kontakte musik

Remix Album Pre-Order

2012-01-10T03:16:00.004Z

Further to our earlier post below... we are now ready to start taking pre-orders for the Deconstructed Reconstructed remix album.

Full track-listing is as follows:
01_every passing hour [threethings remix]
02_early evening bleeds into night [clem leek remix]
03_the owls won't see us in here [snoblind remix]
04_astralagus [agrestis remix]
05_with glowing hearts [cathal mcbride remix]
06_a snowflake in her hand [pie are squared remix]
07_hope... [russell.m.harmon remix]
08_the ocean between you and me [a dancing beggar remix]

To reiterate, there will only ever be 50 copies of this. Each one will be housed in a hand-stamped and individually numbered recycled case, with an artwork insert, stamped and numbered CD-R, and WMTNS sticker. Get in quick! The price is £8.50 (including postage to anywhere in the world) - paypal link below.

Please note though that this is a pre-order - the 'official' release date which we are aiming to have everything posted by is Monday 30th January. If they're ready earlier though you'll get them earlier!

We seem to be having some issues with the Paypal link above. If it doesn't work for you please Paypal the 8.50 payment to benworth@gmail.com - thanks and apologies for any confusion.

Strangeways Radio Blog article

2012-01-09T21:43:00.002Z

This took us by total surprise today. A really nice little article on the Strangeways Radio Blog about us and what we do best.
Many thanks to Amber Crain for doing this for us.

"Their sound is eclectic – sometimes stark, sometimes lush, sometimes melancholy, sometimes unsettling – but always amazing, and always carrying with it a gorgeous shoegaze undercurrent that brands their songs as truly unique. Kontakte will no doubt continue to deliver on their initial promise to create their own brand of “hypnotic, textural, cinematic noise.” Whatever this band does next, it’s going to be worthy of much attention."

Well, we're working away on that right now, we'll see you soon with some more noise.
x.

Happy New Year

2012-01-06T01:11:00.000Z

Some exciting news to kick off 2012...

Last autumn, to close the 'Negative Spaces...' chapter, we asked some of our favourite artists to remix each of the tracks from the album, and the results of these endeavours are now ready to share.

Contributors include; Clem Leek, A Dancing Beggar, Snoblind, Russell.M.Harmon (formerly known as hereyeslike_static), Pie Are Squared, and more. The remixes range from being gentle re-workings of the originals, through to extreme re-interpretations which are unrecognisable from the source material! Each one is a fantastic piece of music in its own right though, and we are eternally grateful to those who have given their time to contribute to this collection.

The remix album is titled 'Deconstructed Reconstructed' and it will be released in a limited edition of just 50 handmade copies. Each copy will be housed in a hand-stamped and individually numbered recycled case, and will contain an artwork insert, stamped and numbered CD-R, and sticker. Production is underway as we speak, and some work-in-progress pictures of the process are below. They will be priced at £8.50 (including postage to anywhere in the world), and we are looking to open a pre-order for them within the next week or so. They will then be shipped as soon as they are ready within the next 2-3 weeks. Keep your eyes peeled to the usual communication channels for updates...

kontakte x

Last Show For 2011

2011-12-05T18:57:00.003Z

This will be KONTAKTE's last show of a brilliantly successful and curiously challenging 2011. We're quite happy to get this last one in before the weather takes a turn for the worse and we hibernate away to write new songs for next time we're let loose. Thank you to everyone who came to see us live this year, gave us a show this year and sent love to us when we triumphantly released our second album back in March.

Hope to see you Saturday.
x.

2011-12-05T17:59:00.007Z

Thanks to Simon Kallas for these excellent photos of us playing at The Monarch in London last month.
Simon seems to be a busy man, check out his Facebook page which is crammed with many photos of many bands.

Clickie Here

Not the old Monarch but a new one!

2011-11-04T22:34:00.003Z

Starting to come down now from our Germany excesses, being back at work for a week is certainly a sobering experience.
We're gonna hold onto a touch of the madness for just a little longer though and take it to Camden Town next Tues night.
A great little line-up has been sorted by Glasswerk Promotions in a venue we haven't played yet.
This is at the Monarch on Chalk Farm Road NW1, but not the Barfly that was surely called the Monarch at some
point many moons ago.
Hope to see you there...
x.

