GRANDBROTHERS
– Lone remixes single “Bloodflow”
– Confirmed to support Bonobo on European tour
– New album ‘Open’ out Oct 20th on City Slang
Grandbrothers recently announced details of their second album, ‘Open’ (due Oct 20th on City Slang) along with the enchanting track “Bloodflow”. Today they share a new version of the track, remixed by Lone, and announce more live dates including a string of shows with Bonobo this Autumn.
Grandbrothers are the sum of unique parts: progressive Swiss engineer/mechanic/sofware designer Vogel and German-Turkish pianist Sarp. Their second album ‘Open’ twins Sarp’s piano skills with Vogel’s talent for both building the formidably intricate mechanics with which he exploits his partner’s instrument and also designing its software. Sarp works at his ivory keyboard while, from behind his own computer keys, Vogel live-samples his partner’s notes, triggering further effects with the aid of homemade apparatus that physically manipulate the piano’s strings and body. “There are hammers I control,” he explains, “which hit different parts to make beats and percussive patterns. In the beginning, I just used an open circuit board I’d constructed without a proper case. It was very fragile and often didn’t work. We always had a soldering-iron when we played live.”
Their ambitious second album ‘Open’ explores dimensions at which their debut ‘Dilation’ only hinted. The greatest revelation for anyone hearing them the first time remains the element constant to everything they’ve recorded: every individual sound that Grandbrothers make stems from one single instrument, a piano. No wonder their music was once memorably described as “open heart surgery on a grand.”
Suggestions that Grandbrothers are part of the burgeoning, so-called ‘neo-classical’ movement might seem reasonable, but, the duo argue, they’re also off the mark. As Sarp points out, “Just because we use the same instrument doesn’t mean that it’s the same music. We always think about what physical impact the songs can have on the audience, for instance whether they can dance to them. We don’t only make music for listening to, after all. As much as we enjoy playing concert halls with the audience seated we also love to play at sweaty clubs where people are standing and dancing around us”
“What makes things work,” Vogel concludes, “is that we are such different personalities, with different skills, which fit together so well.” Sarp concurs: “Our music comes from a mixture of really intense analysis and simply doing things. I can calm him down, and he can incite me. He’s not just a colleague, but one of my closest friends.” Such synergy – born of an innate understanding and intuition, personally and musically – can be heard throughout Grandbrothers’ technically innovative, thrillingly distinctive work: two ingenious minds, perfectly in tune, relentlessly exploring new ideas. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Keep your mind Open.
‘Open’ will be released on October 20th on City Slang and is available to pre-order at: https://grandbrothers.lnk.to/open
Grandbrothers on tour:
October
12 Hasselt (BE), CCHA
21 Amsterdam (NL), ADE @ Concertgebouw
29 Munich (DE), Manic Street Parade
November
05 Warsaw (PL), Hala Kolo*
07 Leipzig (DE), Haus Auensee*
08 Munich (DE), Zenith*
09 Cologne (DE), Palladium*
10 Luxemburg (LU), Rotondes
14 Parma (IT), Zibello Festival
15 Bordeaux (FR), Festival Esprit du piano
19 Utrecht (NL), TivoliVredenburg
20 Paris (FR), Café de la Danse
21 London (UK), Rich Mix
22 Zürich (CH), Bogen F
23 Yverdon (CH), Theatre Benno Besson
24 Bruges (BE), Ryelandtzaal
25 Dublin (IE), St. Stephen’s Church
27 Köln (DE), Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld
29 Berlin (DE), Funkhaus
30 Wien (AT), Fluc
December
01 Salzburg (AT), Dialoge Festival
02 Brüssel (BE), Flagey
03 Frankfurt (DE), Mousonturn
15 Hamburg (DE), Mojo
* supporting Bonobo
‘Open’ tracklist:
1. 1202
2. Bloodflow
3. From A Distance
4. Long Forgotten Future
5. Honey
6. Alice
7. White Nights
8. Circonflexe
9. Sonic Riots
10. London Bridges
Links:
Pre-Order link: https://grandbrothers.lnk.to/open
http://www.grandbrothersmusic.com/
No Comments