glitterbug

You might ask- what???!?!?? That’s exactly what I thought when a dear friend, Adam Butler (known to many as Vert) sent this to me today. ‘Supershelter’ (released in November 2008) feels so far away… sometimes I forget: it actually does not matter when a record came out, it matters when it is discovered by the listener. So I am happy that good ol’ Supershelter found a late appreciator!

And thank you, dear people from Aquarius Records, for taking so much interest in my music!!

GLITTERBUG “Supershelter” (C Sides Label) cd 16.98
We totally flipped for the new Glitterbug record, Privilege, reviewed a couple lists back, the work of Till Rohmann, a German DJ / producer / artist, whose Glitterbug sound was exactly what we had been hankering for, a glorious blend of processed field recordings, soft pulsing glimmering synthscapes, stripped down minimal techno, abstract kosmische krautdrone and pop ambience, so when we discovered there was another, previous Glitterbug, we knew we had to check it out. And once again, were were not disappointed. Supershelter is another heady blend of Kompakt style skeletal techno, and warm swirling synthy drones, dark ominous rumbles, and ethereal after hours party music, skittery, and stuttery, washed out and hypnotic.

After a gorgeous slow melodic intro, that sounds like it could have been plucked from a Burzum record (at least before the plink plonk piano counterpoint comes in), the next few tracks unfurl the beats, wrapped around playful keyboards, percolating clicks and chirps, some sweetly melancholy melodies, even some soaring faux strings, “The Things I Long To Do” almost sounds like a Bjork backing track. “Oh My Hick!” is another skittery techno, warm liquid ambience hybrid, while “Unforgotten” is a brief stretch of hissy static rumble, leading into “Reference System” a low slung slab of synth wrapped late night shuffle, groovy and subtly funky, which butts right up against the warped and muted “Brontohouse” which does evoke some sort of giant beast, with its muddy thumping rhythm, and warm whirring buzz. The record plays out similarly, flitting from minimal thump and pulse, to woozy washed out drift, and quite a few stops in between.

Imagine a less clinical, more playful Kompakt, this will definitely hit the spot if you’ve been digging any of the recent weirdo electronica from folks like Actress, Pantha Du Prince, Klimek, Vex’d, T++, Thomas Fehlman, Oneohtrix and all the rest…

Glitterbug-Head under Water Mix by Glitterbug

This is a very experimental mix that i did in a series of DJ mixes around the release of my last album, ‘Privilege’, last May/June. It was supposed to be a podcast for a large San Francisco / New York based music magazine, but they seemed to have changed their mind along the way- so instead of having it rot on my hard drives, I thought to better share it with the rest of the world (because- I actually really love this mix…).

The set combines a few samples of things I have loved for many years (the first track is actually 38 years old), and there is very little techno- or club related music- in here. I guess i would be ecstatic to hear somebody play music like this in a club, and if it’s just in the first 2 or 3 hours of a club night.

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Glitterbug’s Head under Water Mix

01. Charlie Haden – We Shall Overcome
02. Zoviet France – Shouting at the Ground Part 1
03. Glitterbug – Lionheart
04. Koss – Ocean Wave (Mercury Dub)
05. Nuno Dos Santos & Traumbauer – Bensafrim
06. Morgan Packard – Waterbugs
07. Differnet- Caring Arms (Jesse Somfay Remix)
08. Benjamin Lew / Stephen Brown – Etendu
09. Krikor – Disposable Elvises (Chloe’s Remix)
10. Mano le Tough – Halve a Sun (Original Mix)
11. Christian Löffler – Silent Nights
12. Gonno – I don’t need Competition (Donnacha Costello Remix)
13. John Lurie – The Resurection of Albert Ayler
14. Zoviet France – Shouting at the Ground Part 2

This mix was entirely made by hand, utilizing only two Technics turntables and a Dateq 3 channel mixer. For tracks that i don’t have on vinyl, i use Traktor Scratch with vinyl control.

The mix was recorded in one ongoing session, no post editing was done.

Efterklang-Alike (Glitterbug Remix) by Glitterbug

This is an official remix I did for the wonderful people (and dear friends) of Efterklang for the track ‘Alike’ of their current album ‘Magic Chairs’ on the legendary 4AD label.

