zeitkratzer (Austria / Germany)

Danube-Folklore Imaginary

Crossing the border between new music and pop-avant-garde, they are as at ease in interpreting Morton Feldman and John Cage as they are Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music," they are the darlings of magazines like "Wire," and their "folk music" is an anarchic-folk music journey through the Danube valley.

From heart-rending group yodeling, lonely mountain trumpets through to dulcimer Rock'n'roll and zither-noise, the ensemble has created a Danube grotesque, a folk-bastard. The nine zeitkratzer musicians come from different European cities, but always meet in Berlin to develop new projects. Their skills encompass a variety of directions, sophisticated techniques and styles: from electronica and innovative technologies, ambient, noise, improvised music, folk, experimental rock and pop. Born in Regensburg, zeitkratzer mastermind Reinhold Friedl has a very special relationship to the Danube.