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Frank Bretschneider is one of the vital producers in the global electronic network. A member of the raster-noton collective, he also has releases under the names Komet and Produkt. Bretschneider has created some spacial electronics of the late 90’s and 00’s, unlike so much output in the microscopic music scene, his music has always flourished with activity. Precise sound placement, volume levels and the contrast of tones in Bretschneider’s production makes his compositions captivating. Bretschneider goes beyond the plug-in or plug research electronics. He redefins the genre by rendering the parameters playable, reentering the musical domain with unprecedented ease. Bretschneider discovers the complexity of the virtual: microtonality, clicks, complex rhythm textures, melodic fragments.
Peter Duimelinks’ music activities date back to the mid eighties, in a time in which he co-founded the musique concrete group THU20 with a.o. Roel Meelkop and Jos Smolders. Working with THU20 was of vital importance to Duimelinks and it shaped his ideas and concepts about sound and how to work with it. Traces of this period can still be heard in his more contemporary solowork, which usually consists of field-recordings sometimes heavily reworked but mostly used in it’s pure form, and then organised into a composition. He is also a member of the improvisation trio Kapotte Muziek and electronic pulse trio Goem. In the last 15 years he has also collaborated extensively with visual artists, film and video makers and contemporary dance choreographers, and has had several exhibitions of sound installations. He runs the V2_Archief music/sound label and the audio.nl label.
In their playing together Bretschneider and Duimelinks go back to the core of minimal, click related techno music, to the early days of Komet and Goem. Minimal but engaging music, always with the heartbeat pulse at the bottom.

Korm Plastics KP 2024 | CD only | release date: january 1st 2006 download sample (mp3/32kbps) | cover

Colley and Lescalleet had never met before their grey week in Nijmegen. Though neither of these melacholic composers were prepared for the conflicts and compromise of this collaboration, they found common ground in rejecting the need for deep meaning or complex concepts.
46 minutes remain after harsh judgement from two perpetually dissatisfied artists.
But what does it sound like?
Amidst the detritus of yard sale junk and old, broken equipment, Colley and Lescalleet engage in the pursuit of resurrecting the essence of sound and exposing beauty that others discard. Locked away in the recording studio of Geluidwerkplaats Extrapool for ten days, they found music in the natural process of decay. These compositions seem weathered and eroded. Rather than aiming for excitement or dazzling expression, Colley and Lescalleet embrace the tedium of everyday life as something beautiful and compelling. This is music with a slow absorption rate and a high toxicity.

Korm Plastics KP 2023 | CD only | release date: january 1st 2006

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Giuseppe came to the US to promote his “Right After” album with Domenico Sciajno, and we got along immediately. We’re about the same age, have a similar temperament, play a similar sort of music, are from a similar kind of background, are excited about records, we love to eat, we’re both kinda nerdy... yeah, Giuseppe is my kind of guy! We had spoken about collaborating at a few points over the years, but somehow it just never happened, probably because we’re so busy with our various projects and labels. So when I was offered a Brombron residency, I thought it would a perfect opportunity to spend some time hanging out and playing music with Giuseppe.
The method we chose was to first proceed to the closest coffee shop for a breakfast of cheese and meat sandwiches (me) and cookies (Giuseppe), then we’d record improvisations for a few hours until lunchtime. I primarily used cassette tapes and Giuseppe used a guitar, but we also both played synths and electronic doodads and microphones, and I made some tape recordings around the city that I brought back in to our improvisations. Our minds were open, and we experimented without deciding in advance what sort of album we might be making. We’d then take a long walk, go to the Nijmegen record shops (where Plurex records are still cheap!), have some lunch, maybe also a snack, and then start to edit out the good bits from the morning. We’d also add some effects and change some parts, use the recordings as source material in a small way. Then we’d return to the record shops to buy the records we hesitated on in the afternoon, have some dinner and relax. The next day, we’d wake up, have coffee, and do it again. Our pace of working and comfort matched quite well. For the final few days of the residency, we started to piece together our bits until they worked as compositions. Then we edited some more until the album emerged.
About the title.... we gave a duo concert at Extrapool as part of the requirements of our residency. There was an art opening happening at the same time, so the gallery was packed with people. It was a lot of fun, but it also made us both feel a bit strange; we’re somewhat awkward in social situations, and didn’t know anyone at the Extrapool party except for Frans and Roel Meelkop, who drove out from Rotterdam. After our set, we split to go get more fried Dutch snacks. Along the walk, we talked about how we used to go out to parties more often when we were younger, but now we aren’t even so old and we generally enjoy staying at home where it’s quiet, listening to records and reading. Giuseppe was reminded on the song by Arthur Russell, “Losing My Taste for the Nightlife”. Maybe we are. Or, maybe that’s just how we felt on that evening. It doesn’t matter, really, I suppose.”

- Howard Stelzer. Cambridge, MA (USA)
December 2005

Korm Plastics kp 3018 download sample (mp3/32kbps) | cover

Natalie Bruys (Kodi) is foremost a visual artist who studied at De Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, where she graduated with the production of a vinyl record with her own music. She then moved temporarily to Berlin where she continued to produce her own unique blend of soundscaping, plunderphonica and techno.
Lukas Simonis (aka Pausa) has his roots as an instrumentalist and musical ‘activist’ in the industrial music and noise rock of the Eighties ( Throbbing Gristle, the Residents, Pere Ubu, Sonic Youth and beyond).Being a part of the Rotterdam jazzbunker scene (a collective that consisted of heavy drug induced punk rockers, freejazzers, early electronic musicians and pre-postrock combo’s) he discovered the delimited world of improvisation. In the meantime he played in bands like Dull Schicksal, Trespassers W and Morzelpronk. At the same time he was writing for underground magazines like Trespassers W, Opscene, Mondain Den Haag and the Koekrandt as well as organizing concerts, events and films, first at the Jazzbunker in Rotterdam later on the Dissonanten festival, the Dissidenten festival, Popifilm, Dodorama and finally WORM, a multimedia centre for experimental art. At the moment Simonis plays in Coolhaven (with Peter Fengler and Hajo Doorn), Liana Flu Winks (with Nina Hitz and Wilf Plum), ApricotMyLady (with the Bohman Brothers and Ann Laberge), The Static Tics (with Henk Bakker) and Vril (with Chris Cutler and Bob Drake). This sounds like a lot of work (and sometimes it is) but these bands and projects all exist only a few weeks or months a year. (so time enough to sit at home).
On ‘In One Week And New Toys To Play’ Kodi & Pausa combine their totally different background of rock and techno, playing the studio’s analogue synth collection (aka the new toys to play) but also guitar, banjo, rhythmbox and a touch of the city’s sounds through their use of field recordings.