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viewing 1 To 15 of 15 items
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LP
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BB 367LP
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LP version. "... My Frequencies, When We is the eighth Mapstation album Stefan Schneider has released since 2000. Hailing from Düsseldorf, the electronic music artist and producer finds inspiration in African and South American folklore, dub, and, naturally, krautrock, taking his time to process his responses in a consistently thoughtful manner, never resorting to cliché. He has also found time to pursue other projects in recent years, one with electronic music pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius for example (2011), another with visual artist Katharina Grosse (2017), whilst continuing to release interesting music from a variety of musical spheres on his own Tal label. Recorded between March and August of 2020 in Corona-induced isolation, there is a sonic homogeneity to My Frequencies, When We. For the first time in years, guest musicians are conspicuous by their absence. Schneider himself assumes vocal duties on 'The City In'. He has also pared down his equipment list: an analog tape loop device, Roland 808 drum machine, Novation Peak synthesizer, a guitar. Schneider thus sticks to the philosophy he revealed to an interviewer this summer: 'Simplification of the means is something I strive for. I have come to realize that my music loses intensity when I add in too many elements...' 'Intensity' does not necessarily translate into 'danceability'. Yes, there are hypnotic African grooves on 'Flute Channels' and the ingeniously rhythmic, imaginary world music of 'Taro Zing Ta' has much in common with Jon Hassell, Marja Ahti or DJ Residue, but these do not reflect the full spectrum. For the most part, the rhythms are as rudimentary as those found in folklore, tottering and stumbling along. There are gentle reminders of kraut-elektronik (Conrad Schnitzler, Cluster, Neu!) and discrete reconfigurations, with the aural current of the Rhineland flowing nearby. 'Outside Arendt' presents two parallel worlds in which synth melodies and crude beats are destined ne'er to meet; the same is true of the musical box frequencies and basic rhythm of 'Train Of Gerda' or the poetic juxtaposition of idyll and concrete on 'Actual Possible': each instrument goes at its own pace, MIDI connections do not lead to synthesis. This is music for the digital diaspora, mystical, sweeping frequencies, performed reductively. In its finest moments Mapstation succeeds in crafting minimal-kraut-elektronik which runs as deep as it floats on high. Electronic house music one might say, at once homely and strange." --Olaf Karnik
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CD
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BB 367CD
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"... My Frequencies, When We is the eighth Mapstation album Stefan Schneider has released since 2000. Hailing from Düsseldorf, the electronic music artist and producer finds inspiration in African and South American folklore, dub, and, naturally, krautrock, taking his time to process his responses in a consistently thoughtful manner, never resorting to cliché. He has also found time to pursue other projects in recent years, one with electronic music pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius for example (2011), another with visual artist Katharina Grosse (2017), whilst continuing to release interesting music from a variety of musical spheres on his own Tal label. Recorded between March and August of 2020 in Corona-induced isolation, there is a sonic homogeneity to My Frequencies, When We. For the first time in years, guest musicians are conspicuous by their absence. Schneider himself assumes vocal duties on 'The City In'. He has also pared down his equipment list: an analog tape loop device, Roland 808 drum machine, Novation Peak synthesizer, a guitar. Schneider thus sticks to the philosophy he revealed to an interviewer this summer: 'Simplification of the means is something I strive for. I have come to realize that my music loses intensity when I add in too many elements...' 