From Peter Becker Sent Thu, Jan 8th 1998, 13:40
From Peter Becker Sent Thu, Jan 8th 1998, 13:40
>Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 08:40:20 -0500 >To: LISTambient >From: xxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx (Peter Becker) >Subject: ULF (ad) >Cc: >Bcc: >X-Attachments: > >This email is being cc'ed to IDM as well as ambient as this CD contains a >vibe akin to much minimal techno when the beats hit... > >I warned y'all with the (ad) header. >We are putting out a new CD on Sombient, Asphodel's dark ambient imprint that >brought you the Drones series and many others. > >The CD is by ULF Langheinrich and is entitled " Degrees of Amnesia". It is >72:24 minutes long and is packaged in digipak. >It's street date is 1/20. >Asphodel is distributed exclusively through ADA, so if your local store >does'nt have it, tell 'em ADA sells it! >Sorry, no vinyl. > >I have cut and pasted his bio to tell you more about his work and a bit about >this CD. >Thanks for the read, > >Peter > >Ulf Langheinrich Biography: > >The career of Ulf Langheinrich is best known for his internationally acclaimed >work in the two-man group, 'Granular Synthesis'. The project, which began in >1991 with these two self-proclaimed "media terrorists", does more in the way >of a performance than it does to define the men involved. On the eve of his >first solo release, 'Degrees of Amnesia', Langheinrich has an understanding of >his work and the life that brought him to it, that is unparalleled. > >Having grown up in an industrial region of East Germany, Langheinrich's early >life was filled with artificial and sterile imagery and sounds. He was born in >Wolfen in 1960, and spent his first year in hospital with a life-threatening >ear disease (it was actually six years before his hearing returned to normal), >which certainly did much in shaping what he would hear throughout his life and >the manner in which he would listen. Langheinrich grew to understand and >appreciate life, and his ability to experience it through his senses, in a way >which few people ever do. Growing up with nearly every liberty removed from >his existence, save that of his sensual freedom, Langheinrich came to respect >the most basic human experience. Longing and despair, the plight of the human >soul in an altered state of reality, are the components of art according to >Langheinrich. It is pain that is most feared, and thus a constant theme. >Certainly passing the first six years of his life with a hearing disability, >made sound and music essential to him as an artist. Ironically, the majority >of his education in the arts was spent drawing and painting. > >At the age of 15 Langheinrich discovered the ability to store sound through >the use of a small mono cassette recorder. From then on he was fascinated by >the use of electronic devices in the making of music because through the >possibility of storage, he discovered the ability to layer. The significance >of storage for him was that the approach and overall vision of the artist now >had the potential to be, as it should be, more important than his individual >skill; composition versus performance, perhaps ultimately the biggest >difference between 'Degrees of Amnesia' and his work with 'Granular >Synthesis'. While 'Granular Synthesis' was designed to be a live experience, a >performance-- 'Degrees of Amnesia' is a work composed to retain intense >psychological power over time, it's density being the key element. > >Every sound, particularly those that are formed in repetitious patterns (from >the sound of breath, to drops of water, to the pounding of industrial >machinery) became influential and important in Langheinrich's early life. Not >only because this repetition was a constant reminder of the opression he lived >with, but because it is the sonic quality of such repetition he believes, >that brings one to a state of semi-consciousness; an altered state of reality. >In describing 'Degrees of Amnesia' he refers to his work as a painter; "In >painting I just added very thin coats of paint until the square was almost >gray, huge paintings of insistent noise, not made with simple mixed paint but >with layers of colour, very rich, very purist, very monotonous in the end." It >is the power of layers, the sensual experience, that concerns Langheinrich >more so than any conceptual agenda. It was these same paintings which he would >later sell to buy sythesizers. > >Although Langheinrich discovered the ability to store sounds and then layer >them at such an early age, it was not until his departure from East Germany in >1984 that he gained access to any electronic equipment, apart from minimal >tape recording devices. He spent much of his time prior to 1984, experimenting >with the sonic qualities of various instruments. Langheinrich was more >concerned with non-traditional methods of creating sound, than he was with >mastering any given instrument. Rather than play an organs keys, Langheinrich >fixed them and maneuvered it's pipes, he played a cello with an electric >shaver-- all in the effort to achieve the richest most dense sounds possible. >This search for sound, which began so long before he even had the advantage of >electronic equipment, has only now come to fruition with the release of >'Degrees of Amnesia'. Although this album contains work from as far back as >1989 (most of it was conceived between 1994 and 1996) the development of >Langheinrich's artistic purpose clearly began in childhood. > >In addition to Langheinrich's work as a musician and painter, he also spent >some time studying photography, and has composed the soundtrack for several >Austrian films. > > xxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx Peter Becker: Distribution Manager, DJ Pool Honcho , Demo Tape Filter Asphodel - PO Box 51, Chelsea Station, NY NY 10113 ph: (212) 604-9362, FAX: (212)604-0783, http://www.asphodel.com