Cristian Vogel - Station 55 - Release Info And Reviews

[Lady E]

ARTIST: CRISTIAN VOGEL
TITLE: STATION 55
LABEL: NOVAMUTE
FORMATS: CD/2XLP
CATALOGUE NO: NOMU149CD/NOMU149LP
RELEASE DATE: 4th JULY 2005

Tracklist (CD Version)
Typewriter of the Dead
The Time Lock
1968.Holes
On The Line
Somewhere In The Waves, We Will Find You
Neon Underground
Turn On, Tune In, Drown Out
Arctic Wolfman
Monkey Inc.
Lovelights

Tracklist (Double Vinyl)
The Time Lock
1968.Holes
Lovelights
On the Line
Somewhere In The Waves, We Will Find You
Neon Underground
Turn On, Tune In, Drown Out
Arctic Wolfman
Monkey Inc




Cristian Vogel’s productions never stand still, but ‘Station 55’ is going to blow away even those used to his mastery of electronics, space, and funk. Using styles and sounds from all the periods of his previous work, including the wild weightless techno-soul he explored with Super_Collider, he’s reached a whole new level of completeness for an electronic album. From the warped waltz-time haunted-house atmospherics of ‘Typewriter Of The Dead’ to the digital jazz, warm sub-bass and Kraftwerkian keyboard lines of ‘Neon Underground’, melody and pure funk are at the forefront the whole way through. Though certain sounds may recall other music (the total 80s electrofunk bassline in ‘The Time Lock’, a hint of Peter Hook in ‘Monkey Inc’, melted acoustic guitars in closing track ‘Lovelights’), the mind-fryingly crisp and new sounds could only come from 2005, and this could only be a Cristian Vogel album. The relentless panic of ‘1968 Holes’, featuring the crazed electro punk acid queen vocals of Kevin Blechdom, and the brooding, pumping bassy dreamscape of ‘Turn On, Tune In, Drown Out’ featuring Franz Treichler of the legendary Young Gods are the most likely to be taken up by DJs, but there is nothing here that – played over a big system – won’t pick dancers up, whirl them around and leave them dazed, exhausted and happy, not knowing what’s hit them but glad it did.

It’s a listening album too, though. Cristian has always been the master of the subliminal melody, of the tune that gives up new secrets every time you listen to it, and that’s truer than ever on ‘Station 55’. This album has a story: not necessarily a single thread running through it, but a recurrence of sound and patterns which suck you into its sci-fi world of mysterious radio stations broadcasting number series from the underground, freaked numerology, time travelling entities and monkeys with typewriters. The atmosphere is built by the poetic voices of Blechdom, Treichler, of frequent Vogel collaborator Max Turner of the Meteorites and Puppetmastaz, of Madrid-based artist Burbuja, and of Barcelona band Virüs, who Cristian describes as having a “dark, sensual and science-fiction based lyrical universe� – and of course by Cristian’s sounds. These sounds – though they may be as weird, strung-out and full of digital crack’n’pop as anything by sound experimenters like Autechre or Fennesz – are always human, physical, moving and musical. Everything, even the harsh rattling of ‘On The Line’ or the sparse, desolate pulse of ‘Arctic Wolfman’, is infused with the spirit of the dance and the funk which has always informed techno. ‘Station 55’ is an album to think to and to lose yourself to, to dance to and to sink into; it’s an album to terrify and delight, and an album that keeps on giving more and more every time you hear it. Play it again and again.


Read about the first single from the album here

[Lady E]

The Wire July 2005

Cristian Vogel has spent a decade and a half at Techno's bedrock. As the founder of the No Future/Erutufon network in Brighton, and now living in Barcelona, the onetime 20th century music student is one of the most proactive DJs, musicians, producers and composers on the global electronic network (indeed he's one of the very few surviving artists who still make that term make sense).

