COLD VOODOO - AB+ (WIDE EAR RECORDS 2018)

For many years Tobias Meier and Silvan Jeger have been collaborating in various projects. As Cold Voodoo they explore the tension of physical presence and exhaustion on one hand and of an external perspective and serenity on the other hand. This contradiction is already implied in the group’s name and emphasised in their newly released record AB+. The album points soberly to the two sidedness of the medium and moreover the red plastic of the cassette and the title of the record, that can be read as blood type, alludes to a certain „blood-kitsch“. This comparision is developed in the cover art of the digital release, where the Ls and Os of the group’s name on the back of the cassette generate a mesmerizing array of ones and zeros, picturing the dense, shimmering netting, wich the two musicians open up on this record.

1. A+ 16:03

2. B+ 14:22

Tobias Meier alto saxophone

Silvan Jeger bass

Recorded 2017 in Basel (CH)

Mix : Silvan Jeger

Master : Hannes Kumke

Graphic Design : Tobias Meier

Laura Schuler - Laura Schuler Kronikor (2018)

There’s two states of being on the latest release from violinist Laura Schuler. There’s those passages when her Kronikor ensemble is a raging sea, and waves of dissonance slam up against the melody and wash over the rhythmic landscape. And then there are those passages when a blanket of harmony falls over the ferocity and unites everything into a single beam of melodic light. Neither state is more compelling than its counterpart. When Lisa Grotherus switches over the bass clarinet, all kinds of sparks arise from its collision with clarinet. This effect is doubled when guitarist Anatole Buccella adds some electricity of his own to the mix. Bassist Silvan Jeger and drummer Lukas Rutzen round out the quintet.

1. Trainstory 08:12

2. Finding 02:50

3. Interruption 07:03

4. Trotzdem 06:41

5. Of Flies and other Creatures 03:51

6. Constant Change 05:53

7. Ritter der Kokosnuss 07:01

8. Of Light and Shadow 06:15

Laura Schuler CH, violin and composition

Lisa Grotherus SWE, clarinet and bassclarinet

Anatole Buccella CH, guitar

Silvan Jeger CH, doublebass

Lukas Rutzen DE, drums