Burnt Friedmann - Con Ritmo
(Nonplace)
This Nonplace artifact purports to be a live recording of a live nightclub
set by Latin fusion band the Disposable Rhythm Section. Don't count on it.
Original prankster (and programmer extraordinaire) Bernd Friedmann is
clearly up to his old tricks. Whether working out of his studio in Cologne,
making merry with New Zealand's Nu Dub Players, or taking in the Chilean sun
with expatriate countryman Uwe Schmidt, Friedmann always makes music whose
warmth disguises its digital derivation. The computer craft is almost
invisible on Con Ritmo, well hidden by Joseph Suchy's excellent guitar work.
Seamless as it may be, you can be sure that sampling software is responsible
for the feisty vibraphones and horns and the meticulous cut-and-paste conga
breaks that bring Latin-jazz fantasias like "Demolition Derby," Escape the
Night," and "Destination Unknown" to life. Listen closer, and the
iridescent sheen and pitch of the musical elements betrays digital tweaking.
Similarly, there's a fastidiousness to even the loosest grooves here that
can't be had with human players. None of this works against Friedmann's
ingenious craft, mind you, which also encompasses the digi-dubscape of
"Platin Tundra" and a vision of digital-age lounge music ("Das Wesen aus der
Michstrasse," with a staggering, Sun Ra-worthy Moog solo by Schmidt).
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