General discussion on FAX +49-69/450464 music

Although I am very busy at the moment... the postings on discogs FAX +49-69/450464 have made me curious and I want to break with a taboo... let us discuss "our" music (as not everything is created by me or me alone). The aim is not to tailor my music to your needs but to openly discuss reasons for some releases and disclose some backround information on the music.

Looking back at the past 18 years on FAX (2 years to go for 20 years of FAX ... this is just unbelievable) what do you generally like and what do you generally dislike regarding the musical development on my label ... I saw some "favourites" listings etc... and most hated releases :-D ... be frank... I am easy with it... hey.. music is a matter of personal taste ... some like what others dislike. But perhaps there are some things that you always wanted to know and I can help with some information.
Please understand that I cannot disclose everything ... i.e. Peter which Blade Runner film was your favourite in the 80ies ? *lol*... Some secrets have to be kept ;-).

... and hey... please understand that I cannot follow this up every day... still need to -make- music instead of only talking about it ;-)

hmmm that's a very general question that could use some specifics but I'll sound off with a few things for now.

I generally like when music (and this goes for all music these days) is more in vein of past great releases more than going for something "new" because going for something new and different more often doesn't work because it involves abandoning the sound that made it great in the first place. Example: top releases of the past five years:

2350 Broadway 4: The return of Tetsu Inoue
Dark Side of the Moog XI: the legendary klaus schulze need i say more
There!: now I can't put my finger on it but this one makes me want to party like its 1999.

And this is not to say that 'new' doesn't work:
Gate Zero - Black Dust: very aligned with the newer IDM movement. This is one of my favorite releases.
Lorenzo Montanà - Black Ivy: blending the newer glitch with the classic downtempo
Anthony Rother: a new brand of electro-ambient.

just a couple of things I generally dislike off the top of my head: obviously over-repetitive bland techno and attempts to create ambient-jazz by simply dropping trumpets and saxophone samples which totally clash with the music.

As for things I always wanted to know,
What factors often influence the musical direction of the label?

Maybe this has been already said...but anyway I don't know the answer,so here I go...First of all,I would like to know which are the releases you(Pete)are prouder of.And why,but I would like to know mainly the strictly musical reasons(I guess for example,you must be very proud of your first CD,"Silence",because it was the first and economic sources were possibly very limited...).

Of course it is the matter of personal taste, but in my opinion, Pete you should slow down in searching of new talents around the world. Leave to the other developing labels and we have plenty of these. I think you label should stick to this cool mid 90's FAX sound: more ambient with touches of techno and acid and a little trance maybe. I guess, this sound made a lot
of people to "fall in love" with the label in the first place. Leave IDM to
Rephlex and Planet Mu and ambient trance to Ultimae. They are the best at it.
No offense Pete, this is my own opinion. No matter what, I know for sure, that I am the "FAX head" for life :)

Discussion on this topic can be huge if there is "" enough from us,the listeners.To start just with two examples,the best Fax ever for my taste is 62 Eulengasse.In fact,it is my all-time favourite ambient release,along with the Geir's "Substrata" and the "Ambient Works II" from Aphex Twin.
I also like very very much the concept(and the music too!)behind the first "Namlook",mainly from the first one up to the eleventh in the series.

Yeah.. this is what I expected... very different opinions that all meet at loving the music of FAX. There is no general like or dislike... that's good for the start. When I compare it to some of the posts in other topics quite the contrary was the opinion ... Montana = no good... gate zero = no good etc...
But in the end all meet with Tetsu Inoue solo and collab ... The Dark Side of the Moog and some of Move D - Namlook.
to gandolfito63: of course Silence is a special release for me... it was a great risk as noone released from Ambient in the Techno environment. At this time there was only The Orb, Mixmaster Morris, Aphex Twin and a few more.. just a handful of producer teams.
Track 1 Omid/Hope is a good introduction to everything that followed ;-)
to valdza: when I stop including new talents on FAX the label would die... also the artists and me were able to position it in the world of electronic music ... and now it is time to give some younger gifted musicians the possibility to use our platform as well. I rarely do this... but if I do it .. then with full confidence. With Lorenzo i.e. will be a collaboration ... of course he is not an experienced producer like Klaus, David and the others... but he has the right spirit and a fresh mind... my favourite song is Kirkuk Lake (I guess I am pretty alone with this)... but I love the soft electroclash touch in it... the cold and the fragile at the same moment. But this is only my taste... of course the other titles on the album are great as well.. but this is just a personal preference of mine.
to Kracker: same as before... regarding jazzy releases or parts ie. with Move D- Namlook releases... it is pretty simple... both David and me come from a Jazz backround... we don't need to "try"...we just approach jazz a different way. The Move D - Namlook CDs are very special.. these are all Jam Sessions ... David and me are really very directly connected and so very often we record without even talking about what we might do right from the start after I set my synths and equipment up in his studio.
The influence of the music direction comes from the artists and me... of course as it is my label I experiment a lot and try to find new ways in music all the time... otherwise there is a standstill and "death" of creativity... a lot of artists have a burn-out problem after a while as they try to fit in the standards and the special style they created and had the biggest success... I simply don't bother... like a child music is new to me every day... have all of you seen the slices interview with me on youtube (part 1 and part 2) (or on the DVD I sent most of you with the first shipment)... I guess this explains a lot.

I hope I answered all of the open questions for now... if I forget to answer, please tell me and I will of course give the answer to the question I missed.
To Kracker: you can be more open and direct ... you are very specific with what you don't like... but not very specific what you dislike.. I guess you don't want to hurt my feelings or so... don't bother... I want to learn and inform / answer properly and I only can do this directly when there is a concrete dislike... over-repetitive bland techno ..which CD you refer to... did you mean Move D Namlook with the -attempts to create ambient-jazz-... otherwise I am "fishing in the dark" and can only assume what to talk about and explain and this can meet in an unsatisfying answer for you.
I like that discussion .. I guess it is fruitful for all of us.

Personally Pete id like to see the return of the Air series and also some more Shado projects with the Higher Intelligence Agency,also a continuation with Dave doing the Move D Namlook series,ive just managed to complete my collection of the full 20 volumes.

I agree with Kracker on the Electro ambient tip, id like to hear a lot more synth work with nice 303s and 808s if you can have any ideas that can use this.

Not that I wasn't being more open but I was keeping my answer short for the time being and just throwing out the first things to come to mind. Should have gave examples, but I didn't have time at the moment.

Releases like the Steve Stoll and Dr. Motte are bland, over-repetitive, not very interesting and plenty of this type of music already gets released on other techno labels, and mostly labels that produce the vinyl for DJ mixing which is what i often hear this music used for. Why release it on FAX which is known for the most unique electronic music ever made?

I understand the jazz background and I hear very good jazz-electronic projects from you like Koolfang, Kooler and Virtual Vices, which i like. But the recent Move D - Namlook releases usually involve horn samples that don't really integrate with the music at all. On Travelling With the Silk Route, the same Miles Davis sample repeats over and over to the point where its stuck in my head even as I type. On Dawning With Decade you have a fantastic ambient but the saxophone doesn't go with it at all. If I put 'Change Prevails' on my iPod or anything I have to edit out the segment with the saxophone in order to relax to it. Luckily the whole thing is over half an hour long.

Thank you for listening so far. Would write more but must be headed off for work. Will post more later.

to Bassface72: I get the picture... air will be continued.. there is still regular with HIA's Bobby Bird but to coordinate a new date is not so easy..Move D-Namlook will for sure continue... we have a new production date in spring.
About the 303 and 808.. this happens from time to time... we will see.
to Kracker: thank you for further input. Although FAX is now known for another type of music ... we started as a Dance-Label... so this is still from time to time interesting to release beat oriented music... just listening to the "Terra Bong"... new CD from Pascal FEOS... I really love it.
Of course ... if you release 4/4 there are a lot of labels around and it sounds easily more average.
I now do a pause with Stoll releases.(decided this last year)
Regarding the trumpet and the saxophone on Move D- Namlook... I guess this is a matter of taste as well ...
Thank you
Best,
Peter

yea i understand the Dance-oriented roots and that's why we were more than willing to give those releases a shot but the trance you released in those days were in a totally separate higher echelon from what was going on even back then and today, the whole techno scene has, sadly, changed radically since then. Creativity and ingenuity has apparently gone out of style.
I'll check out that new Pascal CD, tho.

I would strongly second the notion of continuing to find new talent. Anybody against that would feel different if it meant missing out on giving artists like Modula Green, Jonah Sharp, Daniel Pemberton or even Bobby Bird a chance. Your label being so great back in the 90's had a lot to do with having such a great roster of talent.

Regarding musical development of the label, I also love listening to glorious 90's releases rather than to the recent ones. Maybe it has to do with "zeitgeist" or I am just getting old. But I think musicians in 90's had real great interest in what they were doing. They were full of fresh ideas and strived for creating impossible sounds. I am listening now to 62 Eulengasse and it just blows me away. It will never sound outdated, because the music is powerful. Not the synths that were used, not the skills that were demonstrated, just Music that says it all.

Nowadays electronic musicians seem to write music without involving themselves to it. It's like adults trying to play with children's toys. No interest to music creators = no interest to other people. That's my point of view.

Nevertheless, Pete, thank you very much for your consistency. I had some nice periods in life connected with FAX music.

