CONRAD SCHNITZLER - Forced Exposure

$28.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 12/13/2024

Limited anniversary edition. Embossed, reverse board, hand numbered on limited-edition yellow vinyl. 500 copies available. Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011), composer and concept artist, is one of the most important representatives of Germany's electronic music avant-garde. A student of Beuys, he founded Berlin's legendary Zodiak Free Arts Lab, a subculture club, in 1967/68, was a member of Tangerine Dream (together with Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese) and Kluster (with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and also released countless solo albums. The yellow album appeared in 1981, yet it contained recordings from the year 1974, originally released in a limited run on cassette.

"The chronology of Schnitzler's solo releases in the 1970s resembles a book with seven seals. Schnitzler regularly issued his music on analogue cassette or LP, often on his own as "private releases," without any help from a label or professional distributor. The yellow album, for example, was issued on vinyl in 1981 by René Block in Berlin on his art gallery label (Edition Block). Schnitzler had previously released records on various other labels. The music on the yellow album had, in fact, already been on the market as The Black Cassette in 1974, although the production run was probably limited. The yellow album is subtitled '12 pieces from the year 1974,' pointing to Schnitzler's novel approach. Whereas his prior works always lasted for the whole side of an LP or tape, the tracks here are shorter. Also new: Schnitzler goes beyond automatic sonic processes on a number of tracks, using his keyboards to integrate something approaching melodic improvisations 'played by hand' into his musical cosmos. Schnitzler's otherwise crystalline, inorganic world of art is thus enriched by an almost human, organic element. An amiable breeze wafts through the music of the yellow album, thankfully miles away from the sentimental platitudes which run through off-the-shelf ambient music of the 1980s. The yellow album is not only amiable from start to finish, it also documents an important stage in Schnitzler's musical development. Belatedly released on LP (1981) and lacking in discographical detail, this aspect is easily overlooked. On careful listening, as Schnitzler connoisseurs will also realize instantly, this album reveals itself to be an important milestone, illuminating a clear path into the future. Schnitzler had begun to free himself from the constraints of orthodox conceptual art, advancing into the wide-open spaces of uncharted musical territory." -Asmus Tietchens

$28.00 IN STOCK

On the red album, Conrad Schnitzler laid down the direction his musical artistry would take. The blue album (Blau) offered confirmation of his intent. Maybe the Rot and Blau tracks were recorded in the same session. The structure, sound, and timbre of both LPs are so similar as to suggest that this was the case. Far more important than this historical pedantry is the fact that Schnitzler included two brand new compositions on Blau which followed on seamlessly from the previous album. Quite simply, he had found his way, a course from which he would not stray as long as he lived. The so-called Berlin School (Berliner Schule) -- with Conrad Schnitzler one of their number -- had developed its own style of minimalist music. Clearly distinct from Anglo-American pop music, and no less removed from the minimalist art music of Steve Reich or Philip Glass, the focus here was on electronics and elementary rhythmics. The Berlin musicians showed no great interest in instrumental or vocal virtuosity, nor were they in thrall to exuberant interleaving of rhythm. With the aid of synthesizers and studio technology, they were bent on breaking into territory hitherto considered the province of a privileged elite, clouded in mystery and secrecy, resonating with uncharted sounds and noise. Blau is an archetypal example of this very phenomenon. Courage, the pioneering spirit and artistic brilliance can be detected in each part of the album's two infinite sequences. Inspired by Joseph Beuys, Schnitzler propagated those very tones beyond the musical realm, detached from tradition, the only tones capable of catalyzing the utterly stagnant pop music and new music scene of the day, injecting them with fresh impulses. Questions of harmony, melody and strict form were well and truly rejected by Schnitzler. His aural crystals shine like pearls on a string. Schnitzler uses his ropes of pearls to weave new, fantastic patterns which constantly shift like kaleidoscopes to reveal unexpected facets; they are signposts to spatial and temporal infinity. Schnitzler's style was really too idiosyncratic ever to set a precedent, but he was, and still is, one of the most significant inspirations for pop music in more recent times. Already a figure of prominence, perhaps he will one day be elevated to the status of a legend. Limited anniversary edition: embossed, reverse board, hand numbered, limited edition blue vinyl, 500 copies available.

$16.50 IN STOCK

The 1960s weren't just about The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and hippies; they also ushered in new forms of art: happenings, Fluxus, Neo-Dada, video art, to name just a few. As borders blurred, pop influenced art and art influenced pop. Many protagonists of the time chose to ignore borders altogether. This chaotic, euphoric atmosphere of extreme innovation lasted well into the 1970s and continues to resonate today. All manner of trailblazers shaped the soundscape of the era. Conrad Schnitzler (born 1937) and Karl Horst Hödicke (born 1938) -- longstanding members of the official artistic canon -- were multifunctional artists who painted, performed, sculptured, made films and music. They were always to be found on the edge of the "permissible" and invariably went beyond "modern" perceptions of art. Schnitzler, Hödicke and many of their contemporaries arrived at a completely new definition of the avant-garde. The circumstances of Schnitzler and Hödicke's first meeting are unknown, but it should come as no surprise that it was Schnitzler who composed the soundtrack for Hödicke's film entitled Slow Motion in 1976. The two artists were cut from the same cloth, routinely crossing any boundaries they happened to encounter. Schnitzler wrote music for each of the film's 14 sequences, linking them together in a logical progression of minimalist imagery. Each piece of music quite brilliantly accentuated the preceding one. Schnitzler's musical sensibility was wholly compatible with Hödicke's approach to film. Not that Schnitzler was ever a film composer. Slow Motion worked because Schnitzler and Hödicke were on the same wavelength, daring to experiment with sound and vision in such a way that auditory and visual components were interdependent. Nevertheless, it still makes sense to release the soundtrack without the images. Schnitzler undoubtedly responded to the pictures as he composed, but his customarily uncompromising style is very much in evidence: rhythmically structured electronic cascades, intermittent impulse chains and manual improvisations alternate with planar clouds of sound. Analogue sequencers and an analogue rhythm machine played a crucial role. The tracks on Slow Motion vary in length and mood, but the listener never has to leave Schnitzler's sonic universe, even without the pictures for which the music was composed. Slow Motion is an important document in Schnitzler's oeuvre, seamlessly taking its place alongside his many other releases, whilst also highlighting his constructive input as an equal partner in an experimental film production.

