Like most everyone outside of Switzerland, I first heard of Nik Bartsch via his great release "Stoa" by Ronin. This is a solo piano record which shows the basic building blocks of his distinctive sound and which was released on his own, tiny label...

Like most everyone outside of Switzerland, I first heard of Nik Bartsch via his great release "Stoa" by Ronin. This is a 2006 quaret release by them released on his own, tiny label.Not quite sure how to categorize this marvelous band, but I will try. This is ostensiby a jazz band (Nike Bartsch-piano and Fender Rhodes, Bjorn Meyer-bass, Kaspar Rast-drums and Andi Pupato-percussion), but this uses musical modules (Bartsch calls them moduls) to build a tapestry of interlocking instrumentation that is....

Nik Bärtsch: piano, keyboard
Sha: bass clarinet, alto saxophone
Jeremias Keller: bass
Kaspar Rast: drums

It’s always a GREAT pleasure to hear new work from Ronin! This is their first to feature new bassist Jeremias. Hugely recommended.

“SPIN is the 9th release of the working band RONIN since it's foundation in 2001. Since the last release AWASE (ECM 2018) the band has developed the repertoire continuously further. SPIN shows the phase in which the band is now: looking..

Like most everyone outside of Switzerland, I first heard of Nik Bartsch via his great release "Stoa" by Ronin. This is a 2006 quaret release by them released on his own, tiny label...

Lucca Fries: piano
Jonas Ruther: drums
“The dense waves of intensity are no obstacle to the Hely duo of pianist Lucca Fries and drummer Jonas Ruther laying down some seriously hypnotic music. It’s the way that little melodic changes reveal themselves from within a dense fog of repetition that serve up one delightful moment after the other, and it’s the kind of thing that will transfix a person’s attention and almost make them oblivious to any dissonance or chaos in the surrounding area of a...

Raphael Loher-piano
Urs Müller-guitar
Nicolas Stocker-drums

"A cataclysmic blast of stunning and emotionally cathartic driving energy."-London Jazz News

“Kali represents the fresh and deep spirit of a new post-genre generation of musicians. Nicolas Stocker on drums (also known from Nik Bärtsch’s Mobile and Marena Whicher), Urs Müller on guitar (also known from Sha’s Feckel) and Raphael Loher on prepared piano (also known from Sekhmet) are natives of a contemporary musical...

Raphael Loher - Piano, Prepared Piano, Contact Microphones, Organelle, Electronics
Urs Müller - Guitar, Effects
Nicolas Stocker - Drums, Rototoms, Tuned Percussion, Contact Microphones, E-Kalimba & Sub E-Kalimba, Electronics

“The Playful Abstract, could be a soundtrack to the air we breathe. Repeated listens to this tranquil, ever-shifting and sometimes transcendent record also invoke an association with the Japanese term, Ukiyo (浮世), meaning the “floating world”. Originally associated.

“A Certain Darkness Is Needed to See the Stars" (38:51 min.) is an energetic, minimal, polyrhythmic composition. It was played on a single prepared drum set (with aluminium foil), without any loops or overdubs. Time and form dissolve as loops and repetitions take hold. The piece expands and contracts. It changes texture while still maintaining a steady pulsating fluidity. The listener is forced to cede control and relax into it. You never know how long any given theme will stay the same, nor what will...