dan warburton:
seeming to avoid anything resembling traditional development of musical ideas, the music of vienna's polwechsel (bassist werner dafeldecker, cellist michael moser, guitarist burkhard stangl and britain's john butcher on saxophones, all of whom also use electronics of some sort) has more in common with so-called contemporary classical music than with 'mainstream' european free improvisation. (hence perhaps dafeldecker's decision to release their third album on his durian imprint – new look: circular soft plastic cases, minimal info on both disc and accompanying website – which is becoming increasingly interested in contemporary composition: recent durian releases include orchestral music by georg lopez and chamber works by clemens gadenstaetter). 'top secret, no scores only strategies,' is all dafeldecker will say when pressed to discuss his composition 'government', whose discontinuity and uncompromisingly harsh material do not make for easy listening. if the sounds themselves weren't so viscerally intense, one might even describe it as unemotional, but detached is perhaps a better adjective – dafeldecker's mix inserts discrete blocks of aurally striking material into lengthy silences, like giacometti sculptures in a huge empty gallery. there seems to be no reason why events appear in the order they do; the listener is forced to reconstruct the work's architecture from memory in order to understand it, and repeated listening only serves to confuse. it's a structure that seems to take perverse pleasure in its own secrecy, rendering the listener uneasy, even paranoid – what else could it be called then if not 'government'? 'schlieren' ('smears'), though more precisely notated (as opposed to the verbal instructions and suggestions in 'government') often sounds quite similar. like 'toaster' (on 'polwechsel 2') the piece explores the inherent impossibility of acoustic instruments to compete with electronics, in terms of being able to sustain stable pitches and dynamics. what makes the track come alive is precisely the attention to detail it provokes on the part of the listener. exploring the aesthetics of failure, or rather human fallibility, only means something in a musical context when the performer is clearly heard to be failing (brian ferneyhough take note). moser contributes two compositions, 'not forgetting the forgetting', a clinical and for the most part notated exploration of sustained notes and microtonal inflections which eventually plunges into the low register grit of dafeldecker's bass, and 'mendota stoppages', which takes up on the same c sharp where its predecessor leaves off, its looser scoring giving butcher a little more space to explore his multiphonics. 'floater' was written by butcher, who provided an electronic backing track of sorts synthesized on an old korg ms20 and a 'score' consisting of little more than instructions (specifying when rather than what to play). it's an austere end to a thought-provoking and unsettling album.

nick cain:
polwechsel polwechsel 3 cd [durian] heavily anticipated third album from this always impressive quartet - john butcher (tenor, soprano), werner dafeldecker (double bass, guitar, electronics), michael moser (violoncello), burkhard stangl (guitars) - whose first two boundary-blurring releases, though initially ignored, have slowly infiltrated the global improv/new music/electro-acoustic consciousness.
polwechsel 3 presents five new compositions, of which dafeldecker and moser contribute two each, and as ever, their respective aesthetics contrast interestingly. dafeldecker’s pieces are 'cold', segmented, geometric and interval-based: 'government' jump-cuts its way towards a lengthy passage where short instrumental interjections are interspersed with moments of silence, which gradually become shorter and further apart as the bursts of playing mutate and become longer; 'schlieren' unceremoniously adds a layer of sound to and then subtracts if from a slightly wavering pitch at varying intervals. moser’s tensile, warmly melodic pieces are more readily reminiscent of improv: 'not forgetting the forgetting' is a comparatively elegaic exercise in overlapping short-form drones of undulating register; it almost puts me in mind of that la monte young cd of two trumpet quartets from some years back. the players time their contributions judiciously, slipping in an out of the mix adroitly, establishing a subtle but insistent momentum. moser expands on this method in the more dramatic 'mendota stoppages', whose ever-shifting juxtapositions of ensemble sound gradually thread a delicate tension between group discipline and individual will, quietly exploring the space between composition and improvisation. john butcher’s appropriately titled 'floater', a loosely drifting instrumental assemblage, closes the disc nicely. these musicians - and the strain of music-making they represent - have received more attention and exposure in recent years, and though totally deserved, it has to an extent familiarised listeners with their vocabulary and approach to playing. consequently polwechsel 3 may leave long-term fans feeling that this group hasn’t extrapolated on its previous offerings in quite the way it might have been expected to. by anyone else’s standards, however, this is an excellent release.

