BURNT FRIEDMAN is one of Germany’s leading electronic musicians with a career spanning almost 40 years. His partnership with Jaki Liebezeit, the former drummer of CAN, has spanned over 15 years, resulting in a pioneering electronic-acoustic craft and musical vocabulary that stands apart the formula of Western European and Anglo-American music.
In his sound-lecture SHADOWS OF THE WEST Burnt Friedman explores the fundamental differences between “Western” and “non-Western” musics in their use of rhythm. He argues that the vocabulary of ‘western popular music’ has stagnated, referencing cultural theorist Mark Fisher’s notion of “the slow cancelation of the future”.
By talking about his work with Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit and their concept of “secret” rhythms, Burnt will shed light on the nature of rhythm and address mis-conceptions in the popular account of rhythm that circulates today.