released March 9, 2021

01 COSMIC KRAUTROCK 14:08

Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes
Jon Durant: electric guitar
David Torn: electric guitar, live looping
Bill Walker: electric guitar, live looping, feedback
Stefan Huth: touch guitar AU8 (bass)
Andi Pupato: percussion
Andy Brugger: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, choppy organ, granular synth, programming

02 FRACTAL GUITAR 2 7:58

Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8
Jon Durant: fretless guitar
Bill Walker: lap steel
Barry Cleveland: 6 & 12-string guitar, filtered guitar
Stefan Huth: touch guitar AU8 (bass)
Andi Pupato: percussion
Manuel Pasquinelli: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, fractal guitar, formant swell

03 MERCURY TRANSIT 12:03

Jon Durant: electric guitar, VCS3 guitar
Barry Cleveland: bowed guitar, revox loops
Markus Reuter: soundscapes
Stefan Huth: touch guitar U8 (bass)
Fabio Anile: keyboards
Andi Pupato: percussion
Andy Brugger: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, e-bow, particles, keyboards, programming

04 LADDER TO THE STARS 14:54

Henry Kaiser: electric guitar
Chris Muir: electric guitar, live looping
Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes
Jon Durant: filtered and sliced cloud guitar
Fabio Anile: electric piano
Andy West: bass guitar
Andi Pupato: percussion
Manuel Pasquinelli: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, keyboards

05 CELESTIAL NAVIGATION 12:29

Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes
Jon Durant: fretless guitar
Bill Walker: electric guitar, lap steel
Stefan Huth: touch guitar U8 (bass)
Andi Pupato: percussion
Manuel Pasquinelli: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, e-bow, particles, keyboards, programming

06 POINT OF INFLECTION 12:12

David Torn: electric guitar, live looping
Jon Durant: fretless guitar, cloud guitar
Barry Cleveland: 6 &12-string guitars, bowed guitar, chopped guitar, fuzz orchestration
Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes
Stefan Huth: touch guitar S8 (bass)
Andi Pupato: percussion
Andy Brugger: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, granular synth

Produced by Markus Reuter & Stephan Thelen.

Executive Producer: Leonardo Pavkovic for Moonjune Records

All tracks written by Stephan Thelen except: "Ladder to the Stars" written by Stephan Thelen & Fabio Anile and "Point of Inflection" written by Stephan Thelen & Barry Cleveland.

Recorded at various locations across Europe and North America between November 2019 and July 2020.

Recording engineer at MegaSonic, Oakland, California: Jeremy Goody.

Andy Brugger’s drums recorded by Reto Muggli at Powerplay Sudio B, Zürich, Switzerland.

Manuel Pasquinelli’s drums recorded by Benno Kaiser at his studio in Aarau, Switzerland.

Post-production and mix by Benjamin Schäfer & Markus Reuter for Unsung Productions, Berlin, Germany, August 2020.

Mastered by Alexandr Vatagin in Vienna, Austria, September 2020.

David Torn appears courtesy of ECM Records.

Personal notes from ST and a guide to the solos:

1. Cosmic Krautrock

00:00 – 01:27 Stephan Thelen (theme and sounds)
01:27 - 03:17 Markus Reuter solo
03:23 - 05:08 David Torn (theme and loops)
05:08 - 07:26 Jon Durant solo
07:26 – 10:07 Andi Pupato (percussion), Markus Reuter (soundscapes) and Bill Walker (feedback)
10:07 - 12:14 Bill Walker solo

2. Fractal Guitar 2

01:16 - 02:49 Markus Reuter: glitchy touch guitar
02:49 - 04:01 Stephan Thelen: fractal guitar
04:08 - 05:07 Barry Cleveland: melody
05:07 - 05:55 Stephan Thelen: fractal guitar
05:55 - 06:19 Markus Reuter: glitchy touch guitar
06:19 - 07:58 Jon Durant: fretless guitar

My Sonar buddy Bernhard Wagner pointed out to me that the opening guitar riff is very similar to AC/DC‘s 'Hells Bells‘, something that I still find quite amusing. But my version is based on a '3 against 5' polyrhythm, something that AC/DC 'probably' wouldn’t think of.

3. Mercury Transit

00:00 – 06:06 Stephan Thelen with Fabio Anile (keys) and Barry Cleveland (revox loops and bowed guitar)
06:06 - 09:10 Jon Durant VSC3 guitar
07:22 - 08:38 Jon Durant solo
09:10 – 10:24 Stephan Thelen e-bow solo over Markus Reuter soundscapes orchestrated by Barry Cleveland

4. Ladder to the Stars

00:00 – 02:30 Markus Reuter and Chris Muir (soundscapes) and Fabio Anile (e-piano)
02:30 add Jon Durant cloud guitar
03:56 add Stephan Thelen guitar/organ arpeggios in 7/8
04:10 - 04:45 Markus Reuter touch guitar arpeggios
12:32 – 14 :54 Henry Kaiser solo

Fabio Anile wrote a great bassline in 11/4 for his piece « Shifting Trains », which I – with his permission – used for a recording session with Henry Kaiser, Andy West and Chris Muir in Oakland, California, on November 2, 2019, which became the starting point for this track.

5. Celestial Navigation

00:00 – 01:14 Soundscape trio introduction: Bill Walker, Markus Reuter, Stephan Thelen
01:14 - 04:24 Stephan Thelen (particles, blue sky guitar) and Bill Walker
04:24 - 05:10 Markus Reuter touch guitar
05:10 - 07:04 Stephan Thelen (fractal guitar, e-bow)
07:16 – 09:08 Markus Reuter touch guitar
09:08 - 12:14 Jon Durant fretless solo

I got the idea for the main pattern of the piece while watching a video of Jacob Collier, in which he played a '2 against 3 against 4 against 5 against 6‘ polyrhythm with the 5 fingers of his left hand. www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9l7HqhJugA
I tried that out with my right hand on the keys of my DX7, putting my thumb (playing a 3) on an A, my index finger (playing a 2) on a B, my middle finger (playing a 4) on a C, my ring finger (playing a 5) on a D and my pinky (playing a 6) on E.


6. Point of Inflection

00:00 – 02 :30 Stephan Thelen (theme, sounds), Barry Cleveland (bowed guitar and sounds), Jon Durant (cloud guitar), David Torn, Markus Reuter (touch guitar)
02:22 – 03 :53 David Torn solo
03:53 – 06 :10 Jon Durant fretless solo and clouds, orchestration by Barry Cleveland
06:10 – 07 :07 Barry Cleveland solo and sounds, Stephan Thelen wahwah
07:07 – 07 :58 David Torn « blues » solo
07:58 – 08 :56 Barry Cleveland fuzz arrangement
08:56 – 09 :41 Stephan Thelen granular synth
09:41 – 12 :12 David Torn solo over Markus Reuter soundscape