WERTHER / WITTWER easily stand up to the paradox of the simultaneity between standing still and racing along(GROB info)
w2 is shorthand for "Werther / Wittwer", a duo consisting of Michael Wertmüller (drums) and Stephan Wittwer (guitar, electronic devices, studio production).
In concert their goals are high and classical: to overcome gravity, to lift the bandstand!
While Werther is an overdrive virtuoso drummer (and serious contemporary composer, too), Wittwer often prefers to use his guitar as a mere input source for some modulation processes (noise magnification - sound improvisation).
Their music is improvised and sometimes loud. Electronically altered feedback and distortion sounds meet pure intense drums - somewhere between noise, free jazz and rock!
Their CD "I" was released 2000 on the Cologne-based GROB-label. See infos and links below.
WERTHER / WITTWER have been playing so far in Berlin (Cafè Zapata at Tacheles), Köln (Stadtgarten, Joseph Haubrich Kunsthalle), Darmstadt, Zürich (Suntic Records, Hauser & Wirth & Presenhuber, Blauer Saal IGNM/Karbon) Thun (Kunstmuseum), Luzern, Bern (Reitschule, Reithalle), Chur (Lüdi-Fest! Marsöhl), Marseille (G.R.I.M.). They have been guests of the "Eugene Robinson-Show" (WahWah on Viva 2, german pop television, view screenshots below)
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|---|---|
| title | "I" |
| artist | WERTHER / WITTWER |
| year | 2000 |
| label | GROB |
| # | GROB.204 LC 10292 |
| style | improvised noise with rock and free jazz elements |
| liner notes | Dietmar Dath -> read liner notes! |
| cover design | Frank Zubeil |
| recording | Voco Fauxpas (Artag Studio AG, Zürich) |
| production, mix, editing, mastering | Stephan Wittwer (Studio Mü) |
| support | Pro Helvetia, Studio Mü, w2 |
| executive production | Felix Klopotek (GROB) |
| drums | Michael Wertmüller |
| guitar, electronics | Stephan Wittwer |
| compositions | Michael Wertmüller & Stephan Wittwer SUISA |
GROB.204 Werther/Wittwer - I info from GROB catalog
"Wow! Voilà un disque qui décoiffe! ..."
"Hören sie die Musik laut und verlassen Sie Ihren Körper!"
"Ein starkes Stück."
"This music is not just pushing weight, it's pushing the envelope."
"...as much a red rag to Euro-Improv purists as a Chapman Brothers show is to Brian Sewell."
"Powerful, enthusiastic and full of great ideas!"
"...Wie man bei freier Improvisation zu Freejazz und tatsächlich neuartiger Musik kommt, zeigt dagegen das Duo Werther/Wittwer."
"Hier wird die Frage, ob man überhaupt noch authentisch extravertiert sein kann, emphatisch bejaht. Man muss einfach an Jimi Hendrix und Jerry Lee Lewis denken: Great Balls Of Fire. Groß und viel Feuer."
"...Black Sabbath 3000 meet Elvin Jones 3000..."
w2