Here is a curious specimen …. exiled Berliner (Munich born), composer, vocalist, drummer, percussionist & pianist Gabriel Hahn. Coming from an eminent lineage of classical composers & musicians (Hahn’s grandfather was the organist, composer & conductor Ludwig Hahn), Gabriel ditched his long-term Berlin residency in 2023 & relocated to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. So this intriguing, solo-debut ep-album has been devised between both East & West capitals, betwixt the years of 2022 & 2024.
Whatta’ we got then? Reductively speaking, a contemporary & experimental jazz & rock transmogrification I guess? Its a gallivant & gauntlet, that can constitute anything from Kraut Rock & Prog, to knees-up carousers played on a saloon organ that would not be out of place in a 1930s Parisian cabaret club interlaced with field recordings. Jazz & symphonic synth scapes elide with children’s toys & wind-up instruments for kids before pitching into garage rock. On it’s own terms, but it does, perhaps, bring to mind/relation a very variegated & modern gallimaufry of Brigitte Fontaine’s classics period (Comme A La Radio & her 1972 self-titled LP – Brigitte Fontaine – in particular).
Gabriel, a multi-instrumental himself, has chosen to conscript a throng of session musicians for his compositions on this recording, & despite being an accomplished drummer, has handed the baton to Sebastian Merk.
Hahn’s own array of instruments & playing on this album beyond the vocals consists of, percussion, prepared piano, synthesizer, drum sampler, field recordings & music box.
His session compadres augment with electric guitar (Kalle Kalima), double bass (Niklas Lukassen), piano (Bela Meinberg), woodwinds (James Scannel), Merk on drums, & a few other gobby gatecrashers on scattered confab (Christine Liu).
The LP cruises along at a steady & confident aptitude, with the musicians easily flourishing among Hahn’s compositions & structure, which includes some tricky & irregular signatures
the mood & manner is broadly playful & jaunty, even facetious, & can diverge abruptly on a whim, making it satisfyingly unpredictable in it’s eclectic skittishness.
Some of these oscillations are very pronounced, & perform almost like cutscenes or skits.
You can add to this the persistent polyglot, somewhat of an obsession to the composer, which flits between Mandarin, Français, German, & English.
Like the instruments, Hahn’s singing styles are also highly variable, encompassing everything from crooning, anthems, spoken word, ballads, modern orthodox, gibberish, & other assorted melodramatics.
The compositional structures & scope bears a fluid versatility & is prone to fluctuation, enacting both tight & more abstract stints & swings.
The materials can also be capable of being a bit twee & hipsterish on occasion, possibly in a deliberate jest or act of flippancy, but the more exigent & complex flamboyancies are always quick to bring these short lived cameos to heel, & thankfully remain the dominant disposition.
The moderate avant-garde or experimental elements are also interspersed & ever poised, & the keen disciplines & virtuosities of the players, along with the daring & adept substance of the compositional bent, assure that despite an almost “easy listening” quality, the formula remains on distinctly challenging terms & grounds.
The entire EP is also very well recorded & has been issued independently, without label backing.
self released, digital format, & available through various online platforms