Nacht Plank - Alien

Carpe Sonum Records: 2016

I’ve dabbled a bit into the music of the man behind the moniker of Nacht Plank, one Lee Norris. He’s one half of my introduction to Carpe Sonum proper, Moss Garden’s In The Silence Of The Subsconscious, plus he’s paired up with a couple other names I’m familiar with (Mick Chillage as Autumn Of Communion, Ishq as Ishqmatics). Yet that’s barely scratching the surface of this man’s total output. As Nacht Plank alone, Alien is something like his fifteenth LP, not to mention a half-dozen assorted collaborative albums along the way. Then there’s another dozen or so albums as Metamatics, a bushel-full of material as Norken, and a couple items under his own name as well. The man is remarkably prolific, is what I’m sayin’, and to just casually walk into an album like this one is extremely difficult. Dammit Jim-Bones, I need more musical foundation to work with if I’m to tackle Alien proper-like. How can I know whether all this abstract, minimalist ambient experimentation is the long-term Nacht Plank stylee, or just some flight of exploratory fancy on Mr. Norris’ part?

Actually, judging from his prior work, I’m pretty sure the analog experimentation is the Nacht Plank modus operani. The name alone has me thinking along the lines of Mille Plateaux or Raster-Noton material, and a quick dabbling of his earlier efforts under the moniker reveals plenty of ‘challenging’ sounds. Heck, Alien at times comes off rather nice and soothing compared to the audio assault I heard off my samplings of Broad Tape Band, though remaining firmly in the realm of abstract weirdness as such a title warrants.

What this album mostly reminds me of is the electronic sound experiments of krautrock, which isn’t too surprising considering Mr. Norris makes use of actual gear (“no computers used” the inlay proudly proclaims). Opener Arrive has me thinking of Phaedra-era Tangerine Dream with its outworld atmosphere, while follow-up Clone uses intermittent sci-fi effects as a lazy, soft synth worms and oozes about a sparse setting. Some tracks are rather short, like the gentle tones of Comune and noodly muted pads of Peace. Others reach for significant lengths in the double-digit mark, Re Kreation being the longest of the bunch at over thirteen minutes of droning tones and distant field recordings, plus a touch of Moog diddling towards the end. Closer Vision clocks in at just under twelve minutes, and has the only thing resembling a rhythm on here, what with its bobbing pulses laid underneath droning, minimalist pads. This is explored further into electro territory with a Bandcamp bonus remix (Vision (Quick Thinking)), another lengthy number at over fourteen minutes. It’s interesting, but definitely much too chipper compared to the moody tone the rest of Alien cultivates. I accept its download bonus status.

This is hardly an easy album to get into, but I doubt Nacht Plank is the sort of project with doe-eyed dance music fans in mind. If you dig ‘70s weirdness though, give Alien a try.

Si Matthews - Tales Of Ten Worlds

Carpe Sonum Records: 2015

I feel like I’ve seen Si Matthews’ name all over the place these past couple years, but the interwebs suggests otherwise. He has scant presence with Lord Discogs, barely any mention with Last.fm, and a rather minimal amount of Soundcloud uploads. If we’re gauging based on musical output alone (which I typically do), he’s among the most obscure ambient techno artists currently out there. Yet I don’t get that sense from Mr. Matthews at all, not one bit. What gives?

Apparently Tales Of Ten Worlds has been floating around in some capacity for about a decade now, initially being sent to Fax +49-69/450464 as a demo. Given the label’s insane rate of output, I’ve no doubt many aspiring producers inspired by Pete Namlook’s seminal print sent him material for consideration. It’s somewhat surprising then, that Mr. Kaulmann passed on Si Matthews’ demo, though his reasoning was sound enough. FAX+, y’see, just wasn’t doing the sort of spacey, minimalist ambient techno as offered here anymore. Then again, no one was supporting this sound in the mid-‘00s, at least with any significant promotion behind them. It’d be at least another half-decade before the calling allure of old-school ambient techno started its retro return within scene discourse. That didn’t stop whispers circulating among FAX+ die-hards though, of a mint, vintage sounding album existing, one that could have been deemed a new classic if Papa Pete hadn’t passed on it. And while Tales Of Ten Worlds would still likely never have had a second chance with Namlook’s label (just not jazzy enough?), someone would probably have picked it up eventually if Mr. Matthews found the right print to give it a shot. Fortunately for Si, Carpe Sonum Records filled that need in branding itself as the spiritual successor to FAX+, including releasing music that adhered to the label’s ‘90s style. Enter ancient quote about patience being a virtue.