It might take a little longer than planned until it’s released on an Efterklang remix compilation, thus we (Efterklang and I) decided, that we’ll post it already, regardless. Efterklang will send a free download link to the track with their next newsletter- so if you want it- and especially want it on your hard drive before it’s released- you’d better quickly sign up for their newsletter today! (you can do so on their website)

I loved working on this track, and it’s also my favorite on this album. We could actually witness it coming alive, since it’s one of the tracks Efterklang started working on in February 2009 in our little c.sides residency in Tel Aviv. You can also listen to the original version as a stream on the Efterklang website (in case you don’t know the album… you should listen to the whole thing!!!).
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PS: In the meanwhile the newsletter as mentioned above was sent by Efterklang. Here is what they wrote:
“During the summer we have aired two remix swap projects and now today we will use the opportunity to air another free remix. This one is made by Glitterbug aka Till Rohmann from Germany. Till actually helped us getting started with making Magic Chairs back in 2009. Together with Ronni Schendar, he runs the c.sides festival and they invited us to Tel Aviv for two weeks in February 2009. During those two weeks we rehearsed and worked on songs like I Was Playing Drums, Alike, Me Me Me the Brick House for the first time.”

The very friendly people of Crazewire published a late review of ‘Privilege’, very very sweet and very very friendly. Thank you for the warm words!!!

You can find the original article here.

“Die meisten werden diesen Moment kennen. Den Moment, in dem man schlagartig an nichts anderes mehr denken kann als an dieses Gesicht, das einem gerade ein Lächeln zugeworfen hat. Völlig unvermittelt ändert sich plötzlich alles. Je länger man an diesen Moment denkt, desto verschwommener wird das Bild. Waren diese Augen grün, braun? Dieses Lächeln echt? Diese Fragen treiben dich, und im Idealfall sieht man sich ein zweites Mal.

Als ich Glitterbug 2009 völlig erwartungslos im Rahmen der c/o pop im Vorprogramm von Moderat gesehen habe, war das ein solcher Moment. Gekickt von den verträumt zurückhaltenden Beats und den damit komplementären Visuals, verliebt in die sympathische Erscheinung der Beiden hinterm Mischpult. Seitdem möchte mich „Germany’s best kept techno secret“ nicht mehr loslassen. Dennoch, ein Jahr hat es gedauert, bis ich diesen Klang-Moment wieder sah.

Wieder völlig unvermittelt konnte ich Glitterbug in Amsterdam erleben, diesmal mit neuem Album im Gepäck. „Privilege“ ist der Nachfolger vom 2008 veröffentlichten „Supershelter“ und entstand zwischen Tür und Angel. Mastermind hinter dem Projekt ist der Kölner Produzent Till Rohmann, der auf seinen Tourneen und Reisen durch Isreal, Europa, Indien und China in den vergangenen Jahren allerhand Klänge aufgefangen hat und diese in seinem Studio zu epischen Klangkonstrukten verwertet. C.Sides-Kuratoin Ronnie Shendar weiß diese Klänge zu verbildlichen, sodass man sich bei ihren Dou-Live-Shows auf eine Reise quer durch die Welt einlässt, dabei aber stetig auf einer Stelle tanzt. Das 20 Tracks starke Doppelalbum ist bei C.Sides erschienen und nimmt dich mit auf eine Reise abseits der bekannten Pfade.

Seicht und behutsam geht es mit „Lionheart“ über das dahin fließende Wasser durch schattige Wälder, wobei sich die Töne des Klaviers wie Sonnenstrahlen an den Blättern und Ästen vorbei suchen und direkt auf dem Herz landen. Nach den ersten fünf Minuten öffnet man die Augen und stellt fest, dass man doch nur in einer Wohnung mitten in der Stadt hockt, Straßengeräusche durch das offene Fenster huschen. Mit gestärktem Beat wird man in „Swirl“ in unbekanntes Territorium geleitet und weiß nicht, ob der Rhythmus von den Kopfhörern ausgeht, oder es die eigenen Schritte im Gras sind. Man verwechselt die Schönheit der Natur mit der aus den Kopfhörern und weiß nicht, ob die Klänge daneben doch vielleicht der Wind an deinen Ohren ist und das Rauschen der Blätter. So wie man sich live in die Visuals der israelischen Videokünstlerin verlieren kann, verliert man sich bei einem Spaziergang mit „Privilege“ in den Ohren in Raum und Zeit. Nahezu meditativ gelangt man von Track zu Track – oder von Ort zu Ort.

