Newest release from Wolfgang Voigt’s ambient project GAS is comin’ out on the 18th.
Juno has some samples over here, seems to be the only site with them: https://www.juno.co.uk/products/gas-rausch/683344-01/
Already got this bad boy preordered ahead of time but it sounds absolutely stunning from those samples.
spent a lot of last summer listening to gas on opiates
looking forward to doing the same with this one, or maybe while walking through parks in serbia
Judging from the samples alone, this one seems to be a bit more of a calm and reflective sounding release, perhaps more of a sequel to Pop or Königsforst (in contrast with the darker tones of Narkopop which very much felt like a companion to Zauberberg)
Got it preordered too, really looking forward. Saw him in Amsterdam last year, was a very immersive show
very amped for this one. I was amazed that Narkopop didn’t appear on more year-end lists - definitely thought it stood alongside his first four GAS albums!
I picked up Nah Und Fern after eating a bunch of Xanax. What a wonderful surprise that was waking up the next day.
My copy just arrived. Wont be hearing it til I have some quality alone time to really sink into it though. Would love to hear what others think until then, mind
Same here, I’m curious to hear people’s reactions to it, but don’t want to listen myself until I can do so properly. I’ve got a long plane journey coming up in a few days so I’ll probably immerse myself in it then…
took like 4 listens to get into it but so worth it, also revisited Narkopop and have more appreciation for that one now too. mr. voigt is a genius.
Listening to it now. I couldn’t have been any more wrong with that guess; this album is incredibly uneasy. Had a little read of the reviews for it, very much in agreement with folks saying that it’s very reflective of current political climate, which in turn is related to how GAS was always this introspective bit of nostalgia with the samples it used. Pitchfork described the album as being “suddenly less comfortable with its own skin” and I couldn’t agree more.
The way the 4/4 kick beat stays the exact same and stays persistent across tracks (could) makes an incredible metaphor of just marching onward endlessly despite everything. Rausch 1, much like Narkopop 1, is probably one of the best GAS songs in the entirety of its discography too. It’s not as immediately classic as his older work, but it’s incredibly relevant and topical for 2018.
EDIT: holy shit rausch 6
EDIT 2: Ok as I approach the album I’ve kind of. summed up my final thoughts toward it. It’s definitely an important touchstone in the GAS discography. However, if you’re not previously a fan of the albums, it will serve you better to go and revisit his previous work from the start, working your way up to this one. The importance and relevance of Rausch feels as if it would be somewhat lost on someone new to the alias, and listening back to the previous albums will not only provide some context on the entire series as a whole, but allow you to be in the right mindset as you start listening to Rausch. Also that ending is fucking beautiful, goddamn.
Finally got round to giving this one a listen but didn’t really feel it I’m afraid.
Maybe the first four LPs established a kind of purist Gas aesthetic in my mind which is disrupted by the Can-esque cymbals here or by the improvised sections on some of the tracks (a feature of Narkopop too). I’ll have to listen to it a few more times though, it’s possible that it just hasn’t clicked with me yet.
On the subject of this album’s air of menace or darkness: I’ve always got this feel from Gas albums, though not every individual track. I’d describe the feel as an amoral glowing life-force at the core of the forest which can shift from malevolent to nurturing. When Gas played at the Barbican in 2008 the film had moments that were, to me, almost terrifying, the branches and leaves looking like skeletal structures of an unknowable species (and I absolutely loved it). So I’m definitely into the idea of Gas having this dark and ominous side and maybe this will leap out at me more the next time I listen to Rausch.
It’s definitely one which requires multiple listens to really set in. I agree, much like Narkopop, it doesn’t nearly beat the content on the first four albums, BUT I will say it is still an important album in the GAS timeline as it marks a definite change as opposed to Narkopop’s “I’m back, and I’m just like you remember” sound.
It is deeply unsettling in ways that previous releases have dabbled but never committed to. I even made an edit of the last 12:50 (basically a combo of Rausch 6 and 7) because it feels to me like the emotional heart (and the release) of the album. I told our mastering engineer that we wanted our latest album to sound like GAS producing Script Politti circa 1984. RAUSCH came out after we finished it, but weirdly, in retrospective maybe that wasn’t such a crazy idea.
