Der Hirte Albert

Am Zahn der Zeit

Digital · XJM22003 · ca. 60:00

One article, two names, one duo: Der Hirte Albert are Otto Hirte (saxophone, clarinet, flute) and Leon Albert (guitar) — a Berlin duo formed in 2012 that pairs serious music with sly humour. On their debut album, virtuosic improvisations for double saxophone and baritone guitar meet well-tempered pieces drawing on light entertainment, all the way to twelve-tone works lasting up to fifteen minutes. The titles are part of the concept too: mysterious neologisms, invented words decipherable only backwards, and onomatopoeic numberings. „Der Kübelreiter“ leads into a Kafkaesque search for coal, the five-movement monument „CLONK“ sketches the grinding violence of entrenched structure and bureaucracy, and the title track „WUMS II – Gemeiner Rhythwums“ sets the brutal mathematics of species extinction to music with playful precision. In between stand balladic, melancholic moments such as „Geisenbrunn“ and miniatures scattered across the album like „Tiez“, „Red“, „Nhaz“ and „Ma“. Seriousness and silliness, structure and chaos are held in balance.