Project Pitchfork - Quantum MechanicsPeter MarksElectroThrough all the years of listening to Peter Spilles, I've never been one to know what to expect but with this latest outing it has become obvious that Pitchfork have settled on a very mechanized electronic sound. This is their third album in as many years and it does do something the previous 'Continuum Ride' did not: it brings back some of the complexity their masterpiece 'Kaskade' contained. The arrangements are still somewhat straight forward but there's a lot more going on in the songs themselves, they don't just glide along on steady beats and growling vocals. All works showcase Spilles trademark love of atmosphere and indeed, 'Quantum Mechanics' is much more epic overall. There's the return of that cosmic vastness which has been absent as of late from the band. The feel of looking up at the stars until you fall on your back trying to take it all in, and yes, these lyrics are some of Spilles most personal yet. Cut through the gruffness of how he sounds and you'll be drawn in effortlessly.
For the last two decades, I've followed what this entity does and while I don't listen much to this style of music anymore, Project Pitchfork don't disappoint. It's direct, it's stately and definitely it'll command whatever dancefloor it winds up being played on. There's just enough of a change from the last album to justify continuing to listen to what they do but compared to what usually gets played around here: this is incredibly accessible, almost to the point of sugary sweet saturation and yet the chorus' once again just nail it so perfectly. Progressions of a very classic Pitchfork vintage are uncorked and given free reign to do what they do best: put a sly smirk on my face as I listen to them because no one else but Spilles Es could write what is on this thing. The man is constantly in motion and he's penned what any other dark electro act would give their eye teeth to be able to compose.
Clearly, this one isn't going to appeal to all the fans (none of them ever do, it's always been this way) because sometimes it's like an updated version of 'Entities' with those long instrumental passages 'Inferno' contained. Regardless, I'm still on board, boys. You guys are carrying this genre on your back and unlike some of your contemporaries (Dance or Die, Front Line Assembly), you have not become stale and show no signs of slowing down. The pace of 'Quantum Mechanics' is for the most part quite break neck, vibrantly faceted in ever more nuanced hues of viscerally compelling synthetic majesty. I like the refusal to embrace the trends of late that this band adopt in their stance: there's no screaming about how evil they are, juvenile emotions or boneheaded dj 'culture'. Pitchfork have something to say, they always do but this time it's very emphatic and almost comes completely out of the shadows.
Almost.
Because despite the best efforts of some so-called 'scene' to dumb everything down, Peter, Dirk and Jurgen have their own plans for how it's going to be from their end of things. No compromises and no pandering for attention, Pitchfork have become one of the most unique musical voices out there and perhaps just perhaps with this one they'll be able to be seen for what they are: legends.August 15, 2011http://www.brutalresonance.com/review/project-pitchfork-quantum-mechanics/4Brutal Resonance
For the last two decades, I've followed what this entity does and while I don't listen much to this style of music anymore, Project Pitchfork don't disappoint. It's direct, it's stately and definitely it'll command whatever dancefloor it winds up being played on. There's just enough of a change from the last album to justify continuing to listen to what they do but compared to what usually gets played around here: this is incredibly accessible, almost to the point of sugary sweet saturation and yet the chorus' once again just nail it so perfectly. Progressions of a very classic Pitchfork vintage are uncorked and given free reign to do what they do best: put a sly smirk on my face as I listen to them because no one else but Spilles Es could write what is on this thing. The man is constantly in motion and he's penned what any other dark electro act would give their eye teeth to be able to compose.
Clearly, this one isn't going to appeal to all the fans (none of them ever do, it's always been this way) because sometimes it's like an updated version of 'Entities' with those long instrumental passages 'Inferno' contained. Regardless, I'm still on board, boys. You guys are carrying this genre on your back and unlike some of your contemporaries (Dance or Die, Front Line Assembly), you have not become stale and show no signs of slowing down. The pace of 'Quantum Mechanics' is for the most part quite break neck, vibrantly faceted in ever more nuanced hues of viscerally compelling synthetic majesty. I like the refusal to embrace the trends of late that this band adopt in their stance: there's no screaming about how evil they are, juvenile emotions or boneheaded dj 'culture'. Pitchfork have something to say, they always do but this time it's very emphatic and almost comes completely out of the shadows.
Almost.