Obviously then, if you’ve a hankering for ambient techno of old, you’ll dig Tales Of Ten Worlds. This is some truly classic sounding stuff, the likes of which had mostly fallen out of style as the ‘90s wound down. In some ways, I’m not sure it’s significantly rebounded yet, but clearly there’s enough of a market now that this album ranked high among many Best Of Ambient lists for 2015. And deservedly so, synth pad melodies exploring the cosmic bizarre while grounding the listener with soft rhythms and ethereal sequencers. Some are mysterious and subtle in composition (World 1, World 3, World 5), others are more peppy and benign (World 2, World 8). There’s moody ten-plus minute long pieces (World 4, World 7), plus brief sonic doodles (World 6, World 10). And what ambient techno album would be complete without a melding of all this in World 9?

Maybe not the most detailed description above, but Tales Of Ten Worlds doesn’t require much. It’s a modest collection of uncomplicated tracks, with enough personality to stand distinct and unique in a contemporary scene. Top tales all told, then.

Mick Chillage - Saudade

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

Finally, ambient music on a label that's not Psychonavigation Records, care of a producer who got his start ...on Psychonavigation Records. *sigh* There's no escaping it, is there. I know Carpe Sonum fancies themselves the spiritual successor to Fax +49-69/450464, but it seems Keith Downey’s Label That Will is fast becoming the ambient-leaning print that everyone’s contributed to at some point in their career. Whether getting their start or chipping in for a track or remix, Psychonavigation’s built up quite the pedigree now. Hell, I only ‘discovered’ them because an old-schooler released his latest album there (Oliver Lieb, yo’). How long before I see Banco de Gaia or AstroPilot crop up on the Dublin label?

Hey, sorry for that totally unrelated tangent. We’re here to discuss a Carpe Sonum Records release, not the myriad ways other labels make their rep’. Of course, this print makes no secret of its love regarding Namlook’s old works, and as Mick Chillage was one of Fax+’s final artists (including the pairing with Moss Garden member Lee Norris as Autumn Of Communion), it’s only natural they’d come knocking with requests for an album. Or he made the offer himself. Or maybe a combination of both. Like, he certainly didn’t have to release on Carpe Sonum, Mr. Chillage (Mr. Gainford to the Ireland Office of Data) having albums out on a number of prints (...txt, Databloem, Anodize, self-release). Still, if that mega Namlook tribute box-set deal taught us anything, it’s there’s a lot of residual love for the Fax+ legacy, and having something proper on the label continuing it is only appropriate.

Ol’ Mick has dabbled in various forms of ambient and chill-out music (clearly), but Saudade is about as full-on ambient as you’ll likely ever hear from the chap. The first three tracks (Over Ingia, North Scape, Yakone) go the minimalist, droning route, with two of these compositions quite lengthy in the process. As the titles suggest, these are also rather cold, barren pieces, very much evoking the sort of vistas you’d expect from frozen wastes. Yeah, whether it’s cover art or song titles, Chillage doesn’t skimp on the ‘chill’ metaphors in his music. There’s a little amount of spritely synth in Over Ingia, like the glittering gleam off ice-covered landforms, but we don’t get much else beyond pure tone-setting drone.

At nearly seventeen-minutes in length, Solitude makes for an obvious centrepiece track on Saudade. Such a runtime offers Chillage time to go through icy bleak drone through faded, melancholic melody and back to lonesome drone again. That’s followed upon by big, bright synths in Altesch, bolder astral ambient with Ophir Aurora, and sequenced minimalism to close with Fall, ending the album on a very Berlin-School tip.

Despite being inundated with an over-abundance of ambient these past few weeks, it’s hard not to recommend Saudade as another essential addition to any fans of the genre. What’s remarkable is this is but the ‘tip of the iceberg’ (*groan*) of Chillage’s repertoire of cool (*slap*).

Gabriel Le Mar - Stripped

Le Mar Production/Carpe Sonum Records: 2013/2015

I've seen many variations of the 'in dub' album over the years, but this is the first I've seen the process being called 'stripped'. I suppose there’s a distinction between the two: dub remix albums are all about giving original tracks spacious room, drawing a few specific elements out, almost always on the low end of things. A stripped track, I assume, takes things more in a minimal route, retaining the core musical ideas while removing any extraneous effects and fluff from the original. I honestly don't know though, this album being my only exposure to what a stripped album might be. It could simply just refer to the fact every cut is beatless, as the sub-title of each track states.

