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Diskographie
• kopfüberwelle
absinth records
Berlin

Sabine Vogel: flutes
Chris Abrahams: pipe organ
ltd. edition
hand printed
screen print gouache on cardboard
www.absinthrecords.com
tracks:
1. roadless____________________11:00
2. handwriting________________11:00
3. luftleere räume______________04:42
4. floating head over____________09:25
5. auftauchend ________________08:17
6.companion for the river journey__06:21
These duets offer up explorations
of both differences and similarities between the flute and
organ. One instrument is fixed whilst the other is free to
travel the space of the hall. One instrument is made up of
a single pipe that, unmodified, can be manipulated in an infinite
number of ways whilst the other is made up of many pipes that
can be manipulated in a very limited number of ways. Both
instruments use the flow of air to “sound” and
can create microtonal sonorities that at times tend towards
vocalisations. Sometimes it is difficult to tell one from
the other.
The experimentation never strays far from the components that
make up the duo’s strong identity: slow, drawn out howls
combined with sharp speech-like utterances, incantation-sounding
improvisations that spark and bounce off the stone walls of
the interior spaces in reflections that modulate according
to the changing physical positioning of the instrumentalists
and inchoate, melodic constructions that evoke “first
principles” music making.
recorded in may 2010 at st. annenkirche in zepernick
except titel #6, recorded at erlöserkirche potsdam in
june 2009
mastered by werner dafeldecker in june 2012 in berlin
photos by sabine vogel
covr by michael renkel and nikolaus wiese
produced 2012
all rights reserved by
www.absinthrecords.com
reviews:
"An excellent meditative trip, no, a journey in a spacious
country of endless sonorous beauty" (Frans De Waard)
"Abrahams and Vogel are well matched as improvisers and
complement each other well; clearly this is a duo
with a bright future." (John Eyles)
" A rich, exciting recording, can't wait to hear more."
(Brian Olewinck)
CHRIS ABRAHAMS & SABINE VOGEL - KOPFUBERWELLE (CD by Absinth
Records)
Here we find Abrahams playing organ, recorded in two different
churches in Berlin, so let's safely assume it's a
church organ. Vogel plays 'flutes' - plural, but perhaps not
more than two at the same time, if at all? Of the six
pieces, five were recorded in 2010 and one in 2009. As I am
a bit sleepy today, my senses might be low, or
perhaps I am hearing things a bit differently right now in
this half sleep, half awake state. Whatever it is, this is
a
release that I thought was very good. Maybe it's because the
church organ isn't really known as an instrument
for improvised music, or perhaps it's the sustaining qualities
of it's sound that made me enjoy this very much.
Either in continuous blocks of sound, such as in the opening
piece 'Roadless' or more scattered in smaller
blocks in 'Handwriting' or 'Auftachend', the organ has a great
dream like quality to it. But there is of course also
the flute(s) of Vogel, which sometimes follow the sustaining
qualities of the organ, but more usually whistles like
a bird in a church - even when there is not much of the reverb
like qualities of the space it's recorded in. An
excellent meditative trip, no, a journey in a spacious country
of endless sonorous beauty. But like I said, I must
be dreaming. Yet, how could I have written this? Hardly the
work of improvised music, and precise therefore it
may seem exactly just like that. Great one, which should appeal
to lovers of improvised music as well as drone
heads! (Frans de Waard / Vital Weekly #861 / Dec 2012)
Chris Abrahams & Sabine Vogel: Kopfuberwelle (2013)
By Published: January 10, 2013
Kopfüberwelle features the duo of German flautist Sabine
Vogel and The
Necks' pianist, Chris Abrahams, uncharacteristically on pipe
organ. Of
the six tracks, the first five were recorded in May 2010 in
St.
Annenkirche in Zepernick and the sixth in June 2009 in Potsdam,
where
Vogel holds a university teaching position. The rationale
for Abrahams'
switch of instrument from piano to organ is explained by the
duo's
"explorations of both differences and similarities between
the flute and
organ." There are certainly more similarities to explore
between flute and organ than between
flute and piano; for instance, each consists of one or more
metal pipes through which a flow of air
creates sound, and they each produce sounds that can resemble
vocalizations; at times, such
similarities mean that the two can be difficult to tell apart.
The improvisations produced here exploit and play around with
such similarities as well as the
instruments' differences. The mood of the album is established
by its first two tracks, each
clocking in at eleven minutes. On "Roadless," both
flute and organ employ long, sustained notes
which interweave and harmonize to create a richly detailed,
slowly evolving drone effect that is
occasionally punctuated by slightly shorter, higher frequency
tones which contrast the two
instruments, adding coloration to the overall picture. There
is very little evidence of melody, but
none is needed to enhance a piece which is endlessly mesmerizing
without, and further enhanced
by the acoustics of the church where it was recorded.
