die ANGEL, the duo project of Ilpo Väisänen (ex-Pan Sonic) & Dirk Dresselhaus aka Schneider TM, starts its 3rd decade of sonic explorations with the release of album #10 which bears the programmatic title “Utopien I”.180g LP and DL on Karl.
die ANGEL (or just ANGEL in the early days) was born in 1999 during a joint European tour of Pan Sonic and Schneider TM with the aim to use electronics, string instruments and effect loops to develop a sonic world that goes beyond fixed structures and clearly defined genres. Coming from different musical backgrounds proved quite an advantage for the duo as it meant that Ilpo Väisänen & Dirk Dresselhaus had to find their particular modus operandi: communication through noise and action, instant composition, spirit.
Over the course of over 2 decades now, die ANGEL crafted a catalogue of 9 albums released on labels like Edition Mego or Edition Telemark that were recordings of either the core duo or featured like-minded artists like cellist Hildur Gudnadottir, Oren Ambarchi, Lucio Capece or BJ Nilsen. die ANGEL delve deep into the microcosms of tones, shaping nuanced layers of abstract sound that integrate elements of Musique Concrète, Minimal Music, Industrial, Noise, Blues and Psychedelia, and yet bear the unmistakable die ANGEL signature.
“Utopien I” is not only the duo’s latest effort (feat. Oren Ambarchi) but also a clear political call: in a world of a general decline, we need new ideas and approaches to design the future.
All tracks performed & recorded December 2015 – January 2016 by Ilpo Väisänen & Dirk Dresselhaus at ZONE, Berlin
Overdubs on ‚Cargo Cult’ by Oren Ambarchi (Milano, Italy) April – May 2016
Edited & mixed by Dirk Dresselhaus May 2016 at ZONE, Berlin
Mastered by Helmut Erler at D&M, Berlin, December 2019
Ilpo Väisänen : electronics & effects
Dirk Dresselhaus : electric guitar & effects
Oren Ambarchi : electric guitar & effects
Edition Telemark presents the ninth album by die ANGEL (pronounced [diː ˈaŋl̩], previously called Angel), an improvisational noise and electro-acoustic project founded in 1999 by Dirk Dresselhaus and Ilpo Väisänen. Dresselhaus, a.k.a. Schneider TM, is based in Berlin and has been active in electric and electronic music since the late 1980s in various bands and projects ranging from rock music to electro-acoustic improvisation. Väisänen has been playing in Finnish electronic duo Pan Sonic in the 1990s and 2000s, and, more recently, in a number of solo projects.
die ANGEL's music meanders between the poles of improvised noise and electro-acoustic music, encompassing processed electronic sounds, instruments, and field recordings, with some tracks featuring guest musicians. Yön Magneetti Sine can be considered their most stripped-down album to date, completely recorded in July 2017 in Väisänen's cottage near Karttula, Finland. It contains five improvised tracks featuring only processed acoustic signals from two self-built one-string resonance instruments and an acoustic guitar. Both one-stringed instruments were built by Väisänen from parts of a weaving loom, a bench, and two barbecue bowls.
All tracks were recorded live without overdubs and, according to Dresselhaus and Väisänen, relate directly to the surrounding landscape and the special atmosphere of the white nights that occur in central and northern Finland during summer. To them, the music heard here is to be called blues, albeit with non-standard instrumentation and structure. Thus, their working title has been "The Electro-Acoustic Blues Album". Edition of 300 on blue vinyl in full-colour sleeve with various photos of the recording process and the surroundings.