Answers Come In Dreams

It was only a few weeks ago that I heard the sad news of Pete Namlook’s passing which actually happened at the tail end of last year. Somehow, I had missed this having been out of touch with the recent activity of his record label (and apparently out of touch with the whole world). For those who aren’t familiar with the massive impact on the world of electronic and ambient music that Pete Namlook had, he was founder of the FAX Records label also known by it’s official name Fax +49-69/450464 based out of Frankfurt. The FAX label began in 1992, and in it’s 20 year history it released hundreds of albums. FAX not only was the main output for Pete Namlook’s music, it also released solo albums and collaborations by some of the greatest artists in electronic music, and many of my favorite artists. I can’t remember with certainty, but I believe it was his collaboration with Richie Hawtin (From Within) that led me to the discovery of his work and his label. Some of my favorites that released albums on his label:

• Geir Jensen (Biosphere)
• Jonah Sharp (Spacetime Continuum)
• Richie Hawtin (Plastikman)
• Bill Laswell
• Jochem Paap (Speedy J)
• Tetsu Inoue
• Mixmaster Morris (Irresistable Force)
• Oliver Lieb (L.S.G.)

And of course, there were many incredible artists that I hadn’t heard of prior but discovered through FAX (Chris Meloche, Peter Benisch, Anthony Rother, Burhan Öçal to name a few).

In memory of Pete Namlook, EAR/Rational Music and Carpe Sonum Records will be releasing a 6 CD tribute album of unreleased tracks. The first 3 CDs will consist of tracks from FAX alumni and the other 3 CDs will consist of fan-submitted tracks. Currently, voting is happening to determine which of the 93 fan submissions will make it onto the CDs. This is a really exciting release and also an important one as all proceeds will go to Pete Namlook’s family.

Information on voting as well as the voting form can be found here. Listen to all the fan submissions here and voting will continue through the next few weeks.

06.30.2013 – UPDATE: Voting will likely end tomorrow June 31 so that the selected tracks can be sent off for mastering. Get you votes in quick!
 

07.01.2013 – UPDATE: Voting on fan submissions has now officially closed. There will be either a Pledge Music or Kickstarter campaign for a physical CD release in addition to Bandcamp for the digital release. Also, there is talk of a vinyl release but I think the details of this are still being ironed out. Once the details of physical and digital releases surface, I will create a new post on this site with the information.
 
 
 
Here is one of my favorites from Mr. Namlook:

And here is one of my favorites from the FAX label:

 
 
Rest in peace Pete, your creativity has touched the lives of so many and you will be deeply missed. Safe journeys!

 
 
Official FAX Records Website
Carpe Sonum Records
facebook/namlook
FAX On Discogs