dyxz.born.rndr - european tour 2013 - low dronings from below the abandoned freight-cars drowning in the heavy rain

we drove south out of karlsruhe as the gloomy rainy weather began to set in and followed the autobahn with the throne burning spire of cathédrale notre-dame de strasbourg and the dark extents of the schwarzwald laying ominous in the east, the observatory and japanese guy to detail the ongoing soundtrack of the droning road and the steady concrete skyline of zürich with its fields of cranes ready to greet us as we finally rolled into the city under heavy rains, the prime tower looming resplendent in its shimmering hues as we found our way to the mism zürich headquarters and the wonderfully cosy residence of the ever-magnificent captain manu and his incredibly kind-hearted girlfriend lena. how they welcomed us in out of the rain, immediately had earl grey brewing and detailed the plan for the evenings schedule over the warming brew.

before long we took to the street once more and made our way down to the klubi under the steadily-building rainstorm to load in our equipment and set about the soundcheck process. the venue can certainly be described as something very special indeed. a cavern sunken in a tree-lined spot below the abandoned trailines running beside the river, an old carriage still standing lifeless above a small cavern-club replete with open stone walls and mysterious hieroglyphs in the water-etched granite walls. we soon got some really great sound happening with the aid of the marvelous patrick and also quickly managed to exchange the glad-hand with the mighty borut savski, with whom we would be sharing the performance along with ueli the super-nice manager of the site; a marvelous set of gentlemen indeed.

with all in hand we made our way back to manu's place under what had become incessant rain, the dark of the night already threatening to set in and a cool chill within the breeze that had us think we were being drawn back into the autumn once more. still, how lena, now accompanied by the wonderful alicia had set about preparing us such a fantastic vegan dinner for us all which i could not hope to do justice to with these humble lines. needless to say we took our fill, along with a host of always fascinating and illuminating conversations, our anticipation building for heading back to the venue, taking in the work of borut, not to mention our own humble performance. we wrapped ourselves up against the dismal elements and returning to the klubi on foot and under umbrellas and the blanket of the night having since fallen.

how the sanctuary of the atmospheric location seemed doubly so as we finally made our way out from under the downpour and into the dark, smokey cavern of the venue, darkly-lit and so welcoming. gladly, goodly number of close friends and strangers began to arrive, and in time to catch the fascinating work of borut savski, who treated us to a peformance and brief lecture on a suitably mind-bending audio-visual project he had been crafting in isolation as an experiment and was demonstrating the principles of for those of us lucky enough to be in attendance. he was essentially using randomly generated audio elements to trigger two-dimensional geometric visual elements to build an ongoing, and very-much trance-inducing sensory experience. fascinating work indeed.

after the hallucinatory depths of borut's work, dyxz, martin and i were ready to take to the stage to invoke some suitably dark sounds for those assembled within the stone walls of our temporary compound and directly set about a forty-five minute set of blackened-drones, monolithic doom-walls and spectral moments of frozen still; creating as atmospheric and enthralling world as we could summon within the limits of our confines. it was an absolute delight to perform indeed and how the kind audience were so very attentive and stayed with us along the course of the journey and offering such kind applause upon the final, grim culmination. a roaring success indeed, and one that we are already so very keen to repeat.

with the live performances handled and the merch-table manned for an adequate amount of time, it was time to spend the rest of the evening propping up the bar, listening to the mighty manu spin endless classic vinyl on the 1210's and chatting cheerily with those dear folk still assembled. but the time raced by as always and how the night slowly began to draw itself to a close. we slowly began to gather our weary selves up and take one last walk back through the still heaviest of rain to the apartment to start to think about falling into the dreaming once more. not before another round of earl grey at the kitchen table, of course. but how we were soon ready to fall back into the sleeping, to dream blissful dreams of drone-lands and sound-fields stretching out into clouds of radio-waves sailing high above farm-lands of antenna masts.

the morning greeting us cheerily, and with perhaps a little respite in the rain situation. we gathered together around the kitchen table and took an ample breakfast together before having to think about heading quickly back to the location to packed our gear into the car and starting the journey towards the mism bern headquarters, luana headquarters and the residence of the utterly-legendary mich moser. all was very much in hand and how we were in good time to take to the road as we bid farewell to the mighty manu and the wonderful lena. how they had been such impeccable hosts and how it had been such an absolute pleasure to visit them in their beautiful apartment and to get to share such a splendid time together; a really wonderful time indeed.

still, we were not quite through with zürich yet, and had one more stop to make before taking the autobahn south-west to bern. a complicated route through the city lead us to the compound of the mighty epilog of the magnificent son kas and postrap familia. he had marvelously managed to find himself in attendance at the show the night before and simply insisted that we must stop by before leaving the city, an offer impossible to refuse. so we soon found ourselves ensconced in his apartment, sipping tea and being stunned by an ongoing series of musical works-in-progress which took in his new collaboratory project with other rappers, his new solo works, self-produced and otherwise, and culminating in an auditioning of the viciously-shocking postrap supergroup armageddonendzeitstress, and how there is nothing quite as shocking as unexpectedly having your faced chewed off by soda as an end-point. this all too brief and all too shocking had to come to a close though and, with farewell hugs aplenty we found ourselves back on the road, back towards the impossibly-staggering beauty that is the city of bern.

