Video: Christian Löffler & FINN – Ballet

German electronic musician Christian Löffler and filmmaking company On A Whim Films announce the release of the music video for Ballet (Ki Records), taken from Christian’s 2020 album, Lys. Shot by director Asya Nikolaeva and cinematographer Pavel Brenner in San Francisco during lockdown, the music video for Ballet is out now.
 
Christian Löffler’s track Ballet receives an embodiment in a music video produced by On A Whim Films, the San Francisco based production company orchestrating the visuals specializing in short and documentary films, music videos and commercials. The production process spanned the distance from San Francisco through Germany to Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Director Asya Nikolaeva brought on board cinematographer Pavel Brenner, who has directed and shot music videos including Acid Rain by Lorn and Split by Brodinski.

Christian Löffler is a star of the Berlin electronic music scene. He began playing music at the age of 14. Living in a remote region devoid of a musical environment, he had to teach himself the basics of music creation. Soon he developed his own deep and moving sound, coloured with a melancholic tinge, music for the soul and body. Christian Löffler’sBallet (Ki Records) is a hauntingly mysterious ambient electronic ballad. Over distant sparse spacious keys and chilling vocal chants that act as an ominous hymn thunderous kicks, disjointed clanks, and abstract percussion all kick start the dance of Ballet.

On A Whim Films took the liberty and used empty cinematic landscapes of an abandoned San Francisco to create the music video. A production team of 12 people operated during the complete lockdown while everyone in the city sheltered in place. Much of this ambient atmosphere had to do with the actors, professional ballet dancers, who brilliantly convey the song’s aura. The sonic duet dance with the visuals heightens the emotion of the video and the artistic spirit is felt from the colour pallet of each frame, the placement and angle of each shot, and the abstract symbolism.

“We set to find a physical object and a symbol that could metaphorically convey people’s emotional state during the lockdown. And we chose ice to be that object. We imagined our new reality, where people have to distance themselves from one another and where human communication is simply dangerous. Numbing emotions is the only way to survive in such a world. Our characters are doing so by consuming ice. They are feeding on ice, bathe in ice, they search for it. This way by eating cubes of ice they freeze their human feelings and emotions from the inside. So now it seems they can survive despite the lack of human contact. But at the end, we see that any lockdown and shelter in place cannot suppress our human nature. After all, the only thing people cannot live without is other people” – 
Asya Nikolaeva, Director

Video: Christian Löffler – Dir Jehova

Dir Jehova’ a J.S. Bach rework by Christian Löffler, from the album ‘Parallels’. Video directed by Matías Montecinos.

Get ‘Parallels’: https://DG.lnk.to/parallels

#2 of 2019: Christian Löffler – Graal (Prologue)

Christian Löffler’s new album ‘Lys’ is out March 2020

Christian Löffler will be releasing his new album, Lys, in March 2020!

“Lys” serves as a sequel and contrast to Graal , its predecessor. Whereas the latter is the result of a six-month period spent largely on the road in between live shows, the former is a studio release in the truest sense, recorded and compiled in the serenity of Löffler’s home studio. While produced within four walls, Lys ’ grounding comes from what lies beyond them—Graal, Müritz.

“I realised that the light is different in the north of Germany, and this became an overall theme for the album,” Löffler explains. “Before I had Mare , and Forest , and now it’s become light,” hence the album’s title, meaning “light” in Danish.

Rather than capturing a specific moment in time or emotion, Lys is a selection of Löffler’s favorite productions from the past three years, compiled into one enchanting and deeply moving listening experience.

Whereas on previous album Löffler used his voice as a tool or instrument, heavily altered and unrecognizable most of the time, for Lys he puts them front and centre in order to capture his innermost feelings with actual words rather than only moods. The album also features the vocals of Menke, a young Swedish singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and Mohna, a staple on his recent tours. “She’s part of my musical world and so I wanted to have her on the album,” Löffler explains.

Lys is coming out via Ki Records, Löffler’s own label, launched in 2009 as a platform for the music that inspires him.

Christian will also be playing around Europe for the next few months:

Christian Löffler – Refu (Dominik Eulberg Remix)

A veteran in the world of minimal techno, Dominik Eulberg offers this upbeat and heady retake of Loffler’s track Refu.

Refu is a track from Löffler’s recently released and much anticipated album, Graal (Prologue). Both Löffler and Eulberg come from similar environments; two nature lovers who work secluded in the forests of Germany and who draw inspiration for their productions from the natural world.

Buy/Stream here: https://33r.pm/Gert

Christian Löffler – Ry

Electronic music producer and visual artist Christian Löffler premieres the video for new single “Ry” via ThisSongIsSick from his upcoming LP “Graal (Prologue),” out April 5th via Ki-Records. It follows the gorgeous animated video for “Like Water (feat Mohna)” out 2/13.

“Ry” follows a mysterious protagonist, running across a wide array of beautiful and uncanny places and landscapes across the globe; it’s a voyage of sight and sound. “Ry” begins with pulsating and pounding bass building to a mesmeric techno clap with sweeping reverb; it’s all about getting it higher and dropping it, adding soothing piano lines and arriving slowly to elation. While there are two sides to the track — one more immediate, one more “romantic” — Christian builds an alternative beat that makes it stick to the bones and that’s perfectly enhanced by the gorgeous visuals. By the end of it, the overlapping beat becomes a whisper as he adds irresistible strings that give it its transcendent emotional resonance and the runner arrives to the beach.

