Die Welttraumforscher - Werkstatt Wasserstadt

Label : Das Moniflabel - PP040 / Ebus Music - EM056

Country : Switzerland

Year : 1999

Format : LP

To preface this I would like to make a few announcements: Die Welttraumforscher has a new album out on the very intriguing label New York Haunted, it's very nice and I recommend the purchase for all who may have been exposed to him from my blog. Still some copies left of the tape, of which I ordered, so try and go for that if you're into the physical paraphernalia. Cheap, too

The other announcement (...before I once again repeat myself about this wonderful artist for nth time) is that I have been in the process of re-ripping a bunch of records and cassettes previously found on here. I have (marginally) better equipment and instead of doing it from the jack of an old stereo I have come to my senses and started ripping directly from the output. Armed with a Scarlett 2i2 and iZotope, better days are sure to come. If you have slsk, you should have direct access to the FLAC rips (sometimes in 24 bit). I say this because I'm undecided if I should reupload all these one-by-one given the space constraints on Drive and Mega, even considering the efficiency of the opus file format. We will see, new rips will of course still be featured here.

This particular LP is a bit different than the previous ones found here. From my observation, this one is less "song" orientated and more ambient, like the Loon side-project. The singing is there, but the vox feel as if they will melt and meld into the surrealist backing track any second, and they will. Another peculiarity among his peculiar discography is the B-side, a side-long suite. I was tempted to try and split the tracks as they may but without notation I couldn't possibly bother. And why should I? It works perfect as a singular organism of a track.

Here

The above image is my best attempt at manually stitching together the scan of one side of the record sleeve. For understandable reasons, the program was unable to finish the job. This is because each "slice" was simply a mirror image. Although it's not a perfect match, I tried my best.

Die Welttraumforscher - Drittes Bewusstsein

Label : Das Moniflabel - PP058

Year : 2012

Country : Switzerland

Format : LP

As of now the last entry in WTF catalogue, and a fine entry at that. Even folkier than usual, with the expected blurry synthpop coalescing with the whimsical arrangements and playful vocalizations.

Third Consciousness is about right. An astral spectral spectacle. What more is there to say other than to leave it all to the waveforms found in this el-p? Pretty-pretty.

Here

Die Welttraumforscher - Ohm Olunde

Label : Zauberhaus (Das Moniflabel) - PP052

Country : Switzerland

Year : 2005

Format : LP

Old dawn fades, new dusk rises. The cosmic deep field of Welttraumforscher expands, the stars are coming undone and it's a beautiful thing. Really, it is. I love the little world he has made, even though I can only see it through a small window.

Not much has changed in terms of sound, that is the sound which I have described several times over in various euphemistic phrases. You know, folky synth-tunes from a cosmic forest, etc, etc. Not to say it's derivative, not at all really, or even a complacent difficult 32nd album, nor is it par for the course. Something different this way comes, I say.

Here

Though in the process of ripping this for your pleasure I am reminded of the frustrations that entails the vinyl format for what I do, it was all worth the effort.

Damarge - Les Box Set (Sur La Plat)

Label : Equation Records - E=mc04

Country : US

Year : 2004

Format : Lathe Cut

What do you know?
I've decided to drop this behemoth here. Even a passing familiarity doesn't quite scratch the surface. OK, maybe not that esoteric an artifact, but it surely is strange. Lemme preface with a previous review:

A very, very curious document of a rather obscure 80s synth band. On land and on sea, these tracks never rose to the surface til the early 2000s. Snowboy got his bearings here, and the other guy dwelled in miscellany. What makes this box set so odd is the way it is presented: numerous lathe cut records from the King Peter himself, labeled with various appropriated animu and second life-esque images (looks like someone scraped the page of an '03 era imageboard), a CD-Rom (which, to my surprise, has not rotted one bit), and a bunch of pleasantries such as fridge magnets and pins and, of course, stickers.

The music itself holds up pretty well, surprising that none of these appeared on any cassette compilations over the years. A whole case history for the band itself comes with the whole package, and the package itself can be enjoyed digitally:

http://www.chronoglide.com/damarge.html

I was in danger of repeating myself (h/t Fad Gadget), but I don't care anymore (Fad). Yes, yes, yes, yes a peculiar amalgamation of lowfi synth madness. I swiftly thank the makers of the dead for the included CD-rom, making my job just a bit easier. All you would want in visual and textual form is in this measly .zip:

ici

Toutefois, me being a muzak blogger of some integrity, no matter how faulty, I know that the intrepid listener may find the 2004 era 128kbps mp3s found on the compact disc insufficient.
Have no fear: panacea!

Here

You may note while listening, this is not especially superior to the audiophile repellent above. As noted in the blurb above that, this is the work of the high King. That be as it may, each disc and its grooves which house each song fall prey to the inherent flaws of the lathe cut alternative. Plus, a ground buzz in the background I never got around to fully remedying. O'well. 

