I had a quiet evening to myself, and I took advantage of the free time and finally sat down to explore Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook's Dark Side of the Moog 12-disc series.
Each of the track titles play off of classics from Pink Floyd's catalog, such as "Wish You Were There," "A Saucerful of Ambience," "Obscured by Klaus," and "Careful with the AKS, Peter."
From Dark Side of the Moog I moved on to Pete Namlook's solo efforts on his record label - Germany's
Fax +49-69/450464 (and yes, that was his fax number.) Nearly 450 releases premiered on the label from 1992 until his death in November of 2012, and additional research revealed that Namlook, himself was performing with the ~40 artists and under various monikers which comprised the label's catalog. FAX earned a reputation for ahead-of-the-curve, timeless electronic ambient music, which still sounds fresh today.
Unfortunately, Namlook released only 500–1000 copies of the majority of the titles on his label. There is a holy grail of the label - an incredible 17 LP retrospective of FAX's finest work called the
Final Vinyl Collector's Box Set. Devastatingly, there were only 25 copies produced worldwide. The set was meant to be officially released, but at that time Fax changed to a non-vinyl distributor and so the boxsets have never been officially distributed. The last copy to surface sold for $550 in 2010.
While scouring the web for more information, I cued up what I had of Namlook in my library, beginning with his 4CD set performing as "Air" from 1993-1996, which was released as a box set in '97, and then on to 2003's Ten Years of Silence - a 5CD set of his tribal ambient work as Silence. These two series are excellent highlights of the FAX label.
For newcomers to the label (or to the genre as a whole,) I would highly recommend two retrospective compilations titled The Ambient Cookbook volumes I and II.
The first was a 4-disc box set from 1995 which highlighted various artists from the FAX archive. The second volume, released in 2002, introduced four more discs demonstrating how the ambient genre had evolved over the decade.
If you're exploring Fax +49-69/450464 Records for the first time, these collections are an excellent place to begin.
After the untimely passing of Pete Namlook in 2012, Carpe Sonum Records was formed by EAR/Rational Music, (the North American distributor of FAX and related labels) and issued a handsome limited edition 8-disc box set celebrating his music. The first four discs showcase tracks from FAX artist alumni. The remaining four discs feature exclusive recordings submitted by fans of the label.
Released in two limited runs in 2013, the box set has since sold out. However I am excited to announce that Carpe Sonum is now accepting donations and pre-orders for a reissue of the set AND are considering a
10LP special edition! All sales proceeds will go to Namlook's family.
You can subscribe to their mailing list for updates, contribute your own tracks to the project, or simply offer a financial contribution to help make the release happen.
Visit Carpe Sonum for more information!