February 2022 réédition: long-in-the-works/tooth refresh of this canonic early C.P. banger, collecting all of the material that Gregor & Conrad Schnitzler issued both collaboratively & in solo modes ca. '81-'82 across both the "Conrad & Sohn" & "Convex" LPs (as issued on Gregor's "Private" imprint) but also via a series of compilations including "Berliner Berlin In Berlin" & "Elektronik Sampler" and the mythic "The Russians Are Coming" single by the trio of Gregor, Con, and Peter Baumann (updated tracklisting to your left) ...

Now for a bit of fun... Thus far the Creel Pones have all been academically-inclined in some way. For contrast, here’s a repro of a very bizarre one-off private-press LP “Released” in 1981 by one-time Tangerine Dream / Kluster associate Conrad Schnitzler and given only to friends and family. The B-side is pretty odd, even for Schnitzler, with its pitched up vocals & arbitrary lo-fi synth drippings; but the real prize is the A-side featuring his teenage son Gregor on electric bass and completely fried vocals (in English no less) as run through Conrad’s massive modular synth rig.

These are actual “Songs”, most 3-6 minutes in length, usually a single vamp that gets coated with all sorts of nonsense-ranting from Gregor, considerably more damaged than any willfully bereft “Electrocash™” vocal cadence (see: Miss Kittin, etc.) only actually damaged; Gregor’s vocal refrains are often repetitive to the point of nausea (see: “Countdown ... in the Underground ...” ; ad infinitum), his social commentary so far off the mark (“White People ... Black People ... they like you... they hate you!”) it pretty much has to be heard to be believed.

Most people i’ve played this for have agreed that this is either the best record ever made or one of the worst (always a fine line); personally I hear all of the promise of the Art-Damaged DIY home-recorded electronic punk revival that was lost as soon as “Liquid Sky” became the benchmark (and not Suicide, The Primitive Calculators, Storm Bugs, Attack under Attack, etc.) Regardless of your taste, your jaw will be wide open for the duration; certainly an eye-opener for those familiar with Schnitzler’s canon.