He is set to become one of the pianists to watch out for on Germany's new avant-garde jazz scene.

JazzMania May 2024

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As the disc unrolls, the sound particles created by Arsava’s pianism which can take on elevated koto-like suggestions or low-pitched warmth, frequently reveal theme elaborations in unison with Hirth’s note shaping slurps and smears. It’s a tribute to Schick’s skill that when his vocal samples, ring modulator-like clangs and noisy drones are heard alongside what otherwise would be a FreeBop narrative, neither the electronic nor the acoustic interface overwhelms the other. A tune like “Mager/Choral” proves this, since the balance between piano chording and machines crackles is rounded into a horizontal climax even as radio tuning signals, reed honks and wood scratches enter the mix.

Jazzword May 2024

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This is great; it has a similar feel to recordings from the Zorn/Yoshihide/90s Japan axis, with its playful use of electronics or sampled material (here, the turntables) - though without becoming wacky or arch. This is combined with solid, accessible jazz elements, and I feel like the album has real crossover appeal; it’s more hardboiled than, say, Bohren & der Club of Gore, but I think it would appeal to people into the noisy peripheries of rock. A great, energetic, focused album which is challenging, but accessible and fun - a rare combination.

Musique Machine May 2024 

Digital Monads climbs into the nervous system materializing a cut-and-sew pro Matmos progression; Utility Dust is an electroacoustic symposium where piano drops, rustles, frequencies, puffs of breath devise piece after piece of furious free jazz disequilibrium; Mager/Choral is at its base a Feldmanian piano reiteration on which to inject first shreds of caustic electronic undertone, then open to a dense inlay of reduction-loving micro dialogues (as if Nmperign had precisely become a quintet); Adherent Terrain raises the tones of both volume and neurosis, unleashing a frenetic biting of improv solutions that becomes pleasing swing for fine palates; Inchoate Decline raises the bar of love for noir tones through a synergy between repetition and backgrounds of swarming improvisation. Absolutely peculiar experience where a near-infinite number of listens would never be enough to lucidly decipher all the recesses of sound contained. Among the highest emotions experienced in music recently.

Kathodik Feb 2024

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Arsava mischt aleatorische Kürzel mit Scratching, launig klimpernd überwindet er kniebrecherische Passagen, Hirth zwängt sich mit Spaltklängen durch Engpässe, Elektronik quecksilbert und zieht Spinnfäden, Bayer plonkt Gummisaiten. Bei 'mager/choral' pfeift der Wind über monotone Töne und ächzende, ploppende, knarzende Laute, Hirth bläst windschief zu wehmütigen Noten. Pizzicato, mit lärmumsponnenem Staccato und knattrigen Schlägen werden Phonogramme stenographiert und dem strammen Schritt eines Boten übergeben, dessen Pace aber schleppend wird. Denn 'gif ooze' hindert den Fortgang mit chaotischem Noise, der sich bei 'inchoate decline' auch durch rasendes Tempo nicht abschütteln, durch eine rührende Melodie nicht beschwichtigen lässt. So prickelt zuletzt auch 'bit debris' in den Schlingen von Schicks ominösem Vinyl, bis sich alles in Säure auflöst. 

Bad Alchemy 122 rbd