david moss/hannes strobl: at the beach music for voice & electric bass

We enjoy the interplay of our two musical positions tremendously. I really feel this has to do with a 'story-telling' or an 'intuition for the narrative' that we both have. And I mean it even in the most general, abstract sense" -- says David Moss. Together with Hannes Strobl, they've found rhythmic and even philosophic connection that made the duo work, as a natural extension of their earlier project, created with Hanno Leichtmann's band Denseland. "When Hannes told me he had developed a number of solo bass pieces and song-frameworks that might be interesting for my voice, we easily and fruitfully created this album," explains David. At the Beach -- Music for Voice and Electric Bass is a story told in music. It starts with the specific sound of the electric bass, an instrument played mostly in pop, rock or jazz, but rarely found in contemporary, experimental music. Strobl created a special way of playing the electric bass and combines his two instruments -- one of them an electric upright bass -- with various electronic devices. Each piece on this album brings together particular advanced playing techniques and preparations with particular electronic setups. Together, the pieces make the impression of being a single cohesive work with an intimate quality, sometimes moving forward with a steady drive, sometimes rotating around themselves. In some places, the music is very physical and microscopic, one can hear how the strings are scraped or how the vocal sounds start. In other places it keeps the secret of its genesis, playing with the possibilities of psychoacoustics. David Moss brings the sounds, texts, stories, narratives and 'mystery geschichten' out of his mind in a stream of consciousness. He uses points within the rhythmic patterns to connect to or to jump from, to dive off to new words or new sounds. The connection words and sounds have to meaning, switches on and off. "When Hannes developed those bass-based pieces and played them for me, I started singing immediately. The first take was always as if we were playing live together, so I did not listen to the piece before I jumped into his 'worlds' with my voice," says David Moss. After their live act, the artists sometimes do other takes of vocals, either completely different approaches, or in order to amplify the idea of the first take. At the end, the perfect version of the vocal, the one which fit the mood, atmosphere and energy of composition was the one chosen.