Editions Mego
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Peter Rehberg Discusses the First Two Decades of Editions Mego
9 Records That Capture the Spirit of Editions Mego
Peter Rehberg, underground musician and Editions Mego head, dies aged 53
Peter Rehberg, Influential Electronic Musician And Label Head, Has Died At 53
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Marcus Schmickler Altars Of Science 3 (2007)
‘The work of Cologne based Marcus Schmickler has over the years crossed the boundaries between classical and pop, improvisation and techno. Active as a solo artist under his own name, as well as working under the Pluramon moniker with Julee Cruise, plus countless collaborations in the filed of electronic improvisation. ‘Altars Of Science’ is Schmickler’s first purely electronic release since 1998’s prize winning ‘Sator Rotas’. A fascinating ‘tour de force’ of modern computer music composition. Intense in its outlook, yet polished in its execution.’ — EM
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Pita Get Out 3 (2008)
‘Get Out’ was the second full length album release by Pita (aka Peter Rehberg), originally released in 1999 and rereleased in 2008. The follow up to the award winning ‘Seven Tons For Free’. Its harsh use of available computing devices made it popular both in and outside electronic music circles of the time, especially the 11 minute anthem like 3rd track. David Keenan in his liner notes states that ‘Get Out’ “…stands as the first major musical laptop statement in the same way that Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced album spoke for the most extended instrument-specific modes of the electric guitar three decades earlier.”’ — EM
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Prurient Sternum (2008)
‘New York based Prurient (aka Dominick Fernow) has been an active instigator of the Power Electronics and Noise genres for well over a decade, with 100+ releases issued so far, usually limited and over all known formats. Its with great pleasure that Editions Mego present this new set of Prurient compositions. Comprising of 3 ear splitting tracks of high end quality feedback, disturbed vocals and twisted percussion. While previewing this work for release on a flight from Milan to Vienna it came to the attention of the listener that an irritated passenger 2 rows in front complained of high pitched whistling in the air conditioning. Such is the power of Arrowhead.’ — EM
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Cindytalk Transgender Warrior (2009)
‘Cindytalk have been active since 1982, which we won’t go into here (a quick Google search will satisfy that need). During the 80s and 90s their sound was defined by broken down rock structures and abstract piano ambience. A third side to their coin emerged at the dawn of the 21st Century with a turn towards obscure computer usage pushing all resemblance of melody and conventual texture to the outer edges. ‘The Crackle Of My Soul’ is the first full length to come from this new direction, starting in 2001 and now finally ready for release. Its also the first Cindytalk album since the 1995 release of ‘Wappinschaw’. Although very abstract in nature these 10 tracks still echo the vocal brilliance and subtle beauty that they become known for, as well as pushing back the boundaries making this an essential listen regardless if you are aware of the back catalogue or not.’ — EM
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Jim O’Rourke I’m Happy (2009)
‘Of course, Jim O’Rourke needs no introduction being well known as a performer, producer and all round top chap, as well membership of various pop and rock combos for more than two decades. ‘Im Happy, and I’m Singing, and a 1, 2, 3, 4’ was called by many common folk Jim’s laptop record or his powerbook album. We prefer the simple term computer when referring to the instrument used for the creation of this milestone album. Equal parts – schizoid pop, cracked minimalism, concrete drama and melancholic contemplation. It strikes us as a highly personal release. Given the nature of this warm beast, it seems likely to appeal across the board – electronic nuts, indie rock kids and yes, even the good folk of the established experimental world may take pleasure in the delicate nuances of Jim’s hard drive.’ — EM
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Florian Hecker Acid in the Style of David Tudor 2 (2009)
