The name, which was chosen not without awareness of the threat of vulgarity, is meant with honesty and, in a sense, generosity. Apparently, the term has been accepted in the psychological community to mean an extremely confusing or disturbing experience. Here, it is an offer to explore that state and come to accept it and enjoy it. The listener is a silent participant welcomed to re-examine what is considered pleasurable, what is fun, and what constitutes balance and structure.
Piano, bass, and electronics co-mix here to create a calm discourse that examines more than it asks or tries to answer. Those expecting to be jarred or unsettled may find the peaceful serendipity of M!ndf*kc disconcerting. Clear lines and pure sounds turn and twist as though obstructions do not exist. The development from climax to anti-climax, from stasis to passage, seems like the inevitable result of either careful planning or sheer faith in probability. After attentively navigating, without judgment, the connections along the way, finding sense and meaning in the upset of stability is where the music finishes. (Edward Reardon)
Tracklist
Bios
Herbert Lacina (* 1954, Vienna): 7-string bass
Works in the field of jazz and improvisation and plays acoustic and 12-string bass. The artist, whose credo is "For me, music is a stream of energy, free of forms and boundaries", is a member and curator of SFIEMA - Society for Sound Art, Free Improvisation and Experimental Music Austria, a member of Kunstraum Ewigkeitsgasse with its own concert series and curator of the Beethoven event series 2019-2020 in Mödling and a member of IG Bildende Kunst and the Austrian Composers Association. He frequently plays concerts at Celeste, Wiener Künstlerhaus, Porgy & Bess, Forum Stadtpark Graz, Alte Schmiede and many other venues in Vienna and internationally.
Photo: Birgitta Heiskel
Edward Reardon (* 1969, USA): grand piano with live-electronics
Edward Reardon is an eclectic composer, improviser and producer. He is a versatile multi-instrumentalist and performer. In addition to being a pianist and guitarist, he has performed extensively with analogue synthesizers, especially the Moog Polymoog, as well as other vintage electric keyboards. Throughout the years, he has performed in many ensembles in a wide variety of situations and styles ranging from Jazz, Free Jazz and avant garde, as well as rock oriented musics. Selected ensembles include Raum-Espacio Ensemble (with Andres Marchetti), 1234, the Richard Nickel transaction Ensemble, and Black Dot. He is also a prolific composer for theater, having contributed primarily in his native Chicago. Playwrights he has worked with have included Beau O’Reilly, Rebecca Gilman and Brett Nevue, as well as many classic playwrights including Shakespeare, Brecht, and Sam Shepard. He currently lives in Vienna.
Photo: Georg Cizek Graf
Karlheinz Essl (* 1960, Vienna): modular synth, no-input mixer
Composer/performer, electronic musician, improviser and media artist. He studied composition with Friedrich Cerha and musicology in Vienna. Composer-in-residence at the Darmstadt Summer Courses, IRCAM in Paris and the Salzburg Festival. Since 2007 Professor for Electroacoustic Composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In addition to instrumental and live electronic works, he develops generative composition software and sound installations. He has collaborated with artists such as Harald Naegeli ("Sprayer of Zurich") and Jonathan Meese, writers Andreas Okopenko and Erwin Uhrmann, and choreographer Andrea Nagl. Intensive work with immersive 3D soundscapes (book project K.O.P.F., Limbus 2021) and modular synthesizers (Coastlines, 2022 ff). His compositions are performed worldwide by ensembles such as the Arditti Quartet, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, etc.
