The Parisian label Blackstrobe Records (run by Arnaud Rebotini) is all about pushing the avantgarde pool of electronic music and “defending certain musical ideas”. It’s evident that the piano holds monolithic value to Fabrizio Rat,
“Take a piano, the classic and romantic instrument par excellence, and project it into the hypnotic and powerful soundscape of techno music.”
Consider contemporary music of the early 20th century combined with a post-modernist, concrete music ideology, and quantized by a backdrop of rhythmical techno. Produced under the talented electronic hands of Fabrizio, and legendary label owner Arnaud Rebotini (founder of synth pop/ techno fusion genre – Electroclash, one half of the duo Black Strobe and winner of the Artist Quartz), The Pianist offers an insightful interpretation of current electro-experimental music.
Like Fabrizio Rat’s live sets, this album sustains some of the feedback quality from these performances, allowing the acoustic sounds to carry the tune so that small abrasions can shine through. Like a David Lynch score, The Pianist also captures a similar hypnotic quality that, although unnerving, can be psychologically enchanting simultaneously.
The Pianist starts with an upbeat acid-piano collab Lupu, that sets the theme of the album. Think laminous pitched sequences and call and response amongst the highs. Gould pulls back on the percussion and instead pushes a hypnotic ostinato, interjected by insectuous samples.
Fabrizio Rat then plays around with the flow disrupting the classic 4/4 with a 7/4 time signature in Argerich.
The album eventually rounds off with Rubinstein – a hallucinatory soundscape painted by detuned pitches and rich sonic textures.
The Pianist LP is available on Blackstrobe Records.
