Manafonistas

 

„But more than simply music, the multidisciplinary L A N D draw on and evoke a wide range of art forms. They describe this work as, „approaching an apocalyptic noir narrative,“ and Night Within, despite its slate visual appeal which recalls the grey paintings of Gerhard Richter, thematically points towards a world occupied by the early postmodern detective stories of Paul Auster and the urban neon dislocation of Taxi Driver with its existential protagonist roaming the city alone late at night.“ 

„Nothing is happening everywhere“ – this could be a remark be made remembering John Cage, but is in fact one of the titles of the LAND debut, featuring David Sylvian and other guest musicians and created by Daniel Lea and Matthew Waters, both taking a directorial role: „The album was sculpted in Reykjavik by Ben Frost, enhanced by his signature aural physicality and visceral sub bass. The album is a vast collision of sound, from free brass and woodwind to `geometric´ bowed cymbals and metallic percussion.“ (soundcloud.com)

LAND – „Nothing Is Happening Everywhere“ 

Y’Anbessaw Tezeta
2CD Terp AS-21/22
Release date: November 1
Vertrieb: Cargo
https://www.terprecords.nl/as21.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getatchew_Mekurya
https://www.theex.nl

Quite unexpectedly, last year, while here in Europe for several summerfestivals,
Getatchew Mekuria at the age of 76, expressed an urge to make one more recording.
With The Ex. Probably the last one in his life. A great responsability!

We recorded in December, in Wormerveer and Addis Abeba. The result is stunning.
Deep, old, classic melodies. Very different from the last  one. Instrumental, more senti-tive and fragile, deeper. Amazing hornriffs and solo’s.  But also dancable, with up-tempowar-chants. Many things. He called it: „Y’Anbessa Tezeta“. ‚In memory of the Lion‘. Memories on  65 years of playing music! But also always new and forward.

But there is more. We wanted to make something special. We added an extra CD, with
some historical recordings, including Getatchew and the Instant Composers Pool, Haile
Selassie 1 Theatre Orchestra (1960!) and a live performance with the Ex in Montreal.
Plus a 40-page booklet. With great photos by many photographers. Matias Corral specially came to Addis to shoot some Getatchew portraits in addition to his already striking black & white live photos. We decided to make this a benefit CD for Getatchew. Everyone contributed for free. After almost 65 years of playing music, we thought this amazing person deserves some kind of pension!

The first time we met Getatchew was early 2004. We were intrigued by his music, we
knew from an old cassette. What an orinigal sound! We  went to Addis to find him.
Getatchew agreed right away to come to Holland. To our 25th anniversary party in Amsterdam, November 2004.He played with the ICP, the Instant Composers Pool, and he loved it. But he was also intrigued by The Ex and wanted to play and record with us. We
invited some great hornplayers and things have never stopped since.

We recorded the Moa Anbessa CD and in some eight years we’ve done almost a hundred concerts in 15 countries.Jazz-, worldmusic- and rock festivals and venues all over the world. Lincoln Centre Out of Doors in New York, the French 8 ‚o clock news with 8 million viewers, Rio Loco in Toulouse to 20.000 people and broadcasted on TV in Ethiopia.

Getatchew Mekuria – Saxophone, Clarinet
The Ex:
Arnold de Boer – Trumpet
Andy Moor – Guitar
Terrie Hessels – Guitar
Katherina Bornefeld – Drums
Friends:
Xavier Charles – Clarinet
Ken Vandermark – Baritone
Saxophone, Bass Clarinet
Brodie West – Alto Saxophone
Joost Buis – Trombone
Wolter Wierbos – Trombone
Colin McLean – Bass
Melaku Belay – Dance

Including Bonus CD with a.o. Getatchew Mekuria & The ICP Orchestra, Haile Selassie 1 Theatre Orchestra and live with The Ex.