What I'm missing are the vinyl releases on Fax. I really love those blue labeled twelve inches like Air 4, Silence 4, Sextant 4, TDSOTM 3.
And of course the full lenght licensed vinyl releases released on Rising High, like Air, Silence, Dreamfish, TDAC.
Its a bit sad that Fax stopped with releasing vinyl. I own some CDs that are released after the vinyl period but it's not the same for me.
I'm missing those ambient vinyl releases.
I know that the twelve inch format isn't ideal for long recording sessions like modern Fax releases and that most people are annoyed with clicks and pops, but I'm still hoping that one day it will happen again.
The warm sound of ambient music on vinyl is unbeatable.
But I suppose that there aren't that much ambient vinyl lovers left who are interested in buying Fax releases released on vinyl.
Too bad...

When I began collecting FAX-cd's I mainly collected PS-cd's and lesser the PK-stuff but the last 5 years the roles have changed: there is far more interesting stuff in the PK-series than in the PS-series. The Namlook/Move D collections are superb but also the Namlook-only releases: Music For Urban Meditation I, II and III, Subconscious Worlds (I really love that one), Namlook/Le Mar, etc... All these are fantastic ambient releases.

It looks like the PS-series have become beat orientated albums only so I mainly lost interest in it. BUT, that's because I'm a huge ambient fan, so it's very personal. I know that FAX stands for more than ambient...

I would really like to see a couple of new albums in the PS-series with mainly ambienttracks on it with people like Tetsu Inoue, Atom Heart (but I know he's mainly doing latin stuff nowadays), Jochem Paap, Anthony Rother etc. The 2 Anthony Rother cd's contain also some occasional beats but both albums are mindblowing ambienttrips, I would really love to see some new stuff in that vein.
On the other hand: we get a lot of stuff like that in the PK-series, so no harm done ;)

As for series that I would like to see continued:
Silence (the ones that you made alone Pete are fan-tas-tic, yes even better than with Dr. Atmo so please make another one :))
Namlook - Move D
Namlook - Paap
Music For Urban Meditation
2350 Broadway
Subconscious Worlds, a second part would be great

But I know I'm asking a lot here ;-) And Pete: you just have to do what you feel like, what you feel is the best as an artist, it's your label, FAX = Pete Namlook and it's a great label, whatsoever!

Well I think what I'm really missing in the Fax label(and in general,I see it as a global problem)is real creativity and maybe also a bit of "naivity".Technological advances has made for everybody too easy to make music,but this is different than creating music.
When I look back to first Fax years I always realize how amazing that was,not just in of quantity(140+ releases in just 4 years!)but in of musical quality.Of course not everything was mindblowing but the vast majority of releases,no matter the artist(s) involved,had something special,something that kept(and keeps)my attention,something that was this "Fax trademark" that makes us all love this label.This is what I'm missing now.

I mean,releases from the last decade are just "ok" for me.Nothing bad in themselves,and production is of course impecable.But...they don't keep my attention anymore,and I always have to come back to the 90ties,where I can find many Fax releases that are truly timeless(even if some sounds may sound a bit updated,but not the composition!).To me,the most recent releases sound more updated than the old ones.As said,not for me a "Fax-problem" but a global music problem nowadays.Or maybe is just me,getting older,who knows?!
Anyway,Fax label(along with another dark ambient/industrial label)will be forever my favourite label,that I know for shure.And I'll be always so thankful to the mastermind who made it Reality.

Hey Pete, long time FAX label fan here.

Thanks for wanting to get the heartbeat of some die hard fans here.

Some of my thoughts.

Return to doing some compilations? Or even some best of compilations and release them on vinyl.

How sick would be a 180 gram gate fold out re-release limited 1000 vinyl of Shado or Shades of Orion?!

Real stuff towards the collectors of the label.

As for the direction of the music? Its your label, you seem to be doing a fine job;)

I do feel there is some new or exciting artists worth to try and collab with. Especially in a space electro way. Heard of E.R.P. ? Aka Gerald Hanson of Convextion?
Wikkid electro ambient stuff but it sits more in electro than ambient.

There is an opportunity for some spaced out somewhat idm but more in electro vein of ambient side. Get a electro producer to make some phat semi slow beats like a carl finlow and just do some noodling keyboard stuff over. That would be wikkid for me
example : http://www.youtube.com//Timhumphrey45#p/f/29/DJjcEl_0CGE
or
http://www.youtube.com//Timhumphrey45#p/f/28/QAiZhWteryA
but less dancey and more stripped down to your liking;)

Also some opportunity to delve into a slight darker sound maybe even into some of the industrial sounding ambient. like a blend of dark and warm. some serious mood stuff. real futuristic stuff

The cd packaging needs to be updated. Cardboard or something different to update the theme. Also maybe themed info in releases I think is cool to set them aside from the rest like the early record colors. Just a thought.

Lose the double cd packaging DTS cd's. Those are horrible, 10 years outdated and break easily after the first couple turns.

Thanks for the great music over the years.

Overall I think the music needs to be presented differently and more updated with in mind the way it used to be and what got everyone so hooked (like the 12/16 vinyl box sets). (or some more 4xcd's since i now see you dont want to release any vinyl )

More opinions when I have some more time

to Kracker: exactly... I just did not quit because I don't like trance or elektro... it got just too commercial and there was a big lack in quality on a lot of productions... whatever I did not want to release on PS went to trashy labels which all went bankrupt after the "rush" was over.
Partly I felt guilty at this time as together with the DJs we created this melodic trance style.. back then only Dance-2-Trance created music in that direction. I simply did not want to do boom-boom 4/4 stuff with one special sound and thats it... that was not enough for me ... and as the DJs I worked with at that time had no alternative studiowise I was including spacy synth chords and melodic content. They hated it first but then saw the success in the clubs... really big it was in the UK. Mixmaster Morris once told me that he got a regular deal by using the 12" that I gave to him when he was in Frankfurt to work on Dreamfish with me. He wanted to use the B-Sides (Ambient of course) and the croud was more willing to dance in that club... so he just turned to the A-Sides and the crowd was freaking out... I still would really love to have a recording of that set *laughs*
I discontinued making trance as I simply did not want to this kind of trash trance music that followed ... that evolved from our "first step". The big money involved was not able to seduce me espcially when I would have to sacrifice "style" and "quality" of my music.
Pascal FEOS is one of the most consequent persons that I know... he always loved Tech-house the minimal style (might be too repetitive for you) and he is producing this music with the highest possible perfection keeping style, groove and quality intact. I still love to listen to DJ sets from 2001 of his (from the HR XXL radio shows) he is just incredible... you cannot spot any of the transitions if you don't know every track... on a 3hour set !! He never "lost it" and goes straight a way of non-compromise... I cannot guarantee that you like the music as ... again it is a matter of taste... but I have the deepest respect for him and his work.
So.. one personal secret is now disclosed... I don't listen to "quiet music" only... but there are days that I listen to Chopin only on the other hand.
About the talents on FAX during the 90ies and today... back then it was easier.. everyone wanted to create and there was enough possibility to earn money for everyone. today ones love has to be really big to start working in that field of music. Krystian Shek is to me a very talented young composer/producer who simply was born too late. The income on one PS CD is really marginal.. there is no real possibility to start now making music and earn money from it by licensing the music to a small label. Lorenzo Montana is closely connected to "Tying Tiffany" who is successful in the electroclash scene but simply loves FAX music and has good and fresh ideas... Stefan Biermann has great ideas but the same as for Krystian Shek... the scene is not offering enough possibilities for these young artists.
to tdutym: Listening to 90ies FAX is not wrong ;-)... but it is good to keep an open mind .. some new impossible sounds could reach your ear from the 00s as well. Is there no Move D - Namlook CD you could be interested in ? Perhaps give some of these a chance (prelisten possibility on iTunes and beatport). These productions grow on you (Taygete i.e.)
62 Eulengasse was a jam session at my house like I did 3 of them with Tetsu in 2350 Broadway. I guess this is a reissue candidate... this release was long underrated I guess due to its initial release date there was not such a big interest. Winter oriented music close to the summer.. that was the problem I guess.
I find out that these "jammed" music is even more timeless than the carefully produced and 100times listened and edited finetuned tracks... in the same way I did Kooler i.e. ... also long time no one was really interested in this CD. It is the energy of creation caught in the moment that makes these releases unique. Pure, direct and fresh.
to AAD: being a collector of vinyl since I was 10 years old (no joking) I always had to deal with crackles, clean the records (until I started "wet playback" by the age of 12).. having to turn the record over after 20minutes etc... I really hated the medium. Starting with the 80ies there was the CD... and I was buying them ... loving it from the start.. this quality .. the length ... everything suits me perfectly. the only thing that was missing: space !... and this I found with 5.1 dts. to me the 5.1 dts CDs are the highest point of perfection I need... higher resolution .. DVD audio etc... does not increase the joy I have
... just listening still to 62 Eulengasse oh my ... I did not relisten to it ever... I there was this japanese porn thing in the end of xxxx that we used.... that was fun... it gave the piece the intensity that we wanted to transport.
Back to vinyl/CD.. Vinyl is a handling nightmare... also you can hardly make money on it nowadays and sorry... I hate it. Its over ... gone... bye bye .. no regrets at all. Vinyl cannot transport what I want to achieve with music. Vinyl adds noise that I don't want .. Vinyl wears off which collides with my timeless effort in music. I have a lot of Vinyl LPs ..the ones I really love I digitized and remastered (for myself to listen to)...
I released vinyl because I had to... due to the DJ thing.. that is the truth... sorry ... definitely no vinyl ever again on FAX.

