Sundaze 1002

Hello, its a very special date today 101010 . Many manage to get married today, being born or to die would be nice too i guess..So what does it mean ..seen some general hogwash but nowhere did i see what it really means, because..it's ... " The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything". Yes ! It is 42 in binary.. computerlanguage..this is what the megacomputer took millions of years to calculate..duh..42 . Btw it's the number with which God creates the Universe in Kabalistic tradition, it is also the number of minutes it takes to freefall thru the earth (friction free).. There's of cause Level 42 the band that btw took it's name more likely from Clockwork Orange (movie) like Heaven 17 did. As i said a very special date today, but what is on offer ?

Gas ! ..not the kind you get at the pump or after munching too many beans but one of the many aliasses of Wolfgang Voigt the cofounder of one of the best loved labels in dance, Kompakt.. In the latter part of the nineties he produced 4 albums under the moniker Gas on the Mille Plateaux label, these have been rereleased on his own label and beautifully packaged as a 4 disc set, you should get it at amazon uk just 15,99 = 18,5 euro , a bargain for a classic 4 album box set . To call Gas just ambient is to belittle it. It's full of rich texture, colour, layers of depth - epic electronica - Life, the Universe, and Everything indeed.

Each album consisting of several long tracks of dense, hypnotic, atmospheric sound. Voigt cites his youthful LSD experiences in the Königsforst, a part of Germany's black forest situated near his hometown of Köln, as the inspiration behind the project. He has claimed that the intention of the project is to "bring the forest to the disco, or vice-versa". All Gas material shares a characteristic sound, consisting of an ambient wash of drones and loops, usually accompanied by a repetitive four to the floor kickdrum underneath the multiple layers of music. Occasionally a song will just drift on its own ambience.

Voigt has commented that he builds his tracks using samples, which are manipulated beyond recognition to create what can better be described as textural environments than songs. It's very overloaded minimal, as in it's just a few little elements and the beat - as long as there is a beat, not all these tracks have beats - these are going on and on, without too many breaks or variations, or whatever, on top there is very elegaic soundscapes running through, which build their own structures. Soundscapes sampled often from of musical origin, encapsulating "old pop record stuff" as well as classical music such as Richard Wagner and Arnold Schoenberg.

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Gas - Gas (96, 149mb)


01 Untitled (10:30)
02 Untitled (13:43)
03 Untitled (14:29)
04 Untitled (11:11)
05 Untitled (13:34)
06 Untitled (13:30)


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Posting the whole box in one go would be stretching it, i will get back to Wolfgang later, for the moment enjoy some real time with the first two Gas exposions. Maybe you'll agree that buying the Nah Und Fern (near and far) box is a good idea aswell as a perfect gift.




Gas - Zauberberg (Magicmountain) (97, 158mb)


01 Untitled (7:50)
02 Untitled (14:12)
03 Untitled (12:50)
04 Untitled (6:01)
05 Untitled (8:04)
06 Untitled (7:23)
07 Untitled (9:32)

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Petra Hollenbach is the video artist behind almost all GAS’ albums artwork (and lots of others at Kompakt), and was also responsible for the visuals accompanying the live show, based on the covers and Voigt's forest's photographs . Cold, snowed forests, pure nature in motion. Here's the best snippett i could find on the net