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. The 1960s weren't just about The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and hippies; they also ushered in new forms of art: happenings, Fluxus, Neo-Dada, video art, to name just a few. As borders blurred, pop influenced art and art influenced pop. Many protagonists of the time chose to ignore borders altogether. This chaotic, euphoric atmosphere of extreme innovation lasted well into the 1970s and continues to resonate today. All manner of trailblazers shaped the soundscape of the era. Conrad Schnitzler (born 1937) and Karl Horst Hödicke (born 1938) -- longstanding members of the official artistic canon -- were multifunctional artists who painted, performed, sculptured, made films and music. They were always to be found on the edge of the "permissible" and invariably went beyond "modern" perceptions of art. Schnitzler, Hödicke and many of their contemporaries arrived at a completely new definition of the avant-garde. The circumstances of Schnitzler and Hödicke's first meeting are unknown, but it should come as no surprise that it was Schnitzler who composed the soundtrack for Hödicke's film entitled Slow Motion in 1976. The two artists were cut from the same cloth, routinely crossing any boundaries they happened to encounter. Schnitzler wrote music for each of the film's 14 sequences, linking them together in a logical progression of minimalist imagery. Each piece of music quite brilliantly accentuated the preceding one. Schnitzler's musical sensibility was wholly compatible with Hödicke's approach to film. Not that Schnitzler was ever a film composer. Slow Motion worked because Schnitzler and Hödicke were on the same wavelength, daring to experiment with sound and vision in such a way that auditory and visual components were interdependent. Nevertheless, it still makes sense to release the soundtrack without the images. Schnitzler undoubtedly responded to the pictures as he composed, but his customarily uncompromising style is very much in evidence: rhythmically structured electronic cascades, intermittent impulse chains and manual improvisations alternate with planar clouds of sound. Analogue sequencers and an analogue rhythm machine played a crucial role. The tracks on Slow Motion vary in length and mood, but the listener never has to leave Schnitzler's sonic universe, even without the pictures for which the music was composed. Slow Motion is an important document in Schnitzler's oeuvre, seamlessly taking its place alongside his many other releases, whilst also highlighting his constructive input as an equal partner in an experimental film production.

$28.00 IN STOCK

There was a particular type of artist who could only have emerged in the legendary early 1970s. Few musicians fit the bill better than Conrad Schnitzler. Revolution, pop art and Fluxus created a climate which engendered unbridled artistic and social development. Radical utopias, excessive experimentation with drugs, and ruthless (in a positive way) transgression of aesthetic frontiers were characteristic of the period. The magic words were subculture, progress- positivity, and avantgardism. West Berlin, with its unique political status, was a crucible of turbulence. Founded in 1968, Zodiak was the ultimate point of convergence for subculture in West Berlin, with Conrad Schnitzler the driving force behind it. It was also here that Tangerine Dream and Kluster First met up to perform in public (the red album, Rot, was Schnitzler's first solo effort). As a member of Tangerine Dream, however, he had participated in the band's debut release Electronic Meditation some three years earlier (1970). He, Dieter Moebius, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius had also already founded Kluster, whose first album Klopfzeichen attracted a wealth of attention. On Rot, meanwhile, Schnitzler uncompromisingly pursued his very own vision of electronic music. As an acolyte of action and object artist Joseph Beuys, Schnitzler embraced the former's "extended definition of art," in which controlled randomness assumed an important role. Schnitzler actually extended the concept of music. Or to put it another way: he cared not one iota for existing rules of music, preferring to create his own or conceptualizing a certain degree of lawlessness. Improvisation grew in importance. The most exciting aspect of Schnitzler's music is not the fact that he only used synthetic sound and noise; the apparently chaotic movements of his microscopic particles of sound draw the listener into a paradoxical, yet also crystalline and vibrant artistic world. It doesn't get much more outlandish than this. Schnitzler's debut surpassed virtually every other pioneering artist of the day in terms of radicalness. Not content merely with making psychedelic soundtracks, he turned these on their head with his defiant artistic will. The rigor of his approach has never been matched. Schnitzler's inimitable cascades of sound and their transparency were, and remain, unique. Limited 50th Anniversary Edition: embossed, reverse board, hand numbered, limited edition red vinyl.

$16.50 IN STOCK

Composer and conceptual artist Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011) was one of the most influential figures of the electronic avant-garde in Germany. In 1967/68, the Joseph Beuys student founded the Zodiak Free Arts Lab, which became a playground for Berlin subculture. In addition to many other musical stations, bustling Schnitzler was a member of the kraut-electronic formations Tangerine Dream and Kluster. Numerous solo releases complete his extensive oeuvre. One of them is Con 84, probably his most composed work, on which he challenges the traditions of so-called Ernste Musik. The result is a complex electronic sound structure that marks a break with Schnitzler's previous work in a subversive flirtation with traditionalism.