2011-11-01T22:50:00.003Z

Trying to think of a way to sum up our crazy Deutschland experience, it's proving impossible.
Our host with the most Scott Causer has had a good crack at it so please follow the link and check out the nonsense and the videos. A big thankyou has to go to The Lost Rivers who did a remarkable job of putting up with us and coordinating us along miles and miles of autobahns even though we could never manage to keep up with them.
We miss you very much.
x.

Revolution In Sound II Tour Blog

Heads up Germany... see you soon.

2011-10-22T18:08:00.000+01:00

A brilliant night of noise!

2011-10-16T20:40:00.004+01:00

Thanks to all who came down to the Windmill last night for the Revolution In Sound II album launch. A brilliant night of noise. Cheers to everyone that squeezed in to witness the (temporary) lite-version KONTAKTE for the first time. Big up to our host with the most Mr Scott Causer. Next stop - Deutschland.

Revolution!

2011-10-06T16:01:00.003+01:00

Here we go, rested, slept and guitars dusted down.
None of those thing are true actually, we haven't had a minute to do any of them.
Our summer and 'time off' consisted of, in no equal measure; having babies, getting married, being stuck on underground trains, wrestling sharks, body surfing (badly) in the Aegean sea and at somepoint, writing some new music.
October is where everything seems to get real silly as we've booked some shows to top it all off.
Saturday 15th October @ The Windmill, London see's the Launch Party of Northern Star Records 'Revolution In Sound II'.
We're chuffed to be on the bill alongside our friends The Lost Rivers and Youngteam.
It will be a great night.
If anyone arrives nice and early check out a familiar face playing with The Electric Mainline who start proceedings at around 7.30.

Our track 'Superbug' is included on the compilation 'Revolution In Sound II' which is released on Monday 17th October via Northern Star / Cherry Red Records.

This show looks set to be a good warm-up for our German tour starting on October 24th in Regensburg.
More news on this exciting adventure very soon.
See you daan sarf!

Organ Surgery

2011-06-26T17:19:00.002+01:00

A post for Geeks this one: Our trusty old Vox Continental has been dusted off and is undergoing a little surgery. It's been taken apart, cleaned out, broken bits replaced and will hopefully all go back together as it's meant to. She's 46 years old now and a true vintage, our new recordings are going to be all the better for having her back in action.

Munich - Lunastrom 15/04/11

2011-06-23T11:25:00.008+01:00

Thanks to Sandra Rech (and The Lost Rivers) for these awesome photos of our show in Munich. It was quite an intense night of noise and lights as you can see below.
Thanks to Marc @ Lunastrom aswell for putting on one of the best shows KONTAKTE have ever been involved in.

The whole set of photo's from this show can be found here.

Classic Rock presents Prog Magazine Article!

2011-06-18T10:51:00.004+01:00

At last! A close encounter with the mystery men of UK post-elctronica.

Prog counts itself lucky today. London-based quartet Kontakte have popped in for a photoshoot and are happily turning face-forward for the camera. This is definitely not their customary way of greeting the record-buying public. Press releases tend to find them with backs to camera, wandering away to some unspecified point in the middle distance, while there's never any sign of them at all on their EP and album sleeves. Instead there are deserted shorelines, tracts of icy tundra and elastic beams of neon light. Kontakte are a band who clearly want their music to do the bidding, "Very much so," says guitarist Stuart Low. "When we had to do promotional shots for the new album we were playing a gig in Bournemouth and thought there'd be nothing better than having a stroll on the beach. So we had our picture taken walking away from the camera so you can't really see us properly." As founder member, bassist and keyboard player Ian Griffiths explains: "It's almost mirrored in our live shows too, whicxh are smothered in lights and projections. It helps to take the crowds attention away from us."

