Markus Reuter - 2018 - Winter Solstice

(56:27; Iapetus [2025 Edition] )






















This album was recorded live at home in Berlin on December 17th, 2018, and has Markus using Touch Guitars® AU8, Guitar Synth, Dual Looping System to create soundscapes of tunes which are popular in Germany at Christmas. We have five songs which come in a total of 56 minutes in length, and Markus has created meditative soundscapes (based on the series of pitches of each tune) and then overdubbed normal versions of the melodies, which means the brain is listening to the usual version as well as a very different one, both at the same time and it is strangely relaxing, familiar and strange, all at the same time. I find it highly unusual to hear Markus playing what I think of as standard guitar, as I know him as an inspirational live composer who is a master of his instruments and uses his skills and techniques to push music in unusual directions. Consequently, the “easy to understand” melodies are the ones I found most confounding as they are most unexpected and starting with “Silent Night” I was immediately having issues trying to work out what was going on and if I liked it.

However, as with much of his output, it is repetition which reveals the mastery, and he has extended some of these songs to create something which is very different to the originals, and while I did not know many of those included I was able to get inside and feel very Christmassy indeed (even though I have only just got to them and it is March and 28℃). I have long been a fan of Reuter’s work, and this ambient album demonstrates another very different side to him and is one I have enjoyed immensely. Best to be played at night, on headphones, looking up at the stars and letting oneself drift away on the layers of sound being created. 

Kev Rowland, March 2026

Links:
https://www.markusreuter.com/
https://www.facebook.com/iapetusstore

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