Given the idiosyncratic nature of Gabriel Le Mar’s discography, it’s not surprising he’d give some of his music the ol’ rework. Born with a last name of Mastichidis, his early career saw him flit between various forms of techno, ambient, psy, and world beat, all with a dubby bent. He’s also worked with a few well regarded groups like Saafi Brothers and Aural Float, and Lord Discogs is telling me I’ve had Gabriel Le Mar tracks since the year 2000. Wow, I had no idea, though listening back, those were the more dope cuts from that Ambient Dub compilation (which, for the record, has no ambient on it). Since then, he’s also apparently dabbled in breaks, progressive house, trance, tech-house, electro… geez, Lord Discogs, are you on the level here? What hasn’t this guy done?

A ‘stripped’ album, until now. Originally digitally self-released a couple years back, Carpe Sonum Records has given Stripped the physical format treatment, as they do for many folks featured on Fax +49-69/450464 at some point (yeah, ol’ Gabs has even collaborated with Namlook). Going by the info provided by The Lord That Knows All, at least half of these tracks have previously been released on other recent digi-albums from Mr. Mastichidis, though I’m assuming in an un-stripped form. Since Discogs’ record keeping of MP3 and WAV albums isn’t as comprehensive, the same could be true for the rest. Then again, having an original track called The Beat (Beatless) is the sort of cheekiness any producer can’t resist for a concept like this.

For the most part, Stripped goes the dub techno route, with nary a kick drum in earshot. This leaves some tracks coming off like builds that never reach an expectant climax (Deep State (Beatless), Auf Dem Wind Davon (Beatless), Firecracker (Beatless)), whereas others are quite content cruising in a techno simmer (Lectron III (Beatless), Paddy Fields (Beatless), Far Out Of Reach (Beatless), Dreamtechnologies (Beatless)). And though each track keeps to its promise of being beatless, there’s never any lost rhythm, a rather ample amount of Detroit funk flowing throughout. Only two tracks, iGeorge (Beatless) and Deepulse (Beatless), tread anywhere near proper ambient waters. This all makes for very interesting techno, though strictly a genre-savvy option if you’re down for groovy dub.

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD8)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

And finally we've come to the end of Die Welt Ist Klang. Not as bad of a slog as I feared going in. Heck, I wouldn't mind returning to a few of these CDs in another week or two after letting them sit fallow from my memory. Can't say that for many other box sets I own, much less collections of music running near the one-hundred mark (I haven’t played anything from The Electro Compendium since January 2013, and I like electro!). It's just too much for this soul to take, and my mind boggles at the thought of super-hardcore fans subsisting of nothing but FAX material. There's a reason Pete Namlook's label dwindled in prominence as the years went on – many ears were more than sated even by the turn of the century.

Yet, despite so many artists contributing to Carpe Sonum's epic turbo-hyper tribute, I must list a few names I'm disappointed didn't show up. Call it a sense of completion even on something as comprehensive as this box set. Here we go... Mixmaster Morris. Klaus Schulze. Uwe Schmidt. Christian Thier. Pussylover. Aphex Twin. Brian Eno. Steve Roach. Alex Paterson. Kraftwerk. Jimmy Cauty. Banco de Gaia. Phil Wilde. Neil F’n Young. Anyone from Ultimae. Anyone from Nashville, Tennessee. A humpback whale. Okay, some of these are just wishful thinking, but imagine the possibilities, eh? I'm sure Mr. Kaulmann would have encouraged you to.

Enough of that. After seven CDs of ambient, ambient techno, chill-out breaks, and a little trance too, what sort of music will Carpe Sonum take us out with for the final disc? By going back to ambient it seems, though more of an old-school flavour than CD5 went. After all, CD4 had all the outlier genres, and as the back-half of Die Welt Ist Klang is intended to mirror the front-half, it’s only natural for CD8 to get a little Berlin-Schoolie on our ears. There’s even an air of modern classical with Mass Roman’s Everyone Has It Now and Ceder’s Moog model D aC final (live take #6). No jazz, though.

I must admit many of these tracks have me thinking of many older acts. Metasonica’s Eternal Return sounds like its getting its mojo from Enigma. Terra Ambient’s Unfertig ohne Sie feels more appropriate for a New Age shop (though a tasteful one). Boreal Taiga & 3Music’s Piap-Bai could be a handy contribution to that Twin Peaks relaunch. The Garwin Project’s Solar is so Pink Floyd, I totally see Dick Perry in the studio despite the lack of a saxophone solo.

