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A major catalyst in the advancement of Berlin techno and the scene's lasting Detroit connection,
Thomas Fehlmann has coursed through decades of underground activity dating back to his early-'80s adventures with post-punk band
Palais Schaumburg.
Fehlmann's fascination with electronic music developed further with the solo project
Ready Made and the operation of Teutonic Beats, a rarely recognized early platform for several major players in underground electronic music. After bonding with the likes of
Juan Atkins and a period of affiliation with
Alex Paterson,
Fehlmann became a full-time member of
the Orb, as heard on
Orbus Terrarum (1995), an album enhanced with the producer's aqueous varieties of ambient and dub techno. Throughout a series of solo albums for Kompakt, from
Visions of Blah (2002) to
Böser Herbst (2021), the entirety of which was issued during a concurrent burst of activity with the resurgent
Orb,
Fehlmann has continually honed his distinctive style, consequently perpetuating his dual status as the label's elder statesman and one of its most consistent artists.
Originally from Zurich, Switzerland,
Thomas Fehlmann left his home country to attend University of Fine Arts Hamburg, where he was inspired by guest professors
Conrad Schnitzler and Joseph Beuys, as well as visitor
Robert Fripp, who convinced him to purchase his first analog synthesizer. While in Hamburg,
Fehlmann and
Holger Hiller formed
Palais Schaumburg, who made their recorded debut in 1980 and became one of the leading forces in German new wave, or NDW ("Neue Deutsche Welle"). The band recorded three albums through 1984, a period during which
Fehlmann contributed collaborative tracks to the
Schnitzler-produced compilation Das Ist Schönheit, reinterpreted
Paul Hindemith's
Wir Bauen Eine Stadt with
Hiller, and cut a single with Peter Gordon, among other activities. For the decade's latter half,
Fehlmann floated from project to project. In 1986, he released a humorously offbeat, sample-oriented 12" as
Ready Made, assisted by a cast including
the Art of Noise's
J.J. Jeczalik. An A&R stint with Phonogram was highlighted by working with
Trio's
Stephan Remmler and speeding the ascent of
Rainbirds, whose first two albums reached the Top Five in Germany. In 1988,
Fehlmann and fellow NDW figure
Inga Humpe provided the soundtrack for Der Kuss des Tigres. His establishment of Phonogram's Teutonic Beats subsidiary the same year proved to be pivotal. Home to additional
Ready Made material and the first productions of
Palais Schaumburg bandmate
Moritz von Oswald (Marathon), Maximilian Lenz (
WestBam), and
Wolfgang Voigt and
Jörg Burger (Best Boy, Third Electric), the club-focused label also placed
Fehlmann in the path of
Alex Paterson, who soon involved him with
the Orb.
Keeping track of
Fehlmann throughout the '90s was even trickier.
Fehlmann and
von Oswald worked closely with
Billy MacKenzie on the final
Associates releases and the madcap singer's first solo material. Around this time, the duo traveled to instigate the Berlin-Detroit techno alliance with Motor City innovators such as
Juan Atkins,
Eddie "Flashin'" Fowlkes,
Underground Resistance, and
Blake Baxter. Interchangeably joined by either
Atkins or
Fowlkes,
Fehlmann and
von Oswald issued a handful of 1992-1993 recordings as
3MB, most notably "Jazz Is the Teacher," for the label offshoot of Berlin's central Tresor nightclub (where
Fehlmann also held a DJ residency).
Fehlmann synchronously co-produced tracks by the group
Sally Davis Jr. and strengthened his creative bond with
Tom Thiel and
Max Loderbauer of
Sun Electric, previously two-thirds of Teutonic Beats act
Fischerman's Friend. At some point in 1994,
Fehlmann also found time to submit an EP of his own,
Flow, for R&S. All the while, his peripheral role with
the Orb gradually became ancillary. He took part in
FFWD with
the Orb and
Robert Fripp, and became a full-time member in the process of making
Orbus Terrarum, released in 1995 with a co-writing credit on all but one of its tracks. The
Fehlmann/
von Oswald axis struck again on Tresor that year with an eponymous ambient 12" as
Schizophrenia. Through R&S outgrowth Apollo,
Fehlmann lengthened his solo discography with the
Good Fridge and One to Three albums, and Blow-Up Chimp 12", all issued during the latter two years of the '90s.
Fehlmann and Mute operator
Daniel Miller produced two tracks for Kompakt's 7" Kreisel 99 series during the same period.
Kompakt, co-owned by
Wolfgang Voigt -- one of the many artists for whom
Fehlmann provided crucial early support -- subsequently became the main outlet for
Fehlmann's solo work across the next two decades. Through
Visions of Blah (2002),
Honigpumpe (2007),
Gute Luft (2010), and
Los Lagos (2018), as well as the documentary soundtracks
1929: Das Jahr Babylon (2018) and
Böser Herbst (2021), plus numerous singles and EPs, the producer continually refined his liquid form of ambient and dub techno. The style unmistakably colored
the Orb's abundant output, some of which also sported the Kompakt imprint. Amid all this productivity,
Fehlmann also partnered with other labels. He put together
Lowflow (Plug Research, 2004), a set that played up his love for hip-hop, underscored with the input of
Dabrye on three tracks. Continuing his fondness for working in duos, a performance in Italy with native musician
Eraldo Bernocchi yielded Manual (21st, 2007), and he linked up with yet another major Detroit techno artist,
Terrence Dixon, for
We Take It from Here (Tresor, 2018). By the early 2020s,
Fehlmann's secondary discography as a remixer had accumulated scores of entries, including tracks by
Erasure,
Can,
the Field, and
Depeche Mode, as well as fellow NDW veteran
Gudrun Gut, with whom he has hosted the Ocean Club radio program, broadcast from Berlin. ~ Andy Kellman