AW-003: DER LAUF – Kabeltest ’71
Aurora Weltklang
- 1Stromlauf
- 2Erdungsschicht
- 3Langsamer Spulgang
- 4Relaiskörper
- 5Motorimpuls
- 6Kabelbrand
AW003
•
Open edition
AW-003: DER LAUF – Kabeltest ’71
Label: Aurora Weltklang
Format: LP (33⅓ rpm, black vinyl, matte sleeve)
Recording Date: March 1971
Release Date: Spring 1971
Edition: 277 hand-numbered copies
Location: Transmission Sub-Basement, Freiburg Industrial Sector
Total Runtime: 44:54
Genres: Krautrock · Industrial Rock · Progressive Rock · Experimental Rock · Psychedelic Percussion Fusion
SIGNAL PRESSURE REVIEW
There’s no romance in Kabeltest ’71—just heat, hum, and the sound of metal giving way. Recorded in a Freiburg industrial sub-basement by DER LAUF, the album bridges early Krautrock’s wide-eyed experimentation and the cold mechanics of what would become industrial rock. The group—Hajo Kler, Loreta Svein, Ottfried Lenz, Sigurd V., and Giro Detzel—approach their instruments like voltage probes: testing circuits until sound and failure become one.
The A-side, Spannungspfad (Voltage Path), starts in motion. “Stromlauf” rides Detzel’s relentless motorik drumming and Kler’s heavy, compressed bass, with Svein’s piano scratching like electricity against a wall of feedback. “Erdungsschicht” and “Langsamer Spulgang” dive into slower, more dangerous territory: overdriven sax loops, sine interference, and the ambient drift of concrete acoustics.
Flip it and Rückkopplungsfeld (Feedback Field) ups the intensity. “Relaiskörper” is all hammered pulse and fractured tape noise; “Motorimpuls” moves with proto-industrial swagger, bass locked tight against rotating machine percussion; “Kabelbrand” collapses the whole structure, ending in a long, violent fade of oscillation and transformer hum.
The record sounds more like a stress test than a jam—metallic, dry, and claustrophobic, every tone pushing against system limits. DER LAUF didn’t aim to hypnotize; they wanted to see what would break first: the instruments, the tape, or themselves.
Released in 277 copies, it barely circulated outside early ZIRKEL 92 gatherings. But the influence runs deep—its voltage-fed drone mechanics would echo through the next decade of European underground sound. Kabeltest ’71 still feels like a live wire fifty years later, proof that in the right hands, malfunction can be music.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION & RECORDING SPECIFICATIONS
• Recording System: Tandberg Model 15 two-track reel recorder, 7½ ips, direct to tape
• Microphones: AKG D12 overheads (percussion), dual contact mics bolted to steel beams, ambient ribbon mic hung from conduit
• Amplification: Siemens industrial power amps; one channel intermittently failed due to thermal drift
• Voltage Routing: RHY-1 pulse clock prototype (Concord Vallejo lab), producing erratic timing that shaped rhythmic drift
• Acoustic Environment: Concrete vault; 0.8-second metallic flutter echo; duct vibration added low-frequency resonance
• Tape Path: Oscillator and bass cross-fed through feedback junction matrix operated by Sigurd V.
• Mixdown Method: Passive summing through junction boxes; no EQ or compression
• Electrical Artifacts: 50 Hz transformer hum intentionally retained
TRACKLIST + CUE LOG
Side A – Spannungspfad (22:05)
1․ Stromlauf – 06:47
2․ Erdungsschicht – 07:50
3․ Langsamer Spulgang – 07:28
Side B – Rückkopplungsfeld (22:49)
4․ Relaiskörper – 05:18
5․ Motorimpuls – 09:56
6․ Kabelbrand – 07:35
Total Runtime: 44:54
INSERTS & VISUAL EPHEMERA
• 9-page PDF of inserts / ephemera
• Fold-out schematic: Freiburg sub-basement wiring diagram annotated by Sigurd V. in red pencil
• Kraft-stock insert stamped “KABELTEST – NOT CALIBRATED”
• Small adhesive signal patch (green or red) randomly included per copy
• Contact photo: Loreta Svein crouched at conduit array, sax in one hand, stripped wire in the other
PHYSICAL RELEASE DETAILS
• Pressed at Pallas Werk, Diepholz (277 copies)
• Matte grey sleeve with embossed cable glyph (design by Loreta Svein)
• Center labels: red sans-serif “TEST CIRCUIT A” / “TEST CIRCUIT B”
• Distributed privately via Aurora Weltklang barter channels and ZIRKEL 92 circles
SUBSEQUENT FORMATS & VARIANTS
• 1981 Bootleg Cassette: Circulated as Kabelstrom (Live 1971); later mislisted as Kabeltest ’75
• Archival Condition: Master reel shows oxide flake and splice repair at 00:18:27, verified original
• 2025 Digital Archive Reissue - features 9-page PDF of visual ephemera
EPILOGUE
DER LAUF didn’t survive 1971, but Kabeltest outlived them. It sits at the knife edge between krautrock propulsion and machine decay—too structured for chaos, too raw for comfort. You can almost smell the hot dust in the amps, the cold concrete underfoot.
This is the sound of musicians turning industrial failure into art—of a signal pushed until it glows.
