Manafonistas

Audio

(from Wandermüde © 2012)

„Einer der Tischgenossen zog die verstreuten Karten an sich und machte so einen Großteil des Tisches frei; doch er tat sie nicht zu einem Päckchen zusammen und mischte sie auch nicht; er nahm eine Karte und legte sie vor sich hin. Wir alle erkannten die Ähnlichkeit seines Gesichtes mit demjenigen der Kartenfigur und glaubten zu verstehen, dass er damit ‚ich‘ sagen wollte und sich anschickte, seine Geschichte zu erzählen.“

(Italo Calvino)

Ray Davies should have been our special guest, but he couldn’t make it, possibly he will, at one time, return to his favourite German town. A perfect place for re-installing his „Green Preservation Society“, in a hinterland full of castles, horses, dead rails and whimsical country lads. So there we were, the fearless six, girls and guys, Lajla, Martina, Gregor, Jochen, Ulrich and me, coming together at the „Dorfkrug“, under old trees, on green grass, soft drinks on the table. We had many stories to tell in the heat of the day, a soft breeze kept everything swinging and everybody at good mood. Though half of the bunch were missing, this mix of old and new friends, aquaintancies and lovely strangers, with all their different backgrounds, had a touch of Italo Calvino – unclear proportions of fate and randomness, talking to the rhythm of the moment – holes and revelations, strictly confidential. Thinking music, Ulrich and I hailed Peter Gabriel’s „Melt“ as being his best solo album. At least that can be revealed.

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I have always admired Steve Tibbetts, as a sort of Lone Ranger in the ECM universe, with his singular process of creating his albums in his home studio. I have read how he works slowly, moving a mic an inch and trying once again to get an elusive sound out of his guitar – then trying again and again until it’s right.

His albums are indeed journeys: as he himself says, he doesn’t write traditional song-forms, with jazz changes and tightly written unison lines – all the kinds of things you hear from most guitarists. This lack of a recognizable short form allows for hearing new things each time around.

It’s like putting a space in the room, a 3d sound sculpture you can walk around and examine from all angles. The circular quality of the music of LIFE OF places me in a kind of trance state. The fact that Tibbett’s music has its edges of darkness is what gives the music its mystery, and makes it a far deeper dive than if it was merely “pretty.”

– Brian Whistler