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viewing 1 To 11 of 11 items
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LP
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KK 102LP
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LP version. Includes download code. At the end of the '90s, there were a lot of murmurs about the living room scene in Berlin; magical concerts on improvised stages in temporary event spaces. It was a counter-reaction against the egos of rock stars. One of the protagonists of this scene was F.S. Blumm. But Blumm has shown many faces. He has collaborated with David Grubbs, Andi Otto, Harald Sack Ziegler, and Nils Frahm; He realized his love for dub reggae with the Quasi Dub Development; and he played post rock in the band KINN. Now, F.S. Blumm is entering a new phase of his creativity which one could call his nonchalant phase. Besides a few guitar chords and the suggestion of a xylophone in the background, there is nothing but the wide spaces between them. Fine, almost random sounding noises are remotely reminiscent of the era of his experimental instrumental concerts with classical guitar. Then the voice comes into play and everything changes. Laid-back, F.S. Blumm sings with a combination of urgency and relaxation. The piece are touching and intimate. This is the way "Handle Bar", the opening track on his new album Welcome, is delivered. Previously, Blumm was active as a songwriter. He wrote songs for three duos: Bobby And Blumm with Bobby Baby, Old Splendifolia with Jana Plewa, and finally Jonsson Gille & Blumm. For the first time since he started making music, he is singing his own songs himself on Welcome. And with every song on Welcome, new doors of association are opened. "New Day" uses reverb-laden drums and hymnal harmonies to great effect. But Blumm always manages to make the grandiose still sound grounded. Rather than spreading himself too thin, he prefers to explore the depths. There's the relaxed and erotically crackling "Going Away", the optimistic "Initial Spark", and the casual "Overweight". Blumm is ever traversing the field between greatness and modesty, sophisticated melodies, and recordings which are like the extremely condensed sound of a cassette recorder. This aesthetic permeates the entire album. With Welcome, F.S. Blumm has perfected the imperfect. Where other producers filter out the noise, pops, and crackles, Blumm does the exact opposite. He reverses the roles of desired and undesirable sound. What remains are songs like sculptures left in the wake of acoustic tracks.
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CD
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KK 102CD
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At the end of the '90s, there were a lot of murmurs about the living room scene in Berlin; magical concerts on improvised stages in temporary event spaces. It was a counter-reaction against the egos of rock stars. One of the protagonists of this scene was F.S. Blumm. But Blumm has shown many faces. He has collaborated with David Grubbs, Andi Otto, Harald Sack Ziegler, and Nils Frahm; He realized his love for dub reggae with the Quasi Dub Development; and he played post rock in the band KINN. Now, F.S. Blumm is entering a new phase of his creativity which one could call his nonchalant phase. Besides a few guitar chords and the suggestion of a xylophone in the background, there is nothing but the wide spaces between them. Fine, almost random sounding noises are remotely reminiscent of the era of his experimental instrumental concerts with classical guitar. Then the voice comes into play and everything changes. Laid-back, F.S. Blumm sings with a combination of urgency and relaxation. The piece are touching and intimate. This is the way "Handle Bar", the opening track on his new album Welcome, is delivered. Previously, Blumm was active as a songwriter. He wrote songs for three duos: Bobby And Blumm with Bobby Baby, Old Splendifolia with Jana Plewa, and finally Jonsson Gille & Blumm. For the first time since he started making music, he is singing his own songs himself on Welcome. And with every song on Welcome, new doors of association are opened. "New Day" uses reverb-laden drums and hymnal harmonies to great effect. But Blumm always manages to make the grandiose still sound grounded. Rather than spreading himself too thin, he prefers to explore the depths. There's the relaxed and erotically crackling "Going Away", the optimistic "Initial Spark", and the casual "Overweight". Blumm is ever traversing the field between greatness and modesty, sophisticated melodies, and recordings which are like the extremely condensed sound of a cassette recorder. This aesthetic permeates the entire album. With Welcome, F.S. Blumm has perfected the imperfect. Where other producers filter out the noise, pops, and crackles, Blumm does the exact opposite. He reverses the roles of desired and undesirable sound. What remains are songs like sculptures left in the wake of acoustic tracks.