Because despite the best efforts of some so-called 'scene' to dumb everything down, Peter, Dirk and Jurgen have their own plans for how it's going to be from their end of things. No compromises and no pandering for attention, Pitchfork have become one of the most unique musical voices out there and perhaps just perhaps with this one they'll be able to be seen for what they are: legends.August 15, 2011http://www.brutalresonance.com/review/project-pitchfork-quantum-mechanics/4Brutal Resonance
Project Pitchfork at the Blackfield Festival 2013 | |
Background information | |
---|---|
Origin | Germany |
Genres | |
Years active | 1989–present |
Labels | Candyland Entertainment, Trisol Music Group, Karma Records (South America) |
Associated acts | Rec IMATEM Santa Hates You Aurora Sutra Jansen Spilles |
Website | http://www.project-pitchfork.eu |
Members | Peter Spilles Dirk Scheuber Jürgen Jansen Achim Färber |
Past members | Markus Giltjes Yenz Schrader Patricia Nigiani Carsten Klatte |
Quantum Mechanics Lyrics: The fabric of death / The stitches of life / The color of words / Will blur in time / I walk on your path / But we will never ever meet / Yet again there's a connection sheet.
Project Pitchfork is a dark wave, electronic rock group from Hamburg, Germany.
- 1History[1]
- 2Members
- 3Discography
History[1][edit]
First years (90-94)[edit]
Project Pitchfork was formed by Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber. After agreeing to work together, they picked the project's name by choosing a random word from the dictionary. The band gave their first performance in Hamburg in February 1990 and released their demo, 'K.N.K.A' in August. In May 1991, their debut album 'Dhyani' was released. The band's second album, 'Lam-'Bras' was released in February 1992 and yielded the first vocal appearance of Patrica Nigiani. Six months later, the band's third album, 'Entities' was released. The band switched labels to Off Beat for their 1994 release 'Io'. The album yielded two singles, 'Renascence' and 'Carrion', and marked the time the band entered the German Charts. The album was followed by a lengthy German tour.
The development years and success (95-02)[edit]
In 1995, Project Pitchfork established their own label, Candyland Entertainment, through which they would release the majority of their own material as well as the material of other bands. 1995 also saw the release of two EPs, 'CH'I' and 'Corps d'Amour', and one album, 'Alpha Omega'. The year finished off with a tour supported by Rammstein.
The next Project Pitchfork's studio album '¡Chakra:Red!' was released in 1997. It was the first album since 'Dhyani' to be written as a group effort, rather than by Peter Spilles alone. This was the first album to include Jürgen Jansen as a permanent band member.
Right after their first US tour in 1998, Project Pitchfork returned with the concept album 'Eon:Eon', their first while signed to label EastWest. The album yielded three singles, 'Steelrose', 'Carnival', and 'I Live Your Dream'. 'Steelrose' earned the band a nomination for an Echo Award for Best Video National. In 2001, the band released their eighth studio album 'Daimonion' and supported the album with a European tour. In 2002 the band released the 'NUN' trilogy which consisted of album 'Inferno' and EPs 'View From a Throne' and 'Trialog'. This earned the band another nomination for an Echo Award, this time for Best Alternative Act National.
Recent years (03-14)[edit]
It would be a further three years before Pitchfork returned again with the album Kaskade in 2005. Its 15 tracks are especially versatile – a reason why Spilles only places two very long songs on the digital release 'Wonderland/One Million Faces', which will be later released on CD in May 2007.
![Quantum Quantum](http://www.cdvinyl.de/cdpic/00CVi/cdsi_oh/cdsi_ohh0450.jpg)
On 23 January 2009, the band released the new MCD 'Feel!' via Prussia Records. Then on 27 February, the band released the new album Dream, Tiresias!, also via Prussia Records. The album received high appraisal from electronic music magazine, ReGen.[2]
In 2010, Project Pitchfork released their follow up album, Continuum Ride. Many praised the album for being similar in tone, lyrics, and production quality to their critically acclaimed 2009 LP; Bernard Van Isacker of SideLine said the album was a 'perfect successor to 'Dream, Tiresias!'[3] A video was released for the song 'Beholder.'[4]
Project Pitchfork showed no signs of slowing down, as a new year brought a new album. 'Quantum Mechanics' was released in 2011, an LP ripe with a 'reoccurring theme [...] that of criticism towards modern, corrupt society' as Hemi Malkki noted in a review from Reflections of Darkness.[5] Bernard Van Isacker said he 'got the feeling that 'Quantum Mechanics' might be the most intimate album from the past few years.'[6] The band filmed a video for the album's second track, 'Lament.'[7]
2011 also saw the release of the band's 2 disc retrospective album, 'First Anthology.' 31 songs were chosen from Project Pitchfork's back catalogue, dating back to 1991, and all were remastered by the band. A new track called 'Burning' is the compilation's opener.
Although there was no new album from the band the next year, Spilles was just as prolific in 2012; with his other band Santa Hates You he released the album 'It's Alive!'.
