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Baker's Dozen

Monumental Simplicity: Anna Von Hausswolff's Favourite Albums
John Freeman , December 8th, 2015 09:51

The Swedish musician talks to John Freeman about the 13 records that "opened doors" and helped create the blueprint for the mighty organ drone of her new album, The Miraculous, before she plays two UK shows

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Klaus Schulze - Angst
Klaus Schulze is a German electronic musician and he has released music since the '70s. He is also in a band called Tangerine Dream and I am also a big fan of that band. However, the Angst soundtrack was the first music I heard by Klaus, when I was watching the film - directed by Gerald Kargl - with a friend. It's a very brutal story that makes you feel disgusted, but it has very beautiful cinematography using weird angles. The film is based on a true story about a prisoner who has done all these brutal acts and is insane. However, he wasn't considered insane and was sentenced like an ordinary criminal, where he was imprisoned for ten years and then released. When he is released, the first thing he does is go even crazier.

It's a great film but the soundtrack was the thing that really caught my attention. It fits the film perfectly. I think I have seen two different versions of the film - the original and the 'director's cut' or something - and in the original version there is a lot more music than in the first version I saw. The music is very slow with build-ups and ambience. It is really dry but with heavy beats. I think it is the beats and repetition that I like so much. It is very hypnotic and compared to his other work, this has less synthesisers and it appears there is only three elements to the instrumentation on the record. I like that he kept the soundscape really, really simple. It's dreamy but very dry at the same time.