Album Releases
The Moinlabs Album Catalogue
Vektormenschen (2021) [online]
Rather dark. Rather ambient. Rather dub. And Spielsachen
A House with two Rooms (2020) [online]
Pretty odd ambient stuff. Back from the MoinSound Studio Sessions. Recorded quasi-live during one week in 2010, using pretty much all gear available.
Würm Bank (2019) [online]
Consider this album an ode to Dieter Doepfer. And his Eurorack system. The 2019 RPM Challenge contribution in seven strange tracks.
grummelig (2019) [online]
Noise. And bass. But differently than you might expect. Essentially, it's aggressive ambient again.
Neue Sachen aus dem Notenbüchlein für coole Instrumente (2018) [online]
The RPM Challenge. A failed file server. Electric power drills, wind chimes, nose flutes and church bells. And public transport.
Erlanger Programm (2016) [online]
On hundred and fourty for years after Felix Klein's great text, this is a rollercoaster ride through symmetry in cross- and auto-referentialisms, translation invariances (or lack thereof), and leitmotifs lacking extramusical narratives - resulting in the void set as a target audience.
oscillator theory (2015) [online]
Ambient. Glitchcore. Techno. A superformel. A solo album. And lots of synthesizers.
Surreal Spaces (2014) [online]
The fourth official (and sixth in total) release from the MoinSound Studio Sessions, this is just one session from October 2010 in all its melodica, soprano saxophone, guitar and electronic geekery glory.
Eclectic Blah (2014) [online]
A decade after Eclectic Blah was officially disbanded - finally an album!
This album is the collection of the best of the well-recorded, and maybe slightly more accessible live performances.
Moving through blues rock, jungle, progressive rock, lounge jazz, electro and various other genres, this is what radical improvisation served can be about.
#secretalbum Series (2012-) [online]
A series of releases, focusing on material composed (as opposed to improvised) material by Straschill, material performed by others (as opposed to Straschill) and very short tracks (up to 90 seconds), this ongoing series has entered Moinlabs attention in 2011.
Akustik Kies: Reflexiv Hören (2011) [online]
Roughly one year after Transitiv Sehen, the second half of Moinlabs' first-ever double allbum is released: Akustik Kies: Reflexiv Hören, which is also made up from recordings of 2010's MoinSound Studio Sessions, is the cybernetic side of the double album. Digital download includes an exclusive 10-page PDF booklet.
Akustik Kies: Transitiv Sehen (2010) [online]
The first part of the paino solo double album Akustik Kies, made up from recordings of 2010's MoinSound Studio Sessions, Transitiv Sehen contains pure and unprocessed solo acoustic piano material. Digital download includes an exclusive 12-page PDF booklet, as well as a bonus track.
The MoinSound Studio Sessions (2009) [CD/online]
Early in 2009, Straschill started a bi-weekly series of live performances transmitted via video stream to an international audience under the name of the MoinSound Studio Sessions.
This album documents selected highlights and the artist's oddness picks from fifteen very diverse sessions.
Wie groß ist die Luft? (2008) [CD/online]
„Wie groß ist die Luft ?" documents the trombone solo performances from Straschill's "2008 MoinSound World Tour" - which are of course met by his signature "komische Elektronik". Included on this CD, which is available for online purchase and download, are performances of featured guests Motoko Honda, Krispen Hartung and TJ Shredder.
Weird Specialist (2007) [CDR/online]
„Weird Specialist“ is a release of solo recordings by Rainer Thelonius Balthasar Straschill, stemming from the time of his last solo release, Neinnein auf dem kleinen Weg, up to the end of 2007. Like “Quelques Papiers D’Abord”, this album has also been made available for digital download.
kybermusik: "Quelques Papiers D'Abord" (2007) [CDR/online]
Welcome to the first official release documenting the ongoing kybermusik series of realtime internet collaborations. Of the concerts and sessions recorded between October 2005 and April 2007, "Quelques Papiers D'Abord" is a showcase of the more melodic and sometimes almost danceable spontaneous compositions coming from the collaboration with artists from all over the world.
To stay with the cyberspace idea behind this project, this is also the first Moinlabs album to be made available for download via the internet.
Rainer Straschill: Neinnein auf dem kleinen Weg (2004) [CDR/online]
When Rainer Straschill was invited by Luca Formentini to play a loop-based solo performance in Desenzano, Lago di Garda, Italia, there was no way to say no - and there was no way not to record the concert either.
The recording documents roughly one hour of the two sets spanning a total of two and a half hours, and again, it takes us places the artist himself never thought he'd see...
A deeply personal work, I dedicated this recording to the memory of my girlfriend Antje, who flew from this earth early in 2003 after a severe illness. No more information, no liners notes. Let the music speak for itself. I love you, Antje.
Rainer Straschill
Rainer Straschill: SAUBER! - Das Geheimnis der Geschwindigkeit (2001) [CDR/online]
2001 was the year where the Red Bull Sauber Formula 1 Racing Team and its drivers Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkönen reached a spectacular 4th place in the constructor's championship - and it was the year where Rainer Straschill continued his work on paths already stepped on with his albums "Sauflieder Band 1" and "Groxis Tafelbilder".
The result is a close-to-eighty-minute opus structured around three "images", combining stylistic influences as diverse as heavy-rock, free-form improvisation, unplugged rock, singer-songwriter-art, breakbeats and not to forget huge amounts of weirdstuff. Also an innovation is the work of new Moinlabs graphics designer Anna Bejenke for the entire CD packaging artwork.
