Michael Fischer am myself formed a new duo with of powerful and noisy improvised music named LOFI.
Michael is a pioneer of the Austrian free improvised music scene, master of language immanence in sounds, has been captivating audiences worldwide with his innovative approach to music. From his pioneering work with the feedback-saxophone to his interdisciplinary collaborations in literature, dance, and visual media, or as artistic director of the VIENNA IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA; Fischer’s artistry knows no bounds. Michael plays his very unique version of tenor saxophone, amplified and capable of various ways of feedback. He uses this system to perfection with bursts of noisy saxophone clusters, fractions of voice and percussive elements.
There are plenty of possibilities for me to hook onto this rich and powerful sound spaces and it is really great fun to play in this spontaneously improvised duo. It is a rich acoustic environment where I can use various musical elements, from rhythmical sequences to various synth waves to heavy noise eruptions.
On May25, 2024 this duo emerged at Vekks in Vienna and here is a recording of this first encounter.
Ceremony Concert reviews wrote about this concert:
Bernhard Loibner and Michael Fischer (LOFI) with oscillating devices at Vekks.
Dirt of a metropole
It is never quiet in a city: car wheels roll over roads, the truck’s reversing warning system beeps, underground trains arrive, people scream, a jackhammer smashes cement and here and there bees are buzzing. Michael Fischer and Bernhard Loibner expose us to this confusion. Two people use sound design and feedback saxophone to create this well-known urban background noise.
Fischer’s tenor saxophone is equipped with electro-acoustic. During improvisation, he gets feedback via the music boxes, similar to an electric guitar. The feedback is captured and released again. From case to case, it unintentionally becomes extremely loud for the audience. The rapid finger play over the flaps of the saxophone is fascinating and creates a rhythm all of its own, the speed of which is constantly increasing.
Loibner, sitting stoically at the controls, provides a perfect template for this musical symbiosis. The pulsating background carries the tenor saxophone, which is perfectly integrated into the field recordings of the traffic noises. Several sound channels come together to a big picture. Much sounds immediately familiar, others utopian. Even loudspeaker announcements via saxophones sound as if they are coming from far away. The interplay seems to come from a foreign world. Although maybe it is ours nevertheless? After the concert, you carry the dirt of the metropolis home on your clothes, even if you only get it on your ears.