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Alexander Hacke

 

Photo: Thomas Ecke

N E W S

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Hackedepicciotto will be releasing  a new album, The Best of hackedepicciotto (Live in Napoli), that collates over 20 years of collaboration, experimentation and genre defying work over two live performances recorded at Auditorium Novecento, one of the oldest recording studios in Europe. The album will be released on double vinyl, a limited collectors item of  500 copies with exclusive signed print, and digitally on 1 November 2024, via Mute.

 

This new collection of what the duo have dubbed Symphonic Drone is a mixture of industrial beats, electronic sounds with classical harmonies and melodies, with an added pinch of throat singing, Hurdy-gurdy and spoken word. Daniel Miller of Mute goes on to say that “their music is a genre of its own, something new and very intriguing.”

The Best of hackedepicciotto (Live in Napoli) showcases live interpretations of music from across their career. The album includes reinterpretations of tracks from all of their studio albums: Keepsakes (2023), a tender exploration of friendship and loss, The Silver Threshold (2021), their defiant reaction to the pandemic, Perseverantia (2016), which dealt with the artists nomadic lifestyle, Menetekel (2017), which embodies their collective despair at the state of the world, and powerful energy of The Current (2020), recorded by the Irish Sea.

 

For over 20 years Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten) and artist, musician and filmmaker Danielle de Picciotto (co-founder of Love Parade) have been developing and evolving a symbiotic working practise together, with a deep intuition of the kind that has  distinguished a rare number of creative and romantic partnerships – think of the musicians  Lotte Lenya und Kurt Weil , the artists Lee Miller and Man Ray , Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes – each partnership underlined by a creative equality that allowed both artists freedom to explore and expand. In 2001 Hacke and de Picciotto began collaborating, creating elaborate audio/visual multimedia performances in Berlin, before deciding to become nomads. The duo gave up their home and travelled the world, boldly defying convention and becoming a modern, musical version of Bonnie and Clyde, racing from concert to concert, and releasing albums at breakneck speed up until today.

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Berlin-based avant-garde duo hackedepicciotto have returned with Keepsakes, their fifth full length studio album. 

Keepsakes is the duo’s second album released on Mute, and was recorded at one of Europe’s oldest recording spaces, the Neapolitan studio Auditorium Novecento. Inspired by the space, which was home to Caruso and Morricone, the new compositions feature tubular bells and a grand piano within their signature sound of symphonic drone. Where past albums speak of universal themes, this mesmerising new creation has a very personal touch, the duo calls it “an ode to friendship, presenting songs of gratitude”.

releases July 28, 2023

2023 04 28

The incredible David Harrow has done remixes of three hackedepicciotto tracks from the albums PERSEVERANTIA, MENETEKEL & THE CURRENT, which are reissued by Mute Records this week. 

All 3 albums are now available HERE.

2022 11 14

Orchestral Tools have released a sample library of drones played and curated by yours truly. The collection contains feedback guitars and basses, tampuras, hurdy gurdies, trombones, upright basses, basso profundo singers, an e-bowed piano and more. All samples have been recorded with multiple re-mixable microphones in beautiful rooms and are at 60sek extraordinarily long.

The DRONES Library is available HERE
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2022 10 05

This year Alexander Hacke finally re-released his early works, when he used to call himself Alexander von Borsig on a limited edition double Vinyl album, limited to 500 copies, which rapidly sold out. The digital version of the album is still available here though.

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2021 08 12

Super, super exciting announcement:

We (hackedepicciotto) have been signed

by MUTE records!

The greatest honor imaginable.

We are unbelievably happy.

Our next album "The Silver Threshold" will be released by them internationally on
November 12th  2021.

You can also pre-order on our Bandcamp page and see the beautiful cover that legendary

Sven Marquardt photographed for us. 

2020 06 12

Here's the second installment of the "one song per week online performances" of songs from our album
THE CURRENT. If you like what you are hearing, please consider to visit our virtual merch-table at Bandcamp like you would after a show.
Thank You for your Support!

2020 06 05

Dear all,

 

as hackedepicciotto also had to cancel all our tours this year we have decided to perform one song of our new album THE CURRENT each week online. In the short weekly clips hackedepicciotto will also speak about the songs we are presenting and the story of how we composed them. The clips will be like tiny concerts and if you like our music you can go to the hackedepicciotto Bandcamp page and purchase the album as you would after a show.

Today hackedepicciotto are presenting the first song on the album: "Defiance" and any proceeds for this song on Bandcamp will go to Movement for Black Lives: m4bl.org.

2020 06 04

If you would like to hear the talk and experience the Meditation Online Performance we did for the Goethe Institute Seattle, you can see it here. Enjoy

2020 03 25

Dear All,

 

Due to the current situation concerning the Corona virus and the necessity for strict quarantine, resulting in cancellation of all of my scheduled appearances so far, I find myself with a lot of free time on my hands, which I'd like to fill with work assignments.

 

So, if you are interested in having me work on your music, as in mixing, re-mixing, or arranging it, anything I can do in the studio, please get in touch via the contact form here, on the studio website, or by sending a personal message via the social media channels listed below. 

Also, if you'd like me to write some score for a film-project, do not hesitate to let me know. I'd be happy to discuss details with you.