Rainer Straschill: Groxis Tafelbilder (2000) [CDR]
The weird idea (on my behalf) to use my greatly enhanced amount of gear in conjunction with my new musical tastes and concepts as basis for solo performances relying on improvised material didn't reach public acclaim due to the fact that there wasn't a place which wanted to hear me play (not that I had tried to find one, that is) - until drummer Groxi asked for "someone" wanting to perform at his exhibition's vernissage.
The rest of the story is documented on this recording, named after the exhibition "Groxis Tafelbilder". Relax and dig into a realm of electro-acoustic weirdness from the master himself!
Rainer Straschill: The Cosmo Sessions (1999) [CDR]
In the first half of 1998, considerable time and net bandwidth was spent by Rainer Straschill and Andreas Winterer discussing possible artistic cooperations. Alas, the only result of all this idle talk so far has been this soundtrack for a novel by Winterer, which in turn is based on Winterer´s own soundtrack. With "The Cosmo Sessions", Straschill takes his first steps into contemporary dance music, but not without the weirdness we´ve come to expect from him.
Rainer Straschill: Sauflieder Band 1 "A Blessing of Beers" (1998) [CDR]
This release has been compiled spontaneously from solo session tapes, mostly recorded in mid-97. Progressing into realms he´d never entered before, Straschill takes his turn on ambient-meets-musique-concrete, but of course not without the usual dose of weird humor. A short note in the liner notes even suggests that this might even not be the last of Straschill´s Sauflieder...
Rainer Straschill: JANUS (1997) [CDR]
After five years of no published solo recordings, Rainer Straschill made his return to the circuit in 1997 with what was to be his first CD release. With close to 74 minutes of material performed by Straschill with the aid of a good dozen special guests, the artist showed again that no, there´s not a label you can put on his music (or on him).
Der KultNET Sampler Vol.I (1994) [C-60]
The KultNET Sampler had been part of the private computer network KultNET International, which existed from ´90 to ´96 and was founded by Andreas Winterer and Frank Plönißen. The KultNet Sampler contains music written and performed by members of this network; in 1994, Volume I was released. Inspired by its success (the KNS was the best-selling Moinlabs release so far), a second volume was planned - unfortunately, KultNET ceased to exist before its completion. Still, the tapes sent in for part 2 are lurking in the vault; perhaps they will see the light of day in the form of one of my future releases...?
No Members: Farewell to M.Lerner (1993) [C-60]
After No Members disbanded after its third public appearance, any plans for a No Members album came to a standstill. Straschill chose to release the unedited tape from the last concert, which was played as a farewell concert for the leaving bass player Marcel Lerner.
Rainer Straschill: Best of... (1992) [C-90]
A Best of... album after two years of recording history is a strange thing indeed - perhaps a better title would have been "The legacy of the Noizetrash era". Apart from a compilation of tracks from the Noizetrash albums, this release contains Noizetrash´s eponymous last track, and a pre-listen of No Members in form of a fourtrack version of Loisachtal.
Unfortunately, this album does not contain all of the good material from the Noizetrash albums, so a representative Noizetrash collection should be completed by Izahman´s Tale - special edition.
Noizetrash: Digitale Schachtelteufel (1991) [C-40]
On his last Noizetrash release, Straschill starts to develop his grasp of the larger form, and starts out to develop a stronger sense of harmonic development in ecclesiastic modes, best exemplified by Sweet Death. Again, this release is mostly synth-only - the trombone solo Lite Rays being the only exception. Digitale Schachtelteufel is a good hint at where the group Noizetrash might have gone - had the attempts to form it been successful...
Noizetrash: Izahman´s Tale - special edition (1991) [C-90]
This somewhat enigmatic release starts out with a nearly complete setlist from the original Izahman´s Tale - but strangely, Stahlfinger, one of the release´s strongest tracks is missing, or rather replaced by a wild rockjazz maxi version of Stefunkyman. The tracklist continues with material from Bier & Musik, featuring the entire Ohne Socken kein Bier suite, and even throws in an advanced listening of Sweet Death from Digitale Schachtelteufel (here entitled Der 11.Februar). The most interesting items on this release are of course Pimobusters, featuring Tommy G. on lead vocals, and the only official release of the 11th grade fave Qui peut aider?
Noizetrash: Bier & Musik (1990) [C-40]
This album was mainly built around the suite Ohne Socken kein Bier, which takes up all of side 1. The suite was a project planned for the AG Neue Musik which unfortunately never got performed live. Side 2 also holds a candle for the album´s title with the only two parts realized until now of Straschill´s Ein musikalischer Weißbierführer, and is filled by two bass-feature tunes, namely J.A.C.O and The living E-Bass.
Noizetrash: Izahman´s Tale (1990) [C-40]
The first of the Noizetrash releases, this is perhaps the most "mainstream" release by Straschill so far. The eight tracks contained here are synth-only performances, and are perhaps the best example of Straschill´s early style which at points reminds of Terry Riley and Miles Davis.
The Ceteron Group: The Ceteron Legacy (1989) [C-90]
The Ceteron Group was the inofficial name for a series of very early recordings - created cutting together short bits of all kinds of music (mostly heavy metal and fusion jazz), or by letting several record players run simultaneously and playing an old synth at the same time. Featured guest musician on some songs was Murmel Clausen.
The Ceteron Legacy was re-released on a 80min.+ CD in 1999, omitting the piece "Metal Racer", remastering some of the selections, and of course including some nice cover art.