BERSARIN QUARTETT - Bersarin Quartett
Don’t be fooled by the name, because the Bersarin Quartett is just Thomas Bücker, a young man from Münster, who also has also been performing as Jean-Michel since the late Nineties. When he felt inspired to do something new, he created this new project which allows him to produce incredibly atmospheric compositions that combines the sprawling grandeur of movie soundtracks with the elegy of post rock, minus the obtrusive beats, which leaves us with some kind of moody ambient music. Although he takes care to build tremendous soundscapes that make you close your eyes and imagine your own mind movies, he adds lush string arrangements, warm bass guitars and discreet drums at strategic points, thus avoiding to fall into the trappings of your generic new age artist. The different tracks all take their time and are never shorter than four minutes, at times even up to nine minutes long. It’s impossible to point out specific highlights, which must have been intended, because the artist tries and succeeds at concocting an hour long sonic journey that will immerse you completely.
This self-titled album was already released two years ago, but sees a second spring now thanks to Denovali Records which give you the choice of either getting the CD or the double vinyl LP version, the latter coming with a so far unreleased bonus track, pushing the playing time over one hour.
It’s undeniable that Bersarin Quartett spent a lot of time and energy into this richly arranged and lushly instrumented record, but it asks a lot of attention from the listener to get the most out of it. It would make no sense listening to these dreamy pieces in a noisy setting, and it’s probably also not the best soundtrack for a car ride. Instead this might just be the record you want to listen to late at night, with a glass of red wine, allowing the evening to come to a serene end.