Joseph Branciforte & Jozef Dumoulin may be on opposing sides of the Atlantic but they share a very rare aptitude: both know how to turn the Fender Rhodes electric piano into an instrument of cutting edge, experimental electronica. The American Branciforte recently teamed up with his Belgian counterpart Dumoulin to create uncommon sounds using uncommon techniques. ITERAE — coming out from Branciforte’s Greyfade label on April 17, 2026 — is a strange brew of artificial sonorities created with Harold Rhodes’ invention warped with the limitless sound reconstruction of electronic alteration.
‘Limitless’ in the right hands, that is, and I would submit that there aren’t better hands for the task than Branciforte and Dumoulin. The Fender Rhodes has long been the keyboard of choice for Dumoulin, who even recorded an entire album of improvisations on it. Further, he’s sought to expand the sound of the Rhodes with electronic effects. These passions aren’t too far from those of Branciforte, who also likes to experimental on the electric piano and has applied inventive electronic enhancements to numerous projects he’s been involved with as a producer, engineer and collaborator.
Given these backgrounds, the meeting of these two like-minded artists seems to be too sensible not to do, and indeed, ITERAE starts with a core idea of the two offering a substructure of ideas each on the Rhodes, where they also apply their electronic alterations. It doesn’t stop there, though; there’s another twist to this plot. Branciforte uses a customized live editing software that enables him to reshape already altered Rhodes sounds in real time to architect fully realized sonic landscapes with ever-shifting layers, patterns and glitches that somehow ends up linear, logical and naturally flowing.
The mixture of electric keyboards with mind-expanding electronics casts this squarely in Harold Budd territory during its lusher moments but the instant composing component of it causes a few unexpected gestures here and there and occasional rough edges that contemplation tends to smooth out. This is improvisation but not improvisation in the jazz sense. Instead, you hear the improv when textures mutate over extended periods or when figures are modulated in volume and clarity. Little things that your ears pick up almost imperceptibly.
The eight tracks can be heard as a single piece, as one flows right into the next. “01 ?” pulses with a single tone, interrupted at set intervals by a short, two-note figure, as this overall pattern is being tested with ad hoc blurps and static washes. “01 ?” easily eases into “02 ?” as the pulses dissolves into a drone and evolves by minute degrees.
During “03 ?” the notes tumble out like a music box in a dream state. “04 ?” have shards inserted that sounds like tape run backwards. It ends with a repeating figure that transmutes into a blurred, barely recognizable version of its former self as the proceedings transitions into “05 ?.” This track moves through several phases but held together by a unassuming percussive pulsation. For “06 ?” the tender tones coming out of the Fender Rhodes are made wobbly and slightly out of tune.
“07 ?” echoes the familiar, resonating properties of the Rhodes but in a murky, swirling sonic stew, a dense mass of sound floating through space. The thickness loosens up as it transitions into “08 ?,” just enough to let in a few random noises and the fuzzy shape of a melody, where it comfortably settles into an ambient state.
The combination of two experimental electronic music pioneers who also happen to be analog musicians at heart results in an endlessly fascinating assemblage of artificial sounds rooted in human artistic instincts. Pre-order/order ITERAE from Bandcamp.
