seraph Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 I am absolutely amazed by this guy ! Being only 13 years in the scene he already made INCREDIBLE ammount of albums and collaborations...and we are speaking of over 60 releases in 13 years ! This amazingly talanted musician is master at making ambient and electronic music, he experienced himself in trance and elektro genres as well and whatever he touches turns into gold or platinum for that matter. He is true genius and master of contemporary art music. A dizzyingly prolific composer who's steadily built up an entire industry around his Frankfurt-based Fax label, Namlook's name is inextricably linked with the post-rave resurgence of ambient music, and many of his solo and collaborative recordings with the likes of Mixmaster Morris, Tetsu Inoue, Klaus Schulze, Bill Laswell, Richie Hawtin, Geir Jenssen, Dr. Atmo, Burhan Ocal, Atom Heart, Jonah Sharp, Charles Uzzell-Edwards, and David Moufang, among many others, number among the most lauded and influential in new ambient. Although Namlook got his start releasing quasi-new age ( as Romantic Warrior ) and hard trance ( as Sequential, 4Voice, Escape, Deltraxx, and a host of others ), he and his label have become synonymous with new ambient since Fax began exclusively releasing the style shortly after the label formed in 1992. Fax helped give shape to ambient's new school by allowing the artists to freely experiment while making a living from their music. ( Fax's label structure confers the majority of its profits to its artists. ) Countless Fax releases, particularly those dating from 1993 and 1994, are considered classics of contemporary electronic ambient, and while the label has suffered a certain degree of repetition in recent years, Fax remains one of the most important and influential German electronic music labels. Namlook has been criticized for adopting a quality-over-quantity approach -- his label's release schedule was up to a CD per week for more than a year, and currently produces 24 per year, many of them Namlook's own, but he's succeeded in attracting a devoted, ravenous following that allows him and his label to continue releasing new music. Fax has released more than 250 full-length CDs, dozens of 12-inches, and several compilations -- including the sprawling 4-CD Ambient Cookbook, which remains the best introduction to the label -- and has expanded to included four Fax-related labels and two subsidiary labels ( Rather Interesting and Headphone, run by Atom Heart and Higher Intelligence Agency's Bobby Bird, respectively ). Musically, Namlook draws most recognizably on the synthscapes of artists such as Klaus Schulze and Hans Jochim Roedelius, combing the droning electronics of those artists with, depending on the project or collaborator, ethnic instrumentation ( tabla, tambouri, oud ), environmental samples ( rain, voices, arriving and departing trains, wildlife ), sweeping electronic treatments ( the bubbly undercurrents of Dreamfish or the drifting synthetic landscapes of 2350 Broadway ), and minimal acoustic and electronic rhythms ( jungle, electro, techno, and trance ). His collaborations tend to outdo his solo recordings, although a few of his solo works are among Fax's finest. Though hard to find, the two volumes of The Definitive Ambient Collection offer a good introduction to Namlook's early work. This guy is true master of the genre... Discography : 1992 2350 Broadway 1993 The Fires of Ork 1993 Hemisphere 1994 Namlook VII: Live at the Interference Festival 1994 The Dark Side of the Moog 1994 Air 1+2 1995 The Dark Side of the Moog 2 1995 Jet Chamber 1995 The Dark Side of the Moog 3 1995 4 Voice 1995 Alien Community 1995 Silence I + II 1996 Sultan 1996 Outland, Vol. 2 1996 Jet Chamber II 1996 Namlook XI 1996 Shades of Orion 1996 Amp 1996 Ozoona 1996 Four Seasons 1996 Dreamfish 1996 Electronic Music Centre 1996 The Dark Side of the Moog 4 1996 Time 2 1996 The Dark Side of the Moog 5 1997 Elektro 2 1997 A Day in the Life 1997 Namlook & Held 1997 Dark Side of the Moog 6 1997 Jet Chamber III 1997 Jet Chamber IV 1997 Psychonavigation, Vol. 3 1999 Dark Side of the Moog 8 [live] 2000 Jet Chamber V 2001 4 Voice All 2001 Silence 1 2001 Silence 2 2001 The Fires of Ork 2 2001 New Organic Life 2001 Hemisphere 2001 Silence V 2001 Wired 2001 New Organic Life, Vol. 2 2002 Air 2 2002 Psychonavigation, Vol. 5 2002 Dark Side of the Moog 9 2002 Syn II 2002 The Evolution of the Dark Side of the Moog 2003 Adlernebel 2003 Live in Heidelberg 2003 Outland 2003 Shades of Orion, Vol. 2 2003 New Organic Life, Vol. 3 2003 Outland, Vol. 3 2003 Shades of Orlon, Vol. 3 2003 Virtual Vices, Vol. 5 2003 Air 3 2004 Air 4 2004 Dark Side Of The Moog, Vol. 7 2004 Osman 2004 Music for Urban Meditation 2005 Namlook XII Pretty busy guy I'd say...plus not ALL of the records are there, he even made 3 albums with Richie Hawtin as group FROM WITHIN !!!!! Completely insane ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Damn Seraph, why are you opening a topic about Pete Namlook right now that I have to do so much work for my studies?! But on the other hand I don't have much more to add. He's THE Master, period. That's a perfect introduction to Namlook/Fax you've posted, where do you have it from? And do you have/have you heard all the CDs