"Handwriting" is just as good, but is completely
different, structurally. It opens with a call-and-
response dialogue between the two, with each producing sounds
atypical of their instrument,
including breathy notes and resonant popping sounds from the
flute and tones from the organ
which could almost be electronic in origin, but aren't. Slowly,
Vogel's flute dominates the
soundscape as she gives an impressive demonstration of her
capabilities as an improviser,
underpinned by subtle support from Abrahams, before the roles
are reversed and the organist
takes his turn in the spotlight.
That is a warm-up for "Luftleere Räume," which
features another excellent organ solo; Abrahams'
talent has already been established through his work with
The Necks and his own solo releases,
but Kopfüberwelle shows him in a new light. However,
on an album without a weak or average
track, the highlights are definitely those with a good balance
between flute and organ; Abrahams
and Vogel are well matched as improvisers and complement each
other well; clearly this is a duo
with a bright future.
JOHN EYLES, allaboutjazz
17.01.13 12:35 http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=43692#.UPGTAY5UP-k
Chris Abrahams & Sabine Vogel: “Kopfuberwelle”,
jazz review by John Eyles
Chris Abrahams/Sabine Vogel - Kopfüberwelle (Absinth)
I imagine there's a more idiomatic translation of the disc's
title than "headlong wave" but that'll do for
now. Pipe organ and flutes--such a sound! "Roadless"
wins one over right off the bat, long interlacing
tones, the heady reediness of the organ adjacent to the (here)
somewhat woody quality of the flute--
just gorgeous. Eleven minutes of this long breath, no extra
"structure" necessary, just the listener
placing him/herself inside a space with these sounds whistling
past. More than enough. They don't
dwell there, though, moving to a piece filled with small pools
of sound, "handwriting"--an additional 11
minutes but in very different space, not so serene as might
be thought on first blush, but troubling.
And that trouble blossoms into "luftleere raume"
(evacuated space), all stridency for the first few
minutes, tumbling into silence like an alarm that loses power.
Yet another sideways turn ensues,
"floating head over" getting a wee bit spacey, nodding
to throat-singing techniques (I take it it's Vogel
doing something similar on flute) but also, oddly, summoning
up memories of Partch's Blo-Boy, with
its stepped upon bellows and three organ pipes attached, a
lonesome plains feel (not sure how many
of those there are in Germany....). "aufauchend"
(emerging) recall the second track somewhat but the
organ is almost humorous in its puffs, like a softly tooting
tugboat, the flute a swallowtail whipping
about its stacks; very engaging. Finally, "companions
for the river journey" takes things home
superbly, with heaving sighs from the organ and flute, end
of day breaths, slow exhalations, the odd
tootle marking time. Almost an alap, haunting, echoes of Hariprasad.
This and the first cut are
exceptionally beautiful and everything in between solid as
well. A rich, exciting recording, can't wait to
hear more. (Brian Olewinck / Just outside / january 7th 2013)
A szokásos év végi kiadványdömping
legkellemesebb meglepetése kétségtelenül
Chris Abrahams és Sabine Vogel elso‡ duóalbuma.
Elöljáróban: rég leltem ennyi örömöt
promóciós lemezben. Mint aki ajándékot
kapott, a héthüvelykes méretre hajtogatott,
kellemes tapintású, finom illatú, merített
papírhoz hasonló kartonborítóba
bújtatott korongot két hallgatás között
még most is a karácsonyfa alá helyezem.
Tehetném így még öt-hat másik
lemezzel is, de úgy érzem, ez a kitüntetett
töro‡dés jelenleg csak a Kopfüberwellét
illeti meg. Ami sokat ad, az sokat is kap.
Chris Abrahams új-zélandi zongorista és
Sabine Vogel német fuvolás két, látszatra
nagyon eltéro‡ hangszer közötti különbségeket
és hasonlóságokat kutatja. Az egyik egy
helyhez rögzített monstrum; a másik térben
körbehordozható, relatíve kis méretu‡.
Az egyiket több fémcso‡ alkotja, ám a hangjai
kötöttek, kevésbé manipulálhatóak;
a másik egyetlen fémcso‡bo‡l áll, viszont
egy kreatív játékos hangok széles
skáláját tudja vele elo‡állítani.