might we once again take a moment to offer our most warmest thanks to captain manu, miss lena, ueli, patrick, alicia and the klubi family, the mism family, the postrap family, the whole extended zürich family and indeed captain borut, how it was a magical experience and how we so very much look forward to next time indeed.

next field report - eight-hundred years on the banks of the aare

jamesreindeer,
mülheim an der ruhr, deutschland
18th june 2013

das fest - marathon man 7" - out now

yet another staggering release emerges from the thick of this strange and long set of recent moons. yet another release buried long without the production stages, but finally seeing the light of day as a highly limited and very beautiful seven inch vinyl via the almighty postrap collective, we are indeed talking about the astonishingly powerful 'marathon man' and its accompanying remix, from the majestic das fest and featuring guest spots from my humble self alongside babelfishh and james p honey, not to mention the omnipotent audio88 on the original mix.

'maranthon man' is something of a long-time anthem which first emerged some years ago and was very much a part of the debut das fest album. still, when fishh, honey and i found ourselves honoured to share three shows with misanthrop and omega takeshi in the winter of 2010, we were deeply grateful to be given the opportunity of revisiting the song with a view to preparing a remix version for this forthcoming special release. thusly, we are over-the-moon that, almost exactly two years later, this mighty piece of vinyl might be able to greet the world. be sure to fix yourself a copy directly.

keep safe

jamesreindeer

tell - das jüngste mikrowellengericht - out now

finally, after what has been the longest of journeys, we can at last collectively announce that the very amazing ep from the mighty tell, aka trip and nimrod from saarpreme is at last upon us, entitled 'das jüngste mikrowellengericht' and now available as a limited edition cd from the mighty postrap collective. seven songs taking us on a stirring musical and lyrical journey, also featuring guest appearances from the exceptional manuscript as well as myself alongside james p honey for the first time in what seems like many a long year.

in truth, the collaboratory track 'zeitsoldaten', on which honey and i feature is something of a 'lost gem', which we have always been very proud of, and have eagerly been anticipating the release of, ever since we recorded it in what may well have been the summer of 2009. it is so strange to think back so very long ago, to think of how much water has passed under the bridge, but at the same time to marvel on how fresh and relevant the song still seems, both in terms of our own writing, and in terms of the musical climate of this modern age.

i am very lucky to be able to consider myself good friends with both trip and nimrod and how much of an honour it is for me to have been able to participate in their release, and how i can wholeheartedly recommend you fix yourself a copy, whether you are able to understand deutsch or not, as it really is a staggeringly well-realised piece. so, do be sure to fix yourself a copy of the limited edition cd, or even simply a digital download. but, either way, be sure to get involved.

keep safe

jamesreindeer

fuzzier dismemberment logic

dear readers. might i briefly draw your attention to the splendid 'fuzzier dismemberment logic' extended remix, featuring myself alongside the masterful trip from saarpreme over the chryso-produced beat, a re-working of the original track taken from his 'demon's run' album.

now streaming, and now also available as a free download from chryso's bandcamp page, be sure to have yourself a listen as well as fixing yourself a free download... and do be sure to secure yourself a copy of the album, available now from the mighty postrap collective.

keep safe

jamesreindeer

chryso - demon's run - album out now

with much enthusiasm and after what seems like the longest of waits, we can at last collectively announce that the astonishing debut album from the mighty chryso is at last upon us, entitled 'demon's run' and available as a limited edition cd and download, featuring sumptuous artwork from albane, from the masterful postrap collective. spanning fifteen tracks and featuring a host of vocal collaborators including the likes of the mighty misanthrop, soda, qwer, noah23, myself, nimrod and more, and drawing us along avenues of staggeringly varied and fascinating production work, moving effortlessly between electronic and organic, the album is something of a great success to say the least. be sure to think about fixing yourselves copies directly, there is a wealth of treats to be found within this release indeed.

for my own part, i had been aware of chryso's work since first hearing his amazing collaboration with soda on the 'feat. soda' album, and since then had known he was a name to keep an ear out for, but had never really had the chance to cross paths with, until i most unexpectedly and gladly received an invitation to get involved with the 'demon's run' album project. i eagerly anticipating hearing the selection of beats he sent over to me to audition, and gladly found one which inspired me to word the text that became 'fuzzy dismemberment logic'. a fitting title for sure, as the track provided me with the perfect backdrop to word an equal lurid, psychdelic piece spanning a host of absurdist images in rapid sequence. a good deal of fun to write and something a little out of the ordinary perhaps.

since this fine collaboration i can gladly report that chryso and i have become something of good friends and have managed to cross paths at a number of events, inclduing the 3rd skribble gebibble birthday party, as well as the 3rd 1,2-piecefest, and how i can effortlessly report that he is a really wonderful guy, the kind of guy where you immediately know that he is a really good man and a really decent person. so, do be sure to check out the album, support the artists involved, 'like' chryso on facebook, bookmark his website, swing past his bandcamp, and generally get involved. good times indeed.

keep safe

jamesreindeer