As another year folds out, it is time once again to look back and take stock or the highs and lows, before a fresh year rolls in. 2011 has had its moments and has overall been a rather good year, and trying to extract a list of twenty albums from the hundreds, thousands possibly, that I have listened to, loved, hated, reviewed or not, tried to make sense of or misunderstood seems a pretty restrictive effort at best. Still, it is always good to look back and realise that some records have made more of a mark than others, some almost imperceptibly. So, here is, in twenty records, what 2011 was made of…

1.

JENNY HVAL
Viscera
Rune Grammofon

Review:
There is such urgency throughout this record that it is quite astonishing how Hval manages to retain any lightness in her music, but she does, and [Helge] Sten picks up on just enough to bring it all to life in sprightly bright colours and tones.

2.

HAUSCHKA & HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR
Pan Tone
Sonic Pieces

Review:
So truly individual are their respective work that the inspired pairing of Volker Bertelmann, a man with a penchant for purposely tempering with his piano with all manners of props to alter its sound, and Hildur Guðnadóttir, whose exploratory work takes the cello out of its usual remit to experiment with textures and loops, was always likely to deliver something totally unique. And unique this never-to-be-repeated performance was on more than one level.

3.

EMIKA
Emika
Ninja Tune

Review:
Tightly blending elements of electronica, dubstep and techno together, Emika creates here a particularly pertinent modern urban soundtrack, propelled by ground-shaking grooves and incisive electronics to serve bitter sweet melodies and lyrics.

4.

FABIO ORSI
Wo Ist Behle?
Boring Machines

Review:
Wo Ist Behle? is an uncompromising record which sees Fabio Orsi moving away from using field recordings and experimenting with documenting his environment with artificial sounds instead. The result is, quite simply, nothing short of breathe-taking.

5.

SEEFEEL
Seefeel
Warp Records

Review:
The music is as hypnotic and ethereal as it was in the nineties, yet, it relies on much grittier sound sources and appears dirtier and more abstract. Still, this album is unmistakably Seefeel.

6.

FIRE! with JIM O’ROURKE
Unreleased?
Rune Grammofon

Review:
With Jim O’Rourke, Fire! have found the perfect companion, and as this is very likely to be a temporary arrangement, it would be utterly foolish not to savour every second of it to the full.

7.

KING MIDAS SOUND
Without You
Hyperdub

Review:
Each reinterpretation is a personal statement from Martin’s contributors as they stamp their mark on these compositions.

8.

DANIEL THOMAS FREEMAN
The Beauty Of Doubting Yourself
Home Normal

Review:
Despite its dark origins and extremely personal nature, The Beauty Of Doubting Yourself is a truly inspiring, and inspired, record, which manages to keep its audience totally captivated and, crucially, completely part of the experience.

9.

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER
Replica
Software Label

Review:
With this album, Daniel Lopatin has refined his sound by giving it a wider spectrum, and whilst he remains faithful to the overly synthetic aspect of his music, it is the way he accommodates his expanded palette which binds this album together.

10.

ÆTHENOR
En Form For Blå
VHF Records

Review:
At times, Æthenor play nicely, reigning in most inclines of discordance [...], but there are at others sombre shadows lurking beneath the surface which push the level of tension.

11.

HÅKON KORNSTAD
Symphonies In My Head
Jazzland Recordings

Review:
With his solo records, Håkon Kornstad is slowly devising a universe away from his collaborative work, where he can experiment with subtle musical touches and experiment freely with his instruments.

12.

MIKA VAINIO
Life (… It Eats You Up)
Editions Mego

Review:
Released on Editions Mego, the guitar-based Life (… It Eats You Up) explores some of the man’s recurring themes from a somewhat fresh angle. The resulting soundtrack is not ultimately that different from the majority of his output, although it throws up some interesting oddities.

13.

ZWISCHENWELT
Paranormale  Aktivität
Rephlex

Review:
Fueled with tales of paranormal activity, premonition and clairvoyance, this album distills somber themes on dystopian electronic backdrops, sounding like Kraftwerk’s Radio-Activity experienced through the negative space of a black hole.

14.

AFRICA HITECH
93 Million Miles
Warp Records

Review:
Pritchard and White never chose the easy route to progress through this album, but this is exactly what makes it such a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

15.

JOHN CHANTLER
The Luminous Ground
Room40

Review:
Chantler alters the emotional aspect of this record by simply working on specific tonalities and continuously moulding them, each piece displaying subtle variations in its own scope, while all sounding very distinctive and unique.

16.

HUMCRUSH with SIDSEL ENDRESEN
Ha!
Rune Grammofon

Review:
Endresen’s earthy voice occupies the extremely volatile space between keyboards, drums and electronics with aplomb. Her great capacity to listen and instantaneously adapt to whatever her collaborators throws at her are clearly thrilling to Humcrush who take her on a chaotic journey through fragmented pieces of varying density

17.

PEDRO SOLER & GASPAR CLAUS
Barlande
InFiné

Review:
While Barlande is the meeting of a father and his son, it is above all the meeting of two musicians with very different outlooks who meet on a level beyond their respective work.

18.

AUTECHRE & THE HAFLER TRIO
ah3e0 & a3oe (ae3o3)
Die Stadt/Simply Superior

Review:
The detailing is extreme here as Auteche and The Hafler Trio work from microscopic particles, painstakingly building up layer after layer to create incredibly complex, yet minimal, sound structures.

19.

