"Rene Hell is the latest and possibly greatest moniker of US noisenik Jeff Witscher. Over the last handful of years Witscher has made a name (and possibly a cult?) for himself under a plethora of different pseudonyms exploring various disparate styles. He has been known as Impregnable, Secret Abuse, Marble Sky and as part of Roman Torment and Deep Jew among others, and now he’s settled on Rene Hell. With this project we find him focused on synthesized kosmiche sounds – but unlike many of his contemporaries (Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never etc), instead of delving into nostalgia there is something decidedly modern about Witscher’s compositions. The bubbling, effervescent synthesizer sequences and percussive patterns seem to twist and turn over each other with a near-techno precision, and at times you might be forgiven for thinking that ‘Porcelain Opera’ had more in common with Basic Channel than Cluster.

‘Porcelain Opera’ is an album made by a consummate music obsessive, and Witscher is just as obsessive about his composition as he is his influences. The album’s tracks seep into each other like viscous lava, decomposing and reforming as the track markers fade and re-appear. This is pure electronic music – songs created with analogue circuits and half-baked patch cables, dusty cassette tapes and greased-up potentiometers. And despite his noise roots, there is something distinctly sparkling about this collection of tracks. ‘Prize Mischief Hold’ fizzes and cascades from the speakers like a box of illicit Chinese fireworks, and the album’s glorious centrepiece ‘L.Minx’ thunders through an electrical storm to reveal glorious, warming harmony.

Electronic music has been much maligned in recent years and its contemporary rediscovery seems almost too rooted in kitsch to be taken seriously, but Jeff Witscher’s synthesizer gospels are more than just a flash in the pan. This is analogue exploration at its best, and once it digs its rusty talons into you, it refuses to let go."

-Type

"‘Permafrost’, which was originally issued in 1993, marked the conclusion of Thomas Köner’s epic and influential trilogy which included ‘Nunatak’ and ‘Teimo’. Darker and even more subdued and minimal than its predecessors, ‘Permafrost’ is for many the pinnacle of Köner’s early work. This was the album where he truly stripped the sound back to the bare essentials; gone were the hints of harmony found in ‘Teimo’ and the discernable gong sounds of ‘Nunatak’. All that remained were the deep, shadowy resonances, roomy ambience and gaseous drones that would become Köner’s calling card in the ‘dark ambient’ genre.

Listening to the record almost twenty years after its creation, the most shocking thing is how little it has aged. Its sound is so absolutely other worldly – the creeping low-end rumbles, distant icy tonal blasts and croaking occidental winds – that it contextualizes the record with little else composed. Sure there have been countless attempts at creating supposed alien soundtracks to one imagined movie or another, but rarely have others come close to expressing the truly haunting unknown as Thomas Köner did on ‘Permafrost’.

The restraint Köner shows is his true skill – there are few other records that use silence (or near silence) so effectively. The quieter passages are used to enhance the terrifying thrill of the more abrasive, rumbling peaks and the result is an enviable narrative of unfaltering power. For instrumental music, ambient or otherwise, ‘Permafrost’ is an essential piece of listening. The word ‘classic’ can be bandied about all too much these days but twenty years later, ‘Permafrost’ is just as powerful as it ever was, and still absolutely unmatched in its quality."

-Type

"Originally released in 1992, ‘Tiemo’ is probably the most ‘tuneful’ of Thomas Köner’s legendary triptych (Nunatak, Teimo and Permafrost). I say that lightly of course, but the submerged drones he made his signature are tempered slightly on this album to give a hallowed, mournful edge which has been echoed on so much of today’s darker drone music. Indeed at times throughout the cavernous album there are almost hints at something orchestral in the mires of reverb and dense clouds of harrowing sound. It is hard to believe that Köner pieced this record together using the sound of gongs – close mic’ed to reveal their subtle overtones and resonance. At times the resulting sound is so gloriously alien and so synthetic that you would be forgiven for thinking it is a trick of synthesis, but the textures are indeed organic.

‘Teimo’ is music which like its companion pieces inspires a rich, visual world; and if ‘Nunatak’ suggested human ice exploration then this record is set somewhere deep, deep underwater. The low-end resonance which was later co-opted by so many drone and dark ambient practitioners places us on the sea bed, muffled and disorientated as sounds bubble and wash overheard. The distant sounds are almost dreamlike, yet through the water are cracks of light and solace in the powerful harmonic elements.