‘‘Acid In The Style Of David Tudor’ is Florian Hecker’s first full length studio (as opposed to collections and commissions for art installations) album since 2003, when the groundbreaking ‘Sun Pandämonium’ was unleashed by Mego. Since then he has collaborated on audio projects with Yasunao Tone, Russell Haswell (as Haswell & Hecker) and a forthcoming live collaboration with Richard James as well a myriad of sound installation works, individually and with numerous artists worldwide. As the title suggests this album is referencing the parallel universes of modern 20th century composition and hedonistic rave culture. A challenging but ultimately rewarding set of Electronic Music compositions which push these two reference points into unknown areas.’ — EM
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Kevin Drumm Turning Point (2010)
‘Utilising guitar, tapes, mics, pedals, analogue synthesizer and some computer assistance Drumm has concocted a sonic beast. In doing so one is taken on an intense journey of storming feedback, open audio onslaught and somewhat savaged sonics. The extreme end of anarchic electronics and possibly a hint of musical violence is present throughout the much of the disc. An essential release capturing Drumm at his most ferocious and most inventive. It’s an exhilarating, visceral test of endurance brimming with demonic humor and a tour of Drumm’s ever-expanding sonic palette.’ — EM
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Emeralds Does It Look Like I’m Here? (2010)
‘‘Does It Look Like I’m Here?’ is the third official album by Emeralds ( after “Solar Bridge” on Hanson, and the self-titled LP on their own Wagon and Gneiss Things imprints , as well as countless small edition tapes and CDRs on a host of labels) and once again it presents another radical new direction for this Cleveland trio. It sees the group moving from playing single oscillator analog synthesizers to really complex analog and analog/digital hybrid as well a great deal of guitar synthesizers, not to mention fine tuning their skills as brilliant tunesmiths. Simply put, the results are outstanding. Comprising of a number of tracks from their recent ultra limited 7” vinyl series on Wagon, as well new compositions exclusive to this release. This fine selection of tunes surpass anything they have achieved in their 5 year career. Perfect melodies intertwined with ripping sequences and a guitar sound that floats perfectly throughout.’ — EM
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Oneohtrix Point Never Returnal (2010)
‘‘Returnal’ is the 4th album from Daniel Lopatin’s Oneohtrix Point Never project, after ‘Betrayed In The Octagon (Deception Island, 2007), ‘Zones Without People (Arbor, 2009) and ‘Russian Mind’ (No Fun, 2009). All 3 albums being superbly compiled on the ‘Rifts’ double CD set (No Fun, 2009). It sees Lopatin fine tune his craft for creation of deep atmospheres and texture even further. Starting off with the mind blowing triptych of ‘Nil Admiari’/ ’Describing Bodies’/ ’Stress Waves’, which fires off into a noise/rhythm excess before entering a zone of relative calm building to the melancholy of the final part. This set the tone perfectly for the albums title track, a stunning out of this world ballad featuring Lopatin’s near desperate vocal delivery, ending what could be seen as one of his most chilling and thought provoking sides to date.’ — EM
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Bill Orcutt A New Way To Pay Old Debts (2011)
‘Editions Mego is suitably chuffed to announce a CD reissue of San Francisco guitarist Bill Orcutt’s acoustic hardcore blues stormer A New Way To Pay Old Debts, previously released on Palilalia in 2009, and for many, one of the highlights of recent years with its unique visionary take on solo guitar playing. At the heart of Orcutt’s sound is a vintage acoustic Kay guitar equipped with a DeArmond pickup. After the neck was broken and subsequently repaired, the guitar was downtuned so as to withstand the tension of the strings, and played with the A and D strings removed. This all lends itself to an intense set of raw, blues-influenced songs that sound heavier than most of the guitar records in your collection put together!! In addition to the original album, this CD reissue contain 2 tracks from the High Waisted 7″ (also previously released on Palialia), as well as 4 unreleased tracks. Bill Orcutt: 4-string Kay, voice.’ — EM
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Mika Vainio Throat (2011)
‘Whereas previous works by Mika Vainio have utilised guitar Life (… It Eats You Up) is the first to use the instrument as its primary sound source. A fascinating, sometimes disturbing and deeply personal work this new 10 track set bears all the hallmarks (exacting attention to detail of tone, rhythm and texture) of Vainio’s previous works with some stunning surprises, such as his cover version of The Stooges’ ‘Open Up and Bleed’. Tracks such as ‘Mining’ hark bark to the banging beat excesses of Pan sonic, with ‘Crashed’ and ‘And Give Us Our Daily Humiliation’ and the opening ‘In Silence A Scream Takes A Heart’ reveal a new intensity to Vainio’s work.’ — EM
