It would have been unnatural if Markus Reuter and Tim Motzer didn’t gravitate towards each other at one point, and they did – first in a live-on-the-air environment and then on 2010’s “Descending” and a few more albums that saw the light of day during the following decade of which “Shapeshifters” is the latest offering. Yet while it loops back to the duo’s debut in terms of a groove, this record’s four epics are different due to the presence of Kenny Grohowski who needed to spread his creative wings because the stint with BRAND X failed to provide the drummer with a composer’s place, whereas the soundscapes the two guitarists are adept at allow him not only to play but also to conjure up ever-changing patterns and set aural rooms in perpetual motion. A perfect framework for the shapeshifting the instrumental trio exercise as a form-defying unit.
Shuffling into focus and crackling to shine on the initial area of their operation, the 23-minute “Dark Sparks” doesn’t take a lot of time to expand and push this sonic frontier further and further, as specters of vocals loom large between electric splashes Tim and Markus peel off the frets and Kenny bounces off cymbals before licks and crashes blend into a chugging, increasingly heavy whole. It’s creepy if captivating once stray riffs arrive and vanish and fierce solos are unleashed, yet out of a pulsing bass translucency emerges – fragile and frightening at the same time – and gradually falls into pieces, these debris of a melody that failed to be fully born. But then there’s “Transmutation” to erect a fresh edifice from muscular twang, delicate rhythm and rather tuneful wigouts which aim for noise and eventual applause and end up diminishing their dynamic amplitude only to inflate the squeal again.
Starting from there, “Cyphers” tones down the little ensemble’s avant-garde scope and applies sparser lines to their canvas, so the space the three players create can breathe and fluctuate, showing multiple details that the preceding assault concealed, even though the chthonic roar and percussive thunder aren’t far away from this funereal solemnity. Which is why “Burn To Aether” ignites the erstwhile sparks, by now embers heated by low-end rumble, with a blistering filigree of almost metallic intensity – and that’s when the fun of it all will come to the surface. Recorded in a single session in NYC’s sonic laboratory in August 2019, the trio’s shapeshifting turned out to be a wondrous conspiracy and, hopefully, the start of a new recurring collab.
***signed by Tim Motzer
Vanishing –
Vanishing, Limited Edition CD, signed includes 8in x12in poster
Fides Krucker & Tim Motzer
$12.95 USD
Vanishing –
Vanishing, Original CD Edition
Fides Krucker & Tim Motzer
$8.99 USD
15 CD: 1k Recordings Bundle 2021
$120 USD
Inside –
Limited Edition CD with hand-painted covers, signed (of 16)
Tim Motzer
$50 USD
Channels –
Limited Edition CD, signed, with poster, photos by avraham bank, DL
Swana/Motzer/Hirlinger
$12 USD
Channels –
Channels by Swana, Motzer, Hirlinger (original release)
Swana/Motzer/Hirlinger
$9 USD
Kurt Rosenwinkel Bandit65 - Searching the Continuum (Japanese CD Edition)
$35 USD
Tim Motzer - Luminous (Handpainted CD Edition)
$50 USD
Unseen Universe –
Limited Edition Handpainted, signed by Tim Motzer
Tim Motzer
$50 USD
Unseen Universe –
Limited Hand-psinted Edition, signed by Tim Motzer
Tim Motzer
$50 USD
Unseen Universe –
Tim Motzer - Unseen Universe (handpainted covers/signed)
Tim Motzer
$50 USD
Rapture –
NEW! Handpainted Rapture Limited Edition CD, signed by Tim Motzer
Tim Motzer & Markus Reuter
$50 USD
Luminous –
Luminous, Hand-painted Limited CD Edition, signed by Tim Motzer
Tim Motzer
Sold Out
The Seven Dreams –
Goldbug - The Seven Dreams
Goldbug
$10 USD
Orion Tango –
Orion Tango Limited Edition, Signed by the Band (1 left!)
Orion Tango
Sold Out
Orion Tango –
Orion Tango - 4-panel Gatefold CD Edition
Orion Tango
$10 USD
The Great Expanse 12in x 9in, acrylic painting on 140lb fine art paper
$75 USD
Untitled, Tim Motzer painting, 12in x 9in with torn edges, acrylic on 140lb fine art paper
$75 USD
Untitled, Tim Motzer painting 12in x 9in, acrylic on 140lb fine art paper. Suitable for framing.
$75 USD
Untitled, Tim Motzer painting, 12in x 8in, acrylic on plexiglass
$150 USD
Untitled, Tim Motzer 12in x 9in painting, acrylic on heavy 140lb fine art paper
$75 USD
No Time For Silence –
6 panel deluxe gatefold CD
Secret Voices
$5.99 USD
Rapture –
Limited Handpainted Edition 2
Tim Motzer & Markus Reuter
Sold Out
soft lunch –
Soft Lunch, 4 Panel CD edition
tilomo
$5.99 USD
Kurt Rosenwinkel Bandit65 - Searching the Continuum (Limited CD/Art Edition)
$20 USD
The Apple of No –
The Apple of No (limited edition) signed/numbered by the band
Orion Tango
$15 USD
The Apple of No –
compact disc
Orion Tango
$10 USD
Tim Motzer: Triology - 3 CD handpainted limited edition bundle
$95 USD
Olivier Tarpaga & Dafra Kura Band - Declassified Memory Fragment
$15 USD
Home Patterning A One Thousand Pulses Compendium OTP3011 (CD)
$15 USD
Shortwave Trio - Hamilton/Levis/Motzer (1996) cassette
$10 USD
The Zebramoon Remixes –
The Zebramoon Remixes
Nucultures
$5.99 USD
1k Recordings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1K RECORDINGS
is an eclectic Philadelphia-based boutique label run by guitarist, composer, and producer Tim Motzer.
The catalogue features genre-defying solo releases and adventurous collaborations, spanning ambient soundscapes to art pop and beyond.
"A catalog of music that is as unique as it is unpredictable."
- WXPN, The Key
Celebrating 20+ years #1k2020
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