Fax+49

The original Ambient Cookbook came out back in 1995, and gave the listener a good cross section of the music available on Fax at the time. There was a mixture of music from not just Namlook, but also from the numerous other artists and collaborators on the label. Now, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the label, the Ambient Cookbook II has been released. Comparisons with the original release are of course inevitable, but in reality this new 4 CD set is something entirely new. Whilst still featuring an excellent selection of music from Fax, the majority of the tracks are by Namlook or Namlook & Collaborators. The only non-Namlook tracks are Atom's "Tuff Transmitter", Inoue's "Magnetic Field" and Jochem Paap's "Dx Synth". Overall, this is a highly recommended release, which would serve as a good introduction to the label…

Create (1994). Create is the second of the four collaborations between Namlook and Charles Uzzell-Edwards. It is one of those long, single-track Fax albums, conveniently indexed every five minutes or so. It starts out in a rather dark and sinister fashion, with a lot of rumbling and some extremely distorted voices just about audible in the background. It continues this way for the next fifteen minutes or so with various other clicks and static interference washing in and out of the of the left and right channels. By the time the fourth track rolls around the beginnings of some more atmospheric drones start to make themselves felt and we slowly drift off into deep space territory of the kind found on Shades of Orion 2. The transition is gradual with the darker voices slowly being overtaken by deeper and more atmospheric string sounds…

4Voice II (1998). After extensive journeys through the incredible worlds of futuristic and ancient sounds, Pete Namlook rediscovered the Bass Drum. Now reintegrated into the most successful Trance-Product on Fax it is being taken to an area where melodic Dance, Electronic Listening Music and Ambient have their home. Check out the integration of monumental Hip Hop sounds on "New York, 25th of November 2089", travel to the "Cave of Ancient Dreams" with Ambient, dance with "Old Loves Dies Hard", go on a ride with "The Driver" and fall in Love with "Anemra"…

Anthony Rother - Elixir of Life (2003) & Anthony Rother - Magic Diner (2003).
Anthony Rother is an electro-techno producer from Germany who rose to prominence in the mid-'90s on the label Kanzleramt before founding numerous labels of his own, most notably Psi49net and Datapunk. Influenced primarily by Kraftwerk and Detroit techno, Rother was born on April 29, 1972, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Rother's electro sound ("Simulationszeitalter", "Hacker") is characterized by repetitive machine-like beats, robotic, vocoder-driven vocals, melancholy, futuristic mood and lyrics that often deal with the consequences of technological progress, the relationship between humans and machines, and the role of computers in society. In addition to electro, Rother also composes dark ambient music ("Elixir of Life", "Art Is a Technology").

Dreamfish (1993). Galactic tides of white noise usher in an expansive trip from Pete Namlook with the UK's silver-suited Ambient space cadet, Mixmaster Morris, whose eclectic DJing graced many a comedown party at the time. If Dreamfish now feels anchored in its era, it's still one of the best surviving examples of a moment when new Ambient lived a utopian dream of a technologically enlightened borderless society, sharing immersive virtual experiences around the world wide web's global campfire. There's a minty freshness and optimism about “School of Fish," while the shorter (nine minute) “Fishology” features the synthetically treated voice of Terrence McKenna, Hawaii-based futurologist and author of Food of the Gods, whose shamanistic theories of techno-paganism and extraterrestrial ancestry fit right in with the stew of ideas and New Age psychedelics which fertilized much of the early '90s Ambient scene…

Fax is famous for releasing mostly experimental electronic and ambient music but depending on the artist/s an album could go anywhere. They have also just released the latest Anthony Rother LP in the last month and also some of the greatest names in electronic music such as Klaus Schulze, Brian Eno, Atom Heart, Bill Laswell, Biosphere, Tetsu Inoue, Mixmaster Morris, and many, many more have either released solo albums or collaborated with label boss and owner, Pete Namlook. Mick says: ""FAXology" is a result of me psyching myself up to send Peter a demo for Fax records, as the title suggest the CD is collection of Fax inspired pieces which Pete felt would suit a release to celebrate the labels fast approaching 20th year. Pete said while listening to the works he began to reminisce about the early days of Fax with albums like Broadway 2350 etc and felt the time was right for such a release."

The two albums I.F. and I.F. 2 (short for Intergalactic Federation) Deep Space Network made with fellow German artist Dr Atmo for Fax Records feature longer tracks, offering a bigger canvas for Moufang and Grossmann to work on. These are true collaborations with Atmo - a lover of shadowy, cosmic Eastern melodies and percussion - where the whole ends up greater than the sum of the parts.

The unconventional quartet of Amir Abadi (aka Dr. Atmo), Ingo Schnorrenberg, Michael Pagenstedt and former Tuxedomoon vocalist Blaine L. Reininger - having previously collaborated as Falling Infinities - returned in 1994 as U V O I I for the equally idiosyncratic Sound of Heaven, issued on the venerable Fax +49-69/450464 label headed by Pete Namlook. Atmo brings a strong ethnic rhythmic sensibility, whilst Schnorrenberg and Pagenstedt set the otherworldly, yet distinctly digital, atmosphere. Unusually for FAX, there are vocals here - Reininger recites his recondite and surrealistic poetry, as well as strained howls and some gorgeous violin contributions. Undeservedly underrated.

The first thing that hits you when you play this CD is the fact that Pete Namlook has no part in it, and without his style, this album is noticeably different from the others. This is good in the sense that the tracks differ from what might be expected, but the inconsistencies between the tracks are quite noticeable. Compilation 1 kicks off with "Never Mind", a formulaic 909/analogue thumper that (like most Fax dance produce) works for a few listens and is then usually forgotten. "Elephant Overload" is another distorted hardcore techno track; nothing outstanding. Both "Lost In Motion" and "Dune (Of Love)" are pleasant but fairly run-of-the-mill trance/progressive tracks…

Pino & Wildjamin come from Germany and they are also known as Analogue Silence, Basalt Boys, Ghost Train and Xangadix. Xangadix began as an ambient-trance outfit, with a line-up of Pino Shamlou and Benjamin Wild, but as their sophomore record was released it was evident that they had evolved into something more. Their ethereal and often quite complicated music was unusual for the early Fax label - even Namlook, the label's chief composer, wasn't working at this echelon yet. The music could broadly be referred to as downtempo, but it's got the mandatory electro beats and quite a strong groove throughout.