TTW#69 – Michael Muennich – Schamprozessionen
Cassette only – limited edition of 150 copies
Buy in the TouchShop
Buy on Bandcamp
Track listing;
A: 14'29"
B: 14'45"
Illustration – Mario Caroli
Recorded and assembled by Michael Muennich 2013/2014 at Fragment Factory, Hamburg. Mastered by Phil Julian.
Michael Muennich (*1980) is a Hamburg based sound artist and composer of electroacoustic music. His recordings basically focus on the use of everyday surrounding sounds and amplified/modified everyday objects as sound sources. Audio recordings by Muennich have been published on labels such as Firework Edition Records, Banned Production, The Tapeworm, Noise-Below and others. Since 2009 he operates the Fragment Factory label and mailorder, specializing in various kinds of experimental electronic music.
www.fragmentfactory.com/muennich.html
Reviews
Vital Weekly (NL):
The Tapeworm, one of UK’s finer houses for cassette only releases, is still going strong, reaching now their sixty nineth release and for this one we have music from Michael Muennich, who has his own label in the form of Fragment Factory. As we can see with releases on his own label, there is an element of performance in his work, one not unlike that of Schimpfluch, of whom he also releases work. The visual element is of course not part of this, which makes it perhaps harder to judge this; to check the performance element. We hear something that could be the dripping of water, looped perhaps, processed perhaps and those form a backdrop for these two pieces. On top there is some sort of slurping sound, like Muennich is drinking from a glass. It's very minimal but it’s also quite captivating. You never know what's going to happen. The other side doesn't have a voice, but closely miked objects being played and which sound not unsimilar to the listening to antenna's picking up long wave signals. Perhaps less intense but more complex with lots of things happening on various levels. Very fine tape!
MuhMur:
The Tapeworm is a UK/London based label with attachments to Touch. Last years Colin Potter tape was in my Top 10 of 2013. Michael Muennich release is (again) a C30. The CassEP. “Schamprozessionen” is two untitled pieces, two processions of shame. A: Is straight out of the frying pan and into the fire as sounds pop, squeal, scream and sizzle. Random sounds … shortly afterwards a dense swarming drone starts the approach and the whole sound gets very visual and pretty similar to the work of Dave Philips. Towards the end there are guttural/internal body fluid sounds that scrape across the room and bring it all into Schimpfluch territory. Excellent stuff. B: Is mainly the sound of stretching wood – a concret piece of contact microphone manipulation. Ripping paper, running water, shaving steel … a well constructed piece.
Le son du grisli (FR):
Les statuts de la Fragment Factory n’interdisent en rien à son PDG, Michael Muennich, de jouer de temps à autre pour la concurrence. Deux cassettes le prouvaient récemment : Schamproressionen et In Medias Res.
Sur la première (référence Tapeworm), Muennich tente, seul, d’étouffer un feu d’artifices. En résultent sifflements et chuintements avant qu’un exercice vocal ne balaie tout l’espace, qui interroge à propos des conséquences qu’a eu sur l’homme l’exécution de son curieux projet. Sur l’autre face, c’est une autre expérience que l’on imagine : Muennich ramant à contre-courant d’un torrent de noise. Deux fois, l’expérience sonore a commandé un théâtre d’abstraction maligne. […]
