tracklist

01 punch indigo

02 into butter

03 in the cave

04 mild mountains

05 luck of the north

06 on carpets

07 wanderlust

08 gwynplaine’s hill

09 asymetric herding

10 creamin’ over

11 sacred knots

all tracks written, produced and mixed by me raabenstein,
all vocals by major major, lyrics by me,
additional programming on ‚asymetric herding‘
and ‚on carpets‘ by andreas koslik.

mastered by shapemod, berlin

artwork by simonraabenstein.com

distributed by nonine recordings

the album ‚wax on wool’ shows a distinct progression in the work of me raabenstein. it is as if the multi-faceted somewhat intentional random nature of his previous works have made their way, subtlety, of course, into a cycle that retains its originality und unpredictability, yet exists as an entity in and unto itself, with several musical gestures tying the work together. this does not mean that one should listen idly by, expecting the mundane with no surprise. it is still a raabenstein work, after all, and, although the weaving of musical, percussive and spoken elements are done seamlessly, the boring norm this cd is not.

the work in its entirety reminds me of a young alban berg, having just learned the principles of twelve-tone music. in berg’s music of this period, one hears elements of the, at-the-time, mainstream romantic approach combined with tone rows, both elements beautifully intertwined. (a feat that other atonal purists never really achieved.) i like to attribute this to berg’s great sense of musicality and style. this is what i mean when i say that the second slowcream album contains elements of pure raabenstein, but with a new, fresh kind of artistic refinement that makes the work a joy to listen to. it is still in the experimental, electronic genre, but it has something new:
a definite sense of style.

whereas the genre of modern electronic music within the context of popular culture has been content to pride itself with experimentation mounted upon experimentation, this work shows some natural progression — it is an amalgamation of many different genres, elements, and media, somewhat like a modern work of visual art, which does not shy away from using oils with textiles, or car parts with rubbish.

in the same manner which modern art has experimented with varying media, so has raabenstein experimented with sonic layering. ‚wax on wool’ is full of three dimensional musical levels, mesmerizing the listener, piquing his interest, making him curious. this is why this album has a distinct forward motion; it is complete with rhythmic patterns, contemporary electronic minimalism at times, punctuated by tongue and cheek comedy, even taking time to breathe occasionally with haunting musical yearnings.

it is the mixture of both microcosmic strengths with those macrocosmic ones that makes the album specific and powerful. one may be able to listen to just the poco allegretto from brahms 3 and be satisfied, but knowing how the entire symphony sounds unadulterated, from its beginning to its end makes one never want to hear just one piece as an excerpt again. so is slowcream’s ‚wax on wool’. once the work is listened to, one understands how it all fits together. when that happens, you won’t want to hear it any other way.
liner notes by joshua farrier (dma)

enjoy the melody !!!

feedback

slowcream is me raabenstein, a musician with a background in film and painting and also one of the men behind nonine recordings. as slowcream, raabenstein displays a certain affection for combining (the basic principles of) classical music with minimal electronica. something he already executed with great success on last years’ live long and prosper…

on wax on wool he continues his path to greater extend, while also giving specific attention to a bizarre, oddly amusing spoken word content. the musical patterns (be it classical in nature or of more popular descent) interweave almost organically with the delicately set electronic raster, thus creating dense and wildly entertaining compositions. the spoken word element is presented like a radio play: a male voice (dark in timbre) tells us of his tragic and somewhat distorted views on (and place in) the world.

i guess i’m short in words on this one, but maybe sometimes it isn’t necessary to waste too many lines. this album is excellent and to me an original and successful work on its own. it took me several listens to fully appreciate this album, but by offering me the possibility slowcream delivered a very fine job.
steffan de turck, earlabs.org, netherlands 03/09

i really like ‚wax on wool‘
roger mills, furthernoise.org, australia

me raabenstein’s neues album unter dem namen slowcream klingt wie ein traumartiger dunkler filmscore. er arbeitet mit gesampelten jazz- und orchestersounds, betont warmen instumentalklängen, filmdialogschnipseln, digitalen beats, konkreten klängen und rauschigen flächen. das alles kombiniert er mit dezenten 80er-jahre-synthezizer-sounds zu langsamen und minimal gehaltenen tracks. dazu erzählt eine männerstimme, die direkt aus einem alten gangsterfilm zu kommen scheint, lakonisch merkwürdige geschichten und verstärkt das david-lynch-gefühl des albums. eine sehr cineastische platte, die sicher am besten morgens um vier funktioniert.
asb, de:bug 04/09