DADAVISTIC ORCHESTRA
Dokument.02
Dust Science Recordings

Review:
Dadavistic Orchestra create here a particularly rich and effective soundtrack, built around deeply atmospheric soundscapes which are in turn processed into impressive textural pieces and adorned with varying degrees of melodic structure.

20.

VLADISLAV DELAY QUARTET
Vladislav Delay Quartet
Honest Jon’s

Review:
Formed of Sasu ‘Vladislav Delay’ Ripatti (drums and percussions), Lucio Capece (bass clarinet and soprano sax), Derek Shirley (double bass) and Mika Vainio (electronics), the quartet operate at the murkier end of the music spectrum.

HAUSCHKA & HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR
Pan Tone
SONICPIECES012
Sonic Pieces 2011
06 Tracks. 42mins15secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: DLD iTunes: DLD

In early 2010, German pianist Hauschka and Icelandic experimental cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir were invited to perform together as part of Arctic Circle’s Bubbly Blue And Green festival, themed around water, which took place at King’s Place, London over the course of four days. For the occasion, the pair had concocted a series of pieces inspired by various Pantone shades of blue, from near-black to aquamarine, each evoking a particular colour of the ocean.

So truly individual are their respective work that the inspired pairing of Volker Bertelmann, a man with a penchant for purposely tempering with his piano with all manners of props to alter its sound, and Hildur Guðnadóttir, whose exploratory work takes the cello out of its usual remit to experiment with textures and loops, was always likely to deliver something totally unique. And unique this never-to-be-repeated performance was on more than one level. Bertelmann’s randomly distorted melodies and Guðnadóttir’s exquisite layered drones and loops combine to create a particularly haunting soundtrack, which is as nuanced and contrasted as the ocean they endeavour to portray. The random playfulness of the prepared piano contrasts greatly with the sombre tones of the cello, yet the music resulting of this unlikely collision is incredibly dramatic and poignant.

#283 opens with Bertelmann building up a theme, tainted by the bouncing of ping pong balls and the tarnished sounds of dulled strings, around which Guðnadóttir weaves delicate motifs and pulses. The cello becomes more prominent on #294 as Guðnadóttir layers monotone segments, but, as the piece progresses, she answers the rising momentum of the piano with swelling counterpoints.

The mood changes quite drastically on Black6. Announced by a slightly dissonant cello drone, the bleak call of Guðnadóttir’s cello is at first almost entirely solitary, Bertelmann only sprinkling minute texture over it, but as the drone evolves into a tormented sequence, he adds to the emotional fabric by carving a particularly vibrant theme. #304 continues on a similar sombre path, and here, the pair strip the music right back down to its most minimal state, Guðnadóttir weaving mournful tones whilst Bertelmann creates a glistening melody by  repetitively hitting the strings of his instrument with tiny mallets. While the pace remains slow and the tone fairly minimal, things lighten up again on #320. The cello occupies the bulk of the space, as layered drones and textured glissandos cross paths, while Bertelmann drops delicate touches throughout. The pair return to more animated grounds for the closing piece of this collection. Coolgrey1 is much more lively and colourful than its title suggest. Most of the piece is driven by rhythmic piano pulses as swirls of cello fly in from all sides, before the pair calm things down in the latter part of the piece until it fizzles out entirely.

The fruit of an extraordinary meeting of visionary artists, Pan Tone is a totally fascinating affair, its scope reaching way beyond their respective realm to create a truly magical moment. In turn gentle or agitated, sparkling or bleak, the music here is incredibly rich and evocative, and should be missed under no pretext.

5/5

Hauschka | Hildur Guðnadóttir | Sonic Pieces
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: DLD iTunes: DLD

HAUSCHKA
Salon Des Amateurs
CD1316/LP1316
130701/Fat Cat Records 2011
10 Tracks. 42mins19secs

Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP Boomkat: CD | LP iTunes: DLD

Tangents are weird and wonderful things, drifting away from a main idea to explore another, with often only the slightest of common ground between them. Salon Des Amateurs is one such tangent for Volker Bertelmann. Barely a few months after he unleashed Foreign Landscapes, an album on which he abandoned the solitary prepared piano work he had until then been largely associated with to venture into more orchestral forms, Bertelmann returns with Salon Des Amateurs, an album on which he confronts contemporary classical music with dance references and occasional electronic brushes.

At the heart of this is Hauschka’s prepared piano, which is given an additional layer of oddity with the use of loops, which capture and repeat peripheral sounds (a recurring bouncing ping pong ball on Ping for instance), and electronic treatments, which allow Bertelmann to distort his sound further. Recorded in his Düsseldorf, these tracks began life as solo piano pieces, onto which were added other components as the recording process developed. Joining Bertelmann are drummers Samuli Kosminen (múm), and John Convertino (Calexico), with additional contributions from cellist Joe Burns on TwoAM and Girls and violinist Hilary Hahn on TwoAM. Whilst they bring some interesting tones, it is the vast array of sounds and textures that Bertelmann sources from his piano which gives this record its depth and complexity. From regular musical notes, played in conventional patterns and assembled into various hypnotic melodies, to plucked strings and odd noises clustered in rhythmic configurations and ornamental features, Bertelmann creates here a particularly vibrant and contrasted soundtrack. Whilst there are some undeniable similarities with some of his previous releases, especially in the particular approach to melodic forms and the unpredictability resulting of the props used, this is unlike anything he has produced until now.

