Regen:tropfen


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PRESS FEEDBACKREVIEWPRAISE


Artwork photography by Ralph Etter

Cover Artwork © 2010 Ralph Etter


ZAZIE VON EINEM ANDEREN STERN THE DEBUT REGEN:TROPFEN       

Regen:tropfen was recorded in a small little room with a south facing garden view in Berlin-Neukölln on a piano at Nils Frahm's Durtonstudio in Berlin-Wedding in spring and summer 2009.

Released on Drifting Falling Recordings in 2010.

Photo by Ralph Etter for Drifting Falling Release Regentropfen

Serenity through sound

"All sound and tone, also silence... All that my ears are able to absorb, has a melody."

Maike Zazie

Maike Zazie Matern composes and performs unconventional piano compositions. Her work combines classical training with soulful sounds that are familiar, but have perhaps gone unnoticed. The sparse vocals, which alternate between Swedish and German, are melodious and help set the tone. The debut album regen:tropfen ("rain:drops") came in early autumn 2010.

Her compositions are stunning, brittle, fragile and melancholic, with the occasional outburst of childish exuberance. Matern takes the time in each piece to develop a calm, harmonious progression. The classical training shines through clearly and exceptionally on tracks like raum ohne zeit, which is a hybrid experiment of music and voice theatre.

The debut album regen:tropfen features piano tones, voice, cello, glockenspiel, field recordings, found sounds and also silence as an equivalent form of sound.

Zazie von einem anderen stern means "zazie from another star" which is appropriate since her music has a celestial quality. During 2008 and 2009 she worked on the debut regen:tropfen, partly in Berlin, where she now resides, in a small room with a south facing garden view and at Nils Frahm’s Durtonstudio. And partly during one winter and one spring in Sweden in a forest near Uppsala.

Regen:tropfen is an electro-acoustic daydream in stark contrast to the manic pace of the urban life she lives.

Photo by Ralph Etter for Drifting Falling Release Regentropfen


TracklistBibliographyBibliographyBibliographyBibliographyBibliographyBibliographyBibliographyBibliography

1 intro
2 morgen
3 raum ohne zeit
4 regentropfen
5 ölandsvisa
6 im juli
7 klavierregen
8 zwischen meinen händen
9 nachtschwärmen
10 nacht
11 outro


Photo by Ralph Etter for Drifting Falling Release Regentropfen


CreditsBibliographyBibliographyBibliographyBibliographyBibliographyBibliography

All music written and performed by Maike Zazie Matern
Recorded in a small little room with a garden view in Berlin-Neukölln & on a piano at Durtonstudio in Berlin-Wedding
Artwork photography by Ralph Etter
Catalogue number: Drifting018

Voices in Raum ohne Zeit: Irmgard Adam, Jörg Albrecht, Katharina Bohnert, Anvar Cukoski, Nina Alice Dannenhauer, Jutta und Ria Frischknecht, Herbert Gustavus, Leo und Sabine Hanstein, Leonie Hubal, Marco Huwe, Christoph Glaubacker, Matthias Grübel, Monika Kijas, Maike Zazie Matern, Wilma Renfordt, Jule Rothe, Wiebke Schuirman, Thomas Speth


Photo by Ralph Etter for Drifting Falling Release Regentropfen


PRESS FEEDBACKREVIEWPRAISE

"The resulting album is a masterpiece. [...] Hearing an album as original as regen:tropfen helps to remind one that there are still unexplored regions of music to be pioneered. Matern is just the kind of girl we want at the head of that expedition, too [...]."

Space City Rock [spacecityrock.com]
by Robin Babb
Friday, February eleventh 2011.

TOSOURCE
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"Throughout Regen:tropfen, Matern’s mastery of the piano and her classical training are highlighted, the melodies are deep and powerful, as well as possessing an exceptional beauty. Regen:tropfen is an exquisite modern classical work which introduces Maike Zazie Matern as an exceptional talent whose star is surely on the rise."

Fluid Radio [fluid-radio.co.uk]
by Adam Williams
Friday, October eighth, 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"The first time I heard this I thought it was ace. I rarely get that these days. [...] It's an astonishing debut [...]. The music here is really powerful and emotive and whilst it's doing all of that heavy stuff it's also completely beautiful and absorbing! [...] you should more than likely take note of this amazing album!"