in its bold integration of 20th -century classical, spoken word, and experimental electronic genres, wax on wool exemplifies a noticeable advance upon live long and prosper, me raabenstein’s previous slowcream full-length. in the new, forty-seven-minute release, the berlin-based producer again seamlessly weaves past, present, and future into provocative set-pieces, with each one offering some distinctive change in style and mood from what comes before, and ultimately proving itself to be an exploration worth taking.

wax on wool’s most ear-catching aspect is the presence of major major on numerous tracks; his slightly-filtered voice is rendered even more disturbing by the cryptic, even bizarre lyrics that raabenstein has him drawl. in the mutant, glitch-laden blues “into butter,” the words “last night my friend shaved my wife / he shaved her good with his knife / he turned around and said, “that’s okay” / i paid him anyway” appear alongside a lurching, bottom-heavy pulse. “mild mountains” couples the woodsy pluck of an acoustic bass with major major’s macabre lines “meg ryan called me last night / she said my voice was cute / she’s in the mood for love” offset by swells of silken strings and the singing tone of a solo violin. while the lyrics in “punch indigo,” which presumably refer to the golem legend (“and you, poor creatures, who conjured you out of the clay?”), are more straightforward, raabenstein isn’t above including tongue-in-cheek humour in the lyrics, as “they shaved my legs / they shaved my balls / i look like madonna / six feet tall” proves when it’s heard against a lurching funk groove during “on carpets.”

the purely instrumental tracks are memorable too. “in the cave” presents a lulling dream-like electronic flow augmented by vaporous streams of strings, oboe, and harp, while the quietly uplifting “luck of the north” hews to a more conventional electronic line by layering restrained vibes and synth elements over a placid backing. “gwynplaine’s hill” resembles the kind of narcoticized drift reminiscent of a ‘70s-era miles davis in-studio tape experiment during the time of his infatuation with stockhausen. raabenstein has a penchant for creating unusual juxtapositions, such as the bright ping of steel drums that’s paired with strings, oboe, and electronic beats during “wanderlust.” by intertwining elements of romantic and serial classical music with electronics, wax on wool fuses the accessible and experimental into a challenging, sometimes disturbing, and yet still musical whole.
ron schepper, textura, canada 03/09

it’s important to pay attention, because slowcream’s music is not easy listening. the sole band member, me raabenstein, hides something deeper in his music. wax on wool is often fragmented. raabenstein is marketed as the new giant in modern classical music, but he is far from it. occasionally, a piece of classical music blows through the tracks, sometimes it even leans towards twelve-tone music, but nowhere does raabenstein take a truly daring step. now, we shouldn’t judge him based on the exaggerated praise of others. he delivers a pretty decent album. as long as you consider it a form of minimal electronics. the sounds are beautifully arranged. the spoken word is entertaining, and across its entirety, wax on wool is a pleasant blend of different types of adventurous music. that the end product is often not as adventurous as its individual parts is a disappointment. but that’s what happens when too high expectations are created.
avdh, gonzo, belgium 05/09

even though he is hardly at the top of the bill, the name me raabenstein now sounds familiar to the ears of fans of ambient electronica, with a jazz vs contemporary music twist. head of the berlin label nonine, (co-)author of several releases including the highly recommendable first raw by sqaramouche, he explores for his second production as slowcream the music of the early twentieth century (schulhoff, berg), which he boldly mixes with the slow, gruff spoken word of a vocal offspring of william s. burroughs, all set against a slowed-down and oppressive dub background (into butter & mild mountains). other atmospheric moments quickly blend into ambient close to ryan teague and marsen jules, though not quite as good, until the melodic line enters, as moving as giuseppe ielasi (in the cave). a curiosity, one that’s perfect for sharing on rainy days.
fabrice vanoverberg, hartzine.com, france 04/09

