V/A-SCHWAMM, TAPE, 1994, GERMANY

Schwamm documents a formative moment in the history of the contempo Cologne electronica scene thats been promulgated by labels like A-Musik, Sonig and Gefreim and which has over the years gifted the world with the extraordinary likes of Mouse On Mars, Schlammpeitziger, Sack & Blumm and F.X. Randomiz among others, all these and other core personnel of this musical culture represented herein. Issued back during a transitional period when the artists involved we're more aligned with the post-industrial culture associated with the label Odd Size, the sense of aesthetics coalescing is pretty apparent here, some of the parties involved being still in their baby steps moments during this era (Schlammpeitziger, whom I normally adore in particular), but elsewhere, there's a wealth of desirable sounds to be found, especially on side B which goes from strength to strength, from the submerged Moebius-like lope of D.B. H.'s Randomiz-remixed "Slug" to Randomiz's own stunning contribution, "Dotter", a preternaturally prescient construction of bolt spitting pressurized mechanisms that sounds recorded last week and shows his fevered imagination already fully formed at this early date. That said, the highlight here might just be the track by Masters Cosmic Music, whose split LP with Schlammpeitziger I've previously posted: a bit of groggy and smeared sequence-pulsed insanity that sounds like Picky Picnic being sucked through Monoton's low-pass filter.

Track listing:

Schlammpeitziger-Brot Fur Atemnot
Jan Werner-Halbloch
Thrasier-Illegal Launch Found (Randomiz-mix)
Georg Odijk-Bovenbank
Zen Faschisten-Lisa
Marcus Schmickler-Lupo
Dies Duene Blad-Clear The Air
D.B.H.-Slug-141 BPM-(Randomiz-mix)
Frank Dommert & Jan Werner-3,6,9,12,Karneval
Fata Gaga-Bangladesh Burns
F.X. Randomiz-Dotter
Master's Cosmic Music-Cosmic Constructor
Joseph Suchy-12
Gereon Kaikuhl-Tulips
Sack-Mama Mir Ist Heiss

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