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CD
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KK 091CD
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Austrian duo Ritornell present their third album, If Nine Was Eight, following Golden Solitude (KK 047CD, 2009) and Aquarium Eyes (KK 071CD/LP, 2013). The album sees percussionist Richard Eigner and pianist Roman Gerold create states of suspension and illusion that not only blur the lines between pop and art but also between acoustic and electronic sounds. The ambiguous beauty of their music has been compared to a detailed botanical still life -- one half-expects to see movement among the leaves. Contrabass flute, cello, piano, Rhodes -- these are only some of the ingredients that make up the ten tracks on If Nine Was Eight. Eigner and Gerold collaborate with a number of musicians on the album, including jazz tubist Jon Sass, saxophonist Werner Zangerle, and Swiss avant-garde percussionist Julian Sartorius. Flip Philipp, member of the Wiener Symphoniker, plays marimba and vibraphone. Various flutes are added by Norbert Trawöger, a prolific mediator between old and new music. Mira Lu Kovacs (Schmieds Puls) is responsible for the lyrics and vocals on the track "Old People," Viennese artist Mimu Merz (Book of Now) is once more a part of the team, and the soulful vocals on the track "Sleeping Alone" are courtesy of Tobias Koett of the duo Ant Antic. In Ritornell's protean live performances everything is flexible. Depending on the context, Eigner and Gerold dress their compositions in different guises -- dance tunes can morph into planar, cloudy soundscapes and vice versa. Thus they demonstrate that even if nine can never be eight, at least their music is full of possibilities.
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LP
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KK 091LP
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LP version. Austrian duo Ritornell present their third album, If Nine Was Eight, following Golden Solitude (KK 047CD, 2009) and Aquarium Eyes (KK 071CD/LP, 2013). The album sees percussionist Richard Eigner and pianist Roman Gerold create states of suspension and illusion that not only blur the lines between pop and art but also between acoustic and electronic sounds. The ambiguous beauty of their music has been compared to a detailed botanical still life -- one half-expects to see movement among the leaves. Contrabass flute, cello, piano, Rhodes -- these are only some of the ingredients that make up the ten tracks on If Nine Was Eight. Eigner and Gerold collaborate with a number of musicians on the album, including jazz tubist Jon Sass, saxophonist Werner Zangerle, and Swiss avant-garde percussionist Julian Sartorius. Flip Philipp, member of the Wiener Symphoniker, plays marimba and vibraphone. Various flutes are added by Norbert Trawöger, a prolific mediator between old and new music. Mira Lu Kovacs (Schmieds Puls) is responsible for the lyrics and vocals on the track "Old People," Viennese artist Mimu Merz (Book of Now) is once more a part of the team, and the soulful vocals on the track "Sleeping Alone" are courtesy of Tobias Koett of the duo Ant Antic. In Ritornell's protean live performances everything is flexible. Depending on the context, Eigner and Gerold dress their compositions in different guises -- dance tunes can morph into planar, cloudy soundscapes and vice versa. Thus they demonstrate that even if nine can never be eight, at least their music is full of possibilities.
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KK 071LP
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LP version. Aquarium Eyes is the second album by the Austrian duo, Ritornell. Their debut, Golden Solitude, was released in 2009 on Karaoke Kalk. Acoustic and electronic sounds merge on Aquarium Eyes. Paying great attention to detail, Ritornell recorded at various locations (the studio of Patrick Pulsinger being one of them). The results are gently woven into their very own world of sound. Defamiliarized by subtle electronic manipulation, instruments such as piano, double bass, vibraphone, kalimba, and accordion develop a surprising life of their own, only to be consequently swallowed up by the hissing and buzzing of electronic devices. Gleaming, multi-layered electroacoustic drones, isolated organic sounds, and sophisticated textures complete the intricate arrangements. On Aquarium Eyes, Ritornell tackle the art of songwriting for the first time: Vienna-based vocalist Mimu sings, whispers, and sighs golden threads through some of the fragile sound structures that Gerold and Eigner assembled with intuition. The duo also collaborated with vocal artist Didi Bruckmayer on the track "Tremble." "Music Box" is a conceptual piece: under the direction of Richard Eigner, 20 people simultaneously turn the levers of their music boxes: melodies of musical history blend into a sparkling confusion of sound. With their interpretation of Roxy Music's "In Every Dream Home a Heartache," Ritornell give it a twist: the guitars from the original have been replaced by a string trio.