Station 55, his ninth album, is vintage Vogel, with a wider palette than 2000's Rescate 137. It features music from Barcelona group Virus, plus Madrid's Burbuja and Max Turner (Meteorites/Puppetmastaz), as well as guest slots for Kevin Blechdom (hollering through a digital harmoniser on "1968. Holes") and Young God Franz Treichler. The human touch ensures plenty of light and oxygen enters the sound pool. "Neon Underground's" drum programming is nimble as The Meters' Ziggy Modeliste. From the coastguard sign that gave Rescate 137 its title, to presnt tracks like "Somewhere In The Waves, We Will Find You", the sea never seems to be far away in Vogel's music, or at least the visual rhythms and neon dotscape of a 21st century port city like Barcelona. Rhythm tracks ("On The Line") crackle out of tinny crystal radio sets, while "Lovelights" is sprinkled with acoustic guitar. Bass is dropped, not as a line, but as a rippling wing of studded noise; conventional melody is replaced by ripping sounds like thin layers of torn metal foil. He's skilled at musically describing the sensation of panic held in check, and rivalled only by Autechre for the way he infiltrates the system and the sound, never permitting a lazy loop to run unattended.

Rob Young

[nofuture|erutufon]

DJ Magazine 17/6/2005

In music as in movies it's easy to shock, but creating the sort of foreboding that lingers long after the credits roll or the record ends isn't so simple. The secret is not to put it all on show as proven by Cristian Vogel's subtle and sinister approach to electronica which reaches its zenith on 'Station 55'.

For nasty as this record gets, the gore isn't splattered around. Instead weird noises creep around the edges of the tracks like strange things glimpsed in the peripheries of your vision like the grinding sub-bass on 'On The Line' or the scuttling beats of 'Arctic Wolfman'. 'Station 55' is an album which keep you awake all night in all the wrong ways.

4/5

Paul Clarke

[nofuture|erutufon]

Along with an large interview and profile, 'Neon Underground', track 6 from the album is fetured on the front of Groove Magazine in Germany - online, you can hear the track at the Groove site

[nofuture|erutufon]

Groove Magazine July 2005


Stell dir vor es ist spätnachts und von Schlaflosigkeit geplagt drehen deine Finger am Radioknopf, du gleitest mit den Ohren durchs verzerrte Frequenzgezirpe – und plötzlich schält sich aus all der Kakophonie eine dunkle Musik heraus, das elektronische Gezwitscher formt eine Art Melodie, das tiefe Geplucker wandelt sich zu einem Rhythmus, die Schwingungen fließen in eine schwere Funkiness, und über all das legt sich eine düstere Stimme, die dir ins Ohr flüstert. Dann hörst du vermutlich gerade das Stück „Tune In, Turn On, Drown Out“ von diesem, Cristian Vogels neuem Album, das programmatisch für die gesamte Platte steht. Es ist, als hätte man eine mysteriöse, geheime Radiostation entdeckt, die irgendwo zwischen den Frequenzen liegt, in jedem Fall nicht wirklich auf der Wellenlänge dieser Welt. Fremdartig und dennoch irgendwie vertraut klingt die Musik dieses Albums, auf dem Vogel sämtliche Aspekte seiner bisherigen musikalischen Arbeiten bündelt, sei es harter, trockener Techno, der kaputte Trashbin-Funk von Super Collider, Electrofunk oder Technorock, und diese zu einem homogenen Ganzen, etwas Neuen verbindet. Das klingt, etwa auf der sich windenden, mäandernden, neunminütigen Techno-Symphonie „On The Line“, wie Musik von Außerirdischen komponiert – Strukturen bilden sich, lösen sich auf und formen sich wieder neu – und hat dennoch etwas Erdverbundenes, eine Bodenhaftigkeit, die den entrückten Raver wieder zurück auf den Dancefloor holt. Auch Humor kommt nicht zu kurz. „Neon Underground“ etwa beginnt mit an Kraftwerk erinnernden Akkorden, unter die Vogel dann aber, ganz tongue in cheek, ein akustisch anmutendes Rock-Schlagzeug legt, bevor der Track sich zur Mitte hin um sich selbst windet und in einen hüpfenden Funk-Rhythmus fließt, gekrönt von einem ebenso funkifizierten, dunkel-grummelnden Basslauf. „Lovelights“ mit seinen schmelzenden Akustikgitarren klingt wie indietronics from outer space. Oder „Monkey Inc.“, das unter allerlei elektronischem Gefiepe und Geblubber einen Basslauf durchscheinen lässt, der wohl nicht von ungefähr an New Orders Peter Hook erinnert. Darüber rappt dann Max Turner von den Meteorites. Überhaupt Stimmen: auch davon gibt es reichlich. Dem bereits erwähnten „Tune In, Turn On, Drown Out“ leiht Franz Treichler von den legendären Schweizer Young Gods sein Organ, auf „1968, Holes“, das irgendwo zwischen Super-Collider-Funk und Acidpunk angelegt ist, schreit Kevin Blechdom. Und „Somewhere In The Waves, We Will Find You“ mit seinem geheimnisvoll subtil anrollenden Spacefunk featuret Vocals der spanischen Band Virüs. Das gesamte Album in einem Wort zu summieren, gelingt denn auch nur mit diesem: meisterhaft.

