Ulrich Troyer has been producing music now solidly for over twenty years within a largely genre free framework, but whilst navigating forms such as avant-garde, techno, leftfield, field recording, electronica, glitch and ambient it is the aesthetics of dub that guide his creative direction. Not really recognisable in an orthodox form as remixed versions of roots reggae songs but in the way sonics are manipulated with space, the application and layering of delay, reverb and echo that fixes his output well within the scope of what might be called futurist dub.
The nearest comparisons to his new album TRANSIT TRIBE can only be established by a synthesis of some of the more adventurous explorations in modern music such as African Head Charge, Jon Hassell, Pole (Stefan Betke), Bill Laswell or even Miles Davis; featuring a diverse selection of artists and friends not only from Vienna and environs but also from around the world, sounds are not so much fused but allowed to float along the continuous flowing tide of warm waves of bass.
Rather than to allow the names of Ulrich Troyer’s collaborators be merely listed in the album credits, what they bring to this joyful affair needs to be outlined, albeit briefly: Co-producer credits go to Osman Murat Ertel from Istanbul, who employed a variation on the old foolproof Nick Lowe method for checking out the impact quality of his own sound productions by playing tracks through his car sound system speakers!
Murat is a member of the electro-psych-folk group Baba Zula where he plays electric saz, oscillators and theremin and played a key part in the creative development of the album. Mamadou Diabate, the balafon master originally from Burkina Faso and now resident in Vienna, has developed his own unique technique of playing solos that replicate the sound of three instruments playing in unison; however the multi-talented Mamadou is engaged here on singing and playing the talking drum. From South Tyrol Reinhilde Gamper is a member of the experimental trio Greifer who are bringing the sound of the zither into the twenty-first century using new playing techniques and electronic gadgets. Susanna Gartmayer is an Austrian composer and bass clarinetist specialising in improv and multimedia sound research. Diggory Kenrick has been engaged with creating new dub fusions and also re-energising classic rocksteady and roots reggae classics, renowned for his interventions on flute. Didi Kern is an electronic dance musician and drummer from Vienna with a focus on free improvised music. Hamidou Koita, a singer and multi-instrumentalist, is from a traditional Griot family in Burkina Faso but now resident in Vienna and a regular musical partner of Mamadou Diabate playing drums and calabash. Austrian Lukas Lauermann is both a studio and live musician playing cello, also working on electronic sound design and writing string arrangements. He has recorded extensively and appeared on stage with both Mark Lanegan and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Martin Mallaun is a Tyrol-born specialist in both the development of the zither in modern music and also as a researcher in the effects of climate change on the vegetation of Alpine ecosystems. Mystica Tribe is the musical alias of Tokyo-based dub/techno producer Taka (Takafumi) Noda. He collaborated with Vienna’s own Vegetable Orchestra on 2020’s “Transplants (Mystica Tribe Version)”. After studying classical percussion Flip Philipp is now a jazz vibraphone player and member of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Wolfgang Pfistermüller is a member of the Vienna Trombone Quartet and the developer of the incredible bass-trombone Aurora with its uniquely warm and resonant sound. Roger Robinson is a renowned British poet, winner of many contemporary poetry prizes and member of the experimental music group King Midas Sound. Kwame Yeboah is a Ghanaian born UK based keyboard wizard who tours regularly with Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Ms. Dynamite and Pat Thomas.
So contained on the album is an astonishing mix of musicians and instruments: sounds of cowbells recorded in the South Tyrolean alps processed by modular synthesizers and heavy analogue bass synths combined with instruments such as zither, bass-zither, electro saz, flute, talking drum, trombone, cello, vibraphone, marimba, djembe, contra-alto clarinet, melodica, Farfisa – all bound together by organic live-drums and dub effects.
Liner notes by Steve Barker
(DJ, Radio Presenter – On the Wire, BBC 1984 – 2023, now Slack City Radio & reggae/dub columnist and contributor to The Wire)
Credits:
Mamadou Diabate: vocals (3) & talking drum (3)
Osman Murat Ertel: electric saz (6, 7) & guitar (7)
Reinhilde Gamper: zither & bass-zither (9, 10)
Susanna Gartmayer: contra-alto clarinet (8)
Diggory Kenrick: flute (2)
Didi Kern: drums (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14), percussion (3, 6, 10, 14, 15), voice (14)
Hamidou Koita: vocals (3), djembe (3)
Lukas Lauermann: cello (1)
Martin Mallaun: zither (9, 10)
Taka Noda: melodica (11)
Wolfgang Pfistermüller: trombone (1)
Flip Philipp: vibraphone (10, 12, 15), c-marimba (1, 9, 12, 13), percussion (6)
Roger Robinson: vocals (4)
Ulrich Troyer: analog synthesizers (1-13, 15), analog drum-machines (1-15), e-bass (1, 5, 7), sampler (1-14), prepared zither (1, 10), field recordings (3, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15), dub effects (1-15)
Kwame Yeboah: rhodes (5), vox (5), farfisa (5)
Written & arranged by Ulrich Troyer except 2 written by Diggory Kenrick & Ulrich Troyer / 3 written by Mamadou Diabate, Hamidou Koita & Ulrich Troyer / 4 written by Roger Robinson & Ulrich Troyer / 5 written by Kwame Yeboah & Ulrich Troyer / 6 & 7 written by Osman Murat Ertel & Ulrich Troyer / 11 written by Takafumi Noda & Ulrich Troyer / 14 written by Didi Kern & Ulrich Troyer
Recorded by Ulrich Troyer at 4Bit Studio & 4Bit Bungalow, Vienna – except: electro saz on track 6, 7 & guitar on track 7 recorded by Osman Murat Ertel at Saniki Studio, Istanbul / flute on track 2 recorded by Diggory Kenrick at Holloway Studio, London / melodica on track 11 recorded by Takafumi Noda at Mystica Sound Studio, Tokio / vocals on track 4 recorded by Roger Robinson at Dog Heart City Studios / vibraphone & c-marimba recorded by Ulrich Troyer at Konzerthaus, Vienna / rhodes, vox & farfisa on track 5 recorded by Kwame Yeboah at Kwashibu Music Studio, Accra
Mixed by Ulrich Troyer at 4Bit Studio & 4Bit Bungalow, Vienna
Produced by Ulrich Troyer & Osman Murat Ertel / kindly supervised by Diggory Kenrick
Cover Artwork: Ink drawings & design by Ulrich Troyer / kindly supervised by Eva Kelety
Mastering & Laquer-Cut: Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin
Special thanks to Steve Barker, Mamadou Diabate, Osman Murat Ertel, Reinhilde Gamper, Susanna Gartmayer, Eva Kelety, Diggory Kenrick, Didi Kern, Hamidou Koita, Lukas Lauermann, Martin Mallaun, Roland Mitterer, Taka Noda, Wolfgang Pfistermüller, Flip Philipp, Roger Robinson, Kassian Troyer, Kwame Yeboah and Ben Ziel
Kindly supported by: City of Vienna (MA7 – Kultur), Federal Ministry Republic of Austria (Arts, Culture, Civil Service & Sport), SKE-FONDS (AT) & Amt für Kultur, Bolzano/Bozen (IT)
