Manafonistas

„Love came to my door/With a sleeping roll/And a madman’s soul/He thought for sure I’d seen him/Dancing up a river in the dark/Looking for a woman/To court and spark“. (The River)

* Song To A Seagull (1968) ***
* Clouds (1969) ****
* Ladies of the Canyon (1970) ***1/2
* Blue (1971) *****
* For The Roses (1972)  ***1/2
* Court and Spark (1974) ****
* The Hissing Of Summer Lawns (1975) ****1/2
* Hejira (1976) *****
* Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (1977) ****
* Mingus (1979) *****  (m.e.)

“Joni Mitchell’s Blue probably has the same characteristic that I like about Revolver. It has this in-your-face production value. She had written songs like ‘Clouds’ where she had harpsichord on it and all these strings and all that but this album was devoid of all instruments bar the dulcimer, the acoustic guitar and the piano. I don’t even recall a lot of bass on the album but Stephen Stills might have played a bass line on an acoustic guitar. So what you have is ten or twelve knockout songs that she must have spent months crafting. Poetically, these songs are perfect. They speak to women, I know, but they also speak to men as well, about universal and personal challenges we all face in life. Joni Mitchell articulated them so well but as a record producer, how she did it was so important. Again, it’s that dry sound; in-your-face and a kind of minimal recording but every note and every instrument stated something very clearly and very powerfully. There are times when I hear this and I don’t even realise that I’m hearing a piano or a vocal; to me, it sounds orchestral. A good arrangement can make two or three instruments sound huge and a bad arrangement can make a whole orchestra sound puny.” (Tony Visconti, producer)

Der eine bringt in grossen Abständen erratische Songalben heraus, der andere veröffentlicht fast im Jahresrhythmus Thriller, die nüchtern und spannend zugleich Polizeiarbeit beschreiben. Der eine zitiert im Titel seines neuen Albums, BISH BOSCH, die dunklen, verstörenden Bilderwelten des Hieronymus Bosch, der andere erzählt seit langer Zeit aus der Welt eines komplexen Charakters mit Namen Harry Bosch. Und auch hier ist die Parallele zu dem Maler höllischer, visionärer Bilder durchaus beabsichtigt. Beide sind also den Schattenwelten des Lebens zugetan, der eine wählt dazu eine extreme Klangsprache, der andere ein traditionelles Genre. Beide Künstler haben nichts an sich, was man mit Starallüren in Verbindung bringen könnte. Ernste, nüchterne Menschen. Ich lese gerade den neuen Roman von Michael Connelly, THE BLACK BOX. Darin geht Harry Bosch einem ungelösten Mordfall nach, der zwanzig Jahre zurückliegt: eine dänische Journalistin wurde bei den Unruhen in Los Angeles anno 1992 erschossen in einer Seitengasse aufgefunden. Die politischen Unruhen voller Gräueltaten, die sich vor dem Ende der Ära des letzten rumänischen Tyrannen abspielten, und die Tötung des Diktators, macht Scott Walker zum Thema des letzten Liedes von BISH BOSCH.

Miles Davis once urged his band to “play music that doesn’t sound like music”. The dark and intricate soundscapes of Iain Ballamy (saxophone and electronica) and Thomas Strønen (drums and more electronica) surely qualify. They are full of drama, shifting textures and colours but you’d be pushed to find a hook, a chorus or a middle eight. As saxophone soars over shifting rhythms, guests including guitarist Eivind Aarset and Nils Petter Molvaer on trumpet add to the mood of mystery. What do you call this music: ambient thrash, space-jazz, elevator music for aliens? Whatever, its murky beauties will reward.