Olliwor - To Many Heroes

Label : Das Moniflabel - PP015

Year : 1988

Country : Switzerland

Format : C60

Or is it "OILiwoЯ"? Think Chris Knox further augmented by the Residents and label honcho 

Die Welttraumforscher, and at times antecedent to the utterly unique Svede mrperfect.

Another treat from the welt of Loon:

a previous mystery to me in the Moniflabel catalog, I had only so much information provided to me about the who's and what's of this project; Olliwor Fried is the token.

On this tape, the singularly named Olliwor

plays the browns as it were, a focus on

lowfi pop and the odd interlude

of dreamtime.

My comparisons above were rather immediate connections.

     Very Tall Dwarfs, in an affected English that is. The best parts of this exercise is the bent melodies mixed with

       the discordant synths and fuzzed out geetars. It is rather different from the usual Forscher affair but also very much hereditary, especially based on what I have heard from the early days of the label.

I'm going to continuously seek out as much as I can from Das Moniflabel 

With that, enjoie.

Here

Marica - 海Jellyfish月

Label : Invitation - CDR-1465

Country : Japan

Year : 1987

Format : CD

Crossarmed and pangless.
Truth be told, I was juggling the notion of whether I should post this here or on my "sister blog", given that this is a bit too poppy for the content here and not quite the "Avant-garde Jazz, Leftfield, Post-Punk" posited by Discogs; truly the treachery of labels there.

Truth be told a second time, this isn't an avantpop romp, but a solid slice of 80s Japanese new-wave. We in the industry (note: not industrial) throw these kinda releases under the nebulous umbrella of "Art Pop". Not quite Kate Bush, but I never listened to her anyway.

So, why wait? Immerse yourself in synthpop goodness... the kids on-line are always impressed by obscure Japanese albums.

Here

Die Welttraumforscher - Ein Sommer In Der Wirklichkeit

Label : Das Moniflabel - PP026

Country : Switzerland

Year : 1991

Format : LP

Ripped by Scramoutcha

Friends are becoming easier to come by, another guest rip. Via the slsk chat service I have been in correspondence with this fine fellow for the past few weeks, and we have reciprocated gifts with each other ever since. I've mentioned Die Welttraumforscher before in a post from the side gig called "Loon", where I briefly laid out my various admirations for the protjection.

Released in the early 90s on his own imprint, Christian (Pfluger) lays out rumsey in the feeling that lingers, to butcher a Bodycocktail tape title. Whimsical, great word. A cheatcode in description, a word which can describe (as descriptions ought) a myriad of ecstatic feeling without giving too much in the way of actual thought. Anyway, it is whimsical. On a whim, I can imagine, 'ol Weltschmerz cut this piece of plastic in a matter of a few afternoons. The synth melodies are pretty as ever, the minimalisms of which compound and impress upon the remote listener an appropriately dreamlike quality.

My supplier compared it to the latter nineties group Broadcast--"Tender Buttons" in specification--which I can definitely hear though very much stripped down and lowfidelity. Yes, yes, yes; less Romandie Stereolab and more... Well Swiss Die Welttraumforscher. Not much like it, doesn't take a world of dream researchers to find that out.

 Here

Comes with both the original rip and the declicked version, use either or both at your convenience.

(also, it's FLAC)

Various Artists - Seventh Sign

Label : Tapehiss Recordings / Greyslade Music

Year : 1999

Country : US

Format : C30

Apocalyptic hyponagogia
Hebephrenic and frens make some likeminded sounds; Cumulative synthpop with a psycho-delic flair, not unlike other releases from this particular tape label.
As I have mentioned fervently regarding this project before, the influence of the Legendary Pink Dots is very pervasive. It even comes with a bit naff vocals that somehow fit the swirling synthscapes surrounding them.

 If anyone has any other releases from this project, I would love to get my hands on them. By download or by purchase, I don't really mind either way. I just hope you guys enjoy it.

Here

Die Welttraumforscher - Das Licht Loon

Label : Edition Stora - Storage Secret Sounds 004

Country : Germany

Year : 2000

Format : CD

Another year is shining through the cracks of my curtains, and here I am posting music under the illumination brought upon by firework. For all the flack it has gotten, the observed year of 2017 was a very productive one for me, besting this very establishments two previous years combined in terms of posts. You know, the purpose of this whole enterprise? Anyway, I should probably get to talking about today's attraction.

Now, I've been voicing my pleasure in regards to this very artist for some time. Such a treat his synth treatments are. This particular album is no slouch in comparison to what I've heard in his catalog, though it does focus more on the realm of (synth)pop rather than the more ambient and minimal musings, and that's just fine. Pfluger is a fine songwriter, and oftentimes shines most when at his most "conventional". Beautiful stuff. Might be too late to put this on the Neu Year's playlist, but I hope you all have a good'un.

