AW-020: MIRRORDEN - Glasstein
Label: Aurora Weltklang
Catalog No.: AW-020
Format: LP (180 g vinyl in laminated sleeve with zine insert)
Original Release: August 1974
Recording Location: Herzkammer Studio (Vault D - Electro Isolation Booths), Freiburg Region
Recording Dates: April-May 1974
Edition: 303 copies
Total Runtime: 41:12
Genres: Psychedelic Rock · Krautrock · Experimental · Drone Improvisation · Architectural Sound
1. SIGNAL PRESSURE REVIEW
If Commune Mirror Studies was MIRRORDEN’s warning shot, Glasstein is the engine running
wide open - a record where the building plays as much as the band. Recorded in the
Herzkammer’s Electro Isolation Booths during spring ’74, the trio let circuits, amps, and walls
dictate the session. No one’s chasing a groove here - they’re provoking it.
The tone is heavier, less meditative than their early work, but still distinctly MIRRORDEN: the
motorik pulse cut loose, feeding on feedback and voltage sag. Every instrument sounds like it’s
being played from behind a pane of glass - guitar smears, bass drones, snare overtones feeding
the delay chain until the whole mix starts breathing. When the walls hum back, they don’t fade
politely; they surge.
Side A’s “Schmerzlichtung” hits like a malfunctioning sunrise - the amps exhale, and Krahne’s
filtered percussion drops in like an accident. “Tresenwelle” follows with tremor bass that seems
to warp the tape machine’s confidence. Flip to Side B and “Waxhost Echo” stretches kraut
repetition into something that flirts with hypnosis. By the closer, “Stromgelenk,” MIRRORDEN
have turned feedback into language - not drone, not noise, but conversation between structure
and power supply.
Glasstein doesn’t care for restraint. It’s a rock record without riffs, a psychedelic jam wired
through architectural intent. The kind of record that starts as music and ends as voltage.
2. TECHNICAL INFORMATION & RECORDING SPECIFICATIONS
• Recording Method: Low-voltage sine tone and oscillator beacons aimed at structural
junctions; passive delay matrices and tuned voltage resonators interconnected without direct
human modulation; system left to self-correct over time.
• Capture Format: Telefunken M15A ¼″ open reel, 15 ips; BASF SM911 tape stock; static AKG
D202 stereo pair for ambient wall saturation; floor-mounted contact pickups for vibration
capture.
• Monitoring System: Concord CH-1 headphone array for isolation; Sinthpresizer-2 patch card
system repurposed as manual sequencer for percussive triggers.
• Mixing Process: Three-track reel transfers with cross-patched delay feedback; frequency
isolation by Agnes Furch; transmission routing by Otto Meer; no overdubs; edits only for reel
change.
• Vinyl Pressing: Schwarzschild Vinyl Works (Mainz); 180 g black vinyl; laminated matte-glass
finish sleeve; etched mirrored sigils by Agnes Furch; rim note on label: “Record at dusk with
north window open.”
• Edition & Circulation: 303 copies pressed; ~220 distributed via commune mail chain and radio
barter routes.
3. PERSONNEL
• Mika Krahne - drone oscillator loops, rewired string filter array
• Hennix Duval - analog tonefield matrix, reverb bell pathway
• Flinch - harmonic interference, VCO chain design, phantom panning
• Agnes Furch - isolation EQ balance, tape edit master, sigil etching
• (Uncredited assistance) Loreta Svein - interior glass photography, note archive

4. TRACKLIST + CUE LOG
Side A (18:53)
1. Schmerzlichtung - 07:59
2. Tresenwelle - 06:31
3. Betonsturz - 04:23
Side B (22:19)
4. Waxhost Echo - 08:04
5. Singung über Glasstein - 07:44
6. Stromgelenk - 06:31
Total Runtime: 41:12
5. INSERTS & VISUAL EPHEMERA

• Zine Insert - “Postural Listening Manual”: 8-page stapled zine detailing “tone body
alignment” exercises and Herzkammer diagrams; printed on recycled stock with frequency
glyph stamps.
• Center Labels: Unique etched sigil per copy by Agnes Furch.
• Sleeve Image: Rear photograph of fractured glass-block wall by Loreta Svein.
• Listening Instruction: Microtext around label edge - “Dämmerung hören. Kein Licht.” (“Listen
at dusk. No light.”)
6. PHYSICAL RELEASE DETAILS

• Jacket: Laminated matte-glass finish sleeve.
• Vinyl: 180 g black vinyl with etched mirrored sigils.
• Inner Sleeve: Anti-static graphite-dusted paper.
• Insert Housing: Zine pocket integrated into rear sleeve panel.

7. SUBSEQUENT FORMATS & VARIANTS

• 1997 Bootleg CD-R (Italy): KlangBatterie label; includes sleeve scan and untitled remix “MIR
FDB” credited to Ungeheuer Klang.
• 2008 Digital Remaster (Unofficial): Circulated under Underground Migration: MIRRORDEN
1971-75; 5×CD-R (approx. 48 copies).
• 2023 Archive Reissue - AWR 020 A: Remastered by Agnes Furch from first-generation reel;
180 g reissue with zine reprint and isometric tonefield map.
8. EPILOGUE
Glasstein stands as MIRRORDEN’s cleanest fracture - a point where repetition, distortion, and
architecture meet on equal footing. The band built it not around songs but around energy
loops, translating krautrock propulsion into architectural feedback. It’s heavier than Commune
Mirror Studies, more mechanical than Zyklus für Polytonband, but alive with the same hunger
for space.
What keeps it vital is its refusal to drift into abstraction. This isn’t a lab experiment - it’s a live
electrical system. A record where voltage becomes breath and the walls answer back.
FOR LISTENERS OF:
• Alvin Lucier - Music on a Long Thin Wire
• Éliane Radigue - Transamorem / Transmortem
• Nurse With Wound - Spiral Insana
• The Hafler Trio - Bang!
• ZIRKEL 92 - Resonanzzeichen