Atom Tm Santiago, CH
1985-1991
Atom™ starts as an autodidact drummer around 1985. Soon he exchanges the drumkit for a drummachine, a 4-track recorder and a synthesizer. A couple of years later he co-founds “NG Medien”, a tapelabel which distributes own recordings and licensed music (for example the first “Frontline Assembly” recording), exclusively on cassettes. Around 1987 “Lassigue Bendthaus” is born and the first recording, the cassette “The engineer’s Love” is released and sold out immediately. With sufficient self-esteem a professional recording studio is booked and without any support from a record company, the “Lassigue Bendthaus” album “Matter” is recorded. “Matter” and a series of singles will finally be released in January 1991 after a production period of almost 3 years. “Matter” caused quite a stir at that time, due to innovative production technique and the entirely analogue sound (back in 1990 not a very fashionable move to do). The same year the first “Atom Heart” 12inch, called “Whitehouse” is released and a series of mainly dancefloor oriented singles, already using various pseudonyms, follow.
1991-1995
Quickly Atom Heart establishes his name within the still very new “Techno” scene of that time. Though we have to understand, that back then it still wasn’t called “Techno”. 1992 sees a couple of releases which changed the flow of electronic dance music: one of the first “techno” live recordings on the 12inch “Elektronikka” (Atom Heart and Pink Elln live), “Ongaku” and Resistance D’s first two singles and many others. Soon it is labelled “techno”, then “trance” and the enthusiasm of the early, innovative years, soon transforms into routines for many. Atom Heart decides to stop working with many DJs he had given his support and ideas and no doubt feels the stagnation to come already in 1993.
Collaborations with artists such as Tetsu Inoue, Pete Namlook, Pink Elln follow. Tired of being surrounded of technocouchpotatoes,
he totally quits with this scene and decides to found “Rather Interesting” in 1994. “RI” will become Atom’s personal playground. A place where new music can be experienced and released immediately without slow and often incompetent record companies inbetween. “Rather Interesting” starts off with a tough release schedule of one full length CD per month. At the same time the first requests for remixes come in (see list at the end of this document) and last but not least the 12inch “I’m a Secretary” (together with Pete Namlook) charts position 40 in
Belgium. There are nameless recordings which are definitely unique within the realm of electronic music of the early 90’s...”Lisa Carbon” for example, releasing three albums until 1996 may for sure be seen as the trendsetter for what was later on named “easy listening electronica”. For sure, being ahead of its time in many ways mainly reflects in low sales figures...
1995-2001
The series of Rather Interesting releases gets longer and longer and the total amount of releases strikes no. 200! Many new collaborations are born in this period. Together with Tetsu Inoue, Atom collaborates with noone less than Haruomi Hosono (YMO) on the project “HAT”. “HAT” will be released on “Rather Interesting” and Hosono’s “Daisyworld” label. Amongst the collaborators of that period are musicians such as Bill Laswell, Dandy Jack and Victor Sol. Atom recordings are licensed, sold and distributed worldwide through majorlabels as well as through small, independent networks. The “live” activities of that period extend throughout europe and for the first time Atom plays Australian ground in 1995.It’s time to turn the page. 1997 is the year of change. Atom decides to leave Germany at the beginning of 1997 and moves to the remote city of Santiago de Chile. For Atom Chile soon becomes his personal isolation tank, being far away and cut off of trends and hypes of the very often so uninspired electronic music scene. Two projects, both still conceived back in Frankfurt, shall soon burn the name “Atom” in the eternal book of electronic music: “LB’s” “Pop Artificielle” album will be the first strike. Released in 1999 and licensed almost worldwide, “Pop Artificielle” contains 10 Pop/Rock cover versions in highly electronic...no: “artificial“ dresses. The good old “song” is reintroduced into what was the realm of “tracks”. The nerd meets the romantic writer of love lyrics and “Pop Artificielle” opens a new
way, soon taken by many. It can proudly be said that a new generation of electronic music was born after and because of “Pop Artificielle” and references can still be felt. The second strike comes about two years later and is called “Señor Coconut: El Baile Alemán”. Now, the first “Señor Coconut” album, entitled “El Gran Baile” had seen the light in 1997 (still produced back in Frankfurt yet completed in Santiago) and contained heavyly cut-up latin music. It would be a lie to say that the world was ready for it. “El Gran Baile”, released on “Rather Interesting” caused many socalled “music business professionals” to shake their heads...and only the visionary “Towa Tei” understood it all and
licensed this CD for his “Akashic” label (Tokyo). Two years later “El Baile Aleman” is finished and soon licensed to labels worldwide...It is “Señor Coconut’s” grip on “Kraftwerk” which can be seen as Atom’s great masterpiece until now. Two worlds that seemed so extremely far from each other, are all of a sudden merged into one, magical musical production which unites markets, worlds, people across the planet. For the second time Atom manages to shake up the world of...ehhh...shall we say “electronic” music, or is it already something else??? The critics are positive all around the globe: here comes something new! As if it wasn’t enough a visionary live concept accompanies
“El Baile Alemán”: 7 musicians on stage, directed by Atom himself, reinterpret Kraftwerk songs the latin way and transform every stage into a party. Back then noone had dared to bring an entire orchestra on stage in order to interpret music that in its origine was made by cutting up samples...But let’s not forget other releases which confused the world: “Flanger” (with Burnt Friedman) invents digital Jazz, more Lisa Carbon, Rather Interesting, etc., etc....