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Yasunao Tone MP3 Deviation #7 (2011)
‘The MP3 Deviation album contains pieces that are results of the collaborative research by a team of the New Aesthetics in Computer Music (NACM) and myself, led by Tony Myatt at Music Research Center at the University of York in UK in 2009. My idea was to develop new software based on the disruption of the MP3. Primarily I thought the MP3 as reproducing device could have created very new sound by intervention between its main elements, the compression encoder and decoder. It turned out that result was not satisfactory. However, we found that if the sound file had been corrupted in the MP3, the corruptions generated 21 error messages, which could be utilized to assign various 21 lengths of samples automatically. Combining with different play back speeds, it could produce unpredictable and unknowable sound. That is a main pillar of the software. We, also, added some other elements such as flipping stereo channels and phase inversing alternately with a certain length of frequency ranges, which resulted different timbres and pitches.’ — EM
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Mark Fell Vortex Studies 2 (2011)
‘Middle sized member of the UL range, the UL8, a three unit system, embodies the good looks and high performance associated with Celestion designed products. Utilising the HD1000 pressured dome tweeter and an 8 inch mid/bass driver, which together a similar sized A.B.R. combine to give an overall frequency response of 30 Hz to 28 kHz. The mid/bass drivers large magnet system perfectly controls the excursions of the specially processed Bextrene cone assembly with its 1.5 inch voice coil. Designed to a precise specification, the UL8 achieves highly realistic ‘music’ reproduction.’ — EM
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KTL Snow 2 (2012)
‘Whereas their previous album IV was recorded and made in a relative short period in a more traditional rock environment, V turns full circle, takes its time and tackles the complex working processes of the european avant garde. Rooting themselves in such legendary electronic music studios such as EMS in Stockholm and GRM in Paris, O’Malley and Rehberg have delivered a rich set of sound experiments far removed from harsh metal/noise blizzards of their early albums.’ — EM
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Daniel Menche Marriage Of Metals 1 (2013)
‘In its history throughout millenniait is fair to say the Gamelan has never had an encounter quite like this. ‘Marriage of Metals’ is a devastating extension of the harmonic properties found in the instruments of Indonesia. Menche was granted access to a remarkable Gamelan studio where he was given full privilege to record any and all of these rare and ancient gongs. Most notably the gigantic “Gong Ageng” that’s contains the deepest of deep of acoustic bass. Daniel Menche took theraw source material from this Gamelan gong session and launches into a heavily processed yet surprisingly sympathetic 21st Century take on this unique instrument. ‘Marriage of Metals’comprises two side long works where the purity of the sound source exists amongst the entire din. Metallic rhythms bounce alongside synthetic pops swaying from reality to fantasy, from pure acoustic tonality to fuzzed out distorted clatter. A distant feedback squall is teased amongst the foreground creating aclamorous din.’ — EM
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EVOL Proper Headshrinker 01 (2013)
‘Ever since Stephen Sharp and Roc Jiménez de Cisneros embarked on the deconstructive process they refer to as Rave Synthesis, the goal was to come up with odd relatives of well established sounds in techno culture by constantly messing with the original recipes, expanding the tropes, and hinting at novel paths for contemporary psychedelia. Almost three years after the influential ‘Rave Slime’, their fifth long player takes the idea one step further. Sharp and Jiménez de Cisneros have used key words such as “slime”, “stretching”, “sonic Play-Doh”, “squeezing” or “folding” to illustrate the notion of homeomorphism (a metaphor borrowed from topology) in relation to the structural developments and the way in which tone bends in their Rave Synthesis tracks. In ‘Proper Headshrinker’, though, this continuous deformation is much more oblique, since the only source of variation in these monolithic structures comes from subtle phase modulations. The resulting straightforward brutality demands deep listening and, as usual, proper playback volume.’ — EM
