Guenter Schlienz – ‘Augenblicke’ CS
Hot on the heels of Sacred Phrases’ re-press of 2014’s ambient classic ‘Treehut Visions,’ Guenter Schlienz is back with a new cassette of sublimely sprawling sounds. ‘Augenblicke’ continues the Stuttgart, Germany-based producer’s run of astral-minded naval-gazing with four new tracks of impossible serenity. Opening track “Blue Sky” paints a perfectly bucolic picture of the German countryside, accompanied by a barely noticeable breeze and consumed by boundless, naturalistic beauty. B-side opener “Treetops” coasts on an elevated plane of floating effervescence, taking in an aural panorama that pours well beyond comprehension. “The World Is Full of Noises” serves as a perfectly incidental miniature, surveying a series of field recordings and playing out like a charmed audio travelogue. Closing track “Wind on Water” succinctly returns to the pleasantly disembodied celestial realms, closing out ‘Augenblicke’ in a calmed, transcendental state. Limited edition of 100. Imprinted, blue cassette with fold-out j-card and download card.
Guenter Schlienz – ‘Treehut Visions’ CS
Now available in its second edition, Guenter Schlienz’s ‘Treehut Visions’ serves as a poignant and sincere example of modern. synth-based kosmische musik. Recorded in Stuttgart, Germany using a DIY modular synthesizer in the Spring of 2013, Schlienz follows the tried and true templates sketched out by the likes of Cluster, Terry Riley, and other early modern electronic pioneers and rubbing shoulders with contemporaries like Panabrite, Eluvium, and other long-form revelers in exploratory sounds. “Games at the Creek” kicks things off with rustic curiosity, flowing through space like a sonic creek littered with stray bits and bubbling tones. “The Meadow at Summernights” floats with unencumbered bliss, collecting streaks of texture and glittering effects along its meandering path. “Sunday Morning Cake” closes out the A-side with an extended simmer of cool, flowing sound and genuine, nu-age navel gazing. On the B-side, “Treehut Visions” unfurls its sprawling vignette for a full half-hour of heaving synth chords and assuringly avian found sounds. It’s a modern classic of synthesizer music, available once again on cassette. Second edition of 100. Imprinted, green cassette with fold-out j-card and download card.