Bogner, Ursula – Recordings 1969-1988 [Faitiche]

sluggo   2/13/2009   A Library

Ursula Bogner, so the story goes, was a West German pharmacist and mother who “liked to play around with synthesizers.” She built her own “music room” and began to record on reel-to-reel tapes in the late 60’s. She never shared her music with anyone & it would have been lost had her son not struck up a conversation with electronic musician Jan Jelinek when they were seated together on a flight. It seems likely, however, that Mrs. Bogner is actually Jelinek disguised with a beatle wig. Whatever the truth, the recordings, all instrumentals, are simple, innocent & experimental in nature. All the sounds are warm & vintage, though frustratingly, no hint is given as to what machines are used. Most everything here is happy, quirky & poppy. Track 15, Soloresonanzen, is darker, more minimal & according to Jelinek a harbinger of the next Bogner compilation. This is the first album on Jelinek’s Faitiche label.