cassette – Anunaki Tabla

This is the first solo release from Kenn Hartwig, bassist and member of various bands such as Das Ende Der Liebe, C.A.R., Enjuti, Center for Mind and Brain, and Shiva And The Destroyer. Hartwig has a broad musical palette which spans psychedelia, improvisation, kraut rock, experimental jazz, ambient and techno. For this release on Anunaki Tabla, the Berlin experimenter uses only Nintendo Game Boys and effects pedals. Evidently not interested in a particularly ‘purist’ idea of musical composition, equalisation, dynamics, and reverb were applied using Ableton Live. In particular, one of the consoles did not have professional audio modulation causing a lot of noise – an effect that ultimately blended well with the other sounds. There are nine tracks on Gameboys & Pedals and a plethora of Gameboy software was used: Shitwave, Chord by Humbletune, SFX Generator, Rez, Pixelh8 Deathray, Noise Test, Gradual Decline, GB Electric Drum by Aleksi Eeben, GB303-1, Ikimu and MuddyGB. This list is probably incomplete, while the recordings – this is certain – were captured from December 30th 2021 to January 5th 2022 at Sauna Studio Berlin, before being mastered by Thomas Ölscher at Railroad Tracks Studios. This is not the first time that modified games have been transformed into musical instruments. However, Hartwig must be recognised for his notable mastery in creating unique envelopes and textures, unusual tones along with strange, somewhat vintage, unexaggerated synthetic sounds. This is no mean feat within the context of contemporary retromania’s embrace of old technologies aimed at the entertainment of a new generation of adolescents. In the case of the Nintendo Game Boy, we are on the cusp of what can be considered a classic example of a fetishization of the offline, as the console was released in 1989, preceding the first web page by four years.

 

Kenn Hartwig – Gameboys & Pedals