ken waxman:
sound produced by the austrian/british band polwechsel has been described as being not about tunes but textures, and with finding instruments' extreme tonal states as they interact in a very narrow dynamic range.true enough, but as a new music group that plays partially composed creations, the band is also about the anonymity of musicians. even though the tones devised on this thought-provoking cd are unique, the idea seems to be that they could come from any group playing these instruments. that may be the band's philosophy, but when one group member is british saxophonist john butcher, who possess one of improv's most distinctive voices, the supposition is rather odd, if not self-defeating. fortunately, the philosophy seems to be honored more in theory than practice. take 'schlieren', for instance, the disc's shortest track, and the only one in which werner dafeldecker is purported to be playing bass guitar rather than electronics. you can hear the shape of the saxophonist's distinctive note and tone selection and be certain that the vibrations come from metal, keys and a reed. around them though, are electronic sounds existing at higher and lower frequencies, with the lower ones probably originating in the bass guitar and the higher ones in its six-string cousin. there's also 'mendota stoppages', written by cellist michael moser. although it seems most concerned with different methods of expressing slow motion creations, almost at the piece's conclusion there's an odd, romantic-sounding interlude courtesy of the saxophonist. still it's brutally truncated by what sounds like a tape reeling running out. was this planned or were the other musicians, who walk the fine line between composed and improv music with such ensembles as klangforum wien and ton.art, fearful of indulging that emotion? surrounding this passage, after all, is a concerto of miniscule guitar strums, extended cello scratches and reverberating metal-tinged breaths from the sax. electronics throb first quietly in the background, then loudly in the foreground, then vice versa. stasis also appears to characterize the dafeldecker-composed, more-than-16-minute first track. beginning with whooshes of pure electronic static, which reappear throughout, you begin to wonder which unsetting, often unattached sonic relates to which instrument. almost soundless in certain sections, thwacks, crackles and squeaks probably result from string and neck finger placement, while expansive air currents, sporadically resembling attempts to contact space satellites, are likely from the saxophone. if you're willing to turn your sound system up and suspend a demand for melody and rhythm, the disc can be particularly fascinating. your points of resemblance may be awfully limited, though. polwechsel's self-conscious demand to be accepted on its own terms extends to the packaging. in the past, durian has limited its product to minimal notes, typeface and designs on its cd sleeves. now, however, its newest discs arrive in see-through plastic receptacles, the exact shape of a cd, with song titles and composer credits printed on the disc. any additional information must be found on the label's web site. it's probably more economical to do things this way, but it's still one more impediment between the music and its potential audience.

rfrancois couture:
eleased two years after polwechsel 2, this third album features the same quartet: john butcher, michael moser, werner dafeldecker, and burkhard stangl. the emphasis has been brought back to acoustic instrument, while the previous opus focused on electronic and guitar textures - it makes no difference, it all sounds alien and discorporated.
yet, despite the fact that the quartet continues to walk the path of textural noise and minimal gestures, polwechsel 3 is very different than its older brothers. different but just as fascinating, challenging and rewarding. dafeldeckers two compositions follow the same canvas:
cut-throat bursts of noise spaced by silence - government or whisper-quiet sine waves and free improvisation - schlieren. the razor-sharp tightness with which the segments begin and end suggests the piece could be the result of editing artistry since it is probably not the case, it makes the performance all the more commendable. ever heard of a piece keeping you on the edge of your seat? expectation is the key here. the two moser compositions on the other hand focus on long, quiet notes. in not forgetting the forgetting tones from cello, double bass and soprano saxophone piggy-back on each other, creating the fugitive illusion of sine waves. butchers floater applies his findings with axel doerner and xavier charles to polwechsel: each musician searches for the organic sound that is not a tone.the piece gurgles and crackles, once again mesmerizing the listener. if this cd sounds less revolutionary than polwechsel 2, it is only because butcher, dafeldecker and stangl have enjoyed a little more exposure since 1999.

richard di santo:
this is the third cd for polwechsel, a gathering of four composers/performers/improvisers: john butcher, tenor & soprano sax; werner dafeldecker, double bass, guitar, electronics; michael moser, violoncello and burkhard stangl, guitars. featured on the disc are two compositions by dafeldecker, two more by moser, and a final piece by john butcher. with characteristic precision, these performers create five demanding, subtle and complex works for our listening pleasure. in the first piece, by durian's founding father werner dafeldecker, subtle electronics dominate the palette, while the less intrusive sounds from the other players occupy the spaces in between. it's a wonderful piece with a series of captivating turns and a beautiful dynamic range. the next piece by moser opens with what could be the coupling of sax and violoncello, which creates a mysterious harmony, later peppered by the plucking, strumming and grinding of strings. the contrasting textures certainly make for an interesting listening experience. the third piece, also by moser, sounds best at higher volumes; the clarity and closeness of the recording compliments the dramatic and commanding movements. the fourth piece, again by dafeldecker, is another compelling arrangement for the quartet, with short drones alternating with higher pitched sounds like sine waves dominating the piece, each shift and pronouncement as surprising as the last. the final piece, by john butcher, features a compelling performance on double bass and all manner of plucking, grinding, whistling, and electronic textures weaving a tight web throughout. the closer you get to these performances, the more they offer. hiding behind the sounds in the foreground are subtle sounds and hidden possibilities worth exploring with close and careful listening. excellent work.

