Thomas Koner

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Brett on Fri 25 Jun, 2010.

Despite being a big fan of Porter Ricks, Thomas Koner's solo stuff has escaped my ears until now. Following Nunatak, this is the second part of his 'trilogy' from the early 90s to be lovingly reissued by Type. Although ostensibly you're in a completely different ballpark with this immense slab of droney dark ambience to the dub techno of his later partnership, it's not hard to see the roots of what would follow in the dense atmospherics, sheer surfaces and bowel-troubling bass frequencies that he demonstrates to fairly stunning effect. I'm getting a feeling like I've been chucked into some rickety old submersible and I'm poking around the darkest, most mysterious depths of the ocean and if it's managing to do take me on that sort of a journey while I'm sat in here listening to someone sorting out a return for some damaged records then god knows where I'll be once I'm listening to it at home, giving it my full attention. Different class, like.

* Very Special 2010 issue of this seminal album, second in a series of 3.

* Originally released in 1992 and never previously available on vinyl.

* Cut at Berlinâ??s Dubplates and Mastering

* Originally released in 1992, 'Teimo' is probably the most tuneful
of Thomas Koner's legendary triptych (Nunatak, Teimo and Permafrost). The submerged drones that became his signature are tempered slightly on this album to give a hallowed, mournful edge which has been echoed on so much of today's darker ambient music.

* Indeed at times throughout this cavernous album there are hints at something orchestral in the layers of reverb and dense clouds of harrowing sound. It is hard to believe that Koner pieced this record together using recordings of gongs at close mic'ed to reveal their subtle overtones and resonance. At times the resulting sound is so gloriously alien and so synthetic that you would be forgiven for thinking it is a trick of synthesis, but the textures are always organic.
Teimo is music which like its companion pieces inspires a rich, visual
world; and if Nunatak suggested human ice exploration then this record
is set somewhere deep, deep underwater. The low-end resonance which was later co-opted by so many drone and dark ambient practitioners places us on the sea bed, muffled and disorientated as sounds bubble and wash overheard. The distant sounds are almost dreamlike, yet through the water cracks of light and solace appear in the powerful harmonic elements.