Wöstheinrich, Bernhard

Artist: Centrozoon
P: 2006
More interested in the harmonic content of music than mere sound, CENTROZOON shape chromatic spheres of dark atmosphere that are unlike anything that you can hear in contemporary electronica these days. There's a sensibility of musical dissonance and consonance that is closer to composers of the first half of the 20th century like Anton Webern and Olivier Messiaen. ANGEL LIQUOR refers to the spiritual nature of music: the muse, the good fairy, the angelic, the spirits. It's orchestral ambient music with teeth, featuring drastic multi-channel guitar treatments and quirky synth playing and programming. Relying almost entirely on autopoiesis, ANGEL LIQUOR was created in real-time (i.e. improvised in the studio), with only minor editing and post-processing to make the music album friendly. Audiophile analogue signal paths were used during mixdown and mastering to further enhance the organic and complex fractal nature of the intuitive compositions. Parts of ANGEL LIQUOR were premiered at the ARS Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria in 2004, although in slightly altered form, given the participation of part-time CENTROZOON vocalist Tim Bowness (of No-Man). 2006 finally sees the release of this ambitious piece on the new and eclectic Texas-based Divine Frequency label. "CENTROZOON is not afraid to use big slabs of sound to conjure up crystal clear and sometimes terrifying emotional statements."

Artist: Centrozoon
P: 2000    
DIN 6
LTD 1000 Copies. 750 pressed.
Centrozoon are a duo consisting of the guitarist Markus Reuter and synthesist Bernhard Wostheinrich. Blast contains four epic soundscapes that are ambient in intent but with unusual sequencer under-scores. Mixed by Ian Boddy this album should appeal to anyone who liked Distant Rituals (DiN 2).

Here are the last copies!

Artist: Centrozoon
P: 2002  
A collection of pieces of a varying nature, issued on British art-rock label Burning Shed in 2001 as a CD-R release. Allmusic noted the album’s ”ambient-inspired depths, with slowly progressing songs that unfold with layers of haunting, lovely drones that sound like soft sighs. " and commented on the “definite hints of prog-tinged exploration throughout… Reuter's a very deliberate player, and his skill at creating loops out of his performances establishes the shade and beautiful texture of the pieces. Wöstheinrich's work is subtle throughout, providing low-key accompaniment and melody to the performances, working in gentle sync with Reuter.

Artist: Erik Wollo & Bernhard Wöstheinrich
P: 2014    
DIN 46
LTD 500
Norwegian ambient guitarist Erik Wøllo and German synthesist Bernhard Wöstheinrich are familiar names to aficionados of the DiN label. They previously collaborated in 2009 on the album Arcadia Borealis (DiN34) but have also been involved in several other DiN project collaborations. Most notably Wøllo in conjunction with DiN label boss Ian Boddy on Frontiers (DiN39) and Wöstheinrich also with Boddy on Moiré (DiN18). During a visit to Germany in 2010 to attend the Schallwelle Prize ceremony for which Arcadia Borealis had been nominated Erik spent some time with Bernhard working on new ideas for a follow up album. Due to the busy work schedule of both musicians the gestation of this project grew intermittently over the next three years. They exchanged ideas and gradually those initial sketches coalesced into their second collaborative album Weltenuhr (German for World Clock). Pushing the boundaries of ambient electronica there is a strong vocal presence to the album with a beautiful, haunting female voice on the opener Gales as well as the albums title track. These pieces complement the other fully instrumental tracks which range from the pounding beat driven Subgiants to the ethereal Echoes Of Parlours. Bernhard’s inventive textural rhythms provide the perfect backdrop for Wøllo’s soaring E-bow guitar melodies on tracks such as Oculus and Denser World.  Beautifully mastered by Lee Fletcher and with an intriguingly abstract cover image Weltenuhr is yet again another quality ambient electronica release from the DiN label.

Artist: Hoffmann-Hoock & Wöstheinrich
P: 2007
DIN 27
LTD 1000
Space guitar, rhythms, atmospheres. The collaboration of two extraordinary musicians.
Interesting and a kind of new.

Artist: Ian Boddy  & Wöstheinrich
P: 2004    
DIN 18
LTD 1000 Copies
One of the aims of the DiN label was to act as a community of artists who could interact and colloborate in different ways. DiN 18 is a perfect example of this with label founder Ian Boddy forming a new creative partnership with Bernhard Wöstheinrich. DiN afficionadas will recognise the latters previous involvement as both one half of Centrozoon on DiN 6 - Blast and also Subsonic Experience on DiN 13 - Praposition. Furthermore Wöstheinrich, a trained graphic designer, has also been instrumental in the sense of design style that permeates the DiN artwork since DiN 10.

