southern records

keith fullerton whitman  home | biography | shop

Schoner Flussengel is material with a decidedly dark mood. Recorded as a follow up to Keith Fullerton Whitman's Antithesis LP, which was released by kranky in April 2004, this new album embodies Whitman's considerable musical scope. With tracks recorded using vocals, computer, clarinet, synthesizer, record player, microphone, bell and guitar, the album traverses grittier and more complex territory than its predecessors. Whitman also goes by the name Hvratski, with his work on Planet Mu.

The six tracks veer from processed, textured drone to computer-guitar-piano trio. The vcs3 synthesizer that runs through the two "Lixus" tracks was recorded at Soma in Chicago in 2001 with the aid of Casey Rice and John McEntire (Tortoise). Packaged in a gothic styled album jacket that is perhaps more akin to a Southern Lord release, complete with a suitably intricate script, Schoner Flussengel is a dip into a cold, Stygian stream that splashes and flows around the listener.

Keith Fullerton Whitman's musical interests have taken a course towards solo experimentation of late. Schoner Flussengel began when Whitman took a position as a lecturer at Harvard and gained access to the University's sound labs. As he worked on his forthcoming Multiples album project for kranky, a strand of his music took on a life on its own. It was clear that this material needed a separate outlet and it took the form of Schoner Flussengel. The album title is German for 'beautiful river angel'. As John Mulvey wrote in The Wire when reviewing Playthroughs: "It's a pleasure to hear an artist defy easy categorisation."