Loyal Side-Line readers will remember that we always have had a soft spot for the now defunct idm, electro label Tympanik Audio which launched in September 2007. The Chicago-based electronic music label closed in March of 2016 and as a result its back catalogue ceased being distributed… until now!

The fine people from Storming The Base have taken over the complete back catalogue stocks and are selling it now at rock bottom prices (US,98 per CD album) via this hidden link.

Attention: For the US-readers, keep in mind that Storming The Base is offering free shipping from US$100 on, so you might want to take advantage of this by filling your basket with plenty of goodies. The same goes for overseas fans as the shipping diminishes a lot per item once you buy in bulk.

Tympanik Audio’s artist roster includes: Totakeke, Displacer, Ad·ver·sary, Stendeck, ESA, Unterm Rad, Pneumatic Detach, Broken Fabiola, Integral, Atiq & EnK, Geomatic, Flint Glass, Haujobb, Erode, Tangent, Normotone, Disharmony, Anklebiter, Comaduster, Tineidae, Known Rebel, C.H.District, MultiColor, Subheim, [Haven], Fractional, c.db.sn, EyeScream, Zentriert ins Antlitz, SE, Black Lung, Worms Of The Earth, r.roo, Access To Arasaka, Ex_tension, Candle Nine, Tapage, Zinovia, Meander, Dirk Geiger, Endif, Zeller, Lucidstatic, Undermathic, Autoclav1.1, Opposite Exhale, Pandora’s Black Book, Famine, and Aphorism.

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Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Set up in 2007 by Paul Nielsen, the Chicago-based label Tympanik Audio rapidly became one of the most visionary underground labels dealing with electronic- and industrial music. I felt deeply sad when Paul Nielsen earlier this year announced to close the doors of the label. He has no further plans to continue in the music business. Paul has been involved in this field for over 20 years, from Dj-ing, to music journalism, hosting radio programs, organizing events, to eventually running Tympanik. I can only speak for myself but Tympanik Audio is a label I’ll seriously miss for its innovation and creative spirit. This interview is meant as a homage to this great label and his instigator. Respect Mr. Nielsen!

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: A few months ago now you made this terrible announcement about the end of Tympanik Audio. I guess it must have been one of the hardest decisions in life so how did you come to close the doors of the label?

Paul: Indeed it was a very difficult decision to close Tympanik – it affected me quite deeply on a personal level – like the end of a long relationship. I had been struggling to keep the label going for the last few years, but the financial burden finally took its toll on me and it reach a point where I really had no other choice but to shut down the label. I’m just glad I was able to get Tympanik this far.

Q: During the last year I noticed you started to release digital productions. Was it an option to keep the label running by releasing only digital work?

Paul: Yes, I began focusing on digital releases the last year in an effort to not only keep our costs down, but to cater to digital-only listeners. The interest in physical media such as CDs and vinyl have dropped significantly over the past few years so releases that I would have normally produced on CD had to be released digitally.

The important thing was to still have an outlet for the artist’s music under our banner. My main goal has always been to get the music out to our audience, so even thought the release format changed, I still felt the quality was there and the music was still accessible to our listeners, even more so since some of the digital releases were offered as ‘pay-what-you-want’ via Bandcamp.

Q: All labels are complaining about streaming and digital downloads getting CD sales downwards. What’s your point of view about it and is it indeed the main point that hurts?

Paul: I certainly understand the frustration of digital pushing CD releases into the background. This use to bother me quite a bit, as I had always intended Tympanik to be a CD-based label only. Eventually I realized that I couldn’t fight the digital music aspect of the business any longer and in order to perpetuate the label’s existence as well as meet the needs of our audience, I needed to adapt to the changes. Bandcamp was a great way for Tympanik to offer both CD and digital options to our listeners.

I’m still disappointed that CDs do not play such a significant role in music these days. I’ve always enjoyed holding music in my hands and exploring the visual aspect of it (artwork, booklets, tracklistings, credits, etc.). To me, digital music is a much colder medium; it’s a file on your device – very impersonal and in my opinion doesn’t allow that personal connection to the listener that physical formats do. Digital music is here to stay and label owners just need to accept that and meet the demand. There will always be collectors out there like myself who want to own CDs, tapes, vinyl of the music they love – I have no doubt that the demand for physical media will never go away, I just don’t think it will ever be as prevalent as it once was.

