Noto, Alva + Ryuichi Sakamoto

Summvs

Label: Raster-Noton Country: Germany

"The latest result of the unusual creative partnership between the oscar-prize honored film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and the fine artist and electronic music pioneer Carsten Nicolai.

The name of the artists' fifth collaborative release summvs refers to the latin word 'summa' (engl.: Sum) and 'versus' (engl.: Towards) serving as a metaphor for the work being oriented towards a collarorative whole. Summvs is the last of a series of five releases that started with vrioon in 2002 and continued with insen (2005), revep (2005) and utp_ (2007).

Passages of sparse yet emotionally charged and passionate piano solos are embedded in sine waves or reworked to establish new aesthetics of piano sound. Sparse percussions and throbbing bass pulses hover above and below - the music being contemplative and minimal at the same time.

The tracks microon i-iii contain recordings of one of the 15 pianos using a 16th tone interval tuning built by Sauter, Spaichingen/Donaueschingen, Germany. The original 'piano metamorfoseador en dieciseisavos de tono' was designed by julián Carrillo Trujillo. Thanks to the music department of Berne University Of The Arts for making this instrument available.

Included in the album are two cover versions of the track 'by this river' originally written by Roedelius, Moebius And Brian Eno in 1977. In their instrumental versions of the song Nicolai and Sakamoto create and investigate the song's appeal in both normal speed and slow motion.

The new album will host its world live premiere on May 12th, 2011 at the roundhouse in london, uk and will be followed by a european tour in may/june 2011 with stopovers in Milan, Perugia, Rome, Parma, Brussels, Eindhoven, Leipzig, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Berlin, And Barcelona. Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano and Alva Noto on electronics will present their fifth collaborative release with a unique style visualisation and an state-of-the-art technical setting and stage design."-Raster-Noton