Bleep

Gagarin Records come on strong with a split album from Splitter Orchester & label head Felix Kubin, as the title suggests Shine On You Crazy Diagram is an enigmatic journey into an electro-acoustic sound world that carries a penchant for the scientific psychedelic.

Taking up the entire A, the Splitter Orchester offer up a fascinating glimpse into the found sound world they occupy. Blending elements of real-time recordings with gargantuan washes of filtered proto-techno recorded on what are described by the imprint as 'Specially built and prepared instruments add to the complexity of sound layers that slowly unfold, filling both an imaginary and physical space.' The resulting soundscapes sound something like Black Lodge releasing on GRM.

On the flip, Felix Kubin offers his reinterpretations of these tracks with a physically closer and often rather blunt calls that turn the distant dreamlike atmosphere of side A into a state of awakening. Bringing a taste of the technical, Felix delves into realms of proto-techno abstraction on Lückenschere, while Lichtsplitter glazes over the drums with a slowed down radiophonic style glaze that calls to mind Bruno Spoerri and Betha Sarasin's drone jazz classic Kunst Am Computer.

Gagarin is fast becoming one of the most important imprints for pre-computer concrète music.