Schnitzler, Conrad

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2025
LTD
DronosWalze' and 'DRON' offer a view on drone music through the prism of Conrad Schnitzler's singular perspective. These works – just two in the entire CON series – present two distinct approaches to the genre and, executed flawlessly, they became classic and timeless.
Conrad manages to condense his entire artistic essence into this minimalism, making these two hours as rich and immersive as the listener can endure. By following the concept of melody's absence, he succeeds in achieving complete immersion from the very first minutes.
Now available on CD for the first time, in a limited edition, and, as always, this is a unique CON release!

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1975 / 2017
In the sprawling archive of German avant garde electronic musician Conrad Schnitzler (1937–2011), there are two tapes marked "Filmmusik 1975 A" and "Filmmusik 1980 B". It is hard to say which videos this music belongs to, particularly as the pieces have been left untitled. "Filmmusik 1" presents an initial selection of these finds, presented to us by Schnitzler's musical partner for many years and guardian of the archive, Wolfgang Seidel. The music on the "Filmmusik" tapes is extraordinarily accessible for Schnitzler: hypnotic bass lines, stoic drum rhythms, dark drones, crystalline shards of melody.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1975 / 2017
In the year 1975 Conrad Schnitzler recorded various pieces of music to accompany films which had yet to be made. Fittingly, he labelled this collection of songs "Filmmusik". The music is extraordinarily accessible for Schnitzler: hypnotic bass lines, stoic drum rhythms, dark drones, crystalline shards of melody. "Filmmusik 2" features five tracks from the 1975 recordings plus one 23 minute track called "Lichtpunkte und schwarze Zeichen", recorded in 1978 for Schnitzler's film project of the same name.

Five untitled tracks between 1:54 and 6:12 plus the 23:32 track „Lichtpunkte und schwarze Zeichen“

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1981 / 2014
Conrad Schnitzler (1937–2011) is one of the most important representatives of Germany's electronic music avant-garde. A student of Joseph Beuys, he founded Berlin's legendary Zodiak Free Arts Lab, a subculture club, in 1967/68, was a member of Tangerine Dream and Kluster and also released countless solo albums. The yellow album contains recordings from the year 1974. It is not only amiable from start to finish, it also documents an important stage in Schnitzler's musical development. This album reveals itself to be an important milestone, illuminating a clear path into the future. Schnitzler had begun to free himself from the constraints of orthodox conceptual art, advancing into the wide open spaces of uncharted musical territory.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1981 / 2014
The green album concluded Schnitzler's "monochrome" album series (red/1973, blue/1974 and yellow/1974/1981). Schnitzler's tracks in the 1970s were lengthy and shared a musical pattern which varied only minimally. Hence the green album has just one track on each side and any changes in melodic structure are subtle in nature. The borders between Schnitzler's creative periods are too nebulous to be sure that the green album represents the coda of his 70s music. Still, Schnitzler's musical essence of the decade is in evidence as aural concentrate on both tracks of the green album. Not, however, as a recapitulary review, but as a foundation, fertile ground in which his art would thrive in the decades which followed.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2006
Klavierhelm is an album for solo piano, markedly different in tone to his electronic work. Here, the dominant theme is free harmony, with Schnitzler calling upon his deep knowledge of experimental twentieth-century composition. Through the opening few pieces (none of the ten tracks are given titles), Schnitzler's sense of timing and spacious phrasing evokes the temporal protractions of Morton Feldman's piano compositions. As the album progresses, Schnitzler eradicates much of this spaciousness, increasing the density and tempo of his performance while placing greater emphasis on uncompromising harmonic modernity. By the sixth piece on the disc Schnitzler floors the sustain pedal to conjure a reverberating cacophony which dissolves into staccato fits and starts for the most part of the next track - heavily punctuated by abrupt breaks and flurried phrases. By the final two pieces Schnitzler pretty much maxes out his work rate, dismantled arpeggios spidering all over one another, a tangle of dramatic, improbable intervals. Klavierhelm is certainly at the more cerebral end of the solo piano canon, and while it doesn't make for easy listening, there's no disputing it's a thoroughly rewarding collection. Highly Recommended.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2025
LTD150
'Memory' is a saturated, multifaceted poem, a work of sound art set against a backdrop of shimmering cosmic space. It is a sonic excursion into memory, reflecting both the light and the darkness of our consciousness. Moving forward and transcending many boundaries, CON remains true to the mood established at the very beginning of this 60-minute cinematic work.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2005
Moon Mummy is a cautionary comedy about the dangers of mixing science and commercialization. It deals with what happens when an archeological discovery in the asteroid belt collides with the cold reality of generating public interest to support research funding. There are still many unaswered questions regarding the alien's tomb.
The first track "The Burial Asteroid" still sounds reasonable okay with a violin (sample?) and stereo-effects. The rest of the cd is partly very experimental and sometimes has strange rhythms. It all fits the story perfectly.
Contains a PDF with a comic strip by Matt Howarth.
 

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2008
LTD: 300
The follow-up CD to Conviction, with more rare experimentel tracks in the Schnitzler style made in the year 2007.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1972 / 2012
Schnitzler is often hailed as one of Krautrock's ur-fathers: the man who injected some wild atonal grit into Tangerine Dream's first outing 'Electronic Meditation', and who kick-started Moebius and Roedelius's career with the short-lived 'Kluster'...Schnitzler studied sculpture with Joseph Beuys, but sites Stockhausen along with Cage and Pierre Schaeffer as prime influences. "Rot", recorded in 1972, was Schnitzler's first solo album and the start of a steady exploration of electric timbre and cut-up. The titles of the two 20 minute tracks "Meditation" and "Krautrock" sound more like intros to hippy freak outs, but no so. "Meditation" takes a held chord - more a mechanical hum than a drone - and strafes it with thin timbres and burst of muddy sound. There's a kind of proto-industrial feel, but without any relation to The Velvets' grooves or gothic shadowboxing. Just whines and sirens and mewling electricity pulsating across a blank canvas. Synth notes triggering multiple echoes create a regular pulse while textures shift from thin and whistling to frothy and granular. "Krautrock" is more manically energized.

1997. © Matt Ffyche