Unlike so much ‘dark ambient’ music that appeared later Köner’s music was notable for its absolute maturity. ‘Teimo’ is not theatrical or comical, rather the darkness comes from the very particular sound-set and Köner’s intense compositional skill. With a measured, economic hand (this album again is surprisingly brief given so many other in the genre hitting the hour mark) he has created a record that revels in distance and silence and is not afraid to show the occasional beauty of the underworld."

-Type

"I can barely remember the first time I heard Thomas Köner’s music. Described tentatively as ‘dark ambient,’ I was sure it would be something I liked so I grabbed the disc on sight, hoping for something deep and mysterious. What greeted my ears was more than I could have hoped – soundscapes crafted by a true master of the genre, creations that would come to influence the inception and direction of the then non-existent Type imprint.

It is with a certain amount of pride then that we can reveal this re-issue of Thomas Köner’s debut album, the first in a set of three, on vinyl for the very first time. Originally introduced to the world in 1992, ‘Nunatak’ (then named ‘Nunatak Gongamur’) was shockingly ahead of its time, and it is hard to believe that it has been out of print and difficult to obtain for so long. Koner created the album with mood in mind; he has since been described as a ‘media’ artist, and it’s easy to see why. While the music can be described as ‘dark ambient’, these soundscapes elicit a widescreen collection of images. Through careful and measured use of gongs (recorded in different rooms and underwater) as well as homemade wind instruments, Köner created an album that would become a cornerstone of the genre and part of a tryptich of records which to my mind have never been bettered. While the album is almost twenty years old at this point, it still sounds totally alien and totally unique.

In these eleven brief, unnamed tracks, Köner guides us among battered lands, barren ice plains and damaged caves. Through the low-end resonance of his percussion we are dragged into a hallowed chasm of doom-laden drone. There have been many tries at this style since ‘Nunatak’ was first birthed, and many attempts to draw the genre into fresh and re-imagined territory, but few have come even close to the shadowy exclusion of Thomas Köner."

-Type

"Brad Rose is an artist who is notoriously hard to pigeonhole. He might spend his days running the esteemed Digitalis imprint (sidelining the wonderful Foxy Digitalis webzine) but his nights are wiled away chiselling at the petrified corpse of experimental music. Donating sounds to Ajilvsga, Altar Eagle, Sea Zombies and Ossining (among many, many others) he has somehow found time to fashion a new solo work for Type and it could hardly be further removed from his last outing.

‘Bloodlines’ is an album rooted in synthesis – the kind of busted power electronics that emerged in the early 80s with Ramleh, Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. This is not however simply a noise album – Brad has anchored his sound in this explorative mode, but uses his expertise to take it far beyond murk, grit and fractured teeth. With the help of Zelienople drummer Mike Weis (who accompanies the entire record on percussion) the record is a gloriously spacious excursion, with the fizzing Radiophonic blips, drones and tones set against gongs, scrapes and clanks. The sounds are dark and often punishing – torturous and occasionally frightening, but Brad somehow manages to offset it with an occasional flourish of beauty or calm.

The record is cut into two distinct acts (split lovingly for vinyl listening) and each ‘song’ blends into the next giving a true album experience. ‘Bloodlines’ is not a simple collection of pieces but a distinct narrative from beginning to end. As it tumbles from 50s sci fi synth tones into haunting off-world terror there is a sense of purpose and most of all, place. Brad has created a record that might not be an easy listening experience, but is one which grows on every successive play. It is truly deep and intensely troubling music."

-Type

"You might not be familiar with the work of Seasons (pre-din), but the shadowy northerner has been honing his craft for some time now, covertly issuing a slew of stunning albums while the world ticked on. He cut his teeth performing and collaborating with Richard Skelton and Xela, but over the last couple of years has busied himself prepping a range of hand-made releases on his own label. Often gone in a matter of hours, these lovingly crafted curios caught the attention of astute listeners worldwide and it is now our pleasure to announce the first widely available album from Seasons (pre-din).

‘Your Eyes The Stars and Your Hands The Sea’ is a collection of tracks crafted from hours of field recordings and instrumental takes. Using a small hand held recorder and a collection of string instruments, Seasons set about using ‘spaces’ – recording sounds in different areas to create a certain sound or mood. These rooms, fields and abandoned buildings form the backbone of the sound and give a curious cinematic quality to the record. You can almost place yourself in each space, and while it isn’t always obvious beneath the chatter and manipulated radio static, there are always skeletons of real life just around the corner. It is eventually the artist’s humanity that sets these compositions apart from those of his peers; rather than simply dry recordings, they are merely starting points for layering and sculpting. The result is thick, detailed pieces which, while subtle, pack a clout more readily associated with the contemporary noise scene.

