German pharmacist Rüdiger Lorenz, born in 1941, was an avid collector of analog synthesizers. Lorenz's innovative recordings were often composed live in his home studio, and explored themes of outer space as well as Earth, sea, and nature. He began releasing cassettes of his music in the early '80s, mostly on Syntape, the label he co-founded with Peter Schaefer. His first vinyl release was 1983's Invisible Voices on his own Syncord label, which released all of his subsequent albums. He released five LPs of his own material in the 1980s, as well as International Friendship, a compilation featuring pieces by Maurizio Bianchi, Yoshi Wada, De Fabriek, and many other experimental artists. Lorenz's 1990 album Fata Morgana was his first CD release, and began a prolific decade of albums mostly themed around specific Earth locations and seas, including Sibiria, Congo, Ozeania, and Coral Sea. Lorenz died suddenly in 2000, leaving 1998's Tropica as his final album. Well over a decade after Lorenz's death, his music found new audiences, as his earliest recordings were reissued for the first time. Anthology Recordings unearthed Invisible Voices in 2014, and Krautrock label Bureau B re-released 1984's Southland the following year. Another German reissue label, Vinyl-on-Demand, released The Syntape-Years 1981-83, a vinyl box set of Lorenz's early cassette releases, in 2015 as well. ~ Paul Simpson