THE PHANTOM STRING
... is a purely album-oriented studio project founded by Olaf Kujat in 2015 to realize his vision of dark, atmospheric music. While the style was initially close to dark ambient and industrial, this has now loosened up a lot. Even though ambient and a predominantly dark character are part of The Phantom String's DNA, Kujat doesn't see his project as beholden to a specific genre. However, he emphasizes a few core principles that he hopes to find in every The Phantom String album. Including a cinematic character and a good sequence of pieces. But the most important thing is that each album forms a cosmos on its own.
This head is Kujat's alter ego for The Phantom String.
Kujat's main instrument is the synthesizer, but it stands just a little above all the other instruments. Acoustic and exotic instruments also have their place at The Phantom String. Sometimes they are instruments with an idiosyncratic sound, such as the Daxophone, the Waterphone or a Gong. The aim is to create a sound that is as organic as possible, that is not too repetitive and offers the listener something to discover. Even though Kujat likes to play with the peculiarities of such instruments, the overall picture of a track is always in the foreground.
Olaf Kujat first appeared on the scene in the second half of the 90s with some demo tapes from his former projects. Those were Microscape, Syntact, Escape To Dreamscape and Subdimension. This also includes the project Analogue Electronix, whose demo tape was re-released on vinyl in 2022 on the Minimalkombinat label. With the Berlin singer Michael Pallin, Kujat forms the electropop duo The Talking Stone.
The Albums
Teapoy (2024)
| 1. | Ornament I: Cartouche |
| 2. | Dream Veiled In Vapour |
| 3. | Chaiselongue |
| 4. | Ornament II: Arabeske |
| 5. | Rubin |
| 6. | Carillon D'Argento |
| 7. | Secrets Of A Long-Lost Idol |
| 8. | Ornament III: Mandala |
| 9. | Bronze Mask |
| 10. | Wooden Mask |
| 11. | Gallery Of Tapestries |
| 12. | Ornament IV: Rosette |
| 13. | Comme Reine et Roi |
14. | Carillon Rosso |
15. | Oscuramento |
16. | Ornament V: Spiral |
Pleasant sounds can be heard on TEAPOY, THE PHANTOM STRING's third album. An uncompromisingly dark mood, like that which prevailed on the previous albums PRIMUS and partly on TWIN, has given way to a dark but inviting mood. TEAPOY wants to please! In addition to a cinematic character, ambient remains a basic component of THE PHANTOM STRING, albeit a small one, but is subtly merged with other musical styles, for example with a touch of jazz. There are also excursions into world music, as well as echoes of classical music, and ventures into poppier realms for the first time. The common thread that runs through all 16 pieces of the approximately one-hour album connects everything into a harmonious mosaic.
A teapoy is actually a small, originally Indian table with three legs that has not always been used for storing and serving tea, but throughout its history. An exceptional piece of furniture, this represents, among other furnishings and interiors, part of the interior design found in stately homes. This also includes decorations in wooden paneling or stucco ceilings, as well as wall decorations and smaller decorative objects such as gemstones and music boxes. All of these things tell their own story on the album. But TEAPOY is not just about this material side. In the four sung pieces, we encounter a mystical-immaterial side. We encounter human feelings, such as longings and fears, that seem to be ethereally trapped in these spaces. All of this is interwoven into a dream that you would like to immerse more than once. Sometimes you find yourself in a surreal place, like in a Lynch film, hear the quirky aesthetics of an old vampire flick or come across monumental drama. TEAPOY is stylistically broad and difficult to categorize. It's not trip hop, but the color can be found somewhere in its outer circle. Gothic meets easy listening, subtle electronics with a retro factor, expanded with acoustic, sometimes unusual instruments. Always with the intention of giving the listener an interesting listening experience. TEAPOY is noble, with a portion of magic and dust. Come on and smell the dust of TEAPOY!
Twin (2020)
1. | L'Évocation |
2. | Joujou |
3. | La Présence temporaire |
4. | Carrousel (Du Jardin plein des Souvenirs) |
5. | Violette |
6. | Floue dans la Fôret brumeuse |
7. | Figure anonyme |
8. | Les Ombres des Invisibles |
9. | Fils et Filles |
10. | Chant des Âmes unies |
TWIN tells the story of a haunted house out in the woods. The ten instrumental tracks create longing moods, address melancholy and mysteries, project uncanny apparitions and emphasize the unquietness in the quiet. Everything remains only vaguely outlined in the synapses of the head cinema, like in a dream.
The musical style in the first half of the album, with its retro flair, is reminiscent of the film soundtracks of (horror) films from the sixties or seventies of the last century. In contrast, in the second half there are minimal, orchestral-looking dark ambient pieces, some of which are eerie and atonal, condensing the atmosphere even more. The Phantom String’s version of a haunted house soundtrack!
Primus (2017)
| 1. | Mechanismus |
| 2. | Gateway |
| 3. | Pipes & Wires |
| 4. | Rayonnade |
| 5. | Chamber III |
| 6. | Chamber IV |
| 7. | Tankar |
| 8. | Fluid |
| 9. | Katakomben |
| 10. | Corridor |
| 11. | Schachtleuchten |
| 12. | Spinwire |
On PRIMUS, a door opens that leads into the abandoned rooms of a disused industrial complex, in which paranormal activities appear. The twelve instrumental tracks on the album can be described as scenarios or individual rooms. They offer a varied but always dark melange of electronics, exotic instruments, machine noises and alienated sounds of objects in a variety of arrangements. Far from common structures and sounds, energetic moments alternate with quiet, decelerated passages. Sometimes threatening, sometimes full of fascination. Atmospheric depth is PRIMUS' strength. Soundtrack for exploring stalker terrain or the corridors and rooms of the Nostromo space ship.
The Pictures
the phantom band plays
Olaf Kujat
...on piano
...on the stairs