Q: What has been the feedback from ‘your’ bands so far and do you see new opportunities for some of them?

Paul: Honestly I think a lot of our artists saw this coming – I don’t imagine it was a big surprise for many of them when I made the announcement, but most have expressed gratitude for being a part of the Tympanik family. I think this closure has offered a lot of our artists new opportunities to project their music to even larger audiences by moving on to other labels and getting more involved in the promotion of their works. It’s good to see some of our artists like ESA, Autoclav1.1, Tangent, Subheim, Totakeke, Displacer, and others find new homes for their music, and I’m confident that many others will move on successfully as well.

Q: Tympanik Audio will be reminded as a label with a visionary taste so what was the original concept all about and did you notice an evolution throughout the years?

Paul: The original concept was to promote music that I felt deserved more attention – unknown and up-and-coming artists who were self-promoting and had no label to help them reach a wider audience. I was hosting a radio program in Chicago for many years in an effort to achieve this, but eventually I felt that starting a label and releasing music on CD would significantly expand the audience for these artists’ work. In the early days of the label, my music tastes were quite eclectic, ranging from industrial, ambient, IDM, rhythmic-noise, etc., so I was initially attracted to artists that not only fell into these broad genres, but were able to combine these styles successfully. I think in the first few years there was a larger focus on industrial-style music, but eventually I began choosing albums to release that weren’t so easily labeled; a hybrid of music styles set on a foundation of originality and accessibility. Artists like Zinovia, Tangent, Idlefon, Tineidae, and MultiColor, are a few that come to mind. Prior to my decision to close the label, I felt like I had found our niche style-wise and I was looking forward to progressing that in the future.

Q: What did you keep in mind from your activities as label owner and I’m especially thinking about some positive experiences?

Paul: I thoroughly enjoyed running Tympanik Audio. There was a lot of stress, financial investment, time, and hard-work involved, but it was a dream for me to work with so many talented and wonderful people over the years. It’s an experience that I feel very fortunate to have had. Everyone involved were so supportive and generous – Tympanik Audio would not have been what it was if it were not for the dedication of everyone involved. I will cherish it always, that’s for sure.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: IDM, electro-ambient, cinematographic.

Content: The last year released debut EP “Ciclicity” by MultiColor revealed an interesting mix of influences moving in between IDM, glitch and soundtrack music. Anton Guskov is now back on track with his debut full length on CD format revealing 8 new cuts.

The least I can say is that this young artist is a talented sound architect who sounds like inviting his audience into an imaginary labyrinth of sound intelligence and sophistication. He constantly mixes elements of IDM together with deeply electro-ambient and even soundtrack-wise passages. The ambient side of the work makes it all very visual-like and still a bit mysterious. “Three Languages” is a deeply artistic illustration of this delicate touch in cinematographic creation.

A similar, but more impressive creation comes back at “Lost Moment”. This is a little sound pearl reflecting the chilling ambient aspect and a minimal electro approach made of irresistible sound treatments. There also is a great and exciting progression running through this song. The minimalism is an element, which comes through on a few more cuts. “His Names In Your Eyes” is a real noticeable song in the genre, which again surprises the listener with its well-crafted and somewhat cold bleeping sequences.

“From The Outside” sometimes makes me think of poetry that has been adapted into sounds and noises. This feeling is reinforced by the ambient character of the creation. The music is all about little sound details, which better comes through when listening to this album with headphones. I can’t say that “Sacramental Moments” is my favorite cut of this work, but it marvelously illustrates the little noises and delicate details this album has been made of. I can absolutely tip the impressive final cut “Permanent Ascent”, which is a bit more into experimentalism, but grows towards an overwhelming apotheosis. I also have to mention one of the debut cuts (cf. “Indecisive Dream”) for its IDM-style merged with fragmented female chants elevating this cut to be a pure masterpiece.

Conclusion: MultiColor is one of the newest and upcoming sensations in IDM. This work reflects great maturity emerging from the constant sound manipulations.

Best songs: “His Name In Your Eyes”, “Indecisive Dream”, “Permanent Ascent”, “Lost Moment”.

Rate: (DP:8½)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/Multicolor-1405688756347540

Label: www.tympanikaudio.com / www.facebook.com/tympanikaudio

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com