Norman Records [normanrecords.com]
by Phil
Thursday, October seventh, 2010.

Regen:tropfen was "Album of the week" @Norman Records in October 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"The album offers a soothing respite from the hectic world of her current Berlin home-base by presenting fairy tale atmospheres that evoke the transporting magic of children's stories and songs. During the forty-minute set, piano notes fall like, yes, raindrops while tinkles add bell-like lustre and occasional electronic accents add percussive flavour.[...] the album's mood is mellow and alternately adult-like in the elegance of the melodious piano playing but child-like in its dream-like charm."

Textura [textura.org]
Thursday, September thirtieth, 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"[...] as any classical conductor will tell you, it takes balls to try and orchestrate a four-lane orbital road system. Balls and a knowledge of the electrical grid. [...] Zazie’s intricate blend of piano scales, gooseflesh samples, and faint busker strumming show even the classically trained can capture the city."

Cokemachineglow [cokemachineglow.com]
by George Bass
Tuesday, September twenty-eighth, 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"Ms. Zazie has a way with creating the most hauntingly brilliant minimalist structures. And out of their cold 'absent-lifed' tone's she brings warmth, profound beauty, and overall understanding of the importance of each and every 'small aspect' from life as we know it. [...] you need this album in your life (now). This album is gorgeous/nigh perfect."

Everythingischemical [everythingischemical.blogspot.com]
Tuesday, September fourteenth, 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"'Regen:tropfen' is breathtaking"

justmusicthatilike [justmusicthatilike.com]
Wednesday, October thirteenth, 2010.

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"Her name may suggest that she comes from another star but her melancholic songs display an earthiness that ground her very much in the ethereal here and now."

Mr Nixon's music class edition 86 [myspace.com/paulgarynixon]
by Paul Gary Nixon
Tuesday, December fourteenth 2010.
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The Greek online blog the art of thinking with sounds calls regen:tropfen a "masterpiece" as well.

Thinking with Sounds [theartofthinkingwithsounds.blogspot.com]
by by X?????
Tuesday, December fourteenth 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"Matern hat mit ihrem durchgängigen, neoklassischen Regen:tropfen ein Album geschaffen, das sich locker neben Werken von für sie wichtigen Künstlern wie Peter Broderick oder Yann Tiersen ins Regal stellen lässt. [...] Materns Label, das in London gegründete Drifting Falling, hat jetzt endlich eine weibliche Musikerin im Katalog - herzlichen Glückwunsch zu diesem Signing."

Missy Magazine #04/10 [missy-magazine.de]
by Liz Weidinger

TOSOURCE
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"Regentropfen is a lovely jewelry box melody. […] When Zazie’s voice meets up with the instrumental line, it’s 'pay dirt'.

Pennyblackmusic [pennyblackmusic.co.uk]
by Lisa Torem
Wednesday, October twenty-seventh 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"There’s something incredibly warm and inviting about Regen:Tropfen, like trailing your hands in a stream on a warm day."

Cyclic Defrost [cyclicdefrost.com]
by Joshua Meggitt
Wednesday, October twenty-seventh 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"[...] Zazie's music has the unifying potential to becalm and entertain. Piano and experimental fans alike can be grateful to her for creating such sparse, beautiful art."

The Silent Ballet [thesilentballet.com]
by Tom Meagher
Monday, October twenty-fifth 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"Auf Regen:Tropfen finden sich neben unglaublich melancholischem Klavierspiel atmosphärische Soundschnipsel aus Vogelgezwitscher, knarzenden Türen, plätscherndem Wasser und menschlichen Stimmen. Maike Zazie Materns Album [...] ist extrem introspektiv - und damit genau das richtige für verregnte Herbsttage, an denen man sich nur noch unter der Decke verkriechen möchte."

an.schläge . das feministische monatsmagazin [anschlaege.at]
by Sonja Eismann
October 2010.

TOSOURCE
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"Zazie zet met haar breekbare muziek vooral een intieme sfeer neer, waarbij de regendruppels op de ramen tikken terwijl de open haard knettert. Een onwaarschijnlijk mooi droomdebuut. "

De Subjectivisten [subjectivisten.nl/]
by Jan Willem Broek
Thursday, October seventh, 2010.

TOSOURCE
























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