Arovane
Encyclopedia
Biography
Zahn was born in GermanyGermany
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...
in 1965. He first began experimenting with rudimentary audio equipment
Audio equipment
A piece of audio equipment is any device designed principally to reproduce, record or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units and loudspeakers....
and keyboards when he was 15. Over the years he continued experimenting and developing his sound, even learning to play the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
at one point. In the late 80s he was dealing increasingly with synthesizers and turntablism
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
and deconstruction of hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
beats. In 1989 Zahn began creating music with a collective of electronic musicians in Munich. This collective, known as S.A.M., was dedicated to creating live, free, electronic improvisational music and operated in Germany.
In 1991 Zahn built his own studio in Berlin and his initial works could be compared to a breakbeat
Breakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
influenced sound.
Throughout the 90s Zahn lived in Berlin and continued creating electronic music
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...
. After working for a radio station for a time he caught the attention of electronic music label Din. The late 90s saw his first 2 EPs Atol Scrap for Din and Tides for CCO which gained him a degree of notoriety and acclaim mainly in Germany and then throughout the world in the IDM
Intelligent dance music
Intelligent dance music is a term that describes an electronic music genre that emerged in the early 1990s. The genre is influenced by a wide range of musical styles particularly electronic dance music such as Detroit Techno...
, ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, and electronic music scene. There was also a number of compilation appearances and collaborations released during this time. Since the productive early Arovane years of 1999 and 2000 there have been a collaboration with Phonem and one additional album release, Lilies, in 2004. It may be significant that the last track on that album is called "Good Bye Forever" – no further release from Arovane has surfaced after the release of Lilies.
Although Arovane is somewhat well known among the "bedroom" techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and IDM
Intelligent dance music
Intelligent dance music is a term that describes an electronic music genre that emerged in the early 1990s. The genre is influenced by a wide range of musical styles particularly electronic dance music such as Detroit Techno...
communities, the music has not reached this level of success among mainstream pop culture.
Nedjev is a side project by Zahn.
The Arovane Sound
Arovane's sound can be characterized as ethereal, intellectually melodic, organic, warm and ambient yet technically involved with structured, often heavy, breakbeatBreakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
and hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
influenced beats. It is richly layered with synths and textured distortions and focuses more on generating a melancholy nostalgic feeling than four-on-the-floor dance beats. The tempos are midrange and Arovane has been labeled as IDM
IDM
IDM may refer to:Science and technology* Identity management, the management of the identity life cycle of an entity* IDM Computer Solutions* Integrated Data Management...
by many.
Although the melodic richness remains intact, the resulting sound from the Arovane and Phonem collaboration Aer (Valid) is perhaps more robotic and cold than what could be considered typical Arovane and harkens back to some facets of Arovanes early works, such as Icol Diston.
Arovane can possibly be compared to a blend between the robotic glitch sound of early Autechre
Autechre
Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both natives of Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are one of the most prominent acts signed to Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music and through which all Autechre albums...
and the expansive open synth-laden fields of Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin...
. Zahn and his music are often referred to as being melodically advanced.
Tides LP
Tracks throughout Tides contain the gentle washing sounds of waves and tides and summer nights seamlessly comingling and modulating with arpeggieted-type synths and instruments backed with smooth distant organic and synthetic drums and basslines.Albums
- Atol Scrap (Din, 2000)
- TidesTides (Arovane album)-Track listing:# "Theme" # "Tides" # "Eleventh!" # "Tomorrow" Morning # "Seaside" # "A Secret" # "The Storm" # "Deauville" # "Epilogue" -Personnel:* Uwe Zahn - electronics...
(City Centre OfficesCity Centre OfficesCity Centre Offices is a record label based in Manchester, England, with an affiliate in Berlin, Germany. The label, founded in 1998 by Shlom Sviri and de:bug magazine writer Thaddi Herrmann, has released music from several notable acts, including Arovane, Boy Robot, Marsen Jules, Christian Kleine,...
, 2000) - AER (Valid) (Vertical Form, 2001. A collaboration with Phonem)
- LiliesLilies (Arovane album)Lilies is the last album to date by Arovane.-Track listing:# "Ten Hours" # "Windy Wish Trees" # "Passage to Nagoya" # "Cry Osaka Cry" # "Pink Lilies" # "Lilies" # "Tokyo Ghost Stories"...
(City Centre OfficesCity Centre OfficesCity Centre Offices is a record label based in Manchester, England, with an affiliate in Berlin, Germany. The label, founded in 1998 by Shlom Sviri and de:bug magazine writer Thaddi Herrmann, has released music from several notable acts, including Arovane, Boy Robot, Marsen Jules, Christian Kleine,...
, Indigo, 2004)
Singles & Eps
- Icol Diston (Din, 1998)
- I.O.I.O.iO, or iO Chicago, is a theater located at 3541 N. Clark St., in Chicago, Illinois, one-half block south of Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The theater both has performances of, and teaches improvisational comedy. It was founded in the 1980s by Del Close and Charna Halpern...
(Din, 1998) - PIntPintThe pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
([FWD:, 1999) - AMXAMXAMX may refer to:* AMX LLC, a manufacturer of commercial and residential control systems* The AMX, a sports car made by American Motors Corporation *América Móvil, Mexican telecommunications company* The AMX International AMX, a fighter aircraft...
(Din, 1999) - Occer / Silicad (City Centre OfficesCity Centre OfficesCity Centre Offices is a record label based in Manchester, England, with an affiliate in Berlin, Germany. The label, founded in 1998 by Shlom Sviri and de:bug magazine writer Thaddi Herrmann, has released music from several notable acts, including Arovane, Boy Robot, Marsen Jules, Christian Kleine,...
, 1999) - Arovane & Christian Kleine - Yeer / Disper (Awkward Silence RecordingsAwkward Silence RecordingsAwkward Silence Recordings is an independent record label located in Staplehurst, Kent, England. It has released EPs for artists including Isan, Arovane, Part Chimp, Tarentel, Papa M and Nautilis.- EPs and formats :...
, 2000) Split EP with Christian KleineChristian KleineChristian Kleine is a German musician. He was a member of Herrmann & Kleine duo which was disbanded in 2005.He has collaborated with several electronic musicians including Arovane.His signature sound includes warm, ambient guitar riffs.-Albums:...
. - Cycliph (Din, 2002)
- Minth / Neel (City Centre OfficesCity Centre OfficesCity Centre Offices is a record label based in Manchester, England, with an affiliate in Berlin, Germany. The label, founded in 1998 by Shlom Sviri and de:bug magazine writer Thaddi Herrmann, has released music from several notable acts, including Arovane, Boy Robot, Marsen Jules, Christian Kleine,...
, 2003)
Compilations
- Icol Diston (Din, 2002. A collection of early releases)
External links
- Official website
- Arovane on Last.fm
- Arovane discography @ Discogs.comDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- [ allmusic page] @allmusic.com