Recorded December 6/7 2011, Februari 24/28 2012, April 5/23 2012 in Jottum, Wormerveer, Holland. And May 3 2012 in Fendika, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Engineer Jottem: Maarten Tap. Co-engineered: Andy & Arnold. Engineer Addis: Arnold. Mixed by Arnold & Andy at Andy’s home and in Jottum. Produced by The Ex. Mastered by: Frank
van der Weij. Artwork: Emma Fischer. Photos by: Matías Corral, Emma Fischer, Andy Moor, Pavel Strá?ay, Nanni Angeli, Barbora Fabianova, Christina Halstrom, Nick Helderman, Leul Mekonnen, Paul Till. The Getatchew archival photos come from his own private photo-albums

Ein Schallplattenschatz

 
In den siebziger Jahren gab es noch die Preisbindung für Schallplatten, die LP kostete in der Regel 21,00 DM, die Single 4,75 DM. Platten waren sehr teuer damals. Wurde dann doch einmal ein Ladenhüter im Preis herunter gesetzt, dann wurde etwas getan, was heute im Buchhandel immer noch üblich ist, man verkaufte das Werk als Mängelexemplar. Nun war man allerdings in Sachen Schallplatten nicht so zimperlich, irgendwo ein Stempel mit der Aufschrift „Mängelexemplar“, das war den Schallplattenfirmen zu wenig. Unglaublich, aber wahr, man ging den Schallplatten so richtig an die Hülle und schnitt einfach eine ordentliche Ecke ab. Dann allerdings konnte es passieren, dass der Schallplattenliebhaber, wenn er das mit der Hülle denn verknusen konnte, auch mal eine Platte für 10,00 Mark erstehen konnte. So erging es mir im Jahre 1976, ich kaufte eine Platte mit abgeschnittener Ecke. Damals ein Ladenhüter. Heute ein gesuchter Schatz. Bei amazon ist die Platte tatsächlich noch als Langspielplatte zu haben, allerdings für 39,99 Euro. Als Japan Import-CD muss der Käufer glatt 112,46 Euro berappen. Nun sei es verraten, es geht um die grandiose Platte von Alexis Korner Bootleg Him.
 
 
 

 
 
 
Das besondere an dieser Doppel-LP: Alexis Korner spielt hier mit Musikern zusammen, die man wohl in dieser Zusammensetzung auf kaum einer andere Platte finden kann: Peter Thorup, Robert Plant, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Graham Bond, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Cyril Davies, Dave Holland, Alan Skidmore, Andy Fraser, Paul Rodgers, Danny Thompson, Terry Cox, John Surman – ja, auch der! – , Chris McGregor, Victor Brox, Lol Coxhill, Annette Brox, John Marshall, Chris Pyne, Johhnny Parker, Roy Babbington, Steve Miller, Ray Warleigh, Harold Beckett, Henry Lowther, Peter Fensome, Mike Pyne, Brian Smith, Nigel Stanger, Malcolm Griffiths, Keith Scott, Dave Stevens, Jack Brooks, Larry Power, Herbie Goins, Colin Hodgkinson und C.C.S. Die Band namens C.C.S., das war die `Collective Consciousness Society´, eine Gruppe, die Alexis Korner und Peter Thorup um 1970 herum gegründet hatten. Zu ihren Mitglieder gehörte übrigens auch Kenny Wheeler. 1972 erschien diese tolle Platte! Die einzelnen Stücke der Doppel-LP wurden aber in der Regel in den sechziger Jahren aufgenommen, zwischen 1961 und 1969, nur zwei Stücke der dritten Schallplattenseite und die fünf Aufnahmen der vierten Seite stammen aus den Jahren 1970 und 1971. Zu hören sind Stücke wie „Corina-Corina“, „I´m a Hoochie Coochie Man“, das Alexis-Korner-Stück „Dee“ mit John Surman am Sax und Dave Holland am Bass, der Ray-Charles-Song „I Got A Women“ oder die Korner-Komposition „Sunrise“ mit seiner Gruppe C.C.S.

