Music from Germany

**Ltd. numbered edition of 800 copies, white vinyl** Carsten Nicolai’s Noton present a masterclass in minimalist electronic discipline with Mika Vainio, Ryoji Ikeda + Alva Noto’s powerfully future-proofed Live 2002 performance, recorded at Newcastle’s Baltic arts centre This recording marks the only ever concert by the trio and its release serves as a tribute to the much-loved Vainio. “Mika was not only a friend and collaborator, but also an inspiration for my work as an artist. This is a cel…

Mirage is one of Klaus Schulze's best albums. It is certainly among the eeriest e-music sets ever. He created it as "an electronic winter landscape dedicated to Hans Dieter Schulze." It has somewhat of a symphonic structure. There are two main pieces: "Velvet Voyage" and "Crystal Lake." Each piece has six separate movements with experimental sounds serving as the recurring themes. The album has cold and icy textures that take listeners to the brink of the winter solstice. The experimental timbre…

Moondawn is a seminal album. You can hear the transition from his earlier, more drone based work to sequencers right on this record.  Each side of the album was a single composition. “Mindphaser” followed on his work on Blackdance and Picture Music with long, sustained chords on the Farfisa and Crumar keyboards, with fleeting solo lines drifting in like wraiths until about halfway through when Harald Grosskopf kicked in with the drums, playing free-form grooves while Schulze created elecKlaus Sc…

X is the tenth album by Klaus Schulze. It was originally released in 1978, and on X Schulze attempted to execute a concept album of six "musical biographies" evoking contemporary or historical intellectuals with an influence on Schulze: Friedrich Nietzsche, Georg Trakl, Frank Herbert, Friedemann Bach, Ludwig II. von Bayern, and Heinrich von Kleist. The work is from the classic era of Berlin School.

"Picture Music" is Klaus Schulze's third solo album recorded in 1973 and released during the early part of 1975 (after the release of "Blackdance"). The album has gone on to be one of the most innovative electronic music releases from the German music scene and paved the way for Schulze's breakthrough opus "Timewind". The original album included two long tracks. The opening track "Totem" is a nearly 24-minute tour-de-force consisting of a hypnotic bubbling sequencer rhythm and cosmic synt…

Blackdance is one of Klaus Schulze's best albums. There are lots of predictors that point to where his career would go. The tempo changes are smooth and sure and the sequences are varied -- some are deep and strong, others are long on atmosphere. Schulze mixes these elements seamlessly with experimental timbres and spatial textures. He adds an organ drone to give the disc a Baroque attitude and sinister overtones. This is more atmospheric than most of his albums. That gives it a nice appeal and …

From the early days of electronic experimentation in the pop field, Klaus Schulze's second solo album still today it stands as one of the most powerful examples of ambient pulse music ever conceived. The dense layers of rhythm and synthetic tone colors melt into a seamless, flowing soundscape of melody, motion and spatial effects. It's a monumental double album of "cosmic music.

Irrlicht is the solo debut album from Klaus Schulze (originally released in 1972) and is an absolute masterpiece in cosmic, space music. Schulze omitted the use of synthetics for this recording, relying on organ with various electronic effects to produce an absolutely mesmerizing and minimalist body of sounds that transform the listener into a total abstracted world full of mysteries within its almost never-ending spiral. With no electronic pulse and rhythms, just a gloomy and distorted a…

Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician that needs very little introduction. In the late sixties & early seventies he was a member of several iconic bands such as ‘Tangerine Dream’, ‘The Cosmic Jokers’ & ‘Ash Ra Tempel’ before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades. Collaborations were numerous and highlights include working with Steve Winwood, Brian Eno & Alphaville… just to name a few.Klaus Schulze’s proto moog-s…

‘Agape-Love’ was one of Florian Fricke's favorites, at a point in his life where he was inspired by 13th century Persian poet Rumi. Still utilizing a choir for Gregorian chant-like ethereal intensity -- though they sing in Byzantine scales – the band delves deeply into the drone world of Fricke’s sacred music muse. This is an album of many moods/feelings & is a worthy, devastatingly beautiful outing (both introspective & intense at the same time).Out of print since 1983 and never released outsid…

