Volker Bertelmann is perhaps better known now as a film soundtrack composer, often in collaboration with Dustin O’Hallaran. But his alter ego Hauschka has been around for much longer. I first came across him from hearing about his prepared piano pieces, which piqued my interest as a fan of John Cage’s pioneering work in this 70 years previously. I was exciting to see him perform live at the Barbican as part of the Transcendentalists tour along with O’Hallaran and Johann Johannsson, a memorable musical event I’ve written about previously. I saw him more recently than that, also at the Barbican in their smaller venue at Milton Court in April 2019 for the release of his LP A Different Forest. Despite all the almost-avant garde credentials, Ferndorf contains fairly classically-structured pieces that sound less edgy or experimental to my ears now than they did 10 or so years ago. About half of the tracks here are improvised and watching him do this live is a thrill that can’t quite be captured with the same excitement as a recording. Highlights here are the opener Blue Bicycle which is rather delicate and precise; Rode Null which is one of my favourites, a perfect arrangement of piano, violin and percussion; and Neuschnee, which sounds like a track that should be on an album by Cluster or Neu! but instead it sounds almost parochial and wistful. This is less surprising when you read the sleeve notes and his dedication to his parents and the region of Ferndorf in Austria where Bertelmann hails from. @hauschkamusic #volkerbertelmann #ferndorf #preparedpiano #contemporaryclassical @fatcat_records #piano #vinyl #recordcollection #nowplaying #randomrecordreview https://www.instagram.com/p/CLm8M5Rs5PG/?igshid=17wckxg3wwonp