i noticed the track timings on discogs are different between the original CD and disc 1 of the box set. what gives?
― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 26 June 2008 19:30 (fifteen years ago) link
Looks like the track lengths (as listed on Discogs at least) don't exactly match up for each of the 4 albums, but the self-titled album is especially different.
― lou, Thursday, 26 June 2008 19:40 (fifteen years ago) link
oh thats right. track 1 of the s/t is a new track i think. its nice but i agree with winston that it should have been kept. i guess he felt it was superfluous? seriously still pissed at what he did to that last track on konigforst so i'm glad i didn't buy this set. i'd rather just pay out the nose for original discs at this point
― am0n, Thursday, 26 June 2008 19:44 (fifteen years ago) link
track 3 is new too i think
― winston, Thursday, 26 June 2008 19:59 (fifteen years ago) link
and the running order is shuffled a bit (on the s/t)
― winston, Thursday, 26 June 2008 20:01 (fifteen years ago) link
wow, glad I kept my original of Konigsforst.
I bought both of these (CD and LP) cuz they were cheap. I'm glad I didn't shell out bigtime because this seems like it has a lot of typical reissue fuckups. Deleting a track and drastically altering another, wtf!
― sleeve, Friday, 27 June 2008 21:08 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.kompakt-net.com/images/utils/gas_werbeflyer_400x550.gif
― am0n, Monday, 1 September 2008 02:19 (fifteen years ago) link
"please click"
dunno if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but the raster-norton thing is out. the book is more of the photos like the little card things that came in the nah und ferd box. no text whatsoever
cd is probably the least of the full-lengths but quite nice nonetheless; a great version of "tal 90", one of my favorite wv tracks
― winston, Monday, 1 September 2008 11:59 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/video-archive/lectures/wolfgang_voigt_gas_amp_killer
― eman, Saturday, 8 November 2008 02:04 (fifteen years ago) link
I never heard anything about how the live debut worked out... anyone?
― ilxor, Saturday, 8 November 2008 04:06 (fifteen years ago) link
here's my review from the show at park güell, in barcelona:
http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=5587
― pshrbrn, Saturday, 8 November 2008 09:58 (fifteen years ago) link
Nice review, Philip. It sounds like a great show... if exactly what I'd expect, of course.
― ilxor, Sunday, 9 November 2008 02:17 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― 2 5 (Z S), Wednesday, 31 December 2008 03:03 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― toby, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 02:11 (fourteen years ago) link
anyone else catch chicago/mutek/nyc?
― toby, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 09:59 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Edward Saroyan, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 14:20 (fourteen years ago) link
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?
― nerve_pylon, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 14:32 (fourteen years ago) link
wanted to go to the ny show but it just wasn't in the cards. bummer.
― original bgm, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 14:40 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Trip Maker, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 15:35 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― toby, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 18:55 (fourteen years ago) link
reinhardt: is that all the record do?wolfgang: yeah bitch, that's all the record do
― moonship journey to baja, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 21:09 (fourteen years ago) link
Gas19:00, 21:00 / Wolfgang Voigt - one of the most influential figures in contemporary electronic music - brings a stunning audio-visual creation to the Barbican16 October 2009Cinema 1
^ Did you lot know about this already? Apologies if old news.
― Peinlich Manoeuvre (NickB), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 19:50 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― StanM, Saturday, 28 May 2011 21:33 (twelve years ago) link
the very high pitched sounds on pop bother me
― nuclear power, jet propulsion, radar, laser beams, cordless phone (abanana), Saturday, 28 May 2011 22:21 (twelve years ago) link
2nd half of pop >>>>>>> 1st half
― blank, Saturday, 28 May 2011 22:31 (twelve years ago) link
Yea. It's a lot more varied on the latter half and it has Untitled 4, which is by far my favorite Gas track.
― The Sunspots In Your Eyes Are Actually Cataracts, Mr. Rudich (AWALL), Sunday, 29 May 2011 11:14 (twelve years ago) link
― 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.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Sunday, 29 May 2011 13:22 (twelve years ago) link
Why haven't I ever listened to this before???
― Sean Carruthers, Sunday, 29 May 2011 15:56 (twelve years ago) link
Just listened to the first one straight though and damn, so good. Only scored lower here b/c it's less heard I think.
― Mark, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 03:02 (twelve years ago) link
Pop is the first one I heard, and I still love it, but Königsforst will probably always be my fav
― Z S, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 03:17 (twelve years ago) link
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
― Crackle Box, Wednesday, 1 June 2011 14:07 (twelve years ago) link
Gas is the only thing of his I've heard, afaic. Love it, but never felt compelled to start searching everything else yet.
― StanM, Wednesday, 1 June 2011 20:47 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfvtBNtT6F0
― are there any socks left that are not some kind of sub rosa markers (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 1 June 2011 21:12 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Friday, 30 March 2012 09:27 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Friday, 30 March 2012 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
I read an interview where he discussed samples, he was a little coy but did mention Schubert IIRC.
― mmmm, Friday, 30 March 2012 18:10 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Friday, 30 March 2012 18:16 (eleven years ago) link
2 1/2 years late, but LOLOLOL
― Clarke B., Sunday, 1 April 2012 00:00 (eleven years ago) link
Reinhardt has better beats, though.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 1 April 2012 19:58 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNrhbWq2D9o
― piano toilet (am0n), Thursday, 5 April 2012 21:46 (eleven years ago) link
Should I buy Nah und Fern if the only thing I've heard is Pop?
― Captain Jean-Luc Godard (Leee), Sunday, 3 June 2012 22:09 (eleven years ago) link
yes
― sleeve, Monday, 4 June 2012 03:10 (eleven years ago) link
Without reservation.
― Lil' Kim Philby (Call the Cops), Monday, 4 June 2012 06:34 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Monday, 4 June 2012 09:10 (eleven years ago) link
That is the kind of comprehensive breakdown I have waited a couple years for...
― Lil' Kim Philby (Call the Cops), Monday, 4 June 2012 10:40 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Monday, 4 June 2012 11:29 (eleven years ago) link
the packaging is cheesy, too.
― nerve_pylon, Monday, 4 June 2012 12:42 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Lil' Kim Philby (Call the Cops), Monday, 4 June 2012 12:49 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Monday, 4 June 2012 13:02 (eleven years ago) link
We can only assume that he had personal issues with those tracks that vary.
― Lil' Kim Philby (Call the Cops), Monday, 4 June 2012 13:33 (eleven years ago) link