Timlo

[nofuture|erutufon]

Q Magazine, August 2005

If Cristian Vogel's creative vision is to update spooky '50s sci-fi themes using state-of-the-art technology, this is his most accomplished album to date. Titles like Somehwere in the Waves We Will Find You and The Time Lock are redolent of B-Movie alien flicks, while Typewriter of the Dead summons up the ghosts in his machines. Though 1968 Holes sounds like a bad out-take from a Rocky Horror-styled space opera, mostly Vogel inhabits an electronic outpost that's entirely his own. (Tom Doyle)

3/5

[Lady E]

Mojo Magazine August 2005

Vogel detonates a dirty bomb under techno conformity. Station 55 begins in gothic mood, then rapidly enters the world of the surreal. There are moments of wild, helter-skelter techno-punk thrash, loopy machine funk, and weird tales of ghostly radio stations transmitting strange messages. Vogel's noise fetish has sometimes made his work hard to take. Not here: this is astonishing. (MC)

4/5

[Lady E]

www.3headz.de


What happens in the mind of this man? I don’t want to know it at all - already not in view of this album... Although you cant call that an album in the classic sense. What Cristian delivered is more similar to a radio play. Mr. Vogel must have tried to transmute the different voices and sounds inside his brain into music.

So this longplayer seems the right tool, that would have run in the back while Doc. Frankenstein created his monster. Creepy, abnormal soundscapes pull the unprepared listener into an old black white movie like "Nosferatu". Screaking instruments, machine-sounds, freaky women choirs and disharmonies to the excess making this piece of art exciting until the end. You will be almost a little bit happy if it’s over. So remember my warning: please don't consume this music with incorrect drugs! (tim)

[Lady E]

Uncut Magazine, August 2005


Outstanding solo album from Jamie Lidell's Super_Collider collaborator.


South American-born, UK-bred, Barcelona based and with strong Berlin connections, Vogel isn't easy to pin down. Neither is his music, wriggling and mutating away from preset techno patterns and rhythms. Vogel has ingested techno and acid whole, coming up with a customised reimagining of the genres. Fellow innovators pay homage as guest vocalists: Kevin Blechdom on the deliriously infectious "1968. Holes" and The Young Gods' Franz Treichler, whispering soothing injunctions over the dark bath of electro that is "Turn On, Tune In, Drown Out". (David Stubbs)

4/5

[Lady E]

M8 Magazine July 2005

Album of the Month

Breathless. that's the feeling you get after this album ejects from the player. From the very outset you're sucked in to an ageless masterpiece of dark mechanics and peculiar rhythms that at points, defies belief. Opening with the reverberated beauty of 'Typewriter Of The Dead', the album soon works its magic on the lower end of the frequency spectrum. '1968. Holes', the first single that will be released, ruthlessly snaps your neck in two with a souffle of squelch and filth; bloddcurdling vocals, ride cymbals and a horn sound do some incredible damage to the ear lobes. Becoming alarmingly serious, 'Somewhere In The Waves, We Will Find You' chills you to the very core as you wrestle with your sanity and lock every window in the house. Then there's 'Neon Underground', 'Monkey Inc', the list just goes on, each track a different journey on your conquest to understand. The funk is incredible; the emotion is second to none. Techno has simply never sounded so good.

