my music on Bandcamp (['ramp] and Parsick)

[ppg_wavecomputer]

Hi all,

in case you have been wondering what kind of noise I create in my spare time, here's your chance to have a listen (and purchase an album or two if you happen to like it):

https://ramp1.bandcamp.com/

https://stephenparsick.bandcamp.com/

Under the ['ramp] moniker you will find more sequencer-based music which is commonly called Berlin School (although I prefer to call it Bielefeld School). Under my own name you will find more experimental and more ambient soundscaping work.

Enjoy, and thanks for your time,

Stephen.

[ninja6485]

Good stuff!

[ppg_wavecomputer]

The 2003 album "doombient.one -- verbrannte erde" has just been released as a digital download album:



The first in a series of rather industrial-sounding and less pleasant listening releases created between 2003 and 2008. This one was, as well as its siblings, rather heavily influenced by early industrial music artists like Throbbing Gristle and is as such fairly different from ['ramp]'s standard repertoire.

Enjoy.

Stephen

[ppg_wavecomputer]

For those into more ambient soundscaping, planetary music might be a true relief after doombient.one:



A dark ambient, highly textural, drone-y and almost cinematic affair recorded live in concert at Osnabrück planetarium back in 2008.

Thanks for your purchase, enjoy,

Stephen.

[ppg_wavecomputer]

Hi all,

I am happy to announce the release of the third limited-edition doombient album kalte sterne ("cold stars") as a digital download:



Originally recorded live in concert at Bochum Planetarium on 24th February 2007 and released in a limited edition of 100 copies in 2008, it was to become the final concert of the original ['ramp] line-up.

On the same night, the official release of ['ramp]'s ceasing to exist album was celebrated, and the concert became quite as ambient and tranquil. If you like cinematic ambient music with a colder and darker tone to it, this one might be up your alley.

Thanks for listening and, as always, for your support,

Stephen.

PS: Here's a review of the album, written by Phil Derby and published on electroambientspace a long time ago:

Kalte Sterne is available in a limited, numbered edition of 100 copies, each in a tin can with an embossed serial number. This is the third and final installment in the doombient series of Stephen Parsick’s [‘ramp] project with Frank Makowski. Recorded live at Bochum Planetarium in 2007, it is built around the theme of the nothingness before and after the Big Bang. Though Parsick calls it the most peaceful and tranquil of the doombient albums, and I would agree with that statement, it is a restless peace, filled with the deep resonant drones and echoing reverberations that he has been known for in recent years. Still, there is a bit more structure at times to wrap your ears around, such as the Vangelis-like “Pillars of Creation”, which has a regal flourish to it. Still, tracks like “Quantum Surge” are deep and dank, like going alone in a small submersible into the Marianas Trench. We remain in the depths for “Triumph of Entropy,” interestingly the second EM track by that name that I know of (the first by Bone Idol, not the same piece of music). The disc finishes on a lighter note, comparatively speaking, with “Questions Unanswered,” moving more into traditional space music at least somewhat, though still quite on the dark side. As good as Parsick was with Berlin school, he and Makowski have fully embraced and immersed themselves in the netherworld of dark ambient. (Phil Derby / electroambientspace.com)

[ppg_wavecomputer]

In order to celebrate ['ramp]'s 21st anniversary this month (for some reason I believe in the magic combination of three times seven...) I decided to make the first two albums available as digital downloads.

"nodular" was released in 1998, and you might have guessed already what the pun in the title refers to. It's heavily sequencer-based music firmly rooted in what is commonly called "Berlin School" -- I still am amazed at the sequencing in the title track, and it's nearly twenty years old:



"frozen radios" was the second album by ['ramp], released in 2000. It carries on where "nodular" left off. If at all, it's even edgier and rawer in its approach to sequencing and sound design:



Many people still have fond memories of the main sequencer rig crashing halfway through the concert where "damage / dissolution" were recorded...

Enjoy, and thanks for purchasing,

Stephen.

[ppg_wavecomputer]

['ramp]'s 2011 album steel and steam has been made available as a FLAC download from Bandcamp as well:



It was partly recorded in collaboration with Mark Shreeve of Redshift and ARC fame -- it should come to no surprise that there is plenty of Redshift's trademark sounds all over the place.

Now ['ramp]'s official discography has finally been made accessible in digital format.

Enjoy listening to it, and thanks for your support,

Stephen

[ppg_wavecomputer]

In order to make ordering multiple items (particularly when getting stuff by both ['ramp] and Parsick) more convenient and cost-effective, there now is the dedicated doombient.music webshop which features my own back catalogue as well as the one of ['ramp].

To celebrate the official opening (woo-hoo!), I have made two download albums available:

caverna larvarum by ['ramp]:



drones and shimmers by stephen parsick:



Some years ago, these two recordings were available for a time when Iapetus and MusicZeit were collaborating. Those albums disappeared in around 2010 after their co-operation had ceased. I remastered them and added a bonus track or two (when I found one, that is).

Thanks for listening, sharing, and for your support, of course.

Stephen

PS: Later this month there is some fairly exciting news -- or not -- to come... stay tuned.

[ppg_wavecomputer]

Good news for all afficionados of out-dated and clumsy media (like myself, for instance):





synchronize or die will be released on double-12" vinyl in a lovely gatefold sleeve on 19th February 2018. Presales have opened, you can order your copy directly from https://www.adansoniarecords.de/shop/.

Please bear in mind that the two different pressing will be limited editions of 100 copies and 250 copies respectively (particularly the 100 copies of the orange splatter version with additional gimmick will be gone quickly, I suppose), so please make sure you order your copy in time.

I will also have a limited number of albums in stock which I will make available through my Bandcamp slot as soon as I have packing materials etc. to ship vinyl around the world (which is completely new to me). You might as well want to get in touch with me directly but please wait until I have the vinyl in stock myself -- I cannot reserve anything for anybody without knowing anything about quantities.

The album originally was to be mastered by Eroc but Andreas Bäcker, owner of Adansonia, was so pleased with my own mastering that he took this as the basis for the lacquer cut. The bit of vinyl mastering that was required (adjusting bass levels and some stereo stuff) was done by Dirk Jan Müller of Cosmic Ground fame.

Thanks for reading and spreading the happy news,

Stephen

[ppg_wavecomputer]

I have some copies in stock (which is shrinking quickly) so if you would like to order the marbled orange pressing, check one of the links in my signature.

Thanks for dropping by,

Stephen.

[ppg_wavecomputer]

no sleep 'til wilmersdorf, the eleventh album in the history of ['ramp], is about to be released on 2nd May 2018:



In 1978/79 I spent some time in Berlin with my parents, living in the borough of Wilmersdorf, not too far away from all those historical sites as Thomas Kessler's Beat Studio, Michael Hoenig's place, Edgar Froese's home in Schwäbische Strasse, Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio, or David Bowie's and Iggy Pop's flat in Schöneberg. To me, it was an amazing experience, witnessing the city divided by The Wall (not Roger's) -- in fact, I still draw from these memories when spending time in Berlin, and I confess I quite miss the oppressive and bleak atmosphere this place used to have:

https://doombientmusic.bandcamp.com/tra ... bum-teaser

The album will be released officially on 2nd May 2018 in order to celebrate the 35th anniversary of my very first musical lesson. It will be limited to 222 hand-numbered copies, and it will come with a 12-page booklet. I am taking pre-orders now (if you don't need to have the FLAC download) through stephen at parsick dot com -- be quick if you want to make sure you're first in line.

Thanks for your time,

Stephen

[ppg_wavecomputer]

wilmersdorf has been available for a week now:



Thanks to all who have ordered a copy, much appreciated.

Stephen

[ppg_wavecomputer]

After having been unavailable for quite some time, van dik hout zaagt men planken has just been released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ['ramp]'s Huizen concert on 10th April 1999 at Theater 3-in-1 in Huizen/NL:



This was the Alfa Centauri Festival performance, opening for Redshift and Tim Blake. Thanks to Eric Snelders for the invitation to play (even though I am still convinced that ['ramp] probably wasn't the right opener...).

The digital download contains not only the live recording of the entire concert straight from the mixing desk (manned by the late Cosmic Hoffmann) but also two previously unreleased recordings of the two rehearsals that had taken place prior to the show.

These bonus tracks amazed me quite a bit as they revealed how close the concert was to the rehearsals -- in fact, it had been seriously ambient right from the outset, and many of the ambient bits during the concert were not to be blamed on the main sequencer rig crashing half-way through. Some of the ideas used during the rehearsals would later materialise in more solid form during the Jodrell Bank performance in 2001.

Fond memories abound.

Enjoy, and thanks for listening,

Stephen.

[ppg_wavecomputer]

Last entry dates back to April this year -- that's quite some time.

At least, I can't be blamed of churning out albums like Ford churns out cars, I suppose…

I have made a new digital download-only album available through ['ramp]'s and Parsick's Bandcamp site:



It is the extended version of my 2007 limited-edition CDR of the same title, and it contains roughly 90 minutes of extremely slow, dark, and cinematic ambient music, recorded for, well, a planetarium show. I thought you might like it.

Enjoy, and thanks for your support,

Stephen