the prolific and multifaceted creative vein of me raabenstein, berlin-based painter, filmmaker, and musician involved in experimentation, has been gaining recognition and helping us discover some of the most inventive paths out of the labyrinth that, in some quarters, electronic composition has gotten entangled in. his musical expression materializes in numerous projects: me raabenstein, langer & raabenstein, heurtebises, kaisen, lagerfeltz, nailsea, patron and patron, pepper and bones, rael, sqaramouche, taub, the she hero, and, naturally, slowcream, which offers wax on wool, its second full-length release, in a digital-only edition. when viewed as a whole, this vast musical landscape that results from me raabenstein’s collaborations with other musicians and artists—and which reinvents itself with each new partnership—constitutes the essence of the aesthetic proposal of the label run by the berlin-based artist, nonine, and opens up a broad tunnel of air for electronic music, in its nearly countless variations, to breathe newness. in the specific case of slowcream, wax on wool represents a step forward in the journey that began with live long and prosper, an album from 2008 that drew a parallel line between classical re-equation in composition and digital technology.

with this approach, me raabenstein explores various possibilities for combining traditional elements of musical articulation and their associated structures, with the random ease of digitally subverting them, using deconstructed rhythms with volatile atmospheres wrapped in gray nebulae. the voices, in a discursive register that seeks to escape any familiarity with singing, appear as a sort of social reporter, with the ghost of william burroughs haunting the tone. at the same time, this music exudes both comfort and strangeness, with marked contrasts between textures and melodies, fleeting elements that emphasize omnipresent spontaneity, environmental noises, and distant escape points, with sounds of vibraphone and double bass sketching, here and there, a new order, or even, in various moments, orchestral sections lending an epic atmosphere that makes wax on wool a refined album, to which one wants to return constantly. with this release, slowcream reaffirms itself as a project with its own ideas and a desire to create very personal music, staying on the margins of experimentation, but acquiring a unique personality and defining a distinct style, simultaneously bizarre and familiar, that bets on contrasts between haunted warmth and the discomfort of tragedy, in dense sequences of musical entertainment and rational stimulation.
domínio dos deuses, rum.pt , portugal 04/09

predictably unpredictable, those eastern european electro-savantes have done it again with wax on wool. with an absolutely insane sense of musicality that pays scant regard to the cloying convention of tawdry ideals such as ‘structure’ and ‘cohesion’, slowcream craft a bizarrely brilliant brand of wanton experimentia that sounds like two adhd-riddled robots fucking on a distant planet in the year 4000. nothing is hurried: it’s all subtle tropes and quiet assurance, but persevere and you’ll discover a well-integrated fusion of classical and electronic samples.

most of the tracks come on as dissonant as the inside of a crash helmet seconds after a motorway pile-up but tracks like the staccato ‘into butter’ and fuzzily-distended ‘on carpets’ provide a neat counterpoint to more soothing segments like the wondrous ‘in the cave’, which comes together to form a smooth and sensual whole. all in all, wax on wool is off-kilter sashay through a fine batch of sporadically-inspired electronic minimalism. just make sure you get to it before the marketing men plunder and gut it to provide soundtracks for car ads.
oli simpson, beardedmagazine.co.uk 01/09

with “wax on wool” slowcream aka me rabenstein and his label nonine step into another dimension of music. or rather out of the singular dimension they inhabited beforehand. no more of the one-dimensional beat cluttering and synth-layering of dark, post-urban electronic beats that swamp the internet like a virus. “wax on wool” is a collection of stark, edgy tracks that form soundscapes of sombre destruction and nightly devastation. the post-urban wasteland feeling remains the same, but there is more of modern composition in the music now than ever before. a vast step, actually, fascinatingly executed and growing with each listen.

i wonder where this kind of experimentalism comes from? usually, electronic beat producers aren’t very prone to experimentalism or progressiveness, even if they like to display the posture of innovation by sporting apple accesoires. with this album rabenstein moves far away from that. instead of taking the listener through a variety of more or less elegantly mixed and built tracks, he prefers to introduce a more complex and intricate structure to the whole album, where various parts refer to each other are spread over the whole record.

musically the most speaking features are real upright bass lines that invade the electronic clutters of sounds and sparks of noises to add a cool noir feeling to the already freezing music. as on the track “mild mountains”, which induces pictures of lost highways and cold havens right from the beginning. this track also features the second big change: a vocalist called major major speaking lyrics by rabenstein over the music. his tonality reminds me of the introductory speaker of godspeed! you black emperor’s epic debut, but what he offers is completely different. on this track he starts with “meg ryan called me last night, she said my voice is cute, i am in the mood for love”. what do you think of that, now, little prince? moreover, the intonation of major major makes even otherwisely daft lyrics like “i love to love you” sound tragic, dangerous and distorting.

