IDM Mailing Archive

Hello, I am interested in the music on the BC sublabel Imbalance. Is the music that has been released worth checking out, and how does it figure into the overall berlin sound? thanks, mt -- Michael Taylor : Chrome3@ix.netcom.com http://homes.arealcity.com/Intermodal/index.html http://www.mp3.com/TheMSProject "I am often rich...not in money...but because I have found in my work something which I can devote myself to heart and soul, and which inspires me and give a meaning to life." Van Gogh --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

Someone posted enquiring about the Imbalance label; as i'm sitting at work i'll be brief, but others can maybe flesh things out a bit. Its an electro-acoustic offshoot of the BC/CR/Din etc. axis, with the emphasis on fairly academic (in the literal, not insulting sense) computer music. It is, i think, run by Robert Henke of Monolake. Closest to Monolakes stuff would be Floating Point by Henke and Gerhard Behles, also of ML; its basically the beatless bits from Interstate and Hong Kong stretched out with lots of clicks, whirrs etc. Very organic and warm, and absolutely excellent. Almost as good is Henke's Piercing Music which is similar in style but much more stripped down, with periodsof silence throughout the continuous hour long piece. Again, very warm and, umm, wet for want of a better phrase. Weiland Samolak's Steady State Music is probably my favourite but has been known to dismay anyone looking for any sort of tonal input; its basically a number of pieces of steadily rising faintly noisy drones which sound like distant traffic, while still remaining indefinably alien. My favourite album to sleep to. HAvent heard the full length Async Sense (Porter Rick's Andy Mellwig) but i've got the 12" which features two atmospheric digital noise scapes, one almost gabba Porter Ricks alike and the most unlistenable piece of music (for me anyway) which has a beat moving againt a rhythmic backdrop which is 1 or 2 bpm out. The drift between the two parts is enough to make me feel ill. ________________________________________________________ "I believe in the modern world. I believe in the automobile, and the Charleston, and the dry martini. I represent Invisibilism and *my* Gods have electric light bulbs for eyes. My Gods run on internal combustion engines." - Lady Edith Manning, 1924 R xx thevillageorchestra@hotmail.com Marcia Blaine Industries / Metal-On-Metal Records http://websites.ntl.com/~metal-on-metal/ __________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

In a message dated 7/06/00 1:19:19 W. Australia Standard Time, Chrome3@ix.netcom.com writes:

quoted 8 lines Hello,

> Hello, > > I am interested in the music on the BC sublabel Imbalance. Is the music > that has been released worth checking out, and how does it figure into > the overall berlin sound? > > thanks, > mt

Hey Mike, Imbalance Computer music is a label run by Robert Henke and Andy Mellwig which produced some of Berlin's most cutting edge sounds. My favourites are Floating Point and Async Sense. Floating Point is an hour long piece of sub-aquatic textures very much in the vein of Monolake's Gobi Desert, starting with minimal abrasive sratching-type sounds and progresses into the ethers of ambient bliss.... Async Sense is more of a journey into difficult listening territory with some references to the Millsian hard minimal techno sounds. Sometimes I think Andy got right into the engine of an X-Wing fighter in lightspeed with a portable DAT and pressed the record button. A brief discography: Wieland Samolak - Steady State Music CD Robert Henke - Piercing Music CD Andy Mellwig - Async Sense EP Andy Mellwig - Async Sense CD Robert Henke - Floating Point CD (with Gerhard Behles) A_Zed _________________________________________ Program Co-ordinator, Ambient Zone RTRFM 92.1 Sunday Electronic Listening [http://rtrfm.ii.net] Perth, W.Aust (WST) 23.00-01.00 Detroit (EST) 10.00-12.00 Frankfurt (CET)/ London(GMT)16.00-18.00 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

: ruaridh : wrote:

quoted 5 lines Re: Async Sense (Porter Rick's Andy Mellwig)

> Re: Async Sense (Porter Rick's Andy Mellwig) > ... > one almost gabba Porter Ricks alike and the most unlistenable piece of music > (for me anyway) which has a beat moving againt a rhythmic backdrop which is > 1 or 2 bpm out.

The technique used in this track and others on the Async Sense album is called "phasing". "Minimalist" composer Steve Reich is usually credited with coining that term and for introducing that technique in some of his early compositions from the 60's such as "Come Out", "It's Gonna Rain" and "Piano Phase". It's pretty clear Mellwig was influenced by Reich, as well as Mills, on this album. Andrei --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org