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Monolake

  • 12-04-2008 02:44PM
    #1
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭


    I think Monolake are definitely one of the best electronic acts I have ever heard. I only discovered them about a year ago when I heard 'Hong Kong' and was totally blown away. I have since bought 'Interstate', 'Gravity' & just this week; 'Polygon_Cities' - this latest once again absolutely amazing music.

    Their first album, 'Hong Kong' is long deleted and is pretty rare plus sells for big enough money on discogs - http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=652&ev=rp

    hong-1.jpg

    I have only got an electronic version of Hong Kong and have been tempted to buy a 2nd hand copy on discogs but to my great pleasure I see today that on the Monolake website Hong Kong is due for reissue pretty soon :)

    Anyway, a bit of an 'about' below -
    Monolake was formed in 1995 as the duo of Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke, although on later albums the group consisted of Henke alone, with Behles focusing his time on running the Ableton software company. Their sound can generally be described as minimal techno filled with nice touch of fine tech dub, although the 1999 Gobi. The Desert EP, which contains a single 37-minute atmospheric piece, is a notable exception. Monolake first released an album and several 12”s on Berlin’s Chain Reaction label, then on Monolake/Imbalance Computer Music, which is operated by Robert Henke. 2005’s Polygon_Cities is the result of a collaboration between Henke and Torsten “T++” Pröfrock, who is now an “official” member of Monolake.
    http://www.last.fm/music/Monolake

    I would HIGHLY recommend browsing the official Monolake website. There is a variety of music to download for free, lots of information in general about Monolake and projects they have been involved in and of course a complete discography.

    http://www.monolake.de/

    I only discovered also recently that a previous member of Monolake created Ableton! They also developed their own MIDI controller, the 'Monodeck' -

    http://www.monolake.de/monodeck/

    They are playing live somewhere in France on June the 6th and I am seriously tempted to make travel arrangements :pac:

    http://www.monolake.de/concerts/

    I honestly can't recommend Monolake enough... Spectacular.


Comments

  • #2
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭Scubadevils


    Hong Kong finally reissued!

    http://www.towerrecords.ie/viewdetails.asp?hfldUnitID=397617

    Picked up a copy today, what an amazing album, HIGHLY recommended!


  • #3
    Setun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭Setun


    Sounds good actually, thx for the post.

    I don't mean to hijack your thread, but the metal case design reminded me of another album I purchased in a strange little music shop in Berlin a few months ago.

    Development Concept for Formulation of Nimp
    You may enjoy it, when I asked the guy in the shop how he'd describe it, he said: "I suppose its like post-industrial techno with beats." :cool:

    It's damn good though. And that shop was amazing, I hadn't heard of one record in that shop before going in, all of it experimental electronic music. Daunting, but a return is a must I think.


  • #4
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭Scubadevils


    Looks interesting alright, must check it out.

    You can't beat shops like what you have decribed in cities around Europe. I was in Edinburgh last weekend and had listed a few shops I wanted to browse while there... must have been a good 5or 6 hours between 3 shops, lots of amazing finds both 2nd hand and new. Amazing the difference also being in HMV over there, puts the dance/electronic section to shame in HMV Ireland. So much cheaper too, Dublin can be so bad for music selections.

    Only been to Berlin once and spent an afternoon in Hard Wax, great shop.. must take a trip over again and spend more time wandering music stores there. They seem quite spread out though around the city?


  • #5
    Setun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭Setun


    There's one street in particular, can't remember the name right now but I'll post it up later. It has about 3 or 4 amazing music shops - the kind that no matter what you buy you're going to come out with something downright interesting.

    So many amazing bedroom musicians I'll probably never hear /sigh

    EDIT/ street's name was Torstrasse, if anyone's going over soon ;)
    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=rosa-luxembourg+strasse&sll=52.526235,13.422225&sspn=0.007715,0.02223&ie=UTF8&ll=52.52788,13.40817&spn=0.007715,0.02223&z=16


  • #6
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭Scubadevils


    Daddio wrote: »
    There's one street in particular, can't remember the name right now but I'll post it up later. It has about 3 or 4 amazing music shops - the kind that no matter what you buy you're going to come out with something downright interesting.

    So many amazing bedroom musicians I'll probably never hear /sigh

    EDIT/ street's name was Torstrasse, if anyone's going over soon ;)
    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=rosa-luxembourg+strasse&sll=52.526235,13.422225&sspn=0.007715,0.02223&ie=UTF8&ll=52.52788,13.40817&spn=0.007715,0.02223&z=16

    Cheers, must take note of that. I reckon I might take a trip over later in the year - get a cheap flight and hotel, just go on a music shopping trip! Amsterdam is great too for music stores, especially a shop called Concerto.


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  • #7
    Setun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭Setun


    I'll be in amsterdam in about 2 weeks. Where abouts is that shop? :D


  • #8
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭Scubadevils


    http://www.concerto.nl/

    Take the number 4 tram from Central Station and get off at UTRECHTSESTRAAT, I got off at the street just before that but I think the tram does actually go down that street.... thats of course if you are coming from Central Station :)


  • #9
    Setun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭Setun


    Marvellous. Might grab that Monolake album ;)


  • #10
    John
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,135 ✭✭✭✭John


    Daddio wrote: »
    There's one street in particular, can't remember the name right now but I'll post it up later. It has about 3 or 4 amazing music shops - the kind that no matter what you buy you're going to come out with something downright interesting.