FOR LISTENERS OF:
• Neu! – Hallogallo
• Faust – So Far
• Can – Ege Bamyasi
• Cluster – Cluster 71
• ZIRKEL 92 – Gemeinsprache I
• WALZKREIS OST – Geheimes Streufeld
credits
released April 1, 1971
• Hajo Kler — bass
• Loreta Svein — electric piano, guitar, saxophone
• Ottfried Lenz — guitar
• Sigurd V. — tape oscillator, voltage modulation
• Giro Detzel — drums, percussion
all rights reserved
Label: Aurora Weltklang
Format: LP (33⅓ rpm, black vinyl, matte sleeve)
Recording Date: March 1971
Release Date: Spring 1971
Edition: 277 hand-numbered copies
Location: Transmission Sub-Basement, Freiburg Industrial Sector
Total Runtime: 44:54
Genres: Krautrock · Industrial Rock · Progressive Rock · Experimental Rock · Psychedelic Percussion Fusion
SIGNAL PRESSURE REVIEW
There’s no romance in Kabeltest ’71—just heat, hum, and the sound of metal giving way. Recorded in a Freiburg industrial sub-basement by DER LAUF, the album bridges early Krautrock’s wide-eyed experimentation and the cold mechanics of what would become industrial rock. The group—Hajo Kler, Loreta Svein, Ottfried Lenz, Sigurd V., and Giro Detzel—approach their instruments like voltage probes: testing circuits until sound and failure become one.
The A-side, Spannungspfad (Voltage Path), starts in motion. “Stromlauf” rides Detzel’s relentless motorik drumming and Kler’s heavy, compressed bass, with Svein’s piano scratching like electricity against a wall of feedback. “Erdungsschicht” and “Langsamer Spulgang” dive into slower, more dangerous territory: overdriven sax loops, sine interference, and the ambient drift of concrete acoustics.
Flip it and Rückkopplungsfeld (Feedback Field) ups the intensity. “Relaiskörper” is all hammered pulse and fractured tape noise; “Motorimpuls” moves with proto-industrial swagger, bass locked tight against rotating machine percussion; “Kabelbrand” collapses the whole structure, ending in a long, violent fade of oscillation and transformer hum.
The record sounds more like a stress test than a jam—metallic, dry, and claustrophobic, every tone pushing against system limits. DER LAUF didn’t aim to hypnotize; they wanted to see what would break first: the instruments, the tape, or themselves.
Released in 277 copies, it barely circulated outside early ZIRKEL 92 gatherings. But the influence runs deep—its voltage-fed drone mechanics would echo through the next decade of European underground sound. Kabeltest ’71 still feels like a live wire fifty years later, proof that in the right hands, malfunction can be music.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION & RECORDING SPECIFICATIONS
• Recording System: Tandberg Model 15 two-track reel recorder, 7½ ips, direct to tape
• Microphones: AKG D12 overheads (percussion), dual contact mics bolted to steel beams, ambient ribbon mic hung from conduit
• Amplification: Siemens industrial power amps; one channel intermittently failed due to thermal drift
• Voltage Routing: RHY-1 pulse clock prototype (Concord Vallejo lab), producing erratic timing that shaped rhythmic drift
• Acoustic Environment: Concrete vault; 0.8-second metallic flutter echo; duct vibration added low-frequency resonance
• Tape Path: Oscillator and bass cross-fed through feedback junction matrix operated by Sigurd V.
• Mixdown Method: Passive summing through junction boxes; no EQ or compression
• Electrical Artifacts: 50 Hz transformer hum intentionally retained
TRACKLIST + CUE LOG
Side A – Spannungspfad (22:05)
1․ Stromlauf – 06:47
2․ Erdungsschicht – 07:50
3․ Langsamer Spulgang – 07:28
Side B – Rückkopplungsfeld (22:49)
4․ Relaiskörper – 05:18
5․ Motorimpuls – 09:56
6․ Kabelbrand – 07:35
Total Runtime: 44:54
INSERTS & VISUAL EPHEMERA
• 9-page PDF of inserts / ephemera
• Fold-out schematic: Freiburg sub-basement wiring diagram annotated by Sigurd V. in red pencil
• Kraft-stock insert stamped “KABELTEST – NOT CALIBRATED”
• Small adhesive signal patch (green or red) randomly included per copy
• Contact photo: Loreta Svein crouched at conduit array, sax in one hand, stripped wire in the other
PHYSICAL RELEASE DETAILS
• Pressed at Pallas Werk, Diepholz (277 copies)
• Matte grey sleeve with embossed cable glyph (design by Loreta Svein)
• Center labels: red sans-serif “TEST CIRCUIT A” / “TEST CIRCUIT B”
• Distributed privately via Aurora Weltklang barter channels and ZIRKEL 92 circles
SUBSEQUENT FORMATS & VARIANTS
• 1981 Bootleg Cassette: Circulated as Kabelstrom (Live 1971); later mislisted as Kabeltest ’75
• Archival Condition: Master reel shows oxide flake and splice repair at 00:18:27, verified original
• 2025 Digital Archive Reissue - features 9-page PDF of visual ephemera
EPILOGUE
DER LAUF didn’t survive 1971, but Kabeltest outlived them. It sits at the knife edge between krautrock propulsion and machine decay—too structured for chaos, too raw for comfort. You can almost smell the hot dust in the amps, the cold concrete underfoot.
This is the sound of musicians turning industrial failure into art—of a signal pushed until it glows.
FOR LISTENERS OF:
• Neu! – Hallogallo
• Faust – So Far
• Can – Ege Bamyasi
• Cluster – Cluster 71
• ZIRKEL 92 – Gemeinsprache I
• WALZKREIS OST – Geheimes Streufeld
credits
released April 1, 1971
• Hajo Kler — bass
• Loreta Svein — electric piano, guitar, saxophone
• Ottfried Lenz — guitar
• Sigurd V. — tape oscillator, voltage modulation
• Giro Detzel — drums, percussion
all rights reserved
