Tom Thiel Album

Producer Tom Thiel has worked in the medium of electronic music since the 1980s, been active in the musical epicenter of Berlin since 1987 and with the Sun Electric duo, he was already at the forefront of live / “real time” electronica since the 1990s. Incidentally, Sun Electric are set to release an archival live set from this period on Arjunamusic later this year. Though not everyone becomes exceptional on the basis of “veteran” status alone, Thiel’s latest work shows that he has made good on one of the main promises held out by electronic music and sound synthesis: namely, that it would also provide unexpected, novel, highly individualized syntheses of different attitudes, atmospheres, and affects. This is happily the case with Thiel’s new Arjunamusic release (his first full solo outing since his eponymous 2011 album): it’s a series of colorful, self-contained vignettes that are perceptibly drawn from an eclectic pool of personal experiences and insights. Like similarly successful musical projects, Thiel’s “Album” utilizes all of the above strengths to craft a rewarding listen in its own right, but also to spark curiosity about what other as-of-yet unrealized fusions may be waiting ahead.