Hauschka – Philanthropy (2023) [FLAC 24bit/48kHz]

Hauschka – Philanthropy (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 52:30 minutes | 552 MB | Genre: Electronic, Ambient, Neo-Classical, New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © City Slang

For Volker Bertelmann, aka Hauschka, music is not solely about its sound, but also a means to facilitate the exchange of ideas and foster meaningful interactions between individuals, revealing his fascination with human connection and engagement. Despite being known for his distinctive prepared piano sound, the Academy Award-winning composer intentionally named his 15th solo studio album Philamthropy to express his compassion and openness. The album’s song titles, such as “Diversity,” “Nature,” “Loved Ones,” and “Altruism,” perfectly align with their respective musical compositions. Hauschka’s albums often serve as a platform to provoke dialogue on specific themes, and Philamthropy follows this pattern, aiming to offer optimism and energy in response to the challenges of recent years. The album combines upbeat and pensive pieces, featuring moments of joy, introspection, and peaceful interludes. Overall, Philamthropy showcases Hauschka’s compositional prowess and serves as a gift that sparks reflection and celebration.For almost 20 years now, pianist Volker Bertelmann has been releasing albums as Hauschka that have both defined and subverted the notions and boundaries of “contemporary classical” music. Firmly ensconced in an approach that is as mindful of avant-garde composition as it is electronic innovation (and the larger world of pop music), Hauschka’s work has made Bertelmann as comfortable working with Hildur Guðnadóttir as with Hilary Hahn (both of whom he collaborated with in the early 2010s). After focusing on scores and soundtracks for much of the decade, Philanthropy finds Bertelmann returning to non-soundtrack work for the first time since 2019’s A Different Forest. Surprisingly, the album also finds him moving away from Forest’s straightforward piano pieces and back toward the fusion-friendly approach of his earlier work. His prepared piano is once again paired with dense, electronic environments, and Forest’s intensely optimistic compositional mode—which could uncharitably be thought of as being, er, intentionally accessible—is again tempered by an undercurrent of noise and darkness. The maximalist minimalism of Hauschka is on display throughout Philanthropy, whether it’s the throbbing tones of “Generosity,” which manifest as dub classical or a track like “Altruism” that manages to be both fractured and funky. The driving but airy “Inventions” is a marvelous example of Bertelmann’s ability to craft pieces that are epic in scope but spare in delivery, building on and circling around themes so insistently that even the rhythms somehow feel melodic, while a cut like “Nature” is the most dramatic of all the pieces here, with a simmering vibe made ominous by noisy distortion and a haunting piano figure. By the time Philanthropy closes out with “Noise”—the most gentle and ambient track on the whole set— it’s clear that Bertelmann has returned the Hauschka project to its more dynamic and daring foundations with an album that is restless, adventurous, and richly rewarding. – Jason Ferguson

Tracklist:

1. Hauschka – Diversity (04:09)
2. Hauschka – Searching (04:42)
3. Hauschka – Inventions (03:22)
4. Hauschka – Detached (05:08)
5. Hauschka – Limitation of Lifetime (02:15)
6. Hauschka – Nature (05:47)
7. Hauschka – Science (05:41)
8. Hauschka – Loved Ones (03:33)
9. Hauschka – Generosity (04:48)
10. Hauschka – Magnanimity (03:12)
11. Hauschka – Altruism (04:56)
12. Hauschka – Noise (04:51)

Download from FileJoker: