dark tones, which I love.

 

Will there be a  "False B-Sides" for 'Obsidian'?
Will: No "False B-Sides" unfortunately, maybe an EP though.. There's still some tracks floating around from the 'Obsidian' sessions that just didn't quite fit with the rest of the album, but still great tracks.
 
I heard you had E. Coli, what was that like and was it ever something your doctor said you may die from?
 Will: E. Coli could've been life threatening, but we caught it "in time". Actually I kept going to multiple doctors trying to figure out why I felt the way I did, none of them could figure it out..until finally, "you've got E. Coli." I could barely eat, let alone get out of bead, it put me in a really bad state, which is of course how I was able to make 'Obsidian'..

What movie would work best on mute while listening to your music?
Will: Princess Mononoke, or anything visual like that, but really, Princess Mononoke.
Morgan: I've never seen that movie.
Both Will & I: You MUST see it.
 
You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Will: ::pauses/contemplating:: Something ambient, I suppose, I don't know..
 Morgan: Azeda Booth, maybe Baths I don't know. ::smiling:: I might use the Baths discs for shooting targets..

Are you living your dream?
Will: I guess. I worked really hard to be where I am, and I feel really fortunate to be here.. Although if I lived on the beach where buff dudes served me fruit all day long I wouldn't complain either.
Morgan: Dreams are weird, life is real.
 

Thanx Will, Morgan, and Marc!

Baths is currently on tour right now, you'd be a fool to miss out on this sonic bliss in-person.. Also, make sure you check out Baths latest release 'Obsidian' ASAP (it's one of 2013's best).

REVIEW: The Black Dog - Tranklements

8.25 out of 10

Find it here.

Listening to The Black Dog is a peculiar experience. While their name is often synonymous with the IDM movement of the early 1990s– and they indeed are among the prominent revolutionaries the genre – their music has always defied simple classification, dwelling in an uncanny space between the luxurious, anthemic Futurist-Funk of Detroit Techno (“Chase the Manhattan”) and the sparse, hypnotic Minimalism of Berlin Techno (“Single Light Focus”). Yet, this has never gave their work a disorienting and alienating affect. In fact, it is precisely because of their ceaseless experimentation that, twenty-four years after their formation, The Black Dog remain a staple of contemporary Electronic music.

On their newest album, 'Tranklements' – their first since 2011's 'Liber Dogma' –, The Black Dog extend their idiosyncratic style into even more uncharted territories. Present here are some of the  streamlined qualities reminiscent of their earlier, more conventional work: the tightly looped 4/4 sequences (“Pray Crash II”), the gauzing melodies (“First Cut”), and the softly reverberant beats (“Internal Collapse”). But more often than not these elements form the backdrop; driving the greatest moments here are the subtle micro-tonal experimentations. Most songs begin with a single rhythmic theme, off of which builds a well-disciplined economy of sounds that tease apart any sense of linearity or progression.  “Hymn for SoYo” opens with an unrefined organ melody, which over four minutes is slowly recessed and submerged against layers of clicks, fuzzes, and colliding half-sequenced arpeggios. “Spatchka” features free-flowing synth melodies, moving in and out until converging into stunning harmonies. There are moments that these experimentations feel ultimately out of place and disruptive – like the four arhythmic and amelodic “Bolt” tracks, ranging from 0:20 to 1:18, which cancel out any sense of coherence in comparison to the rest of the album – but overall this album's daring inventiveness is nothing but sweet candy to the ears.
 

This music crawls underneath your skin, and pulses through your body. It infects your senses, and transports you straight back onto those dance floors when Techno still felt fresh and exciting –  a feeling rarely achieved by most artists of the genre today. Highly recommended.

Standout Tracks: First Cut, Spatchka, Hymn For SoYo, Atavistic Resurgence

EIC's 10Q's w/ Adventure

"..through a dense-mysterious audial jungle seeping in Ambient IDM/Machine-esque Dance music.."

Adventure

Electronic Enterprise

Adventure Bio:

Since moving to Baltimore in 2007 with the encouragement of his friends Dan Deacon, OCDJ, and Videohippos, Benny Boeldt has made three full-length albums as Adventure and toured extensively with his own music and as a member of the Dan Deacon Ensemble. A U.S. tour with labelmate Toro Y Moi in the spring of 2011 was a fitting way to celebrate that season’s release of Lesser Known, Adventure’s second album for Carpark and its first album of pop songs. Adventure’s third LP is Weird Work, to be released in April 2013.  Weird Work is an extension of the world Boeldt created with Lesser Known, but without that record’s use of electronic pop elements such as vocal melodies and lyrics. It’s a new album of Adventure’s signature 8-bit-infused IDM. According to Boeldt, making Weird Work was about finding himself in his music again, and celebrating the act of creation. The album “is about being awkward, and anxious,” Boeldt says. “Ugly yet beautiful. Most of all, this record is about working hard, and cherishing any and all time left aside for creative endeavor.”  Boeldt grew up in Durham, North Carolina and attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. The school’s slogan, “Tomorrow starts here,” is an apt descriptor for Adventure’s music, which sounds both futuristic and of-the-moment. At ECU, he studied painting and drawing alongside friends and fellow future Baltimore residents Future Islands. It was here that Boeldt first developed an interest in writing and composing electronic music.

