grischa lichtenberger: and iv (inertia)

With And IV (Inertia), Grischa Lichtenberger presents his first full-length record on Raster-Noton after his participation in the Unun series. For his musical production, he uses field recordings of his environment which are manipulated and broken down to their bare nakedness until only fragments are left. Apart from analog sources, he also uses digital sound data which is likewise turned and twisted until the boundaries between analog and digital are blurred. The arrangement of these atomic elements results in a rather rough and brute, machine-like cut-up sound with an outstanding dynamic -- almost none. It seems that the 21 tracks only consist of a minimal set of elements, but which are rearranged in a virtuous manner and with a high degree of variation. Broken beats and dribbling basses allude to downbeat tunes, let one stumble because of their arrhythms, to eventually take up the underlying groove again. Equally, there are fierce and harsh technoid elements. And towards the second part of the record, there is also room for new developments where more introverted and airy songs take over. Lichtenberger's musical production on And IV (Inertia) goes in line with his general artistic work, which also comprises other artistic genres such as installations and paintings. There is a mental attitude behind all this, and while the music sounds abstract, one may still identify his personal touch. In this way, And IV (Inertia) is the extension of a concept he already started with his ~Treibgut EP, "to define aspects of legitimization for an artistic work in engagement with the concreteness of one's living situation.

grischa lichtenberger. and IV. r-n143. 1210_08_4+ (excerpt)