Christoph Heemann and Jim O'Rouke
In presenting the work of Christoph Heemann and Jim O’Rouke, IMPAKT spotted two young musicians and composers who link knowledge of 20th-century music with original opinions, giving an impulse to contemporary experimental music.
At the IMPAKT-festival Christoph Heemann and Jim O’Rouke, both gave a taped concert of recent work. They also performed a collaborative piece for several musicians and live-electronics.
Christoph Heemann began his sound experimentations in 1983. Together with Achim Flaam, he founded Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa (HNAS). The music of this project is characterized by a sound conception in which elements like Noise, Minimal Music, Mystique Concrete and Progressive Rock are combined in a unique blend. The sound language created by this fusion is alienating and yet often humorous.
The work of Jim O’Rouke can be divided roughly between his work as an improviser and composer. As an improvising guitarist, he has played and recorded with Henry Kaiser, Derek Bailey, Eddie Prevost and Keith Rowe of AMM among many others. He has also worked with many in the ‘post-industrial’ avant-garde including Organum, Main, John Duncan and K.K.Null. His compositions range from the acoustic to electro-acoustic pieces that utilize naturally occurring sounds which examine the intrinsic value of recorded representation. He has written pieces for The Rova Saxophone Quartet and The Kronos Quartet amongst others.