Building upon the piano-led foundation of 2018’s promising Nummern LP, Kapitel (available now through Quiet Love) finds Jan Wagner fully embracing his electronic side and even working in some vapor-trailed vocals. To get to the heart of how the composer/producer got here, we asked the composer/producer to share an exclusive set of ambient music, much of which was influenced by his work on the mixing desk for Berghain’s Ostgut Ton imprint. Here’s what Wagner had to say about everything from a tender Faust track to one of his favorite sorely overlooked suites….
FAUST – PIANO PIECE
Hans Joachim Irmler — Faust’s organist — is my mentor. We’ve had many wonderful years working together in the studio. He taught me everything about recording and producing music.
ALPHAWEZEN – WALD2
This one was one of my first arpeggio experiences! I remember sitting in the car of my first girlfriend and listening to “Wald2” while driving trough the landscape. Later that day, I Googled “arpeggio” and saved money for a Juno!
DISKRET – DAZED
When I first met James Varghese, he had just came back from the Diskret sessions in the Alps. He showed me this tune and I was stoked right away. You can hear the the snowy mountains in it. I’m grateful mixing it!
ANSWER CODE REQUEST – ORARUM
While mixing Patrick’s Gens record, I fell in love with “Orarum.” It was such a pleasure getting my hands on this one!
DIN – EVOLVE
These tracks are very special to me. I remember sitting in the Ostgut Ton offices, and Jenus (the former label manager) gave me the unreleased vinyl version of Masse. He said, “You should check DIN out; I’m sure you will love it!”
He was absolutely right! I was stoked by the soundscape Efdemin and Marcel Fengler built; the mixture between acoustic and electronic music opened my mind. DIN is the reason why I started mixing piano and electronic parts in my music. It’s difficult to find “Prelude” and “Oscillation” online, but you can listen to the full Evolve EP in the mix!
MODERAT – 3 MINUTES OF
Right after finishing school, I went on a trip to Berlin to check out the city. We arrived late at night with this tune on the radio, so “3 Minutes Of” was my first audiovisual impression of Berlin.
