Waldeck

Surreal decadence. A trip of too much Camembert and red wine. Waldeck's new face is very pale, that of a dandy who whiles away his nights in urban cafes. On his brilliant new The Night Garden CD, Waldeck takes a break from perfectionism for a more loose and upbeat tapestry of sound that showcases the European electronica pioneer's love of elegant melodies.



The Night Garden's eleven tracks are stepping-stones on a path strewn with dubbed out beats and shimmering soundscapes. "You step out of a time traveling device, realizing that due to a machine failure you have traveled both 50 years backwards, and 50 years forward at the same time," Waldeck explains.



Waldeck is a driving force on the electronica scene, both in his native Austria and internationally, with six-figure album sales in Europe and a significant presence on MTV. Waldeck is a proponent of the Vienna Sound - a smoky, gorgeously eloquent mix of deep-rooted, turbulent beats and soaring, luxurious melodies. "If someone came along and married Massive Attack with Portishead, the result would be Waldeck," enthused Gear Magazine.



Waldeck's musical career began at the age of six with piano lessons, and ended abruptly when at the age of fifteen he destroyed an expensive Bechstein in an attempt to re-wire its innards. The ensuing lawsuit sprouted Waldeck's interest in Law. By the time his musical career resumed he was a practicing copyright lawyer. He remembers the fateful day when his musical calling resurfaced. "It was during the time when George Harrison got sued for ripping off an old Motown tune," Waldeck recounts. "I realized the way forward was to work a melody until it didn't belong to anyone anymore."



Soon, Waldeck discovered the advances in music workstations that could produce a wide variety of instrument sounds. "In the `80s, all you could have was a synthesizer," he recalls. With more technologically advanced equipment, "I could arrange a whole composition." When his works became more complex, "I couldn't get the sounds I was after, so I kept buying more equipment, and that's how my electronic career started."



At one point, Waldeck and his massive collection of equipment moved to England. Ending up focused on music more than the legal research he had intended to pursue, Waldeck mixed tracks for house and techno labels such as Chocis Chewns and generally got involved with London's triphop scene. "It was an interesting time and it opened my eyes to how the whole industry works," he remembers.



In London Waldeck also met his vocal counterparts, ex-Incognito singer Joy Malcolm and Brian Amos, who has worked on such notable projects as Pressure Drop and Liquid. Both singers have been working with Waldeck ever since and are featured on The Night Garden.



Upon returning to Vienna, Waldeck quickly assumed a leadership role on the electronica scene. He released the Northern Lights EP in 1996, quickly gaining attention through its transcendent, delirious cover of "Aquarius," a single of the month in Music Magazine (12/96), co-produced by the well-known electronica artists Kruder & Dorfmeister. A successful full-length disc, Balance of the Force, followed in 1998. Balance of the Force - Remixed was released in 1999, featuring remixes by Thievery Corporation, Mushroom Dive, and Fauna Flash. The video for the single "Defenceless" was in rotation in the U.S. on MTV's "Amp" and "120 Minutes," and was a heavy rotation fave in France and Germany.



The spell binding "This Isn't Maybe," from The Night Garden takes Waldeck's prodigious skills and lush, seductive sound to a new level. The undulating, cocktail-lounge dreamscape of the track draws from samples of jazz great Chet Baker. "I was desperate for some trumpet sounds," Waldeck remembers. "But when I found this Chet Baker track I ended up sampling the vocals instead of the trumpet."



An insistent, almost threatening bass pervades "Slowly", underscored by the nebulous vocals of Joy Malcolm. The song breaks free during the bridge and changes direction towards the realm of Dub. Once almost subconscious, the vocals now soar into the upper reaches of the mix as the song mutates.



"Tears Running Dry" is a mournful dirge driven by a shuddering beat that suggests a misfiring Trabant, rescued from breakdown by parts stolen from an old-style electric piano.



Wistful and melodic chords underlined by a muscular bass form the driving force behind "Floater" - a song that demands repeated listenings. Joy's vocals provide the perfect counterpoint to a theme of transcendent love, with lyrics that strive to reflect -- not explain -- the unexplainable.



"It Comes From You" finds Waldeck in playful mood: he layers arpeggiated tone poems over a grandly consistent rhythm section and takes the whole delicate structure for a ride in whichever keys take his fancy. Like an illusionist taking a house of cards on a rollercoaster, Waldeck pulls off the extraordinary feat of coming out the other side with the song intact. The vocals come along for the journey, but dissolve into flat sheets of sound whenever the song demands. Sharp but sweet, like a good citrus.



Like his triumphant cover of "Aquarius," Waldeck has unearthed another gem from the late sixties, polished it up and fixed it to the cartridge on his turntable of musical invention. "I Talk To the Wind" remains true to its roots as a sweetly lyrical song from the era of expanded consciousness, but Waldeck has fit the song up with a funky bassline, dry beat and new flute accompaniment -- a modern vehicle that will appeal to hipsters and hippies alike. Similarly, Waldeck brings his inimitable style to David Bowie's "Catpeople," a densely layered, throbbing pastiche of ominous imagination.



For "Morning light", Waldeck dusts off the wah wah pedal and throws it into a dark cauldron. The beats are tribal, the chords unsettling and the chorus dissolves into echo as the song evokes unsettling memories. Program this one out if you have a nervous disposition.



Unlike some electronic artists, Waldeck is strongly focused on live performance, and plans a major international tour in support of The Night Garden. "We found a way to transfer the basic concept of electronic music to stage," he explains. "We use projections and effects to make it as live as possible. I also have a sofa and a table lamp. The sofa is for sitting and on the lamp provides illumination. Sometimes I bring magazines. The true stage presence of electronic music should be like a doctor's waiting room -- but it is not a doctor you are waiting for. It is yourself."

The act known as Waldeck is the work of one Klaus Waldeck, a producer for Vienna's Spray Records, home to work by Kruder & Dorfmeister and Count Basic. Waldeck's work is similar earthy downtempo, though many of his productions reflect the recruitment of vocalists, similar to Massive Attack. After contributing a track to the Spray compilation The Eclectic Sound of Vienna, Waldeck released his debut full-length Balance of the Force in 1999. Along with an American distribution deal through E-Magine, an accompanying remix album was released in the United States as well. Who Is Waldeck, his second LP, was released in fall 2000. His electronic daydream continued with The Night Garden, issued in spring 2002. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide