The Redundant Rocker – Collider

Described as ‘Fat Boy Slim meets Brian Eno’, The Redundant Rocker is a project designed to confound conventional expectations.

Creating a world in which twisted sounds compete with straight beats and crafted melodies, “Collider” gleefully combines pop sensibilities with experimental production techniques.

Regarded by Wöstheinrich as coming across like “a best and worst of the last 30 years in music,” The Redundant Rocker’s uniquely infectious charms are evident throughout this impressive debut release.

Collider is also available as a CD in a wonderful digipak with glossy finish

credits

Music written, arranged and played by The Redundant Rocker.
Mastered by Modo Bierkamp & Markus Reuter.
Produced by The Redundant Rocker.
Design studioflokati.de
Artwork by Bernd Thiele berndthiele.de

VIDEOS

We Are Not Afraid

Concept and Realization: Bernd Thiele
Camera: Astrid Rieger
Actress: Katrin Einert

Nuved
Camera: Bernhard Wöstheinrich
Video Edit: Bernd Thiele

Special thanks to Markus Reuter, Rene Stieger, Modo Bierkamp, Roberto Duse, Tom Reiss, Tom Redecker, Friedel Muders, Tim Bowness, Ian Boddy,  and Bernd Thiele.

Bernhard Wöstheinrich – Live in Düsseldorf 2005

Recorded live to 2-track in Düsseldorf on 31/12/2005
Played Live by Bernhard Wöstheinrich

released January 5, 2006

Recording engineer: Uwe Brameier
Editing and mastering: Markus Reuter

Artwork: Bernhard Wöstheinrich

Live in Düsseldorf is a recording of a house concert at Uwe Brameier’s place. Uwe is a long-time supporter of my music, but also the founder and main figure behind modul303.com; a German radio station specializing in electronic music of all kinds.

This music was composed and arranged entirely in real time, using the live looping method, where musical phrases can be recorded spontaneously during the performance without interrupting the ongoing flow. Loops of recorded phrases can be played back together and combined into complex polyphonic arrangements.
Live in Düsseldorf was still performed without a computer, so it had to be done within the limitations of the given hardware on which it was performed on (EMU XL7; BOSS VF-1).

Another notable feature was the use of a ZTar as a general input device, instead of an usual keyboard.

Ian Boddy & Bernhard Wöstheinrich – Moiré (DiN18)

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 aficionados will recognize that Wöstheinrich, a trained graphic designer, is also instrumental in the design style that has permeated 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 .

Andy Clark: ‘longtime favourite
Favorite tracks “Perambulator”, “Scorpio”, “Smash and grab”. And quieter ambient-ish tracks like “Method Count” “Moiré”, “Cloister. Favorite track: Smash and Grab.

Frank HadlichIf you like very modern but dateless eletronic music with a lot of epercussion – just grab it.
Highly recommended! Favorite track: Accretion.

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centrozoon – blast

Blast gradually took shape over the course of months in a barn refitted into a studio space. Compared to the giant analog synth constellations of the 70s, the set-up was remarkably lean, consisting of little more than a touch guitar, simple looping devices, a Yamaha SY35 and various effect pedals. An important role was reserved for the Roland MC303, which, in a case of happy misappropriation, provided atmospheric pad sounds and shadowy rhythm patterns. The result were four tracks of glacially shifting drones, whose serene spaciousness occasionally hinged at a classic like Tangerine Dream’s Zeit without ever copying it.

This luxurious new edition celebrates the album’s legacy at a time when centrozoon have moved into distinctly different musical territories. In the eyes of the band, this is their ‘director’s cut in 3D’ – a monolithic monument in time that respectfully honours and occasionally even ambitiously exceeds its inspirations.

A Listeners Guide to Blast:

German duo Centrozoon featuring Markus Reuter (on Warr Guitar) and Bernhard Wöstheinrich (on Synthesisers) have created a sound world that is both intriguing and captivating.

There are few signposts in the way of rhythms or solos to be found on the album. Instead each track is a collaboration of equals, where Reuter and Wöstheinrich meld their respective sonic palettes to create a work of texture, and poise.

In this quest for balance, the duo display an almost painterly concern for the use of space, tone and colour. Each aspect of the album is assiduously compiled and compacted, with luminous motifs and phrases sweeping up through the rich layers and fading away.

With so many amorphous and half-glimpsed events, its this use of ambiguity which almost paradoxically lends Blast its strength, ensuring that the listener remains engaged and part of the overall process.

Don’t be tempted to think this is tame ambient wallpaper. It’s not. There is a sureness of touch with ensures the music resonates vibrantly throughout each of the four tracks.

Blast is the duos first album for DiN and it contains a warm, passionate music suffused with a pulsating inner light. A work of remarkable maturing clarity from two fine young players.

Sid Smith
A TV documentary about centrozoon in Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), first broadcast on November 14, 2000
credits

Markus Reuter – Processed Touch Guitar
Bernhard Wöstheinrich – Tonal and Rhythmic Modulations, Synthesizers

Mixed by Ian Boddy