And then there are the final two tracks. After eighty-nine pieces of music, these have to be your money shot, the lasting impression of a Pete Namlook tribute. The second-to-last goes to James Lewin, an unknown to Lord Discog’s mighty well of knowledge, providing a minimalist, haunting piece of drone. It’s followed by Stormloop’s Snowdrift, where twelve minutes of widescreen ambient pads and synth washes shimmer and cascade like you’re in... well, y’know.

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD7)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

Seven discs in, and one thing’s remarkably never faltered throughout this whole box-set: music quality. I’d expect nothing less from the first half, where musicians with tons of experience and skill made up the bulk – even the weird, abstract ones were interesting on a conceptual level. I won’t deny having some hesitation before diving into this back-half though, what with so many unfamiliar names to my eyes. When further sleuthing of Die Welt Ist Klang revealed a number of these acts were contributing music for the first time (as Lord Discogs has decreed), I suspected some dip in craftsmanship had to arise. Yet here we are, CD seven of eight, and nary a drop. This consistently high quality of music wasn’t some fluke of chance with submissions though; rather, it was culled by way of voting, with the crème of the crop arriving at the top. Can’t find much fault with that process. Maybe a bit too ‘homage’ compared to the originality of the first four discs, but then that’s the point of these last four discs anyway, so no blame.

That all said, I must admit the ‘listening fatigue’ did start settling in by CD7. It isn’t as bad as I suffered with The Electro Compendium - after seventy tracks of nothing but sinister electro, I felt like a robot. Die Welt Ist Klang holds my sanity enough through some diversity of genres, though given this is a Pete Namlook tribute, even that only goes so far. Mr. Kaulmann was known for a certain sound throughout his career, and by g’ar these producers are gonna’ honor that legacy, even if it means grinding the same general tone for a few hours’ worth of music. If you’re only now joining my OCD coverage of this box set, do unlike I and only listen to these CDs in occasional spurts, not all at once. You’ll appreciate these tunes more. Now, onto CD7.

Oh man, there’s more fun stuff here! Once again, the tempo is given an additional nudge, opening with a chipper ambient breaks beast running thirteen minutes in length (almost progressive breaks, really). It’s followed with a similar, subdued tune from Si Matthews, then goes total old-school trance on Music Hypnotizes from Gianni Parrini & Twoplusone! Okay, the rhythm’s more prog, but that high-pitched synth hook is right out of German trance’s playbook of 1993. It’s cheesy, but man does it ever tickle that nostalgia lobe – no surprise these guys are from that era.

In fact, quite a few names on CD7 have a wealth of material listed at Lord Discogs (Johan Agebjörn, Interconnected, Autumus) along with relative newcomers (Sven Kössler, Suit & Tie Guy), all offering variations of electro, chilled-out IDM, and ambient techno. Special mention must be made to Michael Brückner though, who’s apparently self-released around one-hundred albums of ambient and Berlin-School synth works in the last two decades! Holy cow, talk about a kindred spirit to Namlook. Get this man his own deserved box-set.

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD6)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

Ambient’s about the journey, but sometimes it’s nice knowing where we’re going too. I’m a busy guy, and though the local gardens are pleasant diversions, this hair ain’t gonna’ cut itself. Thus, we leave the meandering synth works of CD5, and unto CD6, where there’s all manner of barber shops. Gosh, that was a strained metaphor. I think my subconscious is telling me something. Ah yes, my coif doth needs a cut. Also, coming up with new ways of starting each of these reviews for Die Welt Ist Klang is getting ever more difficult. By the end of this one, I’ll have spent three-thousand words detailing this box set, with another two CDs to go. Unless there’s an individual even more obsessive than I spending the same amount of words on each individual track, you’re likely not finding a lengthier review of Pete Namlook’s tribute. At what point does this venture turn into ‘quantity-over-quality’ though? Maybe it already has, given the opening of this paragraph.

