Andrew Pekler creates islands of calm from sound. Since his solo debut Station to Station in 2002, which brought the spirit of jazzy improvisation into the world of clicks & cuts, he has repeatedly transformed theoretical concepts and experiments into cosy sonic cocoons. Yet beneath the surface, something simmers: Pekler’s sound worlds comfort, soothe and confuse in equal measure. Born in Uzbekistan during Soviet times, raised in the US and based in Germany since 1995 – initially in Heidelberg, then Berlin for over two decades – this sound tinkerer looks back on a varied musical upbringing between noise rock and electronica.
After For Lovers Only / Rain Suite, where Pekler used only rain as his sound source alongside electric guitar and effects pedals, New Environments & Rhythm Studies returns to themes that occupied him on albums like Tristes Tropiques and Sounds from Phantom Islands: ethnographic research that doesn’t engage with real traditions, but draws on thought experiments and collective memories. A kind of fantasy world music.
Between the hypnotic, electroacoustic tracks sit brief sketches called »Rhythm Studies«, based on work by American electronic pioneer Raymond Scott or Briton Delia Derbyshire, a central figure at the BBC’s legendary Radiophonic Workshop. An album that demands careful listening and reveals new details with each encounter.
