Glacier Music II

A project of Goethe-Institut Georgien Music and book (digital/physical) by Establishment Glacier Music II grew out of a journey – a shared trip into the icy Greater Caucasus mountains of Georgia, as artists from Armenia, Georgia, and Germany collected visceral sensations of nature to channel into potent musical collaborations. Those mountains form a thread across neighboring but diverse musical traditions, and so from this fragile environment, an international collaboration between multi-talented producers and performers sound a poignant, personal note of urgency. Berlin’s established talents Robert Lippok (in sound - the Raster-media artist) and Lillevan (in visuals) join rising stars of the Caucasus - Anushka Chkheidze lends her harmonic imagination and detailed, intimate piano work; her prepared piano gestures (on ‘Microseismic’) match the sculptural explorations of Robert’s experimental electronics. Eto Gelashvili’s voice carries through like a brisk mountain air; Hayk Karoyi combines a deep knowledge of traditional Armenian folk instruments with innovative compositional efforts. The group’s affection for one another glows out of the music across the release, as evidenced in the easily-flowing live inclusion. But that mission to speak of an immediate climate crisis is embedded deeply in the work – from the soft deep bass of Matthias Meyer and team’s geophone recordings of shifting ice in ‘Microseismic’, to the imperative sound of time and tragedy pressing forward in the closing Numbers Drop. Ancient Caucasian tradition meets contemporary sound geographies, where electronics meld with more organic sound influences. The resulting music is at once arresting and intimate, bringing the listener closer to the nature that surrounds us. Track four includes sound material from Sounds of Matterhorn (CC-BY) by Matthias Meyer, Samuel Weber, Jan Beutel