Bleep

Electronic music pioneer Uwe Schmidt, better known as Atom TM, digs up a mind-bending live set recorded in 1994 for re-release on his own archival imprint. Only a few years earlier, Schmidt had been a staple of Germany’s rave scene, but this recording finds him moving into long-form, improvised ambient soundscapes. Deep, warm drones accompany the listener for the entirety of the aural journey, while analogue tones, bleeps and gentle pulses float in and out of earshot. It isn’t until the latter half of the performance, when the spectral synth lines become bolder and more fully formed, that you realise how long you’ve been listening, or how far you’ve travelled.