Andreas O. Hirsch – The Salamander Treaty

Label: makiphon – makiphon 007
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition
Country: Germany
Released: 4 Apr 2025
Genre: Electronic
Style: Downtempo, Leftfield

How are your sea legs???  Weird, woozy, lopsided rhythm-play for invented instruments from Cologne artist Andreas O. Hirsch on his own Makiphon label.  

In a musical landscape of endless plagiarism, re-appropriation and heavy-handed sampling it’s gotta be difficult for any artist to find their voice.  Hirsch continues to fly well under the radar but his practice of inventing his own instruments (Carbophone, Electrified Palm Leaf??) maintains a sound that’s both distinctive and recognisable.  It’s irresistibly trippy and dub-destroyed… Hirsch’s plucked carbophon notes sound like Francis Bebey’s mollifying m’bira keys that have been doused in echo + delay then plunged into a deep watery abyss Porter Ricks style.  The whole Werkbund / Mechthild Von Leusch linage also feels aesthetically within reach, yet without all the doom and gloom of the mysterious Hamberg sect - Hirsch manages to inject a sense of fun, almost humour (!) into this music which would undeniably pair well with any lysergic accompaniment of your choosing.  A perfect oneway ticket to an exotic imagery land where a different type of lizard is in charge.. (Mint / New - with free DL // shops pls ask for wholesale).

Over the years, Andreas O. Hirsch has shaped a distinctive sound, exploring the possibilities of the electro-acoustic instruments he constructs. The Carbophone as well as the Electrified Palm Leaf are plucked instruments akin to the African Kalimba or Mbira. In combination with effects and loops, Hirsch creates an experimental space, influenced by early electronics, Asian and African music as well as the possibilities of editing and collage. The majority of the pieces on The Salamander Treaty were made using the Carbophone Jr., a small traveling version of his original Carbophone which was the basis of the previously released Early Carbophonics. Shaped by the joy of discovery, the eight tracks traverse peculiar worlds of sound, carried by a warm downbeat and analogue vibe. Alongside the Carbophone Jr., other instruments come into play: a vibrato-soaked guitar leads through the slowly evolving ‘Rise’, marked by a recurring Shepard tone and sounds made by striking the bars of an antique wall clock. In the straightforward yet sub-aquatic ‘Teatime Unlimited’, a pitch-shifted Morse key wanders erratically in the background. Tape-delayed harmonicas serve as a flying carpet for ‘Drifting Newts’, and rubber bands make their melodic-rhythmical appearance through ‘Back Door Minimal’.

The Salamander Treaty refers to War with the Newts, a prophetic and black-humoured science fiction novel by Karel Čapek from 1936, which tells the story of the rise of the salamanders, who become increasingly intelligent and eventually begin to compete with mankind. The album is a pacifist response to this dark scenario: Hirsch’s salamanders prefer to hang out under the stars (‘Drifting Newts’), drink tea (‘Tea Time Unlimited’) and — as illustrated on the back cover — write conspiratorial-pacifist demands instead of calling for war (e.g., ‘Teaoism International’, ‘White Lilies’, ‘For Congress’). In image and word, the album invites looking at the term ‘treaty’, which phonetically contains the words ‘tree’ and ‘tea’, as a friendly reminder that the drafting of every treaty and agreement on this planet should be accompanied by a peaceful spirit. 

Tracklist
A1        Back Door Minimal    2:57
A2        Rise    4:24
A3        Drifting Newts    4:47
A4        Teaoism International    3:00
B1        Parade    3:48
B2        White Lilies    3:19
B3        For Congress    4:25
B4        Teatime Unlimited    2:40