Bureau B reissue Rolf Trostel's Inselmusik (1981). On his first album, Inselmusik, Rolf Trostel explores the sonic possibilities of the recently introduced PPG wavetable synthesizer. The music is based on live performances from the late 1970s by Trostel and Krautrock guitarist Günter Schickert. Rolf Trostel recorded Inselmusik exclusively with the PPG Wave Computer 360 synthesizer and a corresponding sequencer and CR-78 drum computer in his own home studio. Rolf Trostel had worked briefly as a distributor for the manufacturer, affording him ample opportunity to play the PPG Wave Computer 360 for presentation purposes. In terms of content, Inselmusik is minimalist, meditative and contemplative music, enriched with remarkable choral sounds, flutes and effects. Trostel described his music at the time as "Klangfarbenkompositionen" - tonal, textural compositions. Our ears have long since grown used to digital sounds and patterns crafted with wavetable technology. But the filterless, purist methodology deployed here serves to emphasize the work's unique sonic qualities. Inselmusik thus allows us to grasp just how astonishing these often raucous sounds must have seemed when first unleashed. Trostel's early releases have legitimately assumed the status of valuable contemporary documents, rarities amongst the few albums which illustrate how the sonic pioneer of wavetable synthesis played such a fundamental role in sonic development.