A visual artist and painter, Christian drew sketches for each song on “Graal (Prologue)”: the dry minimal techno for “Ry,” the floral and piercing “Bird,” the eerie “Like Water,” the romantic solitude on “Running,” the spectral and damp “Refu,” the sharp warp on “Graal”. He feeds his music with his art, drawings and paintings that help him express his creativity.

“Bird’ and ‘Refu’”have a nocturnal feel, perfect for eyes-closed introspection, and it’s no surprise to learn that two of them were conceived during late-night jam sessions in gardens underneath starry skies. Two tracks feature vocalists, both of which Löffler describes as happy accidents. “Like Water,”,featuring Mohna, was initially an instrumental piano piece, but was transformed by some vocal improvisations during a soundcheck for the Elbphilharmonie performance into atmospheric, spectral electro. Josephine Phillip, whose haunting Nordic voice warms the poignant “Running” was someone that Löffler had always hoped to record with and when their schedules finally aligned, he took full advantage.

Video: Christian Löffler – Like Water feat. Mohna

Today, German electronic producer and visual artist Christian Löffler shares the sublime animated video for “Like Water (feat Mohna)” via Complex, the first single off the LP “Graal (Prologue)” out 4/5 on Ki-Records.

“Like Water (feat. Mohna) is chilling and spectral electronica. As the main character gazes at the ocean and the waves’ movements, cathartic and peaceful emotions emerge. Christian’s music takes us into the comfort of solitary metaphysical wandering. The video was directed by Magnus Lenneskog and Tezo Kyungdon Lee – the founders of the award-winning Tjoff Koong Studios who’ve led the animation on Wes Anderson’s film “Isle of Dogs” and are behind numerous Gorillaz videos.

Christian’s new LP “Graal (Prologue)”, out 4/5, oscillates between melancholic ambient minimal, euphoric neo-classical techno and downtempo psychedelic, and is a reflection of Christian’s frustration of not having the mental space at the time to create music, solely focusing on visual art instead – painting, drawing. Therefore the music unfolds like a painting. Drawing from his art gave him the freedom to create without restraints, and to “turn off my brain a bit, especially thoughts about what is possible or not”, he explains

“Graal (Prologue)” follows two well-received LP’s, “Mare” (2016) and “A Forest” (2012), both released on Ki-Records.

More US tour dates to be announced.

“Graal (Prologue)” Tracklist:
1. Ry
2. Running (feat Josephine Philip)
3. Bird
4. Like Water (feat Mohna)
5. Refu
6. Graal

Christian Löffler – Like Water feat. Mohna

Today, German electronic producer and visual artist Christian Löffler announces the release of his new LP “Graal (Prologue)” out 4/5 on Ki-Records and shares the first single “Like Water (feat Mohna)”.

“Like Water” was created while sound checking at the Elbphilharmonie. Mohna (the vocalist) was improvising and singing different melodies while playing piano. We played this track often with the ensemble, but never recorded it. The finished piece has completely changed from its initial acoustic version.” says Christian.

“Like Water” is chilling and spectral electronica, with Mohna’s crystallizing mellow voice taking us into the comfort of solitary metaphysical wandering. Löffler transforms the organic and serendipitous original version, performed in a traditional setting with classical instruments, into ambient electronic catharsis. The process allows him to build a sphere of unbridled emotions and spur an intimate romantic dialogue with listeners. Christian draws from his artistic contemplation, a sight inherently in motion, to seize feelings and movements in their active or static form, whether they be pure or conceptualized.

Created on the road (Löffler likens it to a travel diary), “Graal (Prologue)” oscillates between melancholic ambient minimal, euphoric neo-classical techno and downtempo psychedelic, and is a reflection of Christian’s frustration of not having the mental space at the time to create music, solely focusing on visual art instead – painting, drawing. Therefore the music unfolds like a painting, it is first an imagined aesthetic and not a question of possibilities. Drawing from his art gave him the freedom to create without restraints, and to “turn off my brain a bit, especially thoughts about what is possible or not”, he explains

“Graal (Prologue)” is a prelude to a second companion album to be released before the end of the year. With two distinctive parts and approaches, both records will have an organic dichotomy – while “Graal” was created on the road, the follow up will be a classic studio album, created in his home recording space and it will come illustrated with paintings. The record is named after the town he calls home – a windswept yet picturesque German outpost on the Baltic coast – and the rugged beauty and wonder of the area’s famed landscapes shines through the whole record. It comes illustrated with a series of Löffler’s hand drawn sketches, stark, monochromatic line drawings of people and places.
“Graal (Prologue)” follows two well-received LP’s, “Mare” (2016) and “A Forest” (2012), both released on Ki-Records.

More US tour dates to be announced.

No. 14: Christian Löffler – Mare

‘Mare’ is Christian Loeffler’s second studio album and follows in a similar vein to his self-released debut, ‘A Forest’. However a key difference is that while his first album was heavily sample-based, ‘Mare’ is much more organic, in which nearly every sound and every instrument is self-recorded. Many of the album’s ideas are based on field-recordings taken from the surroundings. On top of this, several microphones were set up in the room and left to run on for whole sessions. The microphones collected everything, from tapping, singing, playing, footsteps, as well as percussive elements.

Preview: Christian Löffler – Lost EP

Hunter/Game just unveiled a soundcloud preview & video teaser for the upcoming Christian Loffler “Lost” EP out soon on their imprint, Just This. Featuring exclusive remixes by Lake People and Nuno Dos Santos, this will be the young German producer’s debut on the Milanese label, out digitally December 11 with vinyl coming in February.