The album opens with plucked strings and electronics arranged in syncopated patterns which are soon brought to life with a recurring piano theme cast against playful brass loops. Later on, the brass section returns, giving TaxiTaxi a rather festive air, while the Reich-esque Tanzbein appears to constantly erupt with new loops as layers are added. The electronic treatment often remains extremely discreet, limited to cleverly assembled loops and occasional sonic florishes; the aforementioned use of a bouncing ping pong ball on Ping adds an interesting counterpoint to the piece’s main rhythmic structure, while the cascading piano lines which develop toward the end of the piece appear blurred with overdubs. On Cube, the sustained notes are at times distorted into dubbey ribbons. The more nuanced structures of Cube, Subconscious or NoSleep hint at dreamier set ups, especially for the latter as the main piano form is dipped into hazy reverbs, but these are never allowed to drift away for long and are brought back in line.

What characterizes this album above all is its intense playfulness and colourful outlook. Hauschka’s highly individual style is clearly identifiable here, but, applied in a vastly different fashion to his previous recordings, it takes on a new dimension with these tracks and is likely to prove even more exhilarating when performed live.

4.4/5

Hauschka | Hauschka (MySpace) | Fat-Cat  Records
Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP Boomkat: CD | LP iTunes: DLD

Using a prepared piano as his instrument of choice, Düsseldorf-based musician and composer Volker Bertelmann, AKA Hauschka, has developed a very personal style since his first release back in 2004. With his latest album, he teamed up with the Magik*Magik Orchestra in San Francisco and explored the orchestral side of his work in depth for the first time. To coincide with the release of the album, Hauschka embarked on a tour which saw him joined by different formations according to the country he was playing. We took the opportunity to catch up with the man following his UK to talk about his new album, the techno project he is about to unleash, the joys and problems of playing with different orchestras, the unpredictability of playing a piano loaded with ping pong balls and having other artists adding vocals to his music.

You were classically trained I believe. How did you come to play the piano? Where you inspired by any particular musician or composer as a child?
I was nine years old  when I  listened to an older man playing piano in our Christian community house playing Chopin pieces. I was so inspired by him that I asked my mother if I could have lessons with him.
We had no piano and my mum was concerned that we couldn’t afford the piano lessons. A few weeks later my great aunt was giving us an old piano as a gift, so I started to have lessons with this piano player, and did for about seven years.

I think one of my favorite composers from that time until today is Chopin.

Although it seems the idea of using props in an instrument has been around for some time, the process was in part pioneered by John Cage, but who inspired you to work with prepared pianos?
I actually inspired myself as I somehow invented the idea for my own purpose as I was looking for the option to play electronic music with an acoustic instrument. It started with Christmas cake wrap paper in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. Now of course I find more and more people who work with prepared piano but I don’t want to put this idea so much in the foreground. It is a wonderful sound source and a great tool but the music has to be composed like with a normal piano.

You recorded Foreign Landscapes with the Magik*Magik Orchestra in San Francisco. It was the first time you recorded with such a formation. How did you prepare for it, and how did recording the album with them compare to previous albums?
I had to compose the pieces beforehand and I had to find a direction without playing. If you improvise the music starts intuitively and writing for an ensemble means to write arrangements and work more conceptually. I did write all the arrangements in about a month time and we recorded the whole album in three days. With earlier albums I recorded a lot of tracks upfront and then I shaped the piece afterwards and that was more or less the composing process. Both ways have advantages and drawbacks but I would like to combine them in the future. With the Magik*Magik Orchestra, it was a wonderful chance to transfer my way of working like an indie musician to a classical ensemble as they were very comfortable to play with me.

Was working with such a formation something you had wanted to do for a while? How do you think this complements your music?
It was always a wish to work with a classical ensemble but also a longing to go into waters where I felt insecure and develop ideas to get more knowledge in writing and getting an awareness of how my sound can be transformed with a group where I am not playing the instrument.

You are currently touring and performing with different formations. How do you find this? Isn’t it a bit daunting to leave so much of the performance in the hands of a formation you barely have had a chance to rehearse with?
I think the interesting part is the challenge and the time that is possible. Normally it is only places with big budgets who can provide enough resources to do proper rehearsals and have great players who get very well paid. In my case I rather had to find opportunities to work with bigger ensembles with the budget of an independent. The nice thing about it is the risk and also the pleasure that you can see people are having when they perform the pieces. This is absolutely encouraging!!!!

During your recent date at Bush Hall in London, you talked about a techno album that you were recording pretty much at the same time as Foreign Landscapes, and which you were originally planning to release first. The album is now scheduled to be released next year. Can you tell us a bit more about it?
I actually had the idea of using the prepared piano in all sorts of way, so that I don’t get stuck. The idea of the prepared piano is very strong and could cover everything else, so my idea was to move in different directions with the instrument without loosing my identity. One idea was to disappear as a performer and let an ensemble play my compositions and the other idea is to allow myself to go in all the stylistic fields I was growing up with and don’t detach myself from my roots.

The album will be called Salon Des Amateurs and it will have ten songs. I collaborated with Joey Burns and John Convertino from Calexico on three songs and with Samuli Kosminen, the drummer from Múm on five. It is more upbeat then all my other records together.

Watching you prepare the piano before the Bush Hall set was very interesting. Do you always use the same props or do you experiment with new ones all the time?
I use new ones but I also have standard settings that I can fire off whenever I have the impression this piano needs this way of preparation. I also try to use certain keys in the same way, so duck tape will always be on C3.