Here

Various Artists - Hіstory Of K-НIN Bros. Co. 1982-1994

Label : Super Fuji Discs - FJSP222/231

Country : Japan

Year : 2015

Format : CD

Since I am away on a brief vacation without the comfort of my tape player and turntable, I give you something truly sublime. I've held onto this for a little while, first downloaded from a friend on a familiar private tracker. This is a mammoth 11-hour box set chronicling what I consider the epitome of Japanese eccentric pop scene from the silent 80s throughout the roaring 90s.

I believe this came with a book or something of that nature. If you're interested in that, well you're gonna have to pull out the proverbial wallet for that because the download did not come with scans sadly. Though I don't think most reading can decipher runes, I could be wrong as I often am.

Discs 1-6

Discs 7-11

Rik Albatros - Abandoned And Left To Die

Label : n/a

Year : 1994

Country : UK

Format : C30

Ripped by OminousMafioso

As prophesied by... well, me. Here is another tape from that venerable pseudonym. This is a strange one, in a different flavor compared to the regular strangeness purveyed around these parts. Discordant low-fi synth pops in adoration of the Mountain Goats. This guy really seems to enjoy the music of Mr. Darnielle, and is an infamous and famous figure in the following of that fine musical project.

No longer abandoned and left to die, now exhumed and left to fester on the internet!  

Nothing's "here", the creator of this tape wanted me to take down this link. I wonder if he has something brewing...

Hebephrenic - Hide

Label : Tapehiss Recordings

Year : 1999

Country : US

Format : C90

While I'm not wont to post rips from those other than me on the main page, rather regimenting them to the neglected and spider webbed stray links section, I've felt compelled to share this masterpiece of lofi EM. I've been praising this thing since discovering it by chance after reading of it in an old webzine review section and somehow finding it on slsk. It was uploaded by someone by the name of drij. I hope it doesn't bother them much. 

An intrepid reader may notice I've posted this author before, and they would be right. Back in the cruelest month, I posted an earlier tape by Hebephrenic, I personally think this tape is even better than that one. Enjoie.

Here

I'll probably post another Mafioso tape tonite or tomorrow if I get lazy about it. Peeled eyes get the prize, and other self-invented idioms.

Some Rare Footage - Stony Love

Label : Memphis Music

Year : 1994

Country : UK

Format : C60

Ripped by OminousMafioso

Another 90s gem from the man with the plan... This kind of tape would probably be better suited for the more "indie" nostalgie blogs, conforming to more of the poppier/footwear glancing side of noize as opposed to the harsher/collage-based/industrial explored here. Though I do have a propensity for synthy stuff, so I guess it's a wash.

Not much info on this group, and I would have probably found more if not for some kind of bad loop on the internet archive. It's a shame, really. Something about Television, and I'm not talking about the consumer electronic though you hear a good amount of those on this cassette. Marquis de Moon Television, must have been a collaboration. Anyway, this is a UK Noise Pop and Post-Punk project by and by, composed of Ric and Marianne, whoever they may well be.

Here

Die Welttraumforscher - Die Singende Sternlaterne / Folklore Des Weltalls 1982

Label : A Tree In A Field Records - TREE046 / Planam - PLANAM WTF2

Country : Switzerland / Italy

Year : 2013

Format : LP

Here's a good'un. Someday, I will buy this entity's entire catalogue and share their genius ectoplasmic sonicforms with you all. In due time, of course. Or maybe one of those electro-boutique labels like VOD or Dark Entries or Blackest Ever Black etc. could do that... There's a whole realm of possibilities, though it betrays my own contrarian and pseudosolipsistic sense of "ownership" over it and the gratification of exposing it to the relative "masses". Doesn't matter when the music's this good!

This is both a rerelease and an archival release, the first side being a reissue of a 1983 tape and the flipside being an unreleased 1982 project now trapped in wax for our pleasure. This is all fine and dandy, but I wonder if the A side is an abridged version of said tape, as some tracks seem to fade a bit early and there seems to be a few tracks missing from the original. Even with that in mind, this is still an excellent document that I recommend very much so.

Here

Various Artists - Cassette Revolution Vol. 1

Label : Narisu Records - CSRN-2501

Country : Japan

Year : 2014

Format : C50

I forgot to post this one, after all the relative trouble I had to go through to get it. Truthfully speaking, I posted this before on a behind-closed-doors kind of site while neglecting my own pet project. I had forgotten my roots, how shameful of me. Anyway, it's here and I can't complain, I need to keep this place's blood flowing.

This is a bit of an odd tape to post here, as its experimentalisms are more latent compared to most other posts here. Dissonance comes and goes, sometimes in favor of a more JPop approach... But there are some (un)hits here, cool stuff all around. I wonder if the Japanese are going to pick up more on the recent kassette kultur revivalism that's been going around the past few years, at least that's what the indie tabloids say. Not like people haven't been putting out tapes consistently since the CD tried to stifle it.

Since I'm a such a generous host, I've scanned and even tried my hand at cleaning the mini-manga (an omake to the cassette, if you will) that came with it. No TL, though. Even though it looks like basic stuff, I can't really read it. Maybe a scanlation group will pick it up and get in tussles with other factions over it.

Here