BJ NILSEN & STILLUPPSTEYPA
Góda Nótt
LP Editions Mego eMEGO156
Release date: October 15

https://editionsmego.com
https://www.bjnilsen.com
https://www.discogs.com/artist/Stilluppsteypa

Made in Iceland and Germany
Cover images made by Franz Graf

Last winter we got snowed in, luckily we were at the studio, so with no food or drinks, we had to take our minds of the fact that we´ll have to spend the time locked in until the snow melted, so we decided to work on new recordings influenced by the situation. The snow is all up over the window, It might be even up over the top of the house, and from time to time we had the feeling that we may have been asleep for a week, for all we know.. We couldn’t even tell what day it was, or whether we had slept one night, or two nights, or even longer. Looking out at the windows was like looking at a detuned TV set, reflecting just flickering green lights from the electronic equipment, sometimes vanishing and re-appearing in the blink of an eye. The only attempt of contact from the outside were by pointing powerful microphones through the masses of snow, trying to monitor any or little activity, whooshing noises, static bursts, buzzing melodies even voices. As we doctored the tapes of our recordings we seemed to have created weaknesses in space and we developed a total, complete darkness finding ourselves out of this world, traveling without moving, into the flickering green light.

ONE – Suddenly we were all hearing a mobile phone ringing that sounded like an old telephone, in the middle of a live-remix of Owen Pallett’s fantastic perfomance, and what happened? A smile hushed over Jan Bang’s face, Eivind Aarset and Erik Honore kept their senses focussed, and Arve Henriksen picked up an imaginary phone, and whispered: „Owen, hallo, Owen? Owen!“ and he did it in a very musical, cinematic way. Live-Remixing at Punkt has a lot to do with shadows – and ghosts.

TWO – „Live-Remixing is not about replacement, it’s about transformation“, Jon Wozencroft said, during his highly entertaining lecture about the music of stones in the last wilderness of Great Britain. I was so thrilled that I spontaneously decided to travel to the bluestones of Preseli Hills in South West Wales. Later Jon warned me, and showed me how to behave when confronted with the toxic snakes that are still active there, high in number, waiting for lonesome travellers in summertime.

THREE – When all is played and done, when the last sound has finally gone … then it is time for the K35-party. Owen Pallett and I continued our talking about great records we stopped about five ago, backstage, in a small church in Dortmund. This time he was full of praise for Brian Eno’s „Another Day On Earth“, this quite underrated masterpiece of 2005. Everybody was there. Even Brian. After hours … small talk with an edge, full of personal insights. There, outside and inside K35, along with the beer and the music and the well-known faces, it was easy to talk about personal matters, easy even to shake hands with the dark side. And feel good.

…eine der ungewöhnlichsten Platten in der langen und stolzen Geschichte des Trompeters und eine außerordentliche Platte im Katalog von ECM: Auf dem Livealbum „On The Dance Floor“, aufgenommen im vergangenen Herbst in Rom, spielen Enrico Rava und sein Ensemble (Rockband mit allen Bläsern in doppelter Besetzung) hauptsächlich Kompositionen von Michael Jackson, einschließlich “Thriller” und “Smooth Criminal”. Und sie tun es mit einer solchen Vehemenz und Spielfreude, dass keine Genregrenze mehr stehenbleibt […] Seltsam und unwiderstehlich ist dieses Album. (Thomas Steinfeld, Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Einspruch! Zuweilen fressen Jazzmusiker einen Narren an Genres und Künstlern, die sich vollkommen konträr zur eigenen Ästhetik bewegen. Der Jazz ist nun mal ein saugfreudiges Medium: so hat der italienische Trompeter Enrico Rava seine Liebe zur Musik und Tanzkunst von Michael Jackson entdeckt; nach dessen Tod befasste er sich intensiv mit seinem Werk, fand das für viele dekadente Spätwerk gar noch interessanter als Klassiker wie „Off The Wall“ und den von Quincy Jones produzierten Mega-Seller „Thriller“. Es folgte eine besessene Zeit des Hörens von Michael Jackson-Alben: Rava sah in Jackson einen – Zitat – „50 jahre alten Peter Pan, der auf der Bühne zur absoluten Autorität mutierte.“ Nun liegt die CD „On The Dance Floor“ vor, Konzertmitschnitte aus Rom aus dem Jahre 2011. Das Ergebnis: so extravertiert hat man Rava, einen Ästheten der Jazz-Kammermusik, nur in lang vergangener Free Jazz-Zeiten gehört; mit der 11-köpfigen Formation „Parco della Musica Jazz Lab“ gelingt ihm eine durchaus mal Spielwitz versprühende, aber leider mit viel zu vielen Rock-Klischee garnierte Ehrung seines Lieblings-Pop-Artisten. Absolute Vorsicht empfehle ich beim Goutieren der Keyboard- und E-Gitarren-Klänge! Wer Enrico Ravas Faszination für Michael Jackson nicht teilt, kann sich immerhin erfreuen an dem wohl nie erkaltenden Enthusiasmus eines 1937 geborenen Veteranen des europäischen Jazz: manche Liebe beruht auf einem grossen Missverständnis und kann doch zu ganz interessanten Erfahrungen führen, zumal Rava einige alte italienische Bandaklänge in Jacksons Musikwelt hinein schmuggelt: grosses Volksspektakel ist also angesagt – in einer angenehm altmodischen Veranstaltung, die bestimmt öfter und unfreiwilliger zum Schmunzeln animiert als es dem Ernst von Enrico Ravas Begeisterung angemessen sein dürfte! Mit Wohlwollen drei Sterne.

