Legowelt - Unconditional Contours (2020)

«When I first saw this collection, I was truly flabbergasted. Endless rows of synthesisers - some so obscure I had not ever seen nor heard of them. This place will probably turn into the world’s most magical place for synths.» - Legowelt

Legowelt has been a key figure in the Dutch electronic music scene since the early nineties, steadily relea­sing timeless music that merges the pioneering sounds of Detroit and Chicago with idiosyncratic sci-fi fascinations. «Unconditional Contours» captures Legowelt’s stint at the Swiss Museum for Electronic Music Instruments (SMEM), after he was invited to be the first artist in residence at the institution’s «Playroom» project.

Legowelt visited SMEM in Fribourg, Switzerland, in early 2019 to explore the collection and record music. Possessing an extensive collection of synthesizers himself, he used hand-picked synthesizers from the museum’s archive: the rare Farfisa Synthorchestra, the EVS-1 Evolution, the «shittiest rompler ever made», amongst many others. The 10-track album «Unconditional Contours» is both a probe into the vast collection of SMEM, and a display of Legowelt’s well established composi­tional qualities. Leaving ample space for new sounds to unfold, Legowelt invokes gentle trips, brooding excursions, bleep heavy soundscapes, and reimagined elements of dance music classicism.

SMEM and -OUS are launching the «smem+ous» series to document the «Playroom» residencies. A limited edition of this album was already sent out to early supporters of the «Playroom». Founded in 2016 and based on a collection of more than 5000 synthesizers, organs, drum machines and effects that had been collected over a 35 year period by Klemens Niklaus Trenkle, SMEM offers residencies, studio sessions, talks and workshops.