as is

Not quite so much a collection of songs as a series of sonic experiments, 1991's As Is is German avant-gardist Holger Hiller's fourth release, and his most uncompromising to date. Earlier albums like 1984's A Bunch of Foulness in the Pit had a certain low-tech charm, but the advent of digital sampling and sequencers gives As Is a hard-edged sheen.

Singing in English some of the time for the first time since his days in the Hamburg art rock trio Palais Schaumberg, Hiller creates songs that are subtly disturbing even at their most musical, as in the unsettling wobble that underpins the otherwise dreamy "Bacillus Culture." Other tracks, like the weird cutup experiment "Sur La Tete" and the herky-jerky plod of "Neighbours," sound uncannily like a less playful version of the Residents. "Abacus," which sounds like early Art of Noise jamming with the Baader-Meinhof gang, is just plain disturbing. Not for the timid, but often fascinating for electronica fans. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide


Label: Mute Records Ltd.
Catalog#: STUMM 60
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: UK
Released: Sep 1991
Genre: Electronic
Style: Experimental
Credits: Some Arrangements By - Karl Bonnie
Drums: Stefan von Campenhout
Edited By: Holger Hiller , Russell Haswell
Executive Producer: Daniel Miller
Producer: Holger Hiller
Programmed By: Mimi Izumi Kobayashi
Notes: Clear vinyl in printed transparent PVC sleeve.

Tracklisting:

• A1 - Königinnen
• A2 - Sing Songs
• A3 - Bacillus Culture
• A4 - Sur La Tête
• A5 - Neighbours
• A6 - Abacus
• A7 - Gut Und Böse
• B1 - You Vocals - Leslie Winer
• B2 - Mosaik
• B3 - Egg
• B4 - Trojan Ponies
• B5 - Cuts Both Ways