2001-2005
Now, suddenly many releases that were totally misunderstood back then, appear in a clear light. The vast backcatalogue of Atom sees various re-releases, now that the right names and labels have finally been invented. “Electrolatino” is born. The following years are spent with extensive touring of the “Señor Coconut” project. Various tours through Europe, Mexico, Brazil and other memorable events are played (see page 3). All that accompanied by beautiful remixes for Merzbow, Depeche Mode, Shantel, Cesaria Evora, etc. , a new album by “Flanger” and a southamericatour with the same project that leads the musicians to places such as La Paz, Asuncion, Sao Paolo, Cordoba, Buenos
Aires amongst others. 2003 sees the release of “Señor Coconut”’s “Fiesta Songs” album, which again, contains bizarre cover versions, this time of anglo-american pop tunes. The “Fiesta Songs” best-seller is released in Europe, U.S.A./Canada, Brazil, Chile, Hongkong, Korea and Japan. What else: collaborating with Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Chain Music” project, an “Atom™” song shot into space with a russian deep space probe, 10 years anniversary of “R.I.” and at some point, we stopped counting, release no. 300 came out... Released soon: Atom™ “iMix miniLP (Laboratory Instinct/Berlin), Atom™ “Acid Evolution” (Daisyworld/Tokyo), “CMYK” (R.I.), production of title “Congo” for upcoming “Towa Tei” album, Sr. Coconut compiles: “Coconut FM”.
1985-1991
Atom™ starts as an autodidact drummer around 1985. Soon he exchanges the drumkit for a drummachine, a 4-track recorder and a synthesizer. A couple of years later he co-founds “NG Medien”, a tapelabel which distributes own recordings and licensed music (for example the first “Frontline Assembly” recording), exclusively on cassettes. Around 1987 “Lassigue Bendthaus” is born and the first recording, the cassette “The engineer’s Love” is released and sold out immediately. With sufficient self-esteem a professional recording studio is booked and without any support from a record company, the “Lassigue Bendthaus” album “Matter” is recorded. “Matter” and a series of singles will finally be released in January 1991 after a production period of almost 3 years. “Matter” caused quite a stir at that time, due to innovative production technique and the entirely analogue sound (back in 1990 not a very fashionable move to do). The same year the first “Atom Heart” 12inch, called “Whitehouse” is released and a series of mainly dancefloor oriented singles, already using various pseudonyms, follow.
1991-1995
Quickly Atom Heart establishes his name within the still very new “Techno” scene of that time. Though we have to understand, that back then it still wasn’t called “Techno”. 1992 sees a couple of releases which changed the flow of electronic dance music: one of the first “techno” live recordings on the 12inch “Elektronikka” (Atom Heart and Pink Elln live), “Ongaku” and Resistance D’s first two singles and many others. Soon it is labelled “techno”, then “trance” and the enthusiasm of the early, innovative years, soon transforms into routines for many. Atom Heart decides to stop working with many DJs he had given his support and ideas and no doubt feels the stagnation to come already in 1993.
Collaborations with artists such as Tetsu Inoue, Pete Namlook, Pink Elln follow. Tired of being surrounded of technocouchpotatoes,
he totally quits with this scene and decides to found “Rather Interesting” in 1994. “RI” will become Atom’s personal playground. A place where new music can be experienced and released immediately without slow and often incompetent record companies inbetween. “Rather Interesting” starts off with a tough release schedule of one full length CD per month. At the same time the first requests for remixes come in (see list at the end of this document) and last but not least the 12inch “I’m a Secretary” (together with Pete Namlook) charts position 40 in
Belgium. There are nameless recordings which are definitely unique within the realm of electronic music of the early 90’s...”Lisa Carbon” for example, releasing three albums until 1996 may for sure be seen as the trendsetter for what was later on named “easy listening electronica”. For sure, being ahead of its time in many ways mainly reflects in low sales figures...
