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2005 - Mi.T.-CON 05 Aquatic Vine Music _sample_
"I like to describe "Aquatic Vine Music" as a world within a world. My initial thinking on it was that it was a "meditation" on the ocean, not so much from "living" in the ocean, or even "being of" the ocean, but more a travel in, say, a submarine, "through" the ocean. The launching pad really was the cover photograph by my friend Wayne Joseph (who I don't think had any clue what he was giving me!). It took well over a year, off and on, for me to complete the piece. I was distracted by other projects at the time, mainly "Mi.T.-CON 04" and the Touchxtone CD's we did in 05.
I sensed that Con was probably willing to work on another piece of mine so I put the finishing touches on what was then called "Aquatic" and turned it over to Con. And it's an interesting "twist in the tale" with what Con did. As I was imagining all these beautiful fish and sparkly ocean coral vistas, all bright, bubbly and blue as I channelled thru the water in my private submarine, Con saw the manta rays, the sharks, the squid, the octapus, the electric eels, all the creatures that I dared not think about.
And while my lovely submarine was grazing the waters unfailingly, Con heard the sound of the motor, conceived its combustine engine and envisioned a story of its rivets slackening, its nuts and bolts loosening. In other words, while I floated the submarine, Con sunk it. A perfect complement! That is not to say that all is menace. By the end of the CD there is a powerful episode of redemption.
Aquatic Vine Music (2006 Real Vine Music) Conrad Schnitzler and Michael Thomas Roe (Mi.T.-CON 05)
Songs and timings: 01. 11:49 02. 06:42 03. 11:49 04. 05:02 05. 08:26 06. 04:43 07. 07:47 08. 04:27
2004 - Mi.T.-CON 04 _sample_
MICHAEL THOMAS ROE... CONRAD SCHNITZLER... what might happen if the two were brought together? S E R E N D I P I T O U S... MUSIC... Serendipitous. Adj. 1) Of people: having a supposed talent for making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident. 2) Of an event, discovery, meeting, etc.: occurring by (especially fortunate) chance. 3) Of Mi.T.-CON 04: all of the above. What better single word to describe this collaboration between Conrad Schnitzler and Michael Thomas Roe?
DIFFERENT GENERATIONS, DIFFERENT WORLDS... Conrad Schnitzler, elder statesman and ambassador of electronic music, famous for his work with Tangerine Dream, Kluster and his solo recordings. A musician given to edgy and unexpected sonic exploration. Michael Thomas Roe, far younger in age, yet a musician of much experience and broad tastes working diligently, as a solo artist and as a member of TouchXtone, to make his mark in electronic music.
With a talent for exploring lush sonic textures and the simple melodic turn, Michael creates soundscapes that might seem incompatible with Conrad’s more jagged approach. Yet, there is often the odd twist, an underlying weave that elevates the music beyond the merely pretty in to the realm of the truly interesting. And Conrad, even at his most challenging, manages an organic accessibility, a structural openness that invites the listener in. What might happen if the two were brought together?
Mi.T.-CON 04... The music feels like the running record of a first meeting between two strangers in a land unfamiliar to them both. The two strangers talk a bit, feel each other out, determine that they may have a common interest, and decide to strike out together for a while. And as the unfamiliar terrain opens up before them, they bask in the wonder and newness of it all.
Where Michael might have created a vast shimmering swath of lovely textures, Conrad may react with oddly industrio-organic sounding bleeps and squawks with clattering drum loops that remind you of the real world lurking around the corner. When Michael paints a contemplative ambient brain-soother, Conrad brings in reverberated ritualistic hammers striking hard gongs.
The centerpiece of “Mi.T.-CON 04” is 07, a 23 minute opus that just may redefine the techno-ambient genre. Here, Michael lays down a “generative” ambient piece while Con runs riot with drum machine and more “generative” sounds. The results are sometimes surreal, sometimes familiar, compellingly organic sounding, and highly visual.
Give it a try, preferably two or three; allow some time for the strange juxtapositions to settle in your ears, and then turn it up. You just might find yourself in a train with two strangers, engaged in a most unusual conversation, completely unaware of the passing of time.
- David Mitchell, April 2005
