Oskar Schuster: Sneeuwland

Acknowledging the distinct influence of Yann Tiersen, but also drawing inspiration from classical, pop and electronic music (Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, The Beatles, Beirut, Sigur Rós or Aphex Twin), Oskar Schuster is a German pianist and composer based in Berlin. After a self-released début album (Dear Utopia) in 2011 which featured accordion, piano, glockenspiel and music boxes, the musician concentrated on the piano with his follow-up EP Les Valses Invisibles (2012) and with his latest crowd-funded LP album Sneeuwland released in March 2014 last.

With a strong predilection for the ¾ time signature of the waltz, an incredible sense of melody, incorporating glitches of static or radio noises and blending samples of vintage typewriters or cameras as percussive elements, Oskar Schuster’s compositions all express a strong feeling of nostalgia and evoke

melodies you seem to remember from early childhood days or long-forgotten dreams, at the same time sad and joyful, euphoric and exuberant, nostalgic, thought-provoking and always kind of melancholic.

Sneeuwland also features one song (“Lumehelves”) with Estonian-born and Iceland-based singer Possimiste with whom Schuster collaborates for the second time. This almost surreal and fairy tale world is further enhanced visually by Oskar Shuster’s video creations (the footage for “Vleurgat” was shot with his own super 8 camera on the Baltic sea in Autumn 2012) or by home movies he found on miscellaneous internet video archives.

At the same time, with their homemade signed, hand-stamped and embossed artwork, Oskar Schuster’s CDs, booklet cards and sheet music books are all bound to become collectable artefacts that will find their way into various personal archives and collections, thus potentially triggering another nostalgic cycle for future artists in years to come.

On 14th July 2014, the musician released the EP Matilda where he performs five compositions on solo piano.