In order to make her own niche in the world of European free improvisation, Charlotte Hug has developed new bowing techniques on the viola. She has found sounds that, while one hundred percent acoustic in nature, evoke the microscopic textures of crackling analog electronic improvisation (think Voice Crack, in particular). Hug often performs in semi-electronic contexts, but to this day her most convincing music has been acoustic, whether in Tony Wren's Quatuor Accorde or in trio with Maggie Nicols and Caroline Kraabel. Neuland supersedes all of her previous efforts, even her first solo album MauerrauM WandrauM. Her techniques, which involve moistening the hairs of the bow or loosening them to the point where they offer no resistance and leave no space between string and wood, have come to full fruition. Focused on sound and texture rather than pitch or rhythm, her music fascinates because of its unheard-of sounds -- or repulses for the same reason. But repeated listens reveal beyond the novelty and apparent abstract nature of her improvisations a wide range of emotions (some very crude) that speak to us in a gripping way. The 40-minute suite House of Detention (in 10 parts) presents a number of well-defined and developed ideas that showcase Hug's original playing without making a demonstration out of it. The music remains intimate, hardly escaping the artist's personal sphere, but it doesn't have the sparseness of Berlin reductionism or any approach favoring silence as sound. The suite is bookended by two 10-minute pieces, both more extroverted and at times verging on the frantic. Neuland is a landmark in Hug's career and comes highly recommended. ~ François Couture, Rovi

1		Delirium
2		House of Detention: Wet
3		House of Detention: Dweller
4		House of Detention: Quarry
5		House of Detention: Dwell On
6		House of Detention: Wood
7		House of Detention: Dwellers
8		House of Detention: Flow
9		House of Detention: Rotation
10		House of Detention: Pulsation
11		House of Detention: Signs
12		No Land