Sartorius, Julian - Zatter
SKU
34-Intakt 242
Julian Sartorius :
drums, cymbals, spanish goat-bells, gongs, vibrators, rubber balls,
sound bowls, bull-roarer, shruti box, lumbers, glockenspiel, kalimbas, tubes, mbira, metals
"'Zatter' is an old Bern-German word which simply means 'the disorder arising when things are strewn all around'. Disorder is an important element in my work, because instruments and materials need to be mixed up to keep forming new combinations. So my studio at the Dampfzentrale Bern is a jumble of things, from rotating vibrators, Spanish goat bells, inner tubes, bullroarers, an old African marimba, rubber balls, a shruti box to various pieces of metal. It often threatens to degenerate into chaos, and nearly every week new instruments and objects are added. The entire inventory can be heard on this album, and this is one of the reasons why Zatter barely sounds like percussion, although it is a purely percussion album. My acoustic style has also been enriched with new techniques thanks my intensive engagement with electronic music. Some of the effects on Zatter are reminiscent of synthesized sounds, others of the cut-up sound of sampling, so the work I have done with synthesizers and samplers has clearly found its way into my live playing.
The album is intended to represent the music of my solo concerts. But it didn't seem interesting simply to reproduce the material from my live appearances; right from the initial test recordings it was clear that this album would be a separate, new work. I did stick to the basic idea however: the album was to be recorded live, with no overdubs, edits or electronic effects. I wanted to work with the physicality and limits of the body, and the directness of performance. Each piece is entirely acoustic and the recordings are live performances. In terms of the way it was produced this is my most 'traditional' album and the production is very different from my previous two albums, Beat Diary and Merz's No Compass Will Find Home (Julian Sartorius – Drum & Vocal Renditions). On both these albums I worked with several recording tracks in order not to be trapped by the limits of the human body. Sometimes I resent having just two hands and two feet. In some musical situations it would be helpful to have more of both. But on Zatter I wanted to work with precisely these limitations.
Zatter is also an album in which beats and rhythms are almost entirely obscured; the tracks are mostly calm, contemplative and abstract. The titles are all Bern-German words which have vanished from everyday use."
- LabelIntakt
- UPC7640120192426