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Go to the Ursula Bogner website  Ursula Bogner - Recordings 1969-1988 [Faitiche - 2008]

Somehow it's a bit sad that the internet—even though far from devoid of its own kind of myths—pretty much ruins any attempt at storytelling or anonymity as an artistic expression. People want to know the 'truth' rather than just go with an interesting story and step outside daily reality for a while.

The official story of this Ursula Bogner is that she was a German artist that made experimental electronic music which was only recently discovered. She also painted at printed (the coverart is a linocut by her hand) and was intrigued by Wilhelm Reich's 'orgonomy', a philosophy considered dangerous enough by the FBI to burn his books in 1956. She even went as far as making here own accumulator in 'Orgonon' (Maine, USA), Reich's former workspace. Jan Jellinek met Bogner's son Sebastian on a flight to Vilnius and when he told about his mother's synthesizer experiments Jellinek's interest was piqued.

The eightteen tracks on this collection that Jellinek subsequently released are experiments in the vein of Raymond Scott's electronic endeavors. Thumpy and more rhythmical than acousmatic music, although elements of that can be recognised as well. The mix of somewhat catchy rhythms with electronics from outer-space reminds also very much the more experimental BBC Radiophonic Workshop material. The timerange is said to be 1969-1988, but the tunes sound very consistent and could easily stem from the same era, somewhere in the early seventies but, with Scott in mind, even early sixties. Oops?

A little Googling and you'll find out this Ursula Bogner may well be a fiction of Jan Jellinek, some even claim the picture of Ursula is actually Jan with a bad wig. Add that to the name of the imprint: "Faitiche", which is explained to be a combination of facts and fetishes making it obvious that the two have a common element in fabrication and there the suspicion is complete. Does it matter that this music may not be genuinely old? Not really, if you appreciate Raymond Scott and for instance Delia Derbyshire on their musical merits and not just as a historical artifact you might enjoy this charming electronic music as much as I do.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

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