DIE WELTTRAUMFORSCHER - 21 Weltraum-Standards

First things first: Staubgold are immensely proud to present this cooperation with one of Europes most enduring avant garde pop groups ever. Since their formation in Zurich in 1978, the Welttraumforschers music has been moving to and fro in a field marked by the cornerstones of the classic pop song as epitomized by Burt Bacharach or Simon and Garfunkel, the emotional barrenness of Nick Drakes compositions, the escapism of Syd Barrett and electronic home recording-miniatures of cinematic dimensions as [co-]developed by Der Plan and Cabaret Voltaire. But this band never consciously flirted with the notion of being ahead of their time. The Welttraumforscher have always been self-sufficient and completely independent -- and that goes for their musical as well as their lyrical content. In their unique way, they are working on everyday myths (complete with fantasy characters like Kip Eulenmeister and Leguan Rätselmann). This is not limited to their music but also comes out in the hand drawn cover art and comic strips. All this they do in their incomparable, unprejudiced and highly idiosyncratic style. In the first 25 years of their existence the band created a body of work surrounded by a mystic aura similar to that of the Residents -- with the difference that Welttraumforscher-Mastermind Christian Pfluger has never tried to stay anonymous. At the beginning of the Eighties he started the bands own Monif label which henceforth released almost all of the bands output, at first exclusively on cassettes, and from the middle of the Eighties also on limited vinyl editions. Since 1993 the band has also issued their music on CD. 21 Weltraum-Standards does not lay claim to being a representative cross-section of the bands output over the last 25 years; the intention of this compilation is more one of presenting the Welttraumforscher from their friendliest and more accessible side, thus trying to introduce them to a larger audience. The vinyl version of the 21 Weltraum-Standards will be released as a single LP while the digital version will appear in the form of a double CD (for the price of a normal CD). The latter will include the album ..remixen die Welttraumforscher, formerly released as a vinyl-only on Felix Kubins label Gagarin Records and which has long sold out. This album contains remixes by Mouse on Mars, Barbara Morgenstern, FX Randomiz, Neoangin, Schlammpeitziger, Minitchev, Nova Huta, Harald Sack Ziegler, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Joe Tabu and Klangwart. As a bonus the CD is augmented by two most charming (but then what of the Welttraumforschers output could defy that adjective?) and hitherto unreleased videos of the band. - Staubgold.