Hamburg composer/musician Marc Richter utilizes vinyl & shellac loops, antique electronic & pump organs, Argeiphontes Lyre, YouTube samples, processed (and pure) voice and field recordings and various obscure acoustic and electronic instruments and effect devices to create intricate multi-layered collage based works combining the organic warmth and patina of vintage recordings and machinery with futuristic technology. Although the analog texture of his music discloses an almost romantic liaison with the past it is far from being overtly nostalgic. Contrary to the vast majority of so-called experimental music his output is often haunting and dream-like, melancholic and catchy. Even though influences of Musique Concrete and Minimal Music of the 60’s and 70’s can’t be denied his output transcends genres and condenses them into airy song-based forms. His 2019 album „Seven Horses For Seven Kings“ for the renowned Thrill Jockey label revealed an increasingly angry, transcendental and fearless approach, attaining new levels of urgency through noise, volume, rhythm, repetition, atonality and beauty.
Since 2003 Richter has released 11 full-length albums under the Black To Comm alias, including 2009’s critically acclaimed „Alphabet 1968“ on Type Records, a monolithic 36-minute one-chord drone CD on Digitalis Recordings („Charlemagne & Pippin“), 2011’s vinyl-only collaboration with the late visual artist Mike Kelley on the En/Of label and three albums on his own Dekorder label. His soundtrack for the film EARTH by Singapore artist Ho Tzu Nyen came out on De Stijl in March 2012. New album „Oocyte Oil & Stolen Androgens“ (compiling several works for art installations) has again been released by Thrill Jockey in late 2020. „Alkisah Versi Hitam“, a radical reimagination of Indonesian duo Senyawa’s most recent album will be released in June 2021.
In November 2014 Richter’s first multi-channel piece was premiered in the 47-speaker Kubus Hall at ZKM Karlsruhe. In 2015 he received a commission from INA-GRM to compose a new multi-channel piece for their Acousmonium premiered in Paris in January 2016 alongside new works by François Bayle, Robert Hampson, Leo Kupper and Ragnar Grippe. He recently finished new soundtracks for Jan van Hasselt’s film „Der Weiße Elefant“ and Ho Tzu Nyen’s theatre/installation piece „The Mysterious Lai Teck“.
Between 2016 – 2018 Richter released two albums, a limited edition picture-disc and art book under his somewhat arcane Jemh Circs alias on his newly founded Cellule 75 label (compiling odd YouTube edits, digital Fourth World Psychedelia, warped Pop exorcism and vectorized songs about Milk, Zebras, Biogenetics and Cutlery). In 2020 he revealed new moniker Mouchoir Étanche.
He also ran the Dekorder label from 2003-2017 (currently on hiatus) releasing music by Felix Kubin, Sculpture, Giuseppe Ielasi, The Hafler Trio, Asmus Tietchens, Andrew Pekler, Kemialliset Ystävät, Stephan Mathieu, Experimental Audio Research, Richard Youngs, Excepter and many others.
Oocyte Oil & Stolen Androgens (Thrill Jockey 2020, LP/CD)
Before After (Thrill Jockey 2019, LP)
Seven Horses For Seven Kings (Thrill Jockey 2019, 2LP/CD)
Black To Comm (Type Records 2014, 2LP)
EARTH (De Stijl 2012, LP/CD)
Coldplay, Elvis & John Cage (En/Of 2011, LP)
Alphabet 1968 (Type Records 2009, LP/CD)
Charlemagne & Pippin (Digitalis 2009, CD)
Fractal Hair Geometry (Dekorder 2008, LP/CD)
Wir können leider nicht etwas mehr zu tun… (Dekorder 2007, 2LP)
Rückwärts Backwards (Dekorder 2006, LP/CD)