Carsten Pieper
For the 3rd installment in this series I have to repeat myself: I love this abstract-accessible/calming-engaging stuff Thelen and and his esteemed collaborators continue to offer.
Always a pleasure to support MoonJune Records, too :-)
Favorite track: Through The Stargate.
gearmanx
Another Thelen classic. I really do not have a favorite track. Every release by Stephan Thelen is a must buy. Love to support MoonJune as well. I am waiting for Fractal Guitar 4 and I will love that release as well.
Favorite track: Black On Maroon.
Join
now to receive all the new
music
MoonJune Records releases,
including this album
and 190 back-catalog items,
delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android.
You’ll also get access to
supporter-only
exclusives.
Learn more.
In 2021, I was simultaneously working on four albums: Transneptunian Planets (with J. Peter Schwalm, Eivind Aarset, Tim Harries, and Manuel Pasquinelli); Fractal Sextet (with Jon Durant, Fabio Anile, Colin Edwin, Andi Pupato, and Yogev Gabay); Music for Piano and Strings (an album
of piano quintets and string quartets written either by Fabio Anile or me), and this album, Fractal Guitar 3, the third installment in the Fractal Guitar series.
While being stylistically very different, these four albums are connected in many ways, not to mention the fact that various musicians appear on more than one album. In hindsight, it's interesting for me to see how progress on one album often provided fresh inputs into one or more of the other albums, and how ideas that appeared on one piece were often further developed on pieces on other albums, albeit in a different form.
"Morning Star," for example, is based on a similar "5 against 7" polyrhythm just as "Pluto" from Transneptunian Planets and "Fractal 5.7" from Fractal Sextet were. One of my goals as a composer is to invent new non-standard beats, often using odd meters, polyrhythms, isorhythms, and other techniques. It then sometimes happens that such a beat suggests different applications in different settings. For example, this particular beat first appeared on "Orbit 5.7," a track from Sonar's album Black Light.
Another example is "Black On Maroon," which is based on the same rhythmic patterns in 7/4 (simultaneously played in different speeds and in different octaves) as "Slow Over Fast" on the Fractal Sextet album. The title of this piece is taken from a Mark Rothko painting.
A third example is "Ascension" which is based on similiar musical material as my sixth strinq quartet of the same name (recorded by the Al Pari Quartet for Music for Piano and Strings). This version of the piece was co-composed by Markus Reuter and J. Peter Schwalm.
A fourth noteworthy example is "Glitch," a piece that started as a possible track for Transneptunian Planets, but then was further developed and finished as a track for Fractal Guitar 3. It's a new version of "Angular Momentum," a track that was co-composed by Manuel Pasquinelli and also first appeared on Black Light.
Finally, "Through The Stargate," although not directly related to any
of the pieces of the four albums mentioned above, is a further exploration of material used on "Enneagram," the opening track of Black Light. This piece was co-composed by Eivind Aarset, who introduced the “Richard Wagner theme” that inspired the orchestral ending. As a bonus track, I have included an edited version of this piece which focuses on Eivind’s parts, mixed by our mutual friend J. Peter Schwalm.
As usual, I would like to thank all the musicians who were involved in the making of this album: without them, it would have been impossible to make. Thanks also to Leonardo "Moonjune" Pavkovic for his unwavering support.
– Stephan Thelen, Zürich, September 2022
credits
released November 4, 2022
Recorded between March 2021 and June 2022 in Zürich, Berlin, Oslo, Portland, Frankfurt, Rome, Santa Cruz, Agoura Hills and Aldekerk.
Drums recorded by Reto Muggli @ Powerplay Studio A near Zürich, Switzerland, May and September 2021.
Mixed by Benjamin Schäfer and Markus Reuter for Unsung Productions @ Horus Sound Studio in Hannover, Germany, July - August 2022.
Mastered by Lee Fletcher, September 2022.
Produced by Markus Reuter and Stephan Thelen.
Executive producer Leonardo Pavkovic for MoonJune Records.
01 THROUGH THE STARGATE (Thelen/Aarset) 16:17
Eivind Aarset: electric guitar, e-bow, effects, noise orchestra Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8
Jon Durant: fretless guitar, clouds
Fabio Anile: electric piano, clavinet, synth
Stefan Huth: touch guitar U8 (bass)
Yogev Gabay: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, synth, strings, programming
02 MORNING STAR (Thelen) 09:49
Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes
Jon Durant: guitar, fretless guitar
Bill Walker: glitchy strat, yinyang guitar, koto guitar
Stefan Huth: touch guitar U8
Tim Harries: bass guitar
Yogev Gabay: drums
Stephan Thelen: fractal guitar, electric piano, synth, programming
03 GLITCH (Thelen/Pasquinelli) 09:37
Eivind Aarset: electric guitar, e-bow, effects and glitches
Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, spanky loop
Jon Durant: guitar
Fabio Anile: electric piano, synth
Stefan Huth: touch guitar (bass)
Tim Harries: bass guitar
Andi Pupato: percussion
Manuel Pasquinelli: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, organ, samples, programming
04 ASCENSION (Thelen/Reuter/Schwalm) 13:38
Eivind Aarset: tremolo guitar, e-bow
Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes
Jon Durant: fretless guitar, clouds
J. Peter Schwalm: synth, electronic percussion
Stefan Huth: touch guitar U8 (bass)
Andi Pupato: percussion
Manuel Pasquinelli: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, strings, keyboards, programming
05 BLACK ON MAROON (Thelen) 11:32
Eivind Aarset: electric guitar, e-bow, glitchy digitalia Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes
Barry Cleveland: bowed cymbals and guitars, guitar, psychedelic soundscapes and effects
Stefan Huth: touch guitar AU8 (bass)
Manuel Pasquinelli: drums
Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, electric piano, strings, mellotron
WINGFIELD REUTER STAVI SIRKIS 'The Stone House' featuring Mark Wingfield on guitar, Markus Reuter on touch guitar, Yaron Stavi on bass guitar and Asaf Sirkis on drums. Stephan Thelen
XAVI REIJA 'Sound Of Earth featuring Xavi Reija on drums, Tony Levin on bass guitar and stick, Markus Reuter on touch guitar, DUsan Jevtovic on guitar. Stephan Thelen
supported by 299 fans who also own “Fractal Guitar 3”
A solid "fusion" album that flirts a bit with most of the jazz styles from the 40s on and somewhat heavily with free jazz. Not so much that it's going to have you rummaging through the medicine cabinet for the ibuprofen or that it's going to take you half a dozen listens to get it but just enough to add a pleasant, artsy complexity to things.
...An excellent album by some masterful, experienced musicians. rick-taylor