All of this appears to be entirely in keeping with Kontakte's music. The titles of their two albums to date - 2008's Soundtracks To Lost Road Movies and this years sublime We Move Through Negative Spaces are an indication of intent. Their all-instrumental music is highly imagistic, an ethereal mix of delicate melodies and glitchy beats, marked by sudden gusts of guitar noise. The songs feel like companion pieces to films that may or may not exist. "Most of the music comes quite naturally," offers Griffiths. "When we write a song the initial idea is fairly laid out. But then layers are introduced on top of that and we're free to improvise. We're not really a jamming band as such, we need some sort of idea to kickstart it. And there's a sense of exploration to the electronica side of things. You just discover more as you go along."
Disciples of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, This Will Destroy You and Mogwai will find much to savour in Kontakte's restlessly inventive soundwaves. Their appropriation of electronic elements is especially key." When I was younger I was put off a lot of electronic music because my older brother was a DJ in a local club, playing the sort of stuff I hated back then," admits Low. "It was all terrible happy-hardcore stuff. But as I got older I discovered Warp Records and Aphex Twin. The late '90s was a big time for me." Griffiths adds: "One of the first electronic records that really blew me away was the first Suicide album. It was the most primal thing I'd ever heard. I liked the stripped-back attitude to what they were doing. There's a part of that that blends into what Kontakte are doing too."
In just a few short years, Kontakte have built up an impressive reputation as blisteringly intense live performers. "The most enthusiastic people after a show are usually young guys in their 20s," says Low, "which is always good. It means they're not just people who grew up with post-rock bands. But," he adds with a chuckle, "we still get the chin-strokey muso types too."

Rob Hughes - Classic Rock presents Prog (Issue 17) May 2011.

Tokafi Interview

2011-05-08T15:45:00.001+01:00

The rather sweet website Tokafi recently asked us to answer some question for them.
Click the link to have a read :

TOKAFI

Classic Rock Magazine Review

2011-04-26T21:59:00.004+01:00

Northern Kontakte Formation

2011-04-26T21:53:00.002+01:00

That was fun. A lot of it.
Matt Bartram did an immense job for, not least before playing a full, stunning, set of his own with Air Formation.
We were also joined for 'Superbug' by the loveable Scott Causer from Northern Star Records who pressed buttons and twiddled things to ear-piercing levels.
More news about our inclusion on the next Northern Star compilation series here soon, but for now, go have a look at their spanking new website :

Northern Star

Club AC30

2011-04-19T23:53:00.002+01:00

It has always been a pleasure to play for Club AC30. One of the most honest promoters out there that book a band solely on the basis that they like your music and not because they think (or insist!) that you're going to bring X amount of people to a show to line their pockets.
Through Club AC30 I had the good fortune of discovering Air Formation about 7 years ago and was sold instantly. It was infact after Matt Bartram's first solo album release that a lightbulb went off in the head to contact Drifting Falling Records with whom he had released 'Arundel'. To become label mates has definitely been an accomplishment.
Matt produced a remix for us which was released on our debut album and now - and maybe for one night only, who knows? - Matt Bartram joins KONTAKTE onstage for Club AC30's 7th Birthday Party this coming Thursday 21st April at The Lexington in London.
Amazing.
It's nice when things work out.

Ian.

Club AC30
Air Formation

Music Week Magazine article

2011-04-13T17:53:00.002+01:00

It may be small, but it's very sweet.
Album feature in this weeks 'Music Week' magazine.

2011-04-13T11:18:00.003+01:00

Exciting times!
We chuckled through our first ever 'proper' Photo Shoot yesterday. Classic Rock magazine have a feature on the new album in their next issue. We wouldn't call ourselves photogenic exactly but they seemed to come out alright.
To top off a good week we're heading out to Germany tomorrow for this show in Munich on friday.
Excellent venue, excellent lights by the look of it + excellent line-up.
No brainer really. Simple. Come down if you're around.
Lunastrom

When The Sun Hits The Sinema

2011-04-10T12:24:00.013+01:00

There could be two reasons why the updates here have been so slow of late:
1. We're lazy and there's nothing to tell
2. We've been mad busy and just haven't found the time
We're happy to say it's definitely the latter!
We'll try and make amends to that and keep on top of things more regularly in future. Now we have developed this Blog page into something a bit more informative then some more information might be a good thing.