"I discontinued making trance as I simply did not want to this kind of trash trance music that followed ... that evolved from our "first step". The big money involved was not able to seduce me espcially when I would have to sacrifice "style" and "quality" of my music. "

good for you pete. it's unfortunate the early Fax trance stuff isn't mentioned as much as rising high / harthouse and those along that line as some of the best trance stuff done in 1992/1993.

sorry to hear about your vinyl dislike ;)

think about the collectors here :)) saying you dont want to release any vinyl because it's difficult to carry or adds a few crackles turns you off you could be missing allot of your old fan base and collectors. also some like me, frame the records to put on the wall. i would love to have some fax releases on my wall.

i always have dreamed of having FAX wall paper and some posters. A whole wall covered with one big shado pic wall paper. would be dope for me ;) lol

btw i like the monthly represses. they highlight the release nicely

great reading here,
thanks pete for sharing your thoughts & being open-minded!

TIM
How sick would be a 180 gram gate fold out re-release limited 1000 vinyl of Shado or Shades of Orion?!

'PW09LP', hmmm..., well that's a thing to dream of!
you made my day TIM, thanks, brilliant idea.

however i'm sure, if done properly, the price-tag would scare away even the most faithful fans.

nmlk
definitely no vinyl ever again on FAX.

oh well, now it's official... too bad :-(
i don't mind the surface noise myself,
totally get your point though regarding handling + risk.

what about Shades Of Orion in 5.1 then?

kompaktkiste
'PW09LP', hmmm..., well that's a thing to dream of!
you made my day TIM, thanks, brilliant idea.

however i'm sure, if done properly, the price-tag would scare away even the most faithful fans.

see pete? you could make some serious fans happy and there could be some money to be made here for sure!

hello kompaktkiste btw. thanks to kompaktkiste i caught up on FAX information and it helped fill in the gaps when i first started using the internet regularly in like 2000 i think it was.

"thanks pete for sharing your thoughts & being open-minded! "

yes indeed! i never read or heard anything about you personally pete (probobly because you were making new cd's every week) but i am very impressed at how honest and humble you are. you must not be internet jaded like us! lol

nmlk
They hated it first but then saw the success in the clubs... really big it was in the UK. Mixmaster Morris once told me that he got a regular deal by using the 12" that I gave to him when he was in Frankfurt to work on Dreamfish with me. He wanted to use the B-Sides (Ambient of course) and the croud was more willing to dance in that club... so he just turned to the A-Sides and the crowd was freaking out... I still would really love to have a recording of that set *laughs*

these are the stories we love to hear. the times when people like joey beltram talks about how energy flash came or frankie bones talks about the first raves, pete namlook talking about mixmaster morris playing trance.
these are awesome examples to hear.

can you tell us some other stories along those lines of those days involving yourself, your label or the scene in general?

i'm sure others would also love to hear some old skool stories from you.

to gandolfito63: to be really honest... regarding FAX I guess it is about yourself, like me, getting older... I have the same problem when I listen to music ... I tend to listen to a lot of stuff from the 70ies and 90ies... there are so many moments connected to this kind of music ... that is a very strong link... the music in connection to what happened in your life. At a certain age it is not so easy to get excited and we start to "close our ears"... When I take the most possible ojective look at my own work (which is not easy, I know).. I find that there is a big step in creativity, production skills and experience that enables me to create things that I was never able to create before.
New technology helps .. but was never sending my own creativity to sleep... I guess the connection of both worlds.. the computer based production as well as the analog sounds is the best... keep curious and get ready for "Namlook - Permutations" -this- is PK 08/190.. I will need some more time to finish it.
A proof for increase in creativity and sound etc. is the development of the Move D - Namlook project. I find that they really evolved and never stopped evolving "upwards".

to moanerman:IF I just received stuff for PS that I could release in the Ambient/Chill-Out realm... there is no really interesting demo that I heard in that direction the past years. Tetsu, Uwe (Atom) etc... are all occupied with survival and/or their own projects that it is hard to find a collaboration date or for them to work on music in that direction.
"Urban Meditation is not planned to be continued.. 3 is a good number for "exotic Namlook releases" like "New Organic Life" and "Pearl" these projects are all dedicated to new ways in music... I like it that way.. for me the concept of "Urban Meditation" is perfect with the trilogy.

to TIM:behind harthouse was Warner Brothers money and a bigger machinery (that collapsed) Rising High licensed a lot of my stuff and went bankrupt as I sued them not paying licenses to me the correct way (at all !!!)... just for backround information. Both did what I never did... create a hype by marketing... spending more money on marketing than into creation of music (paying the artists correctly)... shouting out loud how big and great they are...
FAX wants to be discovered by word of mouth and survive... and convince listeners by the timeless quality.
I saw a quote on Atom's sublabel "Rather Interesting" here on discogs which was making a strong point.. "when the first thrill is gone.." .. there is a lot of non-timeless content there from the public point of view... often it is a great gag.. or ahh effect.. but when this is gone... it gets problematic. On the other hand Atom created a lot of timeless content and created new styles as well (cuts 'n' clicks) etc... I think it will take even more time until everyone is ready for his kind of music... a lot of it is just far ahead of our time.
Thank you for the hints regarding new artists... I hopefully find the time to follow the suggested links up. Regarding Industrial - Ambient connection... i guess I did a lot in that direction as well... "redrum"=Peter Prochir= Sielwolf by the way.. he is an old friend of mine and I did the studio production of his first Sielwolf release in Eulengasse ... never received credit for that as the head of the label was too ignorant to do that... btw... Peter Prochir lived in Eulengasse as well. For me he is strongly connected with the beginning of Industrial and our collaborations have been special... some of the Urban Meditation tracks are pretty industrial imo.
Some of the dark "evil" edge on industrial is "not my way" but the dirt, the steel and the monumental atmosphere is to my full liking... to me Oskar Sala was the first industrial artist... his music to industry film for Hoesch, Thyssen and Krupp were just never equalled... all created with the Trautonium in... the 50ies and 60ies.. there you go. Long "done" on the highest possible level.
CD packaging... I thought about this more than you might have noticed ... digipack is just not working with my way of creation... I need a perfect package that does not wear off that fast... dust and simply touching it does not wear off the product... if I look at the digipacks that I have... oh my... no 10 years old an already paper trash.. false colours etc... just not interesting. some things wear off nicely like wood or steel.. but there is nothing affordable for CD packaging in that sector..
the DTS double CDs need to be handled with care... easy... the other possibility would be the thick, old double CD packs that I used for "The Ambient Cookbook".. these are just too big and take to much space... I like it slim and timeless.. look at them in one row .. no need to be afraid that someone with dirty hands might spoil my cover... haha.. being a perfectionist in some ways I hated it when someone picked my vinyl lps and just fold the edge of the back of the cover... not possible with the digipack. timeless.. made to sustain, survive. I know the design could match the durability.. but I prefer durability (towards dirt, dust, fingerprints)... of course every product has to be handled with care (2CD). One reason I quit the Swedish pressing plant in the 90ies was the problem that even with the most dry fingers you left fingerprints on the booklets the manufactured... and black was "greyish something"... I rather paid more and had my "old school" pressing plant in which do the best printed matters in of price/quality relation... keep that in mind... I don't want to increase pricing of the FAX releases... and every change that is more expensive is simply not possible... AND... the most important thing is -the music- not the packaging (but that is just me, isn't it)... I am involved in every step of the production and what was shocking for me right from the start is: the greatest cover you create on the computer looks like a piece of dirt in comparison after the printing process... experiencing this all the time you loose interest in every improvement which includes printed matters. You all are collectors of my music ... look at the blue circle on the back of my releases.. compare the "blue" .. you will hardly find two releases that look -exactly- the same ... this is CMYK printing... it simply sucks. It took 10 releases until the blue was even a bit close to my wishes.
You see.. things like that come with a lot of variables that you cannot foresee (is there such a word in English ? -)

I'm not on discogs for a day and look what happens! It took me a while to read through all of the posts.

La_Monte_Old
Subconscious Worlds, a second part would be great

Agreed, I really like that one, it's the only time I spent the €25 for a Fax DTS CD package.

nmlk
62 Eulengasse was a jam session at my house like I did 3 of them with Tetsu in 2350 Broadway. I guess this is a reissue candidate...

Yes! Contrary to most people here I'm really not a Tetsu Inoue fan. I have tried. Listened to some of his releases, but they just didn't do anything for me. Except for 62 Eulengasse. I don't really know why.

nmlk
Rising High licensed a lot of my stuff and went bankrupt as I sued them not paying licenses to me the correct way (at all !!!)... just for backround information.

Ouch! Yeah the electronic music business in the 90s was a jungle from what I understand. Sampling really took off, bad distribution of releases, dodgy licensing deals, you name it.

