Ulrich Troyer has been producing music now solidly for over twenty years within a largely genre free framework, but whilst navigating forms such as avant-garde, techno, leftfield, field recording, electronica, glitch and ambient it is the aesthetics of dub that guide his creative direction. Not really recognisable in an orthodox form as remixed versions of roots reggae songs but in the way sonics are manipulated with space, the application and layering of delay, reverb and echo that fixes his output well within the scope of what might be called futurist dub.

The nearest comparisons to his new album TRANSIT TRIBE can only be established by a synthesis of some of the more adventurous explorations in modern music such as African Head Charge, Jon Hassell, Pole (Stefan Betke), Bill Laswell or even Miles Davis; featuring a diverse selection of artists and friends not only from Vienna and environs but also from around the world, sounds are not so much fused but allowed to float along the continuous flowing tide of warm waves of bass.

Rather than to allow the names of Ulrich Troyer's collaborators be merely listed in the album credits, what they bring to this joyful affair needs to be outlined, albeit briefly: Co-producer credits go to Osman Murat Ertel from Istanbul, who employed a variation on the old foolproof Nick Lowe method for checking out the impact quality of his own sound productions by playing tracks through his car sound system speakers!

Murat is a member of the electro-psych-folk group Baba Zula where he plays electric saz, oscillators and theremin and played a key part in the creative development of the album. Mamadou Diabate, the balafon master originally from Burkina Faso and now resident in Vienna, has developed his own unique technique of playing solos that replicate the sound of three instruments playing in unison; however the multi-talented Mamadou is engaged here on singing and playing the talking drum. From South Tyrol Reinhilde Gamper is a member of the experimental trio Greifer who are bringing the sound of the zither into the twenty-first century using new playing techniques and electronic gadgets. Susanna Gartmayer is an Austrian composer and bass clarinetist specialising in improv and multimedia sound research. Diggory Kenrick has been engaged with creating new dub fusions and also re-energising classic rocksteady and roots reggae classics, renowned for his interventions on flute. Didi Kern is an electronic dance musician and drummer from Vienna with a focus on free improvised music. Hamidou Koita, a singer and multi-instrumentalist, is from a traditional Griot family in Burkina Faso but now resident in Vienna and a regular musical partner of Mamadou Diabate playing drums and calabash. Austrian Lukas Lauermann is both a studio and live musician playing cello, also working on electronic sound design and writing string arrangements. He has recorded extensively and appeared on stage with both Mark Lanegan and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Martin Mallaun is a Tyrol-born specialist in both the development of the zither in modern music and also as a researcher in the effects of climate change on the vegetation of Alpine ecosystems. After studying classical percussion Flip Philipp is now a jazz vibraphone player and member of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Wolfgang Pfistermüller is a member of the Vienna Trombone Quartet and the developer of the incredible bass-trombone Aurora with its uniquely warm and resonant sound. Roger Robinson is a renowned British poet, winner of many contemporary poetry prizes and member of the experimental music group King Midas Sound. Kwame Yeboah is a Ghanaian born UK based keyboard wizard who tours regularly with Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Ms. Dynamite and Pat Thomas.

So contained on the album is an astonishing mix of musicians and instruments: sounds of cowbells recorded in the South Tyrolean alps processed by modular synthesizers and heavy analogue bass synths combined with instruments such as zither, bass-zither, electro saz, flute, talking drum, trombone, cello, marimba, djembe, contra-alto clarinet, Farfisa - all bound together by organic live-drums and dub effects.

Liner notes by Steve Barker

(DJ, Radio Presenter - On the Wire, BBC 1984 – 2023, now Slack City Radio & reggae/dub columnist and contributor to The Wire)

Credits:

Mamadou Diabate: vocals (3) & talking drum (3)

Osman Murat Ertel: electric saz (6, 7) & guitar (7)

Reinhilde Gamper: zither & bass-zither (9)

Susanna Gartmayer: contra-alto clarinet (8)

Diggory Kenrick: flute (2)

Didi Kern: drums (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8), percussion (3, 6)

Hamidou Koita: vocals (3), djembe (3)

Lukas Lauermann: cello (1)

Martin Mallaun: zither (9)

Wolfgang Pfistermüller: trombone (1)

Flip Philipp: c-marimba (1, 9), percussion (6)

Roger Robinson: vocals (4)

Ulrich Troyer: analog synthesizers (1-9), analog drum-machines (1-9), e-bass (1, 5, 7), sampler (1-9), prepared zither (1), field recordings (3, 6, 8), dub effects (1-9)

Kwame Yeboah: rhodes (5), vox (5), farfisa (5)