Restrained and totally enveloping, this is an album which resides somewhere in the undergrowth, emerging slowly before drifting gently out to sea. Turn down the lights, lower the needle and let it pull you away. You might not want to come back."

-Type

"Pat Maherr might not be a name familiar to a lot of music buyers, but those in the know will probably already be salivating at the promise of a new release. Under a plethora of names he has hand-crafted some of the most beguiling sounds we’ve heard in the last few years – chopped and screwed hip hop as DJ Yo-Yo Dieting, lo-fi noise as Sisprum Vish, sample-heavy musique concrete as Moms Who Chop and cask-strength industrial ambience as here, under the Indignant Senility moniker.

‘Plays Wagner’ appeared as a very limited cassette on Maherr’s own label last year, but as soon as it landed at the Type offices we knew it needed to reach more ears. Using a handful of dusty Wagner pieces (no doubt scored from one of Portland, Oregon’s many thrift stores), he has stretched and distorted the hallowed tones into something indescribably dark and beautiful. Like David Lynch’s peerless Eraserhead soundtrack before it, this is music that sounds as if you are being dragged through rusted pipes and hearing the distant swell of broken gramophones playing in unison. Maherr has created music that is at all times exquisite but deeply disturbing. Like Leyland Kirby or even William Basinski, there is a sense of harmony, nostalgia and restraint in the layers of hiss, grit and noise.

It is only very rarely you hear something as pure and enveloping as ‘Plays Wagner’, and we are proud to be able to bring this to the wider world. Having mastered this from cassette tape, we have retained all the decomposing grime experienced on the original version (which was dubbed to aging, heavily used C90 cassettes), but have beefed it up for public consumption. The best way to absorb an album like this is to place the needle and simply slip away into a deep, nightmarish slumber. Just keep your eye on the radiator, who knows what might happen."

-Type

"On is the unique collaboration between French composer/producer Sylvain Chauveau and Chicago-based percussionist Steven Hess (Haptic, Pan American). I say unique because the band has a rather strange way of presenting its work – the concept is simple, to record a record in the studio, and then place it in the hands of a third party. The resulting work is then ‘remixed’ (for want of a better word) and the album is complete. Maybe we will never know what ‘Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night’ would have sounded like in the hands of a different musician, or even totally unprocessed, but that would be defeating the point of On.

This time around the three hours of delicate source material was handled by none other than the Norwegian master of dark ambient Helge Sten aka Deathprod. Sten’s characteristic smudged ambience is evident as he submerges Chauveau and Hess’s compositions beneath a swamp of cavernous reverb and synthesized smoke. Hess’s patented percussive drones are filtered into the distant buzz of an insect’s wings, and Chauveau’s prepared guitar becomes a tectonic rumble from another continent. At times it is difficult to discern where On stops and Deathprod begins, such is the mastery of Sten’s production and the appropriateness of Chauveau and Hess’s recordings.

Like only the finest records in the dark ambient genre, ‘Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night’ guides you to another world for its sixty-minute duration. Haunted and trembling, these recordings (made in 2003) marked the conclusion of the Deathprod project as Helge Sten vowed never to record under the name again. It is easy to appreciate then how rare a record like this is to come across, and it is a work that should be savoured accordingly."

-Type

"It doesn’t seem like long ago that we were ushering in the debut album from the multi-talented Peter Broderick, but here we are again with his sophomore effort, and it is with great pleasure that we can be a part of this devastating work. Where ‘Float’ showed off Peter’s strengths as a composer working mainly with the piano, ‘Home’ returns to the sounds Peter grew up around –voice and the acoustic guitar.

Since the release of ‘Float’ Peter has been touring the world incessantly, sometimes as part of Danish post-rockers Efterklang and sometimes on his own, everywhere wowing crowds with his memorable songs and effortless instrumental skill. Many of the songs came from this very record, where he used his knowledge of production and composition to come up with a record that while rooted in folk music is something far more complex. Layers of vocals twist and tumble through a fog of instrumentation, but none of these flourishes ever dampen the impact of the songs themselves. Comparisons might be made to Sufjan Stevens, Jose Gonzales or more recently Sam Amidon, but what Peter does is very definitely his own.

