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Burkhard Stangl, the internationally known electric guitarist from Vienna, is best known as a member of the seminal improv group Polwechsel; for his superb solo record Recital; and for his five part, work-in-progress opera Venusmond. Mr. Stangl recently collaborated with Christof Kurzmann on the record Schnee, inspired by four favorite movies of theirs and by a quote from Swiss writer Robert Walser. Schnee consists of four long soundscapes, with Kurzmann's sedate electronics underpinning Stangl's atmospheric plucking. Critic Dean Roberts has written, "Schnee is not about freezing, it is about snow. Therefore, anything 'liquid' is gone, and has been transferred into a malleable body&emdash;its grainy patterns and particles are what Kurzmann creates circular asymmetrical patterns within. Stangl's guitar is brittle, dissolving like icicle drops. This record's beauty is in the critical fact that it explores the differences in computer generated and acoustic music, unlike a forced marriage of a systematic clash. Strikingly, it finds its entry at the extremity of fundamental difference between the worlds of the two instruments. It is not reductionist&emdash;in that it does not lack matter to its dialogue. Simply these two artists are so assured and comfortable within the language that it leads to saying less." Mr. Stangl lives in Vienna. |
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[02-08-22] |