1995-2001
The series of Rather Interesting releases gets longer and longer and the total amount of releases strikes no. 200! Many new collaborations are born in this period. Together with Tetsu Inoue, Atom collaborates with noone less than Haruomi Hosono (YMO) on the project “HAT”. “HAT” will be released on “Rather Interesting” and Hosono’s “Daisyworld” label. Amongst the collaborators of that period are musicians such as Bill Laswell, Dandy Jack and Victor Sol. Atom recordings are licensed, sold and distributed worldwide through majorlabels as well as through small, independent networks. The “live” activities of that period extend throughout europe and for the first time Atom plays Australian ground in 1995.It’s time to turn the page. 1997 is the year of change. Atom decides to leave Germany at the beginning of 1997 and moves to the remote city of Santiago de Chile. For Atom Chile soon becomes his personal isolation tank, being far away and cut off of trends and hypes of the very often so uninspired electronic music scene. Two projects, both still conceived back in Frankfurt, shall soon burn the name “Atom” in the eternal book of electronic music: “LB’s” “Pop Artificielle” album will be the first strike. Released in 1999 and licensed almost worldwide, “Pop Artificielle” contains 10 Pop/Rock cover versions in highly electronic...no: “artificial“ dresses. The good old “song” is reintroduced into what was the realm of “tracks”. The nerd meets the romantic writer of love lyrics and “Pop Artificielle” opens a new
way, soon taken by many. It can proudly be said that a new generation of electronic music was born after and because of “Pop Artificielle” and references can still be felt. The second strike comes about two years later and is called “Señor Coconut: El Baile Alemán”. Now, the first “Señor Coconut” album, entitled “El Gran Baile” had seen the light in 1997 (still produced back in Frankfurt yet completed in Santiago) and contained heavyly cut-up latin music. It would be a lie to say that the world was ready for it. “El Gran Baile”, released on “Rather Interesting” caused many socalled “music business professionals” to shake their heads...and only the visionary “Towa Tei” understood it all and
licensed this CD for his “Akashic” label (Tokyo). Two years later “El Baile Aleman” is finished and soon licensed to labels worldwide...It is “Señor Coconut’s” grip on “Kraftwerk” which can be seen as Atom’s great masterpiece until now. Two worlds that seemed so extremely far from each other, are all of a sudden merged into one, magical musical production which unites markets, worlds, people across the planet. For the second time Atom manages to shake up the world of...ehhh...shall we say “electronic” music, or is it already something else??? The critics are positive all around the globe: here comes something new! As if it wasn’t enough a visionary live concept accompanies
“El Baile Alemán”: 7 musicians on stage, directed by Atom himself, reinterpret Kraftwerk songs the latin way and transform every stage into a party. Back then noone had dared to bring an entire orchestra on stage in order to interpret music that in its origine was made by cutting up samples...But let’s not forget other releases which confused the world: “Flanger” (with Burnt Friedman) invents digital Jazz, more Lisa Carbon, Rather Interesting, etc., etc....
2001-2005
Now, suddenly many releases that were totally misunderstood back then, appear in a clear light. The vast backcatalogue of Atom sees various re-releases, now that the right names and labels have finally been invented. “Electrolatino” is born. The following years are spent with extensive touring of the “Señor Coconut” project. Various tours through Europe, Mexico, Brazil and other memorable events are played (see page 3). All that accompanied by beautiful remixes for Merzbow, Depeche Mode, Shantel, Cesaria Evora, etc. , a new album by “Flanger” and a southamericatour with the same project that leads the musicians to places such as La Paz, Asuncion, Sao Paolo, Cordoba, Buenos
Aires amongst others. 2003 sees the release of “Señor Coconut”’s “Fiesta Songs” album, which again, contains bizarre cover versions, this time of anglo-american pop tunes. The “Fiesta Songs” best-seller is released in Europe, U.S.A./Canada, Brazil, Chile, Hongkong, Korea and Japan. What else: collaborating with Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Chain Music” project, an “Atom™” song shot into space with a russian deep space probe, 10 years anniversary of “R.I.” and at some point, we stopped counting, release no. 300 came out... Released soon: Atom™ “iMix miniLP (Laboratory Instinct/Berlin), Atom™ “Acid Evolution” (Daisyworld/Tokyo), “CMYK” (R.I.), production of title “Congo” for upcoming “Towa Tei” album, Sr. Coconut compiles: “Coconut FM”.
Discography
» Re-Invents The Wheel, RISQUEE010