Nik Bärtsch’s Mobile: Continuum

 

NP: Continuum (@ this very moment!) – highly enjoyable with gear shiftings & a string quintet (3 of 8 tracks) – Bravo, Mobile Ronin!

By KARL ACKERMANN
Published: March 31, 2016

The timing couldn’t have been better. Following up on the stunning double-CD live outing, Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin Live (ECM, 2012), Bärtsch returns with his acoustic group, Mobile, for Continuum. With clarinetist Sha and drummer Kaspar Rast crossing over from Ronin, a new addition, Nicolas Stocker, on drums and percussion completes the core quartet. A string quintet augments three of the eight tracks, infusing a multiplicity of effects in the process.

Mobile has been around for almost twenty years now with the Swiss pianist and composer, Rast and Ska as original members. They first released Aer (Tonus Music) in 2004 and there began the realization of Bärtsch’s unique vision of stylistically punctuating formalized musical structures while incorporating cross-cultural and cross-genre influences. The result has been music that is both disciplined and elastic with a literate quality and mesmerizing beat.

“Modul 29_14” opens quietly; a repetitive pattern of notes and chords that eventually goes to a funky, but similarly repetitive mode. In stark contrast, “Modul 12” is a minimal piece dominated by piano and brushes, the snare sometimes working against silence. “Modul 18” introduces the strings, though in a very subdued manner that adds a shadowy feeling rather than an obvious classical influence. Bärtsch flashes keyboard brilliance on “Modul 5,” a lightning fast cascade of notes that quickly flickers out at its conclusion. The strings return on “Modul 60,” this time more clearly a chamber piece with a theatrical feel. The long “Modul 44” offers a similar ambience but here, the tremolo of the strings builds and adds more tension as the piece progresses.

Mobile remains a vehicle well suited to Bärtsch’s sophisticated approach to composing and arranging. There is less of the Asian influences that inspired some of Bärtsch’s earlier work with the group, but Mobile remains an inclusive amalgam of progressive jazz and minimalism. Without dominating the pieces in which they appear, the strings add something new to that pallet, reflecting Bärtsch’s interest in György Ligeti and other classical composers. With its variety of styles, Continuum is the best of Mobile’s albums to date, despite the very high bar set from the beginning.

Track Listing:
01. Modul 29_14
02. Modul 12
03. Modul 18
04. Modul 5
05. Modul 60
06. Modul 4
07. Modul 44
08. Modul 8_11.

Bonus Track ‘0‘ [zero] – Modul 12_01 (Ambient Landscape morphed blend) – made using Modul 12 as a stretched, echoed backdrop layered with an outtake from the original composition, 6:01.
[Ambient Landscape: treatments]

Personnel:
Nik Bärtsch: piano
Sha: bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet
Kaspar Rast: drums, percussion
Nicolas Stocker: drums, tuned percussion
Etienne Abelin: violin
Ola Sendecki: violin
David Schnee: viola
Solme Hong: cello
Ambrosius Huber: cello

Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: ECM Records | Style: Modern Jazz

Zeitenwende, by Earlyguard

04.09.16; 6:46PM, EST – Mmm…listening to Part 6 now, via headphones . . .

“To me, Earlyguard’s music is priceless and timeless. His mastery to compose well-crafted well-balanced well-paced ambient longforms is otherworldly. His pieces are journeys through ample inner mindscapes, beyond space and time. They foster a strange state of mindfulness that is sometimes difficult to reach in today’s world. I truly enjoy listening to his music — doing so somehow deepens the streams of our everyday existence, as if they were under the spell of an age that is yet to come.”

Félix Pharand-Deschênes, Founder & CEO of GLOBAÏA

Free…on Bandcamp

Space Music & Coffee . . . !

(made using Paper…by Fifty Three)

Indigo Symbol, Zenith

Indigo Symbol is Richard Soto, who for the last 8 years has been the creative force behind FTMTE (Fear that Makes the Empire), an Industrial act in vein of early Front Line Assembly. Richard’s work as FTMTE can found on his Soundcloud page at (soundcloud.com/ftmte). On “Zenith”, Richard strikes out in a brand new direction – one with which fans of minimalist drone and deep-space music will immediately identify.

In the artist’s own words:

“The debut album for my ambient project Indigo Symbol, “Zenith” is an amalgamation of my musical influences; stemming mainly from my Industrial, dark electronic roots and my love of all kinds of ambient music. I had a concept in my head for the tracks, showcasing different ambient styles along with space music, but still maintaining an Industrial aesthetic through utilizing heavy influences of dark ambient and an experimental foundation. The name of the album represents the culmination of my musical roots combined with human emotion, where emptiness and loss are the most powerful feelings of all.”

earthMANTRA is thrilled to be the birthplace of this new ambient project, and excited to welcome Indigo Symbol to our roster of artists. As always, eM releases are free for download. If you choose to pay for the album, all proceeds from the sale will go directly to the artist

credits

released March 26, 2016