My top ten this year so far is easy.
- Daniel Lanois – Flesh and machine
- John Coltrane – Live at the temple
- Daniel Lanois – Flesh and machine
- John Coltrane – Live at the temple
- Daniel Lanois – Flesh and machine
- John Coltrane – Live at the temple
- Daniel Lanois – Flesh and machine
- John Coltrane – Live at the temple
- Daniel Lanois – Flesh and machine
- John Coltrane – Live at the temple
Flesh and machine is a recording that changed/s how I listen to music, or as I prefer to say: how music listens to me.
„Well at the moment I am using a digital multi-track machine now called RADAR. I have been using that for years now and that works very well for me. What is so great about that is that I can quickly copy a multi-track and get on with some deconstruction without breaking up the original work. What we normally do in the studio is we will take the song to a certain place. And then we will take a break from it and start thinking of how we can have a different angle on it. And that may mean erasing some tracks in order to do this, but the digital side of things will allow me to just press one button and I will get a copy and it will allow me to go and work on the next version of the song. In regards to the analog equipment, I still use all my favorite tools from the different eras I have worked through. So if I had a good microphone or a good delay box, or a good distortion box, I have made sure that I maintained them so that they remain in my tool box. That way I can just go back to that sound if I need to.“
For me the John Coltrane – live at the temple is for me strong feeling of coming home. This music is playing inside me – and it continues playing when the album is finished.
„Over all, I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things that he knows of and senses in the universe … That´s what I would like to do. I think that´s one of the greatest things you can do in life and we all try to do it in some way. The musician´s is through his music.“
11. Colin Vallon – Le Vent
After being introduced to Julian Sartorius in one of Michaels broadcasts – this recording found me. The piano and the bass player does display to much personal identity in their playing on this record, quite restrained, but not always. Vibrant, alive, present. It is music that quite often leaves the listener the freedom where to focus – but sometimes it just grabs the attention. Listening to it with the idea of the piano being a choir is actually a good way for me to grasp what happens in this music.
„I have always been moved the most by vocal music (and especially choral music). Nothing like a voice can go directly under your skin. It is the most direct, rich in timbres and original sounding instrument, qualities which are difficult to achieve on a piano. Actually, in my opinion one must always have another instrument or sound in mind in order to obtain a personal tone on the piano. In my case most of the time I hear a voice or voices when I play.“
12. 13. Brian Eno/Karl Hyde – Someday world / High life
These albums haven´t really made it all the way for me. It´s like we haven´t decided completely how to relate to each other yet. So far we keep a bit of distance, not allowing each other to enter into each other. Yet. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe never. I will stick around – maybe we just need some more time.
„A conversation does not start with someone talking, it starts with someone listening.“
14. Bob Dylan – Another Selfportrait
Me and these songs meet regularly, a few tracks a day. Every track on repeat 3 times before i move on the next. We don´t stay together for long time, we know each other, we enjoy our company and we listen to each other in bits and pieces, like archaeology, triggering memories, then moving on.
Just saw it was published in 2013. It found me this year.
It is a timeless snapshot.
„If I was a poet/And could write a fine hand/I’d write my love a letter/That she’d understand.“
15. Leonard Cohen – Popular problems.
I would like to spend some time alone with him, just him. Maybe make the musical space surrounding him even more naked. Really like a cell with a bed, a table, a chair and a window. Empty walls and nothing more.
I don´t feel the female voices are a integral part of the songs – the naked walls would perhaps show more interesting shadows.
But maybe it is why he still makes records, to meet some people, and to make sure that some of them are women. And that is ok.
Did I ever leave you / Was I ever able / Are we still leaning / Across the old table.
16. Anouar Brahem – Souvenance.
I have only heard one track from this record, but if it is as good as what I imagine so far, I expect us to have a serious relationship. Possibly invest in a house and a dog, go on frequent walks together. Possibly.
„With this project I feel I’m improvising differently. It’s a response to the identity of the pieces. Sometimes a few notes are enough. All the instruments had to wait to find their place in this music.“ This can be challenging for musicians coming from jazz, where claiming the space to make a personal statement belongs to the territory. „That space still exists in Souvenance but it’s become more subtle, more directed. As the writing and arranging developed, the role of Björn’s bass became quite strong and central. The responsibility of Klaus’s bass clarinet this time is harder to define, but it’s an important element, and it’s not easy, as a listener, to know which parts are improvised and which are written.“
Already having the feeling this album might move up into the top ten. How many spaces it will occupy there? I am listening forward to find out.
To be continued.
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https://player.ecmrecords.com/colin-vallon-trio–le-vent
https://player.ecmrecords.com/brahem-2423-24