As mentioned before Schnitzler's Conal held a special position in my collection as my most unlistenable record. I couldn't help but give it some grudging respect for this. I thought I was pretty hard to scare, but Conal had me beat. So, very occasionally, I'd feel brave enough to test myself again.
On one such occasion I started scanning the spines of the 6" german electronic section of my collection for Conal's distinctive red cover. My eye caught another record next to it: Conrad Schnitzler's Control. How the hell did that get there? This was at least 20 years ago, and I've never been able to remember buying the record, but assume I must have been feeling extra curious or extra bullheaded, or both.
Though released in the same year, 1981, as Conal it's quite a different beast. It's again presented as just two side-long pieces — Control A and Control B — but actually each of these is a collage of sketches. This means it's not as relentless or taxing on your patiences as the other album: if you don't like how it sounds just now, just wait three minutes and it will change. Possibly not for the better, but it will change. "Non-keyboard electronics" it says on the insert, which I guess is the hardcore synth-player's equivalent of Queen's (and The Magnetic Fields') "no synthesisers" declaration.
Something unique happens when the German aesthetic engages with Dada. Like Herman Hesse articulating how anything taken to an extreme meets the opposite extreme "round the back", there's a single-minded earnestness about being playful at work on this record — like Zen Lutheranism.
Once again, while I may have had an eye on posterity and collectability when I bought Warsaw in the Sun, I almost certainly had no thought that anyone else would be interested in Control. It's limited appeal and distribution now make it one of the most valuable records I own.
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