Rrose has collaborated with Charlemagne Palestine on a new piano LP, out on April 25 via Rrose’s Eaux label.

The Goldennn Meeenn + Sheenn is a rework of Palestine’s 1976 long piece “The Golden Mean,” originally performed on two pianos. 

Palestine and Rrose first joined forces a decade ago, when Rrose was studying at Mills College. Rrose was inspired to play Palestine’s “Strumming Music” in the grand wooden halls of the Mills Student Union, and wrote to Palestine enquiring about a score. Palestine answered that there was no official score, instead exuberantly inviting Rrose to study with him in Belgium, at his home. Then, in 2018, the Festival Variations in Nantes commissioned Palestine to perform “The Golden Mean,” reworking the piece for two pianists, and Palestine chose Rrose to join him in this new rendition of the work. Together, they performed “The Golden Mean,” reborn as “The Goldennn Meeenn + Sheeenn,” onstage at the main opera house in Nantes. 

The concept of the ‘golden mean’ goes back to the roots of mathematics, and ancient Greek philosophy. It is an important work in the Palestine mythos, embodying his total immersion in the power of the interval. “It’s probably his most systematic work… a step-by-step journey through the intervals of the octave,” says Rrose. “When we rehearsed it, we were noticing how each interval is like a universe of its own—with its own history, emotions, and sonic qualities all mixed up together. Every time you move from one interval to the next, it feels like moving into another world.”

This recording is beautifully recorded, with mastering by Rashad Becker of Dubplates and Mastering, and feels “expansive, radiant, and hypnotic, opening new ears to its enduring mystery,” we’re told. 

“Do not focus your attention on the notes being played, but on the ocean of overtones swimming, suspended, overhead, brushing against one another, kissing one another, melting into one another.”— Rrose

Tracklisting

CD + digital

01. The Goldennn Meeenn + Sheeenn

Vinyl (edited)

A. The Goldennn Meeenn + Sheeenn (part 1)

B. The Goldennn Meeenn + Sheeenn (part 2)

The Goldennn Meeenn + Sheenn lands April 25, with a teaser below.