Schnitzler, Conrad

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2011
A completely new work from the pioneer of electronic music. Conrad Schnitzler is a sound explorer. For many years, he has been on expeditions, journeys through his collection of electronic synthesizers almost every day. Sounds he liked has been conserved on tape and stored in his sound library. The result is a huge library of audio files, he calls them “solen”. “Borngräber & Struever” have got the chance to examine that library and started to con-struct new pieces out of the hidden gems. These are not remixes but new compositions. None of the sound combinations were thought or heard before. The 8 tracks form an album independent of any trend and therefore it becomes a real acoustic environment for everyone.
The album was produced at Studio Wannsee. To give the album more authenticity, the complete audio processing was done using analog equipment. They not only used many classics among the finest synthesizers and outboard equipment, but also custom built tube gear. The icing on the cake are the tubes used from the 60's, which bought Christian Borngräber on a trip through the Atacama desert in a small radio repair business in the city of Calama. Thanks to the desert climate even the packaging of the tubes looked as new.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2012
A completely new work from the pioneer of electronic music. Conrad Schnitzler is a sound explorer. For many years, he has been on expeditions, journeys through his collection of electronic synthesizers almost every day. Sounds he liked has been conserved on tape and stored in his sound library. The result is a huge library of audio files, he calls them “solen”. “Borngräber & Struever” have got the chance to examine that library and started to con-struct new pieces out of the hidden gems. These are not remixes but new compositions. None of the sound combinations were thought or heard before. The 8 tracks form an album independent of any trend and therefore it becomes a real acoustic environment for everyone.
The album was produced at Studio Wannsee. To give the album more authenticity, the complete audio processing was done using analog equipment. They not only used many classics among the finest synthesizers and outboard equipment, but also custom built tube gear. The icing on the cake are the tubes used from the 60's, which bought Christian Borngräber on a trip through the Atacama desert in a small radio repair business in the city of Calama. Thanks to the desert climate even the packaging of the tubes looked as new.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2019
Imagine if you could listen to the nervous whirling of methane and helium, that's what this album sounds like - at least in the mind of experimentalist Conrad Schnitzler. The Berlin artist first released these recordings on a small American cassette label. An uncommonly rhythmical vortex, we would suggest. Now available for the very first time on CD and vinyl! Admirers of the seminal artist Conrad Schnitzler can be found all over the planet, including the USA, of course. Matt Howarth, illustrator and independent comic artist, is one of them. He has been following Schnitzler's music since the early 1970s whilst drawing offbeat science fiction stories. Both the comics and the music occupy a similarly out of space space. One day Howarth came up with the idea of making Schnitzler a member of a notorious band - The Bulldaggers - who featured in one of his comic series (Those Annoying Post Bros.). Not wanting to go ahead without permission, he got in touch with Schnitzler who readily embraced the idea. In fact, he posted a pile of photos by return so that the graphic artist could draw him properly. The Bulldaggers popped up repeatedly in the comics and Schnitzler was (repeatedly) delighted. A friendship soon developed between him and Howarth. In 1986 Howarth designed his first cover for a Schnitzler album (Concert) and the following year Schnitzler entrusted him with tapes which Howarth was able to bring to the notice of the small American label Bird O' Pray. Considering the label's predominantly punk and early garage leanings, Howarth and Schnitzler were as surprised as each other to see the album successfully released on cassette. Howarth and Schnitzler came up with the album title together. Conditions of the Gas Giant reflected the atmosphere they associated with the music, clouds of manifold colours, whirling nervously above a gaseous planet. A methane and helium tryst in sonic form - fireworks, pyrotechnics for the eyes, like the surface of Jupiter, just as Schnitzler's tracks are pyrotechnics for the ears. This is the image conveyed by Matt Howarth in the liner notes for the reissue - naturally designed by himself - based on the aborted 1990s CD release. He also called on his friend D. H. Kister for further assistance - the man who first introduced him to Schnitzler's music almost fifty years ago. Indeed, Conditions of the Gas Giant almost appeared on CD in the early 1990s. Schnitzler had already digitized the music (which has certainly made our life easier) but something happened and the project was not completed. Matt Howarth can't remember what that something was, but, as he says in the booklet, "Life tends to get in the way of life." No matter, the planets are favourably aligned and things are now as they should be

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1987 / 2014
Conrad Schnitzler (1937–2011), composer and concept artist, 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 (together with Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese) and Kluster (with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and also released countless solo albums. On "Congratulacion" (originally released 1987 on the small spanish label Esplendor Geometrico) Schnitzler experimented with the Yamaha CX5 synthesizer, new on the market. The results were surprisingly structured and harmonious for Schnitzler.