Scheinbar werden hier Momentaufnahmen in einem ganz neuen Format digitalisiert und bleiben auf einer abstrakten Art und Weise für die Ewigkeit erhalten. Einen Einblick bietet das aktuelle Video zu „Calcutta“, das mit minimalistischen Kamaraeinstellungen – ebenfalls produziert von Ronnie Shendar – die Schönheit der Chance einfängt. „After All“ stürzt sich dann zur Abwechslung mit ausgestreckter Faust auf den Hörer und zerrt ihn förmlich auf die Tanzfläche. Nach abwechslungsreichen siebzig Minuten geht es in die zweite Hälfte und Glitterbug wäre nicht Glitterbug, wenn es hier monoton oder gar langweilig zugehen würde und kein Ass im Ärmel stecken würde. Mit „Waves“ geht es nahtlos weiter in der meditativen Momentaufnahme. Hier und da tricky Klangschnippsel die sich mit den aufregenden Beatstrukturen zu einem homogenen, packenden Etwas aufreihen und den Hörer weiter und weiter versinken lassen. Nach den knappen zweieinhalb Stunden weiß man ehrlich gesagt nicht so recht, wie es um einem geschah. Man weiß nur, dass sich die Platte weiter drehen muss.” – Christopher Szwabczynski

samstag, 07.08.10 // ab 23:59 uhr

://about blank
markgrafendamm 24c
Berlin, NH

THESE GHOSTS ARE HERE TO STAY

GLITTERBUG & RONNI SHENDAR – LIVE A/V – (c.sides) // DASHA RUSH (fullpanda) // RNDM (dial / laid) // JOHANNES VOGEL (://about blank / 4augenvögeln) // MR. TIES (homopatik) // UTA & DENISE (perplex recordings) // ARTEMIS (://about blank)

Update: Glitterbug & Ronni Shendar will present their joint audio-visual live performance, thus perform together with the full out show! This wasn’t written in the flyer, because it was not clear if we could do it technically, but we found a solution. In addition, Ronni will present her stunning projections all over the ://about blank.

The nice people from Aquarius Records in San Francisco (“established 1970! the store that’s old enough to think it’s funny that we’re selling lots of tapes again”) wrote a very sweet review on their website & newsletter, and I thought I HAVE to share this. Thanks guys!!

“After a bit of a dry spell, in terms of electronic records that had us freaking out, it’s been pretty much nonstop freakouts for the last little while. Pantha Du Prince’s Black Noise record, the reissue of his This Bliss and Diamond Daze albums, all three records minimal and skittery, bleary and chilled out, moody and synthy and drone-y, occasionally pulsing and throbbing, a little groovy, a little pop ambient, a little techno, all wound into an ever evolving world of mysterious and magical electronic sound. Then came Actress, the new record Splazsh, not to mention his earlier Hazyville, again, both dancing on the edges of electronica, pushing the boundaries, skittery minimalism, weird playful collages, looped and hypnotic, chopped and recontextualized vocals, glitch and squelch and ambient shimmer, as well as twisted beats. And that’s not even mentioning other electronica faves like T++, Vex’d, Klimek, Thomas Fehlman, Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never, but the reason we mention Actress and Pantha Du Prince, is that the music of Glitterbug seems to exist in a similar sonic continuum, melding washed out dreamlike ambient shimmer, with stripped down minimal post techno, pulsing kosmische krautrock with more earthbound stutter and skitter, and while this is in fact record number two from Glitterbug, aka Till Rohmann, a German DJ / producer / artist, we’re already pretty smitten, as we imagine you might be too, especially if like us, you’ve been listening to the above records as much as we have.

A sprawling double disc, recorded in the studio and on tour, with field recordings from various tour stops incorporated into some of the tracks, sometimes as just another unrecognizable sample, adding rhythm and texture, but other times it’s more obvious, the sounds of life and the world, only further adding energy and emotion to an already organic electronic sound. The record begins with a warm softly pulsing expanse of glimmering synths, a subtle melody, looped and hypnotic, laced with shimmering melodic counterpoint, all hazy and sun dappled and dreamlike, peppered with bits of piano, the perfect blend of abstract kosmische krautdrone and pop ambience. The second track introduces some drums, which sound real, and a bit jazzy, before a more obviously electronic beat joins in, then some thick warbly buzz, some deep low end rumble, some chiming melodies, and we’re off, propulsive and mesmerizing, washed out and softly psychedelic, but super chilled out and warm and luxurious and lush. The next track slips right back into more cosmic synth space bliss, reverbed tones ring out, overlapping, layered, underpinned by awesome intense slabs of low end, more felt than heard, the result is almost like a more stripped down, more electronic Expo 70, spacey and abstract, but with some subtle momentum, less driving and more drifting, but so dreamy and divine, another track that could have filled up the whole rest of the record and we would have been perfectly happy, and there are plenty of tracks like that on these two discs.

And so it goes, for the next two hours, Glitterbug’s sound slipping seamlessly from pulsing minimal skitter, to murky muted throb, to ethereal glimmering drift, to hushed crystalline shimmer, to abstract drone flecked house music, to dark, almost dirge-y Carpenter style synthscapes, more often than not, those various sounds bleeding into one another, overlapping, intertwining, the sounds lush and lustrous, rich and organic, the rhythms spare and skeletal, sometimes delicate, other times dense and dark, but always fantastic and futuristic, blissed out and beautiful.”