The Modernist

It so happened that Joerg Burger (The Modernist) has been in the most advanced musical circles since the late 80s, where the rhythm and direction of movement were set by the Foigt brothers - Wolfgang (the future founder of the Kompakt label and one of the main ideologists of minimal techno who worked under the pseudonyms Studio 1 and Mike Ink) and Richard. You would agree – being in such progressive circles, it's impossible not to be inspired by new ideas and to set one's sights on a beautiful and bright future. This is exactly what happened to Burger, who gradually began releasing records one better than the other. He invented a variety of pseudonyms (Burger Industries, Triola, The Bionaut, and The Modernist), and was not afraid of various collaborative projects with musicians. Ultimately, The Modernist project found its own, distinctly recognizable and interesting sound. Beautifully produced music with a hint of signature German melancholy, with a correctly buzzing techno kick, a specific romanticism that generates a mass of beautifully moving people on the dance floor with closed eyes... Joerg Burger, despite his attachment to 'classic pop music', names 1988 as his starting point, the year of the triumphant march of acid house music across all dance floors in Europe. Two years later, Joerg Burger released his first compositions in the Teutonic Beats compilation by Thomas Fehlmann. A year later, Burger founded the labels Trance Atlantic and Monochrome, featuring compositions written by Burger and his friend and partner Wolfgang Foigt. Immersed in this culture of electronic music, Burger established a branch of the Delirium store in Cologne (which later evolved into the Kompakt label), as well as the Eat Raw label and began releasing the House Attack magazine. In 1995, Burger participated in the revival of the Harvest label under EMI Germany, where he released the critically acclaimed albums The Bionaut: Lush Life Electronica and (with Wolfgang Foigt) Burger /Ink: Las Vegas. The peak of the label's popularity came in 1997 when Burger launched the new project The Modernist with the debut album Opportunity Knox. Two years later, after several releases, Burger left Harvest to found his own label together with Sony Music. Subsequently, Burger created the Popular Organization record network, which included divisions Popular Sound, Popular Music, and Popular Tools, on the last of which The Modernist's album Explosion 1999 was released. This album received licensing and was reissued by Matador Records (USA) under the changed title Explosion 2000. Prior to this, the classic album Burger/Ink Las Vegas was released on Matador in the USA. The following album Kangmei, released in 2003, featured a composition titled 'Protest Song': apparently, when Burger titled his release so that it translates to 'resist America', he wanted to make some political statement or express protest. In reality, it was just another variation of Burger as an artist on the theme of constant uncertainty towards America. The year 2004 marked Burger's return to friends and former partners at the Kompakt label, where he released the album Triola Im Fuenftonraum – a cutting-edge addition to the concepts he had developed in the 90s under the name The Bionaut. At the end of 2005, Kompakt Studios label was established. Joerg Burger's last release in August 2006 was a mixed and combined compact for a unique project of the new label Stefan Struever called: collectible series, part 1: The Modernist. In December 2006, the project Echo Club, resulting from the new collaboration of Joerg Burger and Richard Foigt, released a debut 12-inch single Welcome to Echo Club on the Kompakt label. Also, in the spring of 2007, the Burger/Ink project reunited under the new name Burger/Voigt – 11 years after the release of the album Las Vegas. The first releases of this project on the Kompakt label were Bring Trance Back and Roter Platz. Joerg Burger's last solo releases (and the first full ones under his own name) are Joerg Burger Polyform 1 & 2 on the K2 label.