SOLYST - Forced Exposure

$22.50 IN STOCK

LP version. Spring is Thomas Klein's fourth Sølyst release on Bureau B, gleaned from material spanning the past three years. The time he has spent with these pieces has been time well spent. In revisiting them, he has posed new questions, rearranged and reworked some elements, dismissed or discarded others. The process of reappraisal has seen certain passages expanded upon, others pared away or refined. In the beginning, a sequencer and a sequence; rumbling along, not too fast, deeper tones and minor keys. Swathed in drum patterns and percussion, a mesh of metal and the occasional, unannounced crash of drums, as on the shimmering "Flex" or "Hold". Echoes and echo chambers, phasers and flangers used as glue: Spring, the (S)piral, a flexible, coiled spring, stretched, bent, twisted to fit the signal flow. Isolated sounds and vertical planes are added to the hypnotic, rhythmic framework, melodies are revealed on a nano level in transitions between nuanced layers and allusions. With all these elements in play, Klein creates a cinematic atmosphere for the big or the small screen, heavily laden in subliminal darkness, more spectral than aggressively threatening. A sense of foreboding, perhaps -- or the nervous excitement of seeing a storm gather on the horizon as one eagerly awaits the spectacle of thunder and lightning. Photophobic dancers, tar on their shoes, flashes of light, monochrome is our only color. Spring is the soundtrack to a night such as this, plotting its course through to the late morning: take "Sheroes" and play it between Martin Rev and Chris & Cosey, take "Atlas" and play it, if you will, after Tolouse Low Trax. And before the doors reopen, take "Spiral". The most seductive moments in all of these pieces are those in which Klein lets go of functionality, unleashes the groove and the space opens up, wider and wider, floating atmospherically into the late hours of the morning. Spring slots into the genealogy of the three preceding albums -- Sølyst (2011), Lead (2013), The Steam Age (2016). Not that there is anything wrong with that, and yet Spring reveals Klein at his most confident, opening up his field of vision to explore the margins of the structure he established on Sølyst. Each track on Spring hints at a fresh start. This is where Sølyst truly begins.

$16.50 IN STOCK

Spring is Thomas Klein's fourth Sølyst release on Bureau B, gleaned from material spanning the past three years. The time he has spent with these pieces has been time well spent. In revisiting them, he has posed new questions, rearranged and reworked some elements, dismissed or discarded others. The process of reappraisal has seen certain passages expanded upon, others pared away or refined. In the beginning, a sequencer and a sequence; rumbling along, not too fast, deeper tones and minor keys. Swathed in drum patterns and percussion, a mesh of metal and the occasional, unannounced crash of drums, as on the shimmering "Flex" or "Hold". Echoes and echo chambers, phasers and flangers used as glue: Spring, the (S)piral, a flexible, coiled spring, stretched, bent, twisted to fit the signal flow. Isolated sounds and vertical planes are added to the hypnotic, rhythmic framework, melodies are revealed on a nano level in transitions between nuanced layers and allusions. With all these elements in play, Klein creates a cinematic atmosphere for the big or the small screen, heavily laden in subliminal darkness, more spectral than aggressively threatening. A sense of foreboding, perhaps -- or the nervous excitement of seeing a storm gather on the horizon as one eagerly awaits the spectacle of thunder and lightning. Photophobic dancers, tar on their shoes, flashes of light, monochrome is our only color. Spring is the soundtrack to a night such as this, plotting its course through to the late morning: take "Sheroes" and play it between Martin Rev and Chris & Cosey, take "Atlas" and play it, if you will, after Tolouse Low Trax. And before the doors reopen, take "Spiral". The most seductive moments in all of these pieces are those in which Klein lets go of functionality, unleashes the groove and the space opens up, wider and wider, floating atmospherically into the late hours of the morning. Spring slots into the genealogy of the three preceding albums -- Sølyst (2011), Lead (2013), The Steam Age (2016). Not that there is anything wrong with that, and yet Spring reveals Klein at his most confident, opening up his field of vision to explore the margins of the structure he established on Sølyst. Each track on Spring hints at a fresh start. This is where Sølyst truly begins.

