Relentless grooves and moods are the sonic wallpaper created by pianist Nik Barsch. He uses a pair of settings, or “continuums” , a “mobile” team with Sha/bcl/cbcl, Kaspar Rast/dr-perc and Nicolas Stocker/dr as well as an “extended” one with a string section of Etienne Abelin, Ola Sendecki, David Schnee, Solme Hong and Ambrosius Huber. Some of the songs, such as “Module 29_14” are the logical extension of ambient music with thick rivulets and drones as well as palpable reverberations of Sha’s reed work, while “Modul 12” is as light as a fly on sandpaper. When strings enter as on “Modul 18” a kind of mix of East and West takes place, with Asian harmonies and strings contrasting with dashes of European harmonies whereas “Modul 60” has dashes of Bartok and pastoral musings. The band usually plays this music in concert with moody lights and atmospheres, so the music is essentially an invitation to a gig. Please RSVP
ECM Records