Volker Bertelmann’s persona as Hauschka, the busy contemporary exponent of prepared piano and minimal electronics has spawned another release in Youyoume. This three track 10″ record is essentially split between the orientation of the music with the first side being akin to a mimic of electronic music using piano and the flip side in a modern classical style. In ‘So Close’ the piano note C octave bounce unifies and gives context to the ambient spacey distortion. There are builds of recurring melodic motifs, attacking rhythms, staccato constructions, tinkering interludes and a long, gentle ending. It often seems like attempting to create ersatz techno music is a strategy to contextualise the practice of prepared piano within a contemporary listening frame, and the tension between these two inclinations is what creates the interest. Certainly, Bertelmann is not naïve of electronic constructions and inspiration is drawn from these areas. The studied, affected nature of the recordings with studio editing and effects takes it outside a purist performance art aspect. The b-side tracks are much shorter affairs than the sprawling 12.42 of ‘So Close’. ‘So Far’ is a more gentle piece of unprepared solo piano with waves of melodic forms and ‘Paige and June’ is a piece of prepared piano and includes cello. This limited edition 10†was the final release in the Seasons 2011 project at Serein.
Innerversitysound