$17.00 IN STOCK

Sølyst heralds a new era of digital steam power with The Steam Age, turning his attentions to mechanical aesthetics beyond the ubiquitous binary code. For his third album, Düsseldorf-based Kreidler drummer Thomas Klein, turned to an abandoned piano as a sound source. Tapping, scratching, scraping, plucking; working with the wooden body and steel strings led to the building blocks of a broad sonic spectrum, which Klein then brushed against the grain with his sampler. He then invited these alienated patterns and sequences to dance to the typical Sølyst percussion groove, forming a hypnotically driving machine-funk. Klein also expanded his drum set; a homemade, electronically manipulated table percussion setup, consisting of utilitarian objects such as a tin can or a wooden board, opened the sonic palette to previously unheard, weightless grooves. This percussive spectrum has been tested and proven live, and spreads a rhythmic gravity that remains accessible despite its experimental basis. Sølyst is ultimately a project that revolves around a hypnotic rhythmic element, and The Steam Age creates this hypnosis with an intoxicatingly atmospheric quality. The music is interspersed with the marks of time -- dust, patina, rust -- from the world of machines and the mechanical interplay of gears and pistons. Noise, heat, and vapor add to this associative field of inspiration. The Steam Age is an attempt to lend a voice to friction-generating mechanics, motors, and movements that audibly assert themselves against opposing forces and sometimes grind to a stutter. The titles of the tracks -- "Steamfield" and "Atomium," for example -- refer to the overarching concept. With titles like "Nostalghia," they even go so far as to reference cinema, alluding in this case to Andrei Tarkovsky's 1983 work of the same name and taking the chain of associations beyond the music. The mysterious rumbling within, beneath, and above the 11 pieces creates an additional mysterious motoric aura. Yet it also feels familiar, revealing emotional depths that invite the listener to surrender to trust. This music is devoted to a pre-digital machine aesthetic that does not refrain from occasionally toying ironically with the evocation of the analog and handmade. The dark space between the sounds leaves room for anyone to add their own imagination and give in to the endless breath of the machines.

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. Includes CD. Sølyst heralds a new era of digital steam power with The Steam Age, turning his attentions to mechanical aesthetics beyond the ubiquitous binary code. For his third album, Düsseldorf-based Kreidler drummer Thomas Klein, turned to an abandoned piano as a sound source. Tapping, scratching, scraping, plucking; working with the wooden body and steel strings led to the building blocks of a broad sonic spectrum, which Klein then brushed against the grain with his sampler. He then invited these alienated patterns and sequences to dance to the typical Sølyst percussion groove, forming a hypnotically driving machine-funk. Klein also expanded his drum set; a homemade, electronically manipulated table percussion setup, consisting of utilitarian objects such as a tin can or a wooden board, opened the sonic palette to previously unheard, weightless grooves. This percussive spectrum has been tested and proven live, and spreads a rhythmic gravity that remains accessible despite its experimental basis. Sølyst is ultimately a project that revolves around a hypnotic rhythmic element, and The Steam Age creates this hypnosis with an intoxicatingly atmospheric quality. The music is interspersed with the marks of time -- dust, patina, rust -- from the world of machines and the mechanical interplay of gears and pistons. Noise, heat, and vapor add to this associative field of inspiration. The Steam Age is an attempt to lend a voice to friction-generating mechanics, motors, and movements that audibly assert themselves against opposing forces and sometimes grind to a stutter. The titles of the tracks -- "Steamfield" and "Atomium," for example -- refer to the overarching concept. With titles like "Nostalghia," they even go so far as to reference cinema, alluding in this case to Andrei Tarkovsky's 1983 work of the same name and taking the chain of associations beyond the music. The mysterious rumbling within, beneath, and above the 11 pieces creates an additional mysterious motoric aura. Yet it also feels familiar, revealing emotional depths that invite the listener to surrender to trust. This music is devoted to a pre-digital machine aesthetic that does not refrain from occasionally toying ironically with the evocation of the analog and handmade. The dark space between the sounds leaves room for anyone to add their own imagination and give in to the endless breath of the machines.

$17.00 IN STOCK

The second album by Kreidler drummer Thomas Klein -- alias Sølyst -- is a hypnotic journey into the heart of darkness. Foreboding synth patterns, menacing bass lines, driving drum figures, cavernous percussion effects: Sølyst delves into new depths with his tribal Kraut dub. Ten pieces are collected on Lead. The first of these, "Pierbourg," rolls into the unknown with stoic determination, as if feeling its way through an indefinable darkness to leave its mark. A fierce, stomping beat drives straight ahead, unperturbed, leaving no doubt as to its decisiveness. Drums, percussion, synth patterns, delays and skeletal, sparse fragments of melodies characterize the sound over the next 40 minutes. The album docks onto the sonic universe of its predecessor, yet the sound is somewhat clearer and more polished. After a number of euphoric and more relaxed moments, with driving and pulsating pieces of springy lightness and leaden heaviness, the journey ends with "Schnee." The pressure dissolves into a hypnotic, relaxed movement, finding a moderate rhythm, and turns its gaze toward the stars. The physical, with all kinds of percussion, remains essential with Sølyst. Through its conception and implementation, Lead demonstrates just how the scope of this physicality can be explored. Klein's use of drums and percussion becomes a living, driving, urgent source of energy. But the rudimentary melodies and the overall atmosphere are also shaped in large part by the drums. The range of moods alternates between a supercool distance and heated immediacy. Like the different aggregate states of a single substance, the drumming constantly changes its form, and thus its role. The electronic sounds and sequences are run through chains of delays to become dynamic, strongly emotional structures. These are met with the exceptional drumming of Thomas Klein, whose instrument often becomes the actual protagonist. However, the focus is never on ability or virtuosity, but on the tension between these two interlocking components and their extremely lively interaction. The way the acoustic drums and electronic sounds seem to connect, combat and combine is the special, exciting, thrilling aspect of Lead.