What makes a good prop for you?
It has to be light and move spontaneously and at the same time it should add a lot to the sound of the piano. For example, aluminum packages of tealights work perfectly.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that it used to take you a long time to get the piano ready before a performance, but that you can now do it much quicker, and it was certainly very quick at Bush Hall. What does it take to prepare a piano? Is it something that requires as much precision as tuning it?
No not at all, and I don’t know where the rumour comes from that I need two hours, but it is always nice to have enough time to try things out as every instrument is different and every room resonates differently.

In the same way as you can’t take a whole orchestra on tour with you, you can’t actually take your own piano, so you have to rely on whatever piano is available at the venues you perform. I’ve often heard pianists commenting on how good or bad a particular piano was. Does this add an element of unpredictability in the way you use your instrument? Does it require a particular type of piano?
I have to say yes , there are wonderful instruments around that don’t need much work and they sound already wonderful, others need some love and some treatment. I am asking for a certain height for upright pianos, as I can prepare those better, or I need a grand piano.

As with the ensembles, in the end it is a risk and a surprise at the same time and ninety-eight percent so far ended up being positive. The other two percent were lessons on how I can ensure that it does not end in disaster.

At the end of your current set, you empty a whole bag of ping pong balls into the body of the piano, which results in quite a chaotic end of show. Does it actually make playing tricky to have all these bouncing around?
You have to see where the piles are and sometimes they move into a very lonely corner of the piano. Then I have to find the keys they are lying on and that also makes it very interesting to play with the optical movements of ping pong balls.

I saw you perform a set with Hildur Guðnadóttir at King’s Place earlier in the year, and that was quite a beautiful collaboration. Had you worked with her before, and would you consider recording an album together?
We did some recordings during that evening and the recordings appeared to be very beautiful, so we are thinking about releasing them, but haven’t found anyone to do that so far. Plus we are both quite busy.

You’re one of these musicians who seem to like spending time introducing your music and talk to your audience during a concert. Do you feel your music needs explaining, or is it a way for you to connect with your audience?
I think it is a way of getting into a conversation and get a natural feeling towards the audience. Otherwise I feel a little bit like in a zoo where everyone is watching me. While I am talking I get a feel for the audience’s reception. From an audience’s perspective, I think it is great to go home and feel emotionally uplifted and educated at the same time. A lot of the time, I have the impression that after my performances people write to me that something had changed after coming back from listening to my music live, or that they’d discovered new ways to approach whatever they are into.

On Versions Of The Prepared Piano, which followed your second album proper, you had a handful of artists remixing, or, perhaps more appropriately, interpreting your music. How did the idea for the project come up, and how did you choose the artists who reworked your music?
I thought it would be great if my compositions went from foreground to background by getting vocals on top, so I chose singer/songwriters who also had the opportunity to record themselves to choose one song from the prepared piano and sing on top of that. Nobukazo Takemura and Frank Brettschneider where the only ones who refused to do vocals. Asking them was the ticket for non vocal tracks.

Is it something that you’d like to do again sometime in the future, and if yes, would you choose very different artists, or do you very much see it as something belonging in the past?
No I am totally up for that again and I hope I find such a great mix of people again. The problem is that my favourite singer/songwriters are mostly too busy to do vocal versions. But since you’re asking I have an idea…

Earlier in the year was premiered a collaboration with film director Jeff Desom entitled The Hauschka Ghost Piano. Can you tell us more about it?
The Ghost Piano is a film made at an audio visual installation in Eindhoven. We got asked to do a music performance with visuals and we decided not to have the projection in the background and the musicians sit in front of it. We thought to use visuals designed around the piano to create an atmosphere in the room. So Jeff and me worked on this performance and there are films on youtube which are small snapshots of the whole concert where I appear as a ghost.

In the biography on your website, you mention that you wrote your first film music when you were just eighteen. What was the film, and is it something that you have dome since or are wiling to do, and for which type of films?
It was a coincidence as one of my best friend’s parents where directors and they asked the two of us to do the music for the film. Of course I am up to do more scores and things seem to be moving in that direction.

What people may not know is that you are also part of Music AM with Stefan Schneider and Luke Sutherland, with whom you’ve released two albums and an EP on Quatermass between 2004 and 2006. How did the project start, and is it still active?
It started with me meeting Luke through Mouse on Mars’s sound engineer, who is also a great musician. We worked on one track with Luke and I asked him if he would be interested in working with me.
He said yes, and we needed a bass for a song and I gave Stefan Schneider who is very good friend of mine all the tracks that Luke and me had recorded. He came in the studio and he said that he liked most of the tracks and that he had prepared bass lines for six songs. So in the end we were a trio.

You’ve also recently collaborated with Stefan Schneider on a track that was released as part of Arctic Circle’s and LoAF’s Explorer’s Club series. Is this a collaboration that you are planning to take any further?
Yes. Stefan and I are good friends but we also like making music together. Maybe we will work on a theater project together again next year.

You are due to play during the Steve Reich Weekend at Barbican in May, during which you are set to perform a new piece for three prepared pianos and prepared percussions. Can you tell us more about the piece? How are you feeling about sharing a stage with Steve Reich?
I am not sure where you got this information from but I will perform a piece with prepared piano and two drummers. Also I think it is a concert where people compose or perform songs that have a relation to Steve Reich. He will perform at some point in a different venue. But being a part of this concert series around his 75th birthday is an honor for me. I like his music a lot.