However the collaborative mesh involved in the creation of Moiré has further layers in that Markus Reuter, long time Boddy colloborator & musical partner to Wöstheinrich in Centrozoon was also heavily involved in the early editing of the pieces as well as guesting on bass on the track "Fractalise". Indeed the gestation of Moiré has been a long and complex process. Boddy & Wöstheinrich first got together in the DiN studio way back in April 2002 and played a number of improvisations utilising Boddys mastery of his large analogue modular system with Wöstheinrichs quirky & organic approach to drum & arpeggiator patterns. These sessions were then locked in the DiN vault for almost a year until Reuter opened the lid and intuitively edited the performances into a number of arrangements that formed the basis of the tracks on Moiré. The baton was then taken on by Wöstheinrich who, over the summer of 2004, further added to and sculpted the pieces into more refined forms. The final lap was then for Boddy & Wöstheinrich to finalise the arrangements & mix at the DiN studios in December 2004.

The resulting music spread over 10 tracks captures both the detail & complexity of arrangement possible with modern music technology with the spontaneous nature & organic feel of the original improvisations. Sonically it effortlessly ranges from classic analogue sequencer lines to deep, metallic atmospheres through to full on drum & synth work-outs. The majority of the tracks employ organic analogue arpeggiations together with muscular & unusual percussive loops to form the backbone of the music . Ethereal ambient textures provide a suitably surreal counter-balance to the solidity of the rhythmic structure to create a constant sense of flow & change within the compositions .

Artist: Subsonic Experience
P: 2003
DIN 13
LTD 1000 Copies
The members of Subsonic Experience are traditionalists. Not so much in their thinking, but in their history. Bernhard Wöstheinrich (born in 1968) and Thorsten Niestrath (born in 1967) met in Arts School in Bielefeld, Germany, a city with a reputation in improvised experimental music and design. Being design students, the two worked together on a number of art projects which included film, performance art, painting and last but not least, the band Subsonic Experience (from autumn 1990 till summer 1993). Artistically influenced by Zen Buddhism, the teachings of Don Juan, Gerhard Richter, Peter Michael Hamel and the likes of Klaus Schulze and early Tangerine Dream, Subsonic Experience played several festivals including two legendary support shows for the band "Embryo".

The band reformed for a weekend recording session at Bernhard´s studio in the German countryside just after Christmas 2000. The result was a rough snapshot of intuitive improvisation at work. The music was all played live, between cigarette breaks and with coffee stained equipment (mostly cheap synths and abandoned floor effects pedals). Most notably there is Thorsten´s amazing synth organ work. His wonderful lead lines and colourful organ clusters can be found on all tracks of the album. Bernhard's duties on the other hand levitated toward keeping the sequencers running, generating endless variations of tones and textures in real time.

Recorded with very basic means, but mixed and mastered using state-of-the-art technology, this album is the perfect amalgamation of musicianship with a traditionalists feel for early EM, and modern production techniques. The material from the recording session was edited and mixed by DiN founder Ian Boddy and mastered by Krautrock specialist and mastering guru Eroc. Bernhard Wöstheinrich, as one half of the duo Centrozoon, has already been featured on DiN 6 - Blast.

Artist: The Redundant Rocker
P: 2006    
All music written, played & produced by Bernhard Wostheinrich
Recorded and sequenced using ableton live

This is an enhanced cd with cd-rom track:
Video for We're not afraid (single version) by Bernd Thiele

The Redundant Rocker is Bernard Wöstheinrich's (synthesizer & percussion) solo project. Bernhard is known as the head of Centrozoon.
Bernhard creates a music that elegantly combines spontaneity and composition. The tracks rock, are soft and hard, passionate and scurille, and possibly because of these traits, the music is very catchy. The redundant rocker delivers an unrespectful and surprising sound somewhere in the field of "electronica", mixing "trance" and "space rock".
The result is a grumpy music of dense emotions that emerges from self-aware professionalism. The live-performance of The Redundant Rocker is characterized by improvisation. A basic musical structure is being augmented with lively progressions, added on the spot and in conjunction with the place and time of the performance. It is difficult to compare the redundant rocker, but some names come to mind, like Brian Eno, Richard Barbieri, Fat Boy Slim, Underworld or Future Sound of London.
Appealing food for people who dare!

Artist: The Redundant Rocker
P: 2009    
Bernhard Woestheinrich's second album as The Redundant Rocker puts the emphasis on the 'song' and the 'feeling', as opposed to the detailed digital editing and inventive effects that marked his playful debut release, Collider.

'Heart' is a melancholy creation, which is strongly reflected in the minor keys and slow tempos of the emotive compositions.

Drawing influences from French band M83 as well as Big Beat styles, Heart possesses a unique take on the notion of 'wall-of-sound' production values.

The fully analogue mix comes courtesy of Clemens Schleiwies and Markus Reuter, who took a more intuitive and "rock" approach than one would usually expect with an electronic album.

The track Alluvium has been featured in an Austrian TV advert.

Artist: V/A
P: 2005
DIN 20
This is the second DiN sampler disc and as such follows the path set by DiN 10- iNDEX01 (which was the disc included in the June 2001 issue of The Wire). It features a continuous mix of music especially compiled by DiN boss Ian Boddy which includes 2 cuts from each of the 9 titles spanning DiN 11 - 19. This amounts to almost 78 minutes worth of DiN goodness and with the special low sampler price is a perfect introduction to the DiN label. It is presented in a beautifully designed cardboard wallet with an extra front flap which just adds to the value and collectability of this disc.