THE TWILIGHT DRONE is the third instalment in Johannes Contag’s SLEEPYTIME series released on Monkey Records. While the previous releases were music albums, containing hypnotically slow, minimal and at times meditative pieces of instrumental music, THE TWILIGHT DRONE is a musical film. As Contag’s previous SLEEPYTIME releases were an homage to the origins of ambient music, the current work explores the notion of the ambient film.

The Twilight Drone is, at 49 minutes, arguably the Worlds Longest Music Video, which until just two years ago, was an honour held by Michael Jackson for his groundbreaking ‘Thriller’ in 1986 (13 minutes) until he was superseded by the 20 minute Streets video in 2006. The video premiered on Alt TV at midnight on Wednesday 16th April.

Over the 49 minute length of The Twilight Drone, the bird’s eye camera follows three silhouetted figures in a snowy paddock, their actions structured by an unknown choreography – attempting, deviating, instating, rejecting, adapting. True to the static nature of ambient film, there is no overall plot or narrative, and there is no perceivable character development; instead, the figures’ movements are repeated, reversed, mirrored, doubled, inverted, sped up, slowed down, coloured, extracted. The accompanying soundtrack is based on a constant, undulating filter drone that is at times embellished with rhythms and textures but essentially stays true to its cyclical nature for the duration of the film.

To the viewer, this presents an interesting challenge. The slow pace of change and lack of dramatic development may initially frustrate the analytical mind – once the repetitive structure takes hold, however, a wealth of detail is revealed. The figure’s actions, devoid of any comprehensible drama, take on a dream-like logic that is an end in itself. The static soundtrack turns out to be a microcosmos of textural and structural variation. By the end of the film, the viewer should be either asleep or fully immersed in a semi-hypnotic alpha state.

In the context of Contag’s SLEEPYTIME series, THE TWILIGHT DRONE is a consequent step towards the sedative and meditative minimalism he has been exploring already – where less really is more. While the pieces on the previous albums varied between five and twenty-five minutes in length, this is an uninterrupted album-length drone piece that works not only as soundtrack but also as an ambient work in its own right. It is this which really sustains the film’s non-developmental structure, creating a broad arc of dynamics that engages the viewer until the end.

Johannes Contag has previously worked with the music group CLOUDBOY, with whom he produced two albums and did several live film/music projects. The most ambitious of these was SHAPE OF THE LAND in collaboration with the New Zealand Film Archive (2002/3), a programme of 1920s governmental and private films accompanied by a live electro-acoustic soundtrack performed by the band. This was toured extensively in New Zealand as well as Europe. Another film/music highlight with CLOUDBOY was a live soundtrack to the film BARAKA.

Most recently, Contag has released an album with JAY CLARKSON (OVER THE MOUNTAIN) and an L.P. with improvised drone rock band BAD STATISTICS, which was published by Belgian record label Kraak. Contag will tour in Europe to promote both this album and THE TWILIGHT DRONE later in the year.

“… a glorious aural lullaby.”    Listener

“Cloudboy member Johannes Contag’s second Sleepytime release is an extraordinary thing.”    Metro

“Gorgeous and hypnotically addictive.”    Rip It Up

This beautifully minimalist film was shot and edited by Sleepytime aka Johannes Contag in the Austrian Alps and features three of his friends making triangles in the snow.

The track is currently unreleased but may possibly feature on the rumoured Sleepytime boxset (rumour started by Johannes).

Johannes Contag’s Sleepytime cycle of albums and performances reaches a new stage with “Sleepytime Vol 2: Schlafwandler”. Completing the arc of alpha-wave inducing ambiences of his first release “you are feeling sleepy”, Johannes’ latest offering explores the idea of aural sleepwalking. His latent soundtracks zoom in on the in-between spaces and afterthoughts of traditional instrumentation as well as delving into the meditative dimensions of sound synthesis.

Schlafwandler (German for “sleepwalker”, also interpretable as “sleep transformer”) begins with a single statement of a simple, nostalgic piano theme; left to ring, its decaying resonances form the basis for the album¹s first track, magnifying the piano¹s inherent orchestral overtones.
A blissfully diatonic ditty on electric bass guitar (complete with indie instrumentation) follows, evoking the spaciousness of Fleetwood Mac¹s seminal trip-out Albatross. Gradually, the ditty evolves into a canon for several wistful flutes, reliving the Sunday afternoon melancholies of any recorder-playing child.
The album¹s second half takes a sideways shift to the more traditional instrumentation of atmospheric music chimes, ocean sounds, piano arpeggios and bird song sound like a backdrop for a once-new age, but in this case they are thankfully devoid of all pretension.
The sleepwalking trip¹s conclusive 25-minute ambience, completing the cycle begun with the opening track of Sleepytime vol.1, is an unashamed homage to the pioneers of filter-sweep drones, complete with an exploration of the imperfections of the tape recording process.
Schlafwandler completes the set of atmospheric miniatures Johannes explored on his first Sleepytime album, you are feeling sleepy (1998). Schlafwandler was devised and compiled over the last three months of 2002 in a pyramid looking out on Kapiti Island, New Zealand. The music of this album is an aural meditation, with subtle dynamics and not devoid of tension. This is music that can heal the heart, mind and soul just as much as it can provide a chilled-out afternoon/end-of-night soundtrack – in today¹s gamut of vibe-merchandising, a rare find indeed.

Reviews

“… a wonderful album of inspired ambient surreality.  ‘Schlafwandler’ is a rich and charming soundtrack for your dreamstates, alternatively light and deep.”    NZ Musician

“… a glorious aural lullaby.”    Listener

“Cloudboy member Johannes Contag’s second Sleepytime release is an extraordinary thing.”    Metro

“Gorgeous and hypnotically addictive.”    Rip It Up

A blissful album of ambient miniatures by Cloudboy Johannes Contag.

According to Jo, “The first track is the relaxant / sleep-inducer alpha rhythm device; all subsequent tracks are dream states, ranging from blissful and tranquil to restless and frightened, ultimately however resolved to lazy pre-wakeup dozing satisfaction.”

Reviews

“A marvellous work of contemplative simplicity, You Are Feeling Sleepy could be one of the most blissful hours you spend with your stereo this year.” Dominion Post

“55 minutes of sustained mesmerising emptiness in which to lose yourself.” NZ Herald