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CD
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MIG 3402CD
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"For more than two years, Zeus B. Held has been the keyboardist for the German kraut rock institution Guru Guru. However, his long-standing international career as a musician, producer, songwriter and arranger began in 1972 with his kraut rock colleagues from Birth Control. Six years and six BC albums later, after the release of his solo album Zeus' Amusement, he parted ways with the band. He explored new and interesting possibilities for himself with the use of a vocoder, especially in vocal phrasing. Together with drummer Manni von Bohr (Bröselmaschine), bassist Horst Stachelhaus (Birth Control, Message) and Helmut Fichtner from the Düsseldorf band Message as another keyboarder, he also brought the concept of Zeus' Amusement to the stage. The album itself was released in 1978 on Brain; the cover design by Berlin underground artist Gil Funccius caused a sensation and sold very well, but unfortunately it was somewhat forgotten over time. This was also due to the fact that Zeus concentrated more on writing, producing and arranging and provided the right sound for artists like Nina Hagen, Dead Or Alive, Men Without Hats, and especially Gina X Performance. After almost 47 years, Zeus' Amusement is now available on CD and digitally for the first time. As a bonus, there are four new arrangements and remixes by Zeus."
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CD
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BB 433CD
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With Attack Time by sound tinkerer Zeus B. Held, Bureau B is re-releasing one of the most exciting records of the original experimental kraut-pop period. After various stints, including prog band Birth Control and underground dance tipple Gina X Performance, he also put out a string of solo releases. Attack Time, originally released on Aladin in 1981, gave Zeus B. Held the opportunity to experiment sonically outside the mainstream and subversively undermine the hegemonic MTV sound of the early 1980s. Unfortunately, the album was a commercial failure at the time. So, it's all the nicer that it's now being brought out into the world again with all its supposed contradictions between enraptured new wave, cosmic electronics and weird rock grooves.
"Zeus B. Held's origin story begins behind the keyboards of progressive powerhouse Birth Control, a six-year stint which saw his technique toughened in the crucible of hundreds of all night performances. After a brief pause in Paris to session for those space-age cyborgs Rockets, he came back to Köln in '78 and swapped commune living for a spot in the city. Soon he was picking up session work at the local Sound Experience studio and indulging his electronic obsession on a couple of solo LPs, Zeus' Amusement and Europium. In league with like-minded studio owner Martin Hömberg and art scene savant Gina Kikoine, Zeus took his new sound even further with a trio of icy electropop LPs as Gina X Performance. Their combination of queer culture, disco rhythms, and synthesizer sleaze captured the underground dancefloor, influencing Human League and Martin Gore, and making a splash at Arista, who were looking for someone to handle production duties on Fashion's sophomore album. Relocating to London in '82, Zeus spent a decade behind the desk for the likes of John Foxx, Dead Or Alive, and Pete Wylie, cementing his position among the pantheon of studio greats, where he's remained ever since . . . Recorded in '80 and '81 after the third GXP album wrapped, Attack Time is Zeus on the loose in Sound Experience, spending late nights alone learning how to play the studio as an instrument. Pre-MIDI and prior to the sampling revolution of the Fairlight, the ten tracks are awash with analogue techniques -- snip tapes and Revox time dilation, the pulsing PPG modular, groan tubes and eerie collages from the studio dustbin..." --Patrick Ryder
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LP
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BB 433LP
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LP version. With Attack Time by sound tinkerer Zeus B. Held, Bureau B is re-releasing one of the most exciting records of the original experimental kraut-pop period. After various stints, including prog band Birth Control and underground dance tipple Gina X Performance, he also put out a string of solo releases. Attack Time, originally released on Aladin in 1981, gave Zeus B. Held the opportunity to experiment sonically outside the mainstream and subversively undermine the hegemonic MTV sound of the early 1980s. Unfortunately, the album was a commercial failure at the time. So, it's all the nicer that it's now being brought out into the world again with all its supposed contradictions between enraptured new wave, cosmic electronics and weird rock grooves.
"Zeus B. Held's origin story begins behind the keyboards of progressive powerhouse Birth Control, a six-year stint which saw his technique toughened in the crucible of hundreds of all night performances. After a brief pause in Paris to session for those space-age cyborgs Rockets, he came back to Köln in '78 and swapped commune living for a spot in the city. Soon he was picking up session work at the local Sound Experience studio and indulging his electronic obsession on a couple of solo LPs, Zeus' Amusement and Europium. In league with like-minded studio owner Martin Hömberg and art scene savant Gina Kikoine, Zeus took his new sound even further with a trio of icy electropop LPs as Gina X Performance. Their combination of queer culture, disco rhythms, and synthesizer sleaze captured the underground dancefloor, influencing Human League and Martin Gore, and making a splash at Arista, who were looking for someone to handle production duties on Fashion's sophomore album. Relocating to London in '82, Zeus spent a decade behind the desk for the likes of John Foxx, Dead Or Alive, and Pete Wylie, cementing his position among the pantheon of studio greats, where he's remained ever since . . . Recorded in '80 and '81 after the third GXP album wrapped, Attack Time is Zeus on the loose in Sound Experience, spending late nights alone learning how to play the studio as an instrument. Pre-MIDI and prior to the sampling revolution of the Fairlight, the ten tracks are awash with analogue techniques -- snip tapes and Revox time dilation, the pulsing PPG modular, groan tubes and eerie collages from the studio dustbin..." --Patrick Ryder
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