A 98 ABRAUM

CD
1000füssler • 1000füssler 017 • Germany 2010
300 copies

Tracklist
01 Abraum 3 13’48“
02 Abraum 2 12’05“
03 Abraum 1 09’40“
04 Abraum 4 19’53“

1000fuessler label info:

Asmus Tietchens
‚Abraum‘
CD, (56:22 min), 300 copies, cardboard cover
1000füssler 017, release date: 27th october 2010

Tracklist:
Abraum 3 13’48“
Abraum 2 12’05“
Abraum 1 09’40“
Abraum 4 19’53“

A new subway tunnel is being built in the harbor area of Hamburg’s inner city. The tunneling produces waste and the waste needs to be disposed of. In this case sand and shredded rubble are mixed with groundwater in order to be pumped out through steel tubes with a diameter of approximately 80cm. The sounds that are produced in the tubes are object of field recordings that I made at different times and places on site. It was immediately apparent that the continuum of the basic sounds that I used for my compositions already sounded formed in its randomness and diversity. The real surprise though, was that commonplace noises such as flowing water and rippling sand were completely inaudible, instead a steady progression of sophisticated rasping and quiet metal jangling was present. Besides the polymorphism of the basic sounds it was the total artificiality of the signal that interested me, acoustic manifestations of sand and water subject to the conditions of technical and functional canalization. (Asmus Tietchens)

Asmus Tietchens lives and works in Hamburg. His focus is on the manipulation of sounds in ways suggested by the material itself. In 1965 he began to experiment with tape machines, concrete sounds and electronic sound generators. After a period of experimental pop music at the beginning 1980, he became more and more influenced by Industrial Music (1982 -1985). Since the mid 1990s his music is characterized by a reductionist aesthetic, often using sine waves, white noise and quiet sounds.

Until today more than 50 LP- and CD-releases as well as numerous public performances in Germany and abroad. Collaborations with Thomas Köner (Kontakt der Jünglinge), Achim Wollscheid, Jon Mueller, Arcane Device, Richard Chartier, Merzbow and many others. 2003 and 2006 awarded with the „Karl-Sczuka-Preis für Akustische Kunst“ by German public radio station SWR. Guest lecturer for sound studies at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (1989-2010) and the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg (2010).