Syntape Years 1981-1983

Rüdiger Lorenz was a German electronic synthesist and inventor of several modular synthesizer systems, who, over three decades, produced unique, exceptional electronic soundscapes in the manner of Conrad Schnitzler, Edgar Froese, Dieter Moebius, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. He is one of a very few outstanding artists who seem to never have received the recognition and fame they deserved for their artistic output. This five-LP box set focuses on his earliest self-released cassettes from the early '80s: Queen of Saba (1981), Silver Steps (1981), Wonderflower (1982), and Earthrise (1983), none of which have been reissued before now. Queen of Saba was also licensed and released on Werner Pieper's Transmitter Cassetten, which also distributed many of Conrad Schnitzler's tape releases. Earthrise, a compilation of his early works and several newer compositions, was released on the British label YHR Tapes (York House Recordings), run by David Elliott. Rüdiger Lorenz became interested in electronic music and Moog synthesizers in the late '60s. By 1972 he had built his own first Wersi Organ, followed by various amplifiers and effects boxes. In 1977 he had constructed his first synthesizers from an Elektor Formant kit. At the time of his death in 2000, he owned 38 synthesizers including three large self-built modular systems. In the late '70s and early '80s he became a member of the IEMA (International Electronic Music Association), which was established by James Finch of The Nightcrawlers, and also began running his own Lorenz Park Studio. He then became an essential part and pioneering member of the international DIY cassette culture community in the early '80s and contributed to several INKEY$ compilation tapes and the On-Slaught series on the Idiosyncratics label. With their well-established international contacts, he and another German synthesist, Peter Schäfer, started the tape label Syntape and released more than 30 cassettes between 1981 and 1985. In 1983, he began releasing musical on vinyl via his Syncord label; many of these limited records have since become in-demand collectors' items.