Altered Zones

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(Conrad Schnitzler at Siegessäule, Berlin July 23rd, 2011)

On August 4th, Conrad Schnitzler passed away from stomach cancer. Member of Kluster and Tangerine Dream, Schnitzler played an invaluable role in the shaping of kraut and electronic music. Having studied under Stockhausen, Conrad composed more than 90 albums of solo material, and completed his final work, "00/830," just four days before his death. In preparation for his departure, Schnitzler sent strands of his hair to be buried around the world and created the Global Living Project. In his words:

Since some time, I globalize me.
Why just living in one country,
why just sleeping in one country,
why just being buried only in one country,
now that we think and live globally.

I would like to be at beautiful places in the world,
without  to move me from my place here.
I send my DNA (my hair) to different places in the world.
This means I'm all over the world.
I'm everywhere, even when I'll be dead.
Nobody must come to my grave in Berlin.
My friends can visit me in the whole world now.

So if friends want to give me a place...., welcome.
I'll send a DNA sample to bury me.
I am in the whole world at home now. I love this feeling.

Friends, family, and fans can pay their respects to Conrad at 9 different sites, including the Green Lagoon in Spain, Norway's Lysefjord, and Mt. Fuji. --Ric Leichtung, Altered Zones

There are not too many names that get us more excited here at AZ HQ than Conrad Schnitzler's. Since the mid-1960s, Schnitzler has been one of the undisputed masters of electronic experimentation, and his name is synonymous with Krautrock's innovation and defiant musical vision. A prolific solo artist, he also founded Kluster (later Cluster) with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius, was an early collaborator with seminal Kosmische acts Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, and, in 1967, founded the Zodiak Free Arts Lab in West Berlin, an experimental performance space designed for the exploration of musical and political freedom (where Tangerine and Klaus both played). So, for previously unreleased material from Conrad to become available is is an exciting affair indeed-- especially for those of us not lucky enough to have been in the crowds those nights in the '70s. Further Records have done just that, taking a previously unreleased 1972 performance from the vault and giving it a double LP pressing. As Conrad explains the origins of the performance:

"I was invited to be part of an art exhibition, Szene 72 (it means 1972). This was happening in Stuttgart, London and Hamburg. From the London performance there was some music that was recorded to tape, but all this old cheap tape-material does not run on a tape player anymore. This, what you have, this has survived."

"Track 12," below, is a taster of these sonic adventures, a 1984 "remix"/sampler of the actual '72 performance. Even so, it displays Schnitzler's intuitive grasp of rhythm and atmosphere, seamlessly transitioning from pulsing synths to swabs of metallic texture. This is a precious artefact of a man fully in control, and ahead of his game. --Daniel Gottlieb, Altered Zones

Conrad Schnitzler - "Track 12 - Live '72" by alteredzones

Conrad Schnitzler's Live '72 is out June 6th through Further Records, limited to 500 copies with an even more limited run of 100 copies on white vinyl, all hand screen printed on DIY black french paper jackets. Peep the package here.