700 copies black vinyl. Born as Florian Fricke’s brainchild, Popol Vuh needs little introduction, the band stayed active between the late 1960s & late 1990s (until Florian’s passing in 2001). Regarded as pioneers in avant-garde German electronic music, their early works practically laid down the foundations for ‘Kosmische Muzik’ (Space Music) with the then new sounds of the Moog synthesizer joined with ethnic percussions.Later the group evolved to include all kinds of instruments (both electric …

Invisible Cities, the first collaboration between Aidan Baker (Nadja, B/B/S) and bass clarinetist Gareth Davis (Oiseaux-Tempête), offers the finest ambient/chamber jazz/subtle drones of a highly meditative quality. Be it solo, as member of the drone duo Nadja or B/B/S (his trio with Andrea Belfi and Erik Skodvin, aka Svarte Greiner) or in various collaborations with artists like Tim Hecker or Thisquietarmy, the Berlin-based Canadian is one of the most productive and versatile artists when i…

The first of two milestones in ambient music recorded by Germany's legendary electronic pioneers Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius together with Britains music eccentric Brian Eno.

First legit reissue of the 1st Xhol album (post Xhol Caravan), originally released by the legendary OHR label in 1971. Previously bootlegged in poor fashion by Germanofon, this comes with one 22-minute bonus track (from 1974) and the usual thick booklet of liner notes and photos by Garden of Delights. This album followed Electrip and precedes Motherfuckers GMBH. One of the more confounding pieces of the Krautrock puzzle, Xhol played long, wasted lounge-blues excursions, much favored by the…

**In stock this week** “In der Pause” (During the Pause) was the title of the last track on the b-side of “ “, the first album by Die Tödliche Doris. “In der Pause” was pause music, as well as the announcement of the interval between their debut album, released in 1982, and the box format project ”Chöre und Soli” that followed in 1983. The original sounds of “In der Pause” survived on a single audio tape dating from 1981. Now, about 35 years later, Chris Dreier and Wolfgang Müller have used the …

Long-awaited double cd reissue of the two Asmus Tietchens/Burrows collaborations which sound still remarkably fresh today. Watching The Burning Bride was originally released on Terry Burrows' label Hamster in 1986, while the second collaboration came out on Disaster Area in 1998. As usual the booklet reproduces the original lp sleeves and a lengthy text by Terry Burrows on how the collaboration between the two artists came about is also included. The release includes two short bonus tracks.

** 2012 Audiophile Remastered Edition of 500 copies with Original 3page-Multi Fold Out Cover, long out of print, few copies available ** Incredible early work from one of Germany's greatest modernists – one of the key records that showed the world that German jazz was way more than just a rehashing of American modes in the postwar years! This rare 1963 recording features the quintet of trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff – a groundbreaking unit that includes tenorist Heinz Sauer, altoist Gunter…

** 2012 Audiophile Remastered Edition of 500 copies with Original 3page-Multi Fold Out Cover, long out of print, few copies available ** An early session from German pianist Wolfgang Dauner – one with a sound that's every bit as great as you'd expect from the title! The "dream talk" component here is one that comes from Dauner's gentle, yet modern approach to the keys – one that's clearly learning lessons from 50s modernists like George Russell or Bill Evans, but which is stretching out here in …

Desperate Straights was the first result of the historical meeting between Slapp Happy, the German/English Avant-Pop band and the apparently incompatible Henry Cow. Recorded at Virgin Record's Manor Studios in 1974 and properly re-mastered by Bob Drake, Desperate Straights stands as a real piece of Art from another time. A full set of great songs, including gems like "Bad Alchemy" and "Apes in Capes", arranged and performed by an amazing collective featuring Dagmar Krause's unique voice, Peter B…

Originally developed as a film score, Takt Der Arbeit is inspired by a handful of industrial and instructional films from the early 1960s until the early 1990s that portray different forms of work. Felix Kubin translates these historic documents into a musical poem of conceptual depth. Takt Der Arbeit - "the beat of work" - is not only serving as a title but also as constructive element in this endeavor. Being hunted down by the ever-accelerated pulse of our reality is an omnipresent issue i…