Sundaze 1253

Hello, the last Sundaze of 2012 coming up, and without blowing my own trumpet it's been great, I guess Sundaze is close to my heart, not to shortchange the other days, but it always gives me satisfaction being able to chill in this hectic society. Two weeks ago that was hard after that awful shooting of young kids, I couldn't post what was planned, a previous day Beats follow up of Alter Ego, well it's here now. All three albums here were recorded within 2 years under three different monikers.... N'Joy

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It all started with one of these Chicago Trax compilations on DM/Streetsounds. As a reaction to his thirsting for more of these crazed beats from overseas and with a view to his tight budget, the greatest hits of these expensive imported 12” singles were soon released in the form of a compendium. This opened Pandora’s box, for very young Roman Flügel, too. The dazzle of the unrefined and feverish dance music, furnished with just a few drum machines and inexpensive synthesizers, turned the whole world upside down for the cultivated music pupil from Darmstadt.

It didn’t take long before the well-trained ear tried out more than just classical melodies. Little by little, he collected a vast array of equipment, bringing forth his first sound experiments and enough courage to give a demo tape to indie fan Jörn Elling Wuttke. The latter was a well-known face in Darmstadt’s music scene and often enthused about new electronic music. In him he had found the right partner and Wuttke could hardly believe his spellbound ears. DJs and Delirium record sellers Ata and Heiko MSO from Frankfurt felt the same. At first they thought someone was making fun of them. It sounded too authentic and unique. The music Flügel and Wuttke had presented to their label Ongaku and Klang Elektronik as Acid Jesus or, rather, Alter Ego, couldn’t possibly come from the little neighbouring town Darmstadt. In Frankfurt, that kind of sound made people think of Detroit. They released several maxi singles and an album under the pseudonym Acid Jesus, later that year they changed their name to Alter Ego. The following year they founded Sensorama, an outlet for their more ambient tracks.

Releasing arguably the first album of "listening techno" in Germany (their 1994 self-titled debut) and building on the style with subsequent releases, Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling-Wuttke are the exception that proves the rule in boom-boom dominated Deutschland. Better known and revered in England, where dance-based electronic music of a home-listening stripe has been the norm for nearly a decade, Alter Ego have also managed to influenced countrymen and labelmates such as Hardfloor and Yokota to move away from Germany's increasingly commercial trance/techno scene and into headier, more experimental climes.

The pair signed to Sven Väth's trance-dominated Harthouse label in 1993, after releasing a self-titled full-length on their own Klang Elektronik (under the name Acid Jesus) which caught Väth's attention. Flügel was a jazz drummer prior to his work with Wuttke, and the pair met in the late '80s as a result of the snowballing German trance scene. They began producing tracks in the studio Wuttke was piecing together, and had an immediate hit as Acid Jesus with their first single, "Move My Body."  By the time they'd signed with Harthouse, however, Flügel and Wuttke were no longer interested in pursuing the club side of dance-based electronic music. Turned off by the German trance and techno scenes' steady commercialization, Flügel and Wuttke sought to innovate German techno out of redundancy by diversifying.

Originally slated for release on Harthouse ambient sublabel Recycle or Die, Alter Ego got a main label release instead, and together with the subsequent Decoding the Hacker Myth, succeeded in slowing the pace of German techno and adding a cachet of new influences (U.K. ambient techno outfits such as B12 and the Black Dog, hip-hop and electro, jazz and soul). Decoding the Hacker Myth was reissued in 1996, coupled with a bonus disc of remixes by the likes of Luke Slater, Two Lone Swordsmen, and Matt "Dr. Rockit" Herbert's Wishmountain project. Flügel has also released an EP and full-length as Ro70 on David Moufang's Source label, and both Flügel and Wuttke continue to release tracks and albums under such side-project pseudonyms as Sensorama, Primitive Painter, and Eight Miles High for Ladomat, R&S, and Klang.

Worldwide performances followed at the most prominent festivals & clubs such as  Tribal Gathering Festival ( England), SONAR (Spain),  VISION Festival (Switzerland), Time Warp/Big Warp (Germany), I Love Techno (Belgium), WIRE Festival ( Japan).  In 1997 they released their last single for Harthouse »Absolute«. They then made the decision to concentrate on further productions for their own label Klang Elektronik. 1999 saw the release of Betty Ford, which became one of the most memorable and biggest club hits of that year. In the two following years they were busy doing a co-production with Sven Vaeth for his albums, »Contact« and »Fire«.

