News – Schaltkreis Wassermann

Arabesque (revisited)

This new song is actually an old one called Arabesque, it was originally composed before the 1982 PSYCHOTRON album and can be found on the album „Early 80s“. Last fall, it was re-released on the compilation „Senza Decoro: Liebe + Anarchia / Switzerland 1980 – 1990“ compiled by Mehmet Arslan.

Back in the early 80s, Stella’s and my studio facilities were very limited. We produced on a four-track tape machine and therefore had to pre-mix tracks before we could add more. This minimalism is romanticized today and certainly has its good points in some situations, but it frustrated me a lot. We didn’t think the Arabesque recording was worth publishing. Even back then I thought I would re-record this song later.

Today we produce music on the computer and tend to suffer from an excess of possibilities – dozens of software synthesizers are available and as many tracks as you want. It’s now a matter of limiting yourself to the essentials. I hope I haven’t exaggerated with this new version of Arabesque. In any case, I like the new version much better than the old one.

My buddy Andi Isler, outstanding drummer and, nota bene, teacher for drum enthusiasts of all ages, kindly contributed some rhythm. Thanks Andi! Apart from that, the instruments used were my ancient ARP 2600 and ARP Avatar, as well as the legendary Roland 100M. And a newer guitar synthesizer called Roland SY100. Plus of course what the software Logic Pro has to offer!

Bandcamp:

https://schaltkreiswassermann.bandcamp.com/track/arabesque-revisited

Spotify:

AppleMusic:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/SchaltkreisWassermann

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“Senza Decoro: Liebe + Anarchia / Switzerland 1980 – 1990” is the name of the vinyl compilation put together by Mehmet Arslan and released in November 2023. Mehmet grew up in Basel, now lives in Berlin and has a great affinity for electro and Turkish music. For the double LP, Mehmet didn’t just choose any well-known pieces, but expertly selected the unusual, atypical and often even simply obscure musical gems of the era of Swiss post-punk. From Schaltkreis Wassermann, the song “Arabesque” is included, which combines oriental melodies with experimental electronic sounds.

Click here to go to the info page of the English Strut label, where the vinyl was released.

From the label’s info:

During the mid-‘70s, Switzerland had embraced punk within its cities, informing the subsequent post-punk era of the 1980s as music splintered into freeform musical strands across the whole of the country. It was to become one of the most innovative periods in Switzerland’s modern day music history. “It was like a wild laboratory for all forms of new and strange sounds, rackets and compositional experiments,” explains writer Lurker Grand, “accompanied and inspired by cutting- edge developments in electronic musical instruments. A broad, innovative scene developed and the four different language and cultural regions of Switzerland were no longer perceived to be an obstacle. There was a curiosity for the foreign and the strange. Conflicts for freedom and free spaces took place and this was reflected in the music.” It was unfiltered creativity and this free, non-commercial approach is a common denominator for the songs on this compilation. Many artists operated in their own universe; hardly any of the acts on this album actually met each other at the time. Only Liliput from Zürich achieved notable fame, building on the success of their previous incarnation as Kleenex.

Funny that Schaltkreis Wassermann appears in a post-punk context. We never saw ourselves as punks, rather as electronic hippies. But looking back, of course we were electronic punks as well.

Arabesque CD Double LP Mehmet Arslan Schaltkreis Wassermann Senza Decoro Strut Records Vinyl

Kategorie: News

Arabesque (revisited)

Arabesque (revisited)

Compilation „Senza Decoro“

Arabesque (revisited)

PSYCHOTRON

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