Irmin Schmidt's 'Requiem' Album Explores Transience Through Field Recordings and Prepared Piano
Irmin Schmidt, the 88-year-old last surviving founding member of the influential band Can, has released a new album titled 'Requiem.' The work consists of two approximately 20-minute sections. The first part incorporates field recordings from Schmidt's garden, featuring sounds of birds and insects, which are interrupted by a swelling industrial thumping. The second part utilizes a prepared piano to produce atonal, staccato sounds that evoke unease, even beneath a backdrop of rushing rain. Schmidt, renowned as Can's keyboardist, once revolutionized music. The album serves as a meditation on disappearance and forgetting. It demands patience from the listener to engage with its contemplative nature. The release aims to ensure Schmidt's legacy endures.
Key facts
- Irmin Schmidt is 88 years old
- He is the last surviving founding member of Can
- The album is titled 'Requiem'
- It is divided into two roughly 20-minute parts
- Part 1 uses field recordings from Schmidt's garden
- Part 1 includes sounds of birds and insects
- Part 1 features an interrupting industrial thumping sound
- Part 2 uses a prepared piano
- Part 2 creates atonal, staccato piano sounds
- Part 2 includes the sound of rushing rain
- The album is a meditation on disappearance and forgetting
- Irmin Schmidt was the keyboardist for Can
- Can revolutionized music
- The album requires listener patience
Entities
Artists
- Irmin Schmidt
Institutions
- Can