An effusive album of violin and percussion, fueled by the Iranian zarb drum and augmented with an eclectic mix of frame drums, nyckelharp and Tibetan bowls, from the French duo of violinist Frederic Aurier and percussionist Sylvain Lemetre, both trained classical musicians drawn to jazz forms, their duo an eclectically enjoyable blend of experimental and danceable, joyful music.
Label: Umlaut Records Catalog ID: UMFR-CD36 Squidco Product Code: 31104
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2021 Country: Sweden / France / Germany Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold Recorded at Studio lĠArtscene, in Avignon, France, in July, 2020, by Adrian' Bourget.
"...Then they both stopped on the side of the road...
While dusting their coats to remove the dust of the path, they looked back towards the fertile meadows from which they had picked flowers. Already fifteen years playing together!
Sylvain Lemetre and Frederic Aurier, trained in classical school, committed to the contemporary cause, curious of musics from around the world, Fred and Sylvain wanted to write the score that would resemble them. Interpreters, composers and improvisers, they gathered the seeds that they had patiently grown: musical theater and electro pop, bourrees with five or seven beats, Ligeti and Machaut, what is below as well as what is above...
They grabbed the zarb and the violin, the nyckelharpa, the frame drum and the Tibetan bowls, they also found on the mound a threaded rod and a Newtonian pendulum : SuperKlang was born! They then turned their gaze forward... the horizon was far away... they set off again!"-Umlaut
"Umlaut is a highly interesting label, stretched between Paris and Berlin, which works with contemporary composition, improvisation and traditional music. It is the co-publisher of the album Lumpeks (3/4 French), which I wrote about a year ago. Superklang are two classically trained musicians: violinist Frédéric Aurier and drummer Sylvain Lemêtre. Their latest album takes traditional instruments as its starting point - strings, the harpsichord and the Persian zarb drum, which they elevate far beyond the boundaries of folk music. The duo uses them to glue together songs with an alternative pop feel, which sometimes explode with their narrative and danceable twists ("Rage De Danse"), but also explore sonorist possibilities, lined with beats that suggest an electronic sound ("Sucre D Orge"). Superklang juggles between ideas from one extreme to the other, which is sometimes confusing and not entirely coherent, but on the plus side is the casual character of this music - lightness is intertwined here with ingenious production solutions, and the aura of folk music is wrapped in the form of repetitive motifs, which attract the ear with rhythmic allure and outlines of melodies."-Jakub Knera, Nowe Idzie Od Morza