Sturm

After recording as Pentax and Sweet Reinhard for the Cologne-based Profan label, Reinhard Voigt released his approach to ambient listening music on the esteemed Mille Plateaux as Sturm. Beginning in early 1999 with the release of his first Sturm album, Voigt impressed listeners accustomed to the style of beat-filled tracks he had released on Profan. Instead, Voigt turned toward serene repetitive sounds for his Sturm project, resulting in a hypnotic album of cycling basslines, swirling high-end sounds, and a heavy use of effects. Much in the spirit of Vainqueur's early Chain Reaction records or the Gas albums of his brother, Wolfgang Voigt, his work as Sturm won him praise for his multi-talented approach to production. Later that year, Mille Plateaux released the Die Glocken von Sturm EP, followed by the second Sturm full-length, Sturmgesten, in late 1999, which found Voigt reducing his sound to little but repetitive, droning basslines. ~ Jason Birchmeier