NEN (e)merging structures – hypnotic soundscapes
Ania Losinger – Xala III (the world’s first electroacoustic floor-xylophone played by dancing)
Björn Meyer – E-Bass
Chrigel “Tian” Bosshard – Drums
Mats Eser – Fender Rhodes/Vibes
nen-music.com
NEN is a group comprised of three musicians and a musician-dancer. Coming from the most different stylistic backgrounds, joined together in 2015 with the aim of pursuing a common musical idea. Each of them comes with a history that spans decades of experience in countless solo productions, extraordinary projects, world tours and recordings.
The unique instrumentation attracts the listener’s attention:
An electro-acoustic soundingboard named Xala III. Ania Losinger plays this unique, self-invented instrument by dancing on it. Wearing flamenco shoes and using six-foot-high staves, she stamps concise grooves on this raft-like instrument. She appears as a resonating body, expressing the utmost dynamic aesthetic and filling the space with her presence.
Next to her is a six-stringed electric bass played by Swedish master bass guitarist, Björn Meyer, who recently expanded the 2017 ECM catalogue by contributing its first electric bass solo album. Using an assortment of highly unusual playing-techniques, preparations and specifically designed electronic possibilities, he continually conquers new soundscapes. From the depths of his instrument he swings his way upwards towards spherical vocal lines or kneads his bass until ones diaphragm begins to vibrate.
Docked to one side, between his Fender Rhodes and his vibraphone, Mats Eser steers the band confidently through the tides of overlapping cycles and interlaced rhythms. The virtuoso multi-instrumentalist deftly blends acoustic and electronic sounds thus defining the musical scene.
And lastly the drum set is explored to its extreme by another gifted musician. Chrigel “Tian” Bosshard takes on much more than the role of the energy-driven groove drummer. He weaves his sounds into the complexity of the musical tapestry, driving the many-layered structures forwards and getting to the heart of them.
NEN surprises and refuses to fit into any ordinary mould. Whoever experiences a concert by this band is instantly drawn into the typical NEN-surge from which there is no escape. So NEN is a challenge – with positive consequences!