album (cd) "Stay tuned " (NRW 2041)

Info / Welcome to trondheym—a mystical „no-man’s land“—where jazz, electronic music, sound design and songwriting peacefully coexist and where streets hold the names of underdogs like Phil Lynott.
Those who haven’t visited for a while will first notice that trondheym has undergone a reconstruction. Sure, band member „2.5“, Sven Schömenauer (aka openPix), still takes care of optical design and (as macabo) of hypnotical visuals on stage. And yes, the Lexicon JamMan—that silent revolutionary of the popular music world—is still the most reliable tool to allow the complex sounds (despite duo instrumentation) to swell to orchestral power. On stay tuned, trondheym's third studio album, the odds are clearly in favor of change and development.

Nikolaus Neuser (trumpet) is no longer a resident in this place called trondheym. Neuser was a constant that stood for part of the trademark „trondheym sound“ per se for two albums as well as many concerts within Europe and across the world: warm tones over cool, trippy beat structures, embellished and also driven by the guitar work of Gerhard Schmitt—guitar work which is influenced as much by Norwegian jazz as by British rock.

Before, the band was—both fairly and, at times, unfairly—compared to others, but with stay tuned the residual original member, Schmitt, prooves that these comparisons were never a „make or break“ issue. On the contrary: with the discovery and addition of Lars Dieterich, Schmitt found a partner who—both on the bass clarinet and with his own arsenal of electronic effects—encompassed continiuity as well as innovation. The compositions were no longer written by jamming, as they were in the early days. The evolution of harmonies and moods, the editing and programming of rhythms and the choosing of sounds were mostly done by the guitarist who spent many-a-lengthy train rides experimenting with countless audio soundbytes and their ability to find their home in the soundscape of trondheym. This incorporated audio information serves as the foundation for the minimal, yet effective, beat design that discretely avoids the cliché of 4/4 time and frees trondheym completely from the vague circle of the feel-good muzak that is misnomered insufficiently as „lounge“. „The music becomes more and more raw and unique“, confirms Gerhard Schmitt.

Next, Schmitt blows away the suspicions of the possibility of him sampling cosmic winds, muscle contractions or—like M.I.A. in Paper Planes—gun loading sounds.
What the listener gets, thanks to the dramatic musical density (enlarged monumentally by the ear) morphs into reality from normal, everyday sources: creaking floorboards, an eggbeater, plastic cushions or even the tapping of the keys of the bass clarinet. A title like „sinking slowly“ is de-mystified by the disclosure of its creation: „My vitreous sink in my apartment in Stuttgart had that bell sound that you hear“, explains Schmitt. „Actually, all percussion sounds on that track come from my bathroom.“

That is trondheym 2009 — the way it sounds and sometimes also cracks: sometimes in the beatbeams, sometimes in the overblowing of the bass clarinet, and of course in the distortion of the guitar. Spectacularly fast fingerings are indeed present but were mixed far into the background and serve as texture at best. The dynamics of the different layers of sound are in the foreground – the organic breathing of the woodwind players (as well as Lars Dieterich, you can also hear Nik Leistle on bass clarinet), the smacking analog sound of Schmitt's effect units, the digital crispness of the beats...and the voices.

Yes, you read correctly...the essential innovation of the new album was not yet clearly mentioned, although it immediately jumps to your ears upon pressing play: trondheym is no longer only a stronghold of instrumental music...trondheym has opened its gates for singers, both male and female: First there is the addition of Ofri Brin and Alexa Rodrian, with whose bands (Ofrin respectively Alexa Rodrian Band) Schmitt has been in a friendly relationship for quite some time—they also contributed their own lyrics.

For true trondheym fans, this may be the big sensation: Schmitt sings! An astonishing tender cover version of Thin Lizzy's „Little Girl In Bloom“ is the opening track on the recording. „That is something I always admired about Phil Lynott,“ explains the explicit TL-Fan. „Behind that tough presence, hides a very sensitive core“, he adds. Schmitt, in the interpretation, also turns out to be extremly soulful. Two more selections, to which he lends his vocals,--„over and over“ and „stay tuned“—are original compositions, both coming as a result of a re-awakened interest in songwriting (which is not limited to the english language, it just seemed to be the adequate choice for the virtual and therefore cosmopolitan location of trondheym). On stay tuned, every vocal track is followed by an instrumental track—an interplay of calmness with scenarios of suspense and strokes. However, there is no narrative concept behind the order of the tracks. „It just came across“ adds Schmitt lapidarily, „but it would not have to be like that. If the album was on vinyl, I may have put the instrumental tracks on one, and the vocal tracks on the other side.“ That would have been beautiful, because a little bit of cracking noise would have been the ideal amendment for this sound picture, that is shimmering of suspense. But on this musical plane, time has not stood still. Whether you approach this music via radio, CD, iPod or—last but not least—live: the sounds, rhythmic beds and melodies of this records will resonate for a long time indeed. (NRW Records)