The Type label reissues German music producer Thomas Köner's debut album, the first in a set of three, on vinyl for the very first time. Originally introduced to the world in 1990, Nunatak (then named Nunatak Gongamur) was shockingly ahead of its time, and it is hard to believe that it has been out of print and difficult to obtain for so long. Köner created the album with mood in mind; he has since been described as a "media" artist, and it's easy to see why. While the music can be described as "dark ambient," these soundscapes elicit a widescreen collection of images. Through careful and measured use of gongs (recorded in different rooms and underwater) as well as homemade wind instruments, Köner created an album that would become a cornerstone of the genre and part of a triptych of records which have seldom been bettered. While the album is 20 years old at this point, it still sounds totally alien and totally unique. In these 11 brief, unnamed tracks, Köner guides us among battered lands, barren ice plains and damaged caves. Through the low-end resonance of his percussion, we are dragged into a hallowed chasm of doom-laden drone. There have been many tries at this style since Nunatak was first birthed, and many attempts to draw the genre into fresh and re-imagined territory, but few have come even close to the shadowy exclusion of Thomas Köner. Cut at Berlin's Dubplates & Mastering.
Details
Cat. number: type069lp
Year: 2010
