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TIETCHENS, ASMUS - Seuchengebiete 4

Format: CD Label & Cat.Number: Auf Abwegen AATP83 Release Year: 2021 Note: The "Seuchengebiete" series continues, focused on water- and underwater-sounds, with six more "Hydrophonien", adding maybe more (soft) digital synthesis effects as before, this sounds all mysterious, somehow organic and sensually touching, a masterpiece! ... - "there is something profound about the music, slow, contemplative; maybe the music is a sign of the sorry state of our times..." [Vital Weekly] Price (incl. 19% VAT): €13.50 More Info "Seuchengebiete 4, the continuation of Asmus Tietchens' almost legendary series of treated water sounds, consists of six Hydrophonies. The sonic palette ranges from deep gurgling bass pulses to fragile movements of showering bright particles. The overall mood is ernest, contemplative and dark. Seuchengebiete 4 is perhaps the ultimate soundtrack for our crises-ridden times." [press release] https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/seuchengebiete-4 "Der Hamburger Asmus Tietchens schätzt Serien, man denke etwa an die auf inzwischen sieben Teile angewachsene Mengenreihe. Auf den Alben der “Seuchengebiete”-Serie finden sich sogenannte Hydrophonien, Stücke, deren Basis das Geräusch von tropfendem Wasser ist. Der erste Teil erschien 1985, sechs Jahre später folgte Nummer zwei, 1997 auf Donna Klemms Label Artware Nummer drei. Schon in einem Interview im Jahre 2007 sprach Tietchens davon, an neuen Hydrophonien für einen vierten Teil zu arbeiten, jetzt erscheinen sechs neue Aufnahmen auf Auf Abwegen. Auf„Hydrophonie 21“ scheint Wasser in einer Höhle zu tropfen und zu (ver)hallen, im Vordergrund blubbert es, während im Hintergrund seltsam-melodische Flächen zu hören sind. Dann scheint Wasser ausgeschüttet zu werden und zu fließen. Dem Track wohnt eine leichte Unruhe inne. Die nicht nur numerisch, sondern auch auf dem Album darauf folgende Hydrophonie nimmt diese Bewegung zurück, ist tastender, reduzierter, minimalistischer. Zum Teil klingt das Fallen der Tropfen so, als zupfe jemand einen akustischen Bass. “Hydrophonie 24″ hat einen leicht metallischen Klang, ist vielleicht- etwas verkürzt gesagt- mit durchaus dissonanten Momenten das industriellste Stück auf diesem Album. Dagegen scheint “Hydrophonie 26″ zurückhaltender und weniger unruhig zu sein. “Hydrophonie” 32 hat einen leicht ambient-sakralen Charakter und ist der vielleicht atmosphärischste Track auf diesem Album. “Hydrophonie 27″ beginnt fast kaum wahrnehmbar, dann hört man entfernte, kristalline Momente, als würden Vögel zwitschern.Was klar gewoden sein sollte, ist, wie unterschiedlich trotz gleichen Ausgangsmaterials die einzelnen Stücke sind. Über die Jahre ist Tietchens immer sehr konsistent darin gewesen, wenn er über die (nicht vorhandene) “Botschaft” seiner Musik gesprochen hat. Schon 1991 meinte er: „I don’t try to create moods with my music, and I don’t try to tell stories, and my music doesn’t carry any message except an aesthetic one (now and then). Mostly my pieces are formalistic exercises, or better, the results of formalistic exercises. Music shall be no more than itself. Absolute Music.“ In einem jüngst erschienen Interview wird diese Haltung noch einmal klar artikuliert: “’Absolute Music’ is not connected with any political, spiritual, ideological or educational intention. The listener is totally free for his own impressions, feelings, possible pictures and thoughts when listening to ‘Absolute Music’. To me that is total freedom of perception. I am no teacher, no philosopher, no scientist – why should I intrude my thoughts on any other human being? I always try to let the music speak for itself. That should be enough.“ Dennoch darf auch auf diesem Album das obligatorische Cioran-Zitat natürlich nicht fehlen: “Der zügellose Optimismus hält der geringsten und bedeutungslosesten Offenbarung der menschlichen Natur nicht stand.” [MG / African Paper] "In the 80s, there was a small list of very hard to obtain records, records of the kind that everybody wanted. Among them was Seuchengebiete' by Asmus Tietchens, released by A-Mission Records. That label vanished quickly, and the records too. I am sure I traded some obscure Gerogerigegege LP for it, but it was worth the trade. I may have told this story when I reviewed the CD re-issue back in Vital Weekly 504. On 'Seuchengebiete', Tietchens explores the sound of water dripping in his studio sink. It was the first record on which Tietchens explored the quieter side of music. Later on, there were more volumes of this approach (although never called 'volume 2' etc.). The second volume was in 1991 (reviewed in Vital 23, when it was a paper fanzine; see advertisement elsewhere), and '3' was in Vital Weekly 121. I mentioned for the latter that I didn't get the design of the release, which is, maybe oddly, also the case here. As this CD arrived on Saturday, I took a whole Sunday off to play all four 'Seuchengebiete' instalments. Over the years, some things have changed in the music of Tietchens. It was the first 'Seuchengebiete', one of his first quiet works; these days, his music is soft. Many of his musical compositions contain sounds beyond recognition, but in this case, it is pretty clear what the source material is. The dripping of water can be recognized, but it is transformed in various ways, from delightful high-end splashes to low-end bass sounds; some of this sounds like it is changed with granular synthesis, but no doubt there is also another technology at work here. There is something profound about the music, slow, contemplative; maybe the music is a sign of the sorry state of our times. Perhaps it is the association I have with the water sounds here; that of leaky pipes in an abandoned industrial landscape. The soundtrack for a worse tomorrow? I am sure that is not what Tietchens put into his music, as I would think there is very little meaning put in by him, but it is all about the listener's associations. This time, Tietchens applies his current composing techniques to an older idea, working wonderfully well." [FdW / Vital Weekly]