Thanks for all the nice responses we've had for the new album so far. Some nice reviews coming in which we'll feature on a separate Press page here soon. Easiest way to find these at the moment is to scout our Facebook page.
There are some amusing things happening in the next week or so (which we'll tell you about when they've actually happened!) plus confirmation of some more live shows. Eyes peeled.
In the meantime, a couple of recent interviews we have done for a couple of great websites :

When The Sun Hits
At The Sinema

Website Updates...

2011-03-24T23:52:00.002Z

Hello all
We're just in the process of updating this site to become a better source of Kontakte information - bear with us whilst it is being updated!
kx

Vibe Bar this Thursday 17 March

2011-03-13T21:34:00.006Z

Thank you for the fantastic response regarding the limited edition copies of the new album - if you've ordered one it should be with you already, or if not, it is in the post and will be arriving shortly. The bulk of these 50 copies have been sold now - we have held just a few back to sell at the album launch show this Thursday 17 March at Vibe Bar on Brick Lane, E1. If there are any left after this we'll put the paypal link back up.

Hopefully see you there X

Ps. Nice review just in from Penny Black Music here...

Desktop Wallpapers

2011-03-11T01:55:00.005Z

So, who wants a 'Negative Spaces' desktop wallpaper for their computer?? Go get 'em from our Picasa page here...

We Move Through Negative Spaces - Desktop Wallpapers

Two different album artwork themed designs are available, and they can be downloaded in 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios. Enjoy, and spread the word...!

Limited Edition Album Pre-Order!

2011-02-27T20:58:00.005Z

So. After months of plotting this special limited edition of our new album, 'We Move Through Negative Spaces', it feels good to announce that we are now ready to start taking orders.

The limited edition package will contain the standard gatefold CD edition of the album, plus a DVD-R with exclusive videos made for three album tracks. It will also contain a whole host of extras, such as... a square pin badge of album artwork, a schematic of the album's recording process, a music score for one of the tracks, an original photo (hand numbered 1 to 50) taken by one of the band, a live photo, and a download card for our previous (non-album track) Superbug. It will all be housed in a recycled cardboard wallet, hand stamped and hand numbered, and limited to just 50 copies forever! Once these are gone, they are gone.

The price (including postage and packing) will be £12 for those of you in the UK, and £14 for postage to Europe/Worldwide. ~~Please click on the Paypal link to the right to order~~. We are piecing this all this together as we speak, so the limited editions will ship out on (or very close to) the official release date of March 14th.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who made this possible, especially those who put so much time and effort into the videos - Marko Waschke, John Davide and Patricia Flores. And not forgetting the continual support from Jon at Drifting Falling who has faithfully backed us for a few years now.

Thank you all x

Hope...

2011-02-23T17:37:00.005Z

Viral videoclip from the forthcoming animation by John Davide for our track Hope... The full version will be available on a DVD with the Limited Edition version of our new album, alongside videos for the tracks Astralagus and A Snowflake In Her Hand.

Hello 2011

2011-02-16T00:10:00.002Z

Just a quick update to say thanks to those who came out to see us in Stamford and Brick Lane this week, and a little reminder that our new album 'We Move Through Negative Spaces' is released very soon by the mighty Drifting Falling Records. The standard CD will be available in a very fetching gatefold digipack sleeve. Downloads will be available via iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby etc.

There will also be a very limited run of a lovingly packaged CD/DVD combo edition containing videos for some of the album tracks plus one off artwork and photos in a hand-made, hand-printed and hand-numbered recycled cardboard wallet. These will be limited to 50 copies only. Forever.

Drifting Falling are previewing a new track every week up until release date (March 15th), and they have the album available for pre-order already (ships early on March 1st). A purchase option for the limited edition will arrive shortly - stay tuned here, or on facebook, twitter etc for details.

People have started writing some nice words about it too... http://www.futuresequence.com/article/review-kontakte-we-move-through-negative-spaces/
http://www.textura.org/reviews/kontakte_wemovethrough.htm

Finally, in case you haven't already grabbed it - the Snowflake Remix EP is still up for free download over at our Bandcamp page.

