Pantha du Prince

Weber's style evolved from the harder end of the house music spectrum[2] and minimal techno to something he described himself as "sonic house," and incorporating acoustic elements, electronically altered field recordings,[6] and shoegazing references.[7] He launched his Pantha du Prince identity in 2002, with the four-track 12" "Nowhere".[8] His first full-length album Diamond Daze (2004), featured hard-edged club songs,[2] with samples of The Chills’ "Pink Frost" on the track "Circle Glider".[8][9] Writing for allmusic, Jason Birchmeier also detected an affinity for shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, as well as stylings of Detroit Techno producer Carl Craig.[8]

Weber's 2005 remix 12" "Butterfly Girl Versions" and the 2006 "Lichten/Walden" 12" were again published on the German label Dial.[8] In 2007, Weber released This Bliss[5] where he explored travel, time, and the joy of forward motion.[2] Commenting on the album's juxtaposition of ethereal melodic elements and a dance music backbone, Tim Finney gave it 7.7 out of 10 in a review for Pitchfork.[10] The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica described This Bliss as Pantha du Prince's "high-water mark, [and] a pensive, slender and tough album".[11]

In 2010, Weber switched to Rough Trade Records before releasing his third album Black Noise,[11] where he sought to "incorporate a wide range of sounds — field recordings, atonal noise, and stray percussion," as part of a "period of musical exploration in the Swiss Alps."[12] Unlike a totalizing experience of This Bliss, some saw tracks on Black Noise as a more compartmentalized treatment of moods and textures that retained Weber's "gift for generating heavily melodic mazes of sound."[13] Featuring Animal Collective's Noah Lennox and LCD Soundsystem's Tyler Pope as guest artists, and following the aforementioned label change, Black Noise was met with more excitement than Weber's previous work.[14]

In 2012, Pantha Du Prince collaborated with Stephan Abry of the band Workshop; the duo formed the project Ursprung (after an Austrian town), and released an album Ursprung on Dial. In 2013, Pantha du Prince and the Norwegian percussion five-piece The Bell Laboratory released their collaborative album Elements of Light.[15] The ambitious project was a symphony for electronics, percussion and bell carillon, a three-tonne instrument comprising 50 bronze bells.[16] When asked if there was anything he wanted listeners to take away from Elements of Light, Weber said, "It was intended to be listened to in one piece [...], more like a DJ mix."[17]

Due to his integral approach, Pantha du Prince manages to unite different areas of cultural production including popular music, performance, and fine arts to one artform.[1] Weber's installations coalesce sounds, architecture, and objects into a transcendental space.[1]

• 2011: Echo in the category „Kritikerpreis“
• 2014: Musicboard Berlin – Grant Recipient of the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pantha du Prince.

• Official Website
• Official Myspace
• Pantha du Prince at Allmusic
• Pantha du Prince on Discogs