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J. Peter Schwalm
Stephan Thelen: Fractal Guitar 3
by Mark Sullivan
Guitarist/composer Stephan Thelen presents the third installment of his Fractal Guitar series. Like the previous albums, the emphasis is on multiple guitars, layered in kaleidoscopic arrangements based on his compositions and guitar playing, but significantly colored by the contributions of his collaborators. This edition was also influenced by the other albums that he was working on simultaneously: Transneptunian Planets with J. Peter Schwalm, Eivind Aarset, Tim Harries and Manuel Pasquinelli (RareNoiseRecords, 2022); Fractal Sextet with Jon Durant, Fabio Anile, Colin ...
read moreJ. Peter Schwalm & Stephan Thelen: Transneptunian Planets
by Dan McClenaghan
To get any further out than Transneptunian Planets, one would have to travel to the edge of the solar system. The title of the album— offered up by electro-acoustic composer J. Peter Schwalm and guitarist, composer & mathematician Stephan Thelen—refers to objects orbiting the sun in the far reaches, out beyond Neptune. Many of these objects may be news to those who do not follow the progress of astronomy; though, surely, everyone is familiar with Pluto—way out there, once a ...
read moreJ. Peter Schwalm & Markus Reuter: Aufbruch
by Mark Sullivan
German electro-acoustic composer J. Peter Schwalm is probably best known for collaborating with Brian Eno on Drawn From Life (Opal, 2001) and other projects. More recently, he created How We Fall (RareNoise, 2018) and Neuzeit (RareNoise, 2020), the latter a collaboration with Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen. Touch guitarist and composer Markus Reuter has been prolific, recent releases including Truce (MoonJune Records, 2020), Nothing Is Sacred (MoonJune Records, 2020) and Shapeshifters (MoonJune Records, 2020), as well as Music Of Our Times ...
read moreJ. Peter Schwalm & Markus Reuter: Aufbruch
by Doug Collette
The first recorded collaboration between J. Peter Schwalm and Markus Reuter, Aufbruch, is one of those very rare and unusual albums that unobtrusively, almost surreptitiously, wends its way into the subconscious. It compels repeated and often frequent replays, not so much to comprehend the arcane sounds, but to simply become immersed in the moods and textures the two men generate. Synths, pianos, live treatments, programming and electronic percussion from the former interweave with the Touch Guitars, soundscapes and ...
read moreJ. Peter Schwalm / Markus Reuter: Aufbruch
by Dan McClenaghan
In 2020 electro-acoustic programmer/keyboardist J.Peter Schwalm paired up with Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen for the excellent outing Neuzeit (RareNoiseRecords), one of the year's standout discs. 2021 finds Schwalm collaborating with touch guitarist Markus Reuter, of Stickmen fame. The music this collaboration creates can be described as industrial sound-scaping mixed with noises welling up from deep Earth or emanating in from deep space, tectonic and galactic at the same time. “Wall of sound" is a phrase used to describe ...
read moreJ. Peter Schwalm / Arve Henriksen: Neuzeit
by Dan McClenaghan
Sometimes making music is more than assembling and coordinating sounds that result (hopefully) in pleasing results. Neuzeit, a collaboration between German electro-acoustic composer J. Peter Schwalm and Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen moves in that direction. The word “neuzeit" is generally taken to mean the “modern era" that began with the rise of Western Civilization in the sixteenth century. But Schwalm's “new time" seems to take that definition on a more literal level. That new time is now, deep ...
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