Be well, stay healthy and act responsibly,

(H)

2019 12 14 

 

 

 

hackedepicciotto

are happy to announce the fourth album they have recorded since becoming nomads in 2010:

THE CURRENT

The long player will be released on

January, the 31st of 2020.

It is their most powerful album yet. After composing desert drones for their previous album “Perseverantia “ and dark foreboding melodies for “Menetekel”, their new album moves forwards, gaining in speed and energy. Alexander Hackes background with Einstürzende Neubauten can be felt in the many rhythmic tracks.  “We had the urge to include more percussive elements and electronic sounds to create a powerful rhythmic feel. A wilder and more danceable element. Something to get all of us on our feet, and moving. Away from depression and hopelessness.” The classic background of Danielle de Picciotto has become more prominent as well.  Glorious choirs and violin harmonies flow throughout the album giving it an almost symphonic sound.The artist couple calls their music “cinematic-drone” and their album sounds like the film track to an apocalyptic feature-length film, hopefully with a happy end.

SHOWS

 

2019.12 12

We are happy to announce  the fourth album hackedepicciotto have recorded since becoming nomads in 2010:  THE CURRENT.

The long player will be released on

January, the 31st of 2020.

It is their most powerful album yet. After composing desert drones for their previous album “Perseverantia “ and dark foreboding melodies for “Menetekel”, their new album moves forwards, gaining in speed and energy. Alexander Hackes background with Einstürzende Neubauten can be felt in the many rhythmic tracks.  “We had the urge to include more percussive elements and electronic sounds to create a powerful rhythmic feel. A wilder and more danceable element. Something to get all of us on our feet, and moving. Away from depression and hopelessness.” The classic background of Danielle de Picciotto has become more prominent as well.  Glorious choirs and violin harmonies flow throughout the album giving it an almost symphonic sound.The artist couple calls their music “cinematic-drone” and their album sounds like the film track to an apocalyptic feature-length film, hopefully with a happy end.

2019 12 10
hackedepicciotto are currently doing a residency at The Guesthouse in Cork, Ireland.
2019 11 05
Here's the third episode of "Ein Fall für Dr. Abel", for which hackedepicciotto did the film-score. It will be showing today on German television SAT1 at 20:15h.
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2019 10 28
Today another episode for the German SAT1 tv-series "Ein Fall für Dr. Abel", I for which we composed the film-music will be shown at 20:15h.
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2018.11.25
We are happy to announce that hackedepicciotto have composed the film score for the best seller "Zersetzt" by Prof. Dr. Michael Tsokos. The true crime thriller will be aired on the 11th of December on SAT.1 German television.
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2018.10.22
We are happy to present the new film documentary “Traumfänger,
Die Lange Reise des Künstlerpaares Danielle de Picciotto und Alexander Hacke“
 
by
Margarete Kreuzer with guest appearances by Gudrun Gut, Blixa Bargeld,
Frieder Butzmann, Dr. Motte, Jonas Burger and David Czerny amongst others.
Please click the picture below to watch.
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2018.09.04
Preview of silent movie project "Crossroads" by hackedepicciotto:

hackedepicciotto wrote the music for this film:

IUVENTA will also be shown on German TV on 3SAT on Monday,the 13th of August 2018, at 10:25PM.

2018.08.06

Hackedepicciotto have finally finished their second meditation album.
This time with two very illustrious guests:
Vincent Signorelli and Eric Hubel,
(legendary drummer of Unsane and
guitarist of Glenn Branca, both masters of unusual instruments).
We are extremely happy with the result and
would like to invite you to listen to the music on our bandcamp page.
If you enjoy the compositions you can buy them directly at
neubauten.org or bandcamp

2018.03.27

The second video for Menetekel is now online.

"Dreamcatcher" was directed and produced by Uli Schueppel and can be watched here.

2018.07.02

The first video for Menetekel is now online.

"All Are Welcome" was directed and produced by Sylvia Steinhäuser and can be watched here.

New album out now.

Menetekel” is obtainable here.

2018.01.22
Menetekel
PRESS

"(Menetekel is-) their best album yet – a wonderful synthesis of two people in love and full of the possibility of music and a resonating, vibrating drone mantra of an album that is full of brooding beauty and a sense of wonder and melancholy and a wonderful work and piece of art."

Louder Than War

 

"(Menetekel is-) an album that combines dread and wonder with the inevitability of warning."

The Wire

Menetekel ist ein paganistisch-spirituelles Soundscape-Hörspiel, dramaturgisch durchkomponiert und doch frei und assoziativ.

Kaput-Mag

Menetekel schert sich mit seiner entschleunigten Wuchtdramaturgie zum Glück nicht um die minimierten Aufmerksamkeitsspannen im Whatsapp- und Twitter-Zeitalter. 

Spex

Ganz schön intensiv war das letzte Album von Alexander Hacke und Danielle de Picciotto. Dass es noch intensiver geht, zeigt das Traumpaar der Experimental-Avantgarde auf „Menetekel“. Es ist ein düsteres Meisterwerk, das Unbehagen erzeugen will. Eine Vorahnung vom Untergang der Welt, eine Reflexion aktueller Zustände.

Sonic Seducer

Auf "Menetekel" klingen Folk und Traditionals aus unterschiedlichen Weltregionen an, aber auch sakrale Musik. Und vor allem: Drone.

Taz

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