FRIEDMAN & LIEBEZEIT
Secret Rhythms 4
NON030
Nonplace Records 2011
06 Tracks. 56mins36secs

Amazon UK: CD US: CD

The partnership between German electronic musician Burnt Friedman and legendary Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit, established almost ten years ago, is back in action once more, following the 5 7 EP released last year. This fourth instalment in the Secret Rhythms series continues on a similar path to its predecessors by bringing together rich rhythmic tones and rarefied electronic formations. More than ever centered around Liebezeit’s hypnotic drumming, Secret Rhythms 4 sees the pair move into more minimal, stripped down terrains, the rhythmic patterns forever more cyclical, repetitive and fluid, layered with fragments of electronics and guitars, themselves set into loops of varying intensity and length.

Four of the six tracks here go over the ten minute mark, with 182-11 clocking at just under sixteen minutes. This leaves the pair plenty of time to set their rhythmic structures in motion and work on the trance-like aspect of the groove of each track until it starts distorting the perception of its very nature. Continue Reading »

DRUMS OFF CHAOS & JENS-UWE BEYER
Drums Off Chaos & Jens-Uwe Beyer
MAGAZINE3
Magazine 2011
04 Tracks. 42mins51secs

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

One of the pioneering acts of the German experimental music scene of the seventies, alongside Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dreams, Cluster and Neu!, Can contributed extensively to the Krautrock movement during the ten years they were active, with albums such as Tago Mago (1971), Ege Bamyasi (1972) and Future Days (1973) defining not only their own sound but also that a whole era, and has since influenced generations of musicians across the world. At the heart of Can was drummer Jaki Liebezeit, who had previously officiated with free jazz ensembles. His hypnotic style, which often favoured complex rhythmic patterns, formed an intrinsic part of the band sound, alongside Holger Czukay’s equally mesmerizing bass loops and Michael Karoli’s guitar motifs. Three years after the band separated, in 1979, Liebezeit formed the percussion ensemble Drums Off Chaos with Reiner Linke, Maf Retter and Manos Tsangaris. While the formation has been performing live for nigh on thirty years, they have until now almost entirely refrained from recording together, preferring to concentrate instead on the energy of their live set. Continue Reading »

Operating since the mid-nineties under a variety of monikers and collaborations, German musician and label owner Bernd Friedmann has built up a totally unique catalogue. He has taken his ethic and vision into his label, Nonplace, which he founded ten years ago. To celebrate this first decade, Friedmann collected a bunch of previously unheard versions and mixes of tracks that have appeared on various albums over the years. We took the opportunity of this landmark anniversary to speak to the man about the last ten years of releases and talk about his many projects, including his much celebrated collaboration with form Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit. Continue Reading »

VARIOUS ARTISTS
10th Anniversary Edition
NON28
Nonplace Records 2010
15 Tracks. 60min00secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD

Ten years is a milestone for any label, especially in today’s volatile music market, and it is just the one reached by Bernd ‘Burnt Friedman’ Friedmann’s excellent Nonplace. While the label has been an outlet for his own projects, either solo or collaborative, it has also seen contributions from a handful of bands and artists, from Beige or Freeform to Roots 70 and The Embassadors more recently. More than a label with a perfectly hermetic roster, Nonplace is a bubbling cauldron where artists are often spotted on works other than their own and cross pollination is actively encouraged. Friedmann of course has been involved in one way or another on most records released on the label, but it is also the case of multi-instrumentist Hayden Chisholm, who, from his early collaboration with Friedmann as part of the Nu Dub Players, went on to form both Root 70 and The Embassadors, or guitarist Joseph Suchy, who beside a number of extra-Nonplace activities, is often seen alongside Friedmann on his solo projects. Continue Reading »

FRIEDMAN & LIEBEZEIT
Secret Rhythms 3
25742/25751
Nonplace Records 2008
07 Tracks. 52mins40secs

Long before Kieran Hebden teamed up with legendary percussionist Steve Reid, German electronic musician Bernd ‘Burnt’ Friedman joined forces with another celebrated drummer in the person of Can member Jaki Liebezeit. Their first shared offering came in the shape of Secret Rhythms (2002), combined Friedman’s characteristic dub and futuristic electro jazz and Liebezeit’s feel for multi-faceted rhythmic formations to create a collection of subtle impressionist tracks caught somewhere between dusk and dark. Four years on, they were at it again. Secret Rhythms 2 continued to outline a fascinating world all in contrasts and undertones.

Third in the series, this latest Secret Rhythms collection redefines once more the spectrum in which the pair evolve. Continue Reading »