The International Nothing

The International Nothing is a Berlin-based psycho-acoustic clarinet duo formed by Michael Thieke and Kai Fagaschinski in 2000. They collectively compose multilayered sound sculptures using multiphonics, beat frequencies and difference tones as an integral part of their language. Both musicians are well known as improvisers but in this project they develop and perform exclusively their own compositions.

The duo’s progression from release to release is subtle, but with "The Dark Side Of Success there" is a confident warmth in the music, an almost romantic richness heard in the way the pieces unravel, still with clarity and simplicity, but an increasingly intricate, fragile structure. Such focused, concentrated collaborations are necessarily rare in improvised music, and it’s heartening to hear two skilled musicians create music of such depth and intense beauty.