Saturday, February 18, 2012

Guenter Schlienz - Urban Tapes (Goldtimers 018)




The new batch from Goldtimers is massive: Eight tapes of great music and alluring artwork.  The discography of this label is growing.  It features an array of wonderful artists including Derek Rogers, Hobo Cubes, No Mind Meditation, Venn Rain, Greg Davis, Deep Magic, Andreas Brandal, Ophibre and many more.  

As I said, this batch is full of quality.  Yet, I often find myself returning to the beautiful modular synth sounds of Guenter Schlienz.  Guenter's biography reads like a journey through sound.  Initially, he was playing guitar and rock music.  Around 1998, however, Guenter started to experiment with other sounds.  Since 2003, he has constructed diy modular synthesizers and released a few tapes.  Urban Tapes, Guenter's most recent work on Goldtimers, is a collection of sounds that remind me of different states of being - snapshots of time. These beautiful tracks feel nostalgic, elegiac, foreboding, opaque and convalescent.  Of course, each experience is unique; and i'm not surprised that the meaning behind some of these tracks varies wildly with my interpretations.  Given these emotionally resonant tracks, I'm eagerly awaiting the next release from Guenter.

Urban Tapes is another winner, in a batch replete with awesome music.  Goldtimers has a really nice deal, which includes shipping: 8 tapes for $35.  It is one of the best deals around, from one of the burgeoning greats, Goldtimers.  Peace.