Kai Fagaschinski & Bernhard Gal
going round
in serpentines
Audio CD, Charhizma, Austria 2005 [charizma 034] |
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Released in December 2005. |
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Duo
Kai Fagaschinski & Bernhard Gal |
In going round in serpentines, Bernhard Gal's
re-contexturalized field recordings merge with the sonic characteristics
of Kai Fagaschinski's idiosyncratic clarinet playing. Gal
opens up new acoustic spaces, while Fagaschinski sculpts air with his
clarinet in various ways. Based on clarinet samples, they also build up
microtonal clusters with drone-like qualities. In their music they create
an ambivalent musical situation between concrete and abstract listening.
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Done
in Berlin-Friedenau, January-February 2004 Cover photos by B. Gal, design by K. Fagaschinski with Conrad Noack. Supported by SKE-Fonds, Austria. |
Listen to audio excerpts (opens audio player) |
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Kai Fagaschinski & Bernhard Gal going round in serpentines |
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Audio-CD, Charhizma, 2005; charizma 034 |
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1. going 2. round 3. in serpentines |
31.44 8.44 19.30 |
mp3-excerpt.x(2.57) |
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Listen to audio excerpts (opens audio player) | |||
Cover photos by B. Gal, design by K. Fagaschinski with Conrad Noack. Supported by SKE-Fonds, Austria. ![]() |
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going round
in serpentines |
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reviews |
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So taking the opportunity, here's a disc I’ve been listening to a lot recently and really enjoying; Kai Fagaschinski and Bernhard Gal - Going round in serpentines (Charhizma) No secret I am a big fan of Fagaschinski's music (a major achievement given I generally dislike reed instruments), but one of the things I really like about his work is how he seems to be very careful about choosing who he plays with, as the understanding he has with his collaborators on disc at least, seems really close. On the surface, he and Gal are working with very different raw materials, Kai with acoustic clarinet and Gal with processed field recordings of everything from the classic birdsong to a lengthy recording of a snooker game that forms much of the material for the second of the three tracks. This disc just works though for some reason.... it has a depth and level of focus to it that suggests a really tight relationship between the two musicians, something I also felt on Fagaschinski's duo disc with Klaus Filip (Los Glissandinos on Creative Sources) One of the things I wrote about the Los Gliss disc is how it felt like the perfect electro-acoustic disc, a great paring of acoustic and digital sound, and Going round in sepentines seems to extend this some way further. Whilst Los G saw the two musicans blend and merge into one unified mass, here they are easy to tell apart, but each player's contribution would sound empty without the other. I'd really like to know more about how this was recorded, how much post production or editing was inolved for instance... will see what I can find out. In the meantime, this is a great disc EAI fans! Very Happy Richard Pinnell (Bagatellen, USA, 04/2006) |
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(...)
Ken Waxman (Jazzword, Canada, 07/2006) |
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Bernhard Gál bezeichnet sich selbst als Komponisten und Künstler. 1971 in Wien geboren, begann er um 1986 mit autodidaktischen Kompositionsstudien. Es folgten eine Tonmeisterausbildung und ein Studium der Musikwissenschaft. Die Doktorarbeit zum Thema Klanginstallation wurde nicht abgeschlossen. Allerdings sollte dieses Thema ihn musikalisch praktisch weiter beschäftigen. Zu hören sind Gáls Werke in Konzerten, Ausstellungen und Klanginstallationen. Liebster Aufenthaltsort Gáls ist das Zwischenreich von Improvisation und Komposition. Ohne die bildende Kunst, ohne Konzeptkunst, ohne die Ausdrucksform der Performance ist die Musik Gáls nur schwer denkbar. Hier trifft er sich mit dem Klarinettisten Kai Fagaschinski, den die musikalischen Qualität von Geräuschen interessiert, die verborgenen Möglichkeiten im Rohmaterial, die doch an die Oberfläche drängend formlos formen. Die vorliegende CD mit dem Titel going round in serpentines ist das Ergebnis einer intensiven Probenphase im Winter 2003/04. Gál und Fagaschinski nehmen den Hörer mit auf eine Reise ins Surreale. Jedes Mal, wenn man glaubt, Geräuschsituationen des Alltags identifiziert zu haben, sie in einen Kontext einordnen zu können, verwischen Gál und Fagaschinski die Spuren, generieren aus den Elementen einer Musique concrète eine Welt der fremden Klänge. Ein Hörbuch, über das jeder Hörer seinen eigenen Roman schreiben muss. Anette Eckerle (Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik, Germany 06/2006 |
