2014 in a nutshell and in no specific order: Music – Favorites, discoveries and rediscoveries

• Clipping – CLPPNG
  • Experimental Hip Hop doesn’t get any better than this. A demanding and very intense release that seems to go against any concept of flow without loosing it’s strange way of grabbing your attention. The vinyl edition comes with a hundred endless loops on the second side of the second lp which is something that encourages the listener to experiment with the needle drop over and over again.

• Jack Dice – Sip Paint
  • Modern Love continues to be an amazing label that manages to take me completely by surprise over and over again and this release by Jack Dice is no exception. Very moody, mellow, urban and dark suddenly drifting into the strangely erotic rap track that is Stash’s Theme and afterwards returning to some even darker instrumentals with more well accentuated climaxes.

• Moon Zero – Tombs/Loss (Denovali)
  • Dark and brooding walls of sound that never cease to amaze. Lower the lights, turn the volume and the bass up to 11 and just close your eyes and let go. This combination of two EPs just struck a nerve with me.

• Andy Stott – Faith in Strangers (Modern Love)
  • This one was highly anitcipated and didn’t disappoint at all! When Faith in Strangers first landed on my turntable I was blown away and suprised about the evolution of Stott’s characteristic and distinguished sound that recieved yet another facet that works out more than well. The album almost sounds peacable in comparison to his last works and still manages to keep those experimental and abstract high points that we learned to love when it comes to the work of Andy Stott.

• The Soundcarriers – Entropicalia (Ghostbox)
  • Musically speaking the year 2014 was kind of a psychedelic one for me and this album turned out to be a very good companion in this context. It’s nostalgic yet fresh and very entertaining and smooth on one hand and complex and adventurous on the other. If you have a thing for neo-psychedelia check this one out!

• Kiasmos – Kiasmos (Erased Tapes)
  • This one might be a bit obvious but still deserves a mention I think. For me it is a nice surprise to see musicians from different genres and schools experiment with more electronic sounds and techno like structures. This one is a highly melancholic and beautiful experience that makes you want to dance despite it’s introverted character.

• Deaf Center – Recount (Sonic Pieces)
  • Normally those more dark and ambient like pieces I stumble across are more or less something I listen to during Autumn or Winter but Deaf Center’s minimalistic and highly melancholic EP managed to grab my attention and unfold it’s silent impact on a warm and wonderful day in the middle of summer.

• PYE Corner Audio/Not Waving – Intercepts (Ecstatic)
  • Brilliant split by two amazing artists that go together more than well! The very specific yet distinguished retro sound of this record is something that seems from a differend decade and still has not lost any of it’s appeal. It’s catchy, full of energy and I’ve been coming back to this one a lot since it initially landed on my turntable.

• Franz Kirmann – Meridians (Denovali)
  • Kirmann’s first solo release on Denovali is really something worth your while. It’s an album that seems totally light-fooded but never trivial. It’s a dreamy and romantic journey that (like a roadmovie) is going through different states while constantly moving forward and seeing the sunslowly set in the rearview mirror.

• Birds of Passage – This kindly Slumber (Denovali)
  • Starting the year with a new album by Birds of Passage might have not been the most optimistic way regarding the mood of this record but it was the right thing to do nonetheless. Like a warm blanket during the coldest and darkest days of winter this album encloses you with it’s whispered vocals and minimalistic soundscapes.

• Dirk Geiger – Connected Worlds (Tympanik Audio)
  • He has done it again! Connected Worlds is an album that is right on the spot and also a very nice contrast to the hyperactive culture today. Diffenrent, even more complex than it’s predecessor and still full of Geiger’s handwriting.

• Ecstasphere – Feed your Head (Raumklang Music)
  • Ecstasphere’s debut is a highly energetic and (thankfully) radical work with lots of personality and emotion trying to counteract and undermine thoughts of control and domination while focusing on releasing one’s own potential and freeing yourself from external regulation.

• Mobthrow – Unfolded (Ad Noiseam)
  • Somehow I couldn’t really get into the sound of his debut that was released a couple of years back but his recent release took me by surprise and just clicked with me. It seems to have more structure and concept than the last one. Also add a really great production and a whole lot of very creative ideas to make this one an experience that shouldn’t be ignored.

• Winterkälte – Maschinenfest Tracks 1999 – 2014 (HANDS)
  • It’s loud, it’s harsh, it’s Winterkälte! A great compilation of tracks and a really beautiful vinyl release that is a must own for every fan of this project and everyone who has a faible for powerful rhythmic noise!

• Scuba Death – Nitrogen Death (Further Records)
  • Somewhere between modern techno, ambient and seventies sci-fi, this one is developing from minimalistic structures and field recordings to more and more rhythmic sections and complex sounds. Dark, deep, wonderful and a record that invites you to discover.

