Dman + Roger 23 – 222 • NOORDEN

Dman + Roger 23

222

TwelveEight • 22.05.20

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Determine the limits of an object or event.
Determine the limits more precisely.
Repeat, until further precision is impossible.
→ »Exercise« by George Brecht

The 2018 Meakusma Festival in eastern Belgium saw the first ever joint live performance by Dman and Roger 23. »222« sees the recorded rehearsal takes for that performance edited and enhanced, conjuring up an album that consciously swerves in and out of concrete and dreamlike states, updating 90s-like ambient house and techno with a cavernous and conceptual stance.

Over the course of twelve tracks and two locked grooves, »222« brings concrete ideas to conclusions that are as coincidental as they are intentional. It is this dichotomy that drives the album, its experimental nature touching upon simplicity and complexity in equal measure. Infused by a desire to fully execute ideas or have the ideas reach their own conclusion, »222« has an explicit album structure, giving space to long stretches of echo-laden experimental soundscapes and beats that are introspective yet forward, while its short tracks break open the mold and reset attention. This is an album made by two forces of underground club music in Germany. Their shared knowledge informs it with a sense of history while at the same time updating and commenting on that same history. It uses house and techno as a portal into more experimental terrain.

The album’s cover image is taken from the book »Das Hohe Venn – Bilder einer Landschaft« by Willi Filz. All track titles make explicit reference to villages and towns in the Eifel region in western Germany and eastern Belgium. All rehearsals and recordings took place in Saarbruecken, exactly 222 km from Eupen.

Roger 23 has been carving out his own particular club music niche since 1998. In recent years, his production work has shown an ever-expanding interest in ambient and experimental music. Dman used to run the legendary HD800 club in Mannheim, Germany, a catalyst for electronic club music in the south of Germany.

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Recorded by Roger Reuter and Dirk Mantei
Mastered by Herwarth Sturm
Title image courtesy of Willi Filz
Design Concept by Alex Ketzer
Liner Notes by Rafael Severi
Manufactured by R.A.N.D. Muzik

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»Es fühlt sich wie eine spielerische Entdeckerreise durch elektronisches Musizieren an, gekleidet in grobkörnige, vielfach texturierte analoge Sounds. Manchmal schält sich aus fransigen Delays und wabernden Echos irgendwann ein Groove heraus, manchmal bleibt es aber auch beim offenen Experiment. Das funktioniert für den Zuhörer aber deshalb, weil sich hier Konzept und Improvisation die Waage halten, man also stets mit Aufmerksamkeit dabei bleiben muss, am Ende dafür aber mit einem spannenden akustischen Fund belohnt wird.«

Leonard Zipper, GROOVE

»Dass sich der Entdeckergeist der Künstler und ihre Begeisterung am Ausprobieren so gut nachfühlen lässt, ist die große Stärke des Albums und macht es zu einem fordernden wie freudvollen Hör-Erlebnis.«

Leonard Zipper, GROOVE