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KK 071CD
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Aquarium Eyes is the second album by the Austrian duo, Ritornell. Their debut, Golden Solitude, was released in 2009 on Karaoke Kalk. Acoustic and electronic sounds merge on Aquarium Eyes. Paying great attention to detail, Ritornell recorded at various locations (the studio of Patrick Pulsinger being one of them). The results are gently woven into their very own world of sound. Defamiliarized by subtle electronic manipulation, instruments such as piano, double bass, vibraphone, kalimba, and accordion develop a surprising life of their own, only to be consequently swallowed up by the hissing and buzzing of electronic devices. Gleaming, multi-layered electroacoustic drones, isolated organic sounds, and sophisticated textures complete the intricate arrangements. On Aquarium Eyes, Ritornell tackle the art of songwriting for the first time: Vienna-based vocalist Mimu sings, whispers, and sighs golden threads through some of the fragile sound structures that Gerold and Eigner assembled with intuition. The duo also collaborated with vocal artist Didi Bruckmayer on the track "Tremble." "Music Box" is a conceptual piece: under the direction of Richard Eigner, 20 people simultaneously turn the levers of their music boxes: melodies of musical history blend into a sparkling confusion of sound. With their interpretation of Roxy Music's "In Every Dream Home a Heartache," Ritornell give it a twist: the guitars from the original have been replaced by a string trio.
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KK 047CD
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This is the debut full-length release by Ritornell, a collaboration between Austria's Richard Eigner and Roman Gerold. Karaoke Kalk's head Thorsten Lütz first met Eigner back in 2006. That was in Melbourne during the Red Bull Music Academy. They got along with each other instantly and stayed in touch. Eigner and Gerold had already worked together on music for the dance performance Urgent Appetite by Canadian choreographer Laura Kappel. Golden Solitude ranges between cheerful dance tunes and high-brow audible music. Playful yet respectful, Ritornell explore the aesthetic achievements of 20th century pop and avant-garde, experimenting with bits and pieces from pop culture and acoustic and electronic sounds. As to the technical polish of this fresh emulsion of sounds, the duo was assisted by legendary leftfield electronic musician, Patrick Pulsinger. Eigner works mainly as a composer and sound-artist, but he has also contributed as a drummer to various productions, such as Patrick Wolf's album Magic Position. In 2005, he won the Elektronikland award for experimental electronic music. Besides quite a few other musical projects, he runs his own label, Wald Entertainment. Roman Gerold, an awardee himself, has been working as a pianist for various jazz bands in Austria, and composes music freelance for theater and film. Live, Ritornell showcase their material as a electro-acoustic trio together with Gerhard Daurer. They focus on improvisation with a very reduced instrumental set-up. While Gerhard Daurer maxes out the possibilities of his specially-devised gamepad-granular-synthesizer, Roman Gerold adds subtle melodies and vivid drones as well as processing the live-inputs of the acoustic instruments. Richard Eigner provides the electronic improvisations with fine acoustic rhythms and textures, playing his ride-cymbal with the use of diverse utensils such as bass bows, sizzle-chains or a toilet brush. Golden Solitude provides the listener with a modern and extremely human sound experience that unites passion and irony.
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LP
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KK 052LP
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LP version. This is the debut full-length release by Ritornell, a collaboration between Austria's Richard Eigner and Roman Gerold. Karaoke Kalk's head Thorsten Lütz first met Eigner back in 2006. That was in Melbourne during the Red Bull Music Academy. They got along with each other instantly and stayed in touch. Eigner and Gerold had already worked together on music for the dance performance Urgent Appetite by Canadian choreographer Laura Kappel. Golden Solitude ranges between cheerful dance tunes and high-brow audible music. Playful yet respectful, Ritornell explore the aesthetic achievements of 20th century pop and avant-garde, experimenting with bits and pieces from pop culture and acoustic and electronic sounds. As to the technical polish of this fresh emulsion of sounds, the duo was assisted by legendary leftfield electronic musician, Patrick Pulsinger. Eigner works mainly as a composer and sound-artist, but he has also contributed as a drummer to various productions, such as Patrick Wolf's album Magic Position. In 2005, he won the Elektronikland award for experimental electronic music. Besides quite a few other musical projects, he runs his own label, Wald Entertainment. Roman Gerold, an awardee himself, has been working as a pianist for various jazz bands in Austria, and composes music freelance for theater and film. Live, Ritornell showcase their material as a electro-acoustic trio together with Gerhard Daurer. They focus on improvisation with a very reduced instrumental set-up. While Gerhard Daurer maxes out the possibilities of his specially-devised gamepad-granular-synthesizer, Roman Gerold adds subtle melodies and vivid drones as well as processing the live-inputs of the acoustic instruments. Richard Eigner provides the electronic improvisations with fine acoustic rhythms and textures, playing his ride-cymbal with the use of diverse utensils such as bass bows, sizzle-chains or a toilet brush. Golden Solitude provides the listener with a modern and extremely human sound experience that unites passion and irony.
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