Ludwig's Law

Ludwig's Law
Studio album by Moebius, Conny Plank, Mayo Thompson
Released	November 16, 1998
Recorded	1983
Studio
Label	Drag City
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Track list

1. Scientists
2. Das Apartment
3. The Truth?
4. Ludwig's Law
5. 42
6. Farmer Gabriel
7. Gestalt
8. Taras Bulba
9. Boy Boy Boy

Background

Recorded 1983

Released 1998

• Angst Vor Nice (Ludwig's Law) - book by Werner Büttner and Albert Oehlen published in 1985 by Meterverlag

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Personnel

Moebius, Conny Plank, Mayo Thompson

Cover art

The cover photo is a sculpture called the Capitoline Wolf. It depicts the mythical Roman founders Romulus and Remus. The photo was edited to have three infants, likely representing the three collaborating artists.

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Retrospectives

Mayo Thompson, 1999

Red Crayola were in Germany doing some work with Conny and I met Moebius at a little festival in his hometown. He wanted to try something different, so he asked me to write the lyrics and sing on this Ludwig's Law. The guy at Moebius's record company Sky hated it. It wasn't Krautrock as he knew it.

Reviews

• Magnet - Jud Cost
• Philadelphia City Paper - A.D. Amorosi
• AP

Forced Exposure

First ever issue of this unreleased collaborative album from the mid-80s (although the instrumental tracks are theoretically the same as those found on the Moebius/Plank En Route CD, released by the Curious Music label in the US). "Ludwig's Law is a relative puzzle that is only now taking a coherent shape. By 1985 the final releases of the second generation Red Crayola were behind. It was at this time that Mayo Thompson met Moebius. Moebius has been delivering an album a year to Sky, often producing them with Conny Plank. Moebius and Conny had been building basic tracks in an emulator. They invited Mayo Thompson to write lyrics and sing. Mayo Thompson had just discovered the work of Werner Büttner and Albert Oehlen -- artists whose language played on pretense and the potential for misrepresentation, among other things. Mayo senses a place to start in their book Angst vor Nice. For lyrics, a selection was 'sampled.' Sky rejected the master, Ludwig's Law was regulated to the vault."

Earpiece

Spring 1999

b.wildered

1983 sessions apparently rejected by moebius' label due to an inability to make head or tail of this project. for the unitiated, dieter moebius is one-half of the duo known as cluster (aka kluster), who have been responsible for a series of recordings emanating from germany since 1970 or so, sometimes included in the amorphously inclusive genre known as "kraut-rock". the late conny plank is best known for his role as a producer of "euro-disco" dance music. mayo thompson has intermittently led the tactical noise/art-rock collective the red crayola (aka the red krayola- does anyone see a pattern here?) since 1966, as well as participating in various forays as producer and label head (rough trade, in the early eighties). thompson was invited to add words and vocals to this predominantly drum machine and synth-oriented set. topics include the fate of chickens owned by a "farmer gabriel" and the effect of lack of sunlight on human intelligence. heady stuff, but i love it a lot. i must warn you that i am not in any way objective when it comes to projects involving mayo thompson, having been a pursuer of his work since i first stumbled on a used copy of the parable of arable land. nevertheless, i unreservedly recommend this one. i think it has some accessible appeal to anyone who likes to think about the music they listen to. kudos for the cover which features a clever manipulation of the duo of romulus and remus into a trio.