Giraffe is the first joint release by Karl-Heinz Schöppner and Sascha
Demand, both seasoned veterans in improvisational composition and
performance. Schöppner has done soundtrack work, music for
performances and modern dance and has collaborated on many records
since 1982. He was once a member of the famous 80s pop band Boytronic.
Demand has been performing improvised and contemporary
music since 1992 and has released solo and collaborative work on
Berslton, Creative Sources and En/Of. Their longstanding friendship
has now propelled them into making Giraffe.
Giraffe contains 11 short pieces that effortlessly flow in and out of
each other. All pieces are a play on intuition and control with a
subdued, contemplative, yet at times nervous ritualist feel running
through the album. Percussive elements give the tracks direction.
Melodic and harmonic impulses are weaved around the rhythms, playing
with sense and delicate non-sense. Giraffe references contemporary
improvisational music and jazz, but the subtly iconoclastic
concentration found within gives the record its own distinction.
Gentle and even accessible, it is a snapshot of what makes
contemporary experimental music tick.