Normoton was founded in 2001 by Klaus Burkard with the desire to arrange a label after his taste and thus to give his musical surrounding field (and others) a possibility of expression. Locked grooves with loops from pieces by a Polish Elvis interpreter, the deep minimal techno of Landesvatter, the data-pop of Electroserge and the minimal-house duo Strassmann are examples of the variety, experimentation and joyfulness of the Normoton label. "It should be the character of a sculpture, which Normoton marks," answered Klaus Burkard in answer to the question of what the label's style spectrum looks like. "To express only one genre is not in the interest of Normoton, also the medium is not important." A chaotic mixture is expected, but the selection is perfect and homogeneous. With an emphasis on contemporary electronic music, Normoton succeeds in remaining convincingly exciting, to get attention and harvest praise. Expectations will be answered with surprises.
Other artists include: Phon.O, Pupkulies & Rebecca, Uphill Racer, Smutny, Andreas Heiszenberger and more.
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viewing 1 To 16 of 16 items
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LP
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NORM 037LP
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This is the long-awaited fourth album from Pupkulies & Rebecca. During the past years, they have gained momentum with countless concerts in renowned clubs throughout Europe. A certain hype has arisen around the band occurring totally organically without being triggered by the press -- self-generating and in real-time. Pupkulies & Rebecca have an appeal which covers all age groups, territories and scenes. Looking For The Sea is undoubtedly Pupkulies & Rebecca's most matured recording to date. The album was recorded mainly in the south of France and the ingredients and recipes are the same as on their previous albums. The main thread is house, not in the traditional American sense but in a more European version. Not Chicago but Paris and Berlin will be heard. "Eurovision" in the true context without the contest. The songs are sung in English and French, sort of more chansons than tracks. There is no coolness and functionality to be found here; instead, there is warmth and unbridled joy for music. High-hats out of rustling leaves, old synth legends, an organetta from the flea market -- each sound is chosen carefully, so that it has room to breathe and becomes a part of the greater whole. Looking For The Sea is a multifaceted, varied and fascinating album which is easy for one to hear and immediately understand. Influences of different styles can be heard and a childish openness is apparent. Pupkulies & Rebecca show how beauteous pop music can be. According to their name, they are a duo -- but in reality they are a trio. Sepp Singwald, an all-rounder from the Berlin indie scene, has been a band member for years. An increase in the acoustic elements is witness to his influence. Various keyboard and string instruments contributed by Sepp haven't changed the direction of the songs but support them in exactly the right spot. Janosch Blaul is still the man in control and his contribution is decisive. Together with Sepp Singwald, he has created a finely-woven tapestry of sounds full of colorful patterns, perfectly tailored for Rebecca's voice. Her vocals cause the tapestry to float, light and weightless.
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12"
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NORM 6412693EP
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New continuous grooves in the Compact series with 100 loops from Modeselektor, Thomas Brinkmann, Siriusmo, Housemeister, Phon.o, Mochipet, Bok Bok, Litwinenko, Exsample and Daniel Haaksmann. Limited to 500 units worldwide.
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CD
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NORM 033CD
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This is the debut full-length release by Germany's Karo -- a girl who plays the guitar like a ninth grader at a campfire, and who somehow manages to take you to another planet with her hypnotic melodies and her beautiful, soft voice. Completely self-taught in both guitar and in the mastery of English, she taped herself and listened to her voice over and over again. She listened to Jeff Buckley, Ella Fitzgerald, The Carpenters, Low, Portishead, Cat Power, and Feist, developing in slow steps towards her remarkable sound -- a mixture of full-throated, singer-songwriter confessional vocals, mixed with simple, indie-rock guitar patterns and sparse percussion, somewhere in the league of Julie Doiron, Bat For Lashes and Feist. "You Don't Know" and "Wine And Water" are the closest Karo gets to folk music, "Not In Love Song" is pure pop, despite its lack of drums, "The Hunger" and "My Heart Is Bent" are downright indie-disco, and no category has been invented yet for the breathtaking finale, "Sing Out, Heart!" -- yet all of these songs blend together perfectly to capture a lifetime of heartache in 40 minutes that seem like 40 seconds and make you wanna put the CD on repeat forever.
