Cosmic Krautrock
Con-Struct
The German pioneer of electronic music Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011) amassed a vast archive of sounds for use in combination with each other in live performances. In 2011 the idea came up of con-structing new compositions, not remixes, from this material. The Con-Struct series was born. This release features con-structions by Baal & Mortimer who writes about it in the linernotes: It was exciting to break open existing material, peeling something out of the past and thus transgressing it and open…
Nachtfalter
Günter Schickert's debut Samtvogel (1975) was one of the most significant guitar albums of the krautrock era. Points of comparison from today's perspective are Syd Barrett or Pink Floyd's more adventurous early recordings. Schickert's follow-up, Überfällig (1980) was released on the legendary Sky label. Once again a milestone recording, it showcased Schickert's hypnotic echo guitar which developed into one of the hallmarks of the krautrock sound. Schickert's new album Nachtfalter, translating as…
Voyage
Bureau B once again dive into the Sky archive, unearthing another overlooked masterpiece long due for rediscovery. Originally released in 1985, Voyage finds Dieter Schütz venturing beyond his Berlin School roots into a realm of lo-fi immediacy and New Age naivety. Every instrument is played by Schütz himself, except for the drums on 'Above,' which are performed with syncopated zeal by Michael Fecker. While its textured synthscapes and wistful melodies may echo the aesthetics of 2010s Vaporwave, …
Ich Suche Dein Gesicht
Berlin-based project Silberstreif announces the release of their new album Ich suche dein Gesicht, available now on Bandcamp. With a name that translates to “silver lining,” Silberstreif crafts music that reflects both fragility and resilience, weaving together textures of ambient, electronic, and experimental sound.
Ich suche dein Gesicht (“I am searching for your face”) is more than an album: it is a sonic exploration of intimacy, distance, and the fleeting nature of human connection. Across…
Liederbuch
LP version. When the Welttraumforscher (world dream explorer) started their journey on July 14, 1981, it was not foreseeable that it would last so long. For over 40 years now, Christian Pfluger from Zurich has been working with drawings, texts and songs on the idiosyncratic and fascinating universe of the imaginary trio. This has resulted in numerous cassettes, LP and CD releases. Most recently, a two-part retrospective was released in the spring of 2021 on Hamburg's Bureau B (, giving an insigh…
Wir Arbeiten Fur Die Nachste Welt (1991-2012)
This first Bureau B retrospective devoted to Die Welttraumforscher covers the Swiss project's early creative period from 1981 to 1990. The eccentric, heartwarming pop songs now sound like documents from a parallel world, interwoven with idiosyncratic fantasy, surreal stories and dreamlike apparitions. All tracks have been remastered and the artwork has been lovingly crafted with the original Forscher drawings.Die Welttraumforscher is one of Switzerland’s most enigmatic musical projects, with a c…
Die Rückkehr der echten Menschheit 1981-1990
This first Bureau B retrospective devoted to Die Welttraumforscher covers the Swiss project's early creative period from 1981 to 1990. The eccentric, heartwarming pop songs now sound like documents from a parallel world, interwoven with idiosyncratic fantasy, surreal stories and dreamlike apparitions. All tracks have been remastered and the artwork has been lovingly crafted with the original Forscher drawings.Die Welttraumforscher is one of Switzerland’s most enigmatic musical projects, with a c…
War Pur War
On War Pur War, Frieder Butzmann and Thomas Kapielski distill West‑Berlin’s 1980s absurdism into a Dada‑charged clash of electro‑pop and sonic collage. Minimal synth patterns, spoken fragments and everyday noises tangle into a wry, musique‑concrète‑like diary of a city thinking against meaning.
