Conrad Schnitzler

Consequenz III sits in a special corner of Conrad Schnitzler’s vast discography, completing a trilogy of duo albums with Wolf Sequenza – the alias under which Wolfgang Seidel, former Ton Steine Scherben drummer and long‑time Schnitzler accomplice, appears. Following the original Consequenz (1980) and Consequenz II, and picking up threads from Con 3 and the expanded Con 2+, this third instalment documents Schnitzler at his closest approach to “pop” without ever relinquishing the core of his abstract, serial electronics. First issued in Japan as part of Consequenz 2+ / Consequenz III and now restored as a standalone CD/LP by Bureau B, it reveals a side of his work where brevity, rhythm and harmonic clarity are foregrounded as compositional tests rather than concessions.

The pieces on Consequenz III follow on directly from those earlier duo sessions. Once again, each track is between three and four minutes long, once again the music is rhythmically and harmonically structured in ways that almost resemble pop songs, and once again it refuses the final step into conventional songcraft: there are no vocals, no melodies in the usual sense, no hooks designed for radio. Instead, Schnitzler and Seidel treat these eleven pieces as rhythmic études – finger exercises for the sequencer age. Seidel’s playing, whether on electronic percussion or sequenced lines, is so precise that contemporary notes describe him “as if he were a sequencer himself,” a comment that explains why Schnitzler gave him the pseudonym Wolf Sequenza for their joint productions.