As for the direction of FAX, amaze us :) Fitting perfectly in the profile of most discogs s "old farts", I mainly listen to 90s stuff. There have also been recent releases that amaze me as much as 90s stuff still does to me. Some non-FAX examples are Irezumi (2) - Endurance. I wouldn't call myself a FAX collector, just a collector of good music beyond the obvious and FAX just seems to have a lot of it ;)

FAX releases I always seem to go back to (and get regular playing time) are the Sad World series, Silence (I only have 1,2 and 5), Pino & Wildjamin stuff, Dreamfish (also long time discogs : mixmastermorris ) and The 4 Seasons. I also really like the Dark Side Of The Moog series samples I heard on beatport, but I don't own one yet. My Fax/AW wantlist still is huge and I haven't even heard every FAX release yet. I have only just heard Etherlands for the first time as you told it was going to be an AW release.

Like more people here I also don't really like the jazzy stuff on FAX (only thing remotely jazz I listen to is some Angelo Badalamenti stuff), I am very picky when it comes to warm/rich sounds and mastering and I can't stand glitch, but as said, it's just personal taste. I have always found FAX releases to be fine production quality wise, it's hardly ever crap, just sometimes not my taste. And you never know what to expect. For instance, who had expected to see 2 albums of lost tracks by Thomas P. Heckmann?

nmlk
Being a collector of vinyl since I was 10 years old (no joking) I always had to deal with crackles, clean the records (until I started "wet playback" by the age of 12).. having to turn the record over after 20minutes etc... Vinyl is a handling nightmare... also you can hardly make money on it nowadays... Vinyl cannot transport what I want to achieve with music.

I can't argue about the things you're saying about vinyl.
Most thing are true.

nmlk
Vinyl adds noise that I don't want .. Vinyl wears off which collides with my timeless effort in music.

And that's just what vinyl buyers take for granted.
He/she knows all those facts.
But still the vinyl format is chosen by those who love it above all other formats available.

nmlk
I hate it. Its over ... gone... bye bye .. no regrets at all.

This is the main reason why I stopped buying FAX releases.
Ok, I've bought some of the late FAX CDs because I really liked the music and had no other choice.
And I bought all the MP3 CDs because you get a lot of FAX releases combined for a good price, but vinyl is my format of choice.

I've just played "Je Suis Triste Et Seule Ici" from vinyl (PK 08/053), and it does so much more for me than when I play it from the MP3 CD (MP3 008).
"Je Suis Triste Et Seule Ici" lives when it's played from vinyl.
You see the record spin, the needle moves. Great things you don't have from a digital copy.

And vinyl has one main advantage over all other digital formats. It's very hard and time consuming to make a perfect copy of it.
If you ask me, most producers/artists are wishing that they could go back in time where there was no (digital) mass reproduction of their music.

nmlk
I released vinyl because I had to... due to the DJ thing.. that is the truth... sorry ... definitely no vinyl ever again on FAX.

That's a real sad thing to hear, never to have a new FAX record in my hands, but if you ever change your mind and you'll release a new FAX release on vinyl for all those vinyl lovers out there.... Trust me.... I'll be one of the first buyers.....

Thanks for explaining your ideas behind your packaging pete. I see your points and I see why you do them the way you do.

The only thing I still disagree with is the double cd fold over in the DTS cd's. They always...ok not always but more than 75 percent of the time they break. Especially the clear ones. The black ones hold up better.

The clear ones spindles that hold the cd break and if they don't the hinge does. Just poorly made they all are.
Comparing for example the Fax compilations released on instinct double cd's. They were black of the older style and were a bit more stable than the clear ones on the DTS cd's imo. Anyways ;)

Thanks again for the answers:)

Thanks for the heads up Pete,im pleased you will be continuing the Air series,other projects that i would like to see be continued is Fires of Ork,Dreamfish,From Within & also maybe a second Zenith,if not a reissue of this wonderful cd on AW.

Bassface72
Fires of Ork,Dreamfish,From Within

I would be very surprised if this would happen, I thought Biosphere stopped producing. Dreamfish, maybe but that would surprise me thou. I don't think From Within will happen as Richie Hawtin isn't in for quality music anymore, he has made his choice to be a douchebag from now on, no? :p

nmlk
Vinyl is a handling nightmare... also you can hardly make money on it nowadays and sorry... I hate it. Its over ... gone... bye bye .. no regrets at all. Vinyl cannot transport what I want to achieve with music. Vinyl adds noise that I don't want .. Vinyl wears off which collides with my timeless effort in music.

Kracker
Releases like the Steve Stoll and Dr. Motte

Dr Motte is a bit of an "hit an miss" artist. Steve Stoll isnt. "Exiled" isnt over repetitive, and the other releases are OK. I would even like to see similar works from Oliver Ho or Jamie Bissmire on Fax. As far as other projects go,

nmlk
digipack is just not working with my way of creation... I need a perfect package that does not wear off that fast... dust and simply touching it does not wear off the product... if I look at the digipacks that I have... oh my... no 10 years old an already paper trash.. false colours etc... just not interesting. some things wear off nicely like wood or steel.. but there is nothing affordable for CD packaging in that sector..

I have the deepest respect for these statement. Ive always thought that too, as im not really into vinyl myself. I also respect the generation that got used to worked with it, so I think its somehow, a relief to read this. Same goes with digipaks. I have (im sure we all have) the same problem.
Anyways, I dont like to see a release available only digitally, or in mp3 cd's. As far as the music goes, im gonna say in advance that I have dreams about releases on Fax from artists such as Merv Pepler, Steve Hillage,4 HEro (by any other alias), Brian Dougans (with or without Garry Cobain), Robin Rimbaud, Ken Ishii, Thomas Barnett, Luke Slater, Miles Tilmann, Chris Cunningham (Abfahrt Hinwil)... I think it would be awesome to have collaborations with or solo albums in different alias on Fax.
As far as the trance goes, im a bit disapointed with the Trance statements. Iam a massive 4 Voice, Limelight, Sequential, HEarts of Space fans. I do understand how down the drain it went, but I think that there are still quality sounds and quality "so called" melodic trance (or whatever that is) yet to be done. If we can just ignore the bombing of sell out crap....

If possible and I'm sure most will agree, let's keep the better format mp3,cd or vinyl, digital versus analog debate out of this topic.

Pete said his peace, maybe he will be swayed but as (I know at least 100+ s who could come in here wanting vinyl from FAX so know there is an audience pete)

Its just every analog digital convo on discogs drags out forever. Let's not try to do that here. I'm just saying.

plus I want a Reel to Reel of David Moufang's in/out which is probobly my all time fac fax song;)

Oh, and one more fires of ork please!

TIM
these are the stories we love to hear. the times when people like joey beltram talks about how energy flash came or frankie bones talks about the first raves, pete namlook talking about mixmaster morris playing trance.
these are awesome examples to hear.

can you tell us some other stories along those lines of those days involving yourself, your label or the scene in general?

i'm sure others would also love to hear some old skool stories from you.

yeah... I bet you love to hear some stories... but there are more "not so nice" stories than things to laugh about... sometimes an end of a friendship due to one-sided exploitation of the same etc...Some other stories are sad and very private... just the same things everybody comes across in life. the other, nice stories, come up when we touch a subject... like Mixmaster Morris :-)

And like most people said here before...The continue of Dreamfish, The Fires Of Ork, 2350 Broadway and From Within would be nice.

gandolfito63
the best Fax ever for my taste is 62 Eulengasse

nmlk
just listening still to 62 Eulengasse oh my ... I did not relisten to it ever... I there was this japanese porn thing in the end of xxxx that we used.... that was fun... it gave the piece the intensity that we wanted to transport.

You both got me curious about 62 Eulengasse....

little_alien
As for the direction of FAX, amaze us :) Fitting perfectly in the profile of most discogs s "old farts", I mainly listen to 90s stuff. There have also been recent releases that amaze me as much as 90s stuff still does to me. Some non-FAX examples are Yagya - Rigning or Irezumi (2) - Endurance. I wouldn't call myself a FAX collector, just a collector of good music beyond the obvious and FAX just seems to have a lot of it ;)

FAX releases I always seem to go back to (and get regular playing time) are the Sad World series, Silence (I only have 1,2 and 5), Pino & Wildjamin stuff, Dreamfish (also long time discogs : mixmastermorris ) and The 4 Seasons. I also really like the Dark Side Of The Moog series samples I heard on beatport, but I don't own one yet. My Fax/AW wantlist still is huge and I haven't even heard every FAX release yet. I have only just heard Etherlands for the first time as you told it was going to be an AW release.

Like more people here I also don't really like the jazzy stuff on FAX (only thing remotely jazz I listen to is some Angelo Badalamenti stuff), I am very picky when it comes to warm/rich sounds and mastering and I can't stand glitch, but as said, it's just personal taste. I have always found FAX releases to be fine production quality wise, it's hardly ever crap, just sometimes not my taste. And you never know what to expect. For instance, who had expected to see 2 albums of lost tracks by Thomas P. Heckmann?

nice to know that you regularily come back to FAX with your high demands on sound and qualitiy in music... so I did something right ;-)
of course I cannot please everyone with every release but it is nice hear that I am still able to surprise.
I guess it would be rewarding for you to listen to some "The Dark Side of the Moog" stuff... a good place to start is AW 023 "The Evolution of the Dark Side of the Moog".... also the Sultan Series should be a good idea for you to listen to.

hum, Ive always had the superficial idea that Caspar Pound's traggic death was to Rising High, like Sven Vath's departure from Eye-q was to Harthouse. Of course, Tim's right, its always nice to hear the things from those who know.