Mindkét hangszert a csövön keresztüláramló
levego‡ hozza mu‡ködésbe, a hangjuk viszont –
a számos differencia ellenére – ido‡nként
könnyen megtévesztheti a hallgatót: megszólalásuk
alapján olykor nehéz megkülönböztetni
o‡ket egymástól. A két hangszer a templomi
orgona és a fuvola. Ezekkel kísérletezik,
a hasonlóság-különbség ketto‡sségét
járja körül Abrahams és Vogel a Kopfüberwelle
lemezen, ami legalább annyira könnyed és
fesztelen, mint az instrumentumaik csövein átáramló
levego‡. A lemez elso‡ és legszembetu‡no‡bb jellemzo‡je
a jó értelemben vett súlytalanság.
És ez jó, hiszen kísérleti zenék
esetében igazán ritka az ilyen.
Az ötvenperces lemez hat felvételébo‡l
az elso‡ ötöt 2010 májusában a zepernicki
Szent Anna katolikus templomban, a hatodikat pedig 2009 júniusában
a potsdami Erlöserkirche, evangélikus templomban
rögzítették. Kitu‡no‡ akusztikájú,
kisméretu‡ ko‡templomokról van szó, a
falak csak minimálisan verik vissza a hangokat, ne
gondoljunk tehát hosszan tartó visszhangokra,
csengo‡-bongó emelkedettségre. A hangok rögzítése,
Werner Dafeldecker általi keverése és
maszterelése elso‡ osztályú, az orgona
és a fuvola egymásba simul, nincsenek aránytalanságok,
a felvétel egészének a tónusa
meleg és puha. Hosszan kitartott, egymással
parallel, lassan mozduló, meditatív hatású
hangkötegeket hallunk. Ido‡nként az egyik hangszer
kiszakad a másik közvetlen közelségébo‡l,
és annak laza ölelésében elszórt,
rövidke hangokat játszik. A tételek vannak
annyira változatosak, hogy az öt és tizenegy
perc közötti játékideju‡ felvételeket
más és más árnyalatúnak,
so‡t, bo‡ven különbözo‡nek érzékeljük.
A lemez hátsó borítója szerint
Vogel többféle fuvolán is játszik
– ami biztos: ezek közül a basszusfuvola a
legmeghatározóbb, a leggyakoribb. (Laslo Juhasz
/ improv.hu/26 dec.2012)
CHRIS ABRAHAMS SABINE VOGEL Kopfüberwelle (Absinth 24):
Abrahams nach seinen frühen Jahren mit Laughing Clowns,
The Benders, The Triffids, The Lime Spiders und Ed Kuepper
nur auf The Necks festzunageln, wird seiner Kreativität
nicht annähernd gerecht. Neben Hammeriver sind da vor
allem seine Duette bemerkenswert, mit Mike Cooper, Clare Cooper,
Alessandro Bosetti, Lucio Capece und mit Kai Fagschinski als
The Dogmatics. Die in Kirchen in Zepernik und Potsdam eingespielten
Tauch- und Flugübungen für Flöte (Vogel) und
Kirchenorgel (Abrahams) fügen sich an als durch und durch
pneumatische Meditationen über die Möglichkeiten,
im Weglosen Wege zu bahnen, mit Luft in die leere Luft zu
schreiben (so wie Keats Name auf Wasser). Ohne Weihwasser
und Frömmelei ist hier vom Pneuma die Rede, eine wortlose
Rede frei von Gramma, losgelöst von Soma. Ein geistiges
Fluten, in das einzutauchen einer Taufe ähnelt, nur ohne
religiösen Überbau, als ganz natürliche psychophysische
Erfahrung. Sanftes Flöten aus wer weiß wieviel
Pfeifen steigert sich zu rauem Tuten und Hupen, zu schrillem,
durchdringendem Alarm. Als wäre die Leere, 'luftleere
räume', der einzige Dämon, den es auszutreiben gilt.
Die Orgel spottet dabei dem Geist der Schwere, der sie statisch
verankert, indem sie versucht, es der Flöte gleichzutun
(die dann auch noch Vogel heißt und wie ein vogeliges
Whirly trillern kann). Wenn sie um das Mundstück herum
vokalisiert, klingt das so archaisch und schamanisch, als
würde sie aus dem Urquell der Religion auftauchen und
wäre zugleich von den Urprinzipien der Musik erfüllt.
Zu denen auch die ozeanisch bewegte Unbewegtheit gehört,
die Orgelhaltetöne zuletzt ausstrahlen, und ein Tremendum,
das die Flöte zittern lässt wie ein Blatt im Wind.
(Rigobert Dittmann/ Bad Alchemy/ Januar 2013[BA 76 rbd] )
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