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Field recordings and electronic music are not the most common of lovers. I mean, the two could really get along, it's just that not often enough do artists actually consider combining the two. One sumptuous desert that laptopist Bernard Gal and clarinettist Kai Fagaschinski prepare is "Going Round in Serpentines", an hour long exhibit of some of the possibilities of the two musical genres coming together. Did you know that singing birds, crickets, chimes, cue balls being hit at a pool hall and heavy industrial machinery can actually make fascinating music? Add to this long, sustained passages of graceful clarinet playing by Fagaschinski and you've got yourself a let's pretend it's a night out-in to remember. In fact, this is one of the highlights of the set. These very ear-friendly clarinet passages that seem to stretch forever, without ever looking for a destination. Music is quite still. There isn't an obvious climax that occurs [other than a sudden chirping of birds that shakes you out of your stupour for a minute]. Everything flows naturally, as if propelled by an invisible force of nature. The two musicians have enough sense to allow each other equal say in the proceedings, which makes for a democratic session. My only beef is with the final track, where silence rules. After a couple of elongated pieces, this piece is for the most part, microtonal dabbling that is demanding on the ears. "Going Round in Serpentines" was custom made for those who can't arrange for a babysitter and for those who can't stand the smell of their clothes full of smoke after a night at a club. Tom Sekowski (Gaz-Eta, Spain, 05/2006) |
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German
clarinetist Kai Fagaschinski doesnt release all that many recordings,
but his music is always of the highest quality. Whether playing intense
solo (on the Berlin Reeds compilation), duo (last years marvelous
Los Glissandinos disc or this superb recording), or trio (No Furniture),
he transforms his instrument into something almost electronic reducing
its idiomatic properties to the point where little but a single, sinuous
tone exists while also merging its rich woody qualities into his
playing environment. Its this combination of propensities that makes
him such a fitting partner for laptop composer Bernhard Gal,
a musician so natural and subtle that it sounds as if he were weaned on
Luc Ferrari compositions. Their recording is marvelous, carefully polished
like a small gem but at the same time overflowing with life. |
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"Going Round in Serpentines" to trwajace godzine sluchowisko, bedace relacja z wyprawy klarnetu do surrealistycznej krainy muzyki akuzmatycznej. Duet Fagaschinski - Gál stapia muzyke improwizowana z elektroakustyczna, laczac "zywa" gre na klarnecie z partiami przetwarzanymi w tym samym czasie przy uzyciu komputera oraz z wybranymi odglosami otaczajacego swiata. Wyimaginowane pejzaze malowane przez muzyków subtelnymi srodkami, powoli przesuwaja sie przed oczami (uszami) sluchacza, umozliwiajac mu napawanie sie pieknem i harmonia przedstawianych miejsc. Fagaschinski gra na klarnecie niezwykle delikatnie, przewaznie lagodnie go przedmuchuje, gdzieniegdzie tylko pozwala sobie na gre mocniejsza, tworzac powoli wybrzmiewajace wstegi glissand i dzwieków multifonicznych, które Gál dopelnia dronem komputerowo modyfikowanych partii tegoz instrumentu. Efekty pozamuzyczne, obecne wlasciwie przez caly czas, dawkowane sa oszczednie i z wielkim wyczuciem, nie powodujac zbednego zgielku. Gál uzywa ich zarówno do tworzenia tla, jak i do kontrapunktowania partii Fagaschinskiego, czasem nawet powierza im role wiodaca, i wówczas to klarnecista dopasowuje do nich swoja gre. Obaj muzycy przejawiaja umiejetnosc wzajemnego uwaznego sluchania, wykazujac niecodzienna powsciagliwosc w pokazywaniu sie, miast tego skupiajac sie na wspólnym konstruowaniu muzycznych form. Choc ci dwaj zdaja sie przynalezec do odmiennych muzycznych swiatów - Bernhard Gál to wiedenski kompozytor, twórca instalacji dzwiekowych i autor niezwyklych kolazy nagran terenowych, zas Kai Fagaschinski to mieszkajacy w Berlinie improwizator - to udalo sie im nagrac plyte niezwykle spójna, która wiaze nic introwertycznego minimalizmu. Tadeusz Kosiek (Diapazon, Poland, 04/2006) |
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(...)