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CD
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NORM 031CD
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This is the third full-length release by Germany's Oliver Lichtl aka Uphill Racer, a multi-instrumentalist with a 800 Mhz computer and a mic-in. A one-man singer/songwriter orchestra. Considering his multilayered music and the complexity of his arrangements, this is more than extraordinary, this is lo-fi in Cinemascope. Reviews of his previous albums often referenced Thom Yorke, Beck, Badly Drawn Boy or The Notwist. With his own very special brand of airiness, he triggers reminiscences and invites the listener on a discovery trip without even getting close to plagiarism. He has a singular gift of creating moving songs that touch deeply with a style that goes straight to the heart. Broken beats have their own space in the spheres of his pop universe. Telescopeland is melancholy in its most enchanting, consoling form, with melodies that you won't forget. And above all, there's this voice -- floating, shedding a golden light on the songs, so that they seem to be shining. The epic character of his songs, often remind of film scores and he also happens to work as a cutter for a film production studio. Besides the Flaming Lips, Aphex Twin, Elbow and many more, Jon Brion, David Torn, Yann Tiersen or Jan Kaczmarek are important influences. This is far too good to be left unheard.
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12"
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NORM 030EP
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Is it house paired with songwriting? Is it elektro fused with soulful pop? Is it Matthew Herbert's next side project? No, it's Pupkulies & Rebecca. The duo extract two hits from their full-length: "Save Me" is an atmospheric, warm minimal house tune with compelling vocals and "Some Gin" is a catchy electro-pop tune with a Peaches-like hookline. Someone Else remixes "Save Me" into a massive hypnotic version. Minimal with attitude.
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CD
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NORM 029CD
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This is the third full-length release from the data-pop duo Birgit Lehneis and Paul Heil aka Electroserge. After Whispertime and To Those I Hold Dear -- two straight indietronics albums -- Electroserge now leave guitars and chimes behind and take a turn on the data-highway. Machine-grooves along the road celebrate their electro heart and nostalgic robo-clichés dot the landscape. Evoking the classic tunes of Drexciya, Kraftwerk and Dopplereffekt, Gimme Data sounds freshly-generated via Pacman, run through machines driven by ideas and grounded by a cool attitude. Take some stripped-down beats, flavor them with some crystal-clear synth hooks and don't forget a good amount of robo-soul. Despite the glittering sheen of electronics, their indie roots such as Dinosaur Jr. and My Bloody Valentine can still be heard in their music. Self-confident sounds out of Bavaria with an international heart.
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CD
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NORM 027CD
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This is the second full-length release from singer/songwriter, Uphill Racer (Oliver Lichtl). Uphill Racer is a multi instrumentalist, a one-man chamber orchestra brimming with harmonies, elegies and gifted with the knack of effortlessly pouring his emotions into fantastic songs that immediately move and touch. He has been compared quite justifiably to artists such as Beck, Badly Drawn Boy, The Notwist and Thom Yorke. One year has passed since his debut No Need To Laugh was released and since then, Uphill Racer has embraced the will and courage to experiment. You Will Understand is permeated with space sounds which were prevalent though hard to place on the first album and which now contribute to the spherical and inimitability of the latest release. Flora, fauna and film are once again welcome guests in the idiosyncratic structures built out of acoustic guitar, bass, sleigh bells, drums and beats, piano, synthesizer and the voice -- the voice which effortlessly blends into the instrumentation and textually as well as melodically bears a beacon in the night. Lichtl once again plays all the instruments himself and sings every word on the album. You Will Understand is a fortress, a refuge, a shield of protection from the world. The pathos of the first album gives way to a more confident and versatile emotionality. The music is a perfect companion for a train trip on a sunny day and nevertheless as sentimental as a nosedive onto soft cushions.
