Search - Burnt Friedman, Jaki Liebezeit :: Secret Rhythms 2

Round 2 on the secret of the rythm

yajdubuddah | cheboygan,michigan usa | 02/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"another great burnt friedman album. burnt returns to the secret rythms with jaki the original can drummer. this time around they keep it more simple, not relying on the extremally groovy side to the secret rythm but more structure & less improv, but still groovin. their are excellent guitar by american Tim Motzer. & always excellent horns. secret 1 also explored more of the dub reggae flava (Rastafahndung) which this one does not. the effects are much more suddle & sceems to have much more from the guitar & horns & vibs than burnt's keys & programmin, but he still processes the rest of the clan. the effects are much more present in the last 2 songs fearer, caracoles. but not to fear every second sounds like classic friedman, just be more of the play love songs form than just landing. the album is still filled with amazing bass, drums, guitar, horns, vibs, & burnt not friedman. the version of librarian with david sylvian is better than the original. i own all burnts pieces except the nonplace records, so i can tell you this is absolutelly excential if a fan of any of his works, burnt friedman is the second most prolific musician ive heard in 20 years, he is truelly an absolute original & will never be rivaled with or come close to his masterfull understanding of sound, & manipulation.

this review below is from the nonplace.de website burnts home check it out. enjoy



Total playing time 50:00



Just what is a Secret Rhythm ? Well, this probably can't be answered without first having a quick look at that most un-secret of rhythms, the 4/4 bar. From Easy Listening to Heavy Metal, from church bells to Drum'n'Bass club tunes or from Country music to Raggamuffin, the steady pace and symmetry of the Four-to-the-Floor riddim structure seems to hold our fragile global existence together. Or does it ? Friedman & Liebezeit wouldn't like to think so. To these long-time collaborators and life-long activists in the exploration of musical forms and possibilities, the 4/4 bar is what they tend to call a "fearer", for the term sounds just like the German word for a 4/4 bar - and the English word for what should be left aside while searching for those Secret Rhythms. And finding them, too. It doesn't take long to discover that the "fearer" isn't everything. Many original cultures have employed various rhythm cycles at the very core of their music - and still do so. Friedman & Liebezeit, sharing a mutual interest in traveling as well as all things on- and off-beat, try to unearth those natural born grooves and, through their own music, bring it to a bigger audience. An audience often unaware that these uncommon grooves, these Secret Rhythms, even exist.



Since their first collaborative album "Secret Rhythms" (1) came out on Nonplace in 2002, Friedman & Liebezeit have been playing live all over the world, improving their cyclic grooves and creating new ones. The 8 tracks on Secret Rhythms 2 are no overt spectacular high-brow arrangement hellraisers - while being tight and containing a large amount of curious suspense, these Secret Rhythms are playful, open, transparent, sequential, hypnotic even. In this respect, Friedman & Liebezeit lean to the World Music side, without giving in to the temptation of any Jazz instrumentation or even improvisation.



The first two pieces on Secret Rhythms 2 were released in May 2005 on a teaser vinyl "Out In The Sticks" and appear here in completely new versions. The only vocal track on this album "The Librarian" is a collaboration with David Sylvian. The song appears in a different version on the album "Snow Borne Sorrow" of the band Nine Horses, consisting of Sylvian, Steve Jansen and Burnt Friedman on the label Samadhi Sound.



In addition to Friedman and Liebezeit, guitarist Tim Motzer weaves funky touches all the way through. He has resided in Philadelphia, U.S. since 1985 and has been busy working with a virtual who's who of Philadelphia artists over the years including recordings and world tours with poetess Ursula Rucker, King Britt, the French duo Les Nubians and the Sister Gertrude project. Lined up for the group's live appearances and studio recordings is Hayden Chisholm, clarinet and melodica. Originating from New Zealand, he studied in Germany and India and has since performed all over the world. Although only 29, he has spent 7 years of his life on the road giving concerts and is currently preparing a book about his musical travels. Other guest musicians are Morten Grønvad, vibraharp, Daniel Schroeter, bass guitar and Joseph Suchy, electric guitar.



reviews:



This is the sequel to the very successful collaboration between two of the best German musicians of their respective generations. The mood hasn't changed much: the volume never goes too high but each track beckons the listener with novel sounds and percolating patterns. "Sikkerhed" opens with a waltz of wah guitar, mellow horns, discreet laptop work and a shifty and compelling drum pattern. The heavily polyrhythmic "The Sticks" comes next, picking up from the dying notes of the previous tune. It features gorgeous slide guitar and what sounds like hand-drumming anchored by clipped guitars weary from a non-stop flight from Central Africa. As with all the tunes on Secret Rhythms 2, it's uncertain whether Liebezeit is even playing a kit, or whether he's contributing bits and pieces to Friedman's omnivorous production technique. No matter, because the rhythmic content, as befits the title, come from everywhere; from the tiniest glitch to the step rate of the flangers (Flanger being Friedman's main working ensemble). Special guest David Sylvian gets his, um, groove on as vocalist on "The Librarian," sounding more morose than ever singing its moody melody. After a few spins, Secret Rhythms 2 reveals a multiplicity of rhythmic approaches. There are definitely many influences from rhythm patterns around the globe but for the most part the instruments and ambience associated with these patterns is completely subsumed into Friedman and Liebezeit's highly programmed inner world music. (review by David Dacks / Exclaim, Canada 2006)





"... this album may cross-over to fans of dub and ambient. It's difficult to categorize, but easy to enjoy." (review by Jacob Arnold / gridface.com)





Even before putting on Secret Rhythms 2, we're sure about one thing: with long-time Can member and frequent Jah Wobble collaborator Jaki Liebezeit occupying the drummer's chair, there's clearly no need to worry about the possibility of dull 'rhythmning.' The tunes on this sequel to his and Burnt Friedman's 2002 outing, however, aren't hell-raisers but languorous atmospheres of nuance and mystery. Still, though the feel is loose, the songs are far from aimless; what in lesser hands might be noodling, here becomes compelling exploration. The duo treats their tunes and rhythms elastically, stretching them out to accommodate a guitar texture or melodica shading here and a vibes or clarinet theme there. The set's 'world music' ambiance emerges immediately in "Sikkerhed," an African-flavoured folk-jazz march enriched by Hayden Chisholm's clarinet playing, while the dub style of Friedman's Nu Dub Players is revisited in "Fearer" and "Caracoles." The album's also distinguished by David Sylvian's vocal appearance on "The Librarian," his relaxed singing a natural complement to the others' similarly laid-back delivery (a different version appears on Snow Borne Sorrow, the Nine Horses album produced by Sylvian, Steve Jansen, and Friedman). Call Secret Rhythms 2 sophisticated mood music that, more 'invisibly' than Superstructure, merges electronics with acoustic instrumentation, even if the material clearly emphasizes the latter throughout. (review by Textura.org / February 2006)"