Going Round In Serpentines, clarinettist Kai Fagaschinski's second full-length
release on Charhizma after 2003's Rebecca with Michael Renkel is very
much an open-air affair, thanks to the input of Viennese sound artist
Bernhard Gal, who's best known for his exquisite
field recording montages and installations. It's the second volume in
a trilogy of Fagaschinski duos that began with last year's Stand Clear
on Creative Sources with Klaus Filip (the third, with Kurzmann, is in
the pipeline), and Gal's colourful
yet discreet work makes for a fine contrast with Fagaschinski's
Lucier-like exploration of sustained clarinet tones. I'd have to go back
and check, but I'm wondering if some of the clangs and jingles on the
opening track aren't culled from the same recordings of a Las Vegas casino
that Gal used on his splendid Intransitive
outing Relisten a while back, but unless someone's dreamt up an irrigation
scheme for southern Nevada as ambitious as Noah Cross's in Chinatown,
I seriously doubt the cowbells and crickets were recorded in or near Vegas.
The most prominent element of the second track is a recording of a game
of billiards you can even hear cues being chalked the clack
of ball on ball cunningly captured and sent into caverns of reverb, while
Fagaschinski flutters and hisses in and out of view. It's a nice conceit
a recording of somebody playing, indeed, but who said anything
about playing a musical instrument? and a welcome touch of humanity.
Having finished their game, Gal and Fagaschinski
head outside again on track three, back to the cowbells. A light rain
seems to be falling, and a rather annoying and distinctly electronic sequencer
drifts in and out, along with a swarm of bees or is it a cavalcade
of passing motorbikes on a distant highway? while Fagaschinski
continues his introvert explorations. Purists who like their improv resolutely
abstract might baulk at the incorporation of twittering birds and church
bells (albeit heavily filtered), but they'd do well to put their prejudices
aside and follow the advice printed on the tray card under the CD: "Shut
up and listen, dumb ass!" |
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nicht minder zarte töne wie jene vom duo baltschun / baghdassarian
sind auf der zweiten neuen "charizma"-cd zu hören. allerdings
verwendet der österreichische klangkünstler bernhard gál eine fülle von konkreten, wenngleich elektronisch weiterbearbeiteten
geräuschen. den besonderen reiz dieser cd macht aber die kombination
von gáls "musique concrète"
mit den klarinettenklängen von kai fagaschinski aus. wobei das dynamisch
extrem reduzierte, oft auch nur auf anblasgeräusche konzentrierte
spiel des klarinettisten zumeist gleichfalls in die nähe des geräuschhaften
rückt. musik: "fagaschinski/gál,
"going round in serpentines", cut 3, ab 1'57'' bis 3'33''. musik
gesamt: 1'36''. k + i: kai fagaschinski, cl, bernhard gál,
electronics. t: round. charhizma 034. moderation: ca. 0'50'' kai fagaschinski
und bernhard gál mit einem für
ihre cd eher unüblichen ausschnitt: denn dabei handelt es sich um
die lauteste und dramatischste stelle aus "going round in serpentines".
sonst sind die drei takes dieser cd bei "charhizma" geprägt
von dynamisch bewusst reduzierten klängen, die aber eine fülle
von überraschungen bereithalten. |
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Kai
Fagaschinski spiller klarinett og Bernhard Gál håndterer feltopptak og elektronikk på denne ene av fire nye
utgivelser fra Christof Kurzmanns Charhizma-label. Omslagsfotografiene
er tatt med selvutløser og viser en tilforlatelig og ubesværet,
kaffedrikkende duo. De alvorlige ansiktene uttrykker likevel en ambivalens,
en dobbeltholdning som også manifesterer seg i musikken. Going
Round in Serpentines kombinerer forutfattede elementer og strukturer
med improvisasjoner i realtid. Fagaschinski alternerer mellom utstrakte
og stakkato miniatyrer, hele tiden innenfor et abstrakt-organisk formspråk,
mens Gál på sin side kan være
konkret og figurativ, som feltopptakene på førstesporet,
med samtalefragmenter og barnegråt, i tillegg til formasjonene på
spor to, som vekker forestillingen om en omgang biljard. Platen fører
en relativt omstendelig og tilsynelatende enkel diskurs, som for all del
ikke må forveksles med troskyldighet eller mangel på begavelse.