$25.50 IN STOCK

LP on 180 gram vinyl with CD. The second album by Kreidler drummer Thomas Klein -- alias Sølyst -- is a hypnotic journey into the heart of darkness. Foreboding synth patterns, menacing bass lines, driving drum figures, cavernous percussion effects: Sølyst delves into new depths with his tribal Kraut dub. Ten pieces are collected on Lead. The first of these, "Pierbourg," rolls into the unknown with stoic determination, as if feeling its way through an indefinable darkness to leave its mark. A fierce, stomping beat drives straight ahead, unperturbed, leaving no doubt as to its decisiveness. Drums, percussion, synth patterns, delays and skeletal, sparse fragments of melodies characterize the sound over the next 40 minutes. The album docks onto the sonic universe of its predecessor, yet the sound is somewhat clearer and more polished. After a number of euphoric and more relaxed moments, with driving and pulsating pieces of springy lightness and leaden heaviness, the journey ends with "Schnee." The pressure dissolves into a hypnotic, relaxed movement, finding a moderate rhythm, and turns its gaze toward the stars. The physical, with all kinds of percussion, remains essential with Sølyst. Through its conception and implementation, Lead demonstrates just how the scope of this physicality can be explored. Klein's use of drums and percussion becomes a living, driving, urgent source of energy. But the rudimentary melodies and the overall atmosphere are also shaped in large part by the drums. The range of moods alternates between a supercool distance and heated immediacy. Like the different aggregate states of a single substance, the drumming constantly changes its form, and thus its role. The electronic sounds and sequences are run through chains of delays to become dynamic, strongly emotional structures. These are met with the exceptional drumming of Thomas Klein, whose instrument often becomes the actual protagonist. However, the focus is never on ability or virtuosity, but on the tension between these two interlocking components and their extremely lively interaction. The way the acoustic drums and electronic sounds seem to connect, combat and combine is the special, exciting, thrilling aspect of Lead.

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. After over 15 years as Kreidler drummer and a number of other guest appearances, Thomas Klein now presents his first solo album under the name SØLYST. The basic ingredients of his music do not differ greatly from Kreidler's. SØLYST also unites analog drums and electronically-generated patterns. But Klein now heads into more tribalistic territory. The beat, the groove, the monotones. Klein is a musical hypnotist, taking aim at rhythmic ecstasy with minimal, yet highly effective means. Both restrained and insistent, SØLYST's darkly pulsating aural cosmos envelops the listener and holds him fast as a fantastic voyage commences. Intricate, repetitive sequences, overflowing delays, and the drums, always the drums, sometimes in the mix, sometimes alone in acoustic space, as they unleash mesmerizing physical and atmospheric energy, the heart of the instrumental pieces. Afrobeat, minimal music, Krautrock, dub, cosmic -- all apposite and well-intended references, but not enough by way of explanation. A genre to encompass this has yet to be invented, so "tribal dub Krautrock" is perhaps the most fitting description. Kreidler connaisseurs will be familiar with Klein's style of drumming. His trademark simultaneity of functionality and expressiveness cannot be mistaken. Thomas Klein has thus earned his rightful place alongside illustrious Krautrock drummers like Jaki Liebezeit (Can), Klaus Dinger (NEU!) and Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru), every one of them a master of his craft, each bringing his own unique personality and technique to the music. Klein is possibly closest to Liebezeit in terms of lineage: complex rhythms in endless loops with small, yet subtle scatterings. Thomas Klein spent almost a whole year working on these eleven pieces, recording and mixing them himself. Klein performs live as SØLYST with TG Mauss on synthesizers, the latter having also contributed to the album. On 180 gram vinyl. Includes free download code.

$17.00 IN STOCK

After over 15 years as Kreidler drummer and a number of other guest appearances, Thomas Klein now presents his first solo album under the name SØLYST. The basic ingredients of his music do not differ greatly from Kreidler's. SØLYST also unites analog drums and electronically-generated patterns. But Klein now heads into more tribalistic territory. The beat, the groove, the monotones. Klein is a musical hypnotist, taking aim at rhythmic ecstasy with minimal, yet highly effective means. Both restrained and insistent, SØLYST's darkly pulsating aural cosmos envelops the listener and holds him fast as a fantastic voyage commences. Intricate, repetitive sequences, overflowing delays, and the drums, always the drums, sometimes in the mix, sometimes alone in acoustic space, as they unleash mesmerizing physical and atmospheric energy, the heart of the instrumental pieces. Afrobeat, minimal music, Krautrock, dub, cosmic -- all apposite and well-intended references, but not enough by way of explanation. A genre to encompass this has yet to be invented, so "tribal dub Krautrock" is perhaps the most fitting description. Kreidler connaisseurs will be familiar with Klein's style of drumming. His trademark simultaneity of functionality and expressiveness cannot be mistaken. Thomas Klein has thus earned his rightful place alongside illustrious Krautrock drummers like Jaki Liebezeit (Can), Klaus Dinger (NEU!) and Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru), every one of them a master of his craft, each bringing his own unique personality and technique to the music. Klein is possibly closest to Liebezeit in terms of lineage: complex rhythms in endless loops with small, yet subtle scatterings. Thomas Klein spent almost a whole year working on these eleven pieces, recording and mixing them himself. Klein performs live as SØLYST with TG Mauss on synthesizers, the latter having also contributed to the album.