20

AVANT MUSIC NEWS

For over twenty years now, Sascha Stadlmeier has stood at the helm of Attenuation Circuit, a wide-ranging avantgarde electronica label based in Augsburg with a gazillion releases in its catalogue and still at the height of its creative powers. And precisely twenty years ago, Stadlmeier debuted as recording artist EMERGE, which is celebrated with a bountiful three-CD set simply called 20. The first compiles obscurities and rarities from throughout his career, which although wildly varying in form, from musique concrète to deep-river diving, mandible chatter, and things that go bump in the night, are nicely strung together like an unruly string of pearls.

The two additional discs are all remixes. Stadlmeier proffered his very first release, the 7? “Relativity,” to a host of Attenuation Circuit regulars. Side A is covered on one disc, side B on the second. Among the participants we find Gerald Fiebig, NLC, Philippe Petit, RLW, Toni Dimitrov of Élan Vital Recordings, Claus Poulsen of Small Things on Sundays, Wilfried Hanrath, PBK, Anja Kreysing, Doc Wör Mirran and b°tong, among many, many others. And an additional twenty-one remixes are available online only, at emerge.bandcamp.com/album/20-2. So much to choose some, and such diversity, but it is especially pleasing to find that a number of them crawl along the deep, low end of restrained dark ambience. It’s such a good fit.

https://avantmusicnews.com/2023/08/10/amn-reviews-emerge-v-a-20-attenuation-circuit/

BAD ALCHEMY

Zwanzig Jahre EMERGE-Musik sind der Anlass für das Hoch-die-Tassen von 20 (ACU 1057, 3xCD + digital). Die Drone-7“ 'Relativity/Profundity' als Sascha Stadlmeiers weg­weisendes Debut ist aus diesem Anlass nochmal eingebettet in obskure Online- und Busi­ness-Card-Tracks und bisher Unveröffentlichtes, wobei 'fahrenheit' prototypisch seine spezielle Ambientness vertieft, als speläologisches und submarines Eintauchen ins Unter­bewusste. Doch vor allem liefert sie die Zutaten für 59 Törtchen, mit denen Emerges Freunde und Kolleg*en ihm gratulieren, indem sie seine Ästhetik rezipieren und variieren als 'biergarten blues', 'dystopian visions', 'fictional medicine', als 'profound' und deep. Allen voran Gerald Fiebig, neben Herr Penschuck, Hans Castrup, NCL, Philippe Petit, Grodock, Claus Poulsen, Wilfried Hanrath, PBK, LDX#40, Anja Kreysing, DWM, Re-Drum, PAAK, b°tong, Philip Nußbaum & Gehirn.Implosion, Carsten Vollmer, Innocent But Guilty, {AN} EeL etc. Der Beitrag von RLW lässt natürlich an „Tulpas“ denken, der 1997 auf ihn bezogenen Huldigung des Netzwerkspirits der Sound Culture, den Emerge und Attenua­tion Circuit geradezu pfingstlich hegen und multiplizieren, als „sonic utopia of sharing“.

www.badalchemy.de

VITAL WEEKLY

Sascha Stadlmeier's EMERGE celebrates twenty years of existence with a massive project. He invited all his friends to celebrate with a remix of his first 7" from Drone Records (see Vital Weekly 399), of which side A opens the second CD and side B the third. The first CD is all for EMERGE with a bundle of obscure pieces, many of which were only available online. The response was overwhelming, so a further twenty-one remixes are in the digital domain.
I wrote of the first release: "Also, a new name is Emerge, from Augsburg, Germany. He has released two tapes and CDRs and now reaches a wider audience. It's kinda hard to describe what is going on here. Highly reverbed, slowed-down voices are my best guess. Rumblings of an unknown kind take place, but seemingly there is no start or end point - like cutouts from a larger part. Of these four, the least interesting one, at least for me. If lo-fi rumbling is your thing, you might think differently, of course." My opinion hasn't changed; these are very obscure rumbles. I couldn't have predicted a long career and a massive catalogue of releases. The first CD has some interesting pieces of what became trademark EMERGE music; slow development, working with a few samples, used to significant effect. Some of the earlier pieces worked towards a crash in the end, an early trademark, but as time went on, EMERGE had more control there, and the music benefitted from that a lot. Very dark, highly atmospheric and at seventy-four minutes, a lot of it.
The two CDs with remixes, and forty pieces of music, each about three minutes (with some exceptions), can be best enjoyed as one steady stream of sound. I played them without looking at the cover, ignoring the whole 'who did what', and promised I would only take a look if a piece were out of the ordinary. The experience with this kind of remix project is that the new versions aren't that much different from the original. In this case, with the significant exception that the originals are big, deep bass affairs, many remixers pitched these up and used the sources more audibly. The list of participants reads like a who's who in the world of Attenuation Circuit (with still a few missing), the world of electronic musicians touring small places (the 'no audience scene'), some of whom have been around for a long time. I didn't once get up to look at which track I was hearing; no techno EMERGE remix, drum 'n bass, or harsh noise wall (although I wouldn't probably haven't got up for that). Solid stuff, that's sure, without all too big surprises.
The full cast of players; Gerald Fiebig, Herr Penschuck, Das unpreetzise Klang-Labor, Hans Castrup, NLC, elektrojudas, Jacob Audrey Taves, Philippe Petit, Grodock, A-Discharge, Drekka, RLW, Toni Dimitrov, Claus Poulsen, Glauser, Kryptogen Rundfunk, Circuitnoise, Satori, KOMPRIPIOTR, Wilfried Hanrath, PBK, Stefan Schmidt, Petrolio, LDX#40, Capsular, Chaotalion, Anja Kreysing, Mattia Bonafini, Tönungsfluid, Doc Wör Mirran, Re-Drum, antimatter, PAAK, Zustand D., Noisesculptor, b°tong, Brandstifter, Opening Performance Orchestra, Philip Nußbaum & Gehirn. Implosion, and Carsten Vollmer.

http://www.vitalweekly.net/1395.html