Neil Landstrumm

by John BushBased in Edinburgh, Scotland, Neil Landstrumm has played upon the verge of experimental techno music, a form no less innovative though its steady beat has been perceived as having little room for intelligent musicians. Influenced by the Sheffield school of industrial bleep techno pioneered by LFO, Landstrumm is also respectful of colleague Cristian Vogel, who more than shares his tendencies toward the obtuse. Landstrumm began producing in the early 90s within a variety of groups, but began solo production in 1993. He met Vogel one year later while DJing at Edinburghs Sativa club, and released a single for Vogels Mosquito label; the duo also combined for several EPs recorded as Blue Arsed Fly. Landstrumm began recording for Peacefrog Records through Vogels connection to Luke Slater, and released his first album Brown for August on Peacefrog in 1995. Increasingly splitting production chores with occasional partner Tobias Schmidt — who records on his own as well — he released his second LP, Understanding Disinformation, in 1996 for Berlins sympathetic Tresor label. Landstrumms formation of the Scandinavia label that year took up much of his time, with the release of solid singles by Adam X, Stephen Brown and others; nevertheless, in 1997 he managed to issue another full-length, Bedrooms and Cities. Though Pro Audio followed just one year later, Landstrumm took some time off to work on his own label (Scandinavia) and on a series of projects with MTV and video-game developers. Finally, 2001 brought another Tresor LP, She Took a Bullet Meant for Me.