Arurmukha – 14.11.90

Format: 180gr LP / download

Release date: september 25th 2020

https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/141190-ein-akustisches-psychogramm

Re-release of the album which MARC WEISER (RECHENZENTRUM, zeitkratzer) and JÜRGEN HENDLMEIER (producer for THE FLAMING SIDEBURNS, THEE ULTRA BIMBOOS) created as ARURMUKHA. With the use of soundbites, field recordings, and stylistically diverse tracks, they reprocess the eviction of 13 squats on Mainzer Straße in Berlin-Friedrichshain in November 1990, forming it into an acoustic scenography in the style of the „Maifestspiele“ by EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN.

Re-release of the album which MARC WEISER (RECHENZENTRUM, zeitkratzer) and JÜRGEN HENDLMEIER (producer for THE FLAMING SIDEBURNS, THEE ULTRA BIMBOOS) created as ARURMUKHA. With the use of soundbites, field recordings, and stylistically diverse tracks, they reprocess the clearing of 13 squats on Mainzer Straße in Berlin-Friedrichshain in November 1990, forming it into an acoustic scenography in the style of the „Maifestspiele“ by EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN.

14.11.2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the clearing of 13 squats on Mainzer Straße in Berlin-Friedrichshain. The violent confrontation between the police and about 500 squatters, involving armored vehicles, helicopters, and 10 water cannons, was the biggest police operation in Berlin’s post-war history, with 4000 officers deployed, and is deemed to be the last big „battle“ of left-wing squatters in Germany. The insert for the LP provides a detailed chronicle of the events (taken from the book „Berlin Mainzer Straße: Wohnen ist wichtiger als das Gesetz [Berlin Mainzer Straße: Housing is more important than the law]“, published in 1992 by Basis-Druck).

On the occasion of the anniversary, the Berlin label KARLRECORDS is making a contemporary document that has been out of print for more than 25 years available to the public again. The album „14.11.90“ by internationally renowned electronic musician and co-founder of the CTM Festival MARC WEISER (RECHENZENTRUM, zeitkratzer a.o.) and JÜRGEN HENDLMEIER (producer for THE FLAMING SIDEBURNS, THEE ULTRA BIMBOOS a.o.) was originally released in 1993 as a vehicle for them to work through their personal experiences as contemporary witnesses of the eviction, on the label GOLDRAUSCH-TONTRÄGER, which was founded for the release. The project’s name, ARURMUKHA – „avaricious demons“, is a term from Vedic mythology, here alluding to the capitalist logic of exploitation guiding the West German corporations that bought out the former GDR after reunification.

Shunning the popular clichés of squatters, the duo processes original recordings of the clearing action, as well as material from radio and tv as their musical-textural starting points, composing them into a densely packed acoustic psychogram, recounting the events of the time with dramaturgic skill, in chronological sequence over the course of the two sides of the vinyl. Armed with a sampler as their main instrument they create an acoustic scenography which, as a sonification of memory, pits itself against oblivion. While constructed as a soundtrack, the heterogeneity of its styles gives the album the character of a compilation, aggregating drones, industrial, electronics, post punk, outsider music and political texts into an imaginary meta music film of resistance. The subject matter and music may suggest comparisons with EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN’s piece „Maifestspiele“. The covers of the original edition at the time were individually designed by many different friends of the scene in the form of a „social sculpture“ of the squatters‘ movement and comprised screen prints, collages, graphics, and photos. Selected for the re-edition of the LP: a picture by the Berlin photographer HARALD HAUSWALD, who is considered one of the most famous photo-chroniclers of the GDR and who also provided a collection of hand prints for the original.

Despite its age, the album is an alarmingly relevant one, with its contents not having lost any of their urgency. Especially in view of the displacement of affordable housing and free cultural spaces in metropolitan cities, „14.11.90“ is a plea for creative resistance culture with the hope for change in the existing conditions. 

all music composed by Marc Weiser & Jürgen Hendlmeier

remastering & vinyl cut by Andreas [Lupo] Lubich

cover photo by Harald Hauswald

Konstrukt + Otomo Yoshihide – Eastern Saga: Live At TUSK

Format: 180gr LP / download

Release date: august 28th 2020

https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/eastern-saga-live-at-tusk

Turkish free jazzers KONSTRUKT continue their series of exciting collaborations with OTOMO YOSHIHIDE, highly reputated multi-instrumentalist and composer in the experimental world.