„Enoesque“ doesn’t necessarily mean, that the artists do know Eno’s music very well, some do, some don’t. The word means that a certain record contains, consciously, unconsciously, or even by pure chance, elements that can be perceived as, well, Eno-related, in an obvious or hidden way. Strangeness is a rare thing. And, for sure, sometimes critics use the term for music they don’t understand at all :)

The word has become another word for „weird“, „exotic“, „melodic with a strange twist“, „minimal, but with emotional impact“, „uncommon“. And, yes, quite often, the word is linked to compositions of artists who may even have no idea who Eno really is, maybe, because they are too young, or too old, or simply not interested. So, read this with a smile, but be sure, some of these artists know his Ambient Music rather well, believe me! And that leaves traces. Moments. Ideas. Sounds. Sometimes sounds on the verge of falling apart. And sometimes, yeah, sometimes, nothing at all.

1) Eivind Aarset w/ Jan Bang: Dream Logic

Eclecticism can be so inventive. Music to get lost in. Brian’s defintion of „Where am I-music“ fully realized. And a brilliant extension of a lost classic of Ambient Music, Michael Brook’s „Infinite guitar“-playing on „Hybrid“. That milestone once was created in the famous Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton, Ontario. The producers: Brian and Daniel. The golden years. And now this: „Dream Logic“ is the kind of album critics will attest an „almost hallucinatoric“ quality – and they are right! One of the best albums of 2012 recurring on traditions where many others only offer cheap pastiche!

2) Jon Hassell: Power Spot

The only ECM opus with the direct involvement of Brian Eno, Eno/Lanois create another masterpiece! Dreamscapes made of electronica, minimalism, Asian and African influences.

3) David Darling: Cello

I knew Brian would love this solo-cello work, when I send it to him in the  early Nineties. Slow Music with cellos overlapping and delayed sounds. Drifting  in circles – and moving skywards!

4) Steve Tibbetts – Marc Anderson: Northern Song

Produced by ECM – mastermind Manfred Eicher within two days in Oslo. Guitar and percussion and a lot of silences that never sound sacred  – but always arresting! Tibbetts‘ fear: not enough notes. But then he remembered the  passion with which he has listened to Eno’s „Music for  Airports“ – and knew everything was okay!

5) Eleni Karainrou: Music for Films

Manfred Eicher chose the title as hommage to Eno’s „Music For Films“. When hearing the record, Eno fell in love with the textures, the melodies, the recurrimg themes.

6) Jon Hassell: Last Night The Moon Came …

Okay, Eno’s old friend again, this  time without Brian. But with Eivind Aarset and Jan Bang among others. See: number one! Amazing and endlessly subtle. Will not be continued, the Norwegian connection. Sad ending. Pasttime paradise. 

7) Arvo Pärt: Alina

Pärt at his most minimal, and that is to say something. Compare the spacious piano notes of these pieces that can easily be linked to his „tintinnabuli“ style, with those piano and keyboard figures Robert Wyatt plays on „Music for Airports“, or Roger Eno plays on „Thursday Afternoon“. „Alina“ is sparse, and some would even say simple, but it’s personal and human and at times nearly devastating.

8) Hans Otte: Buch der Klänge

The German composer of new classical piano music was tired of the loss of deep feeling in his scene. He changed that by creating this simple and profound music. Beautiful in a never-ending way!

