PULSE EMITTER

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Pulse Emitter "Crater Lake" LP, Immune Recordings

2012

Pulse Emitter/Date Palms/Expo 70/Faceplant
Immune; IMMUNE 023; 2xLP; 2012; image
This four way split 2xLP features exclusive full sides of material from Pulse Emitter, Date Palms, Expo 70, and Faceplant (Aaron Coyes of Peaking Lights). The material was mastered and cut to vinyl by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at D&M in Berlin and pressed to high quality virgin vinyl at RTI. The 2xLP is packaged in a beautiful uncoated stock jacket featuring visual artwork by Will Hutchinson and is limited to only 1,000 copies worldwide with a free download coupon.

$19 plus $3 shipping within US only. For international please see my eBay page

Aeons
Aguirre; ZORN19; LP; 2012; image
"Pulse Emitter joins the Aguirre catalogue with a stunning new album full of clear cosmic tones for the new space age. Artwork by Caroline Teagle, Pressed on 180gr. vinyl, Limited edition of 400 copies"

"Hypnotically beautiful new LP from the undisputed king of planetary scale synth hypnosis, Daryl Groetsch aka Pulse Emitter. As the title suggests this LP is based around a series of visionings of praterhuman timescale, ancient to future. The music has some of the gothic beauty of Hermann Nitsch's church organ work but with a surreal retro/future cartoon Dali aspect that is somewhere between classic early James Ferraro sides like Marble Surf and Klaus Schulze circa Black Dance/Timewind. "Spaceship" is a particularly eerie evocation of outer spaceways and nightside language, combining the alien phonetics of Close Encounters with Sun Ra-esque cosmo equations and weeping synthesized strings. Very beautiful. "Pangaea" matches the sound of submerged continents disappearing beneath lapping waves of electricity with a melancholy synth requiem while "Immortality" presents a dystopian vision of electronic life extension that combines Blade Runner sci-fi-isms with subliminal downloads of celestial DNA. No one touches Pulse Emitter in terms of personally-sourced visions of synthesised eternities and this is another major mover. Edition of 400 copies on 180g vinyl. Highly recommended." -David Keenan/Volcanic Tongue

"Portland's Daryl Groetsch has been therapizing modular synth tones as Pulse Emitter for almost a decade now, and we're no stranger to the transcendental and curative effect his pieces are known to elicit, but never before has the artist succeeded with a project of such grace and breadth as he has now. On Aeons, his newest release for one of Europe's premier experimental outlets, Aguirre Records, Groetsch takes the listener on a journey through four distinct periods of history: ancient earth, Renaissance Europe, the future, and a more distant future in which 'consciousness has been uploaded to computers and people live without bodies.' What's remarkable here is the inherently resonant effect of Groetsch's music. Certainly, the experience is open to interpretation and will draw a different response from each listener, but there's something about Groetsch's music that's intuitively "tuned in" to humanity's timeless relationship with the transmundane; a metaphysical exploration of the universe and being through music." -Chris Cantino, End Hits

reviews: Tiny Mix Tapes

SOLD OUT. Purchase mp3s at: Bandcamp, iTunes, etc.

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Pulse Emitter T-Shirt
design by Ashby Lee Collinson, printed on Anvil 420 Organic Cotton T's, Natural color.
sizing chart

$8 plus $3 shipping within US only. For international please see my eBay page

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Ecstasy of Order: The Complete Soundtrack Recording
Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters; CD; 2012; image
"For the first time, the complete soundtrack recording featuring all of the music from the award-winning documentary on CD! Synthesizer compositions by Pulse Emitter, Chilly Willy, and Chris Pickolick in the order they appear in the film. Great music for a long session of Tetris playing."

Pro CDR in jewel case, contains 3 of my previously released tracks.

$10 plus $2 shipping within US only. For international please email me.

2011

Spiritual Vistas
Cylindrical Habitat Modules / Expansive; EE06LP; LP; 2011; recorded 2010; image
"when this post-millennial fascination with 70's / 80's "patch-cord" electronic music & it's subsequent immaculate birth from the ashes of the noise-scene gets pared down to a handful of progenitors, daryl groetsch will likely be one of them, as his steadfast explorations over the prior decade have yielded some of the genre's finest moments ... case-in-point being this impeccably-assembled set of four "song-length" pieces ; each doing a damn good job at avoiding the catch-all trappings that would link lesser productions inexorably with the past ... daryl's is a music that both demonstrates an archivist's knowledge of "classic-era" tropes while simultaneously acting as a calling card for the contemporary reality of module-based electronic systems ; and for that, he's become one of the few artists that transcends both a love of gear and a love of music (seriously, a very small cross-section have managed this) ... ... that said, even the retro-luddite with appreciate the scalar / modal transgressions herein, always remaining light & airy without (con)descending into the whole dolphin / crystal thing that sours a less conceptually - strong affair ... along with last last year's ultra eczema lp, i'm hearing this as his strongest effort yet ; of course this lp is highly recommended to anyone wanting to hear a great example of the state of things ca. 2011 ..." -Mimaroglu Music Sales