# 4 in the continuing series of KONSTRUKT collaborations on KARL is a live document of the concert by the Turkish freeform group with the Japanese experimental musician OTOMO YOSHIHIDE from the TUSK FESTIVAL 2018. KONSTRUKT, the Istanbul based free jazz / freeeform group founded and led by UMUT ÇAĞLAR and KORHAN FUTACI, are known for their openness to and interest in collaborations – and regularly meet up and perform with new partners that range from OE McPHEE, WILLIAM PARKER, AKIRA SAKATA, MARSHALL ALLEN, EVAN PARKER, THURSTON MOORE, ALEXANDER HAWKINS or KEN VANDERMARK. This latest release sees the quintet join forces with OTOMO YOSHIHIDE who entered the scene in the 1990s with his group GROUND ZERO and his since worked in all fields of adventurous music, from EAI to improv to turntablism, modern composition, jazz and soundtrack, documented on labels like TZADIK or ERSTWHILE and featuring collaborateurs such as JIM O’ROURKE, JOHN ZORN, MERZBOW; BILL LASWELL and endless more …
„Eastern Saga: Live at Tusk” shows the multi-instrumentalist on his 2 key instruments guitar and turntables, while KONSTRUKT feature 2 drummers besides KORHAN FUTACI’s saxophone / flute , UMUT ÇAĞLAr on guitar, synth, double reeds, flutes and double bass player APOSTOLOS SIDERIS.
A furious gig, and a furious album! 

Line-up:
Korhan Futacı: alto saxophone, flute, loops
Umut Çağlar: guitar, synth, double reeds, flutes
Apostolos Sideris: double bass
Erdem Göymen: drums
Ediz Hafızoğlu: drums
+
Otomo Yoshihide: guitar, turntables

Recorded live at TUSK Festival by Sam Grant in Newcastle, UK, october 2018 www.tuskfestival.com

Mixed by Umut Çağlar in Istanbul.
Mastered by Anne Taegert at D&M, Berlin.
Cover painting „Absorpcja“ by Artur Trojanowski.

BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN – Land Of Waves

Format: 2x180gr LP / download

Release date: june 26th 2020

https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/land-of-waves

On her 6th album, the French electroacoustic composer BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN explores the idea of a kaleidoscopic world – a sonic aggregation of living creatures, plants, minerals, nature and buildings, using various sound objects, small percussions, synths, electric gui-tar, voice and electronics.

Working out of her private studio since 2008, BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN has developed her own ap-proach to sound art and electronic music, composing dense, immersive pieces with immediate im-pact. On five albums – released to critical acclaim on TZADIK, SUB ROSA, CRAMMED DISCS and CRAIG LEON’s ATLAS REALISATIONS label – she has revealed a taste for mixing disparate sounds together with a sense of detail, effusive, lyrical playings with the digital material and tight nuanced writing. BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN’s music engages the listener in consideration of space and textures, the sound ambivalence and its independence from its original source being at the center of her work.

During her career, the French composer has obtained commissions and residencies in National Music Research Centres such as Paris‘ Ina-GRM, Stockholm’s EMS and received a grant from the ‘Villa Medicis Hors Les Murs’ program in New York City (Cultures France). She has performed in notable festivals, venues and concert halls from Paris’ Présences Electronique festival, London’s Hayward gallery, NYC’s Roulette, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie’s e-Phil series to major international festivals in Eastern Europe. Beside her solo performances, she also regularly shares the stage in duo with FRED FRITH.

“Land of Waves”: three words evoking territories of plains and curves connected with each other by canals, footpaths, tunnels. The four parts of the album lead the listener into a hybrid land where the jungle meets the city … a succession of reliefs, surfaces, textures, layers create a large mosaic as if on a concrete wall which seems solid and definitive but is in fact penetrable, alterable.

For “Land of Waves”, BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN took inspiration from recordings she did in various city parks, abandoned properties and limits with the suburbs during her travels in Europe, the di-versity of sources, the variations of events and the contrasts between day and night they offered, and reinterpreted them in the studio.

Past press:
“Maximin’s cinematic soundworks are discomforting reminders that the universe does not at all belong to us.” The Wire

“It feels like the world is turning inside Maximin’s songs now, and the resulting gravity has the weight of nature on its side.“ Pitchfork

“It calls for deep listening due to so many beautiful moments appearing out of the mixes which could be missed on a quick blast on a PC.” The Quietus

“Incorruptibly leathern and sparklingly tenacious” Spex Magazine

Recorded, composed, arranged, mixed and produced by Bérangère Maximin at the Home Sweet Home Studio/BM and Studio Polyphone, France, 2019/2020.
Sound objects, small percussions, analog and digital synths, guitar, digital chimeras, voice.
* Recomposed and mixed by B.M. featuring Fred Frith (electric guitar) and B.M, Colin Johnco, Kirikoo Des and Roméo Poirier as Swibekico Quartet (electronics).
Mastered by Kassian Troyer at D&M, Berlin, 2020.  

die ANGEL – Utopien I

Format: 180gr LP / download

Release date: april 24th 2020

https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/utopien-i

die ANGEL, the duo project of ILPO VÄISÄNEN (ex-PAN SONIC) & DIRK DRESSELHAUS aka SCHNEIDER TM, starts its 3rd decade of sonic explorations with the release of album #10 which bears the programmatic title “Utopien I”.180g LP and DL on KARL.