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CD
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PING 039CD
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Frank Schültge aka F.S. Blumm has released his melodic experiments around the acoustic guitar for over 15 years. In their contemplative reduction, they miraculously always hit right in the heart. Pitchfork said: "The man makes some damn charming music." With Up, Up, and Astray, F.S. Blumm proves that he doesn't opt for routine with his eighth full-length solo release: his unfailing arsenal of acoustic instruments and choice circuits frame the most energetic Blumm sound we have lived to see so far. The album title perfectly describes its energy. F.S. Blumm returns from a six-year hiatus as a solo artist in which he has "rehearsed and learned, multiplied and lost track on purpose." Blumm is many now, and he is absolutely present to us. It all goes on, and always up, and from there into unknown dimensions. He goes astray in the word's finest meaning. And he goes up, up, not as a sweaty "HarderBetterFasterStronger," but with Blumm's steady, heartfelt pling of the acoustic guitar with his tin cookie-box, through which he, in fact, plays back his sounds, in order to re-record them, with his double bass, his keys, and kalimba. Blumm is back from the musical travels of his collaborations. He took the role of a bass player with Quasi Dub Development, a classical guitarist with Old Splendifolia, a songwriter with Bobby And Blumm, a sonic researcher with Nils Frahm and a manic, extrovert dub mash-up DJ as King Hobby. What he has experienced on these musical field trips he now returns to his solo project. Here's the best bit: Blumm sings -- through that very cookie-box -- which sounds like an exquisite vintage amp. Together with his various guest musicians (most notably Ella Blixt aka Bobby Baby on vocals), F.S. Blumm further defines his subtle and unique sonic identity between classical guitar and electronic production. "I wouldn't call my decisions in the studio canny or strategic, they are entirely led by the music. Thereby my sound remains fresh, maybe slightly naïve too, because it unfolds its own life -- ignorant of trends or markets."
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MORR 070CD
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F.S. Blumm (Berlin, Germany) likes to get in his camping van with his guitar, drive to the south and write his tracks on the bench in the back. Back in Berlin, F.S. Blumm invites friends to his place. They bring their instruments: a bass clarinet, a trumpet, a trombone, a flute -- and they enter a small room where instrument and microphone can cuddle up to each other. String instruments ensnare harmonies and in peaceful familiarity, the wind section lays on top of the crest of a wave. In its circumspect opulence of sounds and noises, Summer Kling is a late summery record. "Flosse, " for instance, is a song in a special mood, a song that sets off into the sunrise, when the day begins to broaden in a still, silent way. Just as people meet each other, the instruments join, too. Together they ensnare the delicate melody: chamber folk, one could call it. From serious to easy -- and back again.
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MORR 070LP
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CD
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MORR 021CD
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2001 release. Frank Schültge aka F.S.Blumm presents a multitude of lovely pop songs and atmospheric soundscapes. Mondkuchen seems like a colorful picture transformed into music, telling little stories in many layers. Its tension covers a wide field from crushed acoustic sound experiments to perfect pop tunes. Ingredients of his sound-kitchen are mainly acoustic instruments like piano, kalimba, vibes or guitars or more rare ones like an accordion. The musical result is in a way original, so that the popular namedropping doesn't help that much to describe F.S.Blumm's music. We still try it because we think there is a parallel to bands and projects like Gastr Del Sol or others who work on the combination of improvised elements with pop-approached structures. Likewise, when thinking about Wechsel Garland, it's hard to believe that F.S.Blumm is a one-man-project. It shows the many skills of a multi-instrumentalist, but the best thing is that he manages to sound like a perfectly tuned in orchestra, homogenous and well balanced. F.S.Blumm works with melodious sound, with deep buried memories and inner-mind visions, but at the same time his music is determined by timeless elegance and an amazing facility. The correlation of different instruments and beautiful simple melodies rule the sound. Experimental ideas just communicate with accessible and friendly music and Mondkuchen is a good example of how deep this combination can be without losing tension and humor.
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MORR 021LP
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2001 release. LP version.
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MORR 053CD
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F.S. Blumm presents his second album following the debut Mondkuchen. Ideas for Zweite Meer started to flow in F.S. Blumm's head while being on the road. Traveling down the west coast from Canada to Mexico with Greg Davis and E*Rock, it could not have been composed any other way. Behind the car window, landscapes kept morphing during the length of one day. Breathing in the morning, diving through the desert, arriving in Las Vegas at night. Outside and in between: the horizon, the sky, expanse and distance. The origins of huge gestures and great pop music. Inside F.S. Blumm's head: Burt Bacharach, Tom Jones and -- not far away -- Brian Wilson.
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MORR 053LP
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CD
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STAUB 036CD
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"On his second solo album after last year's Mondkuchen multi-instrumentalist Frank Schültge aka F.S. Blumm from Berlin presents again a multitude of lovely instrumental pop songs, with his guitar, horn and trumpet (Harald 'Sack' Ziegler), vibes (Patrick Leuschner), mbira, kalimba and toy piano being the favorite ingredients of his sound kitchen. The musical result is in a way original that the popular namedropping doesn´t help that much to describe F.S.Blumm´s music. Nevertheless bands and projects like Gastr Del Sol or others who work on the combination of improvised elements with pop-approved structures come to mind, as well as American folk pioneer John Fahey or minimal music representatives Pauline Oliveros and David Behrman for their similar sense of poise and release."
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STAUB 036LP
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viewing 1 To 11 of 11 items
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