how electronics have changed improv
by art lange:
polwechsel is a cooperative quartet, based in vienna, consisting of werner dafeldecker's acoustic bass, guitar, and electronics, cellist michael moser, guitarist burkhard stangl, and butcher, who in this case replaced founding member radu malfatti. generally, polwechsel is more concerned with process than edifice -- that is, extending improvisational activity and investigating the minute details that emerge along the way, rather than attempting to build a unified structure. however, interestingly, where on each of these other discs all of the music is credited as group compositions (improvisations), the five pieces on 'polwechsel 3' (durian) are each attributed to a single composer. this suggests that the 'composer' may be offering options or strategies that direct but not hinder the improvisations or, as appears to be the case in dafeldecker's 'government', has some measure of control over the final result. 'government' begins with approximately three minutes of a grinding electronic drone (are the instruments buried inaudibly underneath?) before fugitive acoustic sounds occur and are cut-off by passages of silence. the sounds themselves are ambiguous -- it's difficult to distinguish between the instruments, and the compositional methodology is equally unclear. is it a continuous soundscape cut apart, or a sequence of brief, separate vignettes? the intentional confusion between ensemble relationships and abstract forms continues in moser's 'mendota stoppages', where small, discontinuous details inhabit the same space but (perhaps intentionally) don't coalesce (as they do in the butcher/durrant/lee trio, by way of comparison), and butcher's "floater," which includes pre-recorded samples of ambient nature sounds in among the instrumental conflux.

peter wullen:
het weense ensemble polwechsel, bestaande uit werner dafeldecker, michael moser, john butcher en burkhard stangl, stamt uit de minimalistische jazzhoek van het begin van de jaren negentig maar is op het derde album op dafeldeckerõs label durian duidelijk opgeschoven naar hedendaagse compositie en elektronica. in het eerste nummer, de zestien minuten durende laptopcompositie government, worden de bijdragen van de verschillende bandleden in microtonen opgesplitst en door de powerbook vandafeldecker gejaagd. erg verrassend omdat dit evengoed een track van rehberg & bauer, farmers manual of fennesz had kunnen zijn. de wederzijdse beonvloeding en de kruisbestuiving tussen de verschillende stromingen in de wenense muziekwereld heeft als merkwaardig resultaat dat dafeldecker binnenkort trouwens de studio induikt met niemand minder dan fennesz. polwechsel 3 laat bovendien een veel krachtiger geluid horen dan we van polwechsel tot nu toe gewoon waren. de eerste gelijknamige cd uit 94, toen nog met trombonist radu malfatti, was een zeer abstract en hermetisch album waar de stiltes even belangrijk waren als de gebroken akoestische sounds. polwechsel keerde het jazzspectrum op zijn kop en was een voorloper in het minimaal-akoestische genre. in plaats van virtuoos tegen elkaar op te spelen, oefenden de bandleden zich in het elkaar overtoeven met een zo stil mogelijk geluid. malfatti verliet de band en schoof in zijn solocomposities en zijn samenwerkingen verder op naar de stilte. met de integratie van de brit john butcher werd polwechsel 2 een opener album dat ook voor gewone oren genietbaar was door de subtiele integratie van elektronica. die evolutie wordt verdergezet op polwechsel 3 dat nog veel hybrieder klinkt dan zijn twee voorgangers. na ôgovernmentõ wordt in de overige vier nummers de elektronica immers weer opgeborgen en geopteerd voor een akoestische aanpak. tijdens schlieren dachten we opnieuw enkele laptopmanipulaties te ontwaren. maar not forgetting the forgetting, mendota stoppages en floater keren dan weer terug naar het diepgevroren en abstracte klankbeeld van de eerste twee polwechsel-albums. de verstrooide en verstilde klanken van polwechsel 3 lonken tegelijk naar twee werelden: naar die van de klanktovenaars van de wenense underground *n naar de pluchen zetels van dat de hedendaagse muziekwereld. in **n woord: subliem!