'Intensity' does not necessarily translate into 'danceability'. Yes, there are hypnotic African grooves on 'Flute Channels' and the ingeniously rhythmic, imaginary world music of 'Taro Zing Ta' has much in common with Jon Hassell, Marja Ahti or DJ Residue, but these do not reflect the full spectrum. For the most part, the rhythms are as rudimentary as those found in folklore, tottering and stumbling along. There are gentle reminders of kraut-elektronik (Conrad Schnitzler, Cluster, Neu!) and discrete reconfigurations, with the aural current of the Rhineland flowing nearby. 'Outside Arendt' presents two parallel worlds in which synth melodies and crude beats are destined ne'er to meet; the same is true of the musical box frequencies and basic rhythm of 'Train Of Gerda' or the poetic juxtaposition of idyll and concrete on 'Actual Possible': each instrument goes at its own pace, MIDI connections do not lead to synthesis. This is music for the digital diaspora, mystical, sweeping frequencies, performed reductively. In its finest moments Mapstation succeeds in crafting minimal-kraut-elektronik which runs as deep as it floats on high. Electronic house music one might say, at once homely and strange." --Olaf Karnik
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LP
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TAL 014LP
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LP version. Includes download code. Since 2000, Mapstation has been the moniker for the solo work of TAL Label founder Stefan Schneider. Schneider has won international acclaim as a founding member of Kreidler and To Rococo Rot, as well as through unique collaboration works with artists such as Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia), Bill Wells, Katharina Grosse, Dieter Moebius (Cluster, Harmonia), Sofia Jernberg, or Jochen Irmler (Faust). There has not been a new Mapstation release since 2009's The Africa Chamber (SCAPE 059CD) which had former Fela Kuti member Nicholas Addo-Nettey on percussion. Present Unmetrics is not entirely a stand-alone creation either. There are guest appearances by Thomas Klein (Kreidler) on percussion, Michael Acher (The Notwist) on Sousaphone and an outstanding vocal contribution from Japanese singer Haco, all deeply woven into the digital topography of the music. Present Unmetrics offers a collection of radically subtle music. The guiding principle of the album was to construct direct and nuanced tracks which embody a sense of open-ended incompleteness and heterogenous dynamics. Out-of-sync bass arpeggios, infused with uneven rhythms, fractured synth stabs, and intimate melodies, frequently created here with a Schlumberg sine wave generator, are continuously engage with experimentation, both on sound and structure. Expertly pieced together and produced in timeless fashion, Present Unmetrics displays all the coherence and artistic authority of an album on a constant quest so vital to the music of Mapstation. An album that couldn't have been made by any other than Mapstation.
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CD
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TAL 014CD
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Since 2000, Mapstation has been the moniker for the solo work of TAL Label founder Stefan Schneider. Schneider has won international acclaim as a founding member of Kreidler and To Rococo Rot, as well as through unique collaboration works with artists such as Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia), Bill Wells, Katharina Grosse, Dieter Moebius (Cluster, Harmonia), Sofia Jernberg, or Jochen Irmler (Faust). There has not been a new Mapstation release since 2009's The Africa Chamber (SCAPE 059CD) which had former Fela Kuti member Nicholas Addo-Nettey on percussion. Present Unmetrics is not entirely a stand-alone creation either. There are guest appearances by Thomas Klein (Kreidler) on percussion, Michael Acher (The Notwist) on Sousaphone and an outstanding vocal contribution from Japanese singer Haco, all deeply woven into the digital topography of the music. Present Unmetrics offers a collection of radically subtle music. The guiding principle of the album was to construct direct and nuanced tracks which embody a sense of open-ended incompleteness and heterogenous dynamics. Out-of-sync bass arpeggios, infused with uneven rhythms, fractured synth stabs, and intimate melodies, frequently created here with a Schlumberg sine wave generator, are continuously engage with experimentation, both on sound and structure. Expertly pieced together and produced in timeless fashion, Present Unmetrics displays all the coherence and artistic authority of an album on a constant quest so vital to the music of Mapstation. An album that couldn't have been made by any other than Mapstation.
