The Vogue

Antonelli , aka Stefan Schwander from Düsseldorf, has been one of the undisputed pioneers of german electronic minimal music for over a decade and stands alongside such great names as The Modernist, Wolfgang Voigt or Thomas Brinkmann. With his many pseudonyms such as Harmonious Thelonious, A Rocket in Dub, Repeat Orchestra, Rhythm Maker, Pop Up (with Jörg Burger/The Modernist), Swimmingpool (with Michael Scheibenreiter), The 23s or Antonelli he continues to inspire whole generations of producers as well as DJs.

Since the mid 90s, Antonelli has been making cutting edge electronic music. His clear affinity for disco is reflected in flawless propulsive dance grooves and the occasional anthemic refrain. Like the best tracks of Giorgio Moroder his basslines bubble below a straight ahead beat. Most of his releases also reflect a bit of Antonelli’s experimental side. Though these are for the most part straight dance cuts, there are also nods to the production styles of dub and modern abstract electronic music, where sound manipulation produces unexpected tones and surprising rhythmic complexities. His tracks are elaborate and detailed works of charming minimalism ranging from dancefloor hits (albums: Me, The Disco Machine, Click, Soulkiller and singles: The Vogue (feat. Miss Kittin), Automatic Music) to the soft and beautiful ambient arrangements on his soundtrack album The Blackout Quintet released on Italic.

Antonelli’s latest album Soulkiller was produced using analogue drummachines, synthesizers and sequencers only and recorded live without any overdubs onto an old-school Tape recorder with an amazing result: He refers to U.S. House Music from the 80s and funk music from New York-based New Wave bands and combines these two different music styles and turns them into deep, minimal sounds which are irresistibly danceable, highly imaginative, and tremendously emotional.

Antonelli however is his major project, and Stefan Schwander has spent a lot of time over the last few years taking it live to cities as far afield as Tokyo, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Moscow, London or Copenhagen.

Beside his live activities he is also very active on the remix front, and has cooperated with Michael Mayer, Miss Kittin, Cassius, Freestyle Man, Farben, Lawrence, Steve Bug, Egoexpress, Elektro Music Department, Oliver Hacke, Error Error, Mondo Grosso to name but a few.