Acht Gesänge Der Schwarzen Hunde
When in 2006 our Zonic Spezial "Voltage. Power. Resistance. Magnetic Tape Underground GDR 1979-1990" was published in cooperation with Verbrecher Verlag and the legendary label ZickZack, there was some amazement. Especially when the enclosed CDs were listened to from a Western perspective. Part of this weird Kassettentäter-Ost potpourri of swirling post-punk variety, which Bert Papenfuß, Bo Kondren, Bernd Jestram and Ronald Lippok compiled with well-founded interpretive authority, was also a pie…
Kiosque Of Arrows 2: Compiled by Tolouse Low Trax (LP)
CD version. Bureau B present a very special release: Kiosque Of Arrows 2 is Detlef Weinrich's (aka Tolouse Low Trax) first compilation for Bureau B. Echoing the spirit of the legendary samplers found on Les Disques Du Crépuscule or Made To Measure, this hybrid journal not only collates unusual pieces of music -- rare and undiscovered pearls from the experimental underground of the early 1980s through to contemporary unreleased recordings -- it also represents a reflective collage of cut-ups, obs…
Inventions
Thumbing through the back pages of German electronic music, Bureau B uncovers another hidden gem from the Sky Records archive: 'Inventions', the 1983 collaboration between Adelbert von Deyen and Dieter Schütz. Fusing expansive kosmische textures with biting rock guitars, motorik rhythms, and the growl of '80s synth-pop, the duo conjure a sonic singularity which still sounds like the future today. Compact yet cosmic, 'Inventions' distils ambient drift and experimental edge into taut, three-minute…
Cosmic Century
The third album from Wallenstein, originally released in 1973, stands as the band's definitive statement and one of the peak achievements of the entire Kosmische Musik movement. Led by keyboardist Jürgen Dollase and guitarist Bill Barone, the group had evolved from their earlier heavy progressive sound into something far more expansive and cosmic in scope.
Cosmic Century is exactly what its title promises - a journey through infinite space rendered in swirling synthesizers, celestial guitar work…
Blitzkrieg
One of Germany's longer lasting bands had first started as Blitzkrieg (until they found out a British band used the name as well) and changed their name to Wallenstein and kept their former name for the album, gracing it with a war-themed gatefold cover. Produced by the unavoidable Dieter Dierks and released on the ultra collectible Pilz label in early 72, this debut album is stunning effort that transformed the 200 MPH speed notion into music. Keyboardist Jurgen Dollasse's very international gr…
Magazin Frivole
On Magazin Frivole, Serge Blenner pushes his cold, concise analogue synth instrumentals toward a subtly pop‑inflected edge. Dark harmonies and clipped electronic patterns intertwine with clearer song structures, yielding an early‑80s blueprint where minimal synth severity brushes against the nascent shadows of synth‑pop.
La Vogue
On La Vogue, Serge Blenner distills early-80s anxieties into dark, monotone synthesizer miniatures. Minimal Berlin‑school pulses and crystalline melodic “phrases” sketch an electronic soundtrack to Cold War Germany, where somber patterns, pop‑tinged harmonies and stark repetition feel like signals beamed from a haunted control room.
Wah-Wah Whispers
Ever since he released his music in the early '80s, Michel Banabila has been hard to pinpoint to a specific genre or style. His musical output includes jazz, experimental cut-up electronics, world music (especially influenced by the Fourth World music as developed by Jon Hassell), New Age, eclectic pop tunes, music for dance or other stage projects, and soundtracks for TV productions. Wah-Wah Whispers focuses on Banabila's more recent output. It is a collection of works showcasing many facets of…
So Far
CD Digipack. Wümme, Lower Saxony. 1972. A converted schoolhouse. Inside: a tangle of cables, reel-to-reel machines, custom electronics soldered together by hands that refused manuals. This was not a professional recording studio. This was Faust's laboratory—and So Far was the experiment that proved you could rewire rock music's circuitry without killing the patient. Six months earlier, Faust had released their self-titled debut—a savage dismantling of what a rock album could be. Tape edits slice…
Ambientale
Collector, seeker and storyteller Charles Bals brings his curatorial finesse to Hamburg's Bureau B with Ambientale, a journey into otherworldly sounds from the years 1983-2000. Drifting effortlessly between digital exoticism, mellow fusion, new age groove and library electronics, the pieces range from largely obscure to utterly un-google-able, and coalesce into a stunning soundtrack to tranquil seas, desert sand and starlit skies. Cinematic and enigmatic, Ambientale is a stranger you've only jus…
Blickwinkel
Tip! CD version. After dipping into the archive to deliver a series of essential reissues, Bureau B continue to encourage the chaotic brilliance of Faust with an LP of brand-new music curated by originator Zappi Diermaier and a band of musical friends, including fellow founder Gunther Wüsthoff. Over the years Faust has become many things, each as separate as the fingers, but as together as the hand which makes up their eponymous fist. From 1971 to 1974 the Hamburg band blazed a bold sonic trail,…
Metaluna
The avant-garde Kraut ensemble Supersempfft laid the foundation for their techno-tropical pop music in 1979 with their debut album "Roboterwerke." In 1981, they followed up with the album "Metaluna," which is now being honored through a re-release on Bureau B. The group, consisting of Dieter Kolb, Franz Knüttel, and Franz Aumüller, fused global influences, experimental sonic landscapes, and surreal lyrics into a unique sonic cosmos. "Metaluna" stands out with its meandering sequences, unconventi…