Article
Roomful Of Teeth

Albums
Jessica Bailiff
Basic Soul Unit
Christoph Berg
Billow Observatory
Bitcrush
Michael Blake
bvdub
Celer
Cello+Laptop
Sylvain Chauveau
The Colossal Ithaca Trio
Displacer
Kyle Bobby Dunn
Filterwolf
Ghost and Tape
Gunshae
Hideyuki Hashimoto
Szymon Kaliski
Fritz Kalkbrenner
Listening Mirror
The Peggy Lee Band
Yuri Lugovskoy
Missy Mazzoli
Melodium
Nebulo
Nite Lite
Frédéric Nogray
Offthesky & MWST
Pill-oh
Positive Flow
Le Réveil Des Tropiques
Scott Sherk
Andy Stott
Talvihorros
Robert Scott Thompson
To Destroy A City

Compilations / Mixes
Catz 'n Dogz
Cold Blue 2
Friendly Fires
Imaginational Anthem 5

Reissue
Jethro Tull

EPs / Singles
Aqua Marine
Jah Warrior
Landing
Manual
Ruffhouse
Chris Weeks
Xoki & Hieronymus

Christoph Berg: Paraphrases
Fluid Audio

In contrast to the electro-acoustic work Christoph Berg issues under the Field Rotation name, Paraphrases presents itself as a pure acoustic work of intimate chamber music settings. No small amount of artful sleight-of-hand is involved in the recording, however, as the Berlin-based Berg, being solely responsible for its violin, piano, and double bass playing, simulates at different moments a small chamber trio and string quartet so convincingly one would never imagine that the playing is anything but live and the work of multiple individuals. In keeping with a track title such as “Elegy,” the tone of the material is melancholy, even mournful, and there are moments, such as during the meditative string drone “Interlude,” when Arvo Pärt's composition “Fratres” comes to mind. Needless to say, the album also exudes an intensely introspective and solitary feel that's reinforced by the title of the dreamlike setting “Quiet Times at the Library.” That Paraphrases was recorded over a two-year period “in a small room in northern Germany near the Baltic Sea” also might have something to do with the music's plaintive tone.

Berg's layering of strings is especially masterful, with pieces such as “Buildings at Night” and “A Small Path Crossing” creating the impression of a string quartet whose violin, viola, and cello members are remarkably attuned to each others' every nuance. Though generally acoustic in design, the album isn't entirely free of electronic interventions and field recordings touches: in “Poems Written for an Old (Prepared) Piano,” a soft electronic glimmer insistently plays alongside the clack of an old typewriter and piano playing; during “Interlude,” the caw of a crow is audible amidst the shimmering strings; and, perhaps not surprisingly, P Jørgensen's album-ending remix of “Falling Asleep” recasts Berg's piece as an electrical drone. Suitably, the brief, vinyl-only title track embeds violin and piano within a thick, encrusted bed of crackle, while the remix of “Interlude” by aus (Yasuhiko Fukuzono) underlays Berg's material with a similar stream of vinyl texture.

December 2012