The Straight Road to Schlangenfarm

3Phase is Sven Röhrig. The informing bio on his MySpace page is more than enough to learn the basics.
For the older ones he's no stranger anyway. He immortalized himself from the early days of Berlin techno by producing (along with Dr.Motte) one of the very first hits of the scene, 'Der Klang Der Familie'. He influenced the early Tresor sound as only the guys from Detroit had done yet, spawning a couple of thousands of imitators; meanwhile the track itself was constantly repressed, remixed and sampled (the latest version I know is 2008's from Hell).

A typical catalog mix-up occurs with 'Schlangenfarm', issued as Tresor 20 in 1992, then repressed in NovaMuteUS at 1993 (the one I've got) - which contains a track by 'Straight Road', issued as Tresor 19 in 1994... Which tells us that either (A) the Tresor guys had a secret time tunnel, or (B) the 'Straight Road' sessions were an earlier project with participating artist Andreas Grosser; of whom I know nothing. He seems to be directly influenced by the Berlin School of electronics, hence the massive analog synths and psychedelic atmos, as well as the concept (the whole record consists of one track in seven variations). Put on top of that some tough, fast 3Phase beats and you have what we used to call 'trance', before it became a dirty word.

His first album 'Schlangenfarm' is variating a lot; Orb-like ambient, house and acid influences, techno beats and the Berlin School legacy contrive to create a multi-faceted jewel - possibly a bit dim from the amount of time that gathered on it, still undoubtedly valuable. A history lesson by itself. In my mind, 3Phase easily stands as equal amongst legendary figures like Air Liquide and Thomas Fehlmann, so make sure you pay him some proper attention.


3Phase - 1993 Schlangenfarm
Info here.


3Phase - 1994 Straight Road
Info here.

Also check this post.

Some of you may have noticed that lately I'm a bit into early German techno - the truth is I recently ordered and watched the (2008) 'We Call It Techno' documentary, where a lot of the pioneering (now 'old school') artists or other key figures of the time deposit their views, bitch a little, brag about their doings, etc., etc. I realise I was more or less influenced. It was fun, actually. Hell, Ata and DJ T still seem to be stand-up guys, while others feed their egos and Riley Reinhold (of Traum-Trapez) expresses the same narrow-mindness I've noticed from a lot of people in Germany and which saddens me to the core of my soul. But it's still a matter of taste, as always.