Vintage synthesizer music has ballooned from a fringe interest into something approaching an outright renaissance across the past half-decade, but few wield as much radical mastery in the realm as Jonas Reinhardt. After a couple years experimenting with group arrangements, Jesse Reiner (Reinhardt’s mastermind / alter ego) returned the project in 2011 to its solitary roots, birthing the distant moon terrarium Music for the Tactile Dome, the Klaus Schulze-spawn The Prime Revealer, plus last year’s Italo-kraut shredfest Foam Fangs. All of which, in retrospect, feel like mere promising precursors to his pumping, cosmos-slaloming electro-opus Mask of the Maker. Crafted bi-coastally (San Fran and Brooklyn) over the course of two years, and incorporating an eclectic web of multi-instrumentalist collaborators—including percussion genie Damon Palermo, Diego Gonzalez, Phil Manley (who also engineered some of the sessions), Tim Soete, Steve Moore, Clint Newsom, Michael Barron and Meryl Press—the record’s nine compositions represent the loftiest heights of The Jonas Reinhardt Xperience, fusing deep kosmische moods with jet-propulsion lab experiments, classic galactic Italo, soaring starblood synth workouts, funky astral ragas, psychedelic dust clouds and rare mantric guest vocals. Mixed at Spacebar Studios by ex-DFA engineer Abe Seiferth and mastered by Simon Francis at Wired Masters, London, Mask of the Maker gleams and glows like nothing in the Reinhardt solar system so far. Wear the Mask. Jonas Reinhardt "Elimination Street" by NOT NOT FUN
LP $13.00
04/16/2013
CD $13.00
04/02/2013
MP3 $8.91
04/02/2013
***Foam Fangs could be a term used to describe 100% Silk’s preferred take on that too-easily dismissed ’70s dancefloor dementia of disco—the soft bite, love nibble, mirrorball on steady / ready perma-revolve. Jesse Reiner (Jonas Reinhardt’s first mister, alongside past / parttime collaborators like Phil Manley of Trans Am and Damon Palermo of Mi Ami and Magic Touch), who never quite had the Kranky krinkle of his ohm-ambient labelmates, travels head-on, Tomorrowland-style, through long-form cosmic Moroder constellations on his latest EP. Nothing frothy about it, though there is a bit of the rubbery in Reiner’s bounce-about, cool, funky kraut-disco. Suddenly we’re beaming back to a time when the world looked forward, envisioning a 21st century decked with silver, chrome and neoprene. It’s a sonic space both transparent and shiny; the metallic ding and cold ribbon of data, scrolling through infinite space. Opener “Foam Fangs” transports us instantly into an ever-expanding universe of sound and light fanning out and folding in on itself at once. Variations on that theme continue as the Jonas journey oscillates through the beat-beyond.
12" $12.00
08/14/2012
MP3 $4.95
07/31/2012
"Following impressive entries for Kranky and Kraak, San Franciscan synthesist, Jonas Reinhardt offers the synaesthetic salve of 'Music For The Tactile' on NNF. This is deepest, learned Kosmiche/Krautrock terrain, assisted by Diego Gonzalez (Bass) and Damon Palermo (Drums/Rhythm Programming) in his quest for the stars and some kind of trance truth. Quite brilliantly, their revelations are far more concise than many of their fellow explorers, like short stories as opposed to light year-long sagas. The titular opener takes longest to reach its destination, powered by harmonised energy sources and a tired kick drum engine which has carried them thus far. Both 'Smokey Jotus' and 'Hander Zader' are more space/psyche rockin', pushed by crashing drums and squealing synth chatter, but our favourites have to be the dramatic symphonics of the alien aquatic 'Headband Harvest' or the glistening 3D sim-space of 'Neukoln'. Impressive." --Boomkat
LP $14.00
05/10/2011
***NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!! JONAS REINHARDT continues his cosmic flight inward on this latest release. The instrumentation from his debut album expands here to include acoustic drum patterns, guitars, and woodwinds alongside synthesizers and electronics. Together, these voices seamlessly twist and meld into a singular aural journey. This is music of the spheres for an electronic era where new age visions are re-imagined through a lens of experimental rock. The titular concept behind the album, drawn from ideas of the post-war avant-garde, refers simply to the human capacity to audition sound and fill in blanks where the composer leaves space for interpretation. Jonas explains: "Each of the songs is meant to engage the listener's innate power of audition to fill in intentionally left blanks. These occur throughout the recording where there is either diminished narrative resolution or explicit sectional movement meant to provoke an auditory response." The result is a mesmerizing journey to cracked and digitized moonscapes where Reinhardt's transparent relationship with instruments, sound, and form are made whole and hints of a beat-centered future are just around the corner. (STREET DATE - 3/30/2010)
LP $19.00
03/30/2010
CD $14.00
03/16/2010