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CONRAD SCHNITZLER AND MICHAEL THOMAS ROE (Mi.T.)

Aquatic Vine Music (Con 05)

Aquatic Vine Music is a comfortable companion to (Mi.T.-CON 04). Even divided by seven this still comes across as a single, organically built exercise in free association that meanders across some fluid modulations (aquatic?) with interconnected interludes (vine?) all built on a fairly analog synth-sounding basis (music?). Again, we hear one thing placed on top of another thing and these things remain fairly discrete and fairly unrelated most of the time. That the work aspires to collage or concréte effects is hard to determine since there are rarely more than two voices accompanied by their associated processing. And there seems to be little evidence of editing: one passage becomes another on the fly. Again, many of the pieces are often too reliant on an echo/delay that becomes too naked and too predictable too often. The formula seems built upon a dictum which, simply put, insists one artist confine his efforts to pitched information, another to non-pitched information. A dash of experimentation would exist if, perhaps, one musician was unable to hear the other during the sessions. Unlikely as that may be, the work exhibits an admirable resistance to second-guessing and remains single-minded in its uniformly uptempo pacing. Staunchly averse to all intimations of languor, Schnitlzer and Roe forge forward and back without apology or regret. Aquatic Vine Music displays a nervous and clattering abandonment of form and contrast, with formal construction now thrown overboard along with all other musical conceits. (KL) mit-conmusic.com

‘Turned On’ to Music of War and Gloom (excerpted)

By Pierre Ruhe | Tuesday, February 20, 2007, 01:56 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

CONCERT REVIEW

In the “Turned On” context, the most polished and also frightening piece was “Mi.T.-CON 04 #3,” created by Conrad Schnitzler (a founder of the ambient pop group Tangerine Dream) and Michael Thomas Roe. The title simply combines the composer’s names — pronounced “Mighty-Con” — yet sounds more like code for nuclear missiles on high-alert.

Although written in 2004, the music had a 1980s feel, of boppy pop, aerobics videos and leg warmers. If hints of war and gloom seemed encoded within the perky sonic matrix, a listener could interpret a different message: War Will Set You Free. (Like the music, it seemed a mentality from the end-of-Cold-War ’80s.)

March 2006 - Sonic Curiosity Review by Matt Howarth

CONRAD SCHNITZLER & MICHAEL THOMAS ROE Mi. T.-CON 04 (CD on Real Vine Music)

This release from 2004 features 61 minutes of hyperactive riffs floating in an ambient milieu.

On one hand, Conrad Schnitzler is an electronic legend, having generated a vast catalog of releases that explore the endless potential of electronic compositions. On the other hand, Michael Thomas Roe is a relative newcomer to the EM genre. This collaboration displays what can happen when old school meets new school.

Edgy electronics cascade with wild abandon, bubbling and gurgling like computers with a charming sense of mirth. Frequently possessing rhythmic qualities, this music is wrapped in atmospheric mannerisms that augment rather than mute those eccentric dispositions.

This release comprises a selection of short pieces clustered around two long compositions. The short tracks exhibit lively sensibilities in a compressed template, while the longer tracks mirror those traits but allow the compositions adequate duration to explore variations of a playful nature.

Sharply executed outbursts of a cybernetic nature are immersed in an atmospheric pool of languid textures and dreamy tones. While the foundation sways and drifts according to cloudlike behavior, the outbursts present an energetic counterpoint of diverse scope.

Schnitzler's normally quirky style of electronics is evenly tempered here by Roe's ambient contributions, resulting in melodic tuneage that fuses both fashions into an engaging sonic entity of definite appeal.

September 2005 - Melliflua Review by Dene Bebbington

Two different generations of electronic music makers have collaborated to create the strangely titled Mi.T. - CON 04. Conrad has been in the electronic music business for other thirty years, having been part of the original Tangerine Dream line-up. Michael is one half of the TouchXtone duo, a partnership that has turned out worthy rhythmic and melodic ambient and electronic music. I found it difficult to tell who might be doing what on this work, especially as TouchXtone's music can be quirky at times but not to the extent of what's to be heard on this album.

Eight tracks widely varying in length (from less than two minutes to over twenty three) take the listener on a peculiar musical journey. From the rippling bleepiness and unsettled synth pads on "01", to the fairground organ like sounds and distorted voices of "02"; these first two tracks led me to imagine some kind of bizarre carnival with slightly sinister undertones. We aren't given clues about what to expect next in "03" which has a curiously engaging shuffling rhythm, and assorted twinkles, that I can only describe as an electronic version of the Penguin Café Orchestra.