Thanks for listening x

Snowflakes...

2011-01-02T11:17:00.007Z

Hello, Happy New Year.
As a goodwill gesture, to ease you all into 2011, we are giving away a FREE Download EP.
The 'Snowflake Remixes EP' can be downloaded now from our Bandcamp website in pretty much any format you desire (mp3, wav, flac, etc).
The original track 'A Snowflake In Her Hand' is taken from our forthcoming album 'We Move Through Negative Spaces' (March 2011).
This EP contains the original version plus 5 remixes all conceived over the winter months by each member of the band.

Follow the link by clicking the image below, download and enjoy !

Mini-Tour Next Week !

2010-10-20T18:07:00.005+01:00

Hello.
Just a quick heads up to you all before KONTAKTE hit the road next week on our first jaunt of headline shows (except London - see below). We've been rehearsing and teaching ourselves how to play our own songs backwards (!) so if the excitement of it all gets too much for us we should know where we are if we miss a beat. And if we do, we'll be expecting you to tell us afterwards !

There's a few more dates coming after these when the dark nights really start drawing in but first up we have :

Weds 27th October - Leeds, Carpe Diem (Free Entry)
Thurs 28th October - Barrow-In-Furness, The Nines
Fri 29th October - London, Club AC30 @ The Wilmington Arms w/ port-royal & Winterlight
Sat 30th October - Chichester, The Inn

Tickets for the promisingly excellent London show can be found here :

Tickets

They are selling... be warned.

In other happy news, our second album 'We Move Through Negative Spaces' is currently being made to look as good as we think it sounds over at the Drifting Falling Records headquarters.
We plan to get our mits on it soon to construct a kind of Fort Knox of handmade limited edition packaging around it, which means if you're quick enough to get one of the first 50 copies you'll be greeted with more than you expect in terms of band/fan generosity.
The limited edition will come complete with a DVD containing films for 3 of the album tracks and many other special bits and pieces.

Hope to see you out there next week.

Kontakte step aboard the Type PR roster

2010-10-18T23:22:00.009+01:00

"Type PR Is pleased to welcome Kontakte to its exclusive PR roster. The band embark on a mini UK tour throughout Oct/Nov before they release their second album 'We Move Through Negative Spaces' via Drifting Falling early next year."

Type PR

We Move Through Negative Spaces

2010-08-13T22:05:00.003+01:00

So - we've spent the best part of a year writing, recording, re-writing and re-recording our second album. Its finished now and we are very, very happy with it. We've decided to call it 'We Move Through Negative Spaces'.
The title doesn't refer to any one thing in particular, its a fairly open-ended phrase that we liked the sound of after coming across it whilst one of us was studying architecture !? It transpires that it could somehow refer to the journey of Kontakte through the years - somewhat up, somewhat down but forever moving forward. Kontakte although at times has come up against it has managed to move on - into the positive place it finds itself now.

We recorded 11 tracks in all. Some were done at the home studio, some in our rehearsal room straight to a laptop. We mixed it for what at times felt like an eternity, the repetition becoming disorientating, its a good job the kettle stayed permanently on the boil.
3 of these tracks came out in July on the super-limited edition single 'Superbug'. Some copies must still be available out there... you can find Superbug itself on iTunes if you prefer.
The remaining 8 tracks have made the cut onto the album and it goes without saying that we are extremely proud and happy with the results.

We took the tracks to Metropolis Studios in London to have them mastered by our man Mazen. Quite an incredible suite as you'll see below. To hear the tracks back over speakers that stand 8ft tall is an experience in itself. The tracks are now sounding pristine and awaiting you to hear them. Nuff said.

We hope to have the album with you this autumn.
x.

Hamburg

2010-07-15T13:56:00.003+01:00

A massive thankyou to all who came out to see us and kept us warm at the Astra Stube in Hamburg last week. We had such a good time watching you watching us. The energetic dancing at the front kept it all very manic and entertaining. There are plans afoot to make it happen again early next year plus giving us the chance to visit a few more German towns. See you soon.

