Pitchfork

Electronic chameleons from Germany like Jan Jelinek have a tough time building a fan base across the Atlantic-- not that Jelinek is overly concerned with our affection or anything. It just means tours like his come few and far between, so here's your warning, we'll spell it out for you: beginning last night in Boston, Jelinek kicked off a eight date tour spanning North America's two coasts, including two towns known for their jam-band embracing proclivities: Boulder and Austin.

Jelinek has previously toured America with the likes of Thomas Fehlmann, Pole, and Burnt Friedman, and, writing to Pitchfork via email, betrayed an appreciation for the mess of a country he's about to travel: "The U.S. is so diverse, sometimes its like a cliché, like an image taken from an American TV series, sometimes it's totally surprising and unexpected. You meet a lot of obscure and nice people, which I like."

When asked how well his previous shows were received, Jelinek responded, "Some show were really well received, some shows not. Guess it depends on which city/area you are playing. Probably electronic music, or let's say electronic performances, are still a bit strange for a lot of people."

Possibly to help people transition from the ruckus of rock show, Jelinek will play most of the North American dates under the moniker of Kosmischer Pitch (also the name of his latest solo album) with fellow Berliners Hanno Leichtmann and Andrew Pekler.

Jelinek described these sets like this: "When we're playing as a trio, drums and drum sounds are played by Hanno, and Andrew adds guitar-elements. Actually, his playing more focuses on the effects than playing melodies. Also Hanno plays an obscure drumsynth from the 70s and 80s, the 'syncussion' from Pearl. I will play electronics and the computer. The sound of the trio is more organic, a bit "rougher" and I guess more noisy. It's definitely a band sound."

He also added, "In the trio, I improvise with the layers and textures. But in combination with Hanno and Andrew, beats are improvised as well. Hanno is actually a jazz drummer and a very good improviser."

And what about the few solo shows planned? "My solo shows don't have a real drum sound. The main sound source is the computer and the synthesizer, so everything is a bit more 'sequenced' and looped, which has, of course, its own quality as well."

Besides Austin, Jelinek will also play solo shows at the Mutek Festival in Montreal and the FLOW.er Festival in Italy. No one should be disappointed by Jelinek solo gig, though, as the typical solo set sounds more akin to Kosmischer Pitch than the Kosmischer Pitch shows. Plus, Jelinek revealed, "When I'm travelling alone, I'm more into composing during flights, etc."

And then we're all winners:

05-26 New York, NY - Tonic *
05-27 Boulder, CO - Trilogy Wine Bar *
05-30 Austin, TX - Flamingo Cantina (Jan Jelinek solo)
05-31 Portland, OR - Holocene *
06-01 San Francisco, CA - Boca *
06-02 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *#
06-04 Montreal, Quebec - Mutek Festival (Jan Jelinek solo)
06-24 Catania, Italy - Flow.er Festival (Jan Jelinek solo)

* playing with Andrew Pekler and Hanno Leichtmann as Kosmischer Pitch
# with Eliot Lipp, Signaldrift

And no matter which set you get to hear, you'll likely be able to relive it via facsimile soon. Jelinek had this to say about upcoming recordings: "Right now, I'm working on a new solo album, which I will probably finish at the end of the summer and we are also trying to finish an album as a trio." Fortunately, Jelinek and Andrew Pekler are both on the German record label ~scape, so maybe they can tag team the label's upper management for a priority release date.