Black Noise
If you’re unfamiliar with German electronic musician Hendrik Weber and his work under the name of Pantha du Prince, *Black Noise* is as strong a starting point as any. His much lauded previous works, *Diamond Daze* and *This Bliss*, show an artist confidently making a name for himself in the realm of soothing, soundscapist electronica, and along the way, working with artists like Bloc Party and Animal Collective (that’s A.C.’s Noah Lennox singing on “Stick to My Side”). From the bucolic, sunrise vibe of “Lay In a Shimmer” right through to album closer “Es Schneit” (“It’s Snowing,” a children’s winter chant/nursery rhyme), Weber shows his gift for synching up sounds that mimic cracking ice, percussive bamboo, forest footsteps, and weathered bells with handclaps and beats propelled by the gentlest of forces. Like the pastoral cover art, the music within is light and buoyant, calming and restorative, even when the pace picks up and the edges become a bit sharper (“A Nomad’s Retreat,” “Behind the Stars”). An ambient gauze wraps much of the collection (especially “Welt am Draht” and “Im Bann”), giving Black Noise its appealing, subdued timbre.
German producer builds minimal techno epic from a beautifully textured sound palette. Panda Bear guests.
Since his second full-length as Pantha du Prince, 2007's truly sublime, duly acclaimed This Bliss, Henrik Weber has gradually expanded his profile beyond the traditional confines of the minimal electronic realm, turning in remixes for the likes of Animal Collective, Bloc Party, and the Long Blondes and, in 2009, making the surprising shift from Hamburg's Dial Records to venerable indie rock label Rough Trade, hardly an imprint known for its electronica output.
As Pantha du Prince, German producer/DJ Hendrick Weber's approach for getting under his listeners' skin seems deceptively simple.
“German minimal techno”, as its press release purports Black Noise to be, is a genre which threatens to strike fear into any reviewer's heart; and yet Pantha du Prince's third album, 'Black Noise'
German electronic musician Hendrik Weber finds an aural equivalent to time-lapse photography, writes <strong>Maddy Costa</strong>
Before I even begin talking about this album, I need to address the elephant in the room. Or at least the vast and darkly beautiful techno monster in the room. Yes, Black Noise is the follow-up to Pantha du Prince's 2007 album, This Bliss, an album regarded by many as being one of the finest