a. k. klosowski / pyrolator “home taping is killing music” long playing record and compact disc set

• ouvertüre
  
• österreich
  
• tschak
  
• hammond
  
• agana wudiov
  
• what made you so no good heimat
  
• dahomey
  
• you know i need zv9
  
• hi fidelity
  
• china first on mars
  
  
• österreich (roughmix) dahomey (roughmix)
  
• agana wudiov (roughmix)
  
• you know i need (dub-version)

bureau b press release...

home taping is killing music von a. k. klosowski & pyrolator (1985) lp (180g) release date: march 29, 2013 it was in the mid-1980s when the unsuccessful blues guitarist arnd kai klosowski realised that the dj was the star of the show in the discotheque, not the music, nor musicians. he then asked himself: “what if it were possible to create something new, a mix of recorded and live music which could be switched on and off intermittently?“ klosowski built himself a mixing desk with eight inputs, plugged in microphones, called up a few people and they improvised their hearts out. “i don’t know what they played exactly. but i do know that it simply didn’t work“, klosowski recollects. and then he remembered the tape loop experiments he had worked on as a teenager. so he got back to inventing, tinkering and soldering. the first recordings made with this new, homemade tape loop device found their way to zickzack label boss alfred hilsberg, who decided to release an album. all he needed was a producer. at this point, pyrolator finally enters the scene, a musician (as a member of der plan, for example) producer and ata tak label operative. similarities in the working practices and musical leanings of pyrolator and klosowski are there for all to see, or rather to hear. both were interested in collage, obscure music and technical innovation. they went into the studio together and recorded “home-taping is killing music”. the original plan was to issue the album on hilsberg’s zickzack label, but it actually came out through ata tak. why was that? pyrolator: “we felt that the album was far better suited to ata tak, and so we came to an agreement with alfred that we could release the record.” klosowski adds another, not insignificant, detail to this explanation: “pyrolator had to invest more time and work than anticipated. he had imagined it all to be somewhat easier. i lacked experience in studio technology, so pyrolator had to bear the brunt of that. two worlds collided, that of a trained musician and my own. we overshot the studio budget by some distance.” the klosowski album produced by pyrolator thus became a joint klosowski / pyrolator album, with ata tak the logical label choice. “hometaping is killing music“ is a rough diamond from the pioneering era of sampling technology. true, the emulator 1 already existed and was used extensively, but the tape machine which klosowski designed and constructed could play considerably longer loops and samples than the e-mu systems product. and so it was that salsa trumpets and gregorian chants were heard side by side, railway noises aligned with cambodian music and gospel met bavarian yodelling. at no time did technology become an end in itself: it always served the melody, the beat, the element of surprise. in short, it was in the service of listening pleasure!

a. k. klosowski / pyrolator “home taping is killing music” compact disc

• overtüre (0:36)
  
• österreich (3:30)
  
• tschak (2:44)
  
• hammond (3:41)
  
• agana wudiov (3:37)
  
• what made you so no good (3:45)
  
• heimat (2:41)
  
• dahomey (5:07)
  
• you know, i need... (3:18)
  
• zv9 (3:52)
  
• hi fidelity (3:28)
  
• china first on mars (5:52)
  
• österreich (rough mix) (3:43)
  
• dahomey (rough mix) (6:19)
  
• agana wudiov (rough mix) (3:41)
  
• you know, i need... (dub-version) (5:28)

bureau b press release...

