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LP
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AMEL 728LP
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Producer Tom Thiel has worked in the medium of electronic music since the 1980s and has been active in the musical epicenter of Berlin since 1987. With the Sun Electric Duo, he was already at the forefront of live/"real-time." Though not everyone becomes exceptional on the basis of "veteran" status alone, Thiel's latest work shows that he has made good on one of the main promises held out by electronic music and sound synthesis: namely, that it would also provide unexpected, novel, highly individualized syntheses of different attitudes, atmospheres, and affects. This is happily the case with Thiel's new Arjunamusic release, his first full solo outing since his eponymous 2011 album (STRIKE 125CD, 2011): it's a series of colorful, self-contained vignettes that are perceptibly drawn from an eclectic pool of personal experiences and insights. Like similarly successful musical projects, Thiel's Album utilizes all of the above strengths to craft a rewarding listen in its own right, but also to spark curiosity about what other as-of-yet unrealized fusions may be waiting ahead.
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CD
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STRIKE 125CD
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Tom Thiel seems to be unflappable. On his solo debut album (released quite late in his career), he doesn't make too much of an effort regarding zeitgeist and trends. And why should he? He has been a part of it all since forever, no need to prove anything to anyone. And "Pulse" is the beginning of a great album, located somewhere in the warm regions of the genre. Like a sine wave, the record swerves from house to electronica and even touches the latitudes of pure ambient. Apart from a couple of short pieces, there are nine-minute songs and psychedelic guitar compositions, rummaging around in the depths of music, all the while self-confident and playful. The songs are characterized not only by Tom's special musical handwriting, they also always ring of his previous productions (when he was with Sun Electric or Bus), mirroring those times. The past seems to be just a little while ago as well as now and soon. The alleged contradictions disappear in favor of more important, crucial elements of music, without ever sounding moldy or even out-dated. Wide melody lines, soft, complex beats or direct, simple beats: they speak a timeless language and thus represent the most modern side of electronic music.
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