You could write a review about this new release by rand and call it a piano & electronica album; or you could label it an ambient album, or a neo-classical fusion album; perhaps an experimental album or a soft-techno & glitch album; you could even label it a Jazz or an Ether-Jazz album . . .

. . . and, in every case, you’d be right!

I’m labeling it a predominantly Jazz-based album (think ECM) with crossover ventures into ALL of the areas delineated above. What it is . . . is a beautiful set of piano pieces with (mostly) beatless, techno machinations, clicks, pops, swells & whirs woven brilliantly & seamlessly throughout . . . skilled sonic architecture.

The piano playing reminds me of Raphael Loher (Kali Trio) or Lucca Fries (Hely) with a hint of Nik Bärtsch floating in the background. The electronics provide an ethereal skyline for the piano’s grounded-ness: soft & hard compositional frameworks accompanied by soft, to mid, to slightly harsh techno/electronic treatments.

It certainly represents a new direction in crossover-genre, fluidly Jazz-based experimental sound; with each track a new beginning within the adventure (we’ll explore their 2 previous EP’s, i & ii in a future post).

Standout tracks for me:
9.3, San Gimigano, Permanent Green, Siegfried 2.0

Rand (Frank Bogdanowitz & Jan Gerdes) deftly capture the listener’s aural attention (as well as their imagination) with the debut of Peripherie – out September 9th!

Tracks:

A1 – Hoola
A2 – Drangsal
A3 – 9.3.
A4 – Siegfried 2.0
B1 – Permanent Green
B2 – Blood Moon
B3 – San Gimignano

rand will appear on 2 upcoming A.L. podcasts: an Avant-Garde/Experimental Jazz show this Sunday evening (U.S. eastern time zone); and an Ambient show in mid- September.



Additional information:

https://twitter.com/rand_2019
https://www.instagram.com/rand_gerdes_dr.nojoke
https://www.facebook.com/randmusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQmRodkdLP1sAuBqpyqRooA
https://soundcloud.com/rand_gerdes_drnojoke