What is next for Hauschka?
I finished the techno album. I will do a fourteen-days USA tour in January with mostly an ensemble and I.  Next year, concerts, theater and film projects are on the schedule. I am due to do a collaboration in Iceland and I will organize my piano festival in October.

If you had to name five records or pieces of music that have marked you in any way, which ones would they be?
Steve Reich: Different Trains
Cameo: She’s Strange
Wunder
Thomas Fehlmann
Stefan Schneider

Email interview December 2010. Foreign Landscapes is out now on 130701/Fat-Cat Records. Thank you to Volker Bertelmann and Ash at Fat-Cat.

Hauschka | Hauschka (MySpace) | Fat-Cat Records

Located in the lively and cosmopolitan Shepherd’s Bush area, West London, a stone-throw from the cold and soulless Westfield shopping arcade, Bush Hall is like an oasis of calm and tranquility. The place has been many things over the years, from its original purpose as a ball room to a soup kitchen during the second World War, a snooker club in the seventies, before being returned to its former glory, complete with carved ceiling and chandeliers, in the nineties. It retains a level of intimacy which was perfectly suited to this evening’s performance from German musician and composer Volker Bertelmann, better known as Hauschka, who was kicking off his UK tour following the release of his recent album, Foreign Landscapes, on Fat Cat. For this performance, Bertelmann was accompanied by a twelve-piece ensemble, who, he informed us, due to the impossible logistic of taking a whole orchestra on tour, he only had met the day before for a rehearsal session, and was ‘feeling like speed dating’.

Library Tapes was due to open the evening with Clem Leek, but was not able to make it to London on time, so Leek, who’s latest album, Holly Lane, on Hibernate, is a thing of beauty, took on to the stage alone and performed a series of rather beautiful melancholic piano pieces. While the majority of these were for solo piano, there was the occasional laptop flourish, which  at one point took the rather disturbing appearance of a recurring chilling cry, sounding half way between a seagull in the midst of an asthma attack and a pig being slaughtered, floating over a pastoral melody, or at another what could have been the muffled pounding of a disco beat at a party, as heard from within the womb. If these unexpected outbursts added a layer of grain to the performance, the remainder of Leek’s set proved a much gentler affair, much more stripped down than the heavily textured electronic forms of his latest opus.

Watching Bertelmann prepare the piano ahead of his performance amd test how his various beads, balls, toys and other objects affected the sound of the instrument as he positioned them ready for his set, almost as an extension of the main performance, was in itself a rare treat. But it offered no real key to the odd and wonderful sonorities that were to fill Bush Hall when Hauschka and his accompanying ensemble took to the stage.

While his previous records were mostly solo efforts, occasionally involving a small formation, Foreign Landscapes was recorded in San Francisco with the Magik*Magik Orchestra, an ensemble with whom Hauschka had worked once before some years ago. The evening opened with the light and enchanting Alexanderplatz, named, like most of the tracks lined up, from places which hold a particular significance for Hauschka.

Prepared differently to the record, the piano rarely had any of its original tonalities. Instead, there were at time almost mechanical pulses to it, a presage perhaps of a techno record built entirely from piano sounds and noises, due out some time next year.  Between extremely shortened and muffled  resonances, truncated sounds, odd toy-like noises and tuneless echoes, the music became at times strangely alive and human, as rendered more concrete by its many imperfections. The twelve-piece ensemble redressed the balance somehow, occasionally slightly drowning Bertelmann, thankfully never enough to wipe out the alien tonal progressions and organic textures generated from the piano.

At its most abstract and, well, prepared, Hauschka’s music can be a dark and moody beast, as he proved half way through with a solo piece which involved a range of tonalities reaching far beyond those included in the standard Steinway catalogue, from deep rambling and textured noises to ping pong balls resonating against the strings of the instruments, adding quirky rhythmic sequences, off-colour tones and distorted notes, all falling into the music at seemingly random intervals.The lighter, yet hectic Union Square, written for string quintet, was an interesting counterpoint to the previous piece. A reference to the famous square in Manhattan, the composition was expectedly busy, with melodies and counter melodies rushing past each other while a recurring two-note theme was played on the cello. The evening was brought to a close with a delicate sprinkling of Snow and a solo piece for piano and ping pall balls, before which Hauschka appeared to empty the content of an entire supply of said balls into the body of the instrument, resulting in any attempt at melody being totally and utterly overwhelmed by the sound of bouncing balls, the evidence of which was clear to see in the reflection of the piano’s open lead.

There is often something intrinsically cheerful about Hauschka’s music which certainly takes a different dimension performed live with an ensemble, and while the performance was at times slightly let down by the very young formation, they largely made up for occasional lack of experience with a good level of enthusiasm. This actually worked in Hauschka’s favour, adding a further element of unpredictability and grit to the evening.

Hauschka | Hauschka (MySpace) | Fat-Cat Records | Bush Hall

HAUSCHKA
Foreign Landscapes
CD1312
130701/Fat-Cat Records 2010
12 Tracks. 55mins41secs

Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD Amazon US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | LP iTunes: DLD

Imagine for a moment going through border controls with a panoply of gaffa tape rolls, ping pong balls, kitchen foil, little hammers, guitar strings, pegs and other random objects, all with the purpose of playing music. This is a daily occurrence for German musician Hauschka, who has made the prepared piano his instrument of predilection. Hailing from Düsseldorf, Volker Bertelmann, a classically-trained pianist, released his first album, Substantial, on Karaoke Kalk in 2004, and followed it with the self-explanatory The Prepared Piano a year later. Signed to Fat-Cat’s modern classical sister label 130701 since 2007, Bertelmann has since considerably developed his composition style, and his latest offering, Foreign Landscapes, represents once again a massive step forward.

