Review: Hauschka - Abandoned City
[City Slang/Temporary Residence; 2014]
Rating: 8.5/10
By Nadia Kurtz, Managing Editor
Key Tracks: "Thames Town," "Barkersville," "Stromness"Forget everything you think you know about piano music.
Forget what you learned about Mozart and Beethoven in music theory class. Volker Bertelmann (akaHauschka) is a new kind of pianist, a connoisseur of sorts. It is hard to believe that Bertelmann is the sole composer and performer on his album, but one man creates an abundance of sound with his innovative instrumentation tactics.
Hauschka has his quirks, and luckily they assist in creating incredible music. He likes to stick strange objects such as wood and leather into the strings of his piano to achieve a stunning array of indecipherable sound.
When I was a little girl, I had weekly piano lessons. I learned all sorts of “rules” when it comes to piano-playing technique, such as when to use legato motions and when to shorten the sounds to staccato. I read sheet music like a pro and learned the art of methodical piano playing. I think it is safe to say that my piano teacher would not have approved of a Hauschka style of playing.
I say this with great respect for Hauschka’s musical style. It can be very intimidating to push boundaries the way he does, and the results on Abandoned City are refreshing.
The tone of Abandoned City moves from haunting to lively to emotional and back again. Some of the pieces, including “Pripyat” and “Who Lived Here,” are solemn yet powerful. “Thames Town” takes the album in a completely new direction with its light and jumpy sounds, almost giving it a Latin feel.
“Barkersville” is one of the stronger points of the album, and as the album nears to a close, the song presents a sense of urgency. The quick notes twitch erratically and recoil at intervals throughout the song.
The beginning of the album closer, “Stromness,” delivers a feeling of disappointment with the indication of a drawn-out snooze of a song. It begins sleepily and indistinctly, but builds throughout and offers a poignant flow of instrumentation. At some points it sounds as though Hauschka is literally plucking the piano strings, and while the sound has a hollowness to it, the overall effect is startling.
Abandoned City is definitely worth a listen for those who would revel in the emotional tale of an album. If not for the music, the experimentation that Hauschka employs is truly unforgettable.