home taping is killing music von a. k. klosowski & pyrolator (1985) cd release date: march 29, 2013 it was in the mid-1980s when the unsuccessful blues guitarist arnd kai klosowski realised that the dj was the star of the show in the discotheque, not the music, nor musicians. he then asked himself: “what if it were possible to create something new, a mix of recorded and live music which could be switched on and off intermittently?“ klosowski built himself a mixing desk with eight inputs, plugged in microphones, called up a few people and they improvised their hearts out. “i don’t know what they played exactly. but i do know that it simply didn’t work“, klosowski recollects. and then he remembered the tape loop experiments he had worked on as a teenager. so he got back to inventing, tinkering and soldering. the first recordings made with this new, homemade tape loop device found their way to zickzack label boss alfred hilsberg, who decided to release an album. all he needed was a producer. at this point, pyrolator finally enters the scene, a musician (as a member of der plan, for example) producer and ata tak label operative. similarities in the working practices and musical leanings of pyrolator and klosowski are there for all to see, or rather to hear. both were interested in collage, obscure music and technical innovation. they went into the studio together and recorded “home-taping is killing music”. the original plan was to issue the album on hilsberg’s zickzack label, but it actually came out through ata tak. why was that? pyrolator: “we felt that the album was far better suited to ata tak, and so we came to an agreement with alfred that we could release the record.” klosowski adds another, not insignificant, detail to this explanation: “pyrolator had to invest more time and work than anticipated. he had imagined it all to be somewhat easier. i lacked experience in studio technology, so pyrolator had to bear the brunt of that. two worlds collided, that of a trained musician and my own. we overshot the studio budget by some distance.” the klosowski album produced by pyrolator thus became a joint klosowski / pyrolator album, with ata tak the logical label choice. “hometaping is killing music“ is a rough diamond from the pioneering era of sampling technology. true, the emulator 1 already existed and was used extensively, but the tape machine which klosowski designed and constructed could play considerably longer loops and samples than the e-mu systems product. and so it was that salsa trumpets and gregorian chants were heard side by side, railway noises aligned with cambodian music and gospel met bavarian yodelling. at no time did technology become an end in itself: it always served the melody, the beat, the element of surprise. in short, it was in the service of listening pleasure!

der plan “normalette surprise • 23 elektronische schlager” long playing record

• leb doch
  
• renate
  
• meine freunde
  
• sie hat mich verlassen
  
• pausen-sassa
  
• wenn der sonne ist verblüht
  
• kleine schlager-revue
  
• frl. nicol
  
• ich bin ein komputer
  
• robot-bolero
  
• generäle essen gerne erdbeereis
  
• das insekt
  
  
• wat's dat?
  
• 4 stapfen im schnee
  
• zurück in die atomsphäre

bureau b press release...

der plan normalette surprise reissue (originally released in 1981) lp (180g vinyl) release date: july 27, 2012 1980 the zeitgeist played into the right hands. and who held the aces? in our game, moritz r, frank fenstermacher and pyrolator = der plan. tired of convention and full of enthusiasm, they encountered an audience who felt just the same. and with record companies too ponderous to sign up der plan, the wonderful ata tak label was born of necessity. “normalette surprise” is the second album by der plan, released in 1981, a good year after their “geri reig” debut. it is immediately recognisable as a plan album, yet “normalette surprise” does contain a few, well, surprises. the first number, “leb doch”, is a brilliant pop song. one can say many (good) things about “geri reig”, but it does not contain any pop songs. “leb doch” is built on a captivatingly taut rhythm, subcooled vocals and german lyrics. hang on a minute, taut rhythm, subcooled vocals, german lyrics? yes exactly, der plan drew up the blueprint for what would soon become known as “neue deutsche welle”—the german new wave. although blueprint sounds a little too benign. it was more like a big bang. moreover, there was something new about it. or rather something old. bizarrely, der plan were introduced by their american artist friends, including the controversial elocutionist boyd rice, into the amazing world of the german schlager. a colourful universe of the absurd awaited exploration. “kleine schlager-revue” and "sie hat mich verlassen" are the clearest indications of this newfound passion on “normalette surprise”. hence “normalette surprise” presents the full range of attributes which would define der plan and the ata tak label: electronics and schlager, noise and pop. and der plan's protagonists succeeded — unlike so many — in their mission of creating something original, something of their own.

der plan “normalette surprise • 23 elektronische schlager” compact disc

• leb doch
  
• renate
  
• meine freunde
  
• sie hat mich verlassen
  
• pausen-sassa
  
• wenn der sonne ist verblüht
  
• kleine schlager-revue
  
• frl. nicol
  
• ich bin ein komputer
  
• robot-bolero
  
• generäle essen gerne erdbeereis 12. das insekt
  
• wat's dat?
  
