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Rehearsal For Retirement |
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Illusion Of The World |
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SOPHIE AGNEL & JOKE LANZ Ella
With solid training as a classical musician, Sophie Agnel took a close interest in modern jazz before committing in the early Nineties to the shifting, deliciously uncertain ground of free improvisation, thanks to her fascination for the powers of expression displayed by a few great keyboard-heretics such as Keith Tippett, Fred Van Hove or Christine Wodrascka. She began reworking the prepared piano techniques imagined by John Cage and transformed her instrument into a sort of extended piano. Coming from a Punk music background Joke Lanz started in the mid 80s to play Experimental- and Noise music. Best known for his internationally acclaimed project Sudden Infant, Lanz is presenting his work since 30 years all over the world. Born in Switzerland and currently operating out of Berlin, he is one of the most prolific and profound artists working in the border zones where performance and body art meet Improvisation and Noise. Agnel and Lanz have performed stunning live shows as a duo, now their debut album is coming out on Klanggalerie. Turntables and piano, a unique combination that is a lot of fun! Full tracklist: 1. Tadpole In A Hole 2. Rehearsal For Retirement 3. The End Of Handwriting 4. Wittgensteins Hand 5. Looking Into The Valley 6. Sporadic Bursts Of Sympathy 7. Her Foot In The Swamp 8. Alone With The Clock 9. Illusion Of The World 10. Tulips And Chimneys 11. 21st Century Humans. Price: € 20,-/copy incl. worldwide shipping.
Lanz geht es ganz offensichtlich
nicht um Abstraktion und um Bruits. Er spielt nur zu gern mit Klangbruchstücken,
selbst wenn er sie nur als Speedlines, Wookiee-Wooshes und Mickey-Mousing einsetzt.
Für beide gilt: Wer hat an der Uhr gedreht..., ihre Illusion of the World gaukelt und haspelt
surreal. Leise Tristesse, das ja, aber Trübsal wird von den Pianosaiten gepinselt und
durch den Kamin gejagt. Krimskrams hoppelt, eine Stimme gackert, Agnel plonkt, trappelt,
läutet, Vinyl knistert, siedet, locked groovt. Cheerio, Miss Sophie.
(Bad Alchemy, February 2025)
Like in the previous collaboration, Agnel and Joke Lanz exchange brilliant, Dadaist sonic punches that simultaneously, empty this hyperactive, free improvised interplay of any high-brow importance but inject into it healthy doses of subversive, highly imaginative, and inventive ideas. Agnel plays inside the piano and produces poetic, unorthodox, and resonant sounds and Joke Lanz knows how to extend and shape these sonic threads into equally poetic, rhythmically fragmented fireworks.
(Salt Peanuts, February 2025)
Agnel &
Lanz improvisieren in einer Dichte und einer Intensität, dass der Verdacht, alles sei
komponiert, fast nicht von der Hand zu weisen ist. Ist er aber. Was zudem besticht,
ist die schier überbordende Fantasie von beiden und ihre fast fliegenden Wechsel
von Tempo und Temperament, von sämtlichen Aggregatzuständen von handfest bis
lachgasförmig. Ständig schaut ein anderer Schalk, der aus größter Ernsthaftigkeit
geschöpft wird, um die Ecke.
(Freistil, April 2025)
This is contemporary (improvised) music at its finest. Fresh, funky and punky. Just as with the previous record, the pieces are relatively short, brimming with ideas that come and go, and sometimes linger a bit longer. Excellent stuff, with a lot of unexpected twists and turns!
(Vital Weekly, May 2025)
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