Debut album of the Viennese duo Rotterdam and the result of a ten-year-long experimental process. Far away from any conventions or traditional song arrangements, Susanne Amann (cello, flute, electronics) and Michael Klauser (acoustic guitar, electronics) create constantly pulsating sound patterns that draw their power from the continuous compression of sound elements. Their experimental and avantgardist tracks, mastered by the Berliner Stefan Betke (Scape) and Kassian Troyer, are reduced to the essential: minimalist beats and repetitive loops combine with samples and acoustics, merging into instrumental sound paintings of an extremely hypnotic, even danceable effect. Rotterdam celebrates the power of monotony, which has rarely before sounded so varied. (Michael Ternai)