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Fennesz Bécs (2014)
‘The last time Fennesz released an album on Austrian label Mego it was 2001 and the name of that release was ‘Endless Summer’. Now, in 2014 Editions Mego is extremely proud to release the conceptual follow up that landmark of abstract pop. Bécs (pronounced ‘baeetch’) is Hungarian for Vienna and is the first full length Fennesz solo release since 2008’s ‘Black Sea’. Eschewing the more drone orientated works of ‘Black Sea’, ‘Bécs’ returns to the more florid pop mechanisms as deployed on Endless Summer.’ — EM
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Klara Lewis c a t t (2014)
‘Klara Lewis’ debut release presents an electronically charged reconstruction of organic sound matter. 10 tracks featuring a wide variety of sonic material which is subjected to Lewis’ unique approach to the sonic landscape. Field recordings, small sounds, samples, ambient pot holes, repetition, and giddy disorientation are all tactics deployed by Lewis. On entering these works we take a voyage through a series of audacious audio adventures, playful musical miniatures and choppy sonic seas. There is a human warmth to much of the material as Lewis expertly crafts musical matter from the living world. ‘Ett’ is an exemplary investigation as Lewis’ reconfigures sounds of life itself, from the delirious to the tender. A bold vision from a bright new talent.’ — EM
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Thighpaulsandra A Devil in Every Hedgerow (2015)
‘If you have heard any of Thighpaulsandra’s previous albums, you will know that you’d best approach this record with no fixed set of expectations, because once again he changes genres and defies easy classification, sometimes more than once within one song. Drawing on his long-time background as a key member in such diverse groups as Coil, Spiritualized and Julian Cope’s band (in each case arguably at the height of their creative prowess) and his work as producer and sound engineer for an even larger variety of customers, you’ll find classical passages next to hard rock riffing, krauty experimental work-outs turning into super catchy, almost radio-friendly songs and more. Many adjectives have been used to describe Thighpaulsandra’s work: epic, challenging, timeless, idiosyncratic, but certainly never predictable or boring.’ — EM
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Shit and Shine Ass (2015)
‘The ascent of Shit and Shine sits as one of the great audio headfucks in recent years. From it’s genesis out of the South London noise rock revivalist scene to a zone where rabbit costumed maniacs bled a unique form of multi-drum and electronic hysteria to the current incarnation of destroyed lysergic dance music. Shit and Shine is the epitome of second guess subversion. One with a foot in every pie it continues on a fantastic twisted path.’ — EM
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Tujiko Noriko My Ghost Comes Back (2015)
‘The aptly named ‘My Ghost Comes Back’ witnesses the return of Tujiko Noriko after a hiatus exploring worlds beyond those we regularly inhabit. The results of these travels provided the formula for this, her most accomplished record to date. As rich in ambition as it is skewered in it’s melodic stance, ‘My Ghost Comes Back’ is a decidedly more acoustic affair in which a host of guest musicians incorporate mandolin, viola, musical saw, optigon and other such wares into the exotic environment where her unique songwriting now resides. Furthering an exploration of unorthodox arrangements, rhythm and melody Noriko concocts engaging pop explosions where flickering electronics, staggered rhythms, shimmering vocals all dance on a plateau of melancholic ecstasy.’ — EM
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Oren Ambarchi Hubris, Pt. 3 (2016)
‘Since the late ’90s, Australian multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi has composed drone metal and free jazz, sculpted ambient soundscapes and collaborated with many (if not most) of experimental music’s biggest names. Over his prolific career, Ambarchi has toured with Sunn O))), played with Boris and Merzbow, drummed with Keiji Haino—and that’s just a drop in the bucket. In many ways, Ambarchi is a quintessential musician’s musician: an adept drummer and guitarist, hugely respected within his own scene, whose fans study his work like stoned math majors pouring over a Mandelbrot set. Whether inspired by krautrock, metal, or jazz, Ambarchi’s work demands patience and attention, but along with his singular musicianship, Ambarchi’s work reaches for the extremes of human experience, the sorrowful, the sublime.’ — EM
