Non Standard Institute is a piano drone project by sound engineers Max Loderbauer (Sun Electric) and Tobias Freund (Pink Elln, Sieg Ûber Die Sonne), both prominent techno producers whose careers date back the mid-1980’s.

Compared to their earlier work in, “Plays Non Standards” is an exploration into a completely different direction. The music is based on the sounds of the grand piano played by Loderbauer and the subtle electronic “treatments” by Freund, with the help of vintage Roland DEP 5 and Roland TR 808 machines.

Very minimalistic and spartan, yet rich in it’s attention to detail and sound, “Plays Non Standards” is a soundwork in the tradition of Brian Eno’s “Music For Airports”. Yet, the music produced by Non Standard Institute is fully improvised, with “mistakes” being a vital part of their ambient experience.

Recorded over a two-year period in Berlin, “Plays Non Standards” does an outstanding job in blurring the line between modern acoustic piano music and the more philosophical end of electronic music.

nsi. featured in January's Wire Magazine!