Hauschka – Salon des Amateurs

Salon des Amateurs is the latest in a growing collection of releases by risk-taking Düsseldorf-based composer Volker Bertelmann, alias Hauschka – who keen-eared readers might know as the man who provided strings on the last Frightened Rabbit record. On Salon..., Hauschka breaks away from previous releases by recruiting Calexico's John Convertino and Samuli Kosminen of Icelandic pop weirdlings múm, to supply live drums to his wordless compositions, partly in homage to the minimalist techno sounds which emanated from the city of Cologne during the 1990s.

The results are largely rewarding; from the furrowed, wirey grooves of Ping to the Steve Reich salute Tanzbein, Hauschka uses interlocking layers of prepared piano to create a thick, percussive groove of unusual sounds packed with tension and melody. Like much classical music, Salon des Amateurs rewards patience, but fans of Reich and Philip Glass can only appreciate what Hauschka has to offer here. [Martin Skivington]