CCMusic.com

Bureau B present Filmmusik 1, a selection from Conrad Schnitzler's archive. In Conrad Schnitzler's sprawling archive, there are two tapes marked Filmmusik 1975 A and Filmmusik 1980 B. It is hard to say which videos this music belongs to, particularly as the pieces have been left untitled. Perhaps there isn't really any film material at all. The dates are of no great help either, since the tapes feature the same tracks, albeit in varying degrees of quality. Filmmusik 1 presents an initial selection of these finds, presented to Bureau B by Schnitzler's musical partner for many years and guardian of the archive, Wolfgang Seidel (Populäre Mechanik, Ton Steine Scherben). The tracks reveal much about how Schnitzler worked. He recorded individual tracks on cassettes and then combined them, also using them live in his so-called cassette concerts. Thus, there are recognizable recurring "melodies", sometimes fragmented, in different places. Some tracks have the same bass loop and rhythm, only the sounds and effects have changed. The music on the Filmmusik tapes is extraordinarily accessible for Schnitzler: hypnotic bass lines, stoic drum rhythms, dark drones, crystalline shards of melody. Wolfgang Seidel talks more about Schnitzler's life and work in the liner notes.