Ataraxia

by François Couture Simply put, Ataraxia is Bernhard Günter's sweetest, prettiest release. It can be seen as a natural step after +Minus (First Meeting), but even then it stands out of his discography as a particularly endearing album. This is his first collaboration with Heribert Friedl, who plays cymbalom using a violin bow and other unorthodox techniques. Günter plays his electric cellotar (see +Minus for a description) and shakuhachi flutes. He recorded his tracks first, after which Friedl added his cymbalom. Then, Günter arranged, multi-tracked, and edited the whole thing into six gorgeous pieces. The sounds of each instrument mesh into a fluttering, slithering, humming whole. The music remains very calm and meditative, but never becomes so quiet as to demand a tiring effort from the listener or continuous enough to become a drone. It flows delicately, its overtones singing beautiful pitchless tunes that transcend any formal structure or concept. Despite the experimental nature of the music and the unusual sounds it is comprised of, Ataraxia makes a surprisingly easy, peaceful listen, with exotic afterthoughts. This music started out as overdubbed improvisations, but the end result is a group of polished compositions achieving a level of immediacy rarely found in Günter's oeuvre, which tends to be more cerebral. Credits Performer [Cymbalon], Recorded By – Heribert Friedl Performer [Electric Cellotar], Shakuhachi [Xiao, Traverse], Arranged By, Recorded By, Edited By, Mastered By, Design [Cover] – Bernhard Günter Photography By [Cover Photo] – Paul Garcia (5) Notes Parts improvised and recorded on November 2004 to April 2005. Tracks edited, arranged, and mastered on January to May 2005.