Gas (musician)
Encyclopedia
Gas is a project of Cologne
, Germany
-based electronic
musician Wolfgang Voigt
. Voigt cites his youthful LSD
experiences in the Königsforst, a German forest situated near his hometown of Köln
, as the inspiration behind the project. He has claimed that the intention of the project is to "bring the forest to the disco, or vice-versa".
kickdrum underneath the multiple layers of music. Occasionally a song will just drift on its own ambience. Voigt has commented that he builds his tracks using samples, which are manipulated beyond recognition to create what can better be described as textural environments than songs; Voigt described the technique to Rob Young
of The Wire
as "a certain kind of loops and reverse, and alternated reverses, which has no ending and no start, and it's just totally confusing", as well as describing the sound as "moving around in constantly overlapping loop structures, there is no definite start nor end" in an interview with the online music journal Globecat.
Indeed, most of the time there is no clear musical progression in a Gas track, as Voigt seems to be more interested in exploring depth of the stereo field, utilizing subtle shifts in sound. Because music under the Gas alias lacks any trace of orthodox melody or chord change many would not describe it as musical.Interestingly, Voigt has responded directly to this statement in this Wikipedia
article in an interview with online music journal Globecat:
and Arnold Schoenberg
Critics have described Gas music as similar to hearing a band playing very far away, under water, or from behind walls. The Wire magazine described it as 'an outdoor rave, heard floating through the air from a a neighbouring village', whilst Voigt himself describes it as "GASeous music, caught by a bass drum just marching by, that streams, streams out through the underwood across the forest soil". His live performances, which he performs using MIDI controls and Ableton Live, possesses this same organic quality.
In 2008, Voigt's own label Kompakt
re-released all four of his Gas albums, albeit with subtle changes made to the tracks, as a four-CD box set entitled Nah und Fern
. A limited double vinyl version of the set was also released, with one track from each album per side.
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-based electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
musician Wolfgang Voigt
Wolfgang Voigt
Wolfgang Voigt is an electronic music artist from Cologne, Germany, known for his output under various aliases on a plethora of record labels, including Warp, Harvest, Raster-Noton and Force Inc...
. Voigt cites his youthful LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
experiences in the Königsforst, a German forest situated near his hometown of Köln
KOLN
KOLN, digital channel 10, is the CBS affiliate in Lincoln, Nebraska. It operates a satellite station, KGIN, on digital channel 11 in Grand Island. KGIN repeats all KOLN programming, but airs separate commercials...
, as the inspiration behind the project. He has claimed that the intention of the project is to "bring the forest to the disco, or vice-versa".
Characteristics
Gas is the most abstract of Voigt's many projects, with each album consisting of several long tracks of dense, hypnotic, atmospheric sound. All Gas material shares a characteristic sound, consisting of an ambient wash of drones and loops, usually accompanied by a repetitive four to the floorFour to the floor
Four-on-the-floor is a rhythm pattern used in disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in 4/4 time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat in common time...
kickdrum underneath the multiple layers of music. Occasionally a song will just drift on its own ambience. Voigt has commented that he builds his tracks using samples, which are manipulated beyond recognition to create what can better be described as textural environments than songs; Voigt described the technique to Rob Young
Rob Young
Rob Young is a British music author, journalist and current editor-at-large of The Wire, a British based experimental music magazine.Young has contributed to various publications including The Guardian, Gramophone, The Independent On Sunday, Uncut, Frieze and Jazz Times.-Rob Young, coastal...
of The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
as "a certain kind of loops and reverse, and alternated reverses, which has no ending and no start, and it's just totally confusing", as well as describing the sound as "moving around in constantly overlapping loop structures, there is no definite start nor end" in an interview with the online music journal Globecat.
Indeed, most of the time there is no clear musical progression in a Gas track, as Voigt seems to be more interested in exploring depth of the stereo field, utilizing subtle shifts in sound. Because music under the Gas alias lacks any trace of orthodox melody or chord change many would not describe it as musical.Interestingly, Voigt has responded directly to this statement in this Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
article in an interview with online music journal Globecat:
Q: In your Wikipedia entry, whoever wrote it says: "Because Gas music lacks any trace of melody or chord change, many would not describe it as *musical*." How would you respond to the writer of the article -- and where do you personally draw the line between "musical" and "non-musical," if there is such a line?
A: I think the boundaries between “musical” and “non-musical” are in a state of flux. Otherwise, I do not really care about any “musicality” related to GAS. Emotions, structure, aesthetics are more important to me. Melodies in the classical sense are not supposed to be in GAS, although they exist, as hidden and overlayered as the chord changes. But you have to notice them.However, the sources of Voigt's samples are often of musical origin, encapsulating "old pop record stuff" as well as classical music such as Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
Critics have described Gas music as similar to hearing a band playing very far away, under water, or from behind walls. The Wire magazine described it as 'an outdoor rave, heard floating through the air from a a neighbouring village', whilst Voigt himself describes it as "GASeous music, caught by a bass drum just marching by, that streams, streams out through the underwood across the forest soil". His live performances, which he performs using MIDI controls and Ableton Live, possesses this same organic quality.
In 2008, Voigt's own label Kompakt
Kompakt
Kompakt is a Cologne-based electronic music record label and vinyl/CD distributor, owned by Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. They specialize in microhouse and minimal techno, and are known for their Total compilation series which reached its eleventh installment in 2010.Kompakt...
re-released all four of his Gas albums, albeit with subtle changes made to the tracks, as a four-CD box set entitled Nah und Fern
Nah und Fern
Nah und Fern is a box set collecting the four albums released by Wolfgang Voigt under the Gas alias. Some tracks are shortened edits, and some are also subject to very slight alteration and remastering; Voigt noted around the time of release that the music seemed to resist attempts at cleaning up...
. A limited double vinyl version of the set was also released, with one track from each album per side.
Albums
- GasGas (album)Gas is the debut album by Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project. It is the second release under the Gas name, preceded only by the Modern EP. It was released on 29 November, 1996 on the Mille Plateaux label. Like all Gas albums, the tracks are untitled...
(1996) - Mille PlateauxMille PlateauxMille Plateaux is an influential electronica record label founded 1993 by Achim Szepanski in Frankfurt, Germany. It is known for mostly releasing minimal techno, glitch music and other experimental electronic music.-History:... - ZauberbergZauberberg (Album)Zauberberg is the second album by Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project. It was released in December, 1997 on the Mille Plateaux label. The album is named in reference to the Thomas Mann novel The Magic Mountain . Reviews generally cite Zauberberg as the darkest, most dissonant Gas release...
(1997) - Mille Plateaux - KönigsforstKönigsforstKönigsforst is the third album by Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project. It was released in 1999 on the Mille Plateaux label. The album is named after a forest near Voigt's hometown of Köln, in which his youthful experiments with LSD provided inspiration for the entire Gas project...
(1999) - Mille Plateaux - PopPop (Gas album)Pop is the final album by Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project. It was released in 2000 on the Mille Plateaux label. At the time of release, reviews noted 'a striking left turn' in the sound, compared to other Gas releases; the album sounds considerably crisper, with a less muffled kickdrum and less of the...
(2000) - Mille Plateaux
EPs
- ModernModern (EP)Modern is Wolfgang Voigt's first release under the Gas alias. It is an EP, released in 1995 on the Profan label. Unlike Gas albums, the tracks are titled, and the release lacks the unifying forest theme present on nearly all other Gas releases....
(1995) - Profan - Oktember (1999) - Mille Plateaux