Martin Brandlmayr

composer, drummer


Martin Brandlmayr, (*1971 in Bad Ischl/Austria) works in the fields between improvisation and composition and on the intersection of electronic and acoustic soundworlds.
As a drummer he is widely recognized for his distinctive style combining experimental methods and extended techniques with groove elements. Since the mid 90ies he is exploring hidden sounds and tonal aspects on the instrument resulting in a particular way of playing that is charactarized by precision both rhythmically and sonically.
He is a member of the groups Polwechsel, Trapist, Kapital Band 1 and became internationally known primarily through the Trio Radian, founded in 1997.
He has released 7 albums with Radian since the end of the1990s, 5 of them on the US label Thrill Jockey. Martin Brandlmayr worked with David Sylvian, Howe Gelb, Christian Fennesz, Ken Vandermark, Otomo Yoshihide; Sachiko M, John Tilbury, Mats Gustafsson, The Necks and many more.
He has published for numerous well-known record labels such as Thrill Jockey (USA), Kranky (USA), Staubgold (Germany) Hathut (Switzerland), Samadhisound (GB), Scape (Germany),..

In 2018 he received the renowned Karl Sczuka Prize for his radio play "Vive les fantômes"

Here what the press says :

"Vienna's Martin Brandlmayr is one of the most distinctive-sounding drummers on the planet."  Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader (USA)

".....Martin Brandlmayr created such a beautifully complex auditory texture through manual repetition and sampling his own sounds that made you feel like you were looking the retractions in a deep clear pond of water"
Royce Deans, Copper Press, on Martin Brandlmayr´s Solo Performance at Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago, 2009

"Martin Brandlmayr gave a typical proof of his tension-and-release rhythm contructions. His use of the drumkit generated a constant groove out of sharp and decise gestures, with a destructured but highly fluidified approach...."
Gian Paolo Galasi, London_Resonance , on Martin Brandlmayr´s Solo Performace at Sottovoce festival, London, 2011

„Since the band’s beginnings, the timbre, shape and resonance of Martin Brandlmayr’s drums have been its trademark. He’s a wonder: a drummer with a beautiful sound and feel who pushes back against his own virtuosity. Those human touches, his perfectly timed, rhythm-conscious strokes and rustles, are surrounded by all kinds of other incidental noises, both handmade and digital.“
Ben Ratliff/ The New York Times (USA)

With Vive Les Fantômes, Martin Brandlmayr has crafted a completely novel experiment that works as a love letter to the "sound" of sound.
Daniel Sylvester/ exclaim (Canada)

"Radian is a machine, their music the sum of body hydraulics and fuzzy logic."
Will Montgomery, The Wire (UK)

"…a band with impressively original density and texture"
Ben Ratliff/ The New York Times (USA)

"Radian mics the microcosmos of sonic detail, filtering it into a spray of white noise that's thin as foil and dense as chain mail."
'
Philip Sherburne, XLR8R (USA)

“A staticky, spectral delight”
Vice Magazine Canada (USA) ( on Radian´s On Dark Silent Off)

"The trio is every bit as unconventional, imaginative, quietly heavy, relevant, and singular as ever.There is no one else around doing anything similar in any kind of satisfying way.“
Brainwashed (USA) ( on Radian´s On Dark Silent Off)

What makes the instrumental Austrian trio exceptional is its ability to wrest seemingly endless possibilities by fine-tuning the grain of every sound. The tactile and heartfelt fifth album by the instrumental Austrian trio Radian doesn’t simply reward repeated listens, it demands them.
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni/ Pitchfork Media (USA) ( on Radian´s On Dark Silent Off)