• 4 stapfen im schnee
  
• zurück in die atomsphäre
  
  
• da vorne steht ne ampel
  
• rot grün tod
  
• einfachheit
  
• brot
  
• klarheit
  
• liebe
  
• tod 19. 8 1/2 b
  
• der regen tropft
  
• es ist das glück
  
• film noir 1979
  
• rosarote schweinchen

bureau b press release...

der plan normalette surprise reissue (originally released in 1981) cd release date: july 27, 2012 1980 the zeitgeist played into the right hands. and who held the aces? in our game, moritz r, frank fenstermacher and pyrolator = der plan. tired of convention and full of enthusiasm, they encountered an audience who felt just the same. and with record companies too ponderous to sign up der plan, the wonderful ata tak label was born of necessity. “normalette surprise” is the second album by der plan, released in 1981, a good year after their “geri reig” debut. it is immediately recognisable as a plan album, yet “normalette surprise” does contain a few, well, surprises. the first number, “leb doch”, is a brilliant pop song. one can say many (good) things about “geri reig”, but it does not contain any pop songs. “leb doch” is built on a captivatingly taut rhythm, subcooled vocals and german lyrics. hang on a minute, taut rhythm, subcooled vocals, german lyrics? yes exactly, der plan drew up the blueprint for what would soon become known as “neue deutsche welle”—the german new wave. although blueprint sounds a little too benign. it was more like a big bang. moreover, there was something new about it. or rather something old. bizarrely, der plan were introduced by their american artist friends, including the controversial elocutionist boyd rice, into the amazing world of the german schlager. a colourful universe of the absurd awaited exploration. “kleine schlager-revue” and "sie hat mich verlassen" are the clearest indications of this newfound passion on “normalette surprise”. hence “normalette surprise” presents the full range of attributes which would define der plan and the ata tak label: electronics and schlager, noise and pop. and der plan's protagonists succeeded — unlike so many — in their mission of creating something original, something of their own.

der plan “geri reig” long playing record

• adrenalin lässt das blut kochen
  
• geri regi
  
• persisches cowboy golf
  
• gefährliche clowns
  
• kleine grabesstille
  
• der weltaufstandsplan
  
• hans und gabi
  
  
• commerce extérieur mondial sentimentale
  
• was ich von mir denke
  
• san josé car muzak
  
• erste begegnung mit dem tod
  
• ch bin schizophren
  
• nessie
  
• gefährliche clowns (manisch-idiotisch)
  
• die welt ist schlecht

bureau b press release...

der plan geri reig reissue (originally released 1980) lp (180g vinyl) release date: july 27, 2012 “geri reig” is der plan’s debut album, but not their first release. an ep, recorded with the aid of an electric memo dictation preceded “geri reig”. but the band is not very keen on reissuing this early work. why did they call themselves “der plan” actually? “a concept which has something to do with the capacity of people to think and shape their future” as plan member moritz reichelt, alias moritz r, once explained. der plan at that time comprised moritz reichelt, frank fenster-macher, robert görl and chrislo haas. their music was menacing, fragmented noise rock, still with guitar and drums, but far removed from the typical (rock) music of the period. when görl and haas departed (to form daf), guitars and drums also disappeared from der plan. new on the team: kurt dahlke alias pyrolator. this was the line-up which recorded “geri reig” in reichelt’s düsseldorf office with a two-channel tape machine. “geri reig” is a punk album in the truest and best sense. new, threatening and, at the same time, humorous. whilst other bands of the era stamped with the seal of “punk” played a faster and harder version of 1950s rock and roll or 1960s garage rock, der plan, like a handful of contemporaries such as the residents or throbbing gristle, not only rejected traditional song structures but jettisoned the whole instrument list. that’s punk for you! allied to a deep aversion to rock music and the cliché that goes with it, was the wish to create something of their own. and “geri reig” is certainly idiosyncratic: fragments and songs, raspy and fragile, melodies and interference, ambient sounds up front in the mix. fine in theory and – rare though it may be – excellent in practice. and it just gets better: the album was well received. moritz r: “as if everyone had been waiting for it.” – “the world is a bad place”? („die welt ist schlecht?“, cf. track 15). not always!

