Irmin Schmidt will release a new album this November. Above, you can hear ‘Klavierstück III’ which features on the album.
Entitled 5 Klavierstücke, the album consists of five piano pieces recorded last year by Schmidt on his own two grand pianos. He partly prepared his Pleyel piano, in the way he was taught by John Cage himself, and the other piano – his 100-year-old Steinway – remained unprepared for the recordings. A press release explains that "all ambient sounds were recorded on site – around Irmin Schmidt’s studio – and there are no other instruments or electronics of any kind".
"The tracks are spontaneous meditations, only played once and recorded simultaneously – no edits or corrections," he explains. "They are formed from an emotional memory in which Schubert, Cage, Japan (Gagaku) and Can are equally present."
This marks the first release of Schmidt’s solo material since 2015’s Electro Violet, which was a collection of his entire solo work until then.
Mute will release 5 Klavierstücke in conjunction with Can’s Spoon Records on November 16. It can be pre-ordered here.
