Stephan Mathieu is an electronic musician from Saarbruecken, Germany. Starting out as a drummer in various improvised contexts he made the switch to working mainly with computers in the late 90's. Since then he has released a string of highly acclaimed recordings on labels like Ritornell and Orthlorng Musork. From his interest in design and work with installations he has acquired a fine-tuned sense of form. His music is mostly based on acoustic instruments but so far they have always been more or less heavily computer processed. 'On Tape' is a pivotal work for Mathieu as this is the first time we hear him leaving his source material unprocessed by digital means.

Stephan started building this piece from recordings provided to him by Swedish trio Tape and saxophonist Magnus Granberg. Adding his own subtle drumming, field recordings and a focus on reworking the sound material exclusively with classic editing techniques this is a beautiful album that weaves elements from the electronic and acoustic worlds to a seamless whole. A very clear and uncomplicated atmosphere around this piece distinguishes it from a lot of electronic music.