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Thomas Köner, "Unerforschtes Gebiet"
Die Stadt
This disc is the perfect accompaniment to the cold greyness of latewinter. The music, low frequency drones fading slowly in and out, overa consistent, gentle rumbling, and the packaging, adorned with antiquemaps of the Arctic, suggest exploration of desolate, frozen expansesdescribed by the title (which translates to Unexplored Area). Thelayers of sounds move so unhurriedly that they are reassuringlypeaceful, despite their frigid bleakness and vaguely ominous tonality.What is striking about this recording is that Köner, in addition to hisexcellent usage of sonic color; and texture, displays a very musicalsensibility; the phrasing and pitches of the drifting bass tones hintat melody, albeit a glacial one. Throughout the two parts of thiscomposition, the rumbling is joined at times by what sounds like an icywind, and Köner also employs a heavily filtered noisy source, subtlyshifting to resemble radio crackle, distant aircraft, and a strongrain. Apparently, much of this originated as a recording of a projectorshowing a piece of dusty, blank 16mm film; this fits well with thearchaic isolationism at the core of Köner's work. Though the piece isquite languid and pretty static, the sounds are so deep that this isnot a negative criticism. The third track—a bonus that was added tothis CD reissue of the original picture LP release—is from a videosoundtrack contribution. The music is similar in style to the previousparts but is much simpler and sparser, although it contains someadditional instrumentation in the form of mellow synthesizer-likesounds and reverb-heavy squeaking. The voice of what must be theprotagonist in the film narrates letters to another character in whichshe discusses light, darkness, space, and distance. While it isrelatively unobtrusive and fits the existential mood, outside thecontext of the video, I find the dialogue a little distracting andprefer the first two tracks. The main part of this album far exceededmy expectations; and in spite of, or perhaps because of, its coldemptiness, it really creates an appealing atmosphere.
This disc is the perfect accompaniment to the cold greyness of latewinter. The music, low frequency drones fading slowly in and out, overa consistent, gentle rumbling, and the packaging, adorned with antiquemaps of the Arctic, suggest exploration of desolate, frozen expansesdescribed by the title (which translates to Unexplored Area). Thelayers of sounds move so unhurriedly that they are reassuringlypeaceful, despite their frigid bleakness and vaguely ominous tonality.What is striking about this recording is that Köner, in addition to hisexcellent usage of sonic color; and texture, displays a very musicalsensibility; the phrasing and pitches of the drifting bass tones hintat melody, albeit a glacial one. Throughout the two parts of thiscomposition, the rumbling is joined at times by what sounds like an icywind, and Köner also employs a heavily filtered noisy source, subtlyshifting to resemble radio crackle, distant aircraft, and a strongrain. Apparently, much of this originated as a recording of a projectorshowing a piece of dusty, blank 16mm film; this fits well with thearchaic isolationism at the core of Köner's work. Though the piece isquite languid and pretty static, the sounds are so deep that this isnot a negative criticism. The third track—a bonus that was added tothis CD reissue of the original picture LP release—is from a videosoundtrack contribution. The music is similar in style to the previousparts but is much simpler and sparser, although it contains someadditional instrumentation in the form of mellow synthesizer-likesounds and reverb-heavy squeaking. The voice of what must be theprotagonist in the film narrates letters to another character in whichshe discusses light, darkness, space, and distance. While it isrelatively unobtrusive and fits the existential mood, outside thecontext of the video, I find the dialogue a little distracting andprefer the first two tracks. The main part of this album far exceededmy expectations; and in spite of, or perhaps because of, its coldemptiness, it really creates an appealing atmosphere.
