#12. Schizophrenia – Schizophrenia (1995)

Schizophrenia by Schizophrenia was on a double A-side bonus, limited edition 12″ single, that came free with some copies of the Tresor 3 compilation. On NovaMute Records, and backed by Sun Electric’s Monolith, “Schizophrenia” was the alias of duo Moritz von Oswald, and Thomas Fehlmann.  A dub techno and ambient track, which samples krautrock legends Ash Ra Temple’s Sunrain, (taken from their New Age of Earth album (1977)), the song also makes more than just a nod to minimalist Steve Reich’s Music for a Large Ensemble. A real slow-burner, the song conveys a sense of nervous expectation and impending pleasure, which is amplified by the introduction of base about two minutes into the track. It remains ideal for playing at the start of a club techno night to build up the mood for the night ahead, and I must have heard it doing the rounds in Glasgow clubs in my early 1990s techno-house-head guise.  Although von Oswald is rightly feted as a pioneer of techno music, (and better-known as one half of both Basic Channel and Maurizio), Fehlmann’s contribution to this (very) short-lived project cannot be underestimated. As Fact Magazine put it, “‘Schizophrenia’ is a rare moment where he [Fehlmann]  allows himself to go headfirst into shimmering, trance-inducing long-form dub techno. Gorgeous.