Bochum Welt

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Bochum Welt is the stage name of the Italian electronic musician Gianluigi Di Costanzo. The name Bochum Welt is a combination of the German word for "world" (welt) and the name of a high-powered astral telescope.[1]

Di Costanzo has released numerous records on established record labels. His first single for Aphex Twin's Rephlex label,[2] "Scharlach Eingang" (1994), published by Warner/Chappell Music, was sufficiently accomplished that the British music magazine NME ran an article claiming that Bochum Welt could be a ghost project by Aphex Twin. Over the following years, Aphex Twin released eight of his records on Rephlex and included his tracks in the label’s two compilations.

His debut album for Sony Music Japan,[3] "Module 2 / Desktop Robotics"[4] collected early works and was followed by the double CD "Robotic Operating Buddy", released by Rephlex and nominated in 2009 as a top 15 electronica album by The Wire.[5]

BMG UK signed him to a long-term worldwide publishing deal in 2009.[6]

Rephlex Records released his new full length in 2013, “Good Programs (To Be Coloured in Yellow)”,[7] as well as a collaborative EP with Heinrich Muller aka Gerald Donald from the Detroit group Drexciya, nominated in 2013 by Fact (UK magazine) in the 50 greatest 10″ records of FACT’s lifetime.[8] Both of the records were published by BMG.

"April", a 17-track studio album, is one of the official Record Store Day releases in April 2017, released by Studio K7 and published by BMG.[9]

After a Bochum Welt show on Halloween[10] on the roof of the Ace Hotel Los Angeles, formerly the United Artists Theatre, Joshua Eustis — a member of Telefon Tel Aviv / Nine Inch Nails[11] — and Bochum Welt met and began collaborating. More live performances followed at the Ace Hotels in New York, Chicago, Palm Springs, and London.

In 2019 and 2020 "Seafire", an album and remixes released by CPU Records / BMG, included collaborations with Joshua Eustis and EOD.

CPU and BMG Records (BMG Rights Management) released Bochum Welt “F.O.A.S. / Desktop Robotics” and “Module 2”[12] special edition albums in 2022 and 2024.

In addition to releasing his own music, Di Costanzo has worked with Thomas Dolby's Headspace and Beatnik Inc., Hollywood companies that produced multimedia content for Steven Spielberg, David Bowie and others.

In 2025, Bochum Welt teamed up with Jil Sander on "Wanderlust", a multidisciplinary launch project including a vinyl EP, a digital album, a music video directed by Christopher Simmonds,[13] and a live event held at OHG Hamburg, a former factory turned cultural venue. Conceived as both a fashion and sound experience, Wanderlust was described as reflecting Jil Sander’s duality of “strictness and lightness, rigour and abandon.” The project also celebrated a symbolic return to Hamburg, Jil Sander’s city of formation, with the album artwork based on photographs from Christopher Simmonds’ campaign shot in the city. Presented as Jil Sander × Bochum Welt, the collaboration received international coverage in Vogue,[14] Wallpaper,[15] Hypebeast,[16] Icon, and others. The EP and album are published by BMG and distributed worldwide.

In September 2025, Bochum Welt composed and performed the original soundtrack for Jil Sander’s fashion show in Milan, marking Simone Bellotti’s debut as creative director. The event took place in the brand’s historic headquarters, whose white interiors opened toward Castello Sforzesco—a spatial dialogue Bellotti described as emblematic of the tension between historic Milanese identity and modern minimalism, and of the conceptual axis linking Milan and Hamburg, Jil Sander’s city of origin. A black curved runway cutting through the stark white space amplified this contrast, while the music, entrusted to Bochum Welt, shaped the atmosphere rather than merely accompanying the garments. In continuity with Wanderlust, Bochum Welt’s soundtrack emphasized Bellotti’s theme of Jil Sander’s duality: “strictness and lightness, rigour and abandon.”

Discography

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Main albums and EPs

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  • Scharlach Eingang (1994, Rephlex)
  • Module 2 (1996, Rephlex / Sony Japan)
  • Desktop Robotics (1997, Rephlex / Sony Japan)
  • Feelings on a Screen (1997, Rephlex)
  • Like a Tim Remixes (1997, Rephlex)
  • HEADSPACE music library V10 (1999, Headspace)
  • Robotic Operating Buddy EP (2007, Rephlex)
  • R.O.B. Album (2008, Rephlex)
  • Good Programs (To Be Coloured in Yellow) (2013, Rephlex / BMG)
  • April (2017, !K7 / BMG)
  • Seafire (2019, CPU / BMG)
  • Seafire Remixes (2020, CPU / BMG)
  • F.O.A.S. / Desktop Robotics (Special Edition, 2022, CPU / BMG)
  • Module 2 (Special Edition, 2024, CPU / BMG)
  • Wanderlust (2025, Jil Sander × Bochum Welt, BMG)

Compilation appearances

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  • The Braindance Coincidence (Rephlex, 2001)
  • Rephlexions! (Rephlex, 2003)

References

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  1. ^ The European Southern Observatory website The Bochum 0.61-metre telescope
  2. ^ Rephlex Records, Discography
  3. ^ Sony Music Japan website Bochum Welt in the Sony's Artists roster
  4. ^ Module 2 / Desktop Robotics, Sony Music press release
  5. ^ Wire Magazine, 2009 Top 15 Electronica Records
  6. ^ BMG, BMG publishing
  7. ^ Good Programs (To Be Coloured in Yellow), Good Programs (To Be Coloured in Yellow)
  8. ^ Fact, The 50 greatest 10″ records of FACT’s lifetime
  9. ^ New Musical Express, Bochum Welt in the List of official Record Store Day releases
  10. ^ Ace Hotel Los Angeles, Bochum Welt / Ace Hotel Los Angeles
  11. ^ Telefon Tel Aviv, Joshua Eustis / Nine Inch Nails
  12. ^ Module 2, BMG Records / Module 2
  13. ^ Christopher Simmonds, Christopher Simmonds
  14. ^ Vogue / JS, Vogue / JS
  15. ^ Wallpaper / JS, Wallpaper / JS
  16. ^ Hypebeast / JS, Hypebeast / JS
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