"... Con 84 is evidently the product of a computer-supported sound generator -- a sampler. The original LP came completer with sheet music inserts, so a music printer must also have been part of the package. It is hard to say which instruments Schnitzler had at his disposal in the early 1980s. And more to the point, where did he record these pieces? Was he still at Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio? Leaving such questions aside, what really matters here is the opportunity to gain an insight into Schnitzler's complex musical imagination and powers. It appears as if he wanted to show the listener that he can still compose in the classical sense, creating a series of miniatures which are not so far away from the infinite glittering patterns of the existing Schnitzler cosmos. Con 84 lines up polyphonic compositions from start to finish. John Cage, Fluxus, randomness -- nowhere to be seen. Schnitzler the traditionalist? A highbrow composer? On the contrary. Just as he so marvelously subverted common conceptions of art, Schnitzler crafted Con 84 to sound like Ernste Musik -- serious (classical) music. He was a master of camouflage (with a wink of the eye) and repeated the trick nine years later on the French release CD Con Brio. Following Schnitzler has always meant being ready to expect the unexpected. When he could, and had the financial means to do so, Schnitzler liked to use the latest technology. Con 84 was technologically advanced for its time, yet the music was paradoxically conventional..." --Asmus Tietchens, 2022

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. Composer and conceptual artist Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011) was one of the most influential figures of the electronic avant-garde in Germany. In 1967/68, the Joseph Beuys student founded the Zodiak Free Arts Lab, which became a playground for Berlin subculture. In addition to many other musical stations, bustling Schnitzler was a member of the kraut-electronic formations Tangerine Dream and Kluster. Numerous solo releases complete his extensive oeuvre. One of them is Con 84, probably his most composed work, on which he challenges the traditions of so-called Ernste Musik. The result is a complex electronic sound structure that marks a break with Schnitzler's previous work in a subversive flirtation with traditionalism.

"... Con 84 is evidently the product of a computer-supported sound generator -- a sampler. The original LP came completer with sheet music inserts, so a music printer must also have been part of the package. It is hard to say which instruments Schnitzler had at his disposal in the early 1980s. And more to the point, where did he record these pieces? Was he still at Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio? Leaving such questions aside, what really matters here is the opportunity to gain an insight into Schnitzler's complex musical imagination and powers. It appears as if he wanted to show the listener that he can still compose in the classical sense, creating a series of miniatures which are not so far away from the infinite glittering patterns of the existing Schnitzler cosmos. Con 84 lines up polyphonic compositions from start to finish. John Cage, Fluxus, randomness -- nowhere to be seen. Schnitzler the traditionalist? A highbrow composer? On the contrary. Just as he so marvelously subverted common conceptions of art, Schnitzler crafted Con 84 to sound like Ernste Musik -- serious (classical) music. He was a master of camouflage (with a wink of the eye) and repeated the trick nine years later on the French release CD Con Brio. Following Schnitzler has always meant being ready to expect the unexpected. When he could, and had the financial means to do so, Schnitzler liked to use the latest technology. Con 84 was technologically advanced for its time, yet the music was paradoxically conventional..." --Asmus Tietchens, 2022

$22.00 IN STOCK

LP version. "Conrad Schnitzler is incredible. I would dearly have loved to meet him, to have been present when he, Seidel and Baumann were working their magic at Paragon Studio. Fortuitously, Wolfgang Seidel, co-author of these pieces, has opened up his archive of recordings to the Bureau B label. He and Conrad Schnitzler spent many years together experimenting with sound, capturing the results on the two Consequenz albums, amongst others. I had the honor of meeting Wolfgang Seidel at the Golden Pudel Club during the 2018 Eruption Festival. Ken Montgomery, who worked with Schnitzler in New York towards the end of the 1980s, was also there. The concerts and performances were hauntingly powerful, infused with the spirit of Schnitzler's music and utopian vision. These entirely instrumental recordings were created in the late 1970s at Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio. In my opinion, this stellar period gave rise to the finest works: the Con (BB 350CD/LP), Consequenz (BB 121CD/LP), and Con 3 (BB 122CD/LP) albums, featuring such wonderful pieces as "Fata Morgana", "Coca", and "Auf dem schwarzen Kanal". These recently discovered pieces take the aforementioned albums a stage further. Sounds complement each other as they are reprised, whilst continuing to exist in their own cosmos. As you listen, you feel as if you have been transported back into the studio itself while the sessions are happening. One surprise follows another -- the third track sounds like clocks ringing at a pitch which only a bat could really hear. Numbers '5' and '6' are not so far removed from abstract techno tracks by Jeff Mills, albeit with rather more swing, floating in upper tone sequences reminiscent of the American composer Conlon Nancarrow. Nr. '8' is an absolute dream/wave piece, sounding like a relation of the (then) emerging Throbbing Gristle project. The tenth piece is my personal favorite, evoking a wave-romantic atmosphere which might lead you to believe that Conrad Schnitzler had been listening to The Cure. Schnitzler is electronica in its purest sense. He succeeds in rendering the unconscious audible. This goes far beyond 'music to listen to', it is music which works on different levels, music to move you." --Richard von der Schulenburg

