Never judge a book by the cover, but how about the weight? In recent years publishers have released cookery books weighing 18kg, while German publishers Taschen issued a David Hockney art book as heavy as an armchair, complete with book stand to enable comfortable viewing.
Now along comes Raster-Noton with Source Book 1, a 400-page tome that celebrates 20 years of the label, weighing in at a modest 3kg. A seductively designed package, the book illustrates the German label’s extensive catalogue, exploring every release and product. Resistant to being simply recognised as a record label, Raster-Noton describe themselves as a “platform”, since their various practices cover sound, art, design, performance, science and pop.
“There has always been a utopian or romantic idea behind this concept of Raster-Noton as a ‘platform’,” explains co-founder Olaf Bender. “We always had problems callings ourselves a ‘label’, because a label is usually just a company that sells records and the general idea behind a company is economic profit. The idea behind our platform is to survive economically with a maximum amount of control and freedom of its participants.”
Geometric abstraction and simplicity
The minimalist visual aesthetic of the label draws parallels with the iconic work of Peter Saville and Malcolm Garrett. Scanning your eye across the record shelves it’s often easy to pick out Raster-Noton releases, with their reductionist graphic artwork, often contained within unique geometric shapes or clear plastic cases. At times they channel the spirit of artists like Dan Flavin, Donald Judd and Agnes Martin, all of whom have explored geometric abstraction in their work, thriving on simplicity in theme and content, often removing any sign of personal expressivity.
20’ to 2000
Arguably, the most well-known and definitive release on the label is the 20’ to 2000 collection, something that Bender describes as “a perfect document for the Year Zero”. I was honoured to present my own work as part of this series in 1999, choosing the month of August to release a 20-minute work Cystic.
Each of the artists was invited to create 20 minutes of new music as a countdown to the new millennium. Released like a magazine regularly every month, other artists included ELpH (another formation of Coil), Thomas Brinkmann, Ryoji Ikeda and many more. Held within transparent clamshell cases, the packaging was remarkable for the way in which they were held together with an extremely powerful magnet.
Apparently, in the early research for a magnet brawny enough, the label upset their local postal service. It seemed that the magnet samples they were being sent were far too powerful and stuck to anything metal in the post office sorting system. A solution was eventually found and today ‘20’ To 2000’ contentedly sits in the collection of MoMA New York.
Designed in a future-proof manner, so that it can actually be updated whenever necessary, ‘Source Book 1’ features full spreads on every release, detailing the credits and artwork, sorted according to their catalogue number, highlighting the vast collection of works released over two decades of experimentation. The spirit of the Bauhaus art movement resonates here, a 20th century approach to design and architecture with an emphasis on simplified forms, rationality and functionality.
The Value of the Archive
“We used the term ‘archive’ right from the beginning as to create a certain promise that one day, there will actually be an archive,” acknowledges Bender. “The Bauhaus archive in Berlin collects all activities related to the Bauhaus school. Historically a short period, but important, especially for Germany. We thought that on the eve of the digital revolution there should maybe be an organisation led by protagonists themselves that collects prototypes in that field of mainly non academic- electronic music.”
Accompanying the publication is a CD, ‘Archiv 4’, that offers a generous survey of the scope of artists that work with Raster-Noton today. Highlighting work that merges ambient with techno, musique concrète with minimalist glitch, they all share an appreciation of advancing technologies and experimentation. Featuring Emptyset, Alva Noto, Senking, Byetone, AtomTM, Robert Lippok, Kyoka and many more, the CD is an excellent overview of some of the most influential electronic artists in a field that is ever expanding and changing.
Dividing into the Future
Interestingly, following the publication of the limited edition book, came news that Raster-Noton would be dividing into Rastermusic and NOTON, two separate entities. NOTON will take care of Alva Noto’s projects, while Rastermusic continues the idea of an artistic platform. So in many ways ‘Source Book 1’ captures a particular moment in time, a precise way of working beyond the physical matter of running a label. Either together or now independently, it’s certain that these labels will continue to offer a laboratory for free thinking and new possibilities. Now cancel that gym membership, buy two copies and muscle up.
For more info about Raster-Noton see raster-media.net
Originally published in Electronic Sound Magazine Issue 30, 2017
