Arranged improvisations

Markus & Simon Stockhausen

nonDuality

Achtung Starkstrom Improvisation!*

M. Stockhausen teams with his brother, saxophonist and synthesizer player S. Stockhausen, on another impeccably recorded program on. The trumpeter's vibrant and reverberant tone again sets the standard for this set that also features pieces with either percussionist Marcelli or clarinetist Bouman. Together, the brothers Stockhausen cause the music to take radical turns. On “Weltfenster”, multiple layers of ritualistic voice samples from 15 countries and synthesized rhythms are injected over fierce trumpet blowing and live drumming. As a pair, however, the Stockhausen's also create an ecclesiastical aura, as happens on “Freitagsglocken”, where the sound of bells competes with the ringing flugelhorn playing of M. Stockhausen. Their union oscillates between rap-inspired secular intensity and overt spirituality.

On several selections, multiple sounds colide as soprano saxophone, inside piano, shakers, slide/muted/electric trumpet, overdubbed percussion, and live sampling com together as a phantasmagoric dream sequence. Hymnal voices penetrate the thick ground fog to envelop the senses. The mystique continues throughout the recording and culminates with a duet by S. Stockhausen and M. Stockhausen's wife Bouman. Bouman's bird-like clarinet chirping circles higher and higher as her output swirls through the electronic sampling decvices. There is an abundance of culturally enriched diversity in this collection that integrates the global performing experiences of the brothers. They add a distinctive twist to the concepts of world music to make it all sound new and fresh.

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