The next Project Pitchfork album came in January 2013 with the release of 'Black.' A video was released in advance of the album, accompanying the song 'Rain.'[8] SideLine's Bernard Van Isacker gave the album a glowing review, saying the music is indicative of the band's place in electronic music history; the album 'is the illustration of a living legend of electronics,' he said.[9] Zander Buel of Coma Music Magazine said, 'after two decades and 14 albums, Project Pitchfork still sounds ripe with enthusiasm and a hunger to prove something to the world.'[10]
On 27 June, the band announced via their official website the new upcoming album, titled 'Blood'.[11] In order to promote the record the band held a pre-release show in Hamburg on 13 September. The album was released on 19 September as a standard CD edition and a limited 2CD special edition, which was available through pre-order. The music video for 'Blood-Diamond(See him running), edited by Spilles himself, was released in order to promote the record.'
Members[edit]
![Pitchfork Pitchfork](/uploads/1/2/5/2/125227002/832675344.jpg)
Current lineup[edit]
- Peter Spilles – composition, lyrics, vocals (1989-...)
- Dirk Scheuber – keyboards (1989-...)
- Jürgen Jansen – keyboards (1996-...)
- Achim Färber – live drums (1999-...)
Former members[edit]
- Patricia Nigiani – backing vocals, live keyboards (1992–1994)
- Markus Giltjes – live drums (1995)
- Yenz Schrader – drums, guitar (1998)
- Carsten Klatte – live guitar (1999-2011)
Discography[edit]
Studio albums[edit]
- Dhyani (1991)
- Lam-'Bras (1992)
- Entities (1992)
- IO (1994)
- Alpha Omega (1995)
- ¡Chakra:Red! (1997)
- Eon:Eon (1998)
- Daimonion (2001)
- Inferno (2002)
- Kaskade (2005)
- Dream, Tiresias! (2009)
- Continuum Ride (2010)
- Quantum Mechanics (2011)
- Black (2013)
- Blood (2014)
- Look Up, I'm Down There (2016)
- Akkretion (2018)
- Fragment (2018)
EPs[edit]
- Precious New World (1991)
- Psychic Torture (1991)
- Souls/Island (1993)
- Little IO (1994)
- CH'I (1995)
- Corps D'Amour (1995)
- Trialog (2002)
- View From a Throne (2002)
- Wonderland/One Million Faces (2007)
Live albums[edit]
- Live '97 (1997)
- Live 2003/2001 (2003)
Singles[edit]
- 'Carrion' (1993)
- 'Renascence' (1994)
- 'En Garde!' (1996)
- 'Carnival' (1998)
- 'Steelrose' (1998)
- 'I Live Your Dream' (1999)
- 'Existence' (2001)
- 'Timekiller' (2001)
- 'Awakening' (2002)
- 'Schall Und Rauch/The Future Is Now' (2005)
- 'Earth Song' (feat. Sara Noxx) (2008)
- 'Feel!' (2009)
- 'Beholder' (2010)
- 'Lament' (2011)
- 'Rain' (2013)
Compilation albums[edit]
- The Early Years (89–93) (1996)
- Collector: Lost and Found (2001)
- NUN Trilogy (2002)
- Collector: Fireworks & Colorchange (2003)
- First Anthology (2011)
- Second Anthology (2016)
Videography[edit]
- Va I Luce (1992)
- Entities Tour (1993)
- Glowing Like Io – Live Performance (1994)
- Alpha Omega – Live (1995)
- Live '99 (1999)
- Collector – Adapted for the Screen (2002)
- Live 2003 (2004)
References[edit]
- ^Includes the text from the band's official biography from http://www.project-pitchfork.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=57
- ^[1]Archived 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Project Pitchfork – Continuum Ride (CD – Trisol) - review, free links at SIDE-LINE'. Side-line.com. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^'Project Pitchfork - Beholder'. YouTube. 13 June 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^'CD Review: Project Pitchfork - Quantum Mechanics'. Reflectionsofdarkness.com. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^'Project Pitchfork – Quantum Mechanics (CD – Trisol) - review, free links at SIDE-LINE'. Side-line.com. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^'Project Pitchfork - Lament'. YouTube. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^'Project Pitchfork - Rain'. YouTube. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^'Project Pitchfork – Black (CD Album – Trisol) - review, free links at SIDE-LINE'. Side-line.com. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^':Music Review: Project Pitchfork - Black - COMA Music Magazine'. Coma-online.com. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^http://www.project-pitchfork.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43&Itemid=27
External links[edit]
- Project Pitchfork discography at MusicBrainz
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