Hello, how are you?

Good thanks..

What are you currently listening to?

Nobukazu Takemura, Patsy Cline, Narwalz Of Sound

Is there a story behind the band name?

It's like I'm on a musical "Adventure". It never had anything to do with the video game Adventure. I can barely remember coming up with the name. I wanted to change it for the longest time. Now I really like it.

Care to shed some light on your latest release 'Weird Work'; theme, favorite track, etc?

I was going through a bout of depression, so I had a psychedelic session, which taught me a lesson. So I dropped everything I was doing at the time and immediately started working on a new record. Without focusing on the outcome of what would be created. The theme is feeling surrounded by constant commotion day and night, compounded by an added layer of mental distress, with a rare moment of brilliance shining through here and there.

It sounds like it may have been influenced by Aphex Twin a bit, would you agree?

Aphex Twin has definitely been an influence, but there are also many others.

Do you plan on touring the US extensively for said release?

There are no tours in the works as of yet. Hoping that there will be soon. I would like to be on the road all the time. Still need help on that end.

Got any other projects we should know about?

Before starting on 'Weird Work', I was collaborating with Baltimore synth creator Karl Ekdahl on some Synth Pop tracks.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?

Destroy All Monsters

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?

Thin Lizzy's 'Jail Break'

Are you living your dream?

In a sense. But that doesn't mean life isn't an everyday struggle.

Thanx Benny & Matthew!

Adventure recently released his sophomore album 'Weird Work', make sure to check that out as soon as you can...

REVIEW: Adventure - Weird Work

7.25 out of 10

Find it here.

It was only 2 years ago that Benny Boeldt (Adventure) released 'Lesser Known'. I thought still think that album is pretty catchy, unfortunately it went "slightly unnoticed" (I didn't hear enough about it anyways). That same year I had the luck of seeing Adventure open for Toro Y Moi (terrific show BTW) and their live set was pretty amazing. It definitely gave me a stronger respect level for the craft work that goes into making some of Adventure's beats. It's so hard to tell who's "all computers" these days and who still uses external (3D/real-life) hardware, Adventure is the real deal.

On 'Weird Work' Adventure directs us through a dense-mysterious audial jungle seeping in Ambient IDM/Machine-esque Dance music. The transition from his last album to this "makes sense", but I am still quite shocked from the difference in-tones. 'Lesser Known' was more warm Indie-Electronic, whereas 'Weird Work' is good/honest IDM music with a certain "Lo-Fi" quality that I just love. To put it simply; you know those $h!%%y DVD players called 'Apex'? Add an "h" somewhere in there, have two of the same exact thing that were manufactured at the same exact time and that's what this album reminds me of. There's something sincere about simple-effective mechanics that really goes over well between my headphones.

(I) (D)on't (M)ind music like this at all..

Standout Tracks: Days Off, Flower, Alone (songs like these made me wish I has synesthesia), Constantly, Catching Up, Happiness (indeed)

Check into (x2) Deadbeat Synesthete and Flint Kids..

&

I recently stumbled across Deadbeat Synesthete from this really terrific (FREE) compilation called 'Ingwaz'. DS's sounds are somewhere between classic/catchy Space Gaze meets modern/synthesized Chill Wave. Flint Kids are an Electronic duo driving Power Noise head first into some Dark IDM. This is exactly how I like my "noisy meets mechanical". Both of these artists deserve your full attention right now.

EIC's 10Q's w/ Grischa Lichtenberger

"..disects-destroys..the most complex factory-assembled sounding Industrial-Ambient beat-patterns that I've ever heard.."

Grischa Lichtenberger

[ǝƃɐɯı˙ǝʌoqɐ˙ǝǝs]

Grischa Lichtenberger Bio:

Grischa Lichtenberger was born in Bielefeld 1983. In 2009 he released his debut EP ~treibgut ununbium on german label Raster-Noton. ~treibgut - a system of references to the river Rhein - operated as a motto for varied expressions: installations, videos, music, painting and drawings. Beginning in 2006, while moving to Düsseldorf, Lichtenberger decided to rethink the artistic process from scratch - it's ethical legitimization and it's epistemological backgrounds - all in regard to the concreteness of the biographical situation in its landscape and history.  Since 2008 Grischa Lichtenberger lives in Berlin. With the new "supertitle" andyrchie iv he tries to proceed the idea or revaluating the reference to landscape as "the place we live in".   Lichtenberger’s focus is not only the musical expression, but the process of creating art in general. Always regarding the complexity and difficulties of communication and material referenciality, he seeks to overcome the dominance of functional interpretations, while maintaining an open access to technology and production. The archive of samples and fragments of overcome and discarded technological artefacts and everyday livestock is enabled by an ethical figure, wherein art is to address and regard the other, without economizing or confining them.

Hello, how are you?

I'm fine, thank you.