during all of this rabenstein also seems to suit his fancy for weird instruments or at least soundbanks, introducing chimes and synths that sound as if they were taken straight from the soundtracks of mid-eighties action movies (“streets of thunder” type movies) and places them squarely on top of his tracks, where after some time they start to make sense. then there is a little sound in the back of “wanderlust” that reminds me of the meowing of a little cat being tortured. i hope it is something else. then there are deep bass lines and vocal samples from old movies and a load of other interesting things.

they main step of “wax on wool” (that means candles, right?) is the overal structure of the tracks the the whole album, its alignment with modern composition and dark soundscaping – which is something completely different to drone ambient or any kind of beat mixing for chill out clubs. this is more like soundtracks that need neither pictures nor narration to unfold their noir tales. “wax on wool” will be released end of february, but i couldn’t wait to write about it.
georg gartlgruber, monochrom.at, 02/09

me raabenstein, the versatile artist from berlin’s nonine, returns with one of his most intriguing artistic alter egos, slowcream, a moniker under which he had already impressed critics with live long and prosper. with this, the esteemed producer, who has a background in painting and cinema, began to craft a bizarre fusion of classical music, film scores, daringly experimental glitch electronics, and spoken word. this blend continues in his latest work with often surprising results, frequently combining provocative scenes and lyrics with creative wit and considerably educated references, all within an acousmatic context that often delves into the fertile depths of a rather eccentric form of dodecaphonic music, demonstrating notable attention to the construction of almost-melodies and harmonic interweavings within a shell of cut frequencies and modulated noises. the album achieves an authentic definition of personal aesthetics without any forced effects. it’s difficult to define this aesthetic simply with the usual terms, as many elements are so intertwined that mr. raabenstein’s art of sound assembly aligns more with that of a visual artist than a sound sculptor. there is a complete absence of rhythmic sclerosis here, with wax on wool instead focusing on the way sounds and spoken word recitations from the deep, slightly filtered voice of a certain major major are embedded in an uninterrupted flow of imaginative sighs. even the fully instrumental tracks maintain the aesthetic’s integrity, serving almost as essential parts of a film score.

it’s fascinating how the lyrics, often tinged with a sort of macabre irony and a noir aftertaste, seem to fit into the complex and unconventional structures of the sounds. a striking example of this is the dark mild mountains, where the vocalist almost seems to grind his vocal cords in a tense, nearly manic expression, quoting meg ryan („meg ryan called me last night / she said my voice was cute / she’s in the mood for love“), over clinical horror movie sounds from the ’70s, metallic tones, an undercurrent of bass, violins that emerge like dying anemones, and ominous clock chimes that echo certain Laibach experiments. eerie and oppressive, the brilliant asymmetric herding stands out among the tracks. we assume the reference is to herding theories, which explain the behavior of managers and investors who blindly follow others‘ decisions based on a few easily accessible (and often misleading) signals. here, raabenstein seems to portray an ambitious investor, delivering a lesson on the simple logical mechanisms behind a ruthless trader’s activity with bitter irony and sparse soundbrush strokes: the rough vocals list stock market titles, concluding with the eloquent line, „you gonna give 5000$ a week,“ and just to emphasize the speed of the financial markets, those five thousand dollars soon turn into 5050$. this pace, highlighted by the increasingly pressing rhythm, then collapses into a distortion of the pretentious narrator’s voice.

from the beginning, it is clear that raabenstein takes his work seriously, almost as if he were an intermediary of transcendental transmissions between life and death. this becomes apparent in punch indigo, the striking opening track, where he daringly but somewhat ironically quotes the final words from the self-introduction of zardoz, a character from john boorman’s 1974 film, played by a young sean connery. in the movie, zardoz declares himself „false god by occupation and wizard by inclination,“ then adds, in line with the concept of „multiple realities“ in cinematic narrative, that „in addition to manipulating the characters in the story“ (as if he were indeed a god), he makes the audience aware that he, too, is merely a fictional creation, ending with the ominous question: „and you, poor creatures, who conjured you out of the clay? is god in show business too?“ at the end of the album, this theme is further explored with the track sacred knots. the somewhat somber setting is introduced early on, evolving into darker sonic territories with into butter, a thick glitch-dub example set against a distinctly noir backdrop, using wordplay that shifts from psychotic to criminal humor: from the opening line, „last night my friend saved my life,“ to the curious shift in the next line, „last night my friend shaved my wife.“ if you find this humor interesting, continue listening to see how the story develops.