TIM
Thanks for explaining your ideas behind your packaging pete. I see your points and I see why you do them the way you do.

The only thing I still disagree with is the double cd fold over in the DTS cd's. They always...ok not always but more than 75 percent of the time they break. Especially the clear ones. The black ones hold up better.

The clear ones spindles that hold the cd break and if they don't the hinge does. Just poorly made they all are.
Comparing for example the Fax compilations released on instinct double cd's. They were black of the older style and were a bit more stable than the clear ones on the DTS cd's imo. Anyways ;)

Thanks again for the answers:)

I go and pick one for a closer look....
No problems here... hmmm... are they broken when you buy them (perhaps they get spoiled by the transport)... I just picked pearl and some others... no problems here... open,close, open close... CDs in CDs out... no problem... it is a bit fragile from the handling .. but if you get used to it... I have to take out the booklet sometimes etc... rarely one is broken... the same amount as with the normal CDs for me. I agree that if you don't handle carefully (sometimes one does not have the time... coming home exhausted and just want to listen to the music and open the CD fast and to wide open "over the point" it make "crack"... that is correct. But regarding the instinct version I had a big problem personally as the things that hold the CD in the tray were broken 9/10 times.
I will have to talk with the pressing plant about it. Clear trays are more stiff than the black ones.. but I designed the layout with the FAX logo shining through the tray and I like it. Perhaps I can organize some tray replacements and send them on demand with shipments to you guys... I don't like the idea of broken trays and cases and the CDs just fall around in it.. thats no fun I second that.

to Tim: ... just sent an E-Mail to the pressing plant.. will keep you updated on their ...

Bassface72
Bassface72 wrote:quote selection
Thanks for the heads up Pete,im pleased you will be continuing the Air series,other projects that i would like to see be continued is Fires of Ork,Dreamfish,From Within & also maybe a second Zenith,if not a reissue of this wonderful cd on AW.

... all agreed... only with the Zenith reissue I will have to check with Tetsu about that. just sent him a mail about it.

is the "new organic life" series be continued?

La_Monte_Old
oanerman wrote:quote selection

Bassface72
Fires of Ork,Dreamfish,From Within

I would be very surprised if this would happen, I thought Biosphere stopped producing. Dreamfish, maybe but that would surprise me thou. I don't think From Within will happen as Richie Hawtin isn't in for quality music anymore, he has made his choice to be a douchebag from now on, no? :p

Geir Jenssen is still producing... but in a different music field.. more film, more classical... Dreamfish depends on Mixmaster and me being busy and finding the right time... and talks with Richie have been going on for a while... please don't call him names... he is alright and very occupied with a lot of things ... and I am convinced when we work together it will be a great collaboration again. :-)

AlexisNembrode

nmlk
digipack is just not working with my way of creation... I need a perfect package that does not wear off that fast... dust and simply touching it does not wear off the product... if I look at the digipacks that I have... oh my... no 10 years old an already paper trash.. false colours etc... just not interesting. some things wear off nicely like wood or steel.. but there is nothing affordable for CD packaging in that sector..

I have the deepest respect for these statement. Ive always thought that too, as im not really into vinyl myself. I also respect the generation that got used to worked with it, so I think its somehow, a relief to read this. Same goes with digipaks. I have (im sure we all have) the same problem.
Anyways, I dont like to see a release available only digitally, or in mp3 cd's. As far as the music goes, im gonna say in advance that I have dreams about releases on Fax from artists such as Merv Pepler, Steve Hillage,4 HEro (by any other alias), Brian Dougans (with or without Garry Cobain), Robin Rimbaud, Ken Ishii, Thomas Barnett, Luke Slater, Miles Tilmann, Chris Cunningham (Abfahrt Hinwil)... I think it would be awesome to have collaborations with or solo albums in different alias on Fax.
As far as the trance goes, im a bit disapointed with the Trance statements. Iam a massive 4 Voice, Limelight, Sequential, HEarts of Space fans. I do understand how down the drain it went, but I think that there are still quality sounds and quality "so called" melodic trance (or whatever that is) yet to be done. If we can just ignore the bombing of sell out crap....

Would be really nice to have some of these artists for collaboration or solo on FAX... but on the one hand there is not enough money involved and as long as a FAX release with limited 500 is close to "just a hobby" fee for artists involved I would not make the first step to approach them like I did with some of the collaborators in the 90ies when I still had to offer some money. although a collaborator receives 45% of the profit involved a new CD alone does not pay the rent (for one month)... before you start crying ;-)... I can survive due to the vast catalogue and my involvement in most of the projects... but for a new collaborator it is just the profit share on the new release and this is just marginal.
sorry to talk so much about the financial backround of this.. but it is simply the truth.. we artists need to survive and due to unauthorized s and CDr copying the "physical" market broke merely down and the paid online s do not compensate for the loss of the physical sales.

AlexisNembrode
As far as the trance goes, im a bit disapointed with the Trance statements. Iam a massive 4 Voice, Limelight, Sequential, HEarts of Space fans. I do understand how down the drain it went, but I think that there are still quality sounds and quality "so called" melodic trance (or whatever that is) yet to be done. If we can just ignore the bombing of sell out crap....

sorry.. forgot that... yeah.. I am a fan of 4Voice, Limelight, Sequential etc too... ;-)... I'd love to work with Pascal FEOS again or do something with my friend DJ Criss again... but these guys are just too busy (and me too). that does not mean that I won't happen again that we work together... this is no lame excuse... you never know and with the 20 years of FAX it would be nice to have something surprising to present...

... on an earlier posting... I guess I forgot to answer a compilation question... I did a compilation which was not easy to perform and the result was to my full liking: AW 057 The Evolution of Move D - Namlook" ;-)
Compilations are sometimes a problem as they really have not something new to offer... and I have no pile of unreleased tracks here... things land in the trash or are being released... I don't want to get in the situation when I release old crappy tracks instead of creating new material. ... ok one exception .. the AW reissues *lol*

AAD
AAD wrote:quote selection
And like most people said here before...The continue of Dreamfish, The Fires Of Ork, 2350 Broadway and From Within would be nice.

gandolfito63
the best Fax ever for my taste is 62 Eulengasse

nmlk
just listening still to 62 Eulengasse oh my ... I did not relisten to it ever... I there was this japanese porn thing in the end of xxxx that we used.... that was fun... it gave the piece the intensity that we wanted to transport.

You both got me curious about 62 Eulengasse....

*whispering* now go buy it ... ;-)))

AlexisNembrode
Alexis_Nembrode wrote:quote selection
is the "new organic life" series be continued?

no

ok.. now back to work for me.. will answer to your writings when I make a break again.. everything covered with snow over here... damn... want to start working in my garden ...
Have a nice Sunday and thank you all for your input.. sorry that some of my answers are a disappointment (vinyl question etc..) but I want to be true with you and not a "diplomatic salesperson". I understand that the "core FAX listeners" are here on discogs and spent/spend a lot of time, effort and money on my music... this "exchange" is my way to say thank you and give you -my- respect as you are part of the basis of my musics existence. Your "funding" by buying FAX and related labels CDs/s etc. give me the possibility to still make my living from music.

Thanks for being so close to us :)

nmlk
and talks with Richie have been going on for a while... please don't call him names... he is alright and very occupied with a lot of things ... and I am convinced when we work together it will be a great collaboration again. :-)

I really hope that you are right. I know I can be harsh sometimes but that's just the way I am (I'm very critical when it comes to music)and it's how I see him since the year 2000. During the 90's he was one of my favourite producers and DJ's but sorry, he has lost it for me, he's a popstar now and I haven't heard any good production since 2000, production wise it's top notch but it sounds sterile, flat, boring and uninspired. And the way he acts like a rockstar when playing gigs: a big no no and no for me.

About the vinyl vs cd for FAX: I agree with Pete as I hate turning the record every 15 minutes when I'm listening to ambient (or "listening" music in general), also crackles and pops in that kind of music is a big no for me. And I really, really love the FAX-artwork, there's nothing like it :)

And the double cd-cases are fine, just handle it with care and it won't break. It's true that the FAX-compilations on Instinct have very bad cases, the black ones break very fast.

nmlk
I guess it would be rewarding for you to listen to some "The Dark Side of the Moog" stuff... a good place to start is AW 023 "The Evolution of the Dark Side of the Moog".... also the Sultan Series should be a good idea for you to listen to.

When funds permit I think I'll go straight to a full DSOTM release, as I can get a good idea from the clips on Beatport. With Sad World being one of my favorite series on FAX, one would expect that I'd like Sultan too, but I guess it's just a bit too traditional for me. Thanks for the tips though :)

nmlk
nice to know that you regularily come back to FAX with your high demands on sound and qualitiy in music... so I did something right ;-)

Ehm I'm not thát much of a music elitist (just check all the Eurodance in my collection :P) I think most people here will regularly come back to FAX, otherwise they wouldn't be following this forum ;) Discogs is also one of the last places where a lot of people still care about physical music media (be it CD or vinyl) and actually buy the releases they like.

As for the slim 2CD boxes, I'm fine with those, but I agree with TIM that the black trays are less prone to break (except those Instinct ones, I agree), just like regular CD cases. I have never broken a CD tray due to usage, it always happened in the mail.

nmlk
you never know and with the 20 years of FAX it would be nice to have something surprising to present...