    So many amazing bedroom musicians I'll probably never hear /sigh

    EDIT/ street's name was Torstrasse, if anyone's going over soon ;)
    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=rosa-luxembourg+strasse&sll=52.526235,13.422225&sspn=0.007715,0.02223&ie=UTF8&ll=52.52788,13.40817&spn=0.007715,0.02223&z=16

    The shop was Staalplaat wasn't it? ****ing great shop, my girlfriend fell asleep on one of the couches while I went through the racks. Spent a fortune. They used to have a second store in Amsterdam but it's gone now. Shame as I'm going there too in August.


  • #11
    Setun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭Setun


    John wrote: »
    The shop was Staalplaat wasn't it? ****ing great shop, my girlfriend fell asleep on one of the couches while I went through the racks. Spent a fortune. They used to have a second store in Amsterdam but it's gone now. Shame as I'm going there too in August.
    Yep, name rings a bell alright. Great shop, although I only had about a tenner left by the time I found the place :( So just bought that NIMP cd I mentioned above, which was a bloody fantastic buy in retrospect.


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  • #12
    John
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,135 ✭✭✭✭John


    They have a website and do mailorder. They also are (were?) a label that put out quite a bit of very interesting music over the years.


  • #13
    Techbot
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29 ✭Techbot


    Probably already posted but heres a great talk by Henke on the mondeck, ableton et al, and a couple of other monodeck vidz

    http://createdigitalmusic.com/index.php?s=monodeck+henke


  • #14
    Setun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭Setun


    I nearly bought polygon cities today in tower... next time I'm in there I might have to run it up to the till before I change my mind :p


  • #15
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭Scubadevils


    Daddio wrote: »
    I nearly bought polygon cities today in tower... next time I'm in there I might have to run it up to the till before I change my mind :p

    Ah start with Hong Kong and work your way up to the more recent albums... tis worth it ;) I love Tower, great shop. I'd love to stay overnight with a tray of beer and play a load of CD's I am curious about... that would be good :pac:

    Oh and...

    http://www.discogs.com/release/1147119


  • #16
    Setun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭Setun


    Interstate is amazing.

    That is all. :)


  • #17
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭Scubadevils


    Daddio wrote: »
    Interstate is amazing.

    That is all. :)

    Glad you took the plunge, a load more waiting for you with Monolake seeing as you like Interstate.


  • #18
    jiltloop
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,273 ✭✭✭jiltloop


    very interesting tutorial from monolake

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2FukCw0oS8


  • #19
    le_tigre
    Closed Accounts Posts: 60 ✭✭le_tigre


    The remastered Hong Kong is louder and shorter {one track is missing}, but not really better. If you already own the Chain Reaction release in all of its aluminum, CD-ruining glory, then you may as well stick with it.

    I feel like Henke peaked with the fantastic Gobi and Cinemascope and coasted for a few albums after that, but Polygon Cities, produced with assistance from the redoubtable T++ {aka Various Artists and many, many other names}, has really grown on me in the last year.

    Still, I watch Henke do his Live demonstrations and it seems like he can do the Monolake thing without thinking, and sometimes it sounds that way, too.


  • #20
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭Scubadevils


    Yeah it's a pity they omitted that track from the reissue. I read somewhere that Henke felt it didn't 'fit' with the album - I notice also though that they have released it as a 12" separately under the Helical Scan alias! :rolleyes:

    http://www.discogs.com/release/1398505

    That really annoys me, a reissue or remaster should contain all the original material from the album. I never got the original so have to make do with an inferior reissue!

    I still haven't got Cinemascope or Momentum, the only two I'm missing but I'm sure they will reissue them too.


  • #21
    John
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,135 ✭✭✭✭John


    I picked up Interstate there during the week and I'm afraid to say that I'm not feeling it. It's all very samey and not in a minimalist kind of way. There's elements I like such as the constantly changing noises (usually the high pitched sounds of the music) which remind me a bit of Coil but the rhythms and beats do nothing for me. Very monotone and 2D (IMHO). Still, it was worth a stab in the dark. They may grow on me yet so don't fret.


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  • #22
    le_tigre
    Closed Accounts Posts: 60 ✭✭le_tigre


    Interstate was my least favorite Monolake album. I don't think I kept it for very long.


  • #23
    John
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,135 ✭✭✭✭John


    Are the others similar or are they worth investigating?


  • #24
    le_tigre
    Closed Accounts Posts: 60 ✭✭le_tigre


    John wrote: »
    Are the others similar or are they worth investigating?

    I prefer the ones I named in this post. I'd say that he defined the essential Monolake aesthetic with Cinemascope, and has refined it since. Sometimes it's harder, as in Momentum, and sometimes it's more atmospheric, as in Polygon Cities.

    Based on what I guess you'd like, I recommend Gobi. The Desert.


  • #25
    Setun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭Setun


    Felixdhc wrote: »
    Hong Kong finally reissued!

    http://www.towerrecords.ie/viewdetails.asp?hfldUnitID=397617

    Picked up a copy today, what an amazing album, HIGHLY recommended!
    I picked up Hong Kong Remastered yesterday. Wow. And I think I'll like it even more as I listen to it over the next few days. :cool:


  • #26
    Scubadevils
    Subscribers Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭Scubadevils


    Daddio wrote: »
    I picked up Hong Kong Remastered yesterday. Wow. And I think I'll like it even more as I listen to it over the next few days. :cool:

    Yeah its a really great album. Well worth its classic status. A favourite for me from the album...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ma3-MNNdpQ


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