the most captivating and immersive instrumental track is in the cave, which we interpret almost as a reference to plato’s allegory of the cave, suggesting a fascinating introspection into the crystalline interstices of the soul. you’ll be dazzled by the beauty of this interlude, just as tracks like luck of the north and wanderlust, with their fragile grace, will draw you in. in these, raabenstein incorporates meowing, violins, twigs, and inserts that evoke ’20s music. the fact that raabenstein subtly hides a certain social critique within the folds of wool, as is often the case in the „political-social“ function of art, is evident, for example, in the corrosive, almost-funk groove of on carpets, where the irony of words like “they shaved my legs / they shaved my balls / i look like madonna / six feet tall” seem to suggest that transformation can easily become a form of imposed mutilation. raabenstein’s magic lies in translating this dialectical sarcasm into tracks where words are entirely absent, as can be seen in gwynplaine’s hill, which evokes, through sound alone, the setting and mood of the novel the man who laughs by victor hugo, a work unjustly considered one of his harshest. the novel’s protagonist, gwynplaine, despite internal suffering, is condemned by fate (and a paralysis that disfigures his face, creating a fake smile) to appear happy and carefree. it’s almost undeniable that contemporary society suffers from the same paralysis, where appearance becomes the focus of social dynamics that often lead to a mutiny against reason. these and other themes are easily found in wax on wool, an album we wholeheartedly recommend for its successful attempt to make an entirely experimental and „disturbance“-laden work accessible—no easy feat. bravo, mr. raabenstein!
vito camaretta, the vibes, italy 04/09

nonine is a world of avant-garde electronica and slow cream is their new offering. best listened to start to finish, switch off the lights and get lost in another world where squeaking hinges are looped, husky vocals meander, cosmic synths float slowly by, violin weaves in and out of hazy, stoned soundscapes, delicate melodies wrestle lovingly with stuttering beats and steel pan walks hand in hand with glitchy electronics.
james barrie, globalsouljah.blogspot.com, spain 02/09

me raabenstein, a.k.a. slowcream, is an electronic-experimental artist currently residing in berlin who masterfully fuses classical samples with electronic elements. wax on wool, just released, is the second album from slowcream and remains equally original and different. his music incorporates „ambient“ material, spoken word recitations, and sounds close to post-industrial. and after this listening experience, i dare say that wax on wool reminds me of a young alban berg starting out in the principles of dodecaphonic music.
atmosfera – program info, radio national de espana 3, 03/09

this music is different from most ambient material i’ve listened to, reminding me of post-industrial music… i am fairly certain it is something familiar, ideas that were avant-garde yet explored before but it is much easier to suggest that the music speaks for itself…
jaklumen, weheartmusic, usa 02/09

raabenstein has created a fascinating piece of just under 50 minutes, demonstrating that intelligent moves can be made in the pop music format, opening up unheard possibilities in that realm. through such unconventional and interesting stories, the metaphorical meaning of the composition’s plot, excellent cinematic spoken-word narration by major major, rich arrangements, brilliant musical solutions, and the choice of sounds, wax on wool is an unreservedly true avant-garde electronic gem in the 2009 pop music supermarket. rating (1-10): 10
horvi, terapija.net, croatia 03/09

