New Release in April 2011

The next round of Friedman & Liebezeit´s Secret Rhythms will be released on CD, 15th April 2011. What began as a rehearsal for a concert delivered at Cologne Triennale 2000 turned into a long-term exploration of the laws governing rhythm. Therefore, this fourth CD is based, like its predecessors, on a variety of rhythms seldom heard elsewhere.

Extreme manipulation, percussive overdubs and Burnt Friedman’s sequence-like guitar and synthesizer (Korg MS20, in this case) provide accompaniment for music to which the notion of domination is foreign. The six hypnotic instrumentals are driven by Liebezeit’s cyclic drumming. In Secret Rhythms 4, the interplay of reduction and maximization is elevated to an aesthetic principle, the sound distributed dynamically over background and foreground. Fusing electronic and acoustic, improvisation and postproduction, Friedman & Liebezeit move further away from Anglo-American models. And although the duo’s preference for repetition is evidence of a refusal to flaunt virtuosity, the revived notion of Krautrock seems wholly inappropriate for Friedman & Liebezeit. Be it in concert or in the studio, the swing emerges naturally from the rhythmic pattern. That Mark Ernestus was invited to mix and co-produce the second track on the album is no coincidence: he played an important part in producing club tracks (e.g. Rhythm & Sound) unsurpassed in their bold minimalism and refined quality of sound.

Jaki Liebezeit: “Just one bass drum and two sticks – like in Turkish music, for example – are sufficient to create a great rhythm. The layering of tones, chords, intervals: that’s European thinking, structural musical engineering! It’s too much for me. I like clear structures, music you can look through, with space.”

While the three preceding albums were dominated by guest contributions, the new production is devoted almost exclusively to Liebezeit’s drum set and the Friedman-typical combination of keyboards and string instruments, all kinds of percussion and the computer. There are two appearances (tracks 1, 3) by Joseph Suchy, whose unmistakable guitar sound has left its mark on all the Secret Rhythm releases.

Rashad Becker has been responsible for mastering all Nonplace titles since the first production in 2000. For the first time, Friedman and Becker co-mixed one of the album titles, a spin-off from “Entsafter” (Secret Rhythms 3), a track whose groove was previously used in “Obscured by 5” and “The Librarian” (Secret Rhythms 1 and 2).

Release: 15th April 2011