New Album Teaser

2010-07-15T13:51:00.004+01:00

Germany !

2010-06-28T20:35:00.002+01:00

Well it had to happen didn't it ?
I mean KONTAKTE finally getting to play in Deutschland, not them beating us in the World Cup, surely that was always on the cards right ?!
Yes - we are happy and excited to reveal, hot on our heels after our show at the Lewes Psychedelic Festival this month that we have been invited to play at the Feedback Fever Weekender in Hamburg this Saturday 3rd July @ Astra Stube.
We are quite honoured to be a part of this prolific event which last year played host to The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart & Ulrich Schnauss amongst others.
Also playing this year are our friends Air Formation and Sweden's Youngteam.
The weekend also see's DJ sets from Northern Star Records mainman Scott Causer.

This occasion for us is only slightly marred by the fact that it will be young Ben Worths' last gig with us for the foreseeable future : (
Ben joined KONTAKTE in 2007 and has since played 50 shows for us, helped us to write two albums and put in alot of mileage in the process. We wish him well with his future adventures across the atlantic but not before he deafens us properly for just one last time on saturday night !

Superbug

2010-06-25T21:16:00.003+01:00

The New Single SUPERBUG will be released on 12th July 2010.
Our good, good friends at Drifting Falling are doing the honours for us once again (thankyou !x).
This is a one-off, extremely limited release. A bit of a stop gap between what has come before and the forthcoming album which we hope to have with you before the end of the year.
SUPERBUG will be released on CD, strictly limited to 100 hand numbered copies worldwide. The CD contains 2 extra tracks that will ONLY EVER be available on this CD. SUPERBUG itself will also be available as a Download via all worthy digital distributors.
The CD release will be available directly from us and Norman Records in the UK - N5MD in the US - & P*Dis in Japan.
More details re' the Download situation to arrive in good time. But before then, have a listen to the track we're banging on about on our Myspace page.

Lewes Psych Fest!

2010-06-09T23:38:00.005+01:00

This was fun. Lights and madness in an old church in a really old town down south. Never seen so many people quite content to hang out drinking in a graveyard... well, haven't seen that since i was a bored teenager.

Norwich Arts Centre 9/4/10

2010-05-02T15:58:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Nigel Nudds for the superb shots taken of us in Norwich. An amazing night all round. More of Nigels work can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigesphotobox

2010-05-02T15:55:00.000+01:00

2010-05-02T15:54:00.000+01:00

2010-05-02T15:52:00.000+01:00

2010-05-02T15:50:00.000+01:00

2010-05-02T15:48:00.000+01:00

Its May ! And raining !

2010-05-02T15:33:00.001+01:00

May. Already. When did that happen ?

Whilst we were busy.

We rehearsed. We got in a van and played our new songs.

Some pictures will go on our blog page today to prove it.

We would have played some more if Mt. Eyjafjallajökull hadn't have got all angry on us.

Hopefully we can rearrange that show for another time.

Theres more coming in the shape of these :

Weds 5th May @

The Queen Of Hoxton

1 Curtain Rd

London EC2

w / Now & Godzilla Black (kontakte onstage 8.30 sharp !)

£5

Sat 15th May @

Champions, Bournemouth

(BH One Promotions 5th Birthday)

w / Muddy Miles & Nion Abeo

£4

... and then its June, when things get really exciting.

More detailed news to follow when we have it, but our new single Superbug will be released in June on super limited edition CD and Download. Our friends at the increasingly excellent Drifting Falling Records are helping us again.

Plus more shows in June including The Lewes Psychedelic Festival - which we are anticipating to be a good one.

More info to be found on our myspace and facebook pages.

Saki (and the Scumbag)

2009-12-20T16:30:00.004Z

To the individual who broke into our car last night in Manchester whilst we were playing in Cafe Saki... You are a complete shit. We hope you have a crap christmas and end up behind bars where you belong in 2010. Scum.

This unfortunately spoiled an otherwise good night. The gig was cool, Epic45 were great and the long drive home went OK even with all ice around. Thanks to Carefully Planned for organising the night and cheers to those who came down to watch.