[Lady E]

International DJ Magazine July 2005

Aside from a handful of tracks, Cristian Vogel's latest effort is tied together by a weightless dream-like quality, stretching from the Simonetti-inspired Italo-horror style opener through to the last track, 'Lovelights', with its crackly percussion and gently lulling Spanish guitars. It's a world away from the caustic techno that characterised his Tresor releases but '1968. Holes', which sets Kevin Blechdom's screeching vocals over a Teutonic groove and nagging two note synth line demonstrates he still knows how to crank out the hard stuff. 'Turn On Tune In Drown Out' is another highlight that pins a hynotic melody to classic electro beats over which Franz Treichler delivers unsettling lyrics in a mixture of snarls and whispers. The best track, though, is 'Monkey Inc.' which I assume features Max Turner from the Puppetmastaz and is reminiscent of Dr. Octagon. (David Stenton)

4/5

[Lady E]

Flux Magazine August / July

This is Cristian Vogel's tenth album apparently. Which makes it all the nicer to hear he's still making records scary enough to have children running behind the sofa. Ten tracks of sparse techno - full of illegally low basslines, sound effects straight out of old Dr Who episodes and, err, out-of-tune Spanish choirs. And to think Jamie Lidell left this man for a solo career. (AM)

[Lady E]

http://www.popzero.org

"Station 55" est le titre du nouvel album très attendu de Cristian Vogel.
Nombreux sont les amoureux de musiques électronique hybrides Ã* suivre avec attention le parcours de cet artiste hors du commun. Cet Album ne plaira sans doute pas aux adeptes de la dernière génération " Electro Fashionist " on est bien loin ici des grosses productions du type usines Ã* dance et c’est tant mieuxÂ*!

Il s’agit avant tout d’un album d’écoute, élégant et mystérieux, tinté d’une ambiance proche des films de sci-fi avec de nombreuses influences, jazz, funk, house atmosphérique, hip-hop, electronica, ou encore techno soul légèrement industrielle comme Ã* son habitude.
On connaît déjÃ* le maître pour ses nombreuses productions sur des labels tels que Mosquito, Force Inc. ou encore sur le légendaire Tresor de Berlin.
Ce nouvel album est le deuxième Ã* sortir sur Novamute ( le précédent " Rescate 137 " était sorti en 2000 ). Le travail est assez proche de celui réalisé au sein de "Super_Collider" aux coté de son comparse Jamie Lidel, on note cependant différentes collaborations très surprenante comme sur le titre "1968. Holes " avec Kevin Blechdom (Chicks on Speed Records) ou encore avec Franz Treichler (Young Gods) sur le "Turn On, Tune In, Drown Out."
Un travail mélangent avec talent et sincérité différents courrant comme l’electro, l’acid ou le punk légèrement dissumulé, de quoi apaiser notre faim de bizarrerie et notre soif de différence.

Schievers Sean

[Lady E]

http://www.boomkat.com

Not one to be outdone by his long serving Super_Collider band mate Jamie Lidell, Cristian Vogel has decided to loose off another superlative solo album that takes him on another career-swerve. With a genre-busting spectrum of sounds ranging from Rephlex style beatfuckery ('On The Line') through to rubber-soled electro ('The Time Lock'), 'Station 55' represents an artist revelling in his own eclectic talents. With what can only be described as a micro-sound convention taking part in a badly wired electronic burlesque ghost-train (you heard!), Station 55 kicks off with the off-kilter killer cut 'Typewriter of the Dead'. With unsettling aural washes, it drags you in deep; an effect which is repeated on '1968. Holes'. Alongside the raw meat adorned Kevin Blechdom, Vogel ram raids a Green Velvet lined locomotive beat headfirst into his broken marble falsetto (a trick repeated on 'Monkey Inc.') with results that are much more pleasing than that description might suggest. With a scope and willingness to subvert his own sound throughout, 'Station 55' proves that Vogel still has the skills to pay the bills.

[Lady E]

http://www.chronicart.com

Producteur prolifique, fondateur Ã* Brighton du collectif erutufon|nofuture et ingénieur du son courtisé (Chicks On Speed, Scratch Massive, Panico...), Cristian Vogel louvoie depuis le début des années 90 aux avant-postes de la techno européenne Ã* grand renfort de pulsations minimales et de bleeps hypnotiques. Jusqu’au crossover Super_Collider flanqué de Jamie Lidell, avec qui il signe deux albums techno-soul joyeusement schizophréniques. Depuis cette escapade en duo, la musique de Vogel s’est étoffée, alternant tech foutraque (Rescate 137) et collaborations avec le chorégraphe Gilles Jobin. Jusqu’Ã* cette Station 55, où les beats lancinants se sont estompés au profit d’un electrofunk atmosphérique qui puise dans les avant-gardes sonores du XXe siècle.