Anyhow, as was the case with the first half, the back half of Die Welt Ist Klang opts for a gradual increase in tempo. Unlike CD2, however, things get rather brisk in CD6, even entering trance’s domain by track six! And no, this isn’t like earlier in the box set, where trance was more hinted than executed. Steve Hanlon’s Freefloating has the burbling acid, arpgeggios, hypnotic pads, and simple rhythms that earned many an old-school track duty on trance compilations. Following that, VAAST’s Syzygy has many similar attributes, while including other touches like soft, dubby atmospherics and gentle piano flourishes. And following that, Mia Rischmann’s Travels strips things down to a subtle, trance pulse that wouldn’t sound out of place on an old Laurent Garnier EP; or even a Fax +49-69/450464 collection, come to think of it. Call these melodic techno or ‘deep house’ if you must, but this is the sound of trance I’ve long associated with Namlook’s label. When he wasn’t doing the earlier hard acid bangers at least.

I should also mention these three artists currently have nary a presence at Lord Discogs, and they’re not alone in their, um, lonliness. Jason Hissong (ambient techno) and Michael & Spider (ethno’ psychedelic ambient) have absolutely nothing beyond Die Welt Ist Klang. A couple others have an EP or two under their belt (and if Mark T. Warren’s widescreen ambient dub Spin Cycle is anything to go by, one of the big chill labels had better snag this guy up post-haste!), but some veteran names from as far back as the ‘90s show up too. Within Reason (meditative chill-out), I’ve already covered, though he went by Open Canvas for that album. There’s also a curious group called Drøn (clicky, dubby downtempo), and Ben Zonneveld, who some trance heads might remember as one-half of Orientalist (of Tron microfame) – his track Liberation Through Hearing sounds an awful lot like Silence’s Omid/Hope, though at only a quarter the length. Mmm, tasty bite-sized ambient doodling.

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD5)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

With many musical collaborators, associates, and influences wrapped up in four CDs, where else could Carpe Sonum Records go with their Pete Namlook tribute box-set mega-ganza? Why, a showcase of all the artists Mr. Kaulmann's had influence upon, of course, with another four CDs worth doing the deed. It can't be denied he's had an impact on a lot of ambient noodling wibblers and ambient techno knob twiddlers, so when word spread of a tribute collection, several producers outside the old FAX alumni piped up they'd be interested in providing music to the project. The fact things bloated out to ninety-one tracks across eight CDs may seem excessive, but I wouldn't be surprised if what we have for Die Welt Ist Klang isn't even half of what Carpe Sonum could have included. Also, instead of doing something silly like 'covering' Namlook compositions, these are all originals. Ha, take that, Cleopatra Records!

I should mention from here on out, my familiarity with the remaining artists fast approaches nil. Even Lord Discogs won’t be terribly helpful, many names relatively new to His mighty knowledge. Hell, on CD5 alone, some has this set as their lone entry (mamonu, Ray Rod In Sun Age), while others have a mere additional track or EP appearing elsewhere. Of course, in this age of Bandcamp releases, Soundcloud exclusives, and music sharing with online communities, a producer can have a wealth of experience and compositional background before ever landing anything with a format Lord Discogs recognizes as official. The ambient and drone scene in particular is notorious for its limitless amount of laptop writers. How on earth Carpe Sonum came about deciding these eleven acts for CD5, I can’t imagine. No, I won’t toss about wild theories; this is a tribute to Pete Namlook, dang’it, so happy, respectful feelings, yo’.

Since we’re now taking in a different perspective with the Namlook influences, it’s only appropriate that Die Welt Ist Klang starts featuring the extreme outlier genres- hah, no, we’re back in ambient’s realm again. Mostly it’s soft, meditative stuff (Jacob Newman & Devin Underwood’s Day Stretch, Veil Of Alchemy’s Sea Of Transcendence, Guides’ Flood) and dubby drone (Illuminum’s Principles Of Life, Bubble’s Ashes, mamonu’s So Long And Thanks For All The Chill...). Some go for the expansive layers of synths (Tha Silent Partner’s Tongue) while others choose the subtle road instead (Bing Satellites’ Caterpillar Dance, Ecoutez’ Just In A ...). And finally, the honoured elder of this CD, Sense (Adam Raisbeck, who’s been releasing music since the long-ago year of 2001), teams up with Jesse Somfay in a thirteen-plus minute piece that dabbles in much of the above. No wonder they titled it 3 Songs (Forever).

If most of these names are hopelessly obscure to your eyes, I warned you we were leaving familiar ground (if they’re not, holy cow!). I honestly wouldn’t blame ya’ if you tuned out for the remaining three discs, but who knows, you may discover some cool new names worth following.

