die Kanzel News

From today (15th June) until 9th July there will be no new posts on die Kanzel as I will be on holiday. After I return on the 9th the blog will continue as normal with new posts, news items and reviews.

Kirsty

Wolfgang Voigt to Release New Album, Nationalpark

On 25th May Wolfgang Voigt will release Nationalpark, the tenth installment of his Rückverzauberung album series.

Nationalpark is inspired by Hunsrück-Hochwald, a new national park that opened in Germany’s Rheinland-Pfalz region in March. The single 62-minute piece is intended to be an “acoustic hike through the forest,” where loudspeakers are placed in a natural environment. According to Kompakt, the label Voigt co-manages, the music is freeform and improvised, “made of strings and winds [and] processed with electronic means” and a “listening experience between romantic rapture and focussed pop art.”

Preview Nationalpark via the Kompakt website.

Tracklist:
01. Rückverzauberung 10

Listen to Sound Motives, A New Interview Series with Episode 1 Featuring Shigeto

A new series of interviews with artists titled Sound Motives has been established.

Sound Motives describes the series as “In-depth audio interviews and content discoveries, courtesy of today’s finest electronic musicians” and Dave Cushtilla, an experienced radio producer who is conducting the interviews, explains further, “Sound Motives is an interview project about musical discovery and creativity. Musicians and producers that I respect, discuss what has influenced and inspired them, and what continues to push them to create and refine their craft…I’m really interested in how the sounds musicians create are shaped by the books, films, artists and ideas that have resonated with them. With Sound Motives I’m hoping to investigate where music meets culture.”

The first episode features Shigeto, a Ghostly International artist, discussing what influences have shaped his sound, his hometown of Ann Arbor, Detroit and his musical beginnings and career. The conversation is framed around ‘Sound Sources’ from Shigeto’s upbringing; tracks and influences which have shaped his vocation so far, alongside his own productions.

Listen to episode 1 of Sound Motives with Shigeto via the SoundCloud player below.

Watch Kevin Saunderson Search for Sounds at the Ford Factory

In late 2014 Detroit techno innovator Kevin Saunderson was invited to Ford’s Michigan assembly plant as part of a forthcoming documentary on the Motor City.

Last summer esteemed DJ and producer Matthew Dear was invited to do a similar activity by General Electric and his resulting track, Drop Science, was composed using the resulting found sounds emanating from its machines.

In the three-minute video recently posted to YouTube, Saunderson searches the factory floor for samples, recording many of the sounds made by the plant’s machinery. As he searches for inspiration, milling around the plant and listening for the sounds of the production process while people and machines manufacture cars, Saunderson observes, “It’s the same tone; it’s the same frequency…then to just hear that there – it was probably used for a totally different purpose – but to hear that, it connected. It was love at first sound.”

“It’s hard to say what it will be used for,” the producer said during his visit. “You take samples, put it in the machine, and you never know what vibes it might bring. It could bring nothing, it could bring something amazing.”

Saunderson is one of the most adept in the stable of Detroit techno pioneers, both recording some of the hardest and darkest music to come out of the Motor City and regularly achieving success in the mainstream dance charts as well with his productions for his slick techno-house act Inner City.

Watch the video below via YouTube.

Ben UFO in for 100th Truancy Mix

Truancy is marking their milestone 100th installment with Hessle Audio’s Ben UFO. Featuring Actress, Objekt, 2562, Karenn and Planetary Assault Systems, the mix showcases some of the most interesting traacks that have being released in recent times as Ben UFO shifts between styles and tempos, while humour and his love and curiosity shine through.

Stream and download Truancy Volume 100 below

What is die Kanzel?

die Kanzel (pronounced dee Kan|tsel) is a blog that features album reviews and essays about techno music. Kanzel is a German word that means both pulpit and DJ booth. I like the duality of the name; with its mix of religious connotations and relation to techno music and culture – the metaphor of a DJ delivering a sermon to fervent parishioners, the audience. It also fits neatly with the history of techno and house music which has always incorporated components of gospel into its sound.

This blog will mainly focus on German techno and its artists as that is where my passion and knowledge lies yet I will also feature reviews and articles on techno coming from other artists and countries.

When possible I will link to reputable sites where the music I write about can be purchased.