Am 9. August erscheint mit “Next Level Avoidance” ein neues Album von Erik Griswold, aufgenommen allein unter dem eigenen Haus, gemeinsam mit einem über 130 Jahre alten Klavier und einigen analogen Zusätzen. Aufgewühlte, brüchige Pianoparts treffen hier auf feine elektronische Erweiterungen. Der Klang wirkt bewusst ungeschliffen, fast tastend, geprägt von kleinen Abweichungen und Brüchen. Zwischen präparierten Tönen, Papierstreifen und Gummi schimmern immer wieder Momente intimer Konzentration auf das Material. Veröffentlicht wird das Album bei Room40 als Download.

“Under the house again, just me and my very old piano. Have we got anything more to say to each other? Will some new toys spice things up a bit? The creative process seems to swing like a (Foucoult’s?) pendulum, always returning to the same spot again and again, eventually. When I last made short form prepared piano pieces in 2015 (Pain Avoidance Machine) I was “feeling stifled by the negativity of the Australian political discourse, the narcissistic excess of social media, and facing a long summer of migraine-inducing heat.” If only I had known how far we had to go. To the sounds of my 1885 Lipp and Sohn, prepared with brass bolts, strips of paper and rubber, I’ve added an analogue synthesizer, extending the exploration into the electronic. The tactile quality of both instruments is central to my approach, with small inconsistencies of sound, attack, decay, filtering all foregrounded. It’s a very intimate setting with just two C414 microphones at close distance to capture the granular details of sonic materials. The addition of “frames,” “windows,” and “sonic mirrors” produce a ritualistic aura hovering above and around the music”. (Erik Griswold)