Manafonistas

„Die Zeit“ verreisst ein Netflix-Produkt, das von der Fernsehzeitschift meines Vertrauens namens Gong, in vertrauten Kreisen auch „Misses Gong“ genannt, mit sechs Würfelaugen hochgejazzt wird. The