Reacting to his move from Portland, Oregon to Copenhagen Peter has created ten delicate musings on what makes a place a home, and in this we get an incredibly personal record. Although it might surprise listeners who as yet have only heard ‘Float’, we’re sure that ‘Home’ will leave everyone with a smile on their face, and bring back only the fondest memories. It might be corny to describe the record as ‘homespun’ but here Peter has come up with an album which is the perfect accompaniment to a mug of cocoa and a roaring log fire, and really there isn’t much more to life than that…"

-Type

"It’s hard to believe that five years have passed since the release of ‘Album’, Andreas Tilliander’s first outing on the Type label. ‘Album’ marked the final stage in Andreas’s development as a ‘laptop’ artist and since then he has collected synthesizer upon synthesizer and enough tape to make the boys in Berlin jealous. Ditching the zeroes and ones, Andreas set about piecing together a follow-up to ‘Album’ and constructing it entirely in the analogue realm; the warming hiss of tape, the decomposing buzz of a monosynth and the nostalgic twitch of the Roland TB303.

There might be a love of all things ‘Kosmiche’ once more, but it would be facile to label ‘Persona’ as such. Sure Andreas has heard his fair share of Cluster and Harmonia records, but his sound is just as rooted in psychedelic rock and even Basic Channel-era dub techno as Germanic ambience. Just listen to the thick, pulsating ode to Spacemen 3 ‘Oscillations and Tremolo’ and you quickly realise that you are not merely listening to ‘another’ synthesizer album. Half-heard rhythms and familiar TB303 bass pulses drag us in and out of a hinted-at Basic Channel-axis production on ‘Valla Torg Kraut’ while a fairground jangle drives us through ‘Ode to the Ode to the Street Hassle’. Something in there is blissful, almost beautiful, but it is hidden below thick layers of tape hiss and crumbling circuit boards.

‘Persona’ is a mature, confident and engaging experience – the product of a veteran electronic musician producing music that comes naturally to him. As the Ingmar Bergman film of the same name suggests, it might be Andreas Tilliander’s most revealing record to date. A stunning collection of modern electronic music."

-Type

"From the desolate hills of Albuquerque, New Mexico comes self-styled black ambient overlord William Fowler Collins. Brought up in New England and educated in San Francisco, the constant traveling has given his music a rare patience and focus and a distinct connection with the sprawling American landscape. Like Earth’s seminal ‘Hex’ before it, ‘Perdition Hill Radio’, his second full-length, invokes the ghosts of a lost America and drags the rotting carcass of country music through a swamp of noise and drone.

With a love of both experimental ambient music and ear-splitting black metal, Collins has arrived upon a grim hybrid of both. Black ambient might be the best description as this is neither one nor the other, inhabiting a lonely space in-between. The chugging, blown out treble and isolated darkness of Xasthur is all present and correct, but there are also echoes of William Basinski and Deaf Center hidden amongst the clouds of radio static. These rare cracks of beauty are what make ‘Perdition Hill Radio’ such an arresting listening experience, and what sets it apart from so much that has come before.

There is a shadowy link between the compositions of William Fowler Collins and fellow Type artists Svarte Greiner and Xela; all three share a similar fascination with the darker side of the ambient spectrum. Collins however manages to re-frame this darkness to suit the sun-baked mountain tops of New Mexico, and it’s all the bleaker for it. As crows circle an anonymous skeleton and brightly coloured lizards retreat into their dark corners, there could be no better soundtrack than this. Dark, doomy and with no escape from the pounding sun up above – ‘Perdition Hill Radio’ is a truly cinematic record."

-Type

"In just a few short years multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, composer and all round renaissance man Peter Broderick has shot from being a darling of the underground to something far more substantial. Constantly touring, Peter has accrued fans far and wide with his alluring folk songs and gorgeous post-classical compositions, but all this had to start somewhere.

A few years ago Peter was kind enough to send Type a package of all his material prior to writing ‘Float’. This came in the form of two CDRs, lovingly hand-labelled ‘4 Track Songs’. Recorded to tape using only a cheap microphone, Peter assembled these tracks as and when they came to his head. From delicate piano improvisations to fully fledged songs more reminiscent of ‘Home’ this is a charming and heart-warming portal into Peter’s early creative process. More than that though, these songs are so defiant in their hazy, lo-fi beauty that they stand on their own as pieces that can never possibly be repeated.

Moving from track to track with all the grace of that chunky stop button on a cassette recorder, we are treated to both volumes of Peter’s early recordings and although they might have been released before, they actually never sold a single copy. Peter ended up giving them away to lucky friends and relatives as the general public had no idea of what they were missing out on. Through dedications (‘For Dave’) to get-well-soon messages (‘Jenn is Sick’) to simple musings on life (‘Three Cats’) each song seems to come straight from the heart and is untroubled by the trappings of modern production. This is pure, simple and ineffably beautiful music which shows the beginnings of a truly special talent."

-Type