same brings together an unlikely duo of two idiosyncratic, visionary musicians – Viennese Pita, aka Peter Rehberg, electronic music legend and head of Editions Mego, who passed away a few days after this album was recorded in July 2021 when he was only 53 years old, and German, Berlin-based Reinhold Friedl, the artistic director of the contemporary, avant-garde ensemble zeitkratzer who plays inside the piano. The album is their only recorded collaboration and offers  three extended and uncompromising, free improvised pieces of music, with no editing or overdubs.

Friedl tells that when they first met each other at the tiny apartment of Polish experimental musician Zbigniew Karkowski in Tokyo in 1999, they did not like each other «at all», but eventually the two musicians bonded over the years thanks to mutual respect for each other’s music. Rehberg even released Friedl’s collaboration with French electronics musician Eryck Abecassis on his label in 2020.

same demonstrates that Rehberg and Friedl have developed a common ground and shared a sonic vision, and at times it becomes almost impossible to know who plays what on this album. The album was recorded in two free improvised sessions, with no prior preparations. The three pieces – «Caciara», «Chiasso» and «Clamore» – are titled after three Italian words for “noise” and capture faithfully the immediate, intense and spontaneous spirit of this album, even in its most abstract, lyrical or even contemplative moments, when Rehberg and Friedl navigate freely within their extensive experiences in industrial, noise and electronic music, contemporary and free improvised music.

This inspired meeting at Studio Aichhorn in Vienna forced both Rehberg and Friedl to listen deeply to each other’s highly personal language, leave enough space for each other and also deliberately expand their sound palettes. Rehberg and Friedl planned to have a third session but the untimely death of Rehberg left them with only 64 minutes of demanding but highly insightful and expressive free improvised noise music. Friedl remembers that it was quite fitting that this veritable onslaught of noise ended in the most understated way when Rehberg laughed and uttered that «The computer says stop». The recording session ended with laughter. Maybe bitter-sweet laughter when we realize what these musicians could have done in the future.

Eyal Hareuveni

Peter Rehberg (elec), Reinhold Friedl (inside p)

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