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German electronic musician
Thomas Koner (or, better, Koener)
penned drone-based ambient music that followed
Brian Eno's Discreet Music commandments.
The dark glacial ambient music of Nunatak Gongamour (Barooni, 1991 - Type, 2010)
came out of improvising with the drones and overtones of lightly touched gongs.
Most of the pieces sketch a trajectory, although it is not always obvious.
2, for example, morphs from deep ghostly rumbles into vivid astral signals.
In rare cases he indulges in counterpoint of timbres.
6, for example, is a duet for agonizing seal call and industrial burble.
Several of them are hardly audible, as Koner toys with ultradeep listening.
He already displayed an uncanny proficiency at disorienting the listener with
the simplest of means.
Teimo (Barooni, 1992 - Type, 2010) focused on soft, slow-decaying gong drones in
a more elegant and humane manner. The centerpiece, Andenes, is
translucent turbulence that unfolds like the flight of a butterfly.
The modulations of Teimo almost originate a melody, and the
ominous wall of (booming) sound Teimo (Schluss)
complements it with pure psychology with no melody.
Permafrost (Barooni, 1993 - Type, 2010) is his most austere work and perhaps his
masterpiece. The drones are much stronger and thicker. Koner is no longer merely
hypnotized by the timbres of his music. The sounds are at the same time more
abstract and more organic.
The horrible dark nebula of Nival is a prelude to the terrifying tidal
wave of Serac.
The centerpiece, the ten-minute Permafrost, juxtaposes a
burbling magma with a supersonic hiss until the two seem to erase each other.
Even more powerful is the slowly swirling galaxy of Meta Incognita,
that emerges out of an ugly bass vibration to permeate every corner of the
univese.
Kanon (1994) appeared on a compilation.
Aubrite (Barooni, 1996) continues the experiment with less imagination,
having abandoned the the more ominous edges of the previous albums and
indulging in more static and mellow ambient music.
Porter Ricks, a duo with Andi Mellweg, is Koner's techno project, although
his techno is brainy and ghostly, predating German minimal techno.
Biokinetics (Chain Reaction, 1996) and
Porter Ricks (Mille Plateaux, 1997), with
Redundance, are their albums.
The Koner Experiment (Revolver, 1997) documents a collaboration with
Experimental Audio Research.
Thomas Koner's Kaamos (Mille Plateaux, 1998), that contains the three-movement suite and a 25-minute live performance, and
Kontakt Der Junglinge (Die Stadt, 2001), a collaboration with
Asmus Tietchens, actually a live recording of a 1999
performance, are a little tedious.
Like most prolific artists,
Koner was indulging in too many recordings without investing the time to
properly scope out his ideas.
Daikan (Mille Plateaux, 2001), a hour-long composition first performed
in 1999, returned him to his favorite icy,
granitic atmospheres, a far more comfortable environment for his inspiration.
Kontakt Der Junglinge, the collaboration between
Thomas Koner and Asmus Tietchens, continued with
the live -1 (Die Stadt, 2002) and N (Die Stadt, 2003).
Unerforschtes Gebiet (Die Stadt, 2002), recorded between 1997 and 2001,
contains two lengthy, calm and slow-moving drones.
The first disc of Zyklop (Mille Plateaux, 2003)
contains only one (live) 60-minute composition, Une Topographie Sonore - Col de Vence, that obsessively explores a magical and ethereal soundscape of natural sounds and eerie drones.
Too bad the second disc (also collecting live performances) is so confused and pointless.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Ascanio Borga)
Thomas Koner (o, meglio, Koener) e' un musicista elettronico tedesco dalla doppia vita.
Come solista, compone musica ambient per droni, seguendo i dettami di Discreet Music di
Brian Eno.
Nunatak Gongamour (Barooni, 1991) e Teimo (Barooni, 1992) si concentrano su lievi gong-drones
in lento decadimento (Andenes). Permafrost (Barooni, 1993) rappresenta il suo lavoro piu'
austero e forse il suo capolavoro.
Il brano Kanon e' apparso nella compilation "Ambient 4: Isolationism" curata da Kevin Martin.
Aubrite (Barooni, 1996) continua l'esperimento con meno immaginazione.
Porter Ricks, un duo con Andy Mellwig, e' il progetto "techno" di Koner, ma la sua "techno" e'
spettrale e cervellotica. Biokinetics (Chain Reaction, 1996) e Porter Ricks (Mille Plateaux, 1997)
con Redundance, sono i loro album.
The Koner Experiment (Revolver, 1997) e' una collaborazione con Experimental Audio Research.
Kaamos (Mille Plateaux, 1998) e Kontakt Der Junglinge (Die Stadt, 2001), una collaborazione
con Asmus Tietchens, registrazione live di una performance del 1999, sono un po' noiosi.
Come la maggior parte degli artisti prolifici, Koner indulge in troppe registrazioni senza
investire il tempo per organizzare adeguatamente le proprie idee.
Daikan (Mille Plateaux, 2001), una composizione di un'ora eseguita per la prima volta nel 1999,
lo riporta alle sue atmosfere preferite, glaciali e granitiche, un'ambientazione di gran lunga
piu' adeguata alla sua ispirazione.
(Translation by/ Tradotto da Ascanio Borga)
Thomas Koner (o, meglio, Koener) e' un musicista elettronico tedesco dalla doppia vita.
Come solista, compone musica ambient per droni, seguendo i dettami di Discreet Music di
Brian Eno.
Nunatak Gongamour (Barooni, 1991) e Teimo (Barooni, 1992) si concentrano su lievi gong-drones
in lento decadimento (Andenes). Permafrost (Barooni, 1993) rappresenta il suo lavoro piu'
austero e forse il suo capolavoro.
Il brano Kanon e' apparso nella compilation "Ambient 4: Isolationism" curata da Kevin Martin.
Aubrite (Barooni, 1996) continua l'esperimento con meno immaginazione.
Porter Ricks, un duo con Andy Mellwig, e' il progetto "techno" di Koner, ma la sua "techno" e'
spettrale e cervellotica. Biokinetics (Chain Reaction, 1996) e Porter Ricks (Mille Plateaux, 1997)
con Redundance, sono i loro album.
The Koner Experiment (Revolver, 1997) e' una collaborazione con Experimental Audio Research.
Kaamos (Mille Plateaux, 1998) e Kontakt Der Junglinge (Die Stadt, 2001), una collaborazione
con Asmus Tietchens, registrazione live di una performance del 1999, sono un po' noiosi.
Come la maggior parte degli artisti prolifici, Koner indulge in troppe registrazioni senza
investire il tempo per organizzare adeguatamente le proprie idee.
Daikan (Mille Plateaux, 2001), una composizione di un'ora eseguita per la prima volta nel 1999,
lo riporta alle sue atmosfere preferite, glaciali e granitiche, un'ambientazione di gran lunga
piu' adeguata alla sua ispirazione.
Unerforschtes Gebeit (Die Stadt, 2002), registrato tra il 1997 e il 2001, contiene due lunghi
droni, calmi e suonati al rallentatore.
Il primo disco di Zyklop (Mille Plateaux, 2003) contiene soltanto una composizione (live), Une
Topographie Sonore - Col de Vence, che esplora ossessivamente un paesaggio sonoro magico ed
etereo. Peggiore il secondo disco (che anche contiene delle performance live), cosi' confuso e
senza senso.
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