Bernhard Loibner - Unidentified Musical Subject

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5...according to our Brian on Thu 25 Nov, 2010.

Right. If I played a member of The Distractions this next record they'd probably kick me in the balls and walk away in disgust spitting "deviant slag" under their breath. To you or I, however, Bernhard Loibner is one of those highly engaging industrial electronic experimentalists. He uses electro-acoustic methods & influences from the outer reaches of Krautrock to enable his sometime alarming & often absorbing sounds to infiltrate you to the very core. He's got the husky maiden Melita Jurisic whispering at me seductively in Latin on the second track. She better watch it, she'll get me in bed if she's not careful the horny minx. Even the music is sexy, like if Nurse With Wound wore a see-through negligee. This Austrian conjures up some amazing feelings with these remarkable soundscapes & slabs of sinister sound-art. Somehow desolate, yet teeming with vibrant ideas, there seems to be this strangely hypnotic essence to his exotic, abstract outpourings and the sheer quality of the production means all the sounds & instrumentation sound really in yer face. A properly interesting album, there's only 100 of this bugger (on vinyl) & it's on slate grey wax. I'd be quick if I were you, this is quality gear.

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With his new album "Unidentified Musical Subject" Bernhard Loibner fuses the world of experimental electronic music with the human directness of acoustic instruments. Strongly connected to the event-like aesthetics of contemporary experimental electronic music, Loibner manages to enrich the acoustic spectrum through the use of carefully treated instrumental elements. No sequencers or drum machines were used during the production process in order to reach a balanced sound impression - similar to human dynamics - shifting between ease and motion. The instrumental recordings were processed through self- built digital synthesis processes, which gives the album a certain glitchy flavor as well.

Loibner succeeds in creating his own magic vision of organic electro-acoustic compositions and manages to balance moments of great intensity and power against subtler movements, without ever becoming superficially harsh. His pieces are vital statements of a musicianʼs and sound artistʼs universe, which is characterized by an audible need for harmony and a warm sound-picture.

Most of the pieces developed from improvised themes and elements of live concerts and were later refined in the studio, trying to maintain a certain spontaneity. As discrete sonorous events are in the foreground, the listener is tended to a deep listening process where earlier experienced sound patterns are carried on. The (relatively) open and harmonic structure ensures constant movement of sounds in the listener's brain. From the darker realms of "delta-6", where modulated bass pulses provide the solid grounding, to the kraut- like piece "accum", "Unidentified Musical Subjects" contains unsolved sonic mysteries as well as concrete song structures.

"poem" (as well as "follow") features the voice of Melita Jurisic - singer of the Austrian experimental noise- rock band metalycee - and confronts us with Loibner's blueprint of experimental pop music. Based on a traditional love song in Latin from the 11th century, "poem" sees Bernhard Loibner, who became a proud father during the production of this album, reaching new emotional territories and incorporating these in his musical oeuvre. Other collaborations include Franz Hautzinger on quarter tone trumpet ("scratch") and Berni Hammer on guitar ("b2b").