B. Fleischmann – Stop Making Fans (2018)

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B. Fleischmann – Stop Making Fans (2018)

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Austrian musician B. Fleischmann is best known for releasing glitchy, emotion-rich indie electronic music on labels like Morr Music and Fuzzy Box. His work often combines digital sophistication with post-rock guitars and wide-eyed, sometimes melancholy melodies. Born in Vienna in 1975, Bernhard Fleischmann got his musical start on the piano at age eight before turning to drums five years later as a student at the Hinterbrühl music school. He drummed in live bands for a seven-year stretch, from 1988 to 1995, playing with Speed Is Essential and Sore! In 1998, the electronic music of the Vienna scene started catching his ear, and he switched over to the digital realm and began creating music on his laptop. Well-versed in the art of rhythm at this point, it seemed a natural process to make beats based on complex time signatures and wild syncopated fills.

Working under the name B. Fleischmann, his first album, Pop Loops for Breakfast, was released on Morr Music in 1999, followed by the Sidonie EP in 2000. International tours followed, and in the 2000s Fleischmann released a number of albums that showed him veering back toward his organic roots. Sandwiched by singles, EPs, and expansive live recordings, A Choir of Empty Beds (2000) and Welcome Tourist (2003) were among his most notable releases. Fleischmann also participated in Duo505 with chiptune musician Herbert Weixelbaum, who debuted in 2004 with Late, and experimental quintet the Year Of, whose sole full-length was released in 2006. Fleischmann's The Humbucking Coil also appeared in 2006, and 2008's Angst Is Not a Weltanschauung! included a guest appearance by Daniel Johnston.

After a few years between releases, Fleischmann returned in 2011 with the live double CD For M/Mikro_Kosmos – the first part dedicated to the late Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. I'm Not Ready for the Grave Yet, a more lyrical release featuring guitarist Markus Schneider and saxophonist Karin Waldburger, appeared in 2012. After another lengthy absence, Fleischmann released Stop Making Fans in 2018. The album featured a return appearance from Schneider, in addition to vocalist Gloria Amesbauer and drummer Valentin Duit. ~ Jason Lymangrover