 Dithmar, mit vollständigem Namen, Dennis Dithmar ist Elektronikmusiker und lebt in Dänemark. Wer sich in den letzten Jahren hin und wieder in den bekannten Musik-Podcasts getummelt hat, dem wird dieser Name bereits ein Begriff sein. Denn seine Musik lief bereits auf all diesen Sendern, war aber bis dato nirgendwo zu haben. Im Juni 2009 ist nun seine erstes Album "Zodiac Zeit" auf MellowJet-Records erhältlich. Und das Album hat es in sich. Es ist schwer Dithmar´s Musik zu beschreiben: Die Stimmung seiner Musik wirkte auf mich zunächst etwas melancholisch. Zwischen diesen Tönen blitzen immer mal subtile Melodien und Klänge durch, die in mir auf Anhieb neben tiefer Entspannung ein angenehm euphorisches Gefühl erzeugen. Die Musik ist sequenzerlastig und hat bekannte Element, die an Schulze erinnern. Darüber hinaus besitzt die Musik einen sehr warmen und außergewöhnlichen Klang, den man in dieser Art selten zu hören bekommt. Die an dieser Stelle zu umfangreiche Geschichte zur Entstehung des Albums und des Covers kannst Du in voller Länge weiter unten lesen. Track 5 "moon" entstand übrigens in Zusammenarbeit mit EM-Legende Harald Grosskopf. Ich denke wir werden in Zukunft noch einiges von Dithmar zu hören bekommen. Bernd Scholl August 2009
 Zodiac Zeit refers to the era in West Berlin in the late 60's and early 70's, when the biggest pioneers in what would later be known as electronic music met at the Zodiac Free Arts Lab. Conrad Schnitzler, Edgar Froese and Klaus Schulze was just a few of the great minds gathered at this small but vibrant cultural mekka. It all happened in the shade of the East German flag, as the city was literally surrounded by the East German Republic. A factor that had a huge impact on the citizens of West Berlin - not only political but very much on their culture aswell. It was obvious that the West Berliners strived to be different and do things their own way.
This situation is culturally very similar to the situation i Copenhagen today. The freetown of Christiania is surrounded by a
society that wants them to do things the ordinary way, but the cultural life of Christiania keep delivering artists and acts
that do things their own way. Danish electronic legend, Anders Trentemöller, is a typical product of the vibe that rules at
Christiania, as is Dithmar. The two had the pleasure of working together in the eighties, as Trentemöller participated on
Dithmar's first solo album, Computa, from 1998.
Zodiac Zeit is made as a tribute. It all started when Dithmar started recognizing his old German roots on the electronic
music stage, and made a few remakes of TD and Schulze tracks. TD fanzone frontrunner, Chris Newman, discovered
these tracks, and started playing them on his TDFZ online radiostation. The reactions on Dithmar's Myspace profile
pushed him into making his own tracks and the Zeit Project was born. Dithmar chose to stick to the original
sentiment - recognizing his respect for the old Berlin School music. Hence that the obvious musical link to
Froese/Schulze is not a coincidence. It is indeed very close to the sound of Dithmar's old heroes.
 Q & A about ZODIAC ZEIT:
Q:How long have you been composing music?
A: I guess I started making my first electronic tracks at the age of 15. With the musical background from Sankt Annæ
Gymnasium it was a bit easier, than if I started from scratch.
Q:What kind of music have you made over the years?
A: As a composer it has mainly been electronic music in genres from club to ambient. Besides that I have produced
pop, rock, house, tech, jungle, drum'n bass along with music for movie scores and event music for cultural exhibitions.
Q: Why the name Zodiac Zeit?
A: The project was called Zeit, as it was a snapshot of old electronic music done in my time - my Zeit. Not to confuse
the project with the legendary Tangerine Dream album with the same name, the Zodiac word was added to akknowlegde
the roots from Berlin in the 60's and 70's.
Q: Why do you use the East German flag as a cover, when the album refers to West Berlin?
A: West Berliners lived in the shade of the DDR, and that influenced them greatly. Not only politically but also culturally.
Besides that the flag makes the cover easy to distinguish from other covers I have used in older releases.
Q: There are pictures in the cover of both the Berlin Wall and wall and artwork at Christiania - what is that all about?
A:Christiania is a cultural nesting place very similar to West Berlin. I didn't have the opportunity to be in West Berlin
back then as I was hardly born, but I have had a good deal of my musical upbringing at Christiania, and want to emphasize
that. Besides that it's funny to see the grafitti on the Berlin Wall being very similar to what you see at Christiania.
Q: You list a lot of instruments and plugins for your productions. How do you work with them?
A: Most of the tracks I make starts out on one computer with a limited use of software synths and effects. When the track
evolves I have studios that grants me free access to a large number of vintage synths and drum machines and have a broad
variety of musical software.
Q: You mention Thor on the CD - who is he?
A: Thomas Thor Ulstrup is an old friend that I started working with 10-15 years ago. He is an extraordinaire ambient artist
that lives and breethes Moog. If you cut him open and check his DNA I'm sure it'll spell Moog for you. Together we have a
working colaboration called Krasnoyarsk, and plan to release albums under that name in the future.
Q: The tracks on Zodiac Zeit has a tendency to sound very much like the Berlin Oldschool. Where are you in that music?
A: The massive link to the Berlin era is very deliberate. It wouldn't be a true tribute album, if I only had the name and cover,
and made music with no obvious link to that era. Future releases will be 100% me, but people will soon enough hear, that
a big part of my musical background comes from back then anyway.
used G e a r
Synths: JD800, Minimoog, Minimoog, Prodigy, Nordlead, Virus, Theremin, Juno 106, Moog Voyager
VSTi´s: ARP2600V, MinimoogV, CS80V, Modular System, Cronox3, Drumatic, FAW Circle, Atomic, GForce Strings,
Shuniji, Protoplasm, ReFX Claw, z3ta, Rhino, Predator, Blue, Massive, Korg Legacy, Superwave, Sylenth, Komplexer,
Absynth, The Grand, Addictive Drums, Superior Drummer, Pro53, B4II, Toxic, Lounge Lizard, Morphine, Sytrus,
Philharmonik, Personal Orchestra
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