"Smacks of Indian Summer Satiety
The Jollity of spring has been gone long ago and the exuberance of hot summer days has brought a plethora of thoughts and sensations to cope with. Suffering from a lack of interesting things to see, hear, or do, while beeing not in the mood of "doing nothing" we drift into a strange unbalanced mood coming from a very balanced situation: the autumnal equinox. And this transition from the active to the passive part of the year is accompanied by that affection called 'ennui'.
There are many definitions for the originally French term 'ennui': "A feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of interest; boredom." or "A feeling of exhaustion, disgust; dullness and languor of spirits, arising from satiety or want of interest; tedium." or "A mixture of listlessness and willful melancholy". But most of these definitions emanate from the prevailing protestant labour ethics which pervade our dictionaries. In 1971 Georg Steiner wrote: "The motif I want to fix on is that of ennui. 'Boredom' is not an adequate translation, nor is 'Langweile' ...; 'la noia' comes much nearer... Baudelaire's use of 'spleen' comes closest: it conveys the kinship, the simultaneity of exasperated, vague waiting -- but for what? -- and of gray lassitude".
These remarks lead us to another portrayal of 'ennui' as a certain mindset of the Intelligentsia in the 18th and 19th century. Being driven by the breathtaking tempo of industrial and sociological development mostly creative people had chosen this tedious mood as their refusing counterpart. This active withdraw from life as a form of protest recurred within many juvenile generations afterwards. The forms may have changed, but the habit is still the same. And it always seems to be an evidence of intelligence to rest a moment before jumping into future." (From the Stadtgruen's release page)

"Nouvelle Cuisine
Sometimes there is not enough time to eat all the crispy brown rolls in the morning and as we don't want to waste anything, we have to consider what to do with it. It's up to the cook's imagination to find a clever use for all the rests he finds in his kitchen. Maybe he wants to make a veal cutlet, so he has to crumb the roll with a grater to make a good 'panade'. Or he decides to work up mincemeat to meatballs, so he has to soak and mix the roll afterwards. Two ways for a tasty utilisation of the remaining rolls: one to use its crispiness and the other to expand its inner softness.
Now, what's more suggesting itself is that Stadtgruen invites a couple of brilliant cooks for a remix competition of Monoide's five 'Crispy Brown Rolls'. In addition to the yet label-related artists like Marko Fuerstenberg, Yatsuo Motoki, Dataman and Gras, we proudly present Milos, Niemczyk, Aleks Svaensson, and Barbara Idijot as well as the baker himself.
They adjourned to their kitchens, took some unused and not yet expiring rolls, interspersed some other ingredients and spices, let it roast gently in hot oil and served their new dishes nicely arranged. Up to the temper of each cook this line-up of 'international cuisine' shows quite different flavours. According to the philosophy of our little restaurant, our guests may decide 'á la carte' which taste they prefer: the more urban and driven way of dining to be always on the jump - or a more calm and relaxed way to sit around the table.
Bon appetite!" (From the Stadtgruen's release page)

"White Plains, Comfort Rooms
When winter draws a deep cold breath over fields and forests the human adjourns to his sitting room, retiring back to warm places and looking at the world outside. The glass window is the required artificial separation that lets us survive from the mortal power of coldness. Behind the window we can build up our private little universe with plants and flowers which need southern heat normally. Within this little world everything is put in the right cultivated order, everything is all right.
Building up a secure room we can lean back and contemplate the course of the world, the well-stabilized harmony between nature and culture, which we have built up. But the precondition for this little paradise is separation. In order to conserve the state of life, securing our spirit conceives new separating techniques again and again. With glass we may construct a winter garden to conserve summer state, with photos and videos we may remember past times and with recording techniques we even may hear formerly faded sounds. The conservative attitude always looks back in order to conserve a certain state of life, to stop the course of world.
But life with its seasonal eclipse always goes ahead. Janus, the ancient deity of transition and passage dominates the brumal season. He has two faces, one looking back and one looking forward. The first has a contemplative and conservative mindset and the second a planning and visionary one. At the conservatory we may learn something about right techniques and a former way of living. But we should realise it as our everlasting challenge for our future.
Contemplation is the condition for vision. So join our musical invitation and lean back in contemplation to draw breath for an exciting new year." (From the Stadtgruen's release page)

"The Infinite Process Of Absorbing
The monotonous noise of bypassing cars drags me away from sleep and into another day. Time doesn't exist, there are just processes and my whole life seems to be tied to an infinite process like the neverending looping sound of the cars outside my small apartment. I open the door, however unable to open the walls of isolation that seperate me from mankind.
Sitting down beside the road, I feel the wet grass with my fingers. I peel off some leaves and gaze at them with my eyes. Drops seep down silently into nowhere where they melt with my feelings.
Like sitting in a diving belt I float through the strange but yet self-created environment of my own subconsciousness, greedily absorbing images and sentiments I had forgotten and repressed for such a long time. My own existence seems to dissolve and drift away like dust in the wind, far beyond the walls of fear and melancholia.
A delightful tickling surrounds my head and muffles my body - it's grass.
Track 1-9 written & produced by Tobias Hornberger.
Track 10 written, produced & live-performed by Tobias Hornberger, Thomas Waldmann and Andreas Scheck." (From the Stadtgruen's release page)