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CD
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SCAPE 059CD
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This is the third album by Mapstation. Since 2001, Stefan Schneider has been working under this moniker. Nevertheless, this new release marks a premiere for the Dusseldorf-based artist: it is the first album produced by Schneider himself. Delving deeper into the sounds and subjects already explored on his previous outings, Map Of Africa (2002) and Loin D'Afrique (2006), this record expands on Mapstation's tentative love and study of the African continent. Like his earlier aural collages, The Africa Chamber treats this region not only as a geographic location, but also as a symbol of unknown terrain, of distant shores awaiting our exploration. Unfettered by the fetish of authenticity, but rather bolstered by various encounters on neutral, diasporic grounds like European Internet cafes ("Unitel"), African beauty parlors ("The Protector") or folkloristic kitsch figurines ("Return Of The Hunter"), Schneider prefers an associative approach to music. His Africa Chamber becomes a fanciful wunderkammer of would-be African sounds. In this spirit, the album retraces the subconscious cultural amalgamations that shape our contemporary mainstream culture and reciprocal influences, from the digital replication and recreation of jungle ambience for the Antwerp Zoo ("Nocturama") to the illustrated Swedish porcelain gracing the cover, heavily influenced by African art. In a fitting twist, Schneider's inimitable Mapstation sound, conjuring up broad and expansive soundscapes from a bare minimum of synthesizer arpeggiator, has started to incorporate more and more analog percussion for a coarser, less predictably-textured sound. Amplifiers are miked up. Distortion, overamplification and feedback claim their rightful space. Besides a plethora of percussive hollow-ware like vases or pitchers and prepared piano passages -- recorded in the studio of Dusseldorf-based pianist and composer Volker Bertelmann aka Hauschka -- the album relies mainly on digital synths, reawakened and injected with new warmth. Continuing his tradition of collaboration, Schneider also invited an eclectic range of master musicians to join him on this sonic journey. Annie Whitehead, on-stage staple of Robert Wyatt, Afrika Express/Damon Albarn or James Blood Ulmer and a welcome addition to Schneider's previous album, fleshed out two tracks with her spellbinding trombone. Nicholas Addo-Nettey also contributes percussion (he played alongside Tony Allen for the seminal Fela Kuti Band in the 1970s). Drummer Thomas Klein (Kreidler) completes Mapstation's trio of collaborators.
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CD
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SCAPE 038CD
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Behind Mapstation is Stefan Schneider (To Rococo Rot, Music A.M.) from Düsseldorf, and this is his fourth recording and debut for the ~scape label. Distance Told Me Things To Be Said brings us to unknown topographies and familiar surroundings alike. Produced between 2003 and 2005 at various studio and living places in London, Berlin and Düsseldorf, it was mixed by Bernd Jestram of Tarwater. On songs like "Horns Version" and "Warm Distance" we hear wonderful guest appearances by London- based trombonist Annie Whitehead, and Martin Brandlmayr of Vienna trio Radian is once again the percussionist of choice. After his stunning performance on Mapstation's previous album Version Train, Brandlmayr offers polyrhythms that elegantly and effortlessly match with the sequencers. The songs "Valencia Was Asleep" and "Listening to Stockholm" are based on real live recordings from these cities and project a sense of narration -- pockets of silence within amplified streets. On "Loin D'Afrique" we find the other Africa, imbued with a mild ecstatic feeling, the scenery slowly changing from dark green to ochre where circling rhythms and melodic fragments produce afternoon atmospheres and twilight music. Also found here are plenty of electronic sounds, 303 basslines, drum machines, percussion and trombone phrases. By combining low-key melodies with field recordings, a submerged reality seeps into the material: a child is playing somewhere nearby, the window is open, a car is passing by. Then you return to the room to scrutinize the atlas. This is an album of quiet music and secret melodies.
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LP
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SCAPE 038LP
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CD
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STAUB 029CD
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"Names on maps are often more than mere geographical terms. They are sound and color, dream and memory, mystery and magic, and it is a moment of wonderful gracefulness when one day you look at them with your own eyes and they are taking shape. A way to find the day is the first album of Mapstation at full-length and it comes along as a flamboyant soulful piece of music. While the pre-released 12" 'New direction' managed to raise high expectations, A Way to Find the Day picks up the tension and gives way to 43 minutes of attentive and curious dynamics, rhythmic irrealities and gently warm disorder. Since a bit more than two years Mapstation has been the imprint of Stefan Schneider who is also playing bass and electronics with the Düsseldorf/Berlin trio To Rococo Rot. Mapstation's music is closer to minimalist techno but brings the euphoria of the genre together with charming slow-downs of pace and bpm. Did the tracks on the preceding mini-album Sleep, Engine Sleep predominantly explore the shifts from daylight to dream, A Way to Find the Day is effortlessly able to impress with even more subtle shapes of resonance plus slightly unexpected and chliché-free branchings to reggae music. This dimension to Mapstation comes from the influence of recent Jamaican dancehall reggae, with Schneider citing its corporation of electronic sounds, and his own practice of mixing reggae a cappellas into his DJ sets. On A Way to Find the Day Schneider takes the idea further into a stunning collaboration with reggae singer Ras Donovan."
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LP
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STAUB 029LP
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12"
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STAUB 024EP
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"New vinyl-only EP by Stefan Schneider (To Rococo Rot). The title track of this new Mapstation release is a soulful dub meets electronica anthem featuring Ras Donovan from Tikiman's Berlin posse on vocals. Still being a 'new direction' for Schneider who before has only worked with vocals on his 12" in Domino's Model 500 series, the combination with Donovan's rich narrative voice appears like the logical extension of his intimate electronics which simultaneously recall Chain Reaction, Cluster and the school of clicks and cuts. The instrumental version of 'New Direction' and 'Stop', another new track on this EP, reveal the full beauty of Schneider's minimal pulsing rhythms, fragile melodies and delicate sounds. The fourth track finally is an a cappella version of 'New Direction' with Donovan's pure vocals being a perfect DJ tool."
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12"
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SER 515
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"Mapstation is the solo project of Stefan Schneider, the melodic component in the modernist landscapes of Germany's To Rococo Rot. Mapstation's music is closer to minimalist techno, but even then Schneider can't help but bring a graceful glaze to the music. Another dimension to Mapstation comes from the influence of recent Jamaican dancehall, with Schneider citing it's incorporation of electronic sounds, and his own practice of mixing reggae a cappellas into his DJ sets. On this release, Schneider takes this idea further with a stunning collaboration with reggae singer/DJ Ras Donovan. Schneider and Donovan have evolved a different style, with the voice seeming to mirror the psychotic drift of the music, while at the same time referring to the poetry and ragga tradition in reggae music."
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CD
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STAUB 011CD
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"Second release (with 26+ minutes running time) by To Roccoco Rot member Stefan Schneider after his highly acclaimed solo debut on London's Soul Static Sound label in 1999. With Sleep, Engine Sleep, his second solo release, Stefan Schneider provides a beautiful collection of minimal pulsing rhythms, fragile melodies, and delicate sounds. The seven tracks on this mini album show a very intimate musical language simultaneously recalling Chain Reaction, Cluster, and the new school of 'clicks and cuts'."
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LP
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STAUB 011LP
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CD
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SOULSTAT 025CD
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"Soul Static Sound starts the new year with a concise and direct release, which exemplifies a minimalist approach to both making and listening to music. Mapstation is Stefan Schneider's first solo recording, a mini album which draws on his experience as a member of To Rococo Rot combined with the melodic and moody sensibilities inherent in the musical heritage of his native Dusseldorf. Working on the shapes of sound whilst avoiding the limitations of formalism allows the rhythms and textures to express themselves to the listener as a process of subtly changing relationships. Evocative electronics through clarity and constraint. File next to good German minimal techno/electronica labels such as Din, Chain Reaction, Basic Channel, Kompakt, etc." Classic 2000 release on this now defunct label; last copies, reduced price.
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LP
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SOULSTAT 025EP
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12" version. Last copies, reduced price.
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viewing 1 To 15 of 15 items
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