9) Bill Connors: Swimming With A Hole In My Body

Lost gem of the late Seventies, solo guitar album with lots of space, and sounds floating; even the title and the cover are enoesque; Bill Connors was obviously tired of further following scientologist Chick Corea to the Seventh Galaxy!

10) Terje Rypdal: After The Rain

Very quiet solo work by Terje Rypdal. The guitarist even plays instruments he can not play very well – sounds like he used some „oblique strategies“ from  Brian’s game: „Honour thy errors as hidden intentions“.

P.S.: It may not be fair to call Heiner Goebbels‘ album „SHADOW / Landscape With Argonauts“ enoesque in the first place (for that you should listen to „Stifter’s Dinge“), but it was probably the ECM album that had the biggest influence on Brian Eno himself, concerning the way Goebbels uses 100 voices from the streets of Boston to make the reading of the dark prose of E. A. Poe a new and thrilling experience. So there are, without doubt, connections between „SHADOW“ and Eno’s exquisite work „Drums Between The Bells“ (2011)

Beim Lesen von Mark Twains „Bummel durch Europa“ (A Tramp Abroad) mit seinem warmherzig-ironischen Blick auf alles, was so herumkreucht und fleucht – von Heidelberger Studentenschaften bis hin zur Beobachtung eines hyperaktiven Ameisenstammes, der dem neuzeitlichen ADHS-Syndrom zur Ehre gereichte – fühlt man sich an den Philosophen Odo Marquard erinnert, der in seiner Philosophie eine ebenso warmherzige und pointierte Skepsis aufgrund der schlichten Tatsache menschlicher Begrenztheit proklamiert und praktiziert. Denn das Chaos, das in den Gestaltungsdrang der menschlichen Kreatur (a demand for permanence and perfection) immer wieder einbricht, fordert stets sein eigenes Recht zurück. Jeder Hausbau ist auch ein zerstörter Steinhaufen, der als solcher wiederkehrt.

Besonders einleuchtend ist die Wertschätzung gegenüber dem Erzählerischen, das die Geisteswissenschaften legitimiert. Sie nämlich geben der Sachlichkeit einer modernisierten und säkularisierten Welt einen Kontrapunkt. Marquard: „Denn die Menschen, das sind ihre Geschichten. Geschichten aber muss man erzählen. Das tun die Geisteswissenschaften. Sie kompensieren Modernisierungsschäden, indem sie erzählen. Und je mehr versachlicht wird, desto mehr – kompensatorisch – muß erzählt werden. Sonst sterben die Menschen an narrativer Atrophie.“ (aus: Zukunft braucht Herkunft)

So stelle ich mir ein filmisches Dokument zu einem Musikalbum idealerweise vor: keine lineare Geschichte, sondern lauter Verzweigungen, Momente aus dem Alltag des Musikers (wohltuend un-inszeniert), Studioaufnahmen, eine mal dezente, mal überraschende Einmischung der Songausschnitte in die bewegten Bilder, und die persönlichsten Aussagen von James Yorkston ganz beiläufig abgefilmt. Ohnehin ist „I Was A Cat From A Book“ ein herausragendes Songalbum, dessen Verwurzelung im Folk nicht zu genretypischen Zuschreibungen verführen sollte.

„I Was A Cat From A Book“

Karl Bruckmaier setzt die Gegenmeinung  ab:

James Yorkston
„I was a Cat from a Book“
(Domino WIGCD 290)
vermutlich die fadeste Platte auf Domino ever **

EIVIND AARSET w/ JAN BANG: DREAM LOGIC

Kristinansand is meant to be a metaphor, not pure realism. Jon Wozencraft would call it „psycho-geography“.

After returning from Kristiansand and sitting in the car on my way to the Deutschlandfunk, I immediately put DREAM LOGIC in my cd-player. Though I interviewed Eivind Aarset days before (with new Manafonista Henning), I was now hearing the record for the first time. A fantastic one, surely my favourite Eivind album. A perfect balance of moody and abstract textures, full of twists and strange sounds that are the ice on the cake and prevent nostalgia from taking control. Great, too, for driving by night! Eivind, old Punkt matador since year 1, will be on „Dream Logic“-tour in Germany in November  (Stadtgarten, Zeche Carl and other good and small places).

(The headline is a bit long, but will do its job to create an unforgettable mental note.)