Track "05" is a rather nice track of relative calmness. A plinky sound that echoes away melodically combines with simple synth melodies in an unhurried manner. The following track "06" is for me the best on the album where electronic waves shimmer to and fro across a soundscape inhabited by gentle boingy sounds and pensive refrains. The elements in this track are put together in such a way as to imbue a sense of rhythm even though it's not really rhythmic.

Undoubtedly Mi.T. - CON 04 is one of the more unusual albums to have come my way recently. I found it quite difficult to get into, though in places it does have a quirky charm. It's the sort of work that I wouldn't have been surprised to see on the Fragment Music label. One for the adventurous listeners out there.

There is Water (Aquatic Vine Music)

By David Mitchell © 2006

She pinned her hair with a barrette and turned away from the sun. Beyond the glass was cool and green water and relentless motion. Air. Focus on something. She saw the nail rusting through the hull, watched in fascination as the water tore at its head and pulled it away and drew the next to the surface, sucked it out and began on another. Absorbed in the splitting pop creaking symphony—complaint, it is complaining, iron, broken, water rushing white blue pieces sky green sky white, complaint---hardly noticing the water in her mouth, her eyes, her head. In the back of her mind, the tapping of machines letting go, giving way, water within, water without. Salt in mouth, salt within, salt without, all about we are the sea in me? Heh….

And another world as the ship falls in a thousand pieces about her to its disappearing sand bed. But she is not sleepy, brain hot wired to deep green and blue and the fragments all around and iron-breaking sounds.

She hails a falling propeller and rides it downtown, ‘cause there’s nowhere else to go to get to the bottom of all this deep and iron wreckage. Saluting Sergeant Squid and how do you do. Metal imperious and rusting too, cans and coins towers and wire, the voices of the fishes and the crabs doing the dishes, smiling in the dark. It’s a quiet night for a swim in the park.

“I think we found it, a hell of a sight.” Lights in the drink, mechanical trashmen out for the pickup line. “Watch the corners and take it slow, we’re a long way down with a mile to go”. Echoes. Distant disasters present treasures, and we’re coming up with a silver cup and a barrette.

Review of Mi.T-CON 04 by John Koons © 2006

"John M. Koons" <jmkoons@spamcop.net>

1. 03:36 - Broad atmospheric sweeps heralded by captivating, slightly unsettling synth pads. Intriguing and effective opener.

2. 02:02 - Neat triplet 'carnival themed' timing, with a Jean-Michel Jarre Like overtone, complete with Zoolook type voicings.

3. 06:40 - Tribal percussion, ringing drones, jungle-reminiscent twitterings set in the depths of a lush tropical rainforest. Overall, a soothing feel.

4. 15:15 - Andante arpeggio string section walks the listener gently along pathways filled with alien blurps and squeals that have a distinct Con signature to them. The main riff eases the apprehension over the extraterrestrial encounters, gently morphing and filter sweeping in the backdrop, even as the alien chatter grows louder to come to the forefront of the mix slowly over time. A great example of how the experimental but slightly unnerving elements, provided by Con, are tamed by Michael Thomas Roe's fluid ambience fills. Metallic ringing, boomy explosive percussion hits, and resonant squeals sit on an undulating drift of soothing chord wash. The second longest track here, and the 15+ minutes are gone before I realize that time has passed.

5. 3:12 - Punchy bell clangs resonate over a simple but effective melody line.

6. 5:40 - A thick analog buzz grinds this track away from the launching pad, counterbalanced by the square wave lead. Echoed clicks and chirps add to the complexity, joined by exotic drum hits and plucked strings, which have distinct Asian flavorings.

7. 23:29 - The longest track, and rates as a tie with track 04 for my favorite. Restrained electronic crunches echo out a rolling funky goodness, keeping a head-bopping beat, even as their surreal twitters bring about that otherwordly, not-of-this-Earth feeling. Once again, set against this, to brilliant effect, isthe hazy, swirling canvas of string-like drones. The bizarre pings chug along through the constantly changing soundscape, and it is a good trip. The percussion elements found here are remeniscent of Con's work on his Conal LP. There's plenty of variety in sound going on to fix your interest against the shifting, non-repetitive elements. Quite hypnotic, but the mesmeric elements come not from pure repetition (as with sequencer-based music), but from the subtle changes found in both the rhythmics and atmospheric swells. This is another track I could listen to again and again and find new elements to focus upon with each hearing.

8. 01:22 - Closing number. Rich bright melody line accompanied by spacey chatters.