Roland Keller - Lachenmann: Klaviermusik - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Born in 1947 in the German speaking district of Aarau in Switzerland, composer Max E. Keller started out his music career playing free jazz and improvised music on piano and electronic instruments from 1966 to 1973. Since 1973, Keller has written over 100 compositions for various ensembles. Keller's compositions are frequently accompanied by spoken texts, often of a political nature. Keller's classic 1990 recording, InchKammermusik,Inch (Chamber Music) features world premier recordings of 5 chamber compositions written between 1983 and 1989 including Achuapa/Nicaragua (1986) for singing and speaking pianist which features texts from newspapers and from a diary, as well as a poem by Gioconda Belli; Dornenbahn (1983) for cello solo featuring cellist David Riniker; Friedenslied eines Oboisten (1983) for oboe solo featuring Burkhard Glaetzner; Zustand I-VII (1984) for ten instruments; and Konfigurationen II (1989) for alto and ensemble. All selections newly remastered.

London-based musician and producer Ryan Lee West, aka Rival Consoles, creates driving, experimental electronic music that makes synthesisers sound human. His consistent desire to create a more organic, living sound, sees him forming pieces that capture a sense of songwriting behind the machines. Over the course of a critically acclaimed fifteen-year career, Rival Consoles' music has diversified from the challenging output of his early EPs to gradually become more conceptual and metamorphic, such as 'Articulation' (2020) which used drawings and sketches to imagine and develop each track, to 'Overflow' (2021), which explored themes of the human and emotional consequences of life surrounded by advancing technologies and social media.'Now Is' marks a new chapter in an ongoing quest for refinement and evolution. More playful and melodic, the album draws from much experimentation in minimalist songwriting and seamlessly blends synthesisers and acoustic instruments. InchThere are some pieces that are influenced quite strongly by the isolation and anxiety of these times. There are also pieces which are more optimistic and vibrant, which I think is a consistent attitude of my records, as I want art to express many aspects of life.InchFrom the elevating arrangements of 'Beginnings' and motorik beats of 'World Turns', to the isolation of 'Frontiers', influenced by the barren landscapes of Iceland, Rival Consoles' eighth studio album subtly morphs and evolves. InchThe title of the record 'Now Is' interests me because it is the beginning of a statement, but it is incomplete. I like art that is open and suggestive of ideas even if they are inspired by very specific things. With my previous record 'Overflow' being very dark, heavy and almost dystopian, I wanted to escape into a different world with this music and ended up creating a record which is a lot more colourful and euphoric.

Resonance and motion take center stage in Allegro Sostenuto. Lachenmann's Inchidea of a musique concreteInch bears remarkable fruit in Pression and Dal niente. Featuring Eduard Brunner (clarinet); Walter Grimmer (cello); Massimiliano Damerini (piano) and Johannes Beer (percussion). Recorded April 1991, in Tebingen (Allegro Sostenuto), and November 1991 in Baden-Baden. All selections newly remastered.