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD4)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

Scratch what I said at the end of the previous review. Here's where we find our offering of old-school trance, at the start of CD4! Pino &Wildjamin's Some Filter For Namlook has gated synths, subtle acid tweakage, minor key melodies, and even bleepy sci-fi arpeggios. Yeah, they use an electro break for their rhythm, and the track was originally from 1995, but dammit, it's the closest thing I've heard to any sort of vintage German trance in the box set, so I'm counting it. Honestly though, this probably should have been on CD3, were it not for the forced compromise of limited space on such antiquated technology. Playing Die Welt Ist Klang as a digital playlist of music, Some Filter For Namlook follows quite smoothly from Glitch's Kick The Habit. Oh, and about that track, turns out it was a remastered 1994 cut, hence the classic vibes I got off it. It’s difficult back-checking every single track in the FAX catalogue, y’know.

Some Filter For Namlook is also something of an outlier for CD4. The artists that make up this disc are primarily the artsy abstract sorts that cared little for house, techno, or even ambient. As ol’ Pete’s muse grew ever more restless in years following his ‘90s breakout, he started branching out into psychedelic rock, jazzy futurism, cinematic orchestrations, and throwback musique concrete. Not so much his own output, mind you, but he did take on such musicians within the Fax +49-69/450464 fold. The only name I recognize out of this bunch is Move D, who’s Regentropfen (Reprise) is all sorts of druggy jazz sludge. And yes, Mr. Moufang gets two solo tracks on this collection. Twenty-plus albums with Namlook!

I can’t deny CD4 is an interesting disc, but only as far as you’re willing to indulge the most extreme of music expressionism. Some of it goes for the New Berlin school of krautrock experiments (Aerial Service Area’s Cloud 2, Nikolaus Heyduck’s Lago Largo, Ludwig Rehberg’s Pink Pearl), others for improvised tonal harmony with pianos, taiko drums, and woodblocks (okay, only Hane’s Dazwischen). There’s some really naff jazz on here too, Sprya’s Sodbrennen sounding like a preloaded keyboard demo – at least that one’s only three minutes long.

And then there’s the plain ol’ weirdness. Victor Sol plays metal resonance in Gong #1, and Oskar Sala spits white noise and reverberating blips and bleeps in Anwendung Elektronischer Musik Für Den Film Von Oskar Sala. Wait, didn’t he start this electronic music shit; and this the thanks I give? I don’t think he ever worked with Namlook or on FAX, but you cannot deny the influence he undoubtedly had on a young Kaulmann.

In comparison, the surrounding tracks aren’t quite so leftfield. Gate Zero does dubby, chill trip-hop with The Ache, Burhan Öçal’s Seyh'in Rüyasi sounds like it belongs on a Six Degrees Records compilation, and Bardo Thödol lays echoing prog guitar over gentle braindance beats. Man, after all this, where else can Die Welt Ist Klang take us?

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD3)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

Of all the discs in this box set, CD3 has the highest ratio of artists I'm familiar with. That isn't an impressive stat, if I'm honest, as nearly everyone following this one is entirely new to my eyes. You'd think someone with a music collection nearing the four-digit mark should know a more than this. 'Tis not so, my knowledge but a mote of dust in the impossibly vast realm that is Pete Namlook's Influence. I'm not even sure whether these are all new names or scene veterans that have burbled in obscurity for all this time – guess I'll find out when I deal with their discs. Meanwhile, let's have a gander at the 'techno' CD of Die Welt Ist Klang.

First up is Thomas P. Heckmann. You might know him from such labels as Mille Plateaux, Wavescape, and the charming Acid Fuckers Unite. If you’re worth your techno salt at all though, you know him as Drax. For his offering to Namlook’s legacy, he gives us Ode To A Friend, sounding not a touch out of a 1974 krautrock album. Wait, what? Oh, right, talented producer makes music across tons of genres. That’s a running theme with a lot of these Namlook and Fax +49-69/450464 associates, isn’t it? Speaking of, second tune here is from Biosphere, though it’s one of his early demos sent to Mr. Kaulmann way back when, before they hooked up for Fires Of Ork. Holy cow, you guys, it’s Microgravity-era Biosphere! Robot voices! Bleepy techno! Rave-house groove! Long time fans have waited an age to hear something like this from Geir Jensenn again.