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CD
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NORM 025CD
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Normoton celebrates the 25th release with its first label compilation. Since there has never been any dogmatic style policy connected to the German label, the musical diversity is just amazing. Label owner Klaus Burkard consequently releases quality music by believing in his instinct and his taste. Locked grooves from a Polish Elvis impersonator, minimal by Landesvatter and Strassmann, ambient by Smutny, deep house by Andreas Heiszenberger, experimental electronics by MCL and classic singer-songwriter music by Uphill Racer and Electroserge -- everything is possible and experiments are part of the deal. But still: Normoton is a trademark of its own and musical variety doesn't necessarily mean chaos. It's almost impossible to find a suitable description for this label... just expect the unexpected and prepare yourself for some surprises. Apart from tracks by the above named artists you will find two brand new and previously-unreleased tracks on this compilation. "Barebeatz" is produced by Phon.o and Exsample aka The Barebackshow. The two Berlin-based artists created this track only by using sounds from Normoton's very own locked grooves series, called Compact. Moreover, there is Traffic Jam from Poland, the latest member of the Normoton family. Their compilation track "Metronome" will be released on 12" with three more tracks. But there is still more to come: look out for new albums by Uphill Racer, Electroserge and Pupkulies & Rebecca in 2007.
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CD
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NORM 023CD
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This is Germany-based Andreas Heiszenberger's second full-length album. Ah is a jewel which can already be celebrated as a small masterpiece, resembling a pop culture diary set to music in which memories and influences in all variations and origins are unified to one common denominator called house. Glimpses of his punk past shine through now and then and for some the exclusive use of fruit loops as a means of production is punk enough. Heiszenberger shows consideration for disparate genres with a decided lack of stringency. The vision of house which Andreas Heiszenberger so virtuously has called his own has something timeless about it so that the sound also functions perfectly outside clubs. He gives this record the right dose of pop and harmony that is soulful rather than lulling, taking special care to place the appropriate beat and tempo, making for a professional and enthralling arrangement. Sometimes it rattles and clicks from one end to the other just like the good old Warp days when abodes in Detroit, Chicago and Frankfurt were at least musically credible. His debut album on Normoton Drum and Bass released in 2005 was filled with flawless, catchy house of the minimal type and honored by the international press. It has taken two years for the completion of this follow-up which wasn't due to an artist's block -- rather, quite the opposite. Heiszenberger's own very unique style of contemporary house music has just the right hint of pop. Detroit meets Frankurt/Offenbach meets Sheffield meets Cologne.
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12"
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NORM 021EP
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This is the sixth DJ-session-tool-release from Compact. The sounds are excerpts from the current live-set, which is a two-man-band, playing only loops on four turntables. Phon.O and Exsample both live in Berlin, where they have been rocking the house since 2005 with performances of their individually-created sounds. This tool is useful for all consequential DJs doing essential and honest hand-sequencing: DJing with loops.
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CD
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NORM 020CD
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This is the electronic debut album by classic avant-garde composer Daniel Smutny on Normoton. What happens when a classic avant-garde composer eventually lets out the pop, which has long been bubbling under his skin? Telehors is an act of a first-time production with a completely unique slant: to record itself with noises and piano playing -- to make acoustic photographs, and at the same time a private travel diary, then to make complex abstractions of these details, to experience the inner rhythms of these sounds, to form them into patterns, to make music out of noises against their will, to find songs and tracks all over the world with a laptop -- always with the ideal of an unattainable classic pop in mind. Telehors is like a process of self-discovery and at the same time a little like a test set-up for listeners and their expectations. Telehors is music for an era in which people not only follow a life concept, but also establish parallel identities, combine images of different lifestyles, build themselves "playlists" out of media citations. This music is the expression of this movement, this access to content, this patchwork style, but it also strives to create a pleasing harmony of opposites. It invokes pure musical qualities, compositionally intense moments held in flow, instants stretched to long atmospheric spaces, which are subjected to internal movements -- an ornamental immobility. Telehors is utopist, the thrill of trying to make the impossible possible. It is a masterly expression of this endeavor for change and transformation. Up until now, Smutny has been in the spotlight as an avant-garde composer, but he now spans a musical range of reference which reaches back to the first decades of the last century, to Denes von Milhaly's first still-frame television, a precursor of the mass medium we know today, in the form of tiny transmitted shadow pictures with a few rows of perforations as picture fields. This also provides a way of understanding the form of Smutny's tracks: tele-long distance? These pictures first become complete in one's own fantasy. Telehors is the forcefield which provides the energy. That is how the journeys begin: on the backs of wandering machine horses into new worlds. How is it possible in this day and age to recreate this atmosphere of change and be authentic? Or has everything become just like transfer pictures, that we play and gamble with like experts? Telehors is both of these.