der plan “geri reig” compact disc

• adrenalin lässt das blut kochen
  
• geri reig
  
• persisches cowboy golf
  
• gefährliche clowns
  
• kleine grabesstille
  
• der weltaufstandsplan
  
• hans und gabi
  
• commerce extérieur mondial sentimentale
  
• was ich von mir denke
  
• san josé car muzak
  
• erste begegnung mit dem tod
  
• ch bin schizophren
  
• nessie
  
• gefährliche clowns (manisch-idiotisch)
  
• die welt ist schlecht
  
  
• es piept
  
• fürstenwall
  
• intermezzo
  
• dark porn
  
• heinz, komm zum feuer
  
• money honey

bureau b press release...

der plan geri reig reissue (originally released 1980) cd release date: july 27, 2012 “geri reig” is der plan’s debut album, but not their first release. an ep, recorded with the aid of an electric memo dictation preceded “geri reig”. but the band is not very keen on reissuing this early work. why did they call themselves “der plan” actually? “a concept which has something to do with the capacity of people to think and shape their future” as plan member moritz reichelt, alias moritz r, once explained. der plan at that time comprised moritz reichelt, frank fenster-macher, robert görl and chrislo haas. their music was menacing, fragmented noise rock, still with guitar and drums, but far removed from the typical (rock) music of the period. when görl and haas departed (to form daf), guitars and drums also disappeared from der plan. new on the team: kurt dahlke alias pyrolator. this was the line-up which recorded “geri reig” in reichelt’s düsseldorf office with a two-channel tape machine. “geri reig” is a punk album in the truest and best sense. new, threatening and, at the same time, humorous. whilst other bands of the era stamped with the seal of “punk” played a faster and harder version of 1950s rock and roll or 1960s garage rock, der plan, like a handful of contemporaries such as the residents or throbbing gristle, not only rejected traditional song structures but jettisoned the whole instrument list. that’s punk for you! allied to a deep aversion to rock music and the cliché that goes with it, was the wish to create something of their own. and “geri reig” is certainly idiosyncratic: fragments and songs, raspy and fragile, melodies and interference, ambient sounds up front in the mix. fine in theory and – rare though it may be – excellent in practice. and it just gets better: the album was well received. moritz r: “as if everyone had been waiting for it.” – “the world is a bad place”? („die welt ist schlecht?“, cf. track 15). not always!

“from brussels with love” compact disc

• john foxx - a jingle*1 (0:35)
  
• thomas dolby - airwaves (5:20)
  
• repetition - stranger (3:43)
  
• harold budd - children on the hill (4:56)
  
• durutti column - sleep will come (1:45)
  
• martin hannett - the music room (4:38)
  
• the names - cat (3:24)
  
• michael nyman - a walk through h (4:50)
  
• brian eno - an interview with brian eno (9:48)
  
• jeanne moreau - un entretien avec jeanne moreau (8:35)
  
• richard jobson - armoury show (1:18)
  
• bill nelson - the shadow garden (4:09)
  
• durutti column* - piece for an ideal (3:36)
  
• kevin hewick & new order - haystack (3:39)
  
• radio romance - etrange affinite (2:42)
  
• gavin bryars - white's s.s. (5:52)
  
• der plan - mein freunde (2:03)
  
• b.c. gilbert & graham lewis* - twist up (4:25)
  
• john foxx - a jingle*2 (0:40)