This article details the complete oeuvre of Canadian composer Daniel Vahnke. Between 1990 and 1996, Vahnke released six full-length studio albums both independently pressed and through a record label. Five of them were released as Vampire Rodents albums and one was ostensibly a solo album titled Papa Woody, which released under the name Ether Bunny.
Vahnke formed Vampire Rodents with keyboardist Victor Wulf in 1989 to serve as an outlet for their sound collage experiments. In 1990, they debuted with War Music, which was issued independently by their own label V.R. Productions and showcased their irreverent approach to industrial rock. Their second record, Premonition, was released in 1992 and adopted a more experimental sound, with violinist/cellist Andrea Akastia helping the duo to expand their musical pallet. Based on the creative success of that album, Vampire Rodents were signed to Re-Constriction Records.
Lullaby Land, released in 1993, became the group's first critical success. Vampire Rodents became an outlet for Vahnke's solo work and he decided to take a more commercial electro-industrial approach with the beat-driven Clockseed, which incorporated dense string and horn arrangements and a plethora of guest vocalists. He released two albums through Fifth Colvmn Records in 1996: Gravity's Rim, which further experimented with the song format, and Papa Woody, Vahnke's personal tribute to big band and bebop music that had been in the works since 1993. After experiencing legal disputes with Fifth Colvmn, Vahnke retreated from the music scene and announced his retirement in 2009. In 2017 Vahnke released the sixth Vampire Rodents album Noises in the Wall and the second Ether Bunny album Attention Please on his Rodentia Productions Bandcamp. He continued to relaease projects into 2020, including: Music for Player Piano, Early Soundtrack Sketches, Vol. I, Early Soundtrack Sketches, Vol. II, Axon Tremolo, Gravity's Rim (Instrumental Version), Cut to the Chase and ElevatorMan.
Discography As Daniel Vahnke +Studio albums Title Album details Music for Player Piano Released: June 30, 2018 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL +Compilation albums Title Album details Early Soundtrack Sketches, Vol. I Released: August 1, 2018 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL Early Soundtrack Sketches, Vol. II Released: August 1, 2018 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL
As Vampire Rodents
+Studio albums Title Album details War Music Released: August 20, 1990 (US) Label: V.R. Formats: CS, CD Premonition Released: May 19, 1992 (US) Label: V.R. Formats: CD Lullaby Land Released: October 25, 1993 (US) Label: Re-Constriction Formats: CD Clockseed Released: April 14, 1995 (US) Label: Re-Constriction Formats: CD Gravity's Rim Released: May 14, 1996 (US) Label: Fifth Colvmn Formats: CD Noises in the Wall Released: November 11, 2017 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL Gravity's Rim (Instrumental Version) Released: July 20, 2018 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL Cut to the Chase Released: November 12, 2019 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL
As Ether Bunny +Studio albums Title Album details Papa Woody Released: April 2, 1996 (US) Label: Fifth Colvmn Formats: CD Attention Please Released: December 28, 2017 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL
With Axon Tremolo +Studio albums Title Album details Axon Tremolo Released: July 20, 2018 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL
As Elevator ManN +Studio albums Title Album details ElevatorMan Released: January 1, 2020 Label: Rodentia Productions Formats: DL
Compilation appearances + List of compilation appearances, with year of release, album title and song titleYearSongAlbumLabel 1991"Success"Mind Pollution (The First Installment)Words of Warning"War Music"RRR-Taste Test: 1991 – Vol 6RRR 1992"Burial at Sea"The Cyberflesh conspiracy If It Moves..."Babyface"DossiersDossier"Momentous"Mechanics of Deconstruction Technical Chaos"Babyface"Sever Motor Discordia 1993"Nose Dive"Rivet Head CultureIf It Moves... 1994"Bosch Erotique"America the BeautifulRRR"Catacomb"Crowbar AmericaRe-Constriction"Lizardman"Masked Beauty in a Sea of SadnessGoth Industry"Zygote"Scavengers in the MatrixIf It Moves... 1995"Mother Tongue"Chambermade Re-Constriction"Another Planet"Frostbyte (Re-Constriction Sampler)"Core"Thugs 'n' Kisses 1996"Dowager's Egg"Built for Stomping: A Re-Constriction & Cleopatra Sampler"Blind Acceleration"Fascist Communist RevolutionariesFifth Colvmn"Saturation"Re-Constriction 10* Year Anniversary Re-Constriction 1997"Mother Tongue"Got Moose? Re-Constriction CD Sampler #2"Schubert Trio in E-flat"Vampire Themes Cleopatra 1998"Chain"The Black Bible 1998"Schubert Trio in E-flat"This Is Goth!
Soundtrack appearances YearSongFilm 1993"Nosedive"Totally Fucked Up
Credits Year Artist Release Role(s) Song(s) 1990 Vampire Rodents War Music sampler, guitar, vocals — 1991 Premonition Sampler, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, orchestration, vocals — 1993 Lullaby Land Sampler, guitar, orchestration, vocals — 1994 Various Artists Masked Beauty in a Sea of Sadness Sampler "Lizardman" 1995 Various Artists Thugs 'n' Kisses Remixer "Chemical Halo" (V. Rodents' Sax Mix) Vampire Rodents Clockseed Sampler, guitar — Vocals "Downwind", "Floater", "Another Planet", "Tattoo Me" 1996 Gravity's Rim Sampler, guitar, bass guitar — Vocals "Prophet Clown", "Underneath", "Gravity's Rim", "Ice Borers", "Parameter Seven", "Obsidian", "Porker", "Creeper", "Albatross", "Fossilized" Ether Bunny Papa Woody Sampler — Various Artists Fascist Communist Revolutionaries Sampler, guitar, bass guitar, vocals "Blind Acceleration" 2017 Vampire Rodents Noises in the Wall Sampler — 2018 Ether Bunny Attention Please Sampler — Axon Tremolo Axon Tremolo Sampler — Vocals "Haven", "Axis", "Free Again", "Sky Wide Open", "Focus", "Horizon", "Sleepy Boat to Heaven" Vampire Rodents Gravity's Rim (Instrumental Version) Sampler — Daniel Vahnke Early Soundtrack Sketches, Vol. I Sampler — Early Soundtrack Sketches, Vol. II Synthesizers — Piano "Piano Room #13", "Piano Room #12", "Piano Room #11", "Piano Room #10" Sampler "Down to Business", "Rat Nest I & IV" Music for Player Piano Piano — 2019 Vampire Rodents Cut to the Chase Sampler — Remixer "Chemical Halo" (V. Rodents' Sax Mix), "Gout" (V. Rodents' Mix), "Good Vibrations" (V. Rodents' Mix), "Combine" (V. Rodents' Mix), "Valentine" (V. Rodents' Mix), "Reconciled" (V. Rodents' Mix) Vocals "Cut to the Chase", "Blind Acceleration", "Lizardman" 2020 Elevator ManN ElevatorMan Vocals —
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