Darius Heid — Funkstille
They always say you can’t judge a book by its cover, and the same goes for not judging an album by its title. Take last year's double CD album Funkstille- by Cologne-based composer Darius Heid- a title like this suggests deep bass grooves, upbeat pace, maybe a playful edge- but above all, some funk. But instead it severs nine slices of taut ‘n’ tense compositions for piano, cello, double bass, percussion, and low-key electronics. Genre-wise, I’d say somewhere between stark modern classical and tense improv.
The release comes presented in a blue, white, and black coloured mini gatefold, with a blocky/ simple design. The front cover is a block of dark blue, with Heid’s name/ the albums title in a white block. Inside, we text booklet- with a short write-up in both German and English.
The whole of the first disc is taken up by the piece “Dust, Presence, Scatter, Bloom”- which rolls in just shy of the forty-one-minute mark. It’s built around piano, cello, double bass and percussion. Initially it’s very percussive-based with stark and taut darts- as it processes traces of both minimal string simmer, gloom piano tinkle, and bass dart appear- with seemingly a very subtle build occurring- though this does at points pare back. The track very much feels like an extremely sparse/ skeletal Morton Feldman piece played by a decidedly wired improv collective.
On the second disc we find the remaining nine tracks- which are for piano, cello, double bass, percussion, and electronics. We move from “Reciprocity” with its mixed slowed ‘n’ soured feedback sear, unease scrape, and forlorn piano dart. On to the uncertain string saw, slipping ‘n’ darting percussion detail, taut bass shifts & occasional key flirts of “Alert, Air”. Or the final track “Wish”, which is all about just about surfacing string swoon, uneasily shifting percussive detail, textural creaks ‘n’ stretches, and subtle shifts of moody piano tone.
Funkstille severs up a taut, tense, and moody cross-blend of stark modern classical music and skeletal improv.