glitterbug

Ronni Shendar did this breathtakingly beautiful trailer as a teaser for the upcoming video for the title track of my upcoming album, Dust. The video will be premiered shortly, but we’re not allowed yet to publicly discuss where… The video was shot during three weeks in December 2013 in the Sierra Nevada and the Owens Valley, and I couldn’t think of anyone better than Ronni to capture the bare and wide beauty of this very special place on this planet. Make sure to watch in HD and full screen!!!

The lovely guys of Faze TV tried to bring me over for my last release already, but it never happened and nobody can remember why. Anyhow, I had a great time there and a really nice conversation with Sven, the host of the show. But have a look yourself!

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I usually don’t necessarily post my releases that appear somewhere in some online shop, but I really liked that these guys made the effort to write something nice! You can find the item here (and hey, if you are in the UK, thay give you a Notown sampler for free of you order my album!!!)

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“It’s not by chance that Dust is being released on Gold Panda’s label,” says Till Rohmann, aka Glitterbug. Following his 2012 LP Cancerboy – a breathtaking release dealing with the producer’s childhood battle with cancer – Rohmann returns with his fourth record, and first on Chelmsford-based producer’s NOTOWN Recordings. Dust is, he explains, a record in-part inspired by Derwin’s brilliant metropolis-evoking, travelling-influenced second LP, Half Of Where You Live.

“It picks up the pieces from that record’s celebration of modern urbanity and manmade things,” Rohmann says. “Dust takes this notion a step further and explores the urban shadows of the forgotten, the stories of our cities that remain untold, past landscapes that evaporated and memories left behind over time. It’s about memories, traces of things and people that were, urban sub texts and long gone landscapes and the life that inhibited these places.”

Glitterbug’s moniker comes from the Derek Jarman-directed film of the same name – a deeply personal work that spanned over two decades of the film maker’s life, with a soundtrack written by Brian Eno. A cinematic influence to his music is something ingrained within Rohmann, not least because his partner, Israeli visual artist Ronni Shendar, has been putting imagery to his music for more than a decade. “There was certainly pictures running through my head when creating Dust,” Rohmann says. “It’s hard to put that particular vision into words – but I guess I’d have become a writer if that were the case.”

Glitterbug perhaps differs from one of his idols, Eno, in that it’s not the process that speaks to him loudest; instead it’s the challenge of imbuing the electronically put-together finished product with the most human touch possible. “I still remember being 16 and first hearing Meredith Monk’s Dolmen Music,” he recalls. “I started crying because I found music that touched me so deeply and that I felt so connected to.” Glitterbug now seeks the same, and in Dust’s mixture of light and dark textures, brisk motifs and weightier drones, he might just have achieved it.

Thanks for the nice words!!! You can find the original article here.

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Nach “Cancerboy” nun “Dust”: Der Produzent und Kurator Glitterbug kehrt im Mai mit seinem neuen Album zurück. Die LP auf dem Label von Gold Panda steht nicht nur zu seiner Deep-Techno-Passion, sondern amtet eine hohe Emotionalität zwischen atmosphärischen Flächen und Patterns.

Dem Komponisten, Produzenten und DJ Glitterbug kann nun wirklich niemand unterstellen, sich auf die faule Haut zu legen. Ob deeper Techno, Remix-Arbeiten, experimentelle Musik oder Kompositionen für Film oder audio-visuelle Installationen – Glitterbug spricht seit Jahren eine ganz individuelle Sprache, die vor allen Dingen von seiner schwebenden Atmosphäre, den emotionalen Patterns und Referenzlosigkeit geprägt ist.

Am 12. Mai erscheint das nunmehr vierte Album von Till Rohman, so sein gebürtiger Name. “Dust”, so heißt es im Presse-Sheet, “blättert sich um wie die Seiten eines Buchs, besucht Menschen und Orte, reist über Kontinente und ist scheinbar losgelöst von der Gegenwart, während die einzelnen Tracks dennoch miteinander verbunden bleiben und sich immer wieder aufeinander beziehen. Jeder Track erkundet einen neuen Ort mit nahezu physischer Präsenz, so spezifisch, das man nahezu den Winkel der Sonne oder den Wind im Gesicht spüren kann.”

Als Überraschung darf durchaus die Plattform gesehen werden, denn “Dust” erscheint auf NOTOWN Recordings, dem noch jungen Label von Gold Panda. Kennengelernt auf einem Festival greift Glitterbug die Fäden auf, die Gold Panda mit seinem letzten Album “Half Of Where You Live” freilegte. Seine langjährige Zusammenarbeit mit der israelischen Videokünstlerin und Fotografin Ronni Shendar (die auch für das komplette Artwork seiner Releases verantwortlich ist) ergänzt seine Liveauftritte um eine atemberaubende visuelle Komponente. Zusammen kreieren sie eine cineastische, umfassende und aufwühlende Erfahrung.

It has been pretty quiet over here. Actually, I buried myself in my new studio in Berlin and only alowed myself to crawl out again once this album was finished… (and I am only slightly exaggerating here).

It’ll be out on Gold Panda‘s Notown Recordings and our own precious little c.sides Label.

