Wolfgang Voigt's GAS Project: the Poll

here's my review from the show at park güell, in barcelona:

http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=5587

Nice review, Philip. It sounds like a great show... if exactly what I'd expect, of course.

Before today, I had only heard Pop. I liked it, but I mentally filed it away as music to do homework to. Today I listened to Konigsforst over and over again, and I realized I'm going to have to look into everything Voigt has done. Track 5 is AMAZING.

Was at the show in Chicago tonight. Wow. The ending was one of the most intense things I've ever seen, but the whole thing was incredible - was really surprised at how good the visuals were, and how much they added.

anyone else catch chicago/mutek/nyc?

Saw him at Mutek, was very good (I was in a very inopportune state to fully enjoy it, though, and others told me it was their festival highlight). Very glad to have seen it, certainly.

i sent a friend to the NY show, his report was that WVoigt was too loud and relentless, and the visuals were boring—but that the crowd adored it.
perhaps i sent the wrong friend?

wanted to go to the ny show but it just wasn't in the cards. bummer.

Blogstitude on the Chicago show. I guess he didn't make it in time to see it in the "main room" and wound up in a "side room." Sounds like it would have been incredible in the room it was intended for.

Yeah, I was in the main room (arrived two hours early) and it was indeed amazing. I thought the visuals were fantastic, way more interesting than I'd ever have expected.

reinhardt: is that all the record do?
wolfgang: yeah bitch, that's all the record do

Gas
19:00, 21:00 / Wolfgang Voigt - one of the most influential figures in contemporary electronic music - brings a stunning audio-visual creation to the Barbican
16 October 2009
Cinema 1

^ Did you lot know about this already? Apologies if old news.

I keep this 4cd box close to William Basinski's Disintegration Loops because either one makes me want to listen to the other. Some day, Basinski should do disintegrating Gas loops.

the very high pitched sounds on pop bother me

2nd half of pop >>>>>>> 1st half

Yea. It's a lot more varied on the latter half and it has Untitled 4, which is by far my favorite Gas track.

2nd half of pop >>>>>>> 1st half

― blank, Sunday, May 29, 2011 1:31 AM (14 hours ago) Bookmark

OTM, in fact I figured this was so obvious that it barely needed to be said.

Why haven't I ever listened to this before???

Just listened to the first one straight though and damn, so good. Only scored lower here b/c it's less heard I think.

Pop is the first one I heard, and I still love it, but Königsforst will probably always be my fav

someone gave me a cd of wolfgang voigt and it's all piano and kick drum and i really don't know what to make of it, except i recognise one of the tracks from something, it's just weird, like it makes me want to clean the house a lot

Gas is the only thing of his I've heard, afaic. Love it, but never felt compelled to start searching everything else yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfvtBNtT6F0

Does anyone know why Voigt decided to change tracks number 1 and 3 on the first Gas album when it was released on Nah und Fern? And where do the new tracks 1 and 3 come from? Are they unreleased tracks from the same era, or stuff that was on the vinyls, or what? I just acquired the original CD of Gas, and track 3 especially is gorgeous, an epic cosmic groove that's crisper than anything on the latter Gas releases. It's a pity Nah und Fern got rid of those tracks; the replacements aren't bad, but the original CD might be the best Gas release of them all.

Also, am I the only one who feels many Gas tunes, especially those on Zauberberg and Königsforst, are reminiscent of Arvo Pärt's compositions? There's kind of a similar sense of non-motion and solemn spirituality to them.

I read an interview where he discussed samples, he was a little coy but did mention Schubert IIRC.

Yeah, I think the classical stuff he samples is way older than Pärt, but what he does with it feels similar to Pärt, at least to me. Pärt has several "cyclical" (don't know what the correct music theory term is here) compositions that remind of Gas's loops.

reinhardt: is that all the record do?
wolfgang: yeah bitch, that's all the record do

2 1/2 years late, but LOLOLOL

Reinhardt has better beats, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNrhbWq2D9o

Should I buy Nah und Fern if the only thing I've heard is Pop?

yes

Without reservation.

You should, but be warned that the versions of Gas and Königsforst on Nah und Fern are slightly different/inferior to the original CDs, as discussed above. Track 5 of the Nah und Fern version of Königsforst has been inexplicably compressed, and sounds a lot less "deep" than the original version. Since the remastering was done by Jörg Burger (a long-time collaborator of Wolfgang Voigt), I can't imagine it's a mistake, but I have no idea why the change was done. And with Gas, the Nah und Fern version replaces tracks 1 and 3 of the original CD with totally different tracks... They're not bad, but IMO they're not as good as the originals either; the original track 3 is especially beautiful, a cosmic groover that's more reminiscent of old school ambient than of the slowed-down droney stuff on later albums.

Thankfully, after Nah und Fern came out, you don't have to pay crazy prices for the original CDs, so you can easily acquire the original Gas and Königsforst, if you want to hear those versions. And the Nah und Fern versions of Zauberberg and Pop are probably even better than the originals. They don't mess with the sound or the tracklist, but they extend a few of the originals; most obvious of these is track 6 of Zauberberg, which is over 3 minutes longer on Nah und Fern.

