moebius & renziehausen: ersatz

Bureau B reissues this collaboration between Dieter Moebius and Karl Renziehausen, initially released on the Pinpoint label in 1990. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens. "1990 sees Dieter Moebius enter new musical territory, cautiously reconnoitering the digital world. His companion on this excursion is Karl Renziehausen, a visual artist and constructor of sound sculptures. The two of them distance themselves sonically and musically from existing Moebius collaborations with Conny Plank and Gerd Beerbohm (almost all of which have been reissued on Bureau B); similarly, only sporadic echoes can be heard of Cluster and Harmonia, two projects whose style Moebius influenced significantly over a number of years. There is an exactness to the music of Moebius and Renziehausen, who allow nothing to stray from their chosen path. They stage seven little musical comedies with different plots, much as if they were writing for the theater. Common to each of the pieces is a prevailing mood of surrealism: Moebius appears to have an unlimited menagerie of imaginary sonic creatures at his disposal, introduced to the audience in a clearly discernible framework of dramaturgy. Their actions are utterly unpredictable, the 'plot' develops in the listener's head. Renziehausen constructs the space: moving scenery to accommodate wonderful transparency and depth, as warm, bright light affords a clear view of each and every delectable detail. Ersatz is music at its most pictorial, far removed from cheap, programmed music. Although Moebius and Renziehausen frequently cross the boundaries of tonality, they still remain firmly grounded. The connection to the real world is never completely severed. Which is what makes this music so puzzling to anyone willing to engage with it: the occasional fleeting sense of something familiar, yet no sooner than something appears which one might have heard before, it disappears again, replaced by something new and unrecognizable. Listeners can look forward to nine meticulously crafted soundscapes of uncharted, fantastic regions. Soundscapes, perhaps, of some imitation paradise? Rather than measure this album by a musical yardstick then, one ought to evaluate it as one of the great discoveries in its own right." --Asmus Tietchens