Vogel nous tire cette fois par l’oreille le long des couloirs sinueux d’une maison hantée, au coeur d’une funkytown peuplée de loups blancs, de femmes fatales, de fantômes numériques et de machines-Ã*-écrire spirites. Cet occultisme teinté d’ironie se ressent notamment sur Typewriter of the dead, valse synthétique pour manège détraqué, hommage Ã* un âge d’or révolu de la science-fiction (Outer limits, Dr Who, Carnival of souls...). Aucun poncif coldwave ne vient pour autant polluer cette "inquiétante étrangeté", tout juste éclairée par un Neon underground. La froideur apparente n’est pas une posture convenue mais plutôt la température qui règne dans les zones les plus reculées de l’imaginaire, un paysage arctique où toutes les permutations sont autorisées, une interzone inexplorée où Prince jamme avec Kraftwerk tandis que Herbie Hancock croise le fer avec Stockhausen dans le manoir de la Famille Addams. A l’instar de Richard James, Cristian Vogel fonde sa créativité sur l’intransigeance envers l’industrie musicale, la quête obsessionnelle de l’innovation comme profession de foi: réinventer inlassablement les règles tout en restant fidèle Ã* ses racines dance, ménager la déstabilisation sans renoncer Ã* l’accroche pop.

Les démons lubriques de Station 55 sont en cela les meilleurs compagnons du home listening autant que de la frénésie "body and soul" : de chuintements spectraux (l’intro du 2-step On the line, les dissonances autechriennes d'Arctic wolfman) en cantiques digitaux vampirisés par d’inattendus guest vocals (les braillements pitchés de Kevin Blechdom sur l’acid-punk 1968 holes, la voix sépulcrale de Franz Treichler des Young Gods sur Turn on, tune in, drown out, mais aussi les susurrements du groupe espagnol Virus ou les prestations de Max Turner des Puppetmastaz...), Vogel change d’humeur comme de chemise sans pour autant perdre une once de cohésion. Jusqu’Ã* oser quelques arpèges de guitare acoustique (Lovelights) en guise de clope après un coït frisant la démence.

"All music has come to an end", alléguait-il au milieu des années 90, anticipant le déclin de l’utopie techno. Nous voilÃ* en 2005, plombés de références inlassablement régurgitées ; fini le statu quo de l’electronica, les Clicks’n’Cuts ont cédé la place aux Crac’n’Pops et une nouvelle devise s’impose: "All music is possible". Cette nouvelle pierre Ã* l’édifice en est une preuve édifiante.

Julien Bécourt

4/5

[Lady E]

http://www.beatmag.net


"Nobody said it was easy, but nobody said it would be so damned hard," sang the tedious Coldplay. Were they referring to the music of Cristian Vogel? The Brit-Chilean producer, now based in Barcelona, originally built a career in techno but refused to be constrained by dancefloor concerns, returning regularly to his interest in avant-garde composers. He remains one of the most intriguing and challenging electronic artists around and 'Station 55' is a worthy addition to his catalogue of difficult, occasionally visionary sonic adventures.

[Lady E]

Hold It Down Magazine July 2005

I have always believed Cristian Vogel to be highly overrated, apart from his Super_Collider project; however Station 55 may have just converted me. 1968 Holes is absolutely blinding techno that manages to use both a vocal and a rap of Kevin Blechdom over banging acid sounds with devastating effect. Other collaborators include Franz Treichler of Young Gods, Max Turner and Burbuja. The more you play it the more it grows. Vogel forces you to listen whilst compelling you to dance. This is industrial techno at its best - dark, hard and ear piercing at times but funky and soulful at others.

