"If The International Nothing are twin ghosts of Jimmy Giuffre – throbbing, intertwining clarinet chord work – then this expanded incarnation of the Berlin group might have strayed onto a Tom Waits record. Christian Weber’s string bass and Eric Schaefer’s drums propel the clarinets out of the city and into the farmyard with their ornery grooves. Schaefer’s kit in particular has a wonderful sound, like he just got back from a 1940s dance date – Cosy Cole And The Ellingtonians perhaps?
Clarinettists Kai Fagaschinski and Michael Thieke captured my attention right from the first furry discord of their 2006 debut Mainstream. Though all these four musicians are deeply involved in Berlin improvising, The Nothing project was a reaction against reductionist concerns, focused on collaborative composing with notes, harmonies and even songs: Fagaschinski and Thieke are also members of The Magic ID with singers Christof Kurzmann and Magareth Kammerer. Their three duo albums on Ftarri blend a kind of clinical, almost ruthless intelligence with the sensuous sexiness of those bristling multiphonics and difference tones. For the current release they’ve moved to the Polish Monotype label but retained Masae Tanabe, their brilliant sleeve designer.
Expanding to a quartet means a wider dynamic range, so The Nothing can ascend to ecstatic climaxes, while staying entirely committed to their twin woodwind textures. “The Golden Age Of Miscommunication” has Weber’s bass scampering through a rapid riff below a cloudscape of hovering trills and tremolos. “Nothing’s Gonna Last Forever” (see what they did there?) rumbles darkly beneath the chords – it’s funereal, but those clarinets are always tactile. The playing is refined, constructing textural curiosities inspired by electronics. Then Schaefer adds irresistible brushwork and a big old slackskinned kick drum, the sort you want never to stop. “Something Went Wrong” has Schaefer tackling a kind of dub march, eventually loosening into swing while the clarinets pump out an idée fixe fanfare. It all sounds suspiciously like Berlin having fun."
Clive Bell, THE WIRE