$17.00 IN STOCK

"Conrad Schnitzler is incredible. I would dearly have loved to meet him, to have been present when he, Seidel and Baumann were working their magic at Paragon Studio. Fortuitously, Wolfgang Seidel, co-author of these pieces, has opened up his archive of recordings to the Bureau B label. He and Conrad Schnitzler spent many years together experimenting with sound, capturing the results on the two Consequenz albums, amongst others. I had the honor of meeting Wolfgang Seidel at the Golden Pudel Club during the 2018 Eruption Festival. Ken Montgomery, who worked with Schnitzler in New York towards the end of the 1980s, was also there. The concerts and performances were hauntingly powerful, infused with the spirit of Schnitzler's music and utopian vision. These entirely instrumental recordings were created in the late 1970s at Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio. In my opinion, this stellar period gave rise to the finest works: the Con (BB 350CD/LP), Consequenz (BB 121CD/LP), and Con 3 (BB 122CD/LP) albums, featuring such wonderful pieces as "Fata Morgana", "Coca", and "Auf dem schwarzen Kanal". These recently discovered pieces take the aforementioned albums a stage further. Sounds complement each other as they are reprised, whilst continuing to exist in their own cosmos. As you listen, you feel as if you have been transported back into the studio itself while the sessions are happening. One surprise follows another -- the third track sounds like clocks ringing at a pitch which only a bat could really hear. Numbers '5' and '6' are not so far removed from abstract techno tracks by Jeff Mills, albeit with rather more swing, floating in upper tone sequences reminiscent of the American composer Conlon Nancarrow. Nr. '8' is an absolute dream/wave piece, sounding like a relation of the (then) emerging Throbbing Gristle project. The tenth piece is my personal favorite, evoking a wave-romantic atmosphere which might lead you to believe that Conrad Schnitzler had been listening to The Cure. Schnitzler is electronica in its purest sense. He succeeds in rendering the unconscious audible. This goes far beyond 'music to listen to', it is music which works on different levels, music to move you." --Richard von der Schulenburg

$14.50 IN STOCK

2024 restock. Auf Dem Schwarzen Kanal is one of the most outstanding, most sought-after releases in Conrad Schnitzler's extensive catalog. It was the only Schnitzler record to appear on a major label and saw him flirting with the experimental new wave sound that was emerging in 1980, particularly on the title track. Nevertheless, it still managed to sound idiosyncratically unlike any other music around at the time. Recorded with Wolfgang Seidel at Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio in Berlin, the four tracks take us on a caustic, dissonant mutant disco trip which has lost none of its fascination in the years since. It gives us at Bureau B great pleasure to reissue this long lost work.

$17.00 IN STOCK

Bureau B present a reissue of Conrad Schnitzler's Con, originally released in 1978. Conrad Schnitzler: In the electric garden by Wolfgang Seidel, May 2020: "... Whilst on shore leave in Düsseldorf, Conrad Schnitzler heard about a professor at the School of Art (Kunstschule) who also accepted students into his class without high school diplomas. Conrad Schnitzler became one of them. The spirit of a fundamental new beginning bonded this generation of artists together, with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig the most radical proponents. Perhaps it was due to the fact that music had been so corrupted under National Socialist rule, from classical to the Schlager variety. Schnitzler was fascinated by the new sounds he heard on the radio in the evenings. To his ears, they connected the struggle for independence to the planning and precision he had learned as a mechanical engineer. At the same time, he understood that music like this was only possible within an institutional framework to which he had no access. So, he set about creating his own framework. Schnitzler bought his first synthesizer in the early 1970s -- a considerable investment at the time. The introduction of the compact cassette had liberated duplication and distribution from the realm of the record company, but Schnitzler also recognized the creative potential of the medium, beyond its practical functions. He built a 'cassette organ' out of 12 cassette recorders and two cases for his musical collages. Towards the end of the decade, he could be found on the Kurfürstendamm, West Berlin's premier boulevard, cassette recorders slung over his shoulders as his music boomed out of battery-powered loudspeakers . . . Buoyed by the success of Tangerine Dream, Peter Baumann, Schnitzler's successor in the band, established the Paragon Studio. Schnitzler had left after their first LP in the belief that the creative potential of the group had reached its limit, but their friendship endured. Baumann made use of downtime in the studio to pursue his own musical experiments. And then Conrad Schnitzler appeared at the door with a small Korg synthesizer, a sequencer, and his EMS Synthi (a portable model in an attaché case), having transported the whole lot on his delivery bicycle . . . The last record to be completed at Paragon reveals Schnitzler's lighthearted rapprochement with German New Wave (Neue Deutsche Welle) . . . The Paragon Studio era, with sound engineer Will Roper, whose work with Schnitzler gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his skills in tape manipulation, splicing, editing, and looping, came to an end when the studio was sold and Peter Baumann moved to the USA."

$22.00 IN STOCK

LP version. Bureau B present a reissue of Conrad Schnitzler's Con, originally released in 1978. Conrad Schnitzler: In the electric garden by Wolfgang Seidel, May 2020: "... Whilst on shore leave in Düsseldorf, Conrad Schnitzler heard about a professor at the School of Art (Kunstschule) who also accepted students into his class without high school diplomas. Conrad Schnitzler became one of them. The spirit of a fundamental new beginning bonded this generation of artists together, with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig the most radical proponents. Perhaps it was due to the fact that music had been so corrupted under National Socialist rule, from classical to the Schlager variety. Schnitzler was fascinated by the new sounds he heard on the radio in the evenings. To his ears, they connected the struggle for independence to the planning and precision he had learned as a mechanical engineer. At the same time, he understood that music like this was only possible within an institutional framework to which he had no access. So, he set about creating his own framework. Schnitzler bought his first synthesizer in the early 1970s -- a considerable investment at the time. The introduction of the compact cassette had liberated duplication and distribution from the realm of the record company, but Schnitzler also recognized the creative potential of the medium, beyond its practical functions. He built a 'cassette organ' out of 12 cassette recorders and two cases for his musical collages. Towards the end of the decade, he could be found on the Kurfürstendamm, West Berlin's premier boulevard, cassette recorders slung over his shoulders as his music boomed out of battery-powered loudspeakers . . . Buoyed by the success of Tangerine Dream, Peter Baumann, Schnitzler's successor in the band, established the Paragon Studio. Schnitzler had left after their first LP in the belief that the creative potential of the group had reached its limit, but their friendship endured. Baumann made use of downtime in the studio to pursue his own musical experiments. And then Conrad Schnitzler appeared at the door with a small Korg synthesizer, a sequencer, and his EMS Synthi (a portable model in an attaché case), having transported the whole lot on his delivery bicycle . . . The last record to be completed at Paragon reveals Schnitzler's lighthearted rapprochement with German New Wave (Neue Deutsche Welle) . . . The Paragon Studio era, with sound engineer Will Roper, whose work with Schnitzler gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his skills in tape manipulation, splicing, editing, and looping, came to an end when the studio was sold and Peter Baumann moved to the USA."