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1981 / 2013
“Conrad & Sohn” (1981) is a joint project featuring Conrad and his son Gregor. Each recorded one side of the album using the same equipment. Conrad Schnitzler is undoubtedly one of the founding fathers of German electronica. And his son, Gregor Schnitzler, matched the father’s extraordinary level of creative output. They appear to have settled any musical differences amicably. After all, how else could they have “shared” an LP released by Conrad Schnitzler himself? One half of “Conrad & Sohn” features music by Conrad Schnitzler, the other his son Gregor. Two mini albums on one disc, so to speak. An ideal opportunity to compare them.
Judging by the similarities in sound, Gregor clearly had access to his father’s music equipment, but the way he uses electronics and his voice could not be more different. Industrial (e.g. Cabaret Voltaire) influences are apparent. The dry minimalism of German New Wave (NDW) also left its mark on him. A sense of the end of days in some places gives way to highly charged hysteria in others. For young, modern musicians
in the frontline city of West Berlin, a mix of depression and anger was the natural prerequisite for their uncomplicated, unsentimental and yet emotional music. And the “No Future” claim had not yet lost its validity. Gregor unequivocally took sides; he was with the young. Conrad’s music on this album also shows some signs of contemporary influence. As a veteran of the avant-garde and an experienced performance artist, he adopted a different aesthetic stance to that of his son Gregor. Leaving the bleak, cryptic text of the first track aside, Conrad speaks to the knowledgeable listener in a familiar musical
language: sequencer shapes with no end and no beginning, then an uncommonly humorous miniature with a Donald Duck voice, followed by electronic particles travelling from anywhere to who knows where. Total abstraction. Father and son certainly offer up drastically opposing musical concepts to our ears.
Asmus Tietchens

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1980 / 2012
"Consequenz" is Schnitzler’s first collaboration with another musician since the days of Kluster long before. In Wolfgang Seidel, a.k.a. Wolf Sequenza, he found someone who not only understood the “Schnitzler" principle but was able to expand on it with his own input. Seidel, like Schnitzler, had started early with the development of an alternative language of music, away from the mainstream. Schnitzler actually went a step further: with the best educational intentions, he supplied a schematic drawing to go with "Consequenz", illustrating in detail how his music “functions”, which instruments and equipment he used and how the various elements are interconnected. It is rare for an electronic artist to lay his cards quite so openly on the table, thus prompting the demystification of this new music.
"Consequenz" conveys twelve remarkably short pieces. Remarkable in the sense that Schnitzler’s early solo works (e.g. “Rot” and “Blau”) were characterized by unending sequences. Not only are the tracks even shorter than on “Con” (1978), their form has also shifted. Electronic drums can be heard, along with an electric guitar in places; Schnitzler
and Seidel sculpt rhythmic-harmonic structures with an analogue sequencer, blended with harmonies to create a somewhat unwieldy form of pop music. Little musical motifs are played without really becoming melodies capable of underpinning bona fide songs. The
influence of the German New Wave (NDW) may also be detected, but not enough to determine the style of "Consequenz". The dozen tracks on the album remain firmly rooted in Schnitzler's sonic universe, each an individual facet of his infinitely shimmering aural cascades. And, naturally, “Consequenz” is electronic pop music, lacking only the commercial added value which was of little interest to Schnitzler anyway – he didn’t give a damn.
Asmus Tietchens

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2003
More experimentel soundworks from the Berlin Artist.

 

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1981 / 2013
“Contempora” was Schnitzler’s fifth regular solo album (one of seven from 1981 altogether). It is a sort of collection of sketches, reflecting Schnitzler’s inexhaustible creative powers in condensed form. “Contempora” is a sort of collection of sketches, reflecting Schnitzler’s inexhaustible creative powers in condensed form. Like light refracting through a multiple prism, shapes and colours constantly change, backgrounds shift through brightness and darkness. Each track on the album could easily double or treble in length without relinquishing any of its magic or indeed becoming boring. Schnitzler grants us the merest glimpses into his diverse soundscapes and sonic armouries. He opens one door ever so slightly, only to close it again and open another for just a few minutes. Improvised sonic comets shimmer over Schnitzler’s inimitable sequencer patterns, fleeting melodies fade away. Everything happens at breathtaking speed, miniatures without frames or tangible borders. In the early Eighties Schnitzler worked primarily with the EMS Synthi A and Korg MS 10 synthesizers, an analog sequencer and analog rhythm machine. All in all, this was neither a particularly complex nor
exotic array of equipment for the period. Many electronic artists used these inexpensive instruments, or something similar. Nevertheless, Schnitzler succeeded in setting himself apart from others in the fraternity, in both sonic and compositional terms. Not so much gripped by the need to occupy a unique position, he was simply unable and unwilling to divert from his creative path. “Contempora” again underlines Schnitzler’s noble ethos.
Asmus Tietchens

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 1995
All music produced, composed, performed, recorded and mixed in 1981 (tracks 1 to 12) and 1980 (tracks 13 to 25).

Tracks 1 to 12 originally released as "Control" (LP - DYS) in 1981.
Tracks 13 to 25 are from "T5", issued on the Transmitter cassetten label in 1983.
 

Artist: Conrad Schnitzler
P: 2006
LTD: 300
If you know Conrad, then you know that his electronics are not easy to listen to at times. This release is a selection of his contemporary works from 2006, and I will say that the music will keep the listener interested IMO. Some strange stuff recorded here, but in the classic style of Conrad Schnitzler, that enigma from Berlin. This release is limited to 300 and should sell well since many of his other re-releases (esp. from Japan) are being snapped up by fans around the world. It also seems that the Japanese have a keen liking to Conrad.