{"title":"A Certain Frank","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"nothing-2","title":"Nothing","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eBureau B reissues \u003cem\u003eNothing\u003c\/em\u003e, the 2001 album by Ata Tak’s Frank Fenstermacher and Kurt Dahlke (Pyrolator) aka A Certain Frank, newly remastered and available on vinyl for the first time. Marking\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eits 25th anniversary, the record stands as a quietly distinctive chapter in Düsseldorf’s post-Kraut electronic lineage – understated, atmospheric, and strikingly timeless.\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eA Certain Frank emerged in the mid-1990s from Düsseldorf’s uniquely fertile musical environment. Kurt Dahlke (Pyrolator) and Frank Fenstermacher were already central figures in the city’s post-war\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003epop modernism: pioneers of the so-called Neue Deutsche Welle, members of Der Plan and Fehlfarben, and co-founders of the influential Ata Tak label. Since its founding in 1980, Ata Tak had\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003echampioned an alternative German aesthetic that combined conceptual thinking with pop sensibility, releasing early work by artists such as DAF, Andreas Dorau, S.Y.P.H., Holger Hiller and later Oval. By\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethe late 1990s, German electronic music had become largely synonymous with techno and club culture. Against this backdrop, A Certain Frank proposed a different trajectory – not oppositional, but\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edeliberately understated. Rather than pursuing dancefloor functionality or revivalist gestures, Dahlke and Fenstermacher turned toward reduction, atmosphere, and subtle reconstruction. Drawing on easy\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003elistening and the once so-called “exotica,” they treated these references as malleable material,\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ereshaping them into something restrained yet contemporary. Following No End of No (1996) and Nobody? No! (1998),\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNothing\u003c\/em\u003e completed an informal trilogy shaped by denial and refinement. Conceived\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003efrom the outset as a fully collaborative work, the album moved beyond sample-based construction toward a largely self-generated sound. Basslines, drum grooves, and synthesizer textures were played\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003elive, joined by the voices of Mai Lingani, Karin Knipphals, and Fenstermacher himself – integrated as tonal elements within a fluid sonic fabric rather than traditional lead vocals. Dutch bassist Pascal\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ePlantinga and Austrian drummer Mike Daliot contributed significantly to the record’s light-footed, groove-oriented energy.Originally released at the threshold of the new millennium, Nothing occupies a\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edistinct space between jazz-inflected electronica, cinematic ambience, digital dub, and understated traces of drum and bass and lounge. Neither functional club music nor retro exercise, it embodies a\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003equietly confident strain of Düsseldorf modernism – reflective, precise, and resistant to spectacle.\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eWith this anniversary edition, Bureau B once again highlights a strand of German electronic music that exists between eras and categories. Carefully remastered and now pressed on vinyl for the first\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003etime, Nothing returns not as a relic, but as a work whose understated clarity continues to resonate – a testament to Bureau B’s ongoing dedication to preserving and recontextualising Germany’s\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eexperimental pop heritage.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bureau B","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":57199184740683,"sku":"R5262-8398","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":57199184773451,"sku":"R5262-6233","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_bfe0b0e4-b7c4-4aa8-8453-3f40928d6545.jpg?v=1777803395"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/a-certain-frank.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}