Titel: THOMAS CHRISTOPH HEYDE - HIGH CULTURE MOTHERFUCKER (CD by Phantomnoise)
Publikation: staalplaat, Vital Weekly 632

This is my first encounter with Thomas Christoph Heyde, who recorded
these pieces in the last eight years. He works as a curator, with
‘Forum Zeitgenossicher Musik Leipzig’, writer and musician. His music
is best classified, if you would require such a thing, as modern
classical - real instruments in combination with live electronics. I
always thought of this music as something for the acquired taste -
and it’s a taste I haven’t fully acquired. ‘Fieldz’ for instance, the
opening piece of the album, is something I don’t understand. Teutonic
bombast on percussion, piano arpeggio’s and guitar solos (prog rock
styled) from the turntable. Not a good start. It sounds like music
that is best enjoyed in a live situation, but doesn’t seem to get
across on CD. ‘3x Short -3x Long’ about the S.O.S. morse signal is a
piece that works well however. Here tension is present. But it’s a
short piece, maybe the concise length helped. Many of the other piece
last longer and seem to sink away in a show off of technique, rather
than telling a nice musical story. It’s by no means a bad CD, don’t
get me wrong. It’s just that I still haven’t mastered the acquired
taste for it. (FdW)