London, 2018

 

The Amsterdam Sessions is the second release by Piano and Coffee Records. Following the label’s philosophy, this project is an international co-operation between Swedish artist and multi-instrumentalist Fabian Rosenberg (aka Klangriket) and Dutch artist Sjors Mans. Both musicians focus their works between solo piano pieces, improvisation and experimentation as well as ambient music. The Amsterdam Sessions is the result of five days of writing and recording music in Sjors Man’s studio in Amsterdam. Five tracks—named after various locations in Amsterdam—that make you travel between both musicians’ universes.

 

Vondelpark sets the mood for the Amsterdam Sessions; what sounds like an improvised intimate piano accompaniment slowly evolves into a pulsating ostinato completed by ambient sheets of strings and sound effects. The waltz-like Hamestraat is a delicate piece in the style of German composer Nils Frahm. Halfway trough, the piece is supplemented by the addition of strings—performed by Elias Sjöwall and Frida Holmgren. The pulsating electronic soundscape Prinsengracht recalls some of Pink Floyd’s mid-period works, as well as the early synths music and German Krautrock. Leidseplein returns to the melancholy of Hamestraat with both the piano and strings swelling like waves of sounds demonstrating how silence and sound coexist together. The final track of the Amsterdam Sessions, Zeedjik, mixes ambient sounds with fragments of musical ideas and electronic experimentations.

 

The Amsterdam Sessions appears like a journey between traditional and modern, through the filter of experimental music and all within the frames of the contemporary classical language. Much like its artwork—created by Paulina Granat—the EP attracts curiosity and interest. The Amsterdam Sessions is a spontaneous piece of work, displaying the virtues of collaboration and improvisation. Another great example of Piano and Coffee Records’ ability to identify talent and originality.