Following that, it’s Pascal F.E.O.S., most famous for being one-half of Resistance D., but having made plenty of music on his own too. His track is called Sax On Dub, and it’s... Balearic chill-out? Huh, are we getting any techno on this disc? Not if Oliver Lieb can help it, treating us to a tune that might have once been an Into Deep outtake. Man, the final run of tunes from CD2 was more techno than this. Where’s, like, Anthony Rother when you need him – he made music for Fax+, right? Right, so here’s Anthony Rother’s See Beyond, though more sinister EBM than robotic electro as you’d expect of the guy. It’s XJacks’ Acidbob that finally gives us a proper techno cut, all old-school acid weirdness with a little 808 cowbell for good measure.

A couple more names I recognize from recent digging is Gabriel Le Mar (a proggy breaks tune, plus an acid techno workout with Dr. Motte) and Mick Chillage (getting way-back FSOL vibes on this one). Both their tracks are the best on CD3, though a special mention must be made to Glitch’s Kick The Habit, a vintage hard trance track that’s got everything but a kick. Oh, you tease, we almost did get that which I thought not possible. Or maybe we still will later in the box set. Five more to go. Man, I’m earning this experience.

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD2)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

No, of course ninety-one droning, calm ambient tracks would be ridiculous. Namlook made his namesake with the stuff, but he produced far more forms of electronic music than that. If you’re doing a tribute collection, you gotta’ show respect to his techno, jazz, orchestral, and even hard trance heritage. Okay, maybe not that last one, but wouldn’t that be something, hearing ancient German trance in a modern release? Come on, retroism, do your th’ang!

Wisely, Capre Sonum Records gave each disc of Die Welt Ist Klang its own genre showcase, gradually upping the tempo with each successive CD. All the beatless ambient now out of the way, CD2 provides us with some ambient techno chill and rhythms on the downbeat. Honestly, I’d have sprung for this collection almost entirely for this CD alone, what with two new tracks from Peter Benisch and The Higher Intelligence Agency on it! These aren’t previously unreleased pieces from their reserves either, each specifically made for this collection. Yeah, most of the music on all these discs is new material, but having already come across a couple cuts that were old, unused pieces from former collaborations with Namlook, I had to wonder whether that’d be the case with Benisch and Bird too. It’s not like they’re making anything new lately – and if they are, they sure aren’t making their efforts public. Oh hey, long tangent. As for their tunes, Benisch’s Farväl is utterly lush, while HIA’s Sky One works the bubbly, bleepy ambient dub groove with spacey synth drone, neither sounding like any time’s passed since their last albums. I love it!

I can’t say I know much about the remaining artists on CD2, but hot damn they make some lovely music. Autumn Of Communion (Lee Norris and Mick Chillage) offers eleven minutes of soothing keyboards, dubby synths and soft beats, Massimo Vivona provides a chipper piece of Balearic chill, Material Object shoots for the stars with another eleven minutes of pulsing pads and spacey drone, and even Namlook himself gets in, care of Lorenzo Montanà working with an unfinished piece they worked on. Then there’s Krystian Shek doing the widescreen chill-out thing I usually associate with Ultimae, Benjamin Wild & Daniel Esswein go for a low-key ambient techno groove, Fanger & Siebert get a little more electro sci-fi with their tune, and Future Research Technology (Simon Ellis, who gave Fax+ one of their earliest commercial successes as Houdini) goes for the alien electro-funk vibe. Kind of reminds me of Namlook and Johah Sharp’s Alien Communication project, though he already got his tribute in on CD1 as Spacetime Continuum. Oh, and Gaudi’s here too, doing his heavy ambient dub business, but I already know him and he’s still making music, so I don’t get quite all atwitter over his tune.

Yeah, that’s a major reason why I sprung for this box set. Seeing new music from old favorites is nice, but discovering a plethora of new artists in the process is pure cream.

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD1)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

Not to humble-brag too much, but oh yes, I gots me one of those proper box sets of Carpe Sonum Records’ epic tribute to Pete Namlook. Just barely too, with a mere three left of the project's second run when I took a look. Maybe the label will manufacture a third run if there's enough interest, but for now I'll bask in that smug glow of having such a wonderful package in my possession. Ahhh....

Hm, wait, what is this sinking feeling all of a sudden. Oh yeah, now that I have a physical copy of Die Welt Ist Klang, that means I have all eight CDs too. Which means I must now review each. Single. One. For the next week. Like, I'm kinda' obligated to, what with having done the same with Neil Young’s Archives last year. I hope y'all are strapped in for a Namlook Tribute extravaganza on this blog. Also, since I've eight of these things to get through, I'll detail most of the background information regarding this box set as we go along – no sense burning self-restricted world count all on the first CD.