A special 20th anniversary compilation with new tracks by people that have been involved with FAX in the past 20 years? ;)

nmlk
I understand that the "core FAX listeners" are here on discogs and spent/spend a lot of time, effort and money on my music... this "exchange" is my way to say thank you and give you -my- respect as you are part of the basis of my musics existence. Your "funding" by buying FAX and related labels CDs/s etc. give me the possibility to still make my living from music.

Heh, I just wanted to ask why the sudden open-ness, but this answers my question I guess! I've bought an old house from 1920 last year and all my money is going into the renovation of it, but once it's done I'll have a new order ready.

to Moanerman: I get your point... but one should not forget that he did a lot for the movement ... as music is a matter of taste there could be others who just like his new stuff.
I know Richie very well.. he is a very nice person and I guess it is not always so easy to handle so much publicity... being a successful DJ this cannot be avoided.. but it is a big destraction as well. Being a "rockstar" is not always a blessing. I am glad that I was able to find a more "undercover" way to constantly release my music and not have screaming teenagers at my doorstep *lol*

12" Vinyl is not usable for my music... as you again say it... turning the LP after 15-25 Minutes (the longer the less good is the sound) does not help with 30+ Minutes pieces ..

Regarding the cases I will look for a very limited edition into a wood housing... wood is one of my main elements of choice... steel would be as well... but it feels too cold.. does not match the music.

Just to have my say

Except for DJs and the obvious nostalgic enthusiasts, no one buys vinyl. I still have the SHADO 12" tho, the last vinyl record you put out, just because I like SHADO so much. there is a nice thrill to spinning that black disc and hearing "Intruder Detector"

Also i personally have no prob with the cases, as I'm usually careful with all my rare items. But I would say it would nice to have a format that is easily replaceable if the unthinkable happens or if the case gets broken in transit. I think that happened once when I received one of them in the mail and Dave(ear-rational) doesn't stock the same style of 2CD case with the hinge on the other side.

It's pretty obvious that everyone would love another Dreamfish, From Within, Fires of Ork, SHADO, or Zenith, Those projects are constantly raved out but I'd hope a new release only comes into fruition if the quality is there. The idea of Richie Hawtin or Bobby Bird composing after so many years is exciting but certain makes me apprehensive.

But speaking of those who have been out of action, I'm right now listening to the new Reagenz and WOW Jonah Sharp sounds like he's been in cryo all this time because it's just as good as the original 1994 release on Source!. It seems like the new record is hard to get and I hope it gets a wider release on another label so it gets the praise and recognition it deserves because it's amazing. It's definitely uplifting to think we can get back to that fine quality of the 90's. This should have been released on FAX or Source!

Once again, thanks for all the openness. I think i speak for everyone when I say we practically hang on your every word and appreciate every minute of your time on this forum.

Kracker
But speaking of those who have been out of action, I'm right now listening to the new Reagenz and WOW Jonah Sharp sounds like he's been in cryo all this time because it's just as good as the original 1994 release on Source!.

Are you serious?? I thought it just sounded like a mediocre Move D release... I had high hopes, but was a bit disappointed. I don't hear much Sharp in it and Move D has done better. Judging by the reactions one either loves it or hates it: http://discogs.mejorespelis.org/groups/topic/198745

Anyhow, back to FAX ;)

So what release are THEY listening to? They said it's all 'techno' but I'm listening to "Shibuya Day" right now and it's ambient. and only half the tracks are a blend of ambient and house. And i hear plenty of Sharp it in it, it's not all beats ya know. Yes, it's more upbeat than the first release 15 years ago but still nice quality.

to Kracker: thank you for your thoughts ... of course Richie or Bobby would do fine ... I don't think there would be problems when it comes the the quality of their contributions... no problems at all.
As you saw with Jonah and David... great to see them collaborate again. Jonah asked me ... but I simply did not have the time. There are so many things to finish ...

to little_alien: I know how things can get out of hand moneywise with an old house... had this problems as well... but it is rewarding ...

... back to work now...

I havent got a lot to say besides this:

THX! for the floating trips ya gave me with music like Hearts Of Space - Breath Out

Ya can say Pound wasnt a fair man, he had a nose for good music tho ;)

I got 1 question for ya Pete -

This, The Martian - Cosmic Movement / Star Dancer, samples Sequential - Sequential

Were you aware of this? Or was it a 'friends' thing? wich I found a tad strange as I dont recall a Detroit connection between Fax n Detroit.

Fun thing is that everyone of my friends who likes the Martian tune (and intro) are usually suprised when I tell m its taken from Sequential - Sequential and liking ur tune more when I play it to them.

Still wondering what the story is between u and Detroit.

I'll end with a humble,

Danke nachbar, für deine musik!

ps - James Bernard - Unreleased Works 1994-1999

Perhaps a nice idea for ya Pete ;)

To Peter:
Any miscellanea/curiosity/anecdote/story to tell about the concerts that were shortly later released on the "Namlook" series? I always come back to this releases,I like them all quite much,specially their improvational mood.I think the best are volumes IV,VII and X,but the ones I really play more often are the hypnotic Namlook V and the very strange/disturbing Namlook VI.

BUNKERHEADZ
Perhaps a nice idea for ya Pete ;)

Your answer has already been given Bunks ;) Check below:

nmlk
...and I have no pile of unreleased tracks here... things land in the trash or are being released... I don't want to get in the situation when I release old crappy tracks instead of creating new material. ... ok one exception .. the AW reissues *lol*

Hi Pete,

I've had some FAX releases for quite a few years, some for less time, and there's a fair few i still want to get (top of the list probably Atom Heart - Orange, Zenith, and Tetsu Inoue - Organic Cloud)...

Thanks for putting out some of the things you did in the 90s, and leaving such a treasure trove of stuff to be rediscovered.

I think the policy of standardised packaging and 1 release a month worked out very well for you at that time when you were doing that, it's left us with a cache of music that includes some vaery varied things. Perhaps (if you were looking to do anything else, and there's no reason why you should!) a similar scheme would work again. More jams from different artists, maybe a series of releases every month over a year or two? (I know that takes a lot of energy, though)

I enjoy some of the lesser commented on/less well known FAX things, especially the Victor Sol stuff, and look forward to rooting out some more of those in the future.

d'oh my bad

he is still doing this Barry, there is a release every month, except in August (if I'm right) and around X-mas.

well, disregard that comment then, apart from the bits about liking the music, which still hold :D

BUNKERHEADZ
BUNKERHEADZ wrote:quote selection
I havent got a lot to say besides this:

THX! for the floating trips ya gave me with music like Sequential - Sequential & Silence - Silence or Pulsation - Pulsation to the raging Juno mayhem on 4Voice - 4Voice 3 (Move!!) and the sounds on Hearts Of Space - Breath Out

Ya can say Pound wasnt a fair man, he had a nose for good music tho ;)

I got 1 question for ya Pete -

This, Martian, The - Cosmic Movement / Star Dancer, samples Sequential - Sequential

Were you aware of this? Or was it a 'friends' thing? wich I found a tad strange as I dont recall a Detroit connection between Fax n Detroit.

Fun thing is that everyone of my friends who likes the Martian tune (and intro) are usually suprised when I tell m its taken from Sequential - Sequential and liking ur tune more when I play it to them.

Still wondering what the story is between u and Detroit.

I'll end with a humble,

Danke nachbar, für deine musik!

Richie tells me every time that there are a lot of FAX fans in Detroit... I guess there are some followers. ... and I know about the Red planet thing ;-)

gandolfito63
gandolfito63 wrote:quote selection
To Peter:
Any miscellanea/curiosity/anecdote/story to tell about the concerts that were shortly later released on the "Namlook" series? I always come back to this releases,I like them all quite much,specially their improvational mood.I think the best are volumes IV,VII and X,but the ones I really play more often are the hypnotic Namlook V and the very strange/disturbing Namlook VI.

Oh yeah... playing live had always some surprises for me... but some nice experiences as well of course ... Namlook VI was at a strange place... like a huge bunker... the room was only 2,30m high the room was like 1000 square meters... during improvising through my set I found the resonance tone and played with it... it came back and build up...the crowd was completely fascinated and "got caught in the loop"... was a perfect moment but at the same time it transported the "cave" feeling... dark, vast space.

I got in touch with Tetsu... Zenith will be reissued... I guess I will do this rather soon.

The pressing plant came back to me.. I will receive "spare parts" whoever needs some should tell me and I send them along with the next order. If you have "everything" except for new CDs and spar parts needed and you are based in the US (a client of Dave Steinhardt), please tell me and I will send to Dave some spare trays for sending them out.
The pressing plant clerk told me the same that I said... handled with care .. no problem.. sometimes problems with shipment but only about 0,5% with excessive shipping. Care has expecially to be taken when opened the first time... the 2CDs are manuftured and finished by a machine only and so one has to watch it when opening the 2CDs for the first time... same with the 1CD "jewel box".
Regarding the requested parameters there is no alternative ... if you look closer into it... even for CDs years old you can just replace the jewel case or tray and you have a perfect product again. If a digipack wears off you have no chance for replacement.
Regarding vinyl I thought again about it with the guy from the pressing plant .. this would be a "hobby" thing... and assuming that 100 could be moved I think about a pressing (not for my taste and my opinion about it is crystal clear... but as a "dedicated to fans of FAX and the vinyl medium")... I will have to think about the schedule and the content to be released...
--this is not final I just "think" about it and the only reason is to make the vinyl addicted happy--

updated:

http://namlook.de

Next week Pearl II and Etherlands will be released (1st of March 2010)

...

nmlk
Regarding vinyl I thought again about it with the guy from the pressing plant .. this would be a "hobby" thing... and assuming that 100 could be moved I think about a pressing (not for my taste and my opinion about it is crystal clear... but as a "dedicated to fans of FAX and the vinyl medium")... I will have to think about the schedule and the content to be released...

