Nighttime. The streets are empty. Gentle moonlight seeps into my dark bedroom. I lie on the bed while Piano Nights emits its seductive spell through the speakers. Slowly but surely it takes hold of me. It pulls me deeper and deeper, I let go, I submit to the mysterious darkness, I embrace it.
Sometimes you fall in love with an album already from the first listening session. You press play and from the very first second you know you have found something that was missing in your life. The music keeps flowing and soon you realize it’s an album you have been searching for, longing for, even though you have never listened to something quite like it before. I have heard the name Bohren & Der Club Of Gore many times, people have recommended them to me, and I have read some good reviews of their albums, but for some reason never bothered to check the music out, and due to the flood of good music this year, up until mid October wasn’t even aware they released a new album already in January. Fortunately, there was something in the artwork and title of this Germany-based quartet’s new album that made me check it out, and I’m glad I did. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but it was released during the winter, surely the most suitable season to experience it, and my favorite time of the year. Soon winter will be here again. This was meant to be…
Nighttime. The streets are empty. Gentle moonlight seeps into my dark bedroom. I lie on the bed while Piano Nights emits its seductive spell through the speakers. Slowly but surely it takes hold of me. It pulls me deeper and deeper, I let go, I submit to the mysterious darkness, I embrace it. This sort of living limbo land is so spacious, there’s so much space between the sounds, I float with the shadows in the deep gaps. It moves in slow, hypnotic motion, an eternal wave of sound, an everlasting sonic ritual. Every piano note and saxophone stream, every gentle stroke of drums and trembling of double bass, every shimmering layer of organ and ghostly shade of mellotron, every chime of vibraphone and gritty touch of guitar, carries such enormous atmospheric weight. It’s impossible to resist this relentless spell, pointless really. The influential dark ambient jazz explorers are back with a brand-new, gripping, cinematic, misty and nocturnal journey through abstract secret haunted pathways illuminated by enchanted gray moons and full of occult activity.
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore is a cult band one might say. Many consider it a pioneering group of dark jazz. An inventive force. It’s not surprising since it’s here since 1992, and indeed brought something new to the far-flung regions of the musical spectrum. These guys have a distinctive sound and style, an inimitable spell that works best late at night, especially during winter probably. Now I wait for the cold rainy nights to come.
Piano Nights is out via Play It Again Sam and available on Amazon and Juno.
