Inien is the duo of Axel Haller and Johannes Trondle, utilising electric bass and cello respectively. Contained within Favoriten‘s 10 tracks is a pretty thorough exploration of non-conventional sonic properties of each instrument, not strictly bound to conventional technique. While at first glance the combination of bass and cello may sound like a prompt to get your subwoofers ready, this is anything but: not to say that there’s no low frequency present; by definition both instruments live in this domain. A majority of the tracks here sparkle with high frequency sizzling and clicks of bows on wood, as plucked mute strings pop and crack above whispers of strings grated by all manor of objects. Perhaps the bassiest workout contained here would be “Znojmo”, it’s five and a half minute length is dominated by long cello strokes and volume swells, stretching headlong into an exercise in drone.
This edition is quite varied though, and although many of the tracks contain the same ingredients, it’s in the way that they are combined and executed that makes this release what it is. At times whisper quiet, in others snarling with hellish intent, Haller and Trondle twist and turn in many directions, from the trampolining plucks and growls of “Cotta”, to the whispering eeriness of opener “Decin”, the soundscapes traversed are many. As “Biehla” sways into improv jazz territories, then takes a rapid step in the opposite direction on “Stetzsch”, with paper rubbings sounding off against hollow bodied resonance, the sense of breadth in these two artists collaboration is startlingly evident. Fans of Clayton Thomas and the like will be well and truly at home here.
Nick Giles