!!!!! EXCITING!!!

count me down for any and all :)

re: the cases. thanks for being so throughout. really appreciate it. i'm not in need of any, i used to work at recording studios and have a crap load of backup cases. i was just saying in general i thought the packaging could be re-worked a bit better making them more special or as special as the music is :)

thanks again for being a member here. this is the best thing that's happened on this site in a long time. site has been going to the dogs lately...i.e. boring

duplicate

A track that is one of the most memorable for me of all time is:
Pete Namlook & DJ Criss - Everything Is Under Control

!!

^seconded
the whole sequential album actually.

But I love those gems on 4 Voice. "the cosmic packing order", and "old love dies"....that high pitch in the middle gives me the chills...

edit:. spelling mistake

nmlk
Next week Pearl II and Etherlands will be released (1st of March 2010)

That's great news! I really love Pearl I. Haven't heard Etherlands yet, don't know if I'll buy the repress or wait to find the original for cheap (I'm a bit a neurotic when it comes to originals).

AlexisNembrode
the whole sequential album actuallt.

Sequential is my favourite trance album on fax!

La_Monte_Old
Haven't heard Etherlands yet, don't know if I'll buy the repress or wait to find the original for cheap (I'm a bit a neurotic when it comes to originals).

will definitely buy Etherlands as i dont want to wait any longer to listen to it! the original Etherlands is one of those FAX cds i unfortunately never got for a normal price! to own an original release (especially on FAX) is fine but not that important for me anymore! Grigorij is getting old and wise! hahaha...

thanks Peter for sharing your thoughts with us and for all the really interesting insider information above! read your posts as if they were a thrilling book or something! =)

nmlk
I got in touch with Tetsu... Zenith will be reissued... I guess I will do this rather soon.

great news!

nmlk
I got in touch with Tetsu... Zenith will be reissued... I guess I will do this rather soon.

Just listened to it for the first time. Lots of bleepy sequences, I love it!

Great news on Zenith been re-issued thanks for making it happen Pete :)

Since Tetsu Inoue is fine with re-releasing Zenith, how bout Electro Harmonix?
Would Jonah Sharp need to approve it too?

Dub techno seems to be quite popular here on Discogs. I've also gotten really excited about artists such as Yagya, Rod Modell... Have you thought of releasing some dub techno on FAX?

Thanks!

24db
24db wrote:quote selection
Cheers Pete, do what you like, when you like. Whether I like it or not is my problem ;)

Yes, but sometimes I like to listen first and then I do what I want ;-)... *lol*
It is very interesting for me to read about all the ideas and opinions... in the end ... you are my most dedicated listeners... why should I not listen to your opinion. From "the inside" things look always different and it is very dangerous to loose touch.
I was a collector of music myself and I was so disappointed when my favourite bands "lost it" over time... often because of the music industry forcing them to do more commercial stuff... for the money. This way they made money first but lost the entire "dedicated" fan base...
I don't think that it is important to be distant from your listeners/collectors... I find it inspiring and important to listen. As an artist I will always do "my thing" but it depends what I would do first from all the projects that I am involved in. :-)
Like the reissue of Etherlands.. and now Zenith.. this came through the conversations we have and from looking at the collectors market here on discogs... I would be stupid to not follow a clear demand that is easy for me to follow and is something that I wanted to do some day anyway. But if there is a huge demand for "Pete do a remix of Oxygene" I would not do it... it's not interesting for me (just as an example... )

24db

I'm glad that some people are still ing you (by directly buying your albums) and therefore allowing you to continue your (and our) musical journey.

That is quite correct... I started to sell directly for a similar reason... to be more in touch with the base and of course to me it was always not easy to accept that those who sell my CDs make more money than me who created the music.... even when I have my own label and sell directly to the distributors. FAX started this way... first we sold the 12"Vinyl directly to the shops ... until we found a distributor... I don't mind doing the work ... this is better than having to accept that others who never have been included in the creative process make more money than the artists involved.

Nabusee
Nabusee wrote:quote selection
Since Tetsu Inoue is fine with re-releasing Zenith, how bout Electro Harmonix?
Would Jonah Sharp need to approve it too?

Dub techno seems to be quite popular here on Discogs. I've also gotten really excited about artists such as Yagya, Rod Modell... Have you thought of releasing some dub techno on FAX?

Thanks!

Hmm I thought I did this kind of music with Psychonavigation and Outland... (on some of the releases)

nmlk
Hmm I thought I did this kind of music with Psychonavigation and Outland... (on some of the releases)

That's the funny thing about dub techno, besides the eternal on chords it doesn't have that much in common with "classic" dub (like Bill Laswell makes). Yagya - Rigning would be an excellent example of a really chilled out version of dub techno.

Speaking of dub, I never got round to asking this directly: http://discogs.mejorespelis.org/groups/topic/150388 Any idea what those sounds are?

to 24db: oh... I guess I am not quite the type who asks for the next musical step and listenes to the public opinion... to find out what I have to do... hahaha... this is the first time I take a break to look what the public opinion is... if there are technical things to talk about like format or covers etc... it is good to listen... but as you have 150+ of my albums I guess you had sometimes the impression that something new had been started... and with Pearl, New Organic Life and Music for Urban Meditation i.e. it was all the same to me if the "crowd" likes it or not... FAX is about having the "balls" to make the music that my collaborators and I like. Selling limited editions of 500 is not quite a proof for being the "everybodys darling" ;-)... this was never my aim.
But I like to listen to my "core buyers" more than to an opinion of a journalist. What I make from it in the end is of course "my thing".
In of reissue I guess it is the right way... music long done and it eases the market a bit like with "Etherlands".

Thank you all for your input !!!

nmlk
Regarding vinyl I thought again about it with the guy from the pressing plant .. this would be a "hobby" thing... and assuming that 100 could be moved I think about a pressing (not for my taste and my opinion about it is crystal clear... but as a "dedicated to fans of FAX and the vinyl medium")... I will have to think about the schedule and the content to be released...
--this is not final I just "think" about it and the only reason is to make the vinyl addicted happy--

I was shocked when I had read this.
Maybe there will be a new vinyl release on FAX after all?
I really hope you'll start with your "new hobby".
And that you may have a lot of fun with compiling some nice thing(s) for us, although it's not your thing....
But thanks for the consideration!

About 62 Eulengasse....

nmlk
*whispering* now go buy it ... ;-)))

You've just sold it ;-)

Keep doing what your doing Pete.. Everything you've done is both magical and wonderful and it's it's really nice to have such a pioneer of electronic music here on Discogs sharing your thoughts with us.

If the vinyl thing ever happens then I'd really be made up! ..I still can't get enough of the early 90's FAX +49-69/450464 releases!.

This is my opportunity to say a big thanks to you and your wonderful music. ;)

The trouble with most albums is failing to prove themselves unique from the rest. The top FAX albums accomplished it in the 90s but I'm not sure if the new ones still do. I lost interest after hearing too much jazzy stuff.

The packaging might not be important to you but it's part of the whole experience and especially important in combating piracy now. Limited Editions also increase interest as people know they won't be selling for $0.01 each on eBay in the future. Re-releases have the opposite effect and should be avoided. Of course the primary way to raise interest is to have superb and original music, those others are just secondary concerns.

In my mind Ultimae Records has done everything right over the last decade. They win "Label Of The Decade" from me. Maybe a collaboration with some of their fresh artists to make more ambient-oriented music would be possible. I'm sure they were greatly inspired by 90s FAX.

Kracker
It's pretty obvious that everyone would love another Dreamfish, From Within, Fires of Ork, SHADO, or Zenith, Those projects are constantly raved out but I'd hope a new release only comes into fruition if the quality is there.

Yes! And include Sad World on the list too. There is still nothing new (in the ambient/techno style) that has touched me as much as the beauty of these releases, which is a bit sad considering they are 15 years old.

What will be the future of Electronic Music? Whatever the innovative artists can come up with. And if they come up with nothing then it's dead. It's good to know that FAX is interested in making innovative music rather than selling out or stagnating. Keep it up!

Namlook did mention on an earlier post, about wanting to use wood or even steel with packaging. One way to tackle the cost issues with such materials, would be to make "limited edition" versions of some of the releses.

Offering such limited editions to "subscribers-only", would also be another great way to reward the FAX collectors for their . The reason I bought the remastered Air album, instead of some other FAX release this month, was the Discogs-exclusive limited edition of it. It was a great selling point to have something special a few others would have, and I also prefer the old FAX album covers anyway.

