by Skip Jansen
Active since the mid-'60s yet remaining an obscure conceptual electronic composer for over three decades, Asmus Tietchens is one of the most interesting representatives of a music scene that is neither industrial, electronic, ambient, nor avant-garde, yet shares many approaches with artists from these genres. Asmus Tietchens creates music from noise with mathematic precision, expressing logical, minimalist reductions that, for the ambient listener, may be a little too extreme and likewise too hushed and calm for the industrial tag. The German composer has produced numerous compositions that are outstanding in the abstract electronica canon; Alpha-Merge is noteworthy for fans of the experimental tangents explored by RLW, Christoph Heemann, and the Hafler Trio.