steinbruchel: parallel landscapes

Parallel Landscapes is the first solo full-length album from Swiss artist Steinbru?chel on 12k, despite his relationship with the label and apperances on compilations, collaborations (Status, with Frank Bretschneider (12k1033)) and EP releases (Mit Ohne, (12k2010)). You can say that Steinbru?chel was waiting for the right moment to release such an illustrious album that is not only a release of music but of visual art as well. Parallel Landscapes consists of a compact disc and a beautifully printed XX page booklet designed and conceptualized by Steinbru?chel with photographs from Taylor Deupree and an essay by Lawrence English. Together these are housed in a slipcase printed inside and out on contrasting paperstocks with the project entirely visualized in black and white. The music on Parallel Landscapes was created with the design process in mind. Steinbru?chel thought about the ideas of “designing” music instead of making, or writing, music and about the importance of music existing with (or without) visual reinforcement. The ideas of landscape, while not new in the musical world, were prevalent throughout the creative process. Music vs. landscape, music as horizontal layers, drawing new curves (landscapes) over sound files, imposing one landscape onto another and hearing (seeing) the results. However, the album isn’t just about horizontal combinations but vertical inbetweens as well. What happens from one event to the next? What happens when events are combined? How does the addition of one object (audio, visual) redefine another object next to it? What happens to a lone table when a chair is placed in front of it? ... And how does all of this coalesce into sonic, and visual space? There’s an incredible amount of exploratory thought behind Parallel Landscapes that make this one of Steinbru?chel’s most ambitious projects to date. His sound has become increasingly refined but always retaining his signature sound. Still using the ideas of sine waves and pure tones in his music but now softened with time, his palette stretchs across electronics into a variety of found and acoustic sources. Bell tones are in the forefront, interspersed with the soft crackles of noise and static. Tones stretched acoss the visual plane like a bell being carried across the land forever duplicating itself. Parallel Landscapes is engaging and reflective and sets a new standard for Steinbru?chel’s creative output.