Warning: don’t let this man anywhere near a mix tape, record companies. Why? If you do, it will result in the bleakest compilation ever released.

The band leader of German orchestra Zeitkratzer, Berlin’s Reinhold Friedel had already set himself and his group the not inconsiderable task of preparing Lou Reed’s intensely challenging Metal Machine Music in order to be played live. After pulling off that near-impossible feat, Friedel must be a glutton for punishment. As he then decided to pay tribute to the musical life and times of Greek composer and electro-acoustic pioneer, the late Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001).

Where their version of Metal Machine Music was a literal scored translation, Xenakis (A)Live! instead concentrates on the themes Xenakis evoked rather than referencing any particular album. The accompanying DVD features a video from the award-winning Lillevan (from Rechenzentrum). Based on photographs and filmic fragments of the Iranian city of Persepolis, it’s the perfect companion to Friedl and co’s trippy acoustics.

(3½/5)