Ulrich Troyer meets Georg Blaschke – Somatic Soundtracks

Ulrich Troyer meets Georg Blaschke - Somatic Soundtracks

CD – 4Bit
Among the cuts of Somatic Soundtracks we find analogue synthesizers, loops, effects and guitars. The compositions were created in 2010 and 2012 to provide material for the choreographic work of Georg Blaschke, a dancer and maths/philosophy/pedagogy graduate. Blaschke was previously a member of Pilottanzt, a contemporary dance academy very interested in inter-disciplinary collaboration and the integration of different formal languages. The scores here are very minimal, sensitive and pulsating. They are articulated by a symbiotic harmony of atmospheres, movements and spaces, deconstructed in experimental blends and saturated with a mixture of noises and drones, producing hypnotic sequences. The fascinating result is partly due to the multichannel audio techniques employed. The quality of the sound and the merging of acousmatic features are evidence of an approach that doesn’t get stuck in abstractions or formalisms, and there are clear references to Troyer’s passion for dub, reggae and techno. There is no lack of rigour and coherence on display and listeners should bear in mind the original context of the compositions – focus should be placed on the inner worlds recalled, on the passages of “scenes” and on the iterations of the different audio elements that suddenly form exciting new musical units. There is a certain lack of information available regarding how the two artforms are conjoined in the performance of this work, but this absence is largely made up for by the narrative density and extensive imaginative scope of the sounds.