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CD
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NORM 019CD
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This is the debut release on Normoton from promising new artist Uphill Racer. Following hot on the heels of Landesvatter and Pupkulies & Rebecca, Uphill Racer crosses boundaries of style and adds to the texture of the Normoton label. No Need To Laugh is a singer/songwriter album full of poetic acoustic images and frivolous hopeful hymns. Behind the curtain of understatement one recognizes the silhouette of Beck, Notwist, Eels or A-ha. However Uphill Racer is a one-man chamber orchestra who composed and played all the tracks himself. Choral riffs, deep basses, rhythm groups, strings, mellotron, acoustic guitars, speech samples, frogs, cats, birds and various undefined sounds build the harmonic basis of the songs, which are formed by timeless moods. Fragile emotions in psychedelic widescreen. Uphill Racer -- gifted with a keen sense of beautiful, supportive melodies that create dream landscapes -- placing simplicity together with expressionalistic excess. As little as possible and as much as needed -- minimalist bombast. Uphill Racer is an exceptionally gifted arranger, who knows the delicate gift of writing catchy universal pop songs.
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CD
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NORM 017CD
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Second full-length release from Berlin-based electronic artist Landesvatter. Landesvatter's pleasingly soft, clicky and minimalist tracks are so thickly woven that you have to listen closely, even as it draws you closer and closer to the dance floor. Born in lower Franconia, he came in touch with techno for the first time in 1991 and has lived in Berlin since 1995. As a producer, his electronic music spans minimal techno, abstract jazzy clicks and cuts, to hip hop-influenced tracks. Lax is a thrilling release: the tracks meander surprisingly, never taken for granted and individually speaking for themselves. The samples are like tiny quotes which flow with the silver of jazz, pop guitar riffs and various other flotsam of music history. The beats have become more melancholy and the music more heavy duty.
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12"
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NORM 016EP
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The Normoton artists Andreas Heiszenberger, Landesvatter and Strassmann give their ideas loose rein on an impressive remix of an Electroserge track. "In a Disco" and different versions thereof. They demonstrate how many different facets of house fit onto one maxi and for that matter within one label and furthermore, why this music maintains a liveliness with varied textures. Each of their interpretations, unique as they are, have a common thread -- a lightness and playfulness without losing any of the depth. Andreas Heiszenberger with his typical pinch of pop leans danceward. Landesvatter lets loose the Landesvatter funk and sparks curiosity in his upcoming second album. Meanwhile, Strassmann is a little reserved and as nonchalantly deep as a dusty cowboy.
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CD
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NORM 015CD
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The second album from the data-pop duo Birgit Lehneis and Paul Heil, aka Electroserge. To Those I Hold Dear follows their successful LP debut Whispertime on Normoton. Once again analogue is blended with digital, melancholy meets ecstasy, and there they are again -- those catchy, repetitious and invigoratingly melodious songs. Guitar and bass pull on passionate indie and post-rock elements, and the influences of artists such as My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr. and Jim O'Rourke seep through. The digital rhythm section, in contrast, applies minimal house beats and ample clicks & cuts. In the interstices there's still enough room for vocals which mix melody insistently but unobtrusively with text. Their sound is familiar despite this more than modest development, new influences are perfectly set and encoded with the trademark signature of Electroserge. We meet again... in a street car named desire.
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CD
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NORM 008CD
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"After two techno 12" EPs on Salo and Normoton Landesvatter now shows more atmospheric facets. The 10 Lava tracks are a soundtrack for the urban night. Groping eats that hesitantly comply in deep pulsating basslines, frayed guitar sounds and jazzy samples. The music on Lava can be called repetitive but never monotonous. Even tempered and reflective, Lava is a CD for your head and your feed. You can't help but simply nod your head to it. Landesvatter lives in Berlin, Germany."
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