Anti-hero refusenik
Marco Haas adopted his surreal moniker
T.Raumschmiere from the
William S. Burroughs story The Dreamcops. His cranky electro-punk, as showcased on brash, unruly albums like 2003's
Radio Blackout and 2008's
I Tank U, combines everything from industrial rock to hip-hop into one fuzzed-out, danceable, post-apocalyptic assault on the cortex. Even when his work is at its most abstract and minimalist, venturing into ambient techno and downtempo on releases like 2015's T.Raumschmiere and 2017's
Heimat, it still has a brash, unsettling edge to it.
A former member of German hardcore band Zorn,
Haas released an EP by his indie rock band Stormbow on his own Shitkatapult label in 1997. He also formed
Shrubbn!!, an experimental improvisation project, with
Ulli Bomans. After moving to Berlin in 1998, he began releasing brash and damaged electronic music under the
T.Raumschmiere handle on Shitkatapult as well as on Kompakt and Hefty Records. He referred to his sound as "gnarz," named for the crackling sound of the runout groove of a vinyl record, which he would sample and construct tracks from. Debut full-length Stromschleifen appeared on Shitkatapult in 2000, followed by the near-simultaneous 2002 release of the brutal and experimental The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle on Shitkatapult and the rusty and abrasive manifesto Anti on Hefty.
Radio Blackout,
T.Raumschmiere's most accessible album to date, was put out by Novamute in September 2003. With guests like
Miss Kittin and seductive female MC
Soom T., the nervy record scrapes its way through destructive and metallic Euro-dance gravel and slinky virtual-sex-soundtracks-gone-haywire. The singles, like the minimalist but menacing Monstertruckdriver and the wailing and anarchic Rabaukendisko, featured remixes by such luminaries as
Dabrye and
the Bug. 2005's
Blitzkrieg Pop went in a similar direction, and featured guest vocals from
Ellen Allien and
Quasimodo Jones. However,
Random Noize Sessions, Vol. 1, released by Shitkatapult in 2006, was a detour into downtempo ambient glitch.
Following a 2007 album by
Haas' hardcore punk band the Crack Whore Society and a techno single by
Shrubbn!!,
T.Raumschmiere returned in 2008 with
I Tank U. Featuring guest appearances by
Warren Suicide,
Barbara Panther, and
the Puppetmastaz, the album had more of a song-driven live band sound than any of the project's other releases. Following guest appearances on 2010 singles by
Warren Suicide and
Yasmin Gate,
T.Raumschmiere released the party-ready
The Rave Is On EP in 2011. A dark experimental dub album by
Shrubbn!! titled
Echos appeared in 2012. In 2014,
T.Raumschmiere released a split 10" single with Cristian Vogel on Record Store Day, and released a collaborative EP with
D-R-U-N-K, a solo project of
MOTOR's
Olivier Grasset.
After establishing the Albumlabel imprint,
T.Raumschmiere released a self-titled full-length in 2015, coming closer to the more experimental
Random Noize Sessions than his more song-driven albums.
Shrubbn!!'s second album,
Europa, appeared in 2016, and
T.Raumschmiere collaborated with
Caspar Brötzmann on a 10" EP released by Shitkatapult on Record Store Day in 2017. Also that year,
T.Raumschmiere made an unexpected return to Kompakt with
Heimat, a lush yet propulsive ambient techno album. A split 12" with
Reinhard Voigt, as part of the label's Speicher series, followed in 2018. ~ Charles Spano & Paul Simpson