die ANGEL (or just ANGEL in the early days) was born in 1999 during a joint European tour of PAN SONIC and SCHNEIDER TM with the aim to use electronics, string instruments and effect loops to develop a sonic world that goes beyond fixed structures and clearly defined genres. Coming from different musical backgrounds proved quite an advantage for the duo as it meant that ILPO VÄISÄNEN (ex-PAN SONIC) & DIRK DRESSELHAUS (SCHNEIDER TM) had to find their particular modus operandi: communication through noise and action, instant composition, spirit.
Over the course of over 2 decades now, die ANGEL crafted a catalogue of 9 albums released on labels like EDITIONS MEGO or EDITION TELEMARK that were recordings of either the core duo or featured like-minded artists like cellist HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR, OREN AMBARCHI, LUCIO CAPECE or BJ NILSEN. die ANGEL delve deep into the microcosms of tones, shaping nuanced layers of abstract sound that integrate elements of Musique Concrète, Minimal Music, Industrial, Noise, Blues and Psychedelia, and yet bear the unmistakable die ANGEL signature.
“Utopien I” is not only the duo’s latest effort (feat. OREN AMBARCHI) but also a clear political call: in a world of a general decline, we need new ideas and approaches to design the future. 

All tracks performed & recorded December 2015 – January 2016
by Ilpo Väisänen & Dirk Dresselhaus at ZONE, Berlin
Overdubs on ‚Cargo Cult’ by Oren Ambarchi (Milano, Italy) April – May 2016
Edited & mixed by Dirk Dresselhaus May 2016 at ZONE, Berlin
Mastered by Helmut Erler at D&M, Berlin, December 2019

Ilpo Väisänen : electronics & effects
Dirk Dresselhaus : electric guitar & effects
Oren Ambarchi : electric guitar & effects

GIULIO ALDINUCCI – Shards Of Distant Times

Format: 180gr LP / CD / download

Release date: march 27th 2020

https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shards-of-distant-times

Italian sound artist GIULIO ALDINUCCI returns with his 3rd album on KARL: “Shards Of Distant Times” is again a truly masterfully composed and sound-designed ambient masterpiece and a more than worthy follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Borders And Ruins” (2017) and “Disappearing In A Mirror” (2018) which both made it onto several year’s best lists.

Over the course of six solo albums on labels like DRONARIVM plus EPs and collaborative albums (a.o. with IAN HAWGOOD), GIULIO ALDINUCCI successively has been refining his skills as composer and sound designer. His elegant style which blends ambient and field recordings came to full impact on his previous KARL albums “Borders And Ruins” and “Disappearing In A Mirror” which gained the Italian sound artist a lot of critical praise and made it onto several year’s best lists, a.o. Acloserlisten.com. ALDINUCCI’s latest effort is again not only a musical masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty, it also deals with philosophical concerns.
Where “Borders …” was a reflection on the instability of borders and “Disappearing In A Mirror” raised the very personal question of identity, “Shards Of Distant Times explores the liminal areas of the contemporary soundscape that are characterized by the presence of human voice coming from old and timeworn recordings. Like in the auditory pareidolia, the psychological phenomenon in which the mind hears indistinct voices in random noise where none exist, voices and music emerge from the everyday soundscape through the omnipresent internet connected devices, creating glitches between time and space” (ALDINUCCI). 

AIDAN BAKER I GARETH DAVIS – Invisible Cities IIG

Format: 180gr LP / download

Release date: january 24th 2020

https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/invisible-cities-ii

AIDAN BAKER (NADJA, B/B/S) and bass clarinetist GARETH DAVIS continue their fruitful collaboration with „Invisible Cities II“ – five new tracks of finest ambient / chamber jazz / subtle drones of a highly meditative quality. Available as 180gr LP and download.

2 years ago, the Canadian guitar player AIDAN BAKER and clarinetist GARETH DAVIS from Belgium released their duo debut „Invisible Cities“ that surprised many by its quiet, even meditative quality. DAVIS had made himself a name in a wide range of fields, from the postrock of A-SUN AMISSA or OISEAUX-TEMPÊTE, new music (PETER ABLINGER, BERNHARD LANG), or experimentation with the likes of ELLIOTT SHARP, MERZBOW or SCANNER, while BAKER is mostly known for his drone / postmetal duo NADJA, but that‘s just one out of several steady projects (e.g.B/B/S with ANDREA BELFI and ERIK SKODVIN aka SVARTE GREINER) and a multitude of solo albums.
On „Invisible Cities“ the duo explored the calmer side of things – from chamber jazz to ambient / drone and back, giving much space and air to breathe to their respective instrument. Subtle guitar drones, sonore clarinet sounds, a sonic scenery of peacefullness and meditative introspection – all this you‘ll also find on the new album „Invisible Cities II“ which is an accomplished continuation and refinement of the duo‘s first collaborative effort from 2018.

Recorded between 2018 and 2019 in Berlin and Amsterdam, mastered and cut at D&M Berlin by KASSIAN TROYER.