neo-classical / ambient
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Trying to find the right words for my third review on Merchants Of Air has been a hard pill to swallow. I've given the third album of Bersarin Quartett a listen or four and a few weeks to let it settle. Today is rainy and grey and I took a hot bath in which I decided to give myself a kick in the proverbial butt: "why don't you just give it a try?".
Bersarin Quartett, as you might already know, isn't a quartet but consists of one musical genius: Thomas Bücker. I've deeply enjoyed his second album, 'II', during moments of anguish and/or sadness. 'II' has this exceptional atmosphere - dark, soothing and oh so warm - which also can be found in Radare's 'Im Argen'. The third album in this personal soul-balming top-3, which I also could put on endless repeat, is Dale Cooper Quartet and the Dictaphones' masterpiece 'Metamanoir'. So When Serge told me there was a new Bersarin Quartett album and asked me to review it, I got pretty excited.
Some of the tracks, like opener 'Verflossen ist das Gold der Tage' or 'Sanft verblassen die Geschichten' bring back the feelings described above and thus easily throw themselves forward as potential personal favourite tracks. On 'III', in general, Bücker seems to take a step away from this world of sounds in favour of more, yet mostly cautious, electronics and percussion. Sometimes these even sound kind of industrial, like in the track 'Schwarzer Regen fällt'. The combination of these electronics with analog sounding strings and piano reminds me of the post-neoclassical works by composers like Sebastian Plano or the magical album 'Di Indomito Incanto' by Carlo De Filippo which Serge reviewed yesterday.
"Modern-day", that's the word I was looking for to describe the difference between Bersarin Quartett's 'II' and 'III'. For me, tracks like 'Staub und Sterne' or 'Welche Welt' just have a little too much breaks - they might quite literally have broken my expectations about the album - which in general doesn't have to be a bad thing. In the unmentioned tracks Bücker finds a perfect balance between the "old" and the "new" style which I keep distinguishing, so 'III' could be interpreted as an update for 'II' if you like music to sound more electronic than before.
My favourite track since the first listen has remained 'Die Nächte sind erfüllt von Maskenfesten'. It approaches that darkjazzy atmosphere again, builds up to a refreshing tempo while the relatively subtle electronics help dragging me to that point where there's nothing left to do but hitting the volume button, sitting back, closing my eyes and detecting that blissful smile on my face which only the best music can evoke.
Eline
Bersarin Quartett, as you might already know, isn't a quartet but consists of one musical genius: Thomas Bücker. I've deeply enjoyed his second album, 'II', during moments of anguish and/or sadness. 'II' has this exceptional atmosphere - dark, soothing and oh so warm - which also can be found in Radare's 'Im Argen'. The third album in this personal soul-balming top-3, which I also could put on endless repeat, is Dale Cooper Quartet and the Dictaphones' masterpiece 'Metamanoir'. So When Serge told me there was a new Bersarin Quartett album and asked me to review it, I got pretty excited.
Some of the tracks, like opener 'Verflossen ist das Gold der Tage' or 'Sanft verblassen die Geschichten' bring back the feelings described above and thus easily throw themselves forward as potential personal favourite tracks. On 'III', in general, Bücker seems to take a step away from this world of sounds in favour of more, yet mostly cautious, electronics and percussion. Sometimes these even sound kind of industrial, like in the track 'Schwarzer Regen fällt'. The combination of these electronics with analog sounding strings and piano reminds me of the post-neoclassical works by composers like Sebastian Plano or the magical album 'Di Indomito Incanto' by Carlo De Filippo which Serge reviewed yesterday.
"Modern-day", that's the word I was looking for to describe the difference between Bersarin Quartett's 'II' and 'III'. For me, tracks like 'Staub und Sterne' or 'Welche Welt' just have a little too much breaks - they might quite literally have broken my expectations about the album - which in general doesn't have to be a bad thing. In the unmentioned tracks Bücker finds a perfect balance between the "old" and the "new" style which I keep distinguishing, so 'III' could be interpreted as an update for 'II' if you like music to sound more electronic than before.
My favourite track since the first listen has remained 'Die Nächte sind erfüllt von Maskenfesten'. It approaches that darkjazzy atmosphere again, builds up to a refreshing tempo while the relatively subtle electronics help dragging me to that point where there's nothing left to do but hitting the volume button, sitting back, closing my eyes and detecting that blissful smile on my face which only the best music can evoke.
Eline
