Markus Reuter: Sun Trance
Moving away from his customary small ensemble mode, Sun Trance features the Touch guitarist sharing the stage with Dennis Kuhn's eleven piece ensemble, Manheimer Schlagwerk, creating a "sort of trance-avant-garde-psychedelic sonic hybrid." The group is six percussionists, including a glockenspiel, two vibraphones, some shakers, in addition to a bass clarinet, a drum kit and a synthesizer, enveloping Reuter's understated guitar work. Much use is made of overlapping drone-scapes, resulting in a soundtrack for the dark and mysterious, and modern classical stylings.
The music is a thirty-seven-minute piece, with Reuter improvising inside the spooky precision atmospherics of the ensemble. And as laid back as the sound is, Reuter still finds a way to shred, albeit in a restrained yet still searing way. This isn't a Touch guitar in front of the band; rather, it is a well integrated concerto, electronically glowing and organically breathing at the same time.
Track Listing
Sun Trance (Live).
Personnel
Markus Reuter: guitar, electric; Mannheimer Schlagwerk: band/orchestra; Dennis Kuhn: vibraphone; Ti-Hsien Lai: vibraphone; Luis Andres Chavarria Baez: percussion; Lukas Heckmann: percussion; Marius Fink: percussion; Oguz Akbas: percussion; Maria Wunder: clarinet, bass; Patrick Baumann: guitar, electric; Johannes Engelhardt: bass, electric; Hye-Rim Ma: synthesizer; Linda-Philomene Tsoungui: drums.
Luis Andrés Chavarría Báez: glockenspiel; Lukas Heckmann: glockenspiel, shaker; Marius Fink: crotales, shaker; Oğuz Akbaş: crotales, shaker;Markus Reuter: Touch Guitars® AU8, soundscapes.
Album information
Title: Sun Trance | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: MoonJune Records