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Pantha du Prince

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Pantha du Prince
Live at Rocket Bar, Boston on May 31, 2007
Live at Rocket Bar, Boston on May 31, 2007
Background information
Birth nameHendrik Weber
Also known asPanthel, Glühen 4
Born1975 (age 48–49)
Bad Wildungen, West Germany
Genres
Years active2002–present
Labels
Websitepanthaduprince.com

Hendrik Weber (born 1975 in Bad Wildungen, Germany),[1] better known as Pantha du Prince, Panthel, and Glühen 4 is a German producer, composer and conceptual artist for electro, techno, house, minimal, and noise, affiliated with Dial Records,[2][3] and Rough Trade Records.[4][5]

Career

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Weber's style evolved from the harder end of the house music spectrum[2] and minimal techno to something he described himself as "sonic house," and incorporating acoustic elements, electronically altered field recordings,[6] and shoegazing references.[7] He launched his Pantha du Prince identity in 2002, with the four-track 12" "Nowhere".[8] His first full-length album Diamond Daze (2004), featured hard-edged club songs,[2] with samples of The Chills' "Pink Frost" on the track "Circle Glider".[8][9] Writing for allmusic, Jason Birchmeier also detected an affinity for shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, as well as stylings of Detroit Techno producer Carl Craig.[8]

Weber's 2005 remix 12" "Butterfly Girl Versions" and the 2006 "Lichten/Walden" 12" were again published on the German label Dial.[8] In 2007, Weber released This Bliss[5] where he explored travel, time, and the joy of forward motion.[2] Commenting on the album's juxtaposition of ethereal melodic elements and a dance music backbone, Tim Finney gave it 7.7 out of 10 in a review for Pitchfork.[10] The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica described This Bliss as Pantha du Prince's "high-water mark, [and] a pensive, slender and tough album".[11]

In 2010, Weber switched to Rough Trade Records before releasing his third album Black Noise,[11] where he sought to "incorporate a wide range of sounds — field recordings, atonal noise, and stray percussion," as part of a "period of musical exploration in the Swiss Alps."[12] Unlike a totalizing experience of This Bliss, some saw tracks on Black Noise as a more compartmentalized treatment of moods and textures that retained Weber's "gift for generating heavily melodic mazes of sound."[13] Featuring Animal Collective's Noah Lennox and LCD Soundsystem's Tyler Pope as guest artists, and following the aforementioned label change, Black Noise was met with more excitement than Weber's previous work.[14]

In 2012, Pantha Du Prince collaborated with Stephan Abry of the band Workshop; the duo formed the project Ursprung (after an Austrian town), and released an album Ursprung on Dial. In 2013, Pantha du Prince and the Norwegian percussion five-piece The Bell Laboratory released their collaborative album Elements of Light.[15] The ambitious project was a symphony for electronics, percussion and bell carillon, a three-tonne instrument comprising 50 bronze bells.[16] When asked if there was anything he wanted listeners to take away from Elements of Light, Weber said, "It was intended to be listened to in one piece [...], more like a DJ mix."[17]

Due to his integral approach, Pantha du Prince manages to unite different areas of cultural production including popular music, performance, and fine arts to one artform.[1] Weber's installations coalesce sounds, architecture, and objects into a transcendental space.[1]

Discography

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As Pantha du Prince

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Albums

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Singles/EPs

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  • 2002: "Nowhere"
  • 2005: "Butterfly Girl Versions"
  • 2006: "Lichten/Walden"
  • 2009: "Behind the Stars"
  • 2009: "The Splendour"
  • 2010: "Stick to My Side"
  • 2010: "Lay in a Shimmer"
  • 2015: "The Winter Hymn"
  • 2017: "Mondholz : Remixes & Canons" (with Arash Safaian)

Compilations

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  • 2011: XI Versions of Black Noise
  • 2011: V Versions of Black Noise
  • 2017: Coming Home

As Glühen 4

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Albums

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  • 2003: Das Schweigen der Sirenen

As Ursprung

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Albums

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  • 2012: Ursprung

As Hendrik Weber

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Albums

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  • 2021: 429 Hz Formen von Stille

Selected exhibitions and shows

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Single exhibitions

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  • 2004: Death by a light of a phonograph at Nomadenoase, Hamburg
  • 2007: Eisenkaute at Nomadenoase, Hamburg
  • 2010: Transitory Triplet at Splace Berlin, Fernsehturm am Alexanderplatz, Berlin
  • 2010: Pantha du Prince at Gallery of Modern Art Brisbane, Australia
  • 2013: Pantha du Prince & The Bell Laboratory at Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Center London

Group exhibitions

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  • 2005: No competitive offers Dial at ARTIS, Den Bosch, Netherlands
  • 2010: Based in Berlin at Kunstwerke, Berlin
  • 2013: in C by Terry Riley, Pantha du Prince & The Bell Laboratory im Barbican, London

Curatorial engagement

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  • 2011: Kunst als Klang at Vittorio Manalese, Berlin

Awards

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  • 2011: Echo in the category "Kritikerpreis"
  • 2014: Musicboard Berlin – Grant Recipient of the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles

References

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  1. ^ a b c Hendrik Weber (Pantha du Prince), villa-aurora.org, retrieved 23 April 2014
  2. ^ a b c d Charles Ubaghs (May 5, 2010). "Hear It In The Electricity: Pantha Du Prince Interviewed", The Quietus.
  3. ^ Aaron Leitko (June 2010). "Pantha du Prince. Editor's Pick", The Washington Post.
  4. ^ "Pantha du Prince – Artist Profile". eventseeker.com. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  5. ^ a b Sam Thorne (Issue 129, March 2010). "Music. Black Noise. Pantha Du Prince" Archived 2010-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, Frieze Magazine.
  6. ^ Charles Ubaghs (February 11, 2010). "Review. Pantha Du Prince. Black Noise", The Quietus.
  7. ^ Michaelangelo Matos (April 7, 2010). "Pantha Du Prince: Techno Music A Rock Fan Can Love", NPR Music.
  8. ^ a b c d Jason Birchmeier. "Pantha Du Prince. Biography", allmusic.com.
  9. ^ Andy Kellman. "Review. Diamond Daze. Pantha du Prince", allmusic.com.
  10. ^ Tim Finney (June 18, 2007). "Reviews. This Bliss. Pantha Du Prince", Pitchfork.
  11. ^ a b Jon Caramanica (January 6, 2010). "Tastes of Mariachi and Alabama. Pantha du Prince", The New York Times.
  12. ^ "Pantha du Prince: Black Noise Album Review – Pitchfork". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  13. ^ Power, Chris. "BBC – Music – Review of Pantha du Prince – Black Noise". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Black Noise by Pantha du Prince". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  15. ^ Pantha Du Prince, 'The musicians involved are from all parts of the musical spectrum, both from the classical scene as well as people from jazz and black metal. It is the real combination of musical characters' | musicserf.com.
  16. ^ Rough Trade Records (January 9, 2013). "Pantha Du Prince & The Bell Laboratory Release Video For 'Spectral Split'".
  17. ^ "Pantha Du Prince". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
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