In other news... we're cracking on with recording a bunch of new songs for album no.2 which will be with you next year, and we're pretty excited with how they're sounding so far. I'll try and post some excerpts up here soon.

Happy Christmas everyone...

(except the scumbag mentioned above obviously)

kontakte x

It starts again.

2009-10-07T19:54:00.003+01:00

Our various other commitments are out of the way now so we can finally get back on with the important business of making music. Which is exciting. First rehearsal for two months is tomorrow night. I'm guessing it's going to sound pretty ropey to start with, but I'm sure it'll all come good in the end...

That's all. Stay tuned campers.

Roadchef... Why no Dyson Airblades???

2009-08-13T22:47:00.005+01:00

Well, that's us done gigging for the next few months then. Finished off last weekend in Birmingham (Sound of Confusion at The Victoria) on Saturday, then The Good Ship with Monsters Build Mean Robots and Up C Down C... on Sunday night. Good times. There's some great photos from Brum here - thanks Wayne.

For the rest of the summer we will be mostly working, studying, recording music, and serving burgers in varying measures. Most exciting of these options is obviously the recording part. We've got a few new things in mind and we're looking forward to trying to finish them off. Hopefully the fruits of these labours will be with you shortly.

There's also an exiting kontakte sound-tracked animation in the works - we'll keep you posted.

Adios amigos...

1234 I declare a thumb war

2009-07-22T19:42:00.002+01:00

Hello

So... we've played a few gigs over the last few weeks - the Drones Club 5th birthday last Saturday was a particular highlight. Great crowd, cool promoter, chilled out atmosphere - an enjoyable evening all round. Cheers to those who organised it, those who had kind words afterwards, and those who hitched a ride in the van home...

We've got a couple more live dates coming up that you should probably come along to. First up is the aftershow party of the 1234 Shoreditch Festival this Sunday 26th July at Catch, 22 Kingsland Rd, E2. We'll be onstage around 10pm.

The festival itself is in Shoreditch Park, N1 and starts at midday. Tickets apparently still available and only £15 - which gets you in to the main festival and all aftershow parties...

www.seetickets.com - www.ticketmaster.com - www.viewlondon.com

More info on the festival itself is here - the1234shoreditch.com

On a completely unrelated note - this makes me laugh.

Free Gig Wed 1st July

2009-06-28T17:06:00.008+01:00

Evenin' all.

Not sure if anyone actually reads this thing but just thought I'd throw out a few nuggets of kontakte related info into the ether...

We are playing a free gig this Wednesday 1st July at The Legion in Old St, London. Onstage around 10pm apparently. More info here... www.myspace.com/oddwed
We've given Northern Star Records a track for their forthcoming compilation CD 'Revolution In Sound' - details here... www.northernstarrecords.co.uk
Some nice people from Dazed & Confused asked us some questions over email last week - go here... http://www.dazeddigital.com/Music/article/3744/1/Kontaktes_Lost_Road_Movies

Other random facts that are bouncing around my head and that I would like to get off my chest...

BT are the most incompetent, faceless corporation I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with.
iPhone's are very good at the 'i' stuff, but not so great at the 'Phone' stuff.
Forgetting your little sister's birthday makes you feel very guilty.
Sporting panda eye sunburn marks in photos at your friends' wedding looks silly.
Her Eyes Like Static remix of 'you're in my thoughts' by woriedaboutsatan is a fantastic piece of music.

That's about it. See you on Wednesday hopefully...

Gigging...

2009-05-24T11:14:00.003+01:00

Hello you.

It’s been a while since anything was written here, so here are some new words.

So… We have four pairs of hands in the band now. Gary has joined because (a) he brings the average age of the band down to something more respectably 20-something-ish, and (b) he can play guitars pretty damn well.

