CD Feature/ Hands on Strings: "Offroad"

For some reason, the word „pure“ always seems to turn up, whenever critics are discussing a CD which heavily features acoustic guitars. So obviously, an album by two renowned masters on the acoustic guitarists has got to be as “pure” as can possibly be, right? Not really. With “Offroad”, Hands on Strings are proving all cliches wrong.

In fact, it is a record which gains its strength from the fact that it can not be labeled at all: It’s too jazzy to be “World Music”. It’s too much in love with melody to be Jazz. It’s too atmospheric to be instrumental pop. And finally, it is much too varied to be pure acoustic guitar music. Stephan Bormann, who has been a driving force in the German guitar scene both as a solo artists and an active collaborator and Thomas Fellow, who teaches in Dresden when he’s not touring as a duo with vocalist Constanze Friend, have made it their task to gently shake expectations with their Hands on Strings project and “Offroad” wanders the same roads as its predecessor “Panamericana”. Again, the emphasis lies on fluent and organic compositions with a bittersweet touch and ample room for concentrated and yet laid-back improvisations. Astor Piazzolla is point on the compass, as are the dust and the heat of the dried out plains and the sinister romanticism of sultry nights. In a step forward from their previous effort, there is also a delicate african element in  few tracks and for the right amount of tension, the duo has not only mixed melancholic pieces with upbeat ones, but also invited in a couple of good friends and great musicians: Cristin Claas sings on “Childhood Dream”, Volker Schlott contributes whiskey-drenched sax lines on “L’isola misteriosa”, Bormann himself creates flickering oscillations with his electric guitars in the phantasnagoric “midnight train”. And on “Back Home”, Hands on Strings seem to play their instruments within the safety of their tent to a backdrop of a gentle rain shower. And it is not for distrust of their abilities that they choose to add these ingredients, but for the listener’s sake, who is rocked from one intense aural postcard to the next.

Within the borders of a closely defined genre, Stephan Bormann and Thomas Fellow have opened the windows wide to let both the sun and some fresh air in. So, no, “Offroad” is not a “pure” album. But it is all the better for it.

By Tobias Fischer

Homepage: Stephan Bormann
Homepage: Thomas Fellow
Homepage: Ozella Records