Partly recorded in San Francisco with the Magik*Magik Orchestra, and later on in his native Düsseldorf, Foreign Landscapes is an album with many facets, at times delicate, romantic, sophisticated or slightly melancholic, at others vivid, luxurious or refreshingly playful, yet, the pieces flow perfectly, contrasting with each other without ever clashing. Bertelmann’s compositional skills and musicianship are given much scope here, his piano, at times fluid and exquisite, at others altered to the point of sounding dry and lacking the most basic eclat, as is the case on Iron Shoes, provides a series of counterpoint to the rich motifs played by the formation. This is very much the case on opening piece Alexanderplatz, where discreet touches keep the pace going, while it is a shimmering set of tiny noises which give Snow its beautiful textural feel later on.

Elsewhere, the piano virtually disappears, leaving the quintet of musicians sole in charge. This gives Bertelmann the pianist the opportunity to step back and leave Bertelmann the composer to showcase his work. Here, the music is often at its busiest and most joyful. Union Square and Sunny Mission especially appear infused with the hustle and bustle of city life, while Children is equally driven by a dynamic which gives it a wonderfully pastoral feel. Madeira however denotes a much more subtle, less busy, tone, and closing piece Trost, while still fairly ornate, especially in its second half, has a touch of minimalism in its main theme which contrasts with some of the more intricate earlier compositions.

Even on the solo pieces, Bertelmann’s performance has gained in ambition and he can be found juggling contrasting moods with great assurance. On Mount Hood for instance, he creates a somewhat melancholic piece, its melody underlines by plucked piano strings, but the constant distraction of ping pong balls and other objects resonating in the body of the instruments adds a level or mischievousness. This is also the case, albeit to a less extend, on Early In The Park, while on Kouseiji, the bouncing ping pong balls add a touching note to the music and hint at just how versatile added objects can be within a piece.

Bertelmann initially collaborated with the formation during a concert in San Francisco a couple of years ago, and was said to have been particularly impressed with the way the formation responded to his music. This, it seems, inspired him to write for a much wider set of instruments than he had done until now, incorporating strings, trombones and clarinets into his work. The result is a superb record, which benefits greatly from the subtle variations encountered throughout. Very much like label mate Max Richter, Volker Bertelmann continues to develop a voice all of his own, and this latest opus shows him at his most ambitious to date.

4.5/5

Hauschka | Hauschka (MySpace) | Fat-Cat Records
Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD Amazon US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | LP iTunes: DLD

Hauschka – Making of Foreign Landscapes part 1 from FatCat Records on Vimeo.

Hauschka – Making of Foreign Landscapes part 2 from FatCat Records on Vimeo.



Hauschka – Making of Foreign Landscapes part 3 from FatCat Records on Vimeo.

The Bubbly Blue And Green is a four-day festival which celebrates water in its many forms, put together by the excellent Arctic Circle crew in the pristine surroundings of King’s Place in King’s Cross, London, with performances from  Philip Jeck, Janek Schaefer, Samphire Band, The Sleeping Years, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Iarla O’Lionaird, The London Snorkelling Team, Paper Cinema and The Willkommen Orchestra. The second evening of the BBAG welcomed the gentle electronics of ISAN and the textured classical brushes of Hauschka, accompanied for the occasion by Icelandic cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir, who is also due to perform as part of the festival on Saturday.

ISAN’s elegant and fluid blend of electronica lends itself to watery connotations, and their set, played on a backdrop of remote Scandinavian snowed in landscapes, certainly fitted the bill, Antony Ryan and Robin Saville using a ‘dripophone’, a contraption which sole purpose seemed to amplify dripping water, for the first two somewhat quiet tracks, an issue with feedback preventing a louder use of the ‘instrument’, it appeared. These two first pieces were definitely on the more ambient side of the pair’s work, the first slowing emerging from light bells to implant a slow groove into a placid sequence, while the second, led by a rolling rhythmic pattern from early on allowed the pair to bridge this first part of their set with the more upbeat and familiar second half. The constant sound of water dripping and shimmering bells, combined with the pictures projected in the background, seemed a tad predictable yet worked to create the impression of melting snow. As the pair signals that the dripophone wouldn’t be used any further, they switched to performing a handful of recognisable pieces, which, while rendering their dreamy electronics with precision, never entirely grabbed the attention.

The second half of the evening promised to be radically different, with Hauschka and Hildur Guðnadóttir teaming up for a rare performance. After a short introduction, during which he explained the piece that was to be performed later, evoking as source of inspiration five Pantone colours, then dismissing them for being too uniform to fully evoke the ever changing tones of the sea, Volker Bertelmann took to the prepared piano and performed three solo pieces, playing with the various dissonances, resonances, vibrations and distortions his instrument was submitted to, natural rounded piano sounds only occasionally surfacing intact amidst the clouds of other noises, his wonderfully evocative motifs, while suffering substantial distortions, appeared intensely vibrant and light. Riding the relentless waves of a tape loop for his final solo piece, Bertelmann concluded his set with a more contrasted performance, before welcoming Hildur Guðnadóttir. As Bertelmann cast the first notes of their performance, she began with light motifs at first, intensifying them as the piano became more present, the pair rapidly reaching a high level of density before they proceeded to slow down drastically, ending with just a few breathy pulses.

