Kai Fagaschinski - Aerodynamics

The Free Jazz Collective 0

By Charlie Watkins 

Aerodynamics is the newest release from ‘psychoacoustic clarinettist’ Kai Fagaschinski. This record contains two tracks: the first, ‘Welcome to the 20 ^th Century’, is a 30-minute piece performed by The Paranormal Clarinet Society, although recorded in two sessions in June 2023 and January 2024; the second, ‘Surrounded by Idiots’, is a nine-part improvisation, each improvisation recorded separately by Fagaschinski. ‘Psychoacoustics’ is the best way to understand the music: it is about the sound and how it is perceived by the listener, perhaps more than the music as such.

Unlike Fagaschinski’s duo The International Nothing, ‘Welcome to the 20 ^th Century’ largely eschews extended techniques, instead focusing on the possibilities of simply putting eight clarinets in a room together – as Fagaschinski writes, to use ‘simple language’ only. But by no means does that make this a conventional recording, especially as the clarinets creep perilously close to one other, causing the frequencies to beat together furiously, before moving apart again. The music certainly requires a good set of headphones to properly appreciate: the sound of breath or clacking of keys is as much a part of the music as the notes, making you feel like you’ve walked right into the middle of a clarinet coven – which I expect is exactly the effect Fagaschinski wishes to create.

The track was recorded in two sessions, and I found the change quite jarring when it occurs (it isn’t subtle). I would have preferred to separate the two sessions, rather than suggest they form a cohesive whole, which doesn’t seem the case here. Nonetheless, the slow pace of change and intricacy of sonic detail make this an interesting listen.

The second track, ‘Surrounded by Idiots’, is an improvisational experiment. Fagaschinski recorded nine improvisations, each 35 minutes and 19 seconds long exactly, whilst imagining that he is improvising with the other eight incarnations of himself, and reacting as such to these imagined sounds. Again, it is a very intimate recording, the microphones picking up every intake of breath, the transformations taking place measuredly. The experiment itself is an exercise I have tried on occasion – although never in nine parts! – and it demonstrates how improvised music has its own recognised structures and expectations. On the whole, it works: there are moments of surprising synchronicity and textures that are unique because of their independence. But when Fagaschinski’s whole approach is so subtle, it was never likely that it would produce much incongruity, and it did make me question whether as a whole this achieves something that couldn’t be done to greater effect by actually improvising with eight other musicians.

This record is a fascinating listen for clarinet players like myself, who will want to listen closely to how Fagaschinski uses the instrument so creatively. But it is best as a psychoacoustic document, absorbing in its precision and its intimacy, that will reward any listener willing to give it their attention.