Asmus Tietchens — Photmaine I

Originally released as a three (locked groove) vinyl release in 1996 Photmaine found this Hamburg-based sound artist and experimental electronic composer offering up a selection of loops. For this late 2021 reissue on Austria’s Klanggalerie we are presented with twenty-two of the original forty-four tracks, with each having run times around the two-and-a-half-minute mark. 

The CD comes presented in a glossy for panel digipak- this mirrors the basic look of the original vinyl release, with a largely solid red background with white boxes & black texts. Inside we get the tracklisting, and on its back cover, we find a block of German text.

The tracks on the original release were untitled- but for this reissue, they are grouped under three sub-titles which are each followed by a number. The first group are entitled Atropin- which is a substance used to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings as well as some types of slow heart rate and to decrease saliva production. This first group takes in eight tracks- these go from the spiralling tone and hack voice sample churn of “Atropin 1”, onto the bayying bird song meets textured skipping of “Atropin 3”, onto the wavering chant loop & locked down march percussion of “Atropin 6”. 
 
The next series Lysin- this is the word for enzyme, which works similarly to antibiotics that are used for bacterial resistance- this group takes in eight tracks. We go from the warped and sped up orchestrated instrumentation of “Lysin 3”, onto bombastic drums and brooding horn work of “Lysin 5”, through to the skipping ethic percussion layers of “Lysin 8”.
 
Lastly, we have the Neurin tracks- this is a substance that is used for irritability, stress, and psycho-emotional disorders. This group is made up of six tracks- these go from grunting sigh meets discordant orchestrated sneer of “Neurin 2”, we have the simmering and sinister synth tone shift of “Neurin 4”, or the radio wave sweep meets textural bay of “Neurin 6”.
 
As a release Ptomaine I is certainly a sonic puzzle, that offers up more questions than answers. I’m not sure if it’s something I can regularly see myself returning to often, but when I’m in a more cryptic loop-based mood, this will certainly scratch that sonic itch.