Versprochen
A relatively new name on the experimental electronics scene, Berliner Konrad Sprenger (aka Jörg Hiller) has previously released a solo record (2006's Miniaturen) via his own label, Choose, and now is set to reach a wider audience thanks to Schoolmap, the imprint administrated by Giuseppe Ielasi and Francesco Tenaglia. The album begins compellingly with the prolonged whistling of a steam train before launching into the layered, slightly uneasy ambient clamour of 'Lethe', which combines nervous guitar thrums with the gradual emergence of luscious extended tones. More darkness follows with edgy foley-style exchanges on 'Lugner' and the lupine pulsations of 'Das Helle Fell Am Hinterteil Des Hirschs'. Darkness plays its part in much of Sprenger's material to come - with a sinister edge leant to 'Polendina' by its strange clockwork birdsong effect - but there's great beauty in the minimal acoustic dialogues of 'Saubere Hande' that defeats any sense of foreboding. The album's close is even warmer, with the utterly exquisite brass of 'Alle Dinge Eine Weile' introducing a final quarter in which 'Wanderheuschrecke' lays down some incongruous lounge-bound vibes via jazzy mellotron chords and reclined blues guitar, before the rollicking player-piano hoedown of 'Die Artischocke Und Die Blaue Banane' gives the album its very own "That's all folks!" moment. A marvellous, absurdly diverse collection of electronic and instrumental experiments, Versprochen comes highly recommended.
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A relatively new name on the experimental electronics scene, Berliner Konrad Sprenger (aka Jörg Hiller) has previously released a solo record (2006's Miniaturen) via his own label, Choose, and now is set to reach a wider audience thanks to Schoolmap, the imprint administrated by Giuseppe Ielasi and Francesco Tenaglia. The album begins compellingly with the prolonged whistling of a steam train before launching into the layered, slightly uneasy ambient clamour of 'Lethe', which combines nervous guitar thrums with the gradual emergence of luscious extended tones. More darkness follows with edgy foley-style exchanges on 'Lugner' and the lupine pulsations of 'Das Helle Fell Am Hinterteil Des Hirschs'. Darkness plays its part in much of Sprenger's material to come - with a sinister edge leant to 'Polendina' by its strange clockwork birdsong effect - but there's great beauty in the minimal acoustic dialogues of 'Saubere Hande' that defeats any sense of foreboding. The album's close is even warmer, with the utterly exquisite brass of 'Alle Dinge Eine Weile' introducing a final quarter in which 'Wanderheuschrecke' lays down some incongruous lounge-bound vibes via jazzy mellotron chords and reclined blues guitar, before the rollicking player-piano hoedown of 'Die Artischocke Und Die Blaue Banane' gives the album its very own "That's all folks!" moment. A marvellous, absurdly diverse collection of electronic and instrumental experiments, Versprochen comes highly recommended.
A relatively new name on the experimental electronics scene, Berliner Konrad Sprenger (aka Jörg Hiller) has previously released a solo record (2006's Miniaturen) via his own label, Choose, and now is set to reach a wider audience thanks to Schoolmap, the imprint administrated by Giuseppe Ielasi and Francesco Tenaglia. The album begins compellingly with the prolonged whistling of a steam train before launching into the layered, slightly uneasy ambient clamour of 'Lethe', which combines nervous guitar thrums with the gradual emergence of luscious extended tones. More darkness follows with edgy foley-style exchanges on 'Lugner' and the lupine pulsations of 'Das Helle Fell Am Hinterteil Des Hirschs'. Darkness plays its part in much of Sprenger's material to come - with a sinister edge leant to 'Polendina' by its strange clockwork birdsong effect - but there's great beauty in the minimal acoustic dialogues of 'Saubere Hande' that defeats any sense of foreboding. The album's close is even warmer, with the utterly exquisite brass of 'Alle Dinge Eine Weile' introducing a final quarter in which 'Wanderheuschrecke' lays down some incongruous lounge-bound vibes via jazzy mellotron chords and reclined blues guitar, before the rollicking player-piano hoedown of 'Die Artischocke Und Die Blaue Banane' gives the album its very own "That's all folks!" moment. A marvellous, absurdly diverse collection of electronic and instrumental experiments, Versprochen comes highly recommended.