Schwinge auf der Delle (3 Indella Phases)
by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf
In the artist's own words, “Aalfang mit Pferdekopf has been the vehicle for more or less unusual sounds with a narrative approach since 2004. The package contains prick descriptions, found field footage, dodgy drones, allaying ambient, and all sorts of things from the bargain bin of serious music. The main bricoleur is Mirko Uhlig, occasionally supported by Her and Him.“ The first Aalfang album was released 20 years ago. After a long phase of occasional releases, 2024 sees a series of new releases, and attenuation circuit is very happy to present one of them in a physical edition, which also contains tracks from some of the new digital albums.
attenuation circuit founder EMERGE and Aalfang mit Pferdekopf already collaborated at a rather early point in their respective careers and have since both made their mark in the international experimental music underground, so it is a particular pleasure for us to add another release by Mirko Uhlig to the attenuation circuit label catalogue. The album features his characteristic mix of lush yet beautifully unsettling drone ambient from a hinterland between Bowie's „Low“ and Nurse With Wound, trashy fake-pop, outright glitch noise, and dadaist humour, as exemplified by the titles and narration. While „Dinge auf der Schwelle“ refers to the German title of a Lovecraft story, while „Schwinge auf der Delle“ is simply a nonsensical pun on it. And the hilarious title of track 3 translates as „Batman lives in a tiny house to which he returns at the end of the working day, looking up at the stars through the glass roof and talking about justice in monologue – while no one listens“. No one pairs introspective melancholy with outright silliness in such glamourously surrealistic grandeur as Aalfang mit Pferdekopf does – and this album shows him at the height of his game.
File under: drone, ambient, psychedelic
ACU 1069
factory-produced CDr in Digisleeve
Released in 2024
limited to 50 copies
price: 10.00 EUR (excl. postage)
exclusive reworks and original mixes of tracks from recent albums
1 and 2: prev. unreleased, mixed at TräHus, Mar 2024
3: incl. on “I Don’t See The Indella Bird Here”, Mar 2024
4: incl. on “Dinge Auf Der Schwelle”, Feb 2024
5: prev. unreleased mix of “Eine Landschaft. Weiß”, Jan 2024
aalfang.de
aalfangmitpferdekopf.bandcamp.com
Also available here: http://www.discogs.com/seller/dependenz?sort=price&sort_order=asc&q=attenuation+circuit&st
BAD ALCHEMY
20 Jahre AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF, grass, Alter. 20 Jahre nach „Im Schlachthaus blühen die Blumen“ mischte Mirko Uhlig daheim in der Eifel auf Schwinge auf der Delle (3 Indella Phases) (ACU 1069, proCDr) Unveröffentlichtes wie 'Lapsang Royal' und das Titelstück mit 'Batman wohnt in einem Tinyhaus im Wald, wohin er nach getaner Arbeit zurückkehrt, durch das Glasdach in die Sterne schaut und Monologe über Gerechtigkeit hält - aber sie bleiben ungehört (Hygge Mix)' (von „I Don't See the Indella Bird Here“), dem Titeltrack von „Dinge auf der Schwelle“ und 'Blanc' (alias „Eine Landschaft. Weiß“). Batman stolpert über Lovecraft, umrahmt mit Tee, Mövenweiß und Alkenscheiße. Dazu geht melancholischer Sound einher mit merkwürdigem Text, lässigem Jazzbesenswing, monotonem Beat, Gitarrenrock. Nicht rau genug, um sich zu reiben, zu beißen, aber mehr als tauglich, um zu irritieren. Die mondklare Nacht, die Stille des Waldes, ein Pianissimo- und Knisterloch, olala, es brummt und dröhnt, Batman seufzt, Frauenmund lallt, doch Batgirl gibt nicht auf, sie schrammelrockt! Gefolgt von 'Blanc' als in sich schwingende, leise grummelnde, wummrig anschwellende, aber im Schnee verlaufende Geduldsprobe.
www.badalchemy.de
VITAL WEEKLY
For Germany’s Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf (Eel Fishing With Horse Head), Mirko Uhlig’s musical project has been quiet. I don’t know when he decides to use that name and to what extent it differs from the music he creates under his name. I always found Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf, a band name like Hirsche Nichts Auf Sofa, that German absurdist/dadaist/surrealist feeling. I am sure I haven’t heard all the output by Uhlig, but from what I heard, I indeed liked it. Drones play a massive role in music, but not exclusively. There is room for rhythms (via loops or machines, I don’t know), field recordings and voices. There is plenty of the latter, which gives the music a radiophonic character. Most of the time, these texts are in German, so there is a barrier there, but it also adds to the mystery of the music.
In recent times, Uhlig added a few works to his Bandcamp, and this CDR contains two pieces from recent releases, two previously unreleased pieces and a previously unreleased mix of an otherwise available piece. Despite the extensive use of drones, Uhlig applies collage-like techniques in his compositions, primarily through long crossfades but sometimes through a hard cut. The surrealist path he walks reminds me from time to time of Nurse With Wound, maybe of ‘Spiral Insana’. Perhaps not as complex, but certainly, the way he chooses his cuts adds something peculiar to the mix, such as pop music (acoustic guitars, people singing – very hippie-style), in ‘Dinge Auf Der Schwelle’, which adds a very alien feeling to the music (that is, of course, if you don’t think that all his music is alien and this is actual music because it refers to your traditional approach to music). In ‘Schwinge Auf Der Delle’, the use of rhythm prevails via some heavy-duty rock drums; there are also some scratchy rock guitars in this piece, further enhancing the idea of taking cues from Nurse With Wound and HNAS. But that doesn’t mean Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf is a pure copycat; Uhlig does a great job here and has his unique musical storytelling. Drones may form the backbone of the music, but by adding all of the weird surprises, this is an incredible journey. It’s time I delved into the recent history of this musical and see what else I missed.
https://www.vitalweekly.net/number-1442/
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