We played our first gig as a four piece at the Buffalo Bar for Goonite last week, and despite London’s rush hour traffic conspiring against us to prevent any chances of a sound check it went relatively smoothly. Definitely more to come, but as first attempt it was satisfying enough. We shared the bill with two other great bands too – The FM Flash and worriedaboutsatan. If you haven’t already had a listen to these guys you should do…

Other things kontakte have been doing this week include…
- directing vitriolic rage toward letting agents
- buying bedsheets for work colleagues
- indulging in a layabout student lifestyle
- driving vans and lifting amps

So there we are then.

We have more gigs coming up in the next few weeks and months – we’d love to see you there. Keep an eye on the myspace site for the dates.

New tracks, new Stuart

2009-03-01T17:54:00.004Z

Four new tracks have been uploaded to the myspace player over the last few weeks for your aural pleasure. They're the fruits of our home recording labours over the last few months, and we hope you like them. Still at the demo stage at the moment but there are plans afoot to set them free properly as soon as possible. www.myspace.com/kontakteuk

We're also pleased to let you know that kontakte has a new member - Stuart has joined to take over guitar duties from Paul, who sadly had to leave the band recently. It's exciting to start rehearsing again and getting ready for some live dates in April/May time. Dates to be confirmed shortly. Hopefully we'll see you all there...

Hello 2009

2009-02-01T14:33:00.005Z

Looking out the window this morning - it was impossible to ignore the odd paradox that is sunshine and snow, both falling from the sky at the same time. Serenity and calmness with a vague threat of one trying to engulf or take out the other. A new track 'Hope...' was being uploaded to our Myspace page at the time and the scene seemed to fit the track perfectly.

This is the first of four tracks which will be uploaded throughout February. The results of a very cold British winter that found us hibernating from the elements, hugging radiators and consuming endless cups of tea. For now they're demos, but there are plans being hatched to set them free sometime this year. Stare out the window and enjoy...

Also, Plan B said nice things about our album...
"Surging forth on a throb of sleek drum machine, Kontakte glide along a shimmering autobahn where audio technology drifts across the spectrum of retro-futurism – and with tracks titled such things as "Motorik", how could it be any other way? They shift down through the gears with a satisfyingly even sense of purpose, flit into passages where the only sound audible could be the dashboard clock marking a frozen time; then, they roar into overdrive, pistons heaving and churning with mechanical glee.
Also on board are a team of remixers who make up half the album's content. Winterlight and Twelve ramp up the fuzz quotient to brain-bursting levels, while others like Electric Loop Orchestra concentrate on extended hypnotic rhythms, drones and swirls. Such epic tendencies are emphasised by Polysicness in their stutteringly soaring "Sterile World"; but it's Oppressed by the Line who make a cruise-controlled fadeout."
Plan B Magazine - Feb 2009

Happy Holidays...

2008-12-20T12:16:00.007Z

From a rabbit infested living room/studio in rainy south-west London kontakte wish you seasons greetings. We have currently got our heads down working on new material which we are very excited about, and we’re looking forward to sharing it with everyone in the new year. Ian has a new piano plug-in and isn’t afraid to use it. Ben is wondering if you can have too many delay pedals, and if it is ever OK to record guitars directly without mic-ing them (in order to please the neighbours).... Hmmmm. Dilemmas indeed.

In the meantime though our first full length CD Soundtracks to Lost Road Movies is available via mail order now from the wonderful Drifting Falling Records. The perfect stocking filler and antidote to that X-factor malarky. www.driftingfalling.com

Also available from the following purveyors of fine musical wares:
www.roughtrade.com
www.piccadillyrecords.com
www.normanrecords.com

TRACKLIST:
01 pacific coast highway
02 motorik
03 ghosts of electricity
04 life’s road movies
05 sterile world
06 two and a half thousand miles
-
07 pacific coast highway [twelve remix]
08 motorik [matt bartram remix]
09 ghosts of electricity [electric loop orchestra remix]
10 life’s road movies [winterlight remix]
11 sterile world [polysicness remix]
12 two and a half thousand miles [oppressed by the line remix]

Should you be so inclined you could also acquire a copy of our recent split single with thelightshines. Limited Edition Split 7" Vinyl (Mind Exodus Recordings). Drop us a line if you'd like a copy - see paypal option on the myspace page.

kontakte motorik
thelightshines the space between souls