Tvert imot, det dreier seg snarere om et klarsyn blandet med god formuleringesevne. |
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Viennese computer musician Gál teams
up with Berlin based clarinettist Fagaschinski for three sparse but engaging
duets. The clarinettist has worked with John Butcher, and the care and
precision with which he colours Gáls
electronics with delicate reed harmonics and softly rasping exhalations
recalls the saxophonists own approach to working with synthetic
tones. Gál offers some low key field
recordings on the first piece, along with beautifully controlled bell-like
feedback spikes. However, the extreme dynamics of the disc mastering for
this kind of music are getting to be a real drag. Lacking either a pair
of million-pound headphones or a sensory deprivation pod in which to listen
to pieces like this, something Im sure Im not alone in, much
detailed work carried out at lower volume levels gets lost, or if I turn
it up the louder moments have the neighbours alerting the authorities
that London is being attacked by a swarm of giant electric bees. Shut
up and listen, dumb ass! instructs the sleeve helpfully. Im
trying to, guys, but youre not exactly making it easy. And stop
calling me dumb ass. |
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The
booklet of this album released by Charhizma states: done in Berlin-Friedenau.
Two of Berlin's improv. musicians came together to release a lovely album.
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Field recordings catturati e ricomposti da Gal al
fine d'esser mescolati al |
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sostanza elettro-acustica inviolata e pura Shut Up and
Listen, Dumb Ass. Sergio Eletto (Sandzine, Italy, 02/2006) |
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Espaces genre grandes étendues balayées par le vent où
sont posés délicats de multiples détails, grincements,
paroles... Puis des sons tenus, des battements... Glissement de l'acoustique
à son traitement électronique... Dans le genre, oui, c'est
une surprise. Une bonne. |
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When
the Pierres (Henry and Schaeffer of musique concrète fame) made Glen Hall (Exclaim, Canada, 01/2006) |
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This is an acousmatic handicraft of the finest cloth, made with clarinet and computer. The listener's receptiveness plays a fundamental role here, as trying to interpretate the snippets of evolution transmitted by Fagaschinski and Gal requires maximum concentration and single-mindedness. Ear-stretching superimpositions of adjacent tones and snapshots of concrete sounds/voices and field recordings hammer - but at the same time disinfect - our auricular membranes, forcing our disposition to retreat to an almost defensive posture. The naked truth of these sounds is almost cruel in its effectiveness: we hear what the brain decides to let us hear, after the defoliation of every useless decoration or - god forbid - futile beauty. It's a brutally honest representation of a mathematical poetry, where there is no way out of a consequential logic which sometimes gives the illusion of a better future, but finally asks us not to judge, because we as humans are not intelligent enough to understand this kind of fractal charm. Like it or not, sonic progress needs its victims. Massimo Ricci (Touching Extremes, Italy, 01/2006) |
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The name of Kai Fagaschinski might not be very known around here, the name Bernard Gal probably is. Over the past seven or eight years he has played a lot of concerts, created sound installations and has had releases on Durian, Intransitive, Klanggalerie and other labels. If I understand the website notes correctly than this new release is a combination of treated clarinet sounds, played by Fagaschinski, in combination with real time playing of the same instrument, alongside the treated sounds. The clarinet, like so many wind instruments, is a perfect instrument for this kind of working method. It can produce wonderfully sustained sounds, perfect to produce long blocks of computerized drone/ambient music, but also short, staccato sounds that in return the computer can treat into something that sounds like bird whistling. Lastly the instrument itself can be played with, say, a bow and then the possibilities are endless to create a beautiful, intense piece of music. Throughout the hour that this disc lasts (two long tracks and one shorter), these two musicians take you on a journey through vast, empty spaces, changing moods and perceptions but also bring it closer to home, with what seem a game of pool (at the beginning of the second track). The two take their time in producing these sounds, letting them breath out entirely, all the way to the end. Music to sit down by, do nothing and take it all in. It's not as demanding as some improvised music, but my suggestion is to listen to this into a dimly lit room at a moderate volume. An environment by itself will unfold itself quite easily. Frans de Waard (Vital Weekly, Netherlands, 12/2005) |
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