$17.00 IN STOCK

Bureau B present a reissue of Conrad Schnitzler's Conditions of the Gas Giant, originally released on cassette in 1988. The Berlin artist first released these recordings on a small American cassette label. Admirers of the seminal artist Conrad Schnitzler can be found all over the planet, including the USA, of course. Matt Howarth, illustrator and independent comic artist, is one of them. He has been following Schnitzler's music since the early 1970s whilst drawing offbeat science fiction stories. One day Howarth came up with the idea of making Schnitzler a member of a notorious band -- The Bulldaggers -- who featured in one of his comic series. Not wanting to go ahead without permission, he got in touch with Schnitzler who readily embraced the idea. In fact, he posted a pile of photos by return so that the graphic artist could draw him properly. The Bulldaggers popped up repeatedly in the comics and Schnitzler was (repeatedly) delighted. A friendship soon developed between him and Howarth. In 1986, Howarth designed his first cover for a Schnitzler album (Concert) and the following year Schnitzler entrusted him with tapes which Howarth was able to bring to the notice of the small American label Bird O' Pray. Considering the label's predominantly punk and early garage leanings, Howarth and Schnitzler were as surprised as each other to see the album successfully released on cassette. Howarth and Schnitzler came up with the album title together. Conditions of the Gas Giant reflected the atmosphere they associated with the music, clouds of manifold colors, whirling nervously above a gaseous planet. A methane and helium tryst in sonic form -- fireworks, pyrotechnics for the eyes, like the surface of Jupiter, just as Schnitzler's tracks are pyrotechnics for the ears. This is the image conveyed by Matt Howarth in the liner notes for the reissue -- naturally designed by himself -- based on the aborted 1990s CD release. He also called on his friend D.H. Kister for further assistance, the man who first introduced him to Schnitzler's music almost fifty years ago. First CD and vinyl release.

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. Bureau B present a reissue of Conrad Schnitzler's Conditions of the Gas Giant, originally released on cassette in 1988. The Berlin artist first released these recordings on a small American cassette label. Admirers of the seminal artist Conrad Schnitzler can be found all over the planet, including the USA, of course. Matt Howarth, illustrator and independent comic artist, is one of them. He has been following Schnitzler's music since the early 1970s whilst drawing offbeat science fiction stories. One day Howarth came up with the idea of making Schnitzler a member of a notorious band -- The Bulldaggers -- who featured in one of his comic series. Not wanting to go ahead without permission, he got in touch with Schnitzler who readily embraced the idea. In fact, he posted a pile of photos by return so that the graphic artist could draw him properly. The Bulldaggers popped up repeatedly in the comics and Schnitzler was (repeatedly) delighted. A friendship soon developed between him and Howarth. In 1986, Howarth designed his first cover for a Schnitzler album (Concert) and the following year Schnitzler entrusted him with tapes which Howarth was able to bring to the notice of the small American label Bird O' Pray. Considering the label's predominantly punk and early garage leanings, Howarth and Schnitzler were as surprised as each other to see the album successfully released on cassette. Howarth and Schnitzler came up with the album title together. Conditions of the Gas Giant reflected the atmosphere they associated with the music, clouds of manifold colors, whirling nervously above a gaseous planet. A methane and helium tryst in sonic form -- fireworks, pyrotechnics for the eyes, like the surface of Jupiter, just as Schnitzler's tracks are pyrotechnics for the ears. This is the image conveyed by Matt Howarth in the liner notes for the reissue -- naturally designed by himself -- based on the aborted 1990s CD release. He also called on his friend D.H. Kister for further assistance, the man who first introduced him to Schnitzler's music almost fifty years ago. First CD and vinyl release.

$26.00 IN STOCK

2022 restock; LP version. Bureau B present part two of their Filmmusik double release. In 1975, Conrad Schnitzler recorded various pieces of music to accompany films which had yet to be made. Fittingly, he labelled this collection of songs Filmmusik. Only one of the tracks - "Gute Fahrt" ("Nice Journey") - would ultimately be paired with a film, now traceable on the internet for all to see. The music is included on Part 1 of Bureau B's Filmmusik double release (BB 244CD/LP, 2016), erroneously entitled "02/1980". Why the incorrect title? The tapes, which served as source material for the label's two Filmmusik releases, were copied onto two data carriers then mislabeled. To be precise, one label was accurate - Filmmusik 1975 A - but the other, Filmmusik 1980 B, was not. All the tracks had been created in the same year, so it should have read "1975 B". In the absence of actual song titles, Bureau B simply gave them numbers. Not knowing of the above mentioned film at the time, the label called the track "02/1980", when they should have called it "02/1975 B" or, as they would later discover, "Gute Fahrt". Shortly after, Bureau B released Filmmusik 1 and Jin Kawai, curator of the official Schnitzler website, contacted the label with the information. In 2009, whilst sorting through reels of film (some shot by Schnitzler himself) and music to upload to the site, Kawai was particularly drawn to one piece entitled "Gute Fahrt". Were there any more tracks like this? Schnitzler told him there were and sent Kawai all of the other recordings. One half of Filmmusik 2 comprises tracks from the 1975 series, the other half is a 23-minute piece with the title "Lichtpunkte und schwarze Zeichen". This music was actually written for a film in 1978. The label was delighted to find it in 2015 and enthusiastically searched the Schnitzler archives for more of the same. This led the Bureau B to the 1975 recordings and the rest is history.