That is the kind of comprehensive breakdown I have waited a couple years for...

Even though it's nice that Nah und Fern provided those who didn't buy these albums in the 90s with a cheap way of acquiring them, I think it's kinda shitty that (as far as I know) Voigt/Kompakt never released any proper info on what tracks were changed, or why they were changed. (For a compilation like this, some liner noter by Voigt or Burger would've been more than welcome.) If you read the vague blurb on the Kompakt website, it kinda gives you the impression that they've added some extra tracks to the albums, there's no mention of the missing two tracks from the original Gas CD. And it also has this bit:

At the beginning of the re-release project, Wolfang Voigt thought about re-mastering all of the 4 GAS albums and make them more contemporary. JÖRG BURGER and WOLFGANG VOIGT started their adventurous mastering trip through the world of today's magic tools and plug-ins. Yet with growing amazement, BURGER/VOIGT diagnosed GAS' persistent, almost stubborn resistance against any "refreshing" attempts. For authenticity reasons, they then decided to preserve most of the original GAS sounds and versions.

...except that track 5 of Königsforst has gone through exactly the sort of digital "refreshing" they mention there; I guess that's why they say they decided preserve "most" of the original tracks.

the packaging is cheesy, too.

The Nah und Fern packaging is as deliberately obfuscatory as they come. Personally, I'd rather have two versions out there than one... makes life interesting. Plus you get to geek out on compression comparisons etc.

I don't what's cheesy about the Nah und Fern packaging, I think it looks nice, and it's very much in line with packaging of last three Gas albums (the first one has 90s style abstract cover art instead of the nature photos). As for "geeking out" on comparing the different versions of the albums, I don't think that's the reason most people bought the comp. I'm pretty sure most people just wanted to have a reasonably priced compilation of albums that were out of print and ridiculously pricey on the second hand market, so it's a bit disappointing Voigt didn't give them that. I mean, I would kinda understand it if the remastering made everything sound different, then it would be a legitimate "reinterpretation" of the original material. But it isn't: that one track on Königsforst is the only one that has a notable sonic difference to the original material. So it feels kinda pointless to release a comp that's almost the same as the original albums, but not quite.

We can only assume that he had personal issues with those tracks that vary.

...except that track 5 of Königsforst has gone through exactly the sort of digital "refreshing" they mention there; I guess that's why they say they decided preserve "most" of the original tracks.

― Tuomas, Monday, June 4, 2012 7:29 AM

track 6 also sounds different

We can only assume that he had personal issues with those tracks that vary.
― Lil' Kim Philby (Call the Cops), Monday, June 4, 2012 9:33 AM

george lucas syndrome

track 6 also sounds different

Hmm, I haven't noticed much of a difference there... Maybe the low-pitched drone is a bit more in the forefront in the Nah und Fern version? The difference certainly isn't as noticeable as with track 5, though.

the packaging is cheesy because it's cheap and flimsy, rather uninspired and one-dimensional (enlargements of outtake forest photos?), not nice to the CDs inside, and contains no liner notes or track info.

Hmm, I haven't noticed much of a difference there... Maybe the low-pitched drone is a bit more in the forefront in the Nah und Fern version? The difference certainly isn't as noticeable as with track 5, though.

― Tuomas, Monday, June 4, 2012 3:37 PM

to me it is. on headphones i can hear what i can only describe as 'shitty digital reverb' added to the new version

but you prob have to be listening for it or doing back to back comparison. like i didn't notice track 5 was different until you mentioned it and sure enough i hear it now

i think the difference in sound is most notable in comparing the original s/t cd on mille plateaux to the nah and fern version

if anybody wants i'll trade an unplayed nah und fern boxset for a s/t mille plateaux CD

the packaging is cheesy because it's cheap and flimsy, rather uninspired and one-dimensional (enlargements of outtake forest photos?), not nice to the CDs inside, and contains no liner notes or track info.

Well yeah, but other than the CD-unfriendliness (and the only other way to squeeze 4 CDs into one package is the thick "wallet" case, which has its own problems), those things apply to the original albums as well. I agree that liner notes would've been nice, but maybe Voigt thought that would take away from the mysticism of the whole project? I mean, the original albums don't even say "written and produced by Wolfgang Voigt" or stuff like that, they just read "Musik - Gas", or "Musikkonzept: Wolfgang Voigt", as if Voigt merely came up with the concept, but the actual music is coming from somewhere else.

if that's voigt's thinking then that's a weak excuse ... if he cared about mysticism he wouldn't release like 150 identical sounding 7"s

the original CD releases are not any cheaper or flimsier than any other jewel-cased CDs, but i'll tell you what, the nah und fern box is just about the flimsiest dance music reissue box i own ... i mean the pole reissue set were also more or less a no-brainer and that turned out 10x better