• Honorable Mentions:
  • A winged Victory for the Sullen – Atomos
  • Deru – 1979
  • Dream Police – Hypnotized
  • Killing Sound – Killing Sound
  • Machine Code – Samurai
  • Driftmachine – Nocturnes
  • Dalhous – Visibility is a Trap
  • Ben Frost – Aurora
  • Dryft – The blur Vent
  • [basementgrrr] – A certain Kind of Decay

• Discoveries/Rediscoveries:
  • Bersarin Quartett – Bersarin Quartett
  • Steve Moore – Pangea Ultima
  • Ben Frost – By the Throat
  • Voices from the Lake – Voices from the Lake
  • Burial – Untrue
  • Björk – Biophilia
  • Nightmares on Wax – Carboot Soul/Smoker’s Delight
  • Pet Shop Boys – Electric

Phasenmensch – Entschleunigungsprozesse [Vernunft und Leidenschaft]

PHASENMENSCH
Entschleunigungsprozesse [Vernunft und Leidenschaft] cd
HANDS D212 Hands Paper Pack 13 euro

Does the idea of passionate thinking leave you startled? PHASENMENSCH picks up the concept of his earlier work “Begegnungen” (=encounters) on his sophomore release for HANDS, a result of difficult, eventful changes in the social environment, yielding excitingly controversial situations. Musically, “Entschleunigungsprozesse” is an impressively mature, antithetic work: Full of emotional atmospheres, yet strict in composition, decidedly rhythmic, yet avoiding any harshness, highly melancholic, yet fuelled by positivity – a gentle and thoughtful piece of electronic music.

On “Entschleunigungsprozesse”, Wolfram Bange aka Phasenmensch takes his clues from a philosophical concept (again): The central question is how to retain your originality and not deny your nature under society’s crushing pressure of conformance? How can you find time to actually think during the hastening of modern life? Important people come and go, alliances are formed and broken up, tears are shed and mistakes are made. Understand this as your chance to improve, and the potential is endless – just leave enough space to explore your true feelings, and the outlook is bright!
“Entschleunigungsprozesse” may well be seen as a vehicle to escape the agitation of the outside world. For starters, “Vernunft und Leidenschaft” will set the mood with its gloomy intro, breaking into uplifting minimal rhythms. Everything appears integrally connected, from the quiet sophistication of “Alles verschwindet”, “Sommerregen” or “Vom Nein zum Ja” over the technoid leanings of the collaborative tracks with with Constructor and ICD-10 to the more industrial beats of “Heilige Momente” or “Funkenflug”.
No less than three tracks feature Wolfram’s good friend Ophelia the Suffering, adding guitar and sounds to the brooding “Rost und Knochen”, as well as adding some rhythmic distortion to “Optimierte Gegenwart” as Ecstasphere and remixing “Vernunft und Leidenschaft” as Aphexia, adding aggrieved string sounds. The last word goes to HANDS label mate Hezzel, using gently distorted bass drones for his remix.
The 73 minutes of “Entschleunigungsprozesse” are a meaningful timeout as well as a much recommended electronic music album – reason and passion in an unknown alliance!

www.handsproductions.com/mailorder.asp

https://mailorder.ant-zen.com/product/id/2530;jsessionid=560BDEBD3C65FAF5714BDF592205A471

http://phasenmensch.bandcamp.com

http://www.infrarot.de/phasenmensch/entschleunigungsprozesse-vernunft-und-leidenschaft/9944590

Phasenmensch – Funkenflug [Official Video]

Characters at War – Grundrisse

Laut Thomas Hobbes ist der Naturzustand des Menschen ein Zustand des Krieges, ein von Egoismus, Selbstsucht und Gewalt durchzogenes In-der-Welt-sein aus dem wir uns zugunsten eines gesellschaftlichen Konsens befreien müssen, um nebeneinander und miteinander existieren zu können. Dennoch schwindet dieser Drang nach Krieg, nach Konflikt und nach Zerstörung als Ausdrucksmittel auch im Rahmen einer von Stützpfeilern gegen die Angst durchzogenen Welt niemals vollständig. Assimilation, Adaptation und das Wahren von Grenzen katalysieren fortlaufend eine internale Umkehrung dieses Naturzustandes, werfen den Kriegsgedanken auf uns zurück und machen uns zu unserem ärgsten Feind, der uns Tag für Tag neu auf die Probe stellt, denn wir befinden uns auf einem Schlachtfeld und der Feind ist unser Spiegelbild …

‚Characters at War‘ ist ein im Jahr 2011 von Wolfram Bange (Phasenmensch), Ophelia Amok und Sebastian Vogel ins Leben gerufenes Musikprojekt, dass sich die Auseinandersetzung mit den gedanklichen und emotionalen Kriegen in uns selbst zum künstlerischen Konzept gemacht hat und versucht das konsequent auftauchende widersprüchliche Verhalten und Reagieren der Spezies Mensch akustisch zu verarbeiten. Unzählige Ambiguitäten, Dualitäten, Kontraste, unsere Erfolge und unser Scheitern, unser andauerndes Streben nach dem diffusen Begriff des persönlichen ‚Glücks‘ sind ihre Inspiration.

Debüt-Album:
Characters at War – Grundrisse
Release: Januar 2012

Tracklist:
1. Le Mistral
2. Nackte Seele
3. Idee einer Frau
4. Manifest des Verschwindens
5. Anna
6. Der Sturz [Weg ins Freie]
7. Perspektive [Shotgun Blues]
8. Infiniter Regress [Einheitsentscheidung]
9. Prinzipien [Outro]

+ div. Remixe

Auflage: 250 Stück (CDr)

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