Artist : Hauschka
Title : Versions Of The Prepared Piano
Genre : Avantgarde
Year : 2007
Date : 05/2007
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 12
Label : Karaoke Kalk cd 38
Source : CDDA
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Length : 44:52 min
Size : 55,1 MB
Tracklist:
----------
01.mr.spoon (eglantine gouzy) two stones 02:59
02.im schlaf 03:02
(barbara morgenstern) where were you?
03.assembler's mix 06:42
(nobukazu takemura) kein wort
04.wega 2 stones rmx 02:09
(wechsel garland) two stones
05.kotoba naku (takeo toyama) kein wort 04:02
06.things (tg mauss) twins 04:18
07.rocket man (vert) traffic 03:23
08.stumm (frank bretschneider) kein wort 04:45
09.morning without morning mix 03:28
(mira calix) morning
10.para bien 03:31
(chica and the folder) ginko tree
11.flying horses (hauschka) traffic 03:43
12.the afterlife of things 02:50
(tarwater) two stones
-------
44:52 min
2007 is a vintage year for the Hauschka fan, we're only
four months in and we've already had two albums from
Volker Bertelmann's gorgeous piano project.
This is the second (after Fat Cat's incredible 'Room to
Expand') and pits a selection of artists against Bertelmann
in a somewhat inspired skit on the traditional 'remix album'
concept. You might be pretty burnt out on remixes alltogether,
I know I struggle sometimes, but where Bertelmann excels
is in his ability to choose artists that will do his work justice.Rnotes
Picking tracks from his 2005 album 'The Prepared Piano' the
artists lend their stylistic advances to pieces of music that were
just stripped down enough for a 'remix' to actually do the tracks
justice, and the album is kicked off in style by French lady
Eglantine Gouzy. Gouzy instantly shows a masterful restraint,
lending her lovely vocals to Bertelmann's instrumental work
'Two Stones', this is a perfect example of a remix that can enhance
the power of the original, and Gouzy's romantic delivery sounds
totally at home pitted against Bertelmann's piano work.
Elsewhere we have German chanteuse extraordinaire Barbara
Morgenstern coming straight from the commercial and critical
success of last year's 'The Grass is Always Greener' and producing
an equally addictive slice of electronic pop, using haunting motif's
of Bertelmann's 'Where Were You?' as a guide. It's not all pop
music though, Japanese experimental deity Nobukazu Takemura
jumps straight in with his glitchy and chopped up version of 'Kein
Wort', melting it beyond all recognition, and the album's surprise
highlight comes from 12k/Mille Plateaux/Raster Noton stalwart
Frank Bretschneider - adding his distinctive rhythm and electronic
grind to the track, resulting in an intense soup of dreamy post-shoegazer
electronics.
The album draws effortlessly to a close with Tarwater's simply
gorgeous take on 'Two Stones', a track which ended up dropping
into the band's recent Morr Music album in revised form, and you
suddenly realise you've just listened to a remix album without
having to skip a track or remove the cd altogether. It's quite an
achievement really, and with a keen ear for picking very differing
artists who are all respectful to the source material Bertelmann
has managed to put together yet another hugely enjoyable album.
It seems there's life in the old piano yet - highly recommended!
http://www.karaokekalk.de
http://www.hauschka-net.de/