Rothkamm, Frank / Zahra Fugues
| Album: | Zahra Fugues | Collection: | General | |
| Artist: | Rothkamm, Frank | Added: | Jan 2010 | |
| Label: | Flux Records | |||
A-File Activity
| Add Date: | 2010-06-20 | Pull Date: | 2010-08-22 |
|---|
| Week Ending: | Aug 8 | Jul 25 | Jul 11 | Jul 4 | Jun 27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airplays: | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Aug 05, 2010: | orangeasm
Zahra Fugue 13: Opus 458 |
4. | Jul 10, 2010: | Music Casserole
Zahra Fugue 14: Opus 459 |
|
| 2. | Aug 01, 2010: | the velvet futon
Zahra Fugue 14: Opus 459 |
5. | Jul 01, 2010: | Elite Syncopations
Zahra Fugue 20: Opus 468 |
|
| 3. | Jul 18, 2010: | the velvet futon
Zahra Fugue 5: Opus 447 |
6. | Jul 01, 2010: | orangeasm
Zahra Fugue 18: Opus 463 |
Album Review
Mason
Reviewed 2010-06-16
Reviewed 2010-06-16
Frank Rothkamm / Zahra Fugues -- reviewed by Mason
Short modern classical piano pieces with pianist overdubbing multiple melodic lines ("4 voices played by 8 hands" say the liner notes). Lightly played but dense with notes, the voices often heaped right on top of each other, sometimes with independent tempi, but not noisy or atonal. Feels improvised, sometimes formless and meandering, at its best there's some really interesting, complex textures and beautiful chords. If you like the sound of a lot of independent parts working in tandem, this is worth a listen.
No FCCs. Try 5, 16, 25.
1. 3/4 time, minor key, meanders a bit. 2. Starts as a traditional Bach-like fugue getting crazier and more dissonant with lots of trills
3. Still & quiet 4. Cheerful major-key theme, getting denser with interesting knots of very close voices, then plays with trembling chime-like harmonies. 5. * Intricate texture from close voices playing rapid arpeggios, with little knots in the clouds. 40 seconds only. 6. Simple 3-note theme. Backward-masked piano notes. 7. Simple folksy theme gets more dissonant and forboding before exploding in arpeggios. 8. Elegant tango-ish feel (but free rhythm) with rolled major-7th chords. 9. White key voices tumbling together with independent tempi. 10. Single major mode, regular pulse but jumbled voices. 11. Lone voice picks its way through periodic rolled chords. 12. Steady march-like pulse confused by voices wandering off somewhere. 13. Lots of space, tinkling high notes, white keys. 14. Starts to congeal into a beautiful Beethoven-esque melody, before dissolving into fluff. 15. Chromatic themes, mysterious like a restless dream. 16. * Compact and elegant, steady pulse, nice harmonies criss-crossing. 17. Slow and pensive, minor-key chord progressions. Distant sirens caught by microphone? 18. Steady pitter-patter rhythm with lots of knots and tangles in it. 19. Slower, minor-key, halting rhythm, melodies verging on jazzy. 20. Major key rain and wind-in-leaves sounds. 21. Dark, slow, and dissonant. 22. Rhythm made out of little whirlwinds. 23. Perky white-key march. 24. Slower, pensive, minor-key, rather pretty. 25. * Voices scampering up and down the keyboard getting more and more tangled with each other. 26. Finale of quiet tangled major-key arpeggios. "That's all, folks."
Short modern classical piano pieces with pianist overdubbing multiple melodic lines ("4 voices played by 8 hands" say the liner notes). Lightly played but dense with notes, the voices often heaped right on top of each other, sometimes with independent tempi, but not noisy or atonal. Feels improvised, sometimes formless and meandering, at its best there's some really interesting, complex textures and beautiful chords. If you like the sound of a lot of independent parts working in tandem, this is worth a listen.
No FCCs. Try 5, 16, 25.
1. 3/4 time, minor key, meanders a bit. 2. Starts as a traditional Bach-like fugue getting crazier and more dissonant with lots of trills
3. Still & quiet 4. Cheerful major-key theme, getting denser with interesting knots of very close voices, then plays with trembling chime-like harmonies. 5. * Intricate texture from close voices playing rapid arpeggios, with little knots in the clouds. 40 seconds only. 6. Simple 3-note theme. Backward-masked piano notes. 7. Simple folksy theme gets more dissonant and forboding before exploding in arpeggios. 8. Elegant tango-ish feel (but free rhythm) with rolled major-7th chords. 9. White key voices tumbling together with independent tempi. 10. Single major mode, regular pulse but jumbled voices. 11. Lone voice picks its way through periodic rolled chords. 12. Steady march-like pulse confused by voices wandering off somewhere. 13. Lots of space, tinkling high notes, white keys. 14. Starts to congeal into a beautiful Beethoven-esque melody, before dissolving into fluff. 15. Chromatic themes, mysterious like a restless dream. 16. * Compact and elegant, steady pulse, nice harmonies criss-crossing. 17. Slow and pensive, minor-key chord progressions. Distant sirens caught by microphone? 18. Steady pitter-patter rhythm with lots of knots and tangles in it. 19. Slower, minor-key, halting rhythm, melodies verging on jazzy. 20. Major key rain and wind-in-leaves sounds. 21. Dark, slow, and dissonant. 22. Rhythm made out of little whirlwinds. 23. Perky white-key march. 24. Slower, pensive, minor-key, rather pretty. 25. * Voices scampering up and down the keyboard getting more and more tangled with each other. 26. Finale of quiet tangled major-key arpeggios. "That's all, folks."
Track Listing