PRICE:
$15.50
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Geheimland
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
CPT 603CD CPT 603CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
4/28/2023

After excursions into hip-hop, rap, and film music Austrian producer and musician Urbs has returned to the downtempo and trip-hop styles that were the cornerstones of his most successful work. Using obscure samples as well as traditional instrumentation for his impressionistic instrumental pieces he takes you to Geheimland. Born as Paul Nawrata in Lower Austria, Urbs is a veteran electronic producer and musician living in Vienna. A music fanatic from a very young age, he started writing and photographing for various fanzines in his teenage years, interviewing artists as diverse as Kurt Cobain, Nick Cave, and the Wu Tang Clan. He soon felt attracted to the blossoming hip-hop scene of Vienna, contributing to the radio program of legendary impressario Werner Geier aka Demon Flowers. Best described as the Austrian version of Tony Wilson, he took him under his wing and soon released his first steps in music production on his Uptight label. In 1998, two EPs were released as Urbs & Chaoz, spawning a first success with "Closer To God", which was not only a radio favorite, but was also used by famed director Ulrich Seidl in his early work Models and remixed by Thievery Corporation. Heavily influenced by Kenny Dope, Todd Terry, and Armand Van Helden's hip-hop releases, the musical style of Urbs & Chaoz was dubbed "Dope Beat" in central Europe and can be seen as one of the precursors of trip-hop. His next musical partner was Cutex with whom he released Breaks Of Dawn and Peace Talks!, two LPs of timeless instrumental hip-hop, both of which are seen as classics of the genre. His first solo album was released on G-Stone Recordings in 2005 and was co-produced by Peter Kruder (Kruder & Dorfmeister). On Toujours Le Meme Film, Urbs channeled his love for film music and French chanson. Songs from the album were used for TV shows Grey's Anatomy and Nip:Tuck. Together with award winning composer Karwan Marouf, he worked on film music for directors like Arash and Arman Riahi as well as Werner Boote. While the world was in the grip of the pandemic in 2020, Urbs, who had just become a father, felt inspired by the fantasy and perception of his son. He reconnected with his roots and produced Geheimland in one go, trying to find the essence of his work and musical passion and creating his very own musical language along the way.