American author Nathaniel Hawthorne claimed almost two hundred years ago that «moonlight is sculpture; sunlight is painting». Swedish electronics player-producer Andreas Tilliander (who has worked under the monikers TM404 and Mokira) and trumpeter Goran Kajfeš (of Mats Gustafsson’s Fire! Orchestra, Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra, Nacks Forum, and his own Subtropic Arkestra) claim that the moonlight is also a sonic sculpture. On their debut duo album, In Cmin, they sculpt nocturnal textures that reference the moon, or, to be more precise, two disparate moons.
The album’s title, In Cmin, nods to seminal minimalist composer Terry Riley and his groundbreaking piece «In C». It also reflects the aesthetic challenge behind the album, as much of the music is composed in C minor, an aesthetic that forced Kajfeš to push his sonic palette. The album grew out of lengthy improvisational sessions in the studio and offers eight evocative, spacious, and cinematic pieces.
In Cmin matches Tilliander’s subtle and fragmented techno and dub beats and alien-like, ambient synth textures with Kajfeš’ ethereal, elegant, and melodic jazz trumpet lines. The suggestive and nuanced pieces are titled after distinct locations on the moon, like the opening «Montes Caucasus», the lunar mountain range on the moon’s northeastern edge, where the desolate lunar landscape is reflected by Tilliander’s synth pulses and Kajfeš lone metallic flute, which he recently uncovered from his late father’s belongings. The album also reflects on Tilliander and Kajfeš own histories, and the last piece, «Twozerozerofive» looks back 20 years when both won the Swedish Grammy, Tilliander for his most dance-oriented album to date, World Industries (Pluxemburg, 2004) and Kajfeš for Headspin (Amigo, 2004), an exploration of jazz and fusion. There, at the Grammys afterparty, the idea of collaborating first surfaced, but it took twenty years to materialize this genre-defying gem.
Eyal Hareuveni
Andreas Tilliander (electronics, synthesizers), Goran Kajfeš (trumpet, flute)
