CD – Domizil
Hiding behind the moniker Strøm, the duo formed by Guadenz Badrutt and Christian Müller investigates abstract sound constructions, utilizing many stylistic approaches. In this latest work they have arrived at a greater minimalism that, in the layered patterns, is filled with a rather iterated and fascinating machinic lyricism, a density of clicks, audio micro-emergencies and digital interferences. These sounds are multiplied exponentially, though a certain equilibrium between the parts is retained, even as improvisationally-derived noise insertions are woven into rhythmical and pulsating sequences, thin drone concatenations and gentle glitch’n’cutting. Badrutt and Müller experiment with many instruments and methods, patiently modulating them, resulting in five tracks molded by a multiform mix of structures and “spastic sound multiplications” (the artists’ definition). Listeners will become conscious of an operation carried out with care, one perhaps not completely the expression of a “superior form of musical thinking”, but still rich in strong suggestions that never feel trite or unmediated. Appropriately, this album is released by Domizil, a label owned by Marcus Maeder and Bernd Schurer – a duo who always present their artists carefully and who focus on the themes of digital culture, its methods and its aesthetic context. For certain, not a label interested in publishing works lacking consistency.