As this second release on the label comes out almost a full year since the first (the rather excellent Jasper TX album A Darkness), it is probably fair to say that Lidar Productions aren’t exactly out to flood the market with product. I’m sure they would say that they are concentrating on quality, not quantity, but so does every lazy fucker who can’t be bothered to put in a day of hard graft down the mill, me included. (”Quality, not quantity!”. “Umm, no, that is one grain of wheat. A good grain, granted, but I’d rather not starve, so I’ll have the loaf of bread”). However, records as delicious as the Jasper TX and this new self-titled Bersarin Quartett (sic, whatever that means) one don’t come around that often, so maybe, just maybe, they’ve got a point.

Bersarin Quartett wouldn’t be a quartet, even if they could spell it. They are but one man (a mere quarter of a quartet) from Munster and this is his addition to the ’soundtracks to imaginary films using classical instrumentation and electronics’ genre. The range of the record is notable: from the more conventional classical-sounding pieces through some crisp programmed beats and up through to some more abstract work. It begins with the dubby Massive Attack / Craig Armstrong feel of “Oktober”, and follows this with the sharply contrasting “Inversion”, whose startling cello and vocal drones skirt the boundary between Stars Of The Lid and Ligeti’s Requiem. After the further alien crescendos of “Und Die Welt Steht Still”, and the perky trumpet and drums finale of “Die Dinge Sind Nie So Wie Sind” (a bit post-rock, even), the album’s closing tracks career from processed Morricone guitar up to something busier, perhaps an orchestral off-cut from Autechre’s Amber. So, never mind the quality, feel the width, perhaps? Well, except for the fact that this record is just shot through with so much quality.

So that makes it 2 years, 2 fine releases for Lidar.  A great start for them, and a great start for 2008.  Bersarin Quartett is released on February 13th on Lidar. Listen to more on Bersarin Quartett’s Myspace page.