if you’re looking for new sounds with a classical soul but modern potential, wax on wool, the new chapter from berlin’s me raabenstein aka slowcream, is what you’re looking for. the manifesto was already evident in live long and prosper (nonine 2008), with its laborious and unpredictable sound weaving in electronic frames where classical, ambient, and soundtrack coexist. slowcream anchors the sound, saturating its interstitial spaces, breaking genre boundaries, and avoiding easy categorization. in wax on wool (released under the nonine recording label), we also have the natural progression, simple rhythms, yet suspended between low frequencies and vocal timbres, all with a certain epic quality. hence, the gamble on the new. the atmospheres are always calm, never unbalanced. obsessive in the dub glitch of into butter (with blues hints), vaporous in the melodic ambient flows of in the cave, or macabre for mild mountains (elongated bass strings). the repertoire favors the more saturated and nocturnal surroundings, still allowing room for the conventional (luck of the north) or the romantic symbioses between modern and classical (wanderlust), always going against the grain (gwynplaine’s hill). to the known dialectic of raabenstein, we add compositional skill. a characteristic that, in the hands of a good artist, becomes a tool for what is undoubtedly an interesting legacy. (6.8/10)
sara bracco, sentireascoltare.com, italy 02/09

nonine was one of the best surprises of last year in the electronic scene, and moreover, it’s not at all cold electronics, very easy listening, yet still true to its berlin origin. this album by slowcream does not disappoint the great impressions i had after listening to the first work. as usual, slowcream involves me raabenstein directly, who, in addition to releasing various albums on the berlin label, has collaborations in more or less related fields with an unspecified number of other people. in this wax on wool, raabenstein and the group of musicians around him have given themselves a top-class work, “with crystal glasses,” as fresh prince (aka will smith) used to say. soft-tronica, very smooth, jazzy, like a soundtrack for a nighttime road movie shot in the city of the reichstag and wenders‘ angels. a flawlessly produced album that even seems simple in the construction of the various tracks… and I emphasize: seems. the low frequencies are very present but ultra-discreet, and on the carpets that usually create the melodies, you find voices of keyboards, pianos, and synths, then horns, guitar, and some string arrangements, and above all, there’s a spoken word that ends up being very effective. mostly, the voice, when it’s there, is very present but it’s not a real sung performance. in fact, it’s a deep, cavernous voice that recalls black sifichi, who already collaborated with string of consciousness and is a regular member of [1] kilo of black bondage, released on wallace, and remains one of the best records ever released by mirko spino’s label. a damn nocturnal effect and surprisingly relaxed, even more than in the debut album, otherwise, it’s simple rhythms left suspended, red carpets and velvet even in the soundscape of the tracks, so softness that cushions everything, wrapping it up, and it would fit perfectly with soft lighting and a satin robe (ah, those old sluts!). in its own way, it’s a sexy album, even simply for the ultra-minimalistic lyrics that are laid out in a perfect black dahlia-like setting throughout the tracks.
andrea ferraris, sodapop.it, italy 01/09

‚wanderlust‘ is simply one of the most beautiful tracks I have heard in a very long time…
dan crossley, fluid-radio.co.uk

very beautiful, wonderful production,… love it
nikki lucas, future fusion global warning radio show, london, uk

‚in the cave‘ is such a beautiful track, it’s difficult to describe the feeling it exudes in words. amazing…
pietro de sacco, igloo magazine, usa

das album gefällt mir ausnehmend gut, ich mag diese art der pathosfreien unangestrengtheit.
harry lachner, swr2 jazzmagazin, germany

slowcream rules!
helmut neugebauer, vienna, austria

structure and feeling for music in wonderful combination…
mog, berlin, germany

REALLY dig the new stuff. i picture the slow cream sound on soundtracks for movies.
well done!!
dee banse, canada

‚wax on wool‘ is BRILLIANT!!! apart from the fact that it’s really
well crafted and the production is great, the vocal side of it adds
a real interesting and quirky touch. i like a lot! this stuff reminds me
of a meeting between autchre and arvo part.
bleak minimal but full of warmth and surprises.
dov waterman, london, uk

‚into butter‘ is really great!
a-fei, tokyo, japan

i really like ‚into butter‘. good story telling and particularly i like the soundscape.
‚wanderlust‘ is quite colorful & somewhat romantic to me. lovely… great tracks
dennis mcveigh, new york, usa

new stuff is attention-holding and intriguing as ever…
‚last night a friend shaved my wife‘ – what a line!!
chris bestwick, helsinki, finland

really love ‚mild mountains‘ nice acoustic basslines on that one,
and gwynplaine’s hill had my special attention too
but ‚into butter‘ blew me right of my chair manggggg!!!!
nicety nice beat edits, w o w !!! …and love the vocal bits, textured in the beat…
love the squeeking, total madness and still there’s method in it…
subsequent, rotterdam, netherlands