past news postings (2011-2015)
23 nov 2015
these are sad times to be writing about music. however, here is some information regarding new releases. ‘isolation & surveillance‘ is out now on bandcamp, and hopefully, a tape version of this album featuring several exclusive edits will be out on metaphysical circuits...
furthermore, a digital three-track e.p. called ‘interstate‘ has been released on metaphysical digital. much of this new material presents a more electronic cryptic scenery sound than before...
06 oct 2015
the new album ‘isolation & surveillance‘ was finished several weeks ago. now the cover design has to be taken care of, and the album will probably be released at some point throughout november. listen to a first taster called ‘dead people on the motorway ‘ on soundcloud...
furthermore, a digital single featuring a single mix of one tracks from tha album called ‘pharmaceutical industry‘ has been released this week. listen to it and (in case you happen to be so inclined) purchase the track at bandcamp and cdbaby...
a couple of months ago, the tape/digital compilation ‘400/100 ‘ was released on metaphysical circuits, featuring a new (vocal) track by cryptic scenery called ‘disused area‘...
20 mar 2015
wow, an update in a somewhat timely manner. a couple of weeks ago, several versions of the song ‘save someone else‘, composed by dylan sparrow, leader of the excellent project giggle the ozone, was released on bandcamp. there are a number of takes on this beautiful song, amongst them the cryptic scenery version, which is to some extent indicative of the sound of material to come...
work on the new album has continued at a more sped-up pace as of late. i hope i will be getting the recording process finished in the rather near future, and also work on the mixes and mastering aspects. as the music industry has changed a lot over the past ten to fifteen years, a cd release is not completely unlikely, but a digital release looks like the most viable option at this point...
17 feb 2015
i must admit to rarely being active updating news on this site - but cryptic scenery actually still exists, even if i only have a limited amount of time to devote to the recording of or working on new material. nevertheless, a couple of tracks should appear on compilations in the relatively near future...
the next album, at this point called ‘isolation and surveillance‘ is progressing slowly, but i hope to at least be able to accomplish the recording and mixing stages this year...
1 jul 2014
a new composition called ‘relentlessness’, in a full and in an edited version, has been released on the sonus site. the music focusses on the phenomenon of subjective tinnitus and aural coping strategies. this work is, to an extent, of rather demanding and unpleasant nature...
the ‘five mindsets’ tape is also available in mp3 download format, featuring a longer version of one of the tracks...
work on the next album will hopefully continue in the near future...
30 oct 2013
the danish underground label metaphysical circuits has released a tape by cs in a very limited edition run: ‘five mindsets‘ - five instrumental tracks recorded in 2013, utilizing guitar and effects, thematically inspired by - five mindsets! plato‘s philosophy, theism, behaviorism, kantian philosophy and materialism. the music sounds less heady than the concept, i think - minimalism, ambient, drone as made by cryptic scenery...
also out on metaphysical circuits: the digital ,metaphysical world pieces #2‘ sampler, featuring one ambient track by cryptic scenery and many other aural pleasures...
with music often being relegated to the back bench as of late to focus on my studies in philosophy, work on new albums continues in the ‘every now and then‘ vein, but i hope to finish some of it in 2014...
13 nov 2012
cryptic scenery has reverted to the solo line-up in late september 2012, the main reason being the re-focussing on a more minimalist, electronic approach which will most likely play a dominant role on the upcoming album (whenever that might be released...). the first solo line-up concert since late 2005 took place in prague a couple of days ago and featured several tracks intended for future releases...
i have uploaded a number of tracks to soundcloud - some tracks from albums released in the past as well as some rarer tracks - listen to the stuff at www.soundcloud.com/cryptic-scenery
06 sep 2012
cryptic scenery‘s version of brian eno‘s ‘st. elmo‘s fire‘ can be streamed right now via youtube... this was the alternative submission for the roxy music & co. tribute record ‘take refuge in pleasure‘ by burning sky records - eventually, the first submission, the re-interpretation of roxy‘s ‘if there is something‘ made the 3-cd-version of the album...
at the moment, cs is going through a transitional phase regarding the proposed new album - quite a bit of re-recording and remixing of already existing tracks will have to be done in the upcoming months, to make the recordings fit the current sonic approach i have as of now. i can, however, confirm that the planned new album is rather electronic in many respects... featuring digital and analoguie(-ish) synths, but guitar clouds as well...
07 may 2012
there are a couple of gigs cryptic scenery will perform in 2012, to be found at the concerts page...
a couple of interesting reviews to give you some feedback on cryptic scenery‘s most recent releases - vital weekly‘s takes on ‘tragic monochrome‘ and ‘being - three sections‘...
i will soon continue work on various releases to follow, if all works out. as of now, i think we might be able to work on and finish off an album that would rank as the most electronic, beat-laden cryptic scenery release so far. i may have said that before, i guess...
02 jan 2012
the final days of 2011 have seen the release of ‘being - three sections -‘, possibly the most interesting collection of versions of the minimalist track ‘being‘. the three sections referred to are recordings in a field, at live gigs and using alternative instrumentation. the release is a limited edition cd-r and is out on bsbta...
19 dec 2011
wow, it has been a long time since the last news posting. anyway, of course, the ‘tragic monochrome‘ album was released on tosom this june, and is available via the label website...
cryptic scenery has played more concerts than ever before throughout 2011 - taking us to some fascinating locations. the gigs, of course, took place under wildly differing circumstances. whenever possible, i tried to record some shows (or excerpts of the shows), and we have some interesting live recordings that might be part of some form of future release, be it as mp3 or as a physical release - or none at all. you can find the setlists for our gigs at the concerts page. each gig had a different setlist, and some tracks have been performed that haven‘t been played live for a long time, and a few tracks have never been played live before. my personal favourites of our live gigs (which does not imply that they were free of mistakes etc.) would be the gigs in vienna, hamburg and prague...
27 april 2011
some brief information regarding the upcoming projects - firstly, we will be concentrating on the upcoming live gigs in berlin and prague, which will certainly feature a couple of tracks from the ‘tragic monochrome‘ album. this album should be out around that time as well. it is an all-instrumental record by the two-piece line-up not entirely dissimilar in style to the tracks that make up ‘low battery‘. sad ambient and minimalist music. again, yes, indeed. one difference, however, being a more varied instrumentation - whereas ‘low battery‘ was all guitar and saxophone (although, at times, treated heavily with effects), ‘tragic monochrome‘ will also include some stylophone, percussion, mandolin and melodica...
after that, and, as always, depending on the twists and turns of life, we are planning to continue with further recording projects - the tenth anniversary of ‘being - six objects -‘ might offer an opportunity to create something in that direction. in addition to that, we have been working - on-and-off-style - on a more song-oriented record, which, as i understand right now, would certainly be the most electronic cryptic scenery record so far, with motorik beats and synth bass, but still lots of guitars and saxes! but who knows, it might turn into a folksy wimp record after all, though i guess not...
18 april 2011
after quite a long time, this is the brought-up-to-date cryptic scenery website, which is a work in progress... but over the next couple of weeks, it should be expanded step by step...
for the moment, let us state that the new cryptic scenery album ‘tragic monochrome‘ will be out on tosom in the near future...
two live gigs are scheduled - see the concerts page for dates...