Written & arranged by Ulrich Troyer except 2 written by Diggory Kenrick & Ulrich Troyer / 3 written by Mamadou Diabate, Hamidou Koita & Ulrich Troyer / 4 written by Roger Robinson & Ulrich Troyer / 5 written by Kwame Yeboah & Ulrich Troyer / 6 & 7 written by Osman Murat Ertel & Ulrich Troyer

Recorded by Ulrich Troyer at 4Bit Studio & 4Bit Bungalow, Vienna - except: electro saz on track 6, 7 & guitar on track 7 recorded by Osman Murat Ertel at Saniki Studio, Istanbul / flute on track 2 recorded by Diggory Kenrick at Holloway Studio, London / vocals on track 4 recorded by Roger Robinson at Dog Heart City Studios / c-marimba recorded by Ulrich Troyer at Konzerthaus, Vienna / rhodes, vox & farfisa on track 5 recorded by Kwame Yeboah at Kwashibu Music Studio, Accra

Mixed by Ulrich Troyer at 4Bit Studio & 4Bit Bungalow, Vienna

Produced by Ulrich Troyer & Osman Murat Ertel / kindly supervised by Diggory Kenrick

Cover Artwork: Ink drawings & design by Ulrich Troyer / kindly supervised by Eva Kelety

Mastering & Laquer-Cut: Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin

“4 Stars review: Top drawer future dub explorations from Viennese avant-garde-electronicist / DJ Troyer. A collab-heavy set, with British poet Roger Robinson emoting over undulating bass synths (Lago di Garda) and balafon master Mamadou Diabaté providing melodic bounce to Latzfonser Kreuz. (SM)”
SimonMcEwen — MOJO Magazine December 2024 issue

“Der freischaffende Musiker, Sound Designer, Künstler und DJ in Wien hat in BA schon eine Spur gezogen von „Nok“ (2000) über die „Songs for William“-Trilogie (2011-13-17) bis „NOK 2020“. Nun schleudert er einen 9-mal (LP), ja 15-mal (CD) in outernationale Dubgefilde. Auf einem perkussiven Fond durch Didi Kern an Drums & Percussion und Flip Philipp an Vibraphon & Marimba. Und mit gezielten Prägungen durch weitere Landsleute: Lukas Lauermann mit Cello und Wolfgang Pfistermüller mit Posaune bei 'Vajolet', Susanna Gartmayer an Klarinette bei 'Europabrücke', Martin Mallaun und Reinhilde Gamper mit Zithern bei 'Ancient Atoll' und 'Latemar'. Für die überösterreichischen Akzente sorgen Diggory Kenrick mit Flöte bei 'Autostrata del Brennero', Mamadou Diabate und Hamidou Koita aus Burkina Faso mit Gesang, Talking Drum & Djembe bei 'Latzfonser Kreuz', Roger Robinson (von King Midas Sound) mit versonnener Stimme bei 'Lago Di Garda', Kwame Yeboah, aus Ghana stammend, mit Vox & Keys bei 'Alfa Romeo 145', Osman Murat Ertel (von Baba Zula) mit E-Saz- & Gitarren-Psychedelik bei 'Feltuner Hütte' und 'Avrupa Köprüsü', Taka Noda aka Mystica Tribe in Tokyo mit Melodica bei 'Brennerautobahn'. Troyer selber kehrt mit Synthesizern, Drum-Machine, Sampler, Dub Effects & Field Recordings den Verkehr auf der dolomitenumgipfelten Nord-Süd-Verbindung durch Südtirol um und suggeriert statt touristischer Blechlawinen schaukelnde Karawanen, die mit Datteln und Oliven auch ein bekifftes Zeitgefühl in den Norden bringen, so dass selbst die Kühe Betel zu kauen scheinen. Remember African Head Charge, Creation Rebel... Dub is all you need. Als hätte, statt Mussolinis terroristischer Kolonisierung von Italienisch-Ostafrika, Haile Selassie segensreich Italien rastafarisiert und eine afropäische Renaissance initiiert.”
Bad Alchemy, BA 125 rbd — German Music Magazine

“Che Ulrich Troyer si continui a divertire con la sua musica è fuori discussione. Sono passati ormai più di 25 anni da quando la Vegetable Orchestra muoveva i primi passi a Vienna. Da quel gruppo di visionari Troyer si defilò presto per cominciare una carriera solista oramai ultra-ventennale. Il verbo è il dub. Nel caso delle 9 danze su Transit Tribe, declinato secondo la grammatica techno e arricchito da spezie psichedeliche provenienti dai confini del mondo: Lukas Lauermann, Wolfgang Pfistermüller & Flip Philipp sondano le profondità dub dell'introduttiva Vajolet; e poi ancora Diggory Kenrick, Mamadou Diabate & Hamidou Koita, Roger Robinson, Osman Murat Ertel ed altri visionari illuminati. UN PONTE PER L'EUROPA.”
Roberto Mandolini — Rockerilla Magazine, November 2024 issue