Synthesist + Re-Synthesist, by Harald Grosskopf

Synthesist + Re-Synthesist

by Harald Grosskopf

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Chris Fox The Berlin School was my breakaway from rock after rock went sour. Harmonica, Neu!, Cluster, Klaus Schulze. Grosskopf was right in the middle, this really takes me back.

N B (MC URINATE) A classic album. Favorite track: Synthesist.

Eve McGivern A classic of German electronic music. Favorite track: Synthesist.

Carsten Pieper Pure nostalgia, this one. When I startet "seriously" listening music, "Schwingungen", a WDR radio programme dealing with electronic music, moderated by the great Winfrid Trenkler, was my favourite radio show. "So weit, so gut" (so far, so good) was the opening theme for about ten years. I had it on tape (radio, tape, anyone remembering these ?) but never on vinyl or CD. When I noticed, this is on Bandcamp, I definitely had to get it!
Tracks 1 to 8 from Synthesist, 1980. the rest are remixes. Favorite track: So Weit, So Gut.

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1.	So Weit, So Gut 05:22	buy track
2.	B. Aldrian 04:59	buy track
3.	Emphasis 04:57	buy track
4.	Synthesist 07:36	buy track
5.	1847-Earth 06:49	buy track
6.	Trauma 06:36	buy track
7.	Transcendental Overdrive 04:54	buy track
8.	Tai Ki 03:44	buy track
9.	So Weit, So Gut 05:06	buy track
10.	B. Aldrian 04:55	buy track
11.	B. Aldrian 03:36	buy track
12.	Emphasis 07:46	buy track
13.	Emphasize 05:18	buy track
14.	Synthesist 06:02	buy track
15.	Synthesist 06:46	buy track
16.	1847-Earth 05:03	buy track
17.	Trauma 2010 03:29	buy track
18.	WISHMASTER (Transcendental Overdrive) 07:34	buy track
19.	Tai Ki 06:21	buy track

about

Synthesist is the debut album by Harald Grosskopf, the enigmatic percussionist behind Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus Schulze, and Cosmic Jokers. Originally released by Sky Records in 1980, RVNG Intl. celebrates the 30th year anniversary with this newly mastered and packaged reissue.

Berlin, Germany, summer of 1979, Harald Grosskopf, then 30 years old, was at a personal and creative crossroads. His girlfriend just left him, and Ashra (Manuel Göttsching's "solo" project) was on temporary hiatus. Harald always considered himself a rhythmic accomplice to his numerous collaborators' lead, until prompted by some fellow musician friends to pursue a singular creative vision.

Armed with a MiniMoog and Revox reel-to-reel, Grosskopf set off for the West German countryside that fall and isolated himself in a home studio for almost two months to record Synthesist. The temperamental analog synthesizer and sequencing technology created a long learning curve eventually resulting in a harmonious union of man and machine.

The human response undeniably colors the eight songs of Synthesist and aligns the album with some of the more melodic output of the Berlin School of Electronic Music. The title track and "Transcendental Overdrive" almost take on pop qualities. Harald's live percussion opens up tracks like "So Weit, So Gut" and "Emphasis" for jammed out exploration. Where the album veers into the ambient space clusters of "B. Aldrian" or "Trauma", it's hard not to consider Synthesist the nexus of Krautrock, Kosmische, and New Age.

Re-Synthesist, the companion compilation to Synthesist, is an assemblage of reinterpretations of Grosskopf's work by a new vanguard of electronic and experimental artists including Oneohtrix Point Never, Blondes, Arp, Stellar Om Source, CFCF, James Ferraro, and many others.

Although Synthesist has been unavailable on vinyl for almost three decades, it doesn't fetch unfathomable collector fees. Selecting Synthesist as our first reissue is more about the connectivity to a new audience than the scarcity fetish for a select few. It's about sharing Harald's story and celebrating an album musically accomplished and compelling from start to end.

The Synthesist LP comes as a deluxe package on post-consumer recycled goods, including a unique reverse bound record jacket and full color liner notes by Harald Grosskopf in English and German. The Re-Synthesist compilation is only available with vinyl purchase, both available digitally through our usual storefront suspects.

More info at:

shop.igetrvng.com/collections/rvng-releases/products/rervng01

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released February 15, 2011

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