$17.00 IN STOCK

Bureau B present part two of their Filmmusik double release. In 1975, Conrad Schnitzler recorded various pieces of music to accompany films which had yet to be made. Fittingly, he labelled this collection of songs Filmmusik. Only one of the tracks - "Gute Fahrt" ("Nice Journey") - would ultimately be paired with a film, now traceable on the internet for all to see. The music is included on Part 1 of Bureau B's Filmmusik double release (BB 244CD/LP, 2016), erroneously entitled "02/1980". Why the incorrect title? The tapes, which served as source material for the label's two Filmmusik releases, were copied onto two data carriers then mislabeled. To be precise, one label was accurate - Filmmusik 1975 A - but the other, Filmmusik 1980 B, was not. All the tracks had been created in the same year, so it should have read "1975 B". In the absence of actual song titles, Bureau B simply gave them numbers. Not knowing of the above mentioned film at the time, the label called the track "02/1980", when they should have called it "02/1975 B" or, as they would later discover, "Gute Fahrt". Shortly after, Bureau B released Filmmusik 1 and Jin Kawai, curator of the official Schnitzler website, contacted the label with the information. In 2009, whilst sorting through reels of film (some shot by Schnitzler himself) and music to upload to the site, Kawai was particularly drawn to one piece entitled "Gute Fahrt". Were there any more tracks like this? Schnitzler told him there were and sent Kawai all of the other recordings. One half of Filmmusik 2 comprises tracks from the 1975 series, the other half is a 23-minute piece with the title "Lichtpunkte und schwarze Zeichen". This music was actually written for a film in 1978. The label was delighted to find it in 2015 and enthusiastically searched the Schnitzler archives for more of the same. This led the Bureau B to the 1975 recordings and the rest is history.

$17.00 IN STOCK

Bureau B present Filmmusik 1, a selection from Conrad Schnitzler's archive. In Conrad Schnitzler's sprawling archive, there are two tapes marked Filmmusik 1975 A and Filmmusik 1980 B. It is hard to say which videos this music belongs to, particularly as the pieces have been left untitled. Perhaps there isn't really any film material at all. The dates are of no great help either, since the tapes feature the same tracks, albeit in varying degrees of quality. Filmmusik 1 presents an initial selection of these finds, presented to Bureau B by Schnitzler's musical partner for many years and guardian of the archive, Wolfgang Seidel (Populäre Mechanik, Ton Steine Scherben). The tracks reveal much about how Schnitzler worked. He recorded individual tracks on cassettes and then combined them, also using them live in his so-called cassette concerts. Thus, there are recognizable recurring "melodies", sometimes fragmented, in different places. Some tracks have the same bass loop and rhythm, only the sounds and effects have changed. The music on the Filmmusik tapes is extraordinarily accessible for Schnitzler: hypnotic bass lines, stoic drum rhythms, dark drones, crystalline shards of melody. Wolfgang Seidel talks more about Schnitzler's life and work in the liner notes.

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LP version. Bureau B present Filmmusik 1, a selection from Conrad Schnitzler's archive. In Conrad Schnitzler's sprawling archive, there are two tapes marked Filmmusik 1975 A and Filmmusik 1980 B. It is hard to say which videos this music belongs to, particularly as the pieces have been left untitled. Perhaps there isn't really any film material at all. The dates are of no great help either, since the tapes feature the same tracks, albeit in varying degrees of quality. Filmmusik 1 presents an initial selection of these finds, presented to Bureau B by Schnitzler's musical partner for many years and guardian of the archive, Wolfgang Seidel (Populäre Mechanik, Ton Steine Scherben). The tracks reveal much about how Schnitzler worked. He recorded individual tracks on cassettes and then combined them, also using them live in his so-called cassette concerts. Thus, there are recognizable recurring "melodies", sometimes fragmented, in different places. Some tracks have the same bass loop and rhythm, only the sounds and effects have changed. The music on the Filmmusik tapes is extraordinarily accessible for Schnitzler: hypnotic bass lines, stoic drum rhythms, dark drones, crystalline shards of melody. Wolfgang Seidel talks more about Schnitzler's life and work in the liner notes.

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Things come full circle. In 1976 Thomas Fehlmann arrives in Hamburg to study art at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts. In 1979 he attends a guest lecture by Conrad Schnitzler, who demonstrates how the "extended definition of art" established by Joseph Beuys can be applied to music. This proves to be a crucial element in Fehlmann's decision to become a musician. And now, in 2015, over 35 years later, Fehlmann has compiled the fifth installment in Bureau B's Kollektion series, arranging, in uniquely harmonious fashion, 16 pieces from the early 1980s by the man who broadened his horizons, Conrad Schnitzler. The gateway to Schnitzler's sonic cosmos has been flung wide open. Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011), composer and concept artist, was one of the most important representatives of Germany's electronic music avant-garde. A student of Joseph Beuys, he founded Berlin's legendary Zodiak Free Arts Lab, a subculture club, in 1967/'68, was a member of Tangerine Dream (together with Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese) and Kluster (with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius), and released countless solo albums. Thomas Fehlmann rose to prominence in the seminal band Palais Schaumburg with Holger Hiller. Their debut album in 1981 was a milestone in German post-punk music. In 1988 Fehlmann founded the Teutonic Beats label and in 1990 he became a member of The Orb. He has played an important role in Berlin's electronic and club scenes ever since, as a musician, producer, remixer, and DJ. Thomas Fehlmann on this Kollektion: "I have strung together various pieces from Conrad Schnitzler's white period -- the CON series -- in a seamless arrangement which creates its own state of dramatic tension. The tracks retain their original form and tempo. This is not a study in montage. I have restricted myself to picking the right moment to move from one piece to the next, cross-fading. Okay, I did edit one track... I was looking for a form which would condense Conrad Schnitzler's versatility, his inventiveness and wit into a single journey. The new running order adds a certain friction to the aura of each as new connections are made. My choices were musical, not chronological, bathing these works from the early 1980s in new sensuous light. It is quite remarkable to see how intensely the sparks still fly. Preparing this collection closes an elementary circle in my life, without which I may have followed a completely different path."