Collaborations with some Ultimae artists wouldn't be a bad idea either, but a collaboration with some Sending Orbs (YAGYA) artists would be perfect! :P

to AAD... thank you for your order ;-) ... you will like 62 Eulengasse... regarding vinyl I have to think about the music to release on that medium... something that goes well with random hiss an static crackling :-)))

to ACRID303: thank you for your nice words

to Articuno: music is a matter of taste and if you listen to only one decade and exclude styles like jazz etc... you end up with music that sounds the same ... but if you know every project and release on FAX you know that there is only within the same project the same style..
"New Organic Life" cannot easily be the "same" as "Air" or "Silence"...
About packaging... this does not help against piracy at all as the worst is the internet piracy... there are people out there who have 1000 tracks of mine.. love my music and are very proud that they never bought one single album or even paid for a . About reissues... on the contrary .. a lot of the old CDs have been reissued on Ambient World... look at the prices of the originals... still stable... the reissues give those who were introduced to my music later the possibility to buy some of the otherwise sold out items at a normal price.
on new collaborations: lately I do ot approach actively other labels or artists... as I have work for another 3 years on my shelves. Of course things happen and some new collaborator who caught my interest is on my doorstep then I would work with him and postpone my own work.
On 15year old music: Don't underestimate your personal development and your own point in life when judging music and styles... I am caught in that kind of look as well and do not feel guilty to listen to the first Biosphere and the first Future Sound of London from time to time and do not listen to the follow ups... they did great music afterwards but it has to do with my personal preference and situation. To just proclaim that nothing significant had been released the past 15 years is a bit "over the top".
On the future: My journey has not ended and with releases like pearl I guess I have opened a new door... although it is in the ambient realm... if you listen closely it is quite different from other releases... I know from the composition and production technique that this had not been done before "that way". And this will be more and more an issue to do things differently with all the experience I have...don'T forget I did these 90ies releases and have all the files and masters here... for me it is the easiest thing to do such a CD again but to look back only is not my thing... forward ever backwards never ;-) ...
Articuno, thank you for your thoughts... helps me to make things a bit more clear ..

Nabusee
Nabusee wrote:quote selection
Namlook did mention on an earlier post, about wanting to use wood or even steel with packaging. One way to tackle the cost issues with such materials, would be to make "limited edition" versions of some of the releses.

Offering such limited editions to "subscribers-only", would also be another great way to reward the FAX collectors for their . The reason I bought the remastered Air album, instead of some other FAX release this month, was the Discogs-exclusive limited edition of it. It was a great selling point to have something special a few others would have, and I also prefer the old FAX album covers anyway.

thank you for that... and I do not want to forget to mention that the item is limited to 50 (!) and comes with a numbered and signed certificate (to avoid misunderstandings)

nmlk
....and I do not want to forget to mention that the item is limited to 50

Pete, I've always been curious, why do you limit the number of copies of CD's you release?
Why not just reprint some more copies of the same exact CD if there is enough demand?

Seems like you've gone out of your way to preserve the "exclusiveness" of them by setting up an entire new sub-label for re-released material and it surely have cost you either extra time, money or both to make the new covers for Ambient World CD's.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Thanks !

Weird to hear such a question from someone with the name outofprintrecords :-D

I like it the way it is as being a collector ;-)

I think OOPrecords is "playing the devil's advocate" here for the sake of an interesting question. On one hand if there was only the original pressing of, say, Dreamfish, it would sell for 10x the price in auctions and have 10x the prestige. On the other hand, the artists would not make as much money from it. Maybe this set up is designed to catch collectors with the FAX version and the rest with the Ambient World, thus maximizing profit?

I was just being sarcastic, don't you worry. I have about 25 cd's on AW too but I prefer having the originals on FAX, I'm just neurotic when it comes to collecting. These represses on AW are a good thing because some of the old FAX-releases are a bitch to lay your hands on or very expensive and music must be heard, no stored on a collector's shelve who will not play them for you. But then again: I could buy Silence II - which I'm still after - on AW but I want the original anyway :-) I have no explanation for that :p

And a limitation of 500/1000/1500 and even some 2000 or 3000 is A LOT for a niche genre like that. So it's not "that" limited IMHO. Also I think Pete doesn't want to have 1000 cd's of overstock, that would be a waste of money. Plus: I think the last years FAX-releases only have a limitation of 500 anymore but that's because of today's economic situation and the music crisis, it's not that simple anymore to sell 500 cd's today. So I think Pete makes the right choice.

La_Monte_Old
And a limitation of 500/1000/1500 and even some 2000 or 3000 is A LOT for a niche genre like that. So it's not "that" limited IMHO. Also I think Pete doesn't want to have 1000 cd's of overstock, that would be a waste of money. Plus: I think the last years FAX-releases only have a limitation of 500 anymore but that's because of today's economic situation and the music crisis, it's not that simple anymore to sell 500 cd's today. So I think Pete makes the right choice.

Thank you for your input, but unfortunately unless you are part of FAX label in some fashion, your thoughts are assumptions and speculations; many of which I've heard over the years.
You may very well be right, however I'd like to hear what Pete has to say about it.

You also seem to be making assumptions about my post.
The question was not about "liking the way it is being a collector" nor disliking it for that matter.

Articuno
On one hand if there was only the original pressing of, say, Dreamfish, it would sell for 10x the price in auctions and have 10x the prestige. On the other hand, the artists would not make as much money from it. Maybe this set up is designed to catch collectors with the FAX version and the rest with the Ambient World, thus maximizing profit?

Very valid point and probably the most reasonable theory I've heard so far.

outofprintrecords
your thoughts are assumptions

That's why I start my thoughts with "I think" and thoughts ARE assumptions ;-)

And don't worry: Pete will answer your question as soon as he has some time :-)

to outofprintrecords, Moanderman and Articuno:
Thank you for your questions... we had a storm over here and I was without electricity (had to switch to my generator and take care of other things).
In a way ... Moanerman is correct with his assumptions.
It started by releasing 500 Vinyl of "True Colors" no sleeve (just inner sleeve) and my FAX typical label artwork. NEWS of Belgium got soon interested and when we said... it was a limited release they jumped on it and we had a deal. By that time I did two 12" Vinyl per week and I was glad to immediately sell the Vinyl and go ahead. For a long time .. .FAX was -no questions-, - no returns - , take it or leave it.
Then FAX took off... and in England there was a big demand on Air II and the Dreamfish CD etc.. the licensing partners got sloppy (some of them) and so I had to find a solution.
I wanted to be loyal to the collectors of my music and so there was only one way... a reissue with an entirely different artwork. This time -unlimited- as my UK distributor wanted to take this to the limits. Instead of a licensing partner I was -kind of- licensing the music to myself and had the financial and artistic control.
Adjusting the limitation had to do with the amount of CDs that can be sold in a nice timeframe .. that everybody who is interested can buy a copy ... and after a while the CDs are sold out... if then the demand is high enough there is a reissue on AW (not always). And without having mentioned it before .. for over 10 years now AW reissues mostly are just in a run of 300 after that I do not repress easily and recently I even think about to keep it that way.
The main aspect that I really liked about the limited releases is that the music keeps a certain value... I really don't like it when there is overstock and (as I saw it with other labels) they first sell at dumping prices and then even trash the CDs to get rid of the stock. This extreme perversion of ourdays way of dealing with goods is not to my liking and the limited editions are the way to keep everything nice and a good overview. Also it is good for those who buy the CDs .. you can never say that a FAX or even an AW CD was a "waste of money"... you can always sell it later at the same or if you wait long enough... at higher prices.
I had a lot of discussions with friends, distributors and family who said "why the limitation".. you can sell "more"... It is simple... I am not into the fast success of one release sells millions of albums... as this very often leads to frustration and early end of the musical career. You will always be compared to your most successful album... and that cannot be "it".
Timeless music that can be listened to by generations of music lovers is my aim...this can only be achieved if you are not into the biggest hype... FAX needs to be discovered and the "aahh" effect when listened to one and then possibly a lot more albums.
Call me idealistic .. whatever.. I only want to make my living from making music .. not be rich for 5 years until the tax people get to you... THIS is not an assumption it is my strategy in making music and in keeping everything in order for everyone involved .. no ripp-offs, no sell-out... the "real deal" = quality music at normal prices that is my way.
About the "5 years" until the tax people get to you... this is no joke .. I saw that happen to a lot of artists... some of them I am friends for a long time (before and after the success).
Whatever happens on the collectors market is not my fault... I don't charge hundreds of Euro for one CD... when I see this I soon release it on AW and the situation is more easy.
As mentioned before .. it is alright to sell the CD for more money after it has been sold out... but I find it a bit strange when this reaches an amount of over 100 Euro.
I hope this answer helped to bring some light in this aspect of FAX releases... btw... Rather Interesting releases are as well limited to 500.. no repressings.

Great, thanks for taking time to answer Peter !!

My question to Pete: as a collector of your label's music, I really want
to know, which Fax CDs you never will be able to repress because of the other artists author rights and they wouldn't let you do it. If it is any?

nmlk
I hope this answer helped to bring some light in this aspect of FAX releases... btw... Rather Interesting releases are as well limited to 500.. no repressings.

Thanks for the answers, very informative! I always thought AW releases were more than 500 as they are less of a gamble as you know the titles are popular.

VinylClub.ua
which Fax CDs you never will be able to repress because of the other artists author rights and they wouldn't let you do it. If it is any?

Good question, but I can imagine it's tricky to answer it on a public forum by a label owner... I'm sure there are bound to be some.

Oh Peter, not really FAX in general, but about a specific release, did you catch my earlier post about the weird sounds in Re:sonate? http://discogs.mejorespelis.org/groups/topic/205699#2565075