* Edition of 80 tapes (white plastic), hand-dubbed, hand-cut inlays, incl. download * Gud Er Kvinde („God Is A Woman“) is the Danish duo of Maria Bertel and Johannes Lund. They sparsely release music under this moniker. They do have a myspace site. They both played in the Danish version of the Jooklo Duo, aptly entitled Jooklo Danish Group. Maria is playing in one of my all-time favourite bands, Selvhenter. Johannes‘ solo performance at the Kraak Fest 2017 would have been the sole reason for me to take the trip, because I love his solo meanderings, but instead I caught a bad flu and missed him.  So, you might sense, I have some bias going on with G.E.K. - I like nearly everything this pair gets their hands on. Their Midas touch works something like this: They are experienced improvisers, but ain‘t afraid of structure. They can play hard as fuck, and still show their pop sensibilities. They can torture them horns, but it‘s the kinky kind of torture. Their music is very sensual, very agile. They can move into different directions and still stay the same. And as a duo which has a long history of joint improvisations, they are able to play with each others‘ style, skills, and perception - maybe hence the name of their new tape. 

„Faculty Of Perception“ is as beautifully soothing and original as it is rooted in minimalist traditions of the second half of the 20th century. The album‘s first and last tracks set the frame for this, starting with the minimalist - and aptly titled - „Music For Philipp Glass“ and ending with „TeeVee“, a cover version of 1980‘s japanese ambient composer Hiroshi Yoshimura. Inside this framework, Bertel and Lund design a fascinating sound work. „Gibbous“, the second track of the album, radicalizes the Glass minimalism with its pointed, yet minimal piano work and an extremely vital saxophone. Side B starts with the Hassel-esque synthesizer improvisation of „Stellaria Media“, layed out over a bass-heavy synth glockenspiel/tom-sound, which creeps its way into the next track, „Malva“ - it takes the fourth world sound into a more out direction, a strangely calm trombone drone ritual.  In its concentrated closeness, the faculty of perception becomes a room of its own.

Either you listen to it at home with friends (finally we release an album you can listen to with other people!) or take it on a walk through the city, you‘ll find solace in these recordings, as well as the manifestation of a duo high on combining the lust of improv with skilled songwriting.