Giovanni Di Domenico, Zugzwang
Wesen (2LP)
LabelSilent WaterGenreJazz & Improvisation
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* 200 copies.* The final chapter of Giovanni Di Domenico's mind-expanding trilogy arrives with the force of a philosophical manifesto encoded in sound! After The Ear Cannot Be Filled With Hearing (2017) and Reflection Is Circular (2019), Wesen completes this remarkable journey through funk music filtered through German existentialist philosophy and Gestalt psychology. This is deep, layered, uncompromising music that demands your full attention!
Recorded between 2019-2021 in The Nest Cellar, Brussels, and numerous other locations, Di Domenico constructs imagined dreams of being chased, false awakenings, and psychological states analyzed through the lens of Gestaltpsychologie. The track titles themselves read like fragments of philosophical dialogue - "Du musst dir eine Frage stellen", "Fühl ich mich glücklich?", "A stranger approached you on the street" - creating a narrative that's both unsettling and deeply hypnotic.
The ensemble Zugzwang features an incredible lineup: Giotis Damianidis on electric guitar, Laurens Smet on guitars, bass, synths, acoustic guitar and banjo, Pak Yan Lau on synths, Riccardo Marogna on clarinet, tenor sax and electronics, Miquel Casaponsa on electric guitar and electronics, Kostas Benis on electric saz and voice, and Grégoire Tirtiaux on baritone sax. Each musician brings their own gestalt to the collective whole - and yes, this is music that truly embodies Christian von Ehrenfels's concept that a melody is much more than the sum of its individual tones!
Double LP mastered by Matt Bordin at Outsideinside Studio and pressed at Record Industry for maximum sonic impact. Art-work and layout by Miquel Casaponsa. Limited edition of 200 copies. Essential listening for anyone interested in contemporary experimental music that thinks as deeply as it grooves! Not to be missed!
Format
all music, production & engineering by Giovanni Di Domenico
song titles and text: Tomas Földes
Recorded in The Nest Cellar, Brussels, and so many other places, 2019-2021
with the invaluable help of:
- Giotis Damianidis: electric guitar on A1, A3, B2, C2, C3, D1, D2
- Laurens Smet: electric guitar & bass, synths, acoustic guitar, banjo
on A3, B1, C3, D1
- Pak Yan Lau: synths on A1, D2, D3
- Riccardo Marogna: clarinet, tenor sax, electronics on B2, C2, D3
- Miquel Casaponsa: electric guitar, electronics on A1, A2, C1
- Kostas Benis: electric saz, voice on B1, C2, D2
- Grégoire Tirtiaux: sax bariton on A2, C1
mastered by Matt Bordin at Outsideinside studio, Volpago Del Montello, 2021
art-work & layout by Miquel Casaponsa
Release notes
Imagined (?) dreams of being chased, false awakenings, etc. analyzed through a lens of the gestaltpsychologic understanding. Perceptions containing qualities that do not result from the arrangement of simple sensory qualities. An example of Gestalt-qualität, as Christian von Ehrenfels writes, is a melody that may consist of individual tones, but is much more than just the sum of these tones. Individual tones could combine to form completely different melodies, but the melody remains the same…
| A1 | Du musst dir eine Frage stellen | ||
| A2 | Fühl ich mich glücklich? | ||
| A3 | Na ja, Glück ist nichts anderes als das Umfangensein… | ||
| B1 | Man hat es nicht, sondern ist darin. | ||
| B2 | Man kann nur fragen, habe ich mich glücklich gefühlt? | ||
| C1 | A stranger approached you on the street | ||
| C2 | You ran but he followed | ||
| C3 | He woke up and you disappeared | ||
| D1 | Gefüge und Tektonik | ||
| D2 | Ganzbeschaffenheit | ||
| D3 | Wesen |
- Miquel Casaponsa
- Artwork By, Layout
- Matteo Bordin
- Mastered By
- Giovanni Di Domenico
- Music By
