Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Ümlaut - Insight [Audiobulb - 2020]

Ümlaut is the sound-art project of the New York resident musician/artist Jeff Düngfelder, and  here Audiobulb Records presents his new album Insight with the following statement: 'an inner journey of the self through the universe of sound'. A steep thesis!

To write this review, I had to take a little more time to notice all the fine and interesting nuances of the individual pieces when listening to the album.  I liked the dynamics of the individual elements and how they diffuse into a whole. Perhaps one or the other sequence is a little bit too "lengthy", but that's probably a matter of taste.

Insight takes its time and unfolds through its (perhaps coincidentally) arpeggiated microsound textures and the gentle melodies in the background. In fact, the arpeggio dominates, creating an ambience of versatile sound design and making the music very lively.

In terms of composition, each individual piece goes through several different passages. These range from overlapping electro-acoustic textures and simple loops, to subdued synthetic tones and layers, to fine percussive electronics. Also interesting field recordings and mysterious ambient sounds interweave the fine melodies with rougher industrial rhythms. The element of coincidence probably also plays a big role in this. Even the silence is used to melt the pieces of the album into a hypnotic and surprisingly dynamic, easy listening soundscape. And although it all sounds very digital and sometimes slips into the “glitchy” territory , though Ümlaut does it beautifully.


Insight is significantly more than a pure ambient album, because Jeff Düngfelder does not simply try to electronically process its synthesizer sounds and manipulated field recordings into a sound carpet according to the tried-and-tested recipe, but instead works with the acoustic procurement within his compositions. As a result, Insight steps in many other music genres in its definition and will also be interesting for a broader, music-interested audience.

With his 2019 work Musique De Film, Ümlaut had already created a very beautiful audio landscape with his randomly arranged, weightless sounds. Insight  continues this concept, albeit in a different way. Give it a listening!

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Jan Warnke
Latest Reviews

Ümlaut - Insight
Ümlaut is the sound-art project of the New York resident musician/artist Jeff Düngfelder, and  here Audiobulb Records presents his new album Insight w...
090126   Emma-Lynn - Self Titled
090126   No Fun HNW - Bleached Bones F...
090126   Koobaatoo Asparagus - Purely ...
080126   My Name Is 'A' by Anonymous ...
080126   You’re All Doomed - You’r...
080126   Abscess - Dawn Of Inhumanity(...
080126   The House With Laughing Windo...
080126   The Killer Must Kill Again - ...
060126   Whore's Breath - A Pot to Pis...
060126   Sebastian Tomb/Angel Brügger...
Latest Articles

Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
Of all the cult/exploitation genres, Giallo stands as one of the more visually & art-based- be it with the grand/ dramatic location, choreographed murder...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom