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2LP
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HMLLPV 003LP
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Clear water hits the surface of a grainy ball. The stream slowly dissolves and flows down the spherical structure until it finally drops on a candle. The flame extinguishes; fragile streaks of smoke ascend until they hit the rough surface of the colossal globe again. The cover art to Marble Arch, the second long-player of Vienna- and Berlin-based artists Oberst & Buchner, depicts masterly the dramatic juxtapositions the musicians have always been reflecting in their musical outcome. The massive density of a giant sound wall is contrasted by spacious openness. Fragile sonic details are sparkling out of colossal pitch-black clouds. The songs are filled with gentle warmth and cold roughness, bright digital clarity and deep analog crackle, ranging in style from pulsating dark-disco over classic pop to experimental ambient. The duo's two-week artist residency in a 250-year-old house, located in the mystic landscape of the Bavarian woods set this specific mood for the ten-track album which became a mixture of electronic synthesis, organic instrumentals and field recordings. Heavy-weight basslines in combination with bitter-sweet orchestral instrumentation and the minutiae of precise percussion recordings and drum programming are the characteristics that formed the sound of Marble Arch. Oberst & Buchner's way to deal with tension is in how they compose their song structures as extreme arcs of suspense in a near classical manner. Their intense dynamic arrangements always alternate between rise and explosion or implosion and fall. This way the compositions pick up the motive of creation and destruction throughout the long-player in the same way as the cover art. Taken together, all these fragments form the duo's signature cinematic articulation of dramatic slowed down club music and moments of surprise. Features Acud, Aydo Abay, Kalipo, Mimu, and Faber. 180 gram, marbled vinyl; gatefold sleeve; includes three exclusive art prints and digital download.
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LP
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HYG 007LP
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Each track of Oberst & Buchner's debut album Sfumato is rich with anticipation and residue -- it feels like being taken on a very controlled journey through space and time by another life form. The two friends and musicians from Vienna and Berlin shift themes and melodies gradually into one another, producing billowing pieces of music with soft and foggy outlines. Just like you can get lost in the perfection of a single brush stroke in a renaissance painting from up close, if you step away you can't help but admire the planning, skill and instinct coming together in this album and every single track. The two producers almost seem to make use of the sounds that are not there, triggering our expectations and creating premonitions in our minds. The complex sound patterns are frequently juxtaposed by simple, almost naive melodies that make everything feel innately known but alien at the same time. On "Eye Liquor" the feature guest Tobias Koett brings just the right amount of fragility and humanity to offset the moodily awakening fantastic sonic beast beneath. With analog sounds the two celebrate the past and the future, creating murmuring, breathing streams of consciousness.
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12"
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PAULS 005EP
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Oberst & Buchner, two Bavaria born, Vienna based producers, deliver an EP that offers their interpretation of what "modern summer togetherness sounds like". "Greg" starts with a breakbeat bath of summery chords, as playful claves dance on the horizon. It is a melodically rich track with spiritual feelings. On "Emile", night time arrives and warm chords mix with jangling, organic glass and percussive tinkles. "Embrace" is a fluid intergalactic convention with sparse drum kicks weighed down by somber synths. A skittish, dubstep style groove then comes in and elevates the track with gentle guitar licks and slithering synths.
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