For the second piece, inspired by the temperamental North Sea, Guðnadóttir began with some  warm drone forms before progressively adding some rhythm to her set, her bow undulating with increased tenacity as Bertelmann’s piano sounds gave a stark tempestuous counterpoint. The most dramatic piece of the evening, the third ‘movement’ saw  Guðnadóttir building layer upon layer of textures, then applying on top a vivid melody, while Hauschka, at first using a bunch of loose horse hair to bow the strings of his piano, then taking once again his place at the keyboard, responded to the intensity of the cello by casting dissonant tones around it. The next two pieces saw the two adopt a much more reflective mood, the warm melodic tones of the cello contrasting with the cooler metallic hues of the piano on the first one, while Guðnadóttir’s use of mournful glissando on the second half of the latter piece evoked haunting sirens songs as they continuously came crashing on Bertelmann’s surprisingly delicate motifs and looped textures, keeping the attention of the audience until the last breath of sound had finally died.

Returning for a last improvised piece, with the aim to continue on the ‘sinking’ theme of the last two pieces, as they both described them, Bertelmann, possibly hit by a sudden change of heart, engaged in a sustained modulated theme, echoed by dense brushes of cello. As both instruments ebbed and flowed in unison, their was a great level of symbiosis between the two musicians, Bertelmann eyes fixed on Guðnadóttir, her eyes closed, as to absorb every last moment of the performance.

The Bubbly Blue And Green festival is on at King’s Place until Saturday 27th February.

ISAN | ISAN (MySpace) | Hauschka | Hauschka (MySpace) | Hildur Guðnadóttir | Hildur Guðnadóttir (MySpace)
Arctic Circle | King’s Place

HAUSCHKA
Snowflakes And Carwrecks
FAT075
Fat-Cat Records/130701 2009
07 Tracks. 39mins39secs
12”/CD/Digital

Buy: CD | 12″ | MP3 | iTunes

Only a few months after releasing his second album, Ferndorf, Düsseldorf-based pianist and composer Volker Bertelmann returns with a companion EP of previously unreleased material recorded during the Ferndorf sessions. Clocking at just under forty minutes for the CD and MP3 versions, a little less for the vinyl, Snowflakes And Carwrecks is, like its predecessor, a beautiful and delicate collection of exquisite piano-led compositions, tinted by the addition of a small string ensemble and occasional electronics.

While the piano remains the focal point of the majority of the seven tracks (five on the vinyl) included here, the string formation is more than anecdotal here, providing regular counterpoints to Bertelmann’s light and airy melodies, at times by drawing some sombre motifs in the background, at others by highlighting the playful aspect of some of the pieces, by way of short pizzicato movements or intricate conversation with the lead instrument, especially on the fidgety Wonder or the relentless Tanz, the central piece of this release, which ripples in ever growing waves through its nine-and-a-quarter minutes.

Before that, Ginterweg welcomes the listeners with rich floral tones which appear to grow bolder and more sustained as layers are progressively added, while Eisblum offers a more reflective and intimate moment. This is also what informs Kindelsberg and Hauberg later, the former a piece where Bertelmann plays alone, the latter feeding primarily on the string ensemble, with only light piano brushes in the background. The EP concludes with Tagtraum, a composition which, like Ginterweg, slowly builds up momentum as layers are added, but here, the mood is slightly more subdued and nuanced.

Snowflakes And Carwrecks is a worthy companion release to last year’s Ferndorf, and asserts the leap that this album was from Hauschka’s debut. The prepared piano as sole source has all but gone, replaced with a more organic approach, which serves this new EP very well.

4.4/5

Hauschka | Hauschka (MySpace) | Fat-Cat Records
Buy: CD | 12″ | MP3 | iTunes

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Bip-Hop Generation Vol. 9
BLEEP37
Bip-Hop Records 2008
11 Tracks. 70mins37secs

Buy: CD

In the ten years that Bip-Hop label boss Philippe Petit has been compiling Bip-Hop Generation volumes, the spectrum of artists and genres represented is pretty impressive: Murcof, Phonem, Accelera Deck, Schneider TM, Goem, Ilpo Väisänen, Wang Inc., Mira Calix, Neotropic, Twine, Taylor Deupree, Si-Cut.db, Bovine Life, Datach’i, Andrew Duke, Fm3, Scanner, Tu M’, Tennis and Petit’s own Strings Of Consciousness are amongst those who have helped make this a truly era-defining series.

As the label marks its tenth anniversary with an exclusive CD of material by Philip Petit and friends, with contributions from Bela Emerson, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Douglas Benford, Lydia Lunch or dDamage, and given away free to subscribers of The Wire with this month’s issue, this latest in the Bip-Hop Generation series provides another excellent round-up of contemporary music. Seemingly more focused on instrument-based music than any of its predecessors, which leaned openly towards electronic forms, volume 9 features exclusive work from Kammerflimmer Kollektief (Germany), Bip-Hop regulars Spaceheads (UK), Andrey Kiritcchenko from Ukraine, Italian formation Illàchime Quartet, Triosk member Adrian Klumpes (Australia) and a collaboration between Hauschka (Germany) and Antenna Farm (UK).