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LP version. Things come full circle. In 1976 Thomas Fehlmann arrives in Hamburg to study art at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts. In 1979 he attends a guest lecture by Conrad Schnitzler, who demonstrates how the "extended definition of art" established by Joseph Beuys can be applied to music. This proves to be a crucial element in Fehlmann's decision to become a musician. And now, in 2015, over 35 years later, Fehlmann has compiled the fifth installment in Bureau B's Kollektion series, arranging, in uniquely harmonious fashion, 16 pieces from the early 1980s by the man who broadened his horizons, Conrad Schnitzler. The gateway to Schnitzler's sonic cosmos has been flung wide open. Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011), composer and concept artist, was one of the most important representatives of Germany's electronic music avant-garde. A student of Joseph Beuys, he founded Berlin's legendary Zodiak Free Arts Lab, a subculture club, in 1967/'68, was a member of Tangerine Dream (together with Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese) and Kluster (with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius), and released countless solo albums. Thomas Fehlmann rose to prominence in the seminal band Palais Schaumburg with Holger Hiller. Their debut album in 1981 was a milestone in German post-punk music. In 1988 Fehlmann founded the Teutonic Beats label and in 1990 he became a member of The Orb. He has played an important role in Berlin's electronic and club scenes ever since, as a musician, producer, remixer, and DJ. Thomas Fehlmann on this Kollektion: "I have strung together various pieces from Conrad Schnitzler's white period -- the CON series -- in a seamless arrangement which creates its own state of dramatic tension. The tracks retain their original form and tempo. This is not a study in montage. I have restricted myself to picking the right moment to move from one piece to the next, cross-fading. Okay, I did edit one track... I was looking for a form which would condense Conrad Schnitzler's versatility, his inventiveness and wit into a single journey. The new running order adds a certain friction to the aura of each as new connections are made. My choices were musical, not chronological, bathing these works from the early 1980s in new sensuous light. It is quite remarkable to see how intensely the sparks still fly. Preparing this collection closes an elementary circle in my life, without which I may have followed a completely different path."

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LP version on 180 gram vinyl. Conrad Schnitzler's yellow album (aka Gelb), originally released in 1981 on Edition Block. "The chronology of Schnitzler's solo releases in the 1970s -- and even more so in the '80s -- resembles a book with seven seals. Schnitzler regularly issued his music on analogue cassette or LP, often on his own as 'private releases', without any help from a label or professional distributor. The yellow album, for example, was issued on vinyl in 1981 by René Block in Berlin on his art gallery label (Edition Block). Schnitzler had previously released records on various other labels. The music on the yellow album had, in fact, already been on the market as The Black Cassette in 1974, although the production run was probably limited. The yellow album is subtitled '12 pieces from the year 1974', pointing to Schnitzler's novel approach. Whereas his prior works always lasted for the whole side of an LP or tape, the tracks here are shorter. Also new: Schnitzler goes beyond automatic sonic processes on a number of tracks, using his keyboards to integrate something approaching melodic improvisations 'played by hand' into his musical cosmos. Schnitzler's otherwise crystalline, inorganic world of art is thus enriched by an almost human, organic element. An amiable breeze wafts through the music of the yellow album, thankfully miles away from the sentimental platitudes which run through off-the-shelf ambient music of the 1980s. The yellow album is not only amiable from start to finish, it also documents an important stage in Schnitzler's musical development. Belatedly released on LP (1981) and lacking in discographical detail, this aspect is easily overlooked. On careful listening, as Schnitzler connoisseurs will also realize instantly, this album reveals itself to be an important milestone, illuminating a clear path into the future. Schnitzler had begun to free himself from the constraints of orthodox conceptual art, advancing into the wide open spaces of uncharted musical territory." --Asmus Tietchens

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LP version on 180 gram vinyl. Conrad Schnitzler's green album (aka Grün), originally released in 1981 on Edition Block. "Schnitzler's tracks in the 1970s were lengthy and shared a musical pattern which varied only minimally. Hence the green album has just one track on each side and any changes in melodic structure are subtle in nature. Both pieces are very much typical of Schnitzler in style, but less so tonally. An analog rhythm machine ploughs almost brutally through the astoundingly delicate electronic veil of 'Der Riese und seine Frau' ('The Giant and His Wife'), bearing little resemblance to Schnitzler's usual sequencer cascades. The second piece, created four years later, sounds completely different. Its title may be similarly poetic, but 'Bis die Blaue Blume blüht' ('Until the Blue Flower Blooms') transports the listener into another world altogether. A diminutive melody, consisting of just seven notes, becomes a kind of mantra, repeated with only the slightest variation until the end, as clusters of tiny sonic meteorites constantly swirl around, sparkling in all the colors of the spectrum. The composition is carried and held together by a permanent sequencer figure, brilliantly enhancing the catchy tune. Listening to the rhythmic-harmonic character and taking into account the year in which it was made (1980), it is fair to assume that this was recorded in Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio, like the Con album. The similarities are impossible to ignore. It is a well documented fact that Peter Baumann often allowed Schnitzler to work in his studio during this period. On the LP version, 'Bis die Blaue Blume blüht' can be played at 33 or 45 rpm, revealing a wholly different piece of music at the chosen speed. Both speeds are available as two tracks on the CD version. For a composer to come up with something like this by design speaks of great artistry -- or perhaps of great fortuity. Presumably the former. Schnitzler most likely experimented to this end and set up the recording in the studio to allow for both playback options -- an unusual device for the early 1980s and further evidence of his capacity for transcending artistic borders. The borders between Schnitzler's creative periods are too nebulous to be sure that the green album represents the coda of his '70s music. Still, Schnitzler's musical essence of the decade is in evidence as aural concentrate on both pieces. Not, however, as a recapitulatory review, but as a foundation, fertile ground in which Schnitzler's art would thrive in the decades which followed." --Asmus Tietchens

