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Recommended by us on 31st March 2011
...according to our Ant on Thu 31 Mar, 2011.
For some unknown reason it never crossed my mind that this album would ever see the light of day on vinyl. I'm pleased to report that Pan have spared no expense in creating a super deluxe vinyl edition housed in an ultra modern screen printed PVC outer sleeve containing six monochrome lacquered sheets. This was originally released on Mego back in 2003 and in many ways still sounds as fresh and relevant as it did those eight or so years ago. Now widely regarded as a computer music classic, the album was at the time of release rewarded with the prestigious Prix Ars Electronica award. What I particularly like about this album (and this can be said for all of Hecker's work) is that it basically just throws the "rule book" straight out of the window, disregarding what is generally percived as being music in terms of rhythm, melody, structure etc. These tracks completely shatter the listeners expectations of what music should and could be. Heavily assisted by the laws of physics and mathematics these tracks disorientate and confuse. With many abstract sounds it can be easy to attach an imaginary visual image to try and grasp some sort of narrative, but that simply is not the case here. It is pure sound, transforming through advanced methods of synthesis creating complex shapes as they vibrate through the air and into the ears. I sometimes get the sound I used to have as a kid when I would enjoy chewing on un-blown balloons, like this fuckin' weird rubbery stretching acidic squelchy sound as the balloon gnawing vibrated my teeth and traveled into my ears. I used to totally love doing that. Also there are some hyper-shifting crunching sounds creating dislocated and collapsing rhythms which give me a sense that while Hecker is working studiously in this academic way, he's also having fun creating these quirky and STILL fresh sounds. When the record gets flipped then all sorts of insane cacophony occurs that basically defy's being translated into text. LISTEN. It really is no wonder that folks like William Bennett and Richard D James hold this artist in such high regard.
HECKER 'Sun Pandämonium' (PAN 15)
"One of the most beautifully recorded bits of unpleasantness" - William Bennet (Whitehouse)
Deluxe vinyl issue of one of the most important albums of modern music and quite simply some of the finest computer audio excursions unleashed in recent years. Sun Pandämonium is the third full- length album from Florian Hecker, originally released in CD format on Mego in 2003. Sun Pandämonium also received the Award of Distinction Digital Music at the Prix Ars Electronica - the "International Competition for CyberArts" - the same year.
Striking the listener from many angles with a diverse range of fiercely dynamic electronic scenarios, Hecker utilizes the computer to materialize new compositional strategies, leaving behind standard musical structures and seeking out unusual timbral and textural effects. As one reviewer stated, “This record is electronic music as psilocybin science.” Or, as the American online journal Pitchforkmedia states: “Loud and overwhelming at any volume setting,” Sun Pandämonium contains “the sounds and frequencies not only of diamonds being sharpened, but then being used to etch directly on the lenses of your optical readers. Call him a sick fuck, a genius, or even Mister Antichrist, but this will cleanse the audio palate as it blows your teeth out.”
Florian Hecker's releases under his own name contain some of the most subtle, nebulous computer music. His extensive discography includes: NEU CD, Galerie Neu, Berlin, 2010; Acid in the Style of David Tudor, Editions Mego, Vienna, 2009; Haswell & Hecker: Blackest Ever Black (Electroacoustic UPIC Recordings), Warner Classics, London, 2007; Recordings for Rephlex, Rephlex, London, 2006. Recent solo exhibitions include MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2010), Chisenhale Gallery, London (2010), Bawag Contemporary, Vienna (2009) and Sadie Coles HQ London (2008).
The LP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, in a limited edition of 800 copies, pressed on 140g vinyl and comes in a poly- lined inner sleeve. It is packaged with six monochrome lacquered sheets which are housed in a silk screened PVC sleeve with the original artwork by Tina Frank & Florian Hecker.
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