"Major new release from Daryl Groetsch aka Pulse Emitter, still the stand-out performer to come out of the whole cosmo-synth explosion. Spiritual Vistas spans four tracks of heady devotional synth spectra that combine the high gothic mass style of early planet-devouring Tangerine Dream with a deep elemental/environmental feels that is profoundly affecting. The opening "Tree Lined Asphalt" conjures the lonely ghost of Nurse With Wound's Soliloquy For Lilith with glassy tones generating eerie circular melodies that dissolve into each other again and again while hinting at stately melodic arcs. "Moonlit Valley" hovers in the sky over the whole Neu/Harmonia cultus with simple ticker-tape melodies overwhelmed with sighing waves of distant synth. Unlike the bulk of the current crop there's little 80s nostalgia or new wave fluff to Groetsch's vision of new synthesized sound and side two's beautiful "High Altitude Golden Sunset" is a case in point, a music of awe-inspiring beauty that is as momentous as Ligeti or Gorecki and as cosmo-focussed as your favourite space cadet (mine's Sergius Golowin, in case you're wondering). No one is making synth music that feels so organic, so rapturous and so 'in tune' with the contours of outer and inner space as Groetsch and this just might be the masterpiece that we've been waiting for from him. You could live inside this. Edition of 500 copies. Highly recommended." -David Keenan/Volcanic Tongue

"Incomparable new full-length from Daryl Groetsch's Pulse Emitter project, and HANDS DOWN album of the year, already. I want to say this is the culmination and apogee of composed synthesizer music in the new millennium, but I guarantee Daryl's got plenty more tricks up his sleeve. The profound development of Daryl's music is more and more apparent with each release, from the crackly, hollow modular nightmares of his early sides to the heartbreakingly beautiful tonal architecture of "Spiritual Vistas", each key and each turn of a knob is a giant stride for the genre as a whole. Bringing to mind some mid-period David Borden at times, or Vangelis' Blade Runner score, this is truly transcendental, emotive music. No joke, Pulse Emitter solidifies itself as the best of the best with this colossal album. The result of almost a year's work, Daryl reduces all of his one-take, live to a tape deck competitors (myself included) to almost nothing. Four deeply contemplated, brilliantly composed analog symphonies that could literally be played for any music fan. It's almost impossible for me not to toss around bold proclamations when talking about this album, but really, this is pretty much as good as it gets. Edition of 500 on black vinyl." -CHM

cover art by Julian Gulyas, photographs by Daryl Groetsch

reviews: Zen Effects

SOLD OUT. Purchase mp3s at: CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, etc.

Forest, Mountain, Valley
Tranquility Tapes; TQ14; c50; 2011; recorded late 2010, early 2011; image
"It's an honor to present new work by one of the most talented and dedicated purveyors of synthesizer music working today: Portland's Daryl Groetsch. Inspired by the environmental majesty surrounding Groetsch's home in the Pacific Northwest, Forest, Mountain, Valley explores the allure and mystery of nature through three long form compositions. Each movement unfolds with utmost patience, utilizing space brilliantly as they are paradoxically minimal in structure and dynamics, yet bursting at the seams with raw beauty and emotion. Recorded in pristine fidelity and played with precision, synthesizer tones are stunningly present, allowing gorgeous melodies to envelop the ears entirely. In just under an hour, Groetsch takes the listener on an entire journey: from the climb, to the vista, and finally to the descent. Just sit back and let the master be your guide. On pro-dubbed and imprinted chrome cassettes, featuring designs by Caroline Teagle."

$6 plus $2 shipping within US only. For international please see my eBay page

2010

Cosmic Images
Expansive; EE01CD; CD; 2010; recorded 9/2009; image
"Cosmic Images is Pulse Emitter's deepest and most personal work to date. Combining his growling modular synthesizer patterns with sweeping keyboard motifs, the beauty and vastness of the universe is evoked in five movements, each based on nebulas, galaxies, etc. The sections morph into one another for one epic prog synth journey. CD in jewel case, mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk, art by Daniel Lopatin. The first release on Daryl Groetsch's private press label, Expansive."

"Self-released CD from Pulse Emitter aka Daryl Groetsch. With titles like "Eagle Nebula" and "Pleiades Cluster" as well as a dedication to "beings on other worlds also admiring the stars", Cosmic Images is set for the heart of the sun, a beautiful series of outer space meditations that connect contemporary synth styles to the gothic black hole of Zeit-era Tangerine Dream/Cyborg-era Klaus Schulze. Sure, there are a whole bunch of solo synth cosmonauts out there right now, but Groetsch is the master of revelatory cosmo-drama and this is possibly his most "beautiful" set to date, Artwork by Daniel Lopatin. Recommended." -David Keenan/Volcanic Tongue

reviews: Animal Psi; Foxy Digitalis

Purchase mp3s at: CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, etc.

$4 plus $2 shipping within US only. For international please see my eBay page

Longing Thresholds
NNA Tapes; NNA012; C30; 2010; recorded Dec 2009-Jan 2010; image; image
"The latest work from Portland, OR synthesizer veteran Daryl Groetsch. Layered, melodic analog synth music for astronauts that yearn for the..."
"Based on Michael Whelan's cover art for Isaac Asimov's Second Foundation and Foundation's Edge novels. Daryl Groetsch: Oberheim OB-8 synthesizer"

$6 plus $2 shipping within US only. For international please see my eBay page

downloads

The four-part Meditative Music series is available for free download
Portland/Brooklyn Mix-Tape by Tin House Magazine download here

history

Full discography

shops

US: Discriminate, Mimaroglu, Aquarius
World: Meditations (Japan), ANOST (Germany)