What are you currently listening to? 

Right now I'm listening to Talk Talk's 'Spirit Of Eden'. I had it for years as a tape recording until recently a friend gave it to me on vinyl.

Whom or what are your biggest influences when it comes to sculpting your sound?

I think concerning the sculpturing process of sound my biggest influence is my brother, I have to say. Because it was from him that I've learned how the most standard effects and processing machines work.

Care to tell us a little bit about your latest release 'And IV (Inertia)', theme, likes/dislikes, etc.?

Well, I worked on it for about 2 years and it concerns an indirect reflection of the new circumstances I was in, when I moved to Berlin. It consists of 21 tracks I kind of like. Sorry, I don't know what to say really. There are so many things I could tell, but on the other hand I don't want to put anyone's nose on it. It's just up to the listener how much he wants to connect I guess.

Any plans to tour the US for said release?

I would love to go - but it depends on the finances and the interest.

Got any other projects we should know about?

I'm still working on the idea, that I'm running one project which is my live or my work in a way. Right now I have finished a small film about a chimney sweeper-tool and I'm preparing my art-history exam on the late Braque, thinking about Benjamin's idea of history and an idea for a theory of un-economic work, try to get hold of my archive of unfinished drawings and paintings of this year, some remixes, some experiments with tools... nothing and anything particularly interesting. If you might like to explore you are very much invited to check out my homepage.

Speaking of other projects, in a dream world if you could choose any artist (dead or alive) to record an album with whom would it be?

Whoa, difficult question. Maybe - I try to not spoil the joke of the question to much - but I'd love to work with Shostakovich. I think in some weird sense he might have something to add to computer made music. I recently discoverd a piano version of "Preludium and Fugue 4" played by Richter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KStjdclOpzI) the recording is crappy and I don't really mind the fugue but the prelude... There is this most delicate sense of reduction and decision I'm really hypnotized by at the moment. I would love to be able just to see him working for some hours (through a keyhole, without concerning him) or to record secretly some improvisation he might do on a new theme he is developing.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?

I often work along with muted movies or documentaries, just as a distraction or a comforting thing. Mostly I prefer "not-so storybound" films for that purpose: landscapes, history/documentaries, city-scapes, character studies maybe. But it could work somehow with any movie in that sense - the music somehow just switches the meaning of the pictures. It could even work well running a fictive channel of muted advertising. But maybe the best movie would be on, if you put the music in your headphones or your car and move through old almost forgotten parts of your hometown or where ever you grew up.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?

Another "pick your favorite.." question. I'm not very good with that. Hmm... so I think the most un-disturbing thing would be some recordings of my own, so the time slope wouldn't matter to much.

Are you living your dream?

No, I keep waking up. I'm still working on it. Honestly, I've been motivated by dreams very much and still take them kind of seriously, but I never considered dreams as kind of a better world idea or wishes of a better me - I see them more like an alteration of reality  and by this I mean it wouldn't really matter to just change the sides and live the dream, while dreaming your live.

Thanx Jens & Grischa!

Grischa Lichtenberger is currently laying low as well as playing a few rare live sets here and there, one day he will hopefully make it across the pond...

REVIEW: Grischa Lichtenberger - And IV (Inertia)

9 out of 10

Find it here.

Buzzzzzzzzzz-thump-clap-echo-drilling-synth-white-noise-all-in-unison breathing life/existing because of the others existence. Grischa Lichtenberger's 'And IV (Inertia)' is an intimate look into a very complex machine (machine being man..maybe).

I'm not sure what the purpose of the device is (if it isn't droid related), nor do I think I could comprehend it, but one thing is very certain; it's very menacing. Ambient-IDM/Glitch-Factory Noise is a unique art from that not many people have mastered (Autechre, Aphex Twin, Ben Frost to name a few), but every once in a while an artist comes along that just floors me. It tears my conscience thoughts a part and re-forms them into it's own entity. Grischa Lichtenberger is a master mind coordinator of sounds, 'And IV (Inertia)' is his opus (and it's only his second release thus far--this guy is going to be massive). It's his first official LP for Raster Noton (whom you know is home to some of THE best electronic artists out there), it only makes sense that he would call RN his home (a good pairing indeed). Mr. Lichtenberger creates field recordings from his own environment, he then disects-destroys, and pastes them back together in one of the most complex factory-assembled sounding Industrial-Ambient beat-patterns that I've ever heard. Im sorry, I wish I could speak more intelligently about Grischa's sound, but I don't think any amount of thesaurus-ing could bring justice to how f^&*ing brilliant this is. Grischa, where have you been all my life?

Hey Chris Cunningham, I've got a new project for you.. THIS-IS-ABSOLUTELY-ESSENTIAL.

Standout Tracks: AlLlL-ESPECIALLY; 1110_01_Lv_1b (on repeat), 1210_08_Lv_4+, 1011_27_# 5b, Rearr Re, 0611_29_1b (the transition from this track to the next--yes.), 1011_22_Lv_1b, 0311_01 Re 0510_24, Ssfl (so peaceful)