If the contributing artists come from very diverse backgrounds and evolve in genres spreading from electro-jazz to modern classical and from experimental laptop folk to electronic, the resulting album is once again a refined and acutely sensitive document of the current state of the experimental music scene. The opening twenty minutes of the album are occupied almost equally by Kammerflimmer Kollektief and Spaceheads, each contributing two tracks, one of the KK’s, the mellifluous A Dark Grey Moonlight In The Lowlands, being a remix of a Strings Of Consciousness piece. While the German ensemble opt for softly tainted pieces, Spaceheads, who have released three albums on Bip-Hop and one on Petit’s earlier imprint, Pandemonium, appear here in full jazz attire, occasionally evoking the smooth swing undertones of Jimi Tenor on Deep Blue Deep, but dispatch a much sharper and grittier groove on Urban Bull. After these, Andrey Kritchenko and Illàchime Quartet display some electronic-infused pieces, the former through extremely delicate and fragile compositions for acoustic guitar and field recordings, the latter via much more openly angular pieces, Cluster Pt. 1 and 2 in particular bringing to mind images of Autechre circa LP5 experimenting with avant-garde classical composition.

The last half hour is home to just two tracks, starting with the epic seventeen and a half minute electro-acoustic collaboration between Düsseldorf-based Volker Bertelmann, AKA Hauschka and the duo of Alastair Leslie and David Howell, both of south London and working under the Antenna Farm banner. Piano Glasses Laptop builds on Bertelmann’s piano-based work, which is then in turn textured, recontextualised or entirely deconstructed by Antenna Farm. At times, the listener is left with peripheral atmospheric debris, while at others, the mind is bombarded with dense clouds of noises and sounds. On the concluding piece, Together Under The Clouds Rolling In, Adrian Klumpes originally works from rarefied piano notes that seem to have been left hanging in mid-air, but as the flow becomes more substantial as more notes are added, he weaves layers of cascading pianos lines into a wonderful and elegant piece.

Nine volumes in, Bip-Hop Generation shows no sign of weakness. A former journalist and DJ, Philippe Petit has, in his career, flirted with many different genres, and it has undoubtedly rubbed off. His Bip-Hop Generation series is a essential document of our times, and is as relevant today as it ever was.

4.6/5

Bip-Hop Records
Buy: CD

HAUSCHKA
Ferndorf
CD1308/LP1308/DA1308
Fat-Cat Records/130701 2008
12 Tracks. 46mins11secs

The project of German composer and pianist Volker Bertelmann, Hauschka provides a space for him to explore the piano in all its prepared glory and go beyond the boundaries of classical music, which still serves as the basis for his work. Indeed, Bertelmann spent over ten years studying classical piano before embarking on a much more challenging and experimental journey. As Hauschka, he combines his academic expertise with a playful approach, which has led him to place cork crown on the string of his piano, wrapping the hammers with aluminium paper or sticking rubber or felt between the strings to draw all sorts of unusual sounds from his instrument of predilection.

Prior to joining Fat Cat’s sister label 130701, Bertelmann released two albums as Hauschka on the Berlin-based Karaoke Kalk imprint, the first, Substantial, in 2004, and the second, The Prepared Piano, a year later, and an album of interpretations of tracks from The Prepared Piano, with contributions from Eglantine Gouzy, Mira Calix, Tarwater or Barbara Morgenstern to name but a few, was also released on Karaoke Kalk last year. Bertelmann is also a member of Krautrock outfit Music A.M. alongside Stefan Schneider, of To Rococo Rot fame, and Long Fin Killie’s Luke Sutherland, and one half of electronic act Tonetraeger. In early 2007, Hauschka released Room To Expand on Fat-Cat/130701, which collected mostly solo recordings.

With his latest effort, Bertelmann has conceived a much richer record, with added textures provided by a string duo on quite a few compositions. Ferndorf, meaning ‘distant village’ in German, evokes the small village where he grew up playing outdoors and exploring the surrounding forest. Although now living in Düsseldorf, Bertelmann has in recent years realised how memories of his childhood play an important role in his work, and this informs the music on this record. Although this is ultimately a very personal process, the listener is not required to identify with Bertelmann’s history to appreciate the music showcased here. While his work has always been engaging and playful, this latest album shows a much wider and vivid scope and, the greater variety of instruments used also gives this collection a much livelier feel.

The album opens with the light-hearted and pastoral curls of Blue Bicycle, which sees Bertelmann and cellists Insa Schirmer and Donja Djember improvised freely along a loose recurring theme and develop a tight narrative over the five and a half minutes of the piece. Improvisation is also at the core of Morgenrot, Nadelwald, Alma and Neuschnee, but these are much slower in pace and more intimate in nature as melancholic cello flourishes circle around gentle piano melodies. The rest of the tracks were recorded between October 2007 and March 2008 and string elements were played by Bertelmann. Additional sting work was added later to give the compositions a much fuller aspect. While the music is often reflective and a tad melancholic, tracks such as the wonderfully wonky Rode Null, with its seemingly approximate rhythmic exchanges, the intricate deployment of noises of Barfuss Durch Gras or the busy Schones Mädchen attest of Bertelmann’s taste for mischievous compositions. Elsewhere, the record takes a cinematic turn, especially on pieces such as Freibad, Eltern or closing track Weeks Of Rain.

This fourth album sees Hauschka’s Volker Bertelmann in fine form and in clear inquisitive mood. While the prepared piano has provided a fair level of variety in his previous work, the addition of stings gives the compositions on Ferndorf a different relief and outlook. This necessity of bulking up his sound may have been infused by the live performances that followed the release of Room To Expand, or by the fulfilment of this album’s title, but it serves Bertelmann’s music superbly.

3.9/5

Hauschka | Fat-Cat Records
Buy: CD | LP | iTunes