Alexander Hacke and Danielle De Picciotto have been composing music together as hackedepicciotto for over twenty years. Based out of Berlin the two met in the 1980s in the same musical and art circles that included the influential industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten with which Hacke has been a member since 1981. De Picciotto was one of the founders of Love Parade in 1989, a traveling electronic music festival in Berlin dedicated to peace and international understanding and both musicians have been members of foundational post-punk band Crime and the City Solution since 2012. De Picciotto is an internationally recognized author and visual artist and creator of two graphic memoirs We Are Gypsies Now (2013) and Die Heitere Kunst der Rebellion (2020). Separately and together the artists have been involved in film making, cinematic scoring, multi-media presentations as well as finely crafted albums under the current collective moniker since 2016 (previous releases as Alexander Hacke & Danielle De Picciotto). The latest is Keepsakes released July 28, 2023 the duo’s second record on Mute. The album was recorded at the studio Auditorium Novecento in Napoli, Italy where Enrico Caruso and Ennio Morricone both recorded. De Picciotto and Hacke took advantage of the use of tubular bells and a grand piano in the studio and an array of other on hand instrumentation to craft songs in celebration of friendship and the lives of various friends with music that is as orchestral as it is intimate, imbued with subtle and surprising textures within its expressive melodies and experiments in sound and songwriting. It is arguably the duo’s finest record to date in an already remarkable career catalog.
Listen to our interview with hackedepicciotto on Bandcamp and follow the project at the links below and perhaps catch them at their always compelling live shows. Keepsakes is currently available on digital, CD and vinyl through one of the link portals below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
You must be logged in to post a comment.