Conrad Schnitzler

"Conrad Schnitzler is undoubtedly one of the founding fathers of German electronica. And his son, Gregor Schnitzler, matched the father's extraordinary level of creative output. They appear to have settled any musical differences amicably. After all, how else could they have 'shared' an LP released by Conrad Schnitzler himself? One half of Conrad & Sohn features music by Conrad Schnitzler, the other, his son Gregor. Two mini-albums on one disc, so to speak. An ideal opportunity to compare them. Judging by the similarities in sound, Gregor clearly had access to his father's music equipment, but the way he uses electronics and his voice could not be more different. Industrial (e.g. Cabaret Voltaire) influences are apparent. The dry minimalism of German new wave (NDW) also left its mark on him. A sense of the end of days in some places gives way to highly-charged hysteria in others. For young, modern musicians in the frontline city of West Berlin, a mix of depression and anger was the natural prerequisite for their uncomplicated, unsentimental and yet emotional music. And the "No Future" claim had not yet lost its validity. Gregor unequivocally took sides; he was with the young. Conrad's music on this album also shows some signs of contemporary influence. As a veteran of the avant-garde and an experienced performance artist, he adopted a different aesthetic stance to that of his son, Gregor. Leaving the bleak, cryptic text of the first track aside, Conrad speaks to the knowledgeable listener in a familiar musical language: sequencer shapes with no end and no beginning, then an uncommonly humorous miniature with a Donald Duck voice, followed by electronic particles travelling from anywhere to who-knows-where. Total abstraction. Father and son certainly offer up drastically opposing musical concepts to our ears." --Asmus Tietchens