Piano Layers Vol. II

The 88 black and white keys of the piano provide the basis for the next of the 7K! Records’ “Layers” series, the part of the !K7 label group which is dedicated to avant-garde and instrumental sounds. The series is put together to highlight music that exists between the avant-garde, contemporary-classical and instrumental worlds.

As with the previous editions of the “Layers” series, there are 21 artists involved and they come from all over the world, symbolic of the fact that the love for instrumental, contemporary classical, and avant-garde music has a real audience and its own scene capable of reaching and conquering listeners worldwide. The idea of “Layers” is to connect artists from all over the world and give greater strength to their musical message.

Piano Layers Vol. II will be announced with the release of the song “Sloth” by David Allred, one of the most respected composers involved in the British contemporary classical scene from the last decade. “Sloth” is a jewel of simplicity and intensity, in only a minute and a half it is able to transport the listener away in a lullaby-like state – the perfect soundtrack for a relaxing and immediate awakening.
There are 20 other artists involved in Piano Layers Vol. II, the disc opens with the splendid “Kleine Paris” by Clemens Christian Poetzsch, a song that seems to pay homage to Satie and Chopin in painting Leipzig, Poetzsch’s hometown, which Goethe loved to define “Little Paris”.
But as for all the Layers, Piano Layers Vol. II examines and discovers the various musical forms that an instrument like the piano can create. From the fragile minimalism (Valeska Rautenberg, Vetle Nærø, Sofi Paez, Simeon Walker), to the elaborate, layered sound and gritty electronic ambient (Johannes Mothscmann, Bruno Bavota, Casual Melancholia, Hior Chronik) jazz hybrid (Tom Blankenberg, Naoko Sakata), to purely classical research (Anna Yarbrough, Melaine Dalibert, Oliver Brouwer, Alessandro Martinelli), passing through cinematic impulses (Frances Shelly, Mattia Vlad Morleo, Gregoire Jokic, Tiny Leaves) up to the avant-garde of artificial intelligence (Alex Braga), Piano Layers Vol. II is a snapshot of the present usage of one of the most versatile and popular musical instruments ever.

Tracklist & Credits

Clemens Christian Poetzsch – Klein Paris
Valeska Rautenberg – Tenderness
Vetle Nærø – The Flower That Vanished
Johannes Motschmann – Drones and Latent Cycles
Tom Blankenberg – Piscine
Melaine Dalibert – Aphelion
Oliver Brouwer – Stay
Anna Yarbrough – Dune
Bruno Bavota – Finale
David Allred – Sloth
Hior Chronik – Traveling Light
Frances Shelley – Summer Rain
Alex Braga – Human Singularity
Casual Melancholia – Sky
Mattia Vlad Morleo – Unsolved Tapes
Sofi Paez- Catalyst
Grégoire Jokic – Vol de nuit
Alessandro Martinelli – Our Last Goodbye
Tiny Leaves – Keep running
Naoko Sakata – Improvisation 8
Simeon Walker – Lumen

Mastered by Emilio Pozzolini in Milano
Album cover layout by Paolo Proserpio
concept by Jarno Carlo

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