Lilienweiss: Silent Night
October Man

Silent Night by electroacoustic practitioners Lilienweiss (German duo Thorsten Scheerer on guitar and bass and Dorothea Herrmann on clarinet) collects five pieces on a three-inch CDR in a criminally small run of fifty copies. Bolstering their already considerable musical abilities, Scheerer and Herrmann exploit their instruments' sonic potential with software tools that allow the clarinet to mimic a chorus of screeching golems in “Silent Night 2.1 (Stille Nacht 2.1).” It's the ruminative compositions—equally rooted in experimental and classical music—and the explorative interplay between Scheerer's bass patterns and Herrmann's assertive woodwind playing that impresses most, however. A shame, though, that “Rectified 4.3” had to be soiled by the inclusion of metal guitar shenanigans but, thankfully, the piece lasts a minute only, and its memory is banished by the spirited, bluesy soloing in “Tomorrow Comes 1.1.” Enhancing Silent Night's appeal is that each release includes a different b & w cover photograph shot at a different locale.

April 2007