you listed there? I'm going to continue reviewing Fax CDs next weekend, so perhaps we could do some division of work complete Fax discography here or here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el brujo Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 he made 3 colloborations with Burhan Ocal a turkish virtuoso percussionist and they are really really good I recommend them to everyone If you are a fan and its hard to find let me know I can get them from any music store so nemo problemo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritual om Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 i haven't listened to pete so i will buy an album. i want smooth,definitely not static and boring ambient with psychedelic pinches that keep you amazed. any album like this by him? i want a quick answer to buy it today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraph Posted September 23, 2005 Author Share Posted September 23, 2005 Of course I haven't heard all of the albums, I've only heard : AIR 1, AIR 2, SYN 2, THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOOG 3, THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOOG 5, NEW ORGANIC LIFE, THE FIRES OF ORK 1 & 2 ( with Biosphere ), FROM WITHIN 1 & 3 ( with Richie Hawtin ), HEMISPHERE ( with Steve Stoll ), DREAMFISH ( with Mixmaster Morris ) PP & NMLK ( with Speedy J ) and I am planning to download all of the rest with Richie Hawtin serie and with Tetsu Inoue...and many more... HE IS THE TRUE MASTER... Ritual om, GET THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOOG series, there is 9 volumes ! Now that is what I called old school psychedelic ambience ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahf Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 I've only sampled a few albums from this guy, but I can heartily recommend: S.H.A.D.O. and S.H.A.D.O. 2 - with Bobby Bird from Higher Intelligence Agency, very trancey. unexpectedly uplifting melodies appear out of the ambience. Dreamfish and Dreamfish 2 - with Mixmaster Morris, very smooth floating ambient. long tracks, (15-20 min) makes you feel underwater. I've tried the Fires of Ork 1 and 2 as well, but found them much more repetitive. Pity... Namlook and Geir Jensen from Biosphere sounded like a perfect collab! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 phuck that's too many to check i have heard 3-4 tracks and they were very nice indeed... thnx 4 posting the discography Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritual om Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 thanks you guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraph Posted September 24, 2005 Author Share Posted September 24, 2005 He keeps surprising me with every release, the ones he did with Speedy J and Richie are nothing more than fenomenal ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el brujo Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 The ones he did with his Turkish collaborator are: Sultan Sultan Osman Sultan Orhan actually it was like they were planning to do an album for every ottoman sultan and Osman was the first, Orhan was the second. I dont know if they re gonna continue. Sultan was the first collobaration and it was based around the same concept without a direct reference to a single Sultan. Osman --> Ottoman in Turkish Ottoman Empire is Osmanli Empire hence the first sultan Osman named the empire after his name. 3 good albums, if you are interested and cant find them contact me I ll send them to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraph Posted September 24, 2005 Author Share Posted September 24, 2005 From Within 3 ( with Hawtin ) is incredible piece ! It is dark and melancholic at the same time... This information is especially for Gnome and rest of the dark ambient crowd. Also collaboration with Jochem Paap ( Speedy J ) is so experimental and MENTAL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 I see you've checked out the From Within stuff seraph, smart move! Namlook is a favourite of mine as well, he's got lots of good releases. In a period he released too much stuff though, so not all of it is equally brilliant. But if you dig a little you'll find good stuff for sure. Check out his discogs profile with all of his aliases and projects here. Some of my faves: Sequential Fires Of Ork 1+2 From Within 1-3 Air 1-3 S.H.A.D.O Dark Side Of The Moog 9 (5 & 6 is also great) The Speedy J collabs Hearts Of Space Dreamfish Shades Of Orion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Yes some of the best electronic music ever comes from this guy and his label... But I must say that I find a lot of FAX releases not all that great... quantity is not always quality here... it's a matter of picking out the good ones! There's a lot of pointless stuff that seems to be recorded on the fly. His best music is when he actually puts some work into it, like the Air and Dark Side of the Moog albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 check this site www.2350.org for complete FAX catalog PK: main label (namlook's own music + namlook collaborations) PS: sub label (other artists + other artist collaborations) PW: world label (namlook collaborations) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraph Posted September 27, 2005 Author Share Posted September 27, 2005 check this site www.2350.org for complete FAX catalog PK: main label (namlook's own music + namlook collaborations) PS: sub label (other artists + other artist collaborations) PW: world label (namlook collaborations) 346354[/snapback] Gee, thanks, will check it out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 listened to some albums... DARK SIDE OF THE MOOG 7: GREAT DARK SIDE OF THE MOOG 3: GREATER SHADES OF ORION: GREAT SHARES OF ORION 2: GREATER AIR 4 : Mediocre or even worse:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Gee, thanks, will check it out... 346537[/snapback] Or, you could just check discogs.. Much more handy IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 true, but on 2350.org you get loads of nice reviews and stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 also very good is Psychonavigation 2, a sort of dark ambient/space jam with the really dark and awesome tracks 2 and 3 the other Psychonavigation and Outland series with Bill Laswell all have interesting, playful music as well... the Dark Side of The Moog project is now finished with part X, which has some nice moments but is definately not up to the standard of the incredible part IX... (I worship part IX ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 BTW, if you like Namlook you should def check out Tetsu Inoue as well, who is another amazing ambient producer. He did the Shades Of Orion and 2350 Broadway stuff with Namlook, and has several other great releases as well. Some of my favourites: Ambiant Otaku Organic Cloud World Receiver Datacide II Zenith Om - Instant Enlightenment <--- This one is really amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 BTW, if you like Namlook you should def check out Tetsu Inoue as well, who is another amazing ambient producer. He did the Shades Of Orion and 2350 Broadway stuff with Namlook, and has several other great releases as well. Some of my favourites: Ambiant Otaku Organic Cloud World Receiver Datacide II Zenith Om - Instant Enlightenment <--- This one is really amazing 346928[/snapback] Yeah, Tetsu is a real genius too. Zenith and Ambiant Otaku are damn f*cking great, my very favourite by him has to be Electro Harmonix though. And the best one he made with Pete Namlook is definitely 2350 Broadway 3. And Dragonflier, do you own an original copy of Datacide II? If so, you're a damn lucky bastard, I'm still searching for this one like mad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Yeah, Tetsu is a real genius too. Zenith and Ambiant Otaku are damn f*cking great, my very favourite by him has to be Electro Harmonix though. And the best one he made with Pete Namlook is definitely 2350 Broadway 3. And Dragonflier, do you own an original copy of Datacide II? If so, you're a damn lucky bastard, I'm still searching for this one like mad. 346962[/snapback] I don't have the original sadly, haven't been into this type of music for very long so all I got from Namlook/FAX so far is From Within 1+2 and Fires Of Ork I. I'm planning to get some more, but the limited pressing of the releases isn't exactly making the job easy..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 I don't have the original sadly, haven't been into this type of music for very long so all I got from Namlook/FAX so far is From Within 1+2 and Fires Of Ork I. I'm planning to get some more, but the limited pressing of the releases isn't exactly making the job easy..... 347101[/snapback] That's true, however they're nice collectors items. The only chance to get the rare old classics in original pressing seems to be ebay though. I've also been really into Fax for only half a year or even less, however I've bought quite a lot of them since. And I paid up to 50-60 Euros for some very rare ones, which is already quite an insane price for a single disc, but some CDs never go for less than several hundred $, and this is really too much for me. So I doubt I'll ever get to hear stuff like The Putney, Coeur Atomique, Datacide II or I.F. on CD, since they've not even been reissued . But on the other hand I think I've got enough Fax for now and will take a break from collecting. Time to concentrate on the less pricy stuff. Back to normal life So if you start collecting more Fax discs, know when to stop and get your act together, it's addictive as hell. Otherwise you'll go broke in a minute, I've warned you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 I see what you mean, however I'm not a perfectionist collector, so re-issues on other labels are more than good enough for me. I also have as a principle to not pay way overprice for any cds, so I think I'll survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 he made 3 colloborations with Burhan Ocal a turkish virtuoso percussionist and they are really really good I recommend them to everyone If you are a fan and its hard to find let me know I can get them from any music store so nemo problemo 342897[/snapback] i am dloading Pete_Namlook_and_Burhan_Ocal_-_Sultan-Orhan-(Fax_Records)-2004-BCC first track starts very nice, i dont like it that much at a few points... anyways will listen to the whole album, sounds good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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