They achieved notability in 2004 with their track "Rocker", which became one of the year's defining dance anthems, especially in Europe, and getting played on rotation amongst the most popular electroclash DJs such as Felix Da Housecat and 2 Many DJs. The track peaked at #32 in the UK Singles Chart.In the 2004 Groove Magazine Readers Poll, Alter Ego won three categories, taking out the award for 'Best Single' for "Rocker", 'Best Album' for Transphormer, and also 'Best Live Act'. French group Black Strobe took out 'Best Remix' honours with their remix of "Rocker".

In 2005, Roman Flügel went onto produce the track "Gehts Noch", which was a worldwide hit, and was regularly played by many international DJs. In 2007 they released Why Not ?!, followed a year later by the remix version What's Next?!   acompanied by several 12 " releases. It's been rather quiey at the Alter Ego front since, however they did release a Lost Album in 320kbps in May this year. It looks as if Roman Flügel concentrated on a solo career of late he released his solo project as Soylent Green  “La Forca Del Destino” in 2007  and Fatty Folders in 2011 as well as many singles.


At the time of releasing their debut album as Alter Ego, Jörn Elling Wuttke and Roman Flügel have already released the remarkable Acid Jesus album, were about to come out with The Primitive Painter album and were in the process of recording and releasing the landmark "Welcome insel" record as Sensorama. And inbetween Roman found time to release his first solo album Ro 70. Five albums under five different monikers in an approximately two year time span seems like a larger bite than one could handle, but surprisingly, none of the albums I've mentioned suffer in the quality department..


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This album is all downtempo stuff, with floating and captivating melodies, absorbing and subtle snippets of acid synths, while the tempo of the beats never really reaches the heights necessary to attack dance floors. Which is not a bad thing per se. Alter Ego have a way of producing really dreamy and placating music, which doesn't follow any conventional ambient formulas (long beatless patterns, passages of drone, etc.), but rather uses structural patterns and ideas applied through a lot of faster releases, though they slow the speed down for a few notches. That said, it might then seem strange that my favorite track on the album is a 100% beatless ambient tune, the closing number, Undersea Girl. Really atmospheric, with lush pads and a really celestial, heavenly touch to it. I love it. And it reminds me of those beloved ambient pieces you could keep on repeat for two hours in a row and feel like you were listening to one symphony!

Alter Ego - Alter Ego (flac  325mb)

01 Soulfree 11:55
02 Atomic Playground 7:13
03 Sentimental Books 4:52
04 Nude Restaurant 12:57
05 Chinese Eyes 9:48
06 Tanks Ahead 9:05
07 Undersea Girl 6:50

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Alter Ego's Roman Flugel steps out on his own on David Moufang's Source label. Splitting his concerns between beatless, almost orchestral ambient and quirky experimental electro/techno, RO70 at times reveals a jazz influence similar to other experimental German artists such as Moufang and Atom Heart. Though sparser than the latter and far less organic than the former, the album is exceedingly listenable and, often, exceptional.

Roman Flugel - Ro 70 (flac  323mb)

01 Einklang 8:55
02 Gog 5:20
03 Alma 6:10
04 Room 385 4:56
05 Visible Speech 3:53
06 Magog 7:52
07 FM Rhythms 4:53
08 Ballon Above Java 6:41
09 10 To 10 5:08
10 Künstlicher Ausklang 7:51
 
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The Sensorama was a machine, invented in 1957 and patented in 1962, one of the earliest known examples of immersive, multi-sensory technology. Morton Heilig, who today would be thought of as a “multimedia” specialist, in the 1950s saw theater as an activity that could encompass all the senses in an effective manner, thus drawing the viewer into the onscreen activity. The Sensorama was able to display stereoscopic 3-D images in a wide-angle view, provide body tilting, supply stereo sound, and also had tracks for wind and aromas to be triggered during the film. Oddly enough in hindsight, Heilig was unable to obtain financial backing for his visions and patents, and the Sensorama work was halted and today remains primarily a curiosity in the expansive lore of Virtual Reality.

After hearing one of the greatest ambient/downtempo songs ever made, Echtzeit, the album as a whole was a well-paid homage to the creative vibes of Kraftwerk and Higher Intelligence Agency but it feel more toward ordinary than unique and experimental. The kind of IDM electronica album that plays well with some but won't be largely remembered. It is a little unfortunate but it doesn't exactly make it a dud given the lifesavers that are on here that only enhance the sense of space and a cold factory like a proper German musician."

Sensorama - Welcome Insel (flac 347mb)

01 Harz 7:31
02 Zone 30 4:55
03 Quarzzeit 6:22
04 Ventil 5:11
05 Kondens 9:33
06 Helgoland 9:03
07 Unbekannt Verzogen 7:03
08 Echtzeit 6:46
09 Nagelbrett (Alternativ) 6:41
10 Aspirin 6:38

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