"Here is the map. Where you go is up to you."

November 15, 2012 7:12 PM

Pete Namlook, electronic music producer and ambient pioneer, has died.

Pete founded the label Fax [phone], known for its prodigious and eclectic output of electronic music. Beyond producing his own solo work, he collaborated extensively with others, including Klaus Schulze, Bill Laswell, David Moufang, Geir Jenssen (Biosphere), Jonah Sharp, and Tetsu Inoue.

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posted by Otherwise (39 comments total)

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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:19 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by zer0render at 7:30 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by littlejohnnyjewel at 7:33 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by pompomtom at 7:45 PM on November 15, 2012

Dang. Found him through Ambience For The Masses (PN page), way back in the day, around the same time I started lurking here, but a while before I signed up. Both helped me through some serious insomnia...
posted by kersplunk at 7:45 PM on November 15, 2012

fuck. loved his stuff.

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posted by lalochezia at 7:46 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by davebush at 7:47 PM on November 15, 2012

......<======OOOOOOooooooooo=======>.......
posted by b1tr0t at 7:57 PM on November 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

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posted by FeralHat at 8:13 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by vibrotronica at 8:15 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by lord_wolf at 8:21 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by evilDoug at 8:32 PM on November 15, 2012

Aw crap. Not ok. Go in peace and be one with the dub.
posted by loquacious at 8:38 PM on November 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

You are rain...yes
Silence of the universe
I am beautiful and all is beautiful around me
You bring light,the heartbeat of light,of silence...yes
We are all part of the universe
Seasons will come and go
(Omid/Hope, with Dr. Atmo)
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:40 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by univac at 8:54 PM on November 15, 2012

Oh no. His collaborations with Richie Hawtin and Geir Jenssen are genius.
posted by migurski at 8:57 PM on November 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

I just clicked the first link to see what was going on. It was so beautiful I sat and watch the whole thing. Now I am listening to a Namlook & Richie Hawtin collaboration!

...then I read the rest of the post.


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posted by Mike Mongo at 9:45 PM on November 15, 2012

Oh no. His collaborations with Richie Hawtin and Geir Jenssen are genius.

Clearly this is that kind of thread.
posted by Mike Mongo at 9:46 PM on November 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ugh, more than 100 albums and so little ego. He was truly one of the best.

Rest in peace, ambient gangster.


In Heaven
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:48 PM on November 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh no. No!
posted by ead at 9:56 PM on November 15, 2012

I spent many a night passing out to Biotrip or The Ambient Cookbook II. Really impressive work, well worth the trouble of finding it.
posted by tservo at 11:23 PM on November 15, 2012

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Gah phooie, I also found about the recent death of Martin Dawson linked from the same page. Sic transit gloria mundi.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 11:25 PM on November 15, 2012

Aw, no.

His collaboration with Burhan Öçal is one of my favorite albums.

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posted by palmcorder_yajna at 11:59 PM on November 15, 2012

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posted by iotic at 12:06 AM on November 16, 2012

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posted by runehog at 12:32 AM on November 16, 2012

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posted by juv3nal at 1:17 AM on November 16, 2012

Always looked forward to FAX releases.

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posted by asok at 1:44 AM on November 16, 2012

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posted by acb at 2:11 AM on November 16, 2012

:( .
posted by Foosnark at 6:13 AM on November 16, 2012

So sorry to hear that. He was, deservedly, a legend and I'm glad he was as prolific as he was visionary. Thanks, Pete.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 6:43 AM on November 16, 2012

Fuck. Such a legend and pioneer. RIP

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posted by symbioid at 6:46 AM on November 16, 2012

I travelled to San Francisco around 1994 to see Pete Namlook and Irresistible Force play. I spent most of the concert lying on the floor with everyone else. It was dreamy and something I will not soon forget. Good work Namlook.
posted by pashdown at 7:14 AM on November 16, 2012

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posted by mkb at 8:57 AM on November 16, 2012

:(
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posted by mubba at 9:33 AM on November 16, 2012

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posted by egypturnash at 9:49 AM on November 16, 2012

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posted by charlesminus at 10:26 AM on November 16, 2012

It's really hard to write what I want to say. I don't want to just post a dot, although given that we're talking about one of the icons of ambient music it'd probably be somewhat appropriate. I've been listening to the Fax output for going on 20 years now and it's been such an influential part of my musical knowledge that now that Peter's gone I'm not sure where to look next. His music was the main reason I got into DJing as a hobby, and I think I may even have Pete Namlook to thank for my career as a librarian, at least in part.

I've reserved an entire section of my music storage to the huge amounts of fascinating music Pete released. Way back in the dark, cold days of the early '90s, there was no way to get much information about these strange, oddly labeled discs by artists with equally strange names. We did the best we could with the limited information available on Usenet and primordial websites, but part of the Fax fascination was that it seemed intentionally mysterious, as if to direct attention more to the music itself than the people behind it. We were obsessed with this stuff- at some point in the late '90s, timing and I created a site that collected reviews about the Fax records output just so we'd have a way to keep track of it all. When I was stuck in a crappy game development job and was casting ideas around for something else to do, I thought about how much I enjoyed cataloging and researching those Fax discs and the idea of becoming a librarian popped into my head.

I used Namlook's music as the theme song for a radio show of ambient music that I produced for almost 10 years in Chicago, and I'd try to feature something off the label at least once per show if I could. Not everything worked, of course- I remember that for the longest time the solo album Namlook III seemed to be the butt of many jokes due to its perceived lack of quality- but more often than not, there was always something wonderful inside those discs with the circle motifs.

In addition to his monumental output, Peter also had a pretty weird sense of humor, or at least let us know that he was in on the joke with some of the releases as well- Song titles like "I've Got Chillness Illness" and "Senior Knob Twiddlers", the pun-laden "Dark Side of the Moog" series... He was also fond of interacting with his fans, and popped up repeatedly on a discogs.com forum to talk about what he was up to.

My main regret is that I never got a chance to meet Peter in person. I just figured it'd happen someday.

I'm trying to think of something else to say, but I'm at a loss and just too sad. RIP, Peter. Thanks for the music.
posted by 40 Watt at 10:46 AM on November 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

such a fine sound ... solch ein feiner klang
posted by Twang at 3:01 PM on November 16, 2012

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posted by eendje at 3:54 PM on November 16, 2012