It’ll be released as 2×12”, CD and digitally.

More to be shared sooooooon!!!

From the press text:

Dust, Glitterbug’s fourth studio album, sees the artist and producer continue his path of exploring musical frontiers beyond the beaten tracks of current electronic dance music.

Dust is an album about hidden remains and traces. It follows things and people that were, past lives and stories that silently echo through deserts fields, overgrown forests, urban decay, and our homes, staircases and attics.

It’s not by chance that ‘Dust’ is released on Gold Panda’s NOTOWN Recordings label. Not only is there a loving friendship and previous collaborations between the two, but ‘Dust’ also picks up the pieces where Gold Panda left off with “Half Of Where You Live” that celebrated modern urbanity and man made things.

Glitterbug’s ‘Dust’ takes this notion a step further and explores the urban shadows of the forgotten, the stories of our cities that remain untold, past landscapes that evaporated and memories left behind over time.

If Glitterbug is known for his dense, extended, autobiographical journeys, this album turns like pages of a story book, visiting different people and places, traveling across continents and beyond time, intertwined and interconnected.
Glitterbug carries his renowned visual language with each track exploring an almost perceptible location, so specific you can tell the hour by the sun’s angle, and feel the wind hit your face carrying a particular smell. It’s a travelogue of the ghosts and spirits that never had a chance to come back.

We are more than happy to return to Glashaus Beyreuth- last time was amazing and a bit of a legendary show for the both of us! We will be supported by the fantastic one and only Tobi Rakete and Haris Pilton. Let’s hope we can leave an even better impression than last time- our set for sure has changed a lot since then…

This is what it sounded like the last time- so listen, come to our show and judge for yourself!

Glitterbug Live at Glashaus Bayreuth, 2nd of December 2011 by Glitterbug

You can find the original article on The Ripe’s website, here to be exact.

By Sonia Miles-Khan

Founded in 2011, The Freeform Collective widens the artistic perspective of Melbourne audiences. They create a platform for subculture talents over audio and visual arts, developing a platter for the eyes and ears and a feast for the mind.

After intense work on the Inner Varnika festival, The Freeform Collective was finally ready to amaze us again, this time with German producer Glitterbug. The night was touted as, “a collaborative project between audio-extraordinaire Glitterbug, and Israeli visual artist Ronni Shendar. Collaborating together for over a decade on works spanning from clubs to concert halls, their combined power has resulted in a stunning audio-visual performance that is both immersive and wildly cinematic”. This was also going to be one of the duo’s first feature performances, in both spectacle and length, displaying the power and beauty of the Freeform Collective’s work. Glitterbug is a treat of non-commercial value and we as an audience were lucky to witness the event.

Glitterbug, a.k.a. Till Rohmann, is building a reputation for his ethereal sonic landscapes. His talent has been touted by select publications and so too has his collaboration with Shendar. While I couldn’t help but agree that he is one of Germany’s best-kept secrets, I wasn’t convinced that he fits the mould of minimal techno as well as some may describe.

When Glitterbug takes the stage for his live mix, he starts in a very surreal and ambient place. The only thing that draws our focus is Shendar’s visuals; an aquatic landscape is washed across the back walls of Horse Bazaar. They both take us on a slow journey through the sounds of sonar and real-life footage of urchins and rough, untouched underwater footage.

When the beat finally settles in, Glitterbug would remind some of the early work of his German compatriots, Booka Shade. His sounds even share a close semblance with Dusty Kid. This melodious synth work decisively places him into the house-hybrid of minimal techno, which I love. Those feeling twangs of judgement at the moniker I just inferred shouldn’t baulk. His sea punk fashioned sounds journey through all aspects of the colour blue, with melancholy scales and perfect accompaniment to Shendars industrial seasides.

Glitterbug’s point of difference comes through in his use of percussion. He ceases with epic stabs and lets rumbling basslines roll in. The snares begin to take up more of the mix and he has an entire channel of his mixer devoted to them at rapid-fire (which he loves to jaggedly move us with!)

By the end of these intense hours, I feel weightless against computer-tinged harmonies.

If you love emotional electronica then have a listen to ‘Passages’, from his 2012 album.

If you love to envelope your being with new sensations, then you will be a fan of The Freeform Collective

Our last show on our little Australia tour brought us to Brisbane, and has a very special treat in stock: it’ll be admission free! We are hosted by the Institute for Modern Art (IMA), and will perform in the microMono Series, presented by our dear friends of Room40.

Our support act hails from Sydney: Clare Cooper will play one of her beautiful improv performances on the harp and the guzheng.

Come early, admission starts at 18:30, music at 19:00, and the address is

Institute of Modern Art
at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
420 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley
Brisbane QLD 4006

The event on FB / Resident Advisor

Tonight we’ll perform in Sydney, Australia, alongside the great people of Demiurge. For more info, please go to the Facebook event page!

Thanks to the wonderful Freeform Collective people, we are in Melbourne, so if you are here as well come out and celebrate with us! The beautiful poster was made by the wonderful Courtney Guthrie, in case you wondered. We did.