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Conrad Schnitzler's yellow album (aka Gelb), originally released in 1981 on Edition Block. "The chronology of Schnitzler's solo releases in the 1970s -- and even more so in the '80s -- resembles a book with seven seals. Schnitzler regularly issued his music on analogue cassette or LP, often on his own as 'private releases', without any help from a label or professional distributor. The yellow album, for example, was issued on vinyl in 1981 by René Block in Berlin on his art gallery label (Edition Block). Schnitzler had previously released records on various other labels. The music on the yellow album had, in fact, already been on the market as The Black Cassette in 1974, although the production run was probably limited. The yellow album is subtitled '12 pieces from the year 1974', pointing to Schnitzler's novel approach. Whereas his prior works always lasted for the whole side of an LP or tape, the tracks here are shorter. Also new: Schnitzler goes beyond automatic sonic processes on a number of tracks, using his keyboards to integrate something approaching melodic improvisations 'played by hand' into his musical cosmos. Schnitzler's otherwise crystalline, inorganic world of art is thus enriched by an almost human, organic element. An amiable breeze wafts through the music of the yellow album, thankfully miles away from the sentimental platitudes which run through off-the-shelf ambient music of the 1980s. The yellow album is not only amiable from start to finish, it also documents an important stage in Schnitzler's musical development. Belatedly released on LP (1981) and lacking in discographical detail, this aspect is easily overlooked. On careful listening, as Schnitzler connoisseurs will also realize instantly, this album reveals itself to be an important milestone, illuminating a clear path into the future. Schnitzler had begun to free himself from the constraints of orthodox conceptual art, advancing into the wide open spaces of uncharted musical territory." --Asmus Tietchens

$17.00 IN STOCK

Conrad Schnitzler's green album (aka Grün), originally released in 1981 on Edition Block. "Schnitzler's tracks in the 1970s were lengthy and shared a musical pattern which varied only minimally. Hence the green album has just one track on each side and any changes in melodic structure are subtle in nature. Both pieces are very much typical of Schnitzler in style, but less so tonally. An analog rhythm machine ploughs almost brutally through the astoundingly delicate electronic veil of 'Der Riese und seine Frau' ('The Giant and His Wife'), bearing little resemblance to Schnitzler's usual sequencer cascades. The second piece, created four years later, sounds completely different. Its title may be similarly poetic, but 'Bis die Blaue Blume blüht' ('Until the Blue Flower Blooms') transports the listener into another world altogether. A diminutive melody, consisting of just seven notes, becomes a kind of mantra, repeated with only the slightest variation until the end, as clusters of tiny sonic meteorites constantly swirl around, sparkling in all the colors of the spectrum. The composition is carried and held together by a permanent sequencer figure, brilliantly enhancing the catchy tune. Listening to the rhythmic-harmonic character and taking into account the year in which it was made (1980), it is fair to assume that this was recorded in Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio, like the Con album. The similarities are impossible to ignore. It is a well documented fact that Peter Baumann often allowed Schnitzler to work in his studio during this period. On the LP version, 'Bis die Blaue Blume blüht' can be played at 33 or 45 rpm, revealing a wholly different piece of music at the chosen speed. Both speeds are available as two tracks on the CD version. For a composer to come up with something like this by design speaks of great artistry -- or perhaps of great fortuity. Presumably the former. Schnitzler most likely experimented to this end and set up the recording in the studio to allow for both playback options -- an unusual device for the early 1980s and further evidence of his capacity for transcending artistic borders. The borders between Schnitzler's creative periods are too nebulous to be sure that the green album represents the coda of his '70s music. Still, Schnitzler's musical essence of the decade is in evidence as aural concentrate on both pieces. Not, however, as a recapitulatory review, but as a foundation, fertile ground in which Schnitzler's art would thrive in the decades which followed." --Asmus Tietchens

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"Conrad Schnitzler is as unpredictable as he is true to himself. If this sounds paradoxical, he reconfirmed the assertion in 1987 with an album which posed many questions and offered few answers -- his music more extraordinary than ever. The indefatigable Schnitzler still leaves anyone listening to Congratulacion today rather baffled. Those well-acquainted with his music might search in vain for familiar landmarks. Instead, new and unexpected features can be heard, unlike anything in Schnitzler's previous works. The reason for the album's uniqueness lies in the technical advancements of electronic music-making. Schnitzler never shied away from any kind of innovation. On Gold (BB 150CD/LP) and Silver (BB 149CD/LP) he had masterfully deployed a new Palm synthesizer. Congratulacion saw Schnitzler introduce the Yamaha CX 5, a combination of digital and analog sound generation, lending the album its distinctive quality. This machine enabled him to program the most complex of rhythms and strange harmonies and, if necessary, completely unforeseen melodies. '21.8.86' (track 8), for example, could easily have been composed by his old Kluster colleague Hans-Joachim Roedelius. This must have given him, this oh-so rigorous concept artist, no end of pleasure. Why else would he have composed 22 short pieces with the aid of the CX 5 instead of fewer, lengthier tracks?" --Asmus Tietchens; Features six bonus tracks and an essay by Asmus Tietchens.