Hauschka – Ferndorf Review
Hauschka, the alias of Dusseldorf’s Volker Bertelmann, is an experimental artist that focuses his music on the prepared piano. Ferndorf is Hauschka’s second album that was released in October 2008 under Fatcat Records, a label he shares with notable bands such as Sigur Ros, múm, and Animal Collective. Since its release, Hauschka has already released another album in February 2009 called Snowflakes and Carwrecks, which I may end up reviewing. Ferndorf is ode to Hauschka’s childhood memories growing up in the village Ferndorf, which he initially thought was boring, but throughout his travels, realized that was where his music was most influenced by.
When I first listened to Ferndorf, it reminded me a lot of Erik Satie, a renown pianist in the early 20th century that is known mostly for his Gymnopedie compositions. I was introduced to Erik Satie back in high school, where I fell in love with his music. Back in his days, his music was considered very avant-garde, eventually catapulting the movements of minimalism. So, it was not surprising to see Erik Satie’s name associated with Hauschka’s music on his MySpace.
Hauschka’s music centres around the idea of the “prepared piano,” where he often experiments with the altered sounds of the piano by placing objects between the strings, hammer, or dampers. Although I am not very knowledgeable about the workings of the prepared piano, it is still easy to hear the alterations throughout his music, as subtle as they are. Sometimes you can hear a lingered clang after each note, or an abrupt stop of a note that sounds more a tap than anything else, or even the strums of the piano strings. The alterations are blatant in some tracks, such as “Rode Null” and “Barfuss Durch Gras,” but overall it’s not surprising that it’s so difficult to feel the alterations as they sound more like individual instruments in themselves.
He is accompanied by two cellists and some electronic elements (”Freibad”) which create a bit of a more orchestrated feeling. The different aspects of the piano interwoven with each other give each track a more fuller feel to it, while the electronic elements gives the music more a contemporary twist to it. Many of the tracks in the album are completely improvised–tracks such as “Blue Bicycle,” “Morgenrot,” and “Nadelwald.”
The great dynamics between the piano and the rest of the instruments definitely show through his music. He is able to create different tones throughout each track, even inviting us to reminisce our own childhoods. “Blue Bicycle” has a flighty feeling to it, imaginative of when bike rides as children were recreational, something to be enjoyed. The last half of the album is more mellowed out, with a more serene tone to each track.
This is a brilliant album that amplifies itself through Hauschka’s mastery of experimenting with the piano. With a soft familiarity to Erik Satie, Yann Tiersen, and John Cage, Hauschka provokes feeling and imagery, something that is not so often found in music today.
MP3s:
Hauschka – Freibad
Hauschka – Morgenrot
Hauschka – Neuschnee
Tags: album