Desmond Balmer

[Lady E]

Hot Press Magazine July 2005

Vogel's latest album is a dark delight - intoxicating is probably a good word. Station 55 veers from paranoid, leftfield dancefloor romps - '1968 Holes', 'Turn On...' - through Kraftwerk-gone-crazy numbers such as 'Neon Underground' to avant-hard adventures ('Monkey Inc', 'Somewhere In The Waves...'). Through the harsh sonic murk and digital mire, repeated plays reveal this to be real machine funk. 8/10

[Lady E]

Blues and Soul Magazine August 2005

There is no doubt that sound experimenter Cristian Vogel is going to win over even more house fans with this album because of its diversity and
atmosphere making it sound like a thriller movie soundtrack! The opener
"Typewriter of the Dead" features on the front cover and is a deep, quirky
and sinister track. Other highlights include "1968 Holes" which is frantic
and frenetic with feisty vocals from Kevin Blechdom, the chiming synths,
Kraftwerk-style and musicality of "Neon Underground" and the electro-funk of
"The Time Lock." If you are expecting minimal techno or pounding beats you
will be disappointed as "Station 55" is both dancefloor-friendly and makes
great inspirational home listening time after time. 5 / 5 (MM)

[Lady E]

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com

South American by birth, international in practice, Cristian Vogel makes techno and electronic pop with an experimental bent but with no obvious ties to any genre in particular. Like his sometime collaborator Jamie Lidell (with whom he performs as Super_Collider), Vogel occupies a thoroughly modern field of expression, one that I'd have a hard time denying on artistic grounds even as it seems a world away from what usually passes for "hip". Even worse, unlike Lidell, he doesn't trespass into hip-hop or blue-eyed soul, so there's little chance you're going to hear him without seeking out his recordings. He can usually be found near the epicenter of wherever the most forward-looking techno is happening (Spain, at the moment), though that doesn't necessarily mean you'll hear his stuff in a lot of clubs. The guy taught modern classical music at the university level for crying out loud.

Fittingly, Vogel's music is individualist to a fault. Like spiritual kin Cluster, Mouse on Mars, Asmus Tietchens, or even fellow electro-provocateur Fennesz, he revels in moods that disturb, illuminating his ideas with the darkest shades possible, and yet is ultimately inclusive and alluring. His latest record, Station 55, features collaborations with several vocalists (including an ultra-cool Kevin Blechdom harmony arrangement on the album's single "1968, Holes"), but sounds to me like a single-minded soundtrack of near-future Europe. Where previous albums like 1996's Specific Momentific or 1999's Busca Invisibles were bizarre, techno-centric takes on experimental music, Station 55 is less bump, more eerie propulsion. Much of the fat has been trimmed, in line with the same wave of minimalism that's fueled techno since its Detroit inception-- but especially recently via labels like Kompakt, Poker Flat, and Bpitch Control-- so rather than fill floors, I'd expect this stuff to spark conversation, introspection.

The lead track, "Typewriter of the Dead", makes no bones about its own lethargy, lurching out of the gate with murky organ and a slow, digital blues shuffle (in fact, when Jim Jarmusch does his sci-fi flick, he should run this over the opening credits). And then the fun starts: "The Time Lock", "1968, Holes", and "On the Line" comprise a no-frills suite of goth-cool good enough for the downest hipsters and smartest DJs alike. And of course, the funky digi-bass of "The Time Lock" or military precision rhythm track on "1968, Holes" do wonders for me when I'm driving or reading or thinking about how much I'd like to jet off to Barcelona tonight. All three tunes brim with forward momentum, so it's not like you couldn't dance to them, and in fact they'd thrill the sweaty, dancing masses plopped in the middle of a set of minimal house where anything on either side of them would seem like either a warm-up or a comedown. Blechdom's vocals are like daggers though, so use them carefully.

"Neon Underground" samples a jazz trap-set playing contorted samba, and Vogel uses a synth chord progression reminiscent of Boards of Canada or Aphex Twin in ambient mode. Unlike BoC's latest stuff, he forgoes easy-on-the-ears resolution in favor of the kind of terminally unraveling, vague tension that got a lot of people interested in IDM in the first place. Likewise, "Arctic Wolfman" and "Turn On, Tune In, Drown Out" seem calm on the surface, but threaten to implode due to the weight of their own dissonances. It's not that they're "difficult" listening per se, rather, their bleak textures juxtaposed with airtight beats (half-time micro-hip-hop and robot house bump, respectively) turn restraint and understatement against themselves. Vogel may hide his musical payoffs beneath a mask of steely experimentation, but rest assured, the emotional tension below the surface is a constant, explosive threat.

8.3 / 10

-Dominique Leone, October 26, 2005