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Kind Kind . Sack & Blumm

 

staubgold 42
2003. cd . dl . lp

“When it seems that much contemporary electronica or avant rock seems determined to disappear in a haze of conceptualism and /or clumsy irony, it's a real pleasure to come across a record as unassuming, kaleidoscopic and beguiling as this one.“ (Peter Marsh, BBC Music Online)

Three years after their phenomenal "Shy Noon" album on the seminal Gefriem label Harald Sack Ziegler and Frank Schültge Blumm continue a home recording series that has travelled between their post boxes since 1999. Sack & Blumm are not a band or a studio project, but may be described rather as a home recording project that was conceived independently in their bedroom studios in Berlin and Cologne.

“Shoving together dolefully melodic trumpets, ethnic percussives, occasional electronics and the odd spot of fuzz bass, Sack & Blumm construct a quirky, good natured fusion of ethnological forgery, electronica and avant rock. Apparently the two work by mailing each other tapes and files, but the results are much more organic than such an approach might suggest. If Jon Hassell had a sense of humour and a much lower recording budget, this is what he might come up with, but Sack und Blumm's closest relatives might be post-punk bedroom experimentalists like General Strike.

To sum this record up as 'charming' may seem to be underselling it a little. It won't announce itself with a smack between the ears. But that's ok; after all we don't need those kind of experiences every day (or at least I don't). But if you fancy having your ears tickled by music rich with warmth, intelligence and humour, this'll be for you.” (Peter Marsh, BBC Music Online)

Sack & Blumm

Harald "Sack" Ziegler and Frank Schültge "Blumm" are Sack & Blumm. First introduced with a 7" release on Dhyana Rec. ("Die fünfte Dengelophonie") in 1998 Sack & Blumm spread rumours and appeared in a variety of radio and dj charts that year. With their 7" for Staubgold - "Sylvester Orchester 2000"/"Maus-Garage" (staubgold 6) - released in summer 1999, and their debut cd on Tomlab in autumn that year, Sack & Blumm continued a homerecording series that travels between their postboxes in Cologne and Berlin. The duo released it's highly acclaimed second full-length album "Shy Noon" on Gefriem in 2000.

Sack & Blumm, classically trained on their instruments French Horn and guitar, are not a band or a studio project but may be described rather as a homerecording project that was conceived independently in their bedroom studios in Berlin and Cologne. The digital multi-trackers and the German postal service ferrying their ideas back and forth have definitely been playing a major role in the production of their album "Kind Kind" (Staubgold, 2003). Tracks were produced in several steps, e.g. Frank would record an African finger piano for a track and send a DAT to Harald in Cologne who would then layer the recording with his French horn and send the tape back to Berlin.

Instead of sequencing work on computers, the music lives from the experience of two musicians. Folk themes are set against digital fragmentations, and techno tropes are taken up on acoustic instruments. Most of the instruments are played live onto the multi-track and the arrangements of the electronic sounds are produced with Harald's toy instruments. Structures arise from their curiosity in the origin and the physicality of sounds (wood, stone, sheet metal, paper, air... ) and from experimenting and playing with the materials (plucking, beating, rubbing, blowing...).

Harald "Sack" Ziegler was born in 1961 in Berlin and is living in Cologne since 1986. More or less at the same time he started to compose and perform his own music and got involved in the 1980s tape scene. Harald is involved in numerous projects from radio plays to classical music and well-known in Germany for remarkable live performances featuring his collection of toy instruments and lovely underground pop songs. He was a guest musician for Mouse On Mars (contribution to the cd "Iaora Tahiti", brass arrangements for the "Niun Niggung" cd), Faust (live) and Kreidler (live).

Frank Schültge "Blumm" was born in 1968 in Bremen and lives in Berlin now where he is working as a musician and a producer for radio plays. Frank has continously released solo instrumental albums on Morrmusic, Audio Dregs and Staubgold and has collaborated with Bobby Baby in Bobby & Blumm (Morrmusic) and Kat Cosm's Jana in Old Splendifolia (Plop).