With ninety-one tracks collected for this set, who could ever have the prestige to kick things off? Why, none other than one of the few men in the music industry that has a discography even larger than Namlook’s extensive catalogue: Bill Laswell. He teams up with keyboardist Bernie Worrell (member of tons of groups, most famously Funkadelic) for a track that’s rather typical of Laswell’s brand of ambient (bass tones, dubby atmosphere, jazzy improvisation). Hey, it’s not like we’re re-inventing the wheel with this tribute. The number two spot goes to David Moufang, also known as Move D. Why? He and Namlook released over twenty albums together in a fifteen year span. Holy cow, did they just put every jam session of theirs to CD? I’m guessing the answer to that is “most probably yes.” Oh, and his track is a piano ambient composition, with rainwater falling about on an open gazebo.

Another big name from the old school crops up with Dr. Atmo, who was instrumental in lending his hand to some of Namlook’s earliest ambient breakouts (can’t call them ‘hits’, can we), specifically the aliases Silence and Escape. Heck, it was his selections for the Stud!o K7 tape 3 Lux-3 that gave me a real crash course in Namlook’s work. His track here is also ambient.

Yeah, CD1 is pretty much all ambient straight through, nary a beat in earshot. Even the guys known for techno (Steve Stoll, F.U.S.E., Spacetime Continuum) stick to synthy drone and sequenced noodling. Mind, some of these are unreleased material sent to Namlook way back in the day too, not just former Fax+ alumni contributing fresh material. It’s all very calming, relaxing, and warm music here, though I hope it’s not the only genre explored across eight discs. As that Electro Compendium proved, too much of the same thing makes Sykonee coo-koo for Kaulmann cuts.

Moss Garden - In The Silence Of The Subconscious

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

If you’re getting a sense of Namlook déjà-vu with that cover art, it’s deliberate on the Carpe Sonum’s part. Following Mr. Peter Kuhlmann’s death, many of his labels ended too, including several offshoots and cross-sea distributor partnerships. One of these, EAR/Rational, set up a short-term label called Carpe Sonum Records with the sole intent of releasing that tribute mega-boxset all you ambient lovers undoubtedly heard about and snagged up. Hell, are any of those left now? *checks* Holy cow, only three remaining? Bought! *whew* Almost missed out on that. Where was I now? Right, Carpe Sonum.

What began as a one-time effort has now evolved into a full-fledged label with the intent of carrying on Namlook’s legacy in the realm of ambient and chill. This includes the classic Fax +49-69/450464 art style, and even taking on a few latter-era FAX artists to their roster (Thomas P. Heckmann, Lorenzo Montanà, Mick Chillage). Carpe Sonum’s rounded up newer acts too, including this here Moss Garden.

Unfortunately, I’ve less background info available for this duo (and by “I”, I mean Lord Discogs and Prince Last.fm). One half is Lee Norris, who's released a pile of music across multiple labels and genres (mostly IDM stuff) as Metamatics over the last couple decades. The other half is Dimitar Dodovski, who's released far less material than Norris, and has stuck to the downtempo side of dub and techno. With plenty of crafty rhythmic skill behind them, naturally the two would find kinship in creating pure ambient music.

While I’ve gone on and on about the Namlook within this review, Moss Garden’s sophomore effort, In The Silence Of The Subconscious, has more in common with Biosphere’s brand of synthy drone. And no, it’s not just because the cover features a lone individual trekking across a snowy field, though that certainly wouldn’t be out of place on a Geir Jenssen release. Nay, the very nature of Moss Garden’s music has a chilly tone to it, delicate pads and timbre feeling like wide-open winter canvases. Even some track titles - Strange Terrain, Shadowland - conjure the desolate reaches of frozen tundra, though I could also be straining to find thematic links. Hey, maybe that’s why they’ve included a track called Daily Catachresis! Meanwhile, soft field recordings of winds, crackling footsteps, and static embers that dub techno types adore, add some warmth to an atmosphere that’s rather brisk.

So this is all very lovely, inviting ambient that never noodles too long or pointless dawdles about. Um... if I’m honest, I kinda’ wish these tracks did stretch themselves out a little longer. There’s only seven on Silent Subconscious, none of which break the ten minute mark – heck, most only average about five minutes, practically ‘skit’ length where ambient of this sort is concerned. Moss Garden’s style, though hardly unique, is still skilful enough they should indulge their synths a little longer. Ah well, maybe on the next LP they’ll feel emboldened enough to go for those truly epic Namlook lengths.