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p.s. Hey. Today the blog pays a kind of tribute to my dear late friend and collaborator, the pioneering electronic music artist and, most pertinently re: today’s post, mastermind of Editions Mego, arguably the most important experimental record label of the past decade plus, Peter Rehberg. Mego is far too rich a label to represent in a single post, so here’s part one with the second part to follow in time. Please attend the gig, thank you. ** Dominik, Hi!!!! The haunted house project is going great. Puce Mary, who’s doing the sound/score for Zac’s my new film, has agreed to do the sound for the virtual/ video game haunt, so that’s exciting. Today we’re sending off a ton of reference images and notes and descriptions to the designers, so they’ll start building it this week. Um, I don’t know if I should say what book I’m blurbing. Hm, a book of poetry by someone who has commented here sometimes. I still haven’t read ‘White’. I should. Ha ha, um, it is possible that the cast’s looks are at least partly his doing. Thank you for the action figure. I might put a little cloth over it so I don’t go insane. My love today is selfishly geared towards getting me extremely smoothly through part 2 of my root canal this afternoon because I have a lot of work to do immediately afterwards, sorry, G. ** David Ehrenstein, Thank you! Everyone, yesterday’s guest host with the most Mr. Ehrenstein has written about one of his post’s stars, Mr. Francis Bacon, right here. ** David, I haven’t been in the ocean in years, weird. And we’re having a little heatwave, so a nearby ocean to duck inside sounds very appreciable. Wow, ocean dunking, 13 mile run … your body’s got it made. ** Corey Heiferman, Hi, Corey. Did your role last night fit you like the veritable glove? Best of luck with the eye correcting. Yikes. Understood about the grief. Such weird shit. I’m still negotiating my grief-cum-bewilderment over the loss of friend/ collaborator that I’m paying tribute to here today. In the case of my book club, three of the other participants are very old, good friends and writers I admire a lot. The other two are very talented young poets. None of us are pseudo-intellectually inclined, for sure. But, yeah, choosing carefully is pretty key, I think. All it takes is one bad apple and all of that. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Yes, RIP to the very great Belmondo. That’s very sad. And France is in national mourning the likes of which hasn’t happened here since Johnny Halliday departed years ago now. ** Steve Erickson, Ha, after the experience with ARTE, I would rather jump off the Empire State Building than ever write for a mainstream venue/project again. Yawn about the Bret Ellis cancellation. Cool if you interview Todd Haynes, obvs. I’m guessing David doesn’t know Spandau Ballet because, yeah, I anticipated them too. ** Florian-Ayala Fauna (she/her), Hi, Florian! How very, very nice to see you here! I’ve been happy to see that you’ve been sharing your art again on Facebook recently. I’m good, doing stuff, all good. I hear you on the laying low. Hope your work is going really well. Take care. ** Right. Please let some of the genius of Editions Mego wash over you today. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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Hi!!
Ah, this is so great! Puce Mary is a fantastic artist, so I’m especially excited about this collaboration! I’m really glad that the whole project’s coming along so beautifully.
Oh, right. I didn’t think about that – that you might not really be allowed to talk about the book you’re blurbing just yet. Anyway, I’ll keep an eye out for poetry books coming with your recommendation!
I’ll let you know what I think about “White” when I get around to it. If you’d like.
And thank you for today’s post! I’m in serious need of some new, inspiring music, so your timing is perfect!
Shit, no apologies needed whatsoever! In fact, I’m just gonna send you a similar love back – the two of them must be strong enough to help you through it! So, love speeding up time during the procedure itself and then letting you out of the timewarp with nothing but a sense of peaceful, clearheaded accomplishment, Od.
Quite a potpourri aujord hui
I am in mourning for Bebel.
Sublime Rehberg and Mego tribute today that I will spend time luxuriating in. A fair few names here that are new to me. Having a mini heatwave but I have the fan on here in my bedroom, whew.
Thanks for these gonna go through them now… go to the beach Dennis… take your mind off things for a day or two…
Hey Dennis, yeah I’ve been alright! I’ve really enjoyed some stuff from editions Mego btw. Sorry I haven’t been keeping up, but I look forward to the new novel, I haven’t had as much time to concentrate online as much so it went off my radar for a minute there haha.
A few years ago I started a YT channel of weird video art stuff I did on the side for a while here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdUdbe6rMD1Cqx3sR3CLIww/
Thought it may interest you since I saw in ones of your comments something about a haunted house game project you’re involved with, something along those lines. Hope you enjoy, if you have the time to see, hope you also don’t mind flashing lights and loud sounds haha.
Hello Dennis. I regret that I only became aware of Peter Rehberg’s work after he passed. I bought an album ‘Vanish’ by Julia Reidy off the Mego label sometime last year, which I really liked, but beyond that I wasn’t really aware of his work. So, in other words, thanks so much for making the tribute. I’m going to come back and revisit the post probably over the next few days, as it seems to align almost laserlike with the sounds I love, plus my head was very scattered today and I didn’t have the time this gig deserves. I did listen to the Pita track 3 times on repeat though, which I thought was unbelievably great. The m0otif that sounded almost like a pop hook, and the noisiness of it. The movement of it, how it seemed to go so fast without drums. Yeah…it was amazing. Anyway, thanks again for putting this together for us. Oh, and I hope you had a day unblemished by the root canal sequel. xT
Hey Dennis – I’m sorry about your friend Peter’s death. I was so shocked when I read about it and immediately thought about you and meant to reach out. This is a lovely tribute to his Editions Mego and a mind-boggling reminder of how great the label was. I’d forgotten so many of these artists were all part of that stable. Look forward to part two whenever it’s coming.
My father died a few weeks ago and the chaotic drama leading up to that and the sad aftermath has consumed everything here. It’s not a story for the blog, but over Skype sometime. Been feeling seriously unmoored and dislocated, trying to keep my head above water with my various freelance gigs.
I can’t recall if I ever emailed you to confirm date for you and Zac visiting my screenwriting class? I’ll do that now. The students seem bright so far, though I’m teaching them through my own thick fog.
Casting backward a bit, were there any big highlights from your trip to LA? How’re things in the lead up to publication of ‘I Wished’? Much love.
I hadn’t heard solo Thighpaulsandra before, but the song you posted was amazing. for some reason, my knowledge of Editions Mego peters about a decade ago, so that and the Tujiko Noriko song were new. Do you know if the label plans to continue with new ownership?
The first pitch for the Todd Haynes interview fell through. We’ll see if any other ones work out.
My overview of Lorde for Trouser Press was published today: https://trouserpress.com/reviews/lorde/.
This is just a really sad post to think about. It still seems really weird that Rehberg is gone. And I guess I was just thinking about Jon when I saw this post… I have been quiet for a while. I’m homeless right now. Life is pretty terrible… I hope I don’t make it to 28 and can join that 27 club, I guess. Now I see why public transportation can be dangerous. Waiting in front of train stations is not good for the mentally ill.
Peace and love. Stay safe.
Enjoyed this gig a lot. Noise is a new favorite genre of mine so there’s still lots to explore. Sorry about your loss. Your friend had good taste and I’m sure he was also a great guy.
The dinner party at my boss’s in-laws was nouveau riche in an amusing way, I guess the Israeli equivalent of a Beverly Hills mansion.
I hope the root canal went as well as it could’ve.
I”ve been thinking a lot about the lack of subtlety in USA expressions of emotion. When I’m reading/contemplating I’m aware of it, but when I’m just going about my business I often fall back into telling myself pursuit of happiness stories.
I don’t recall characters in your work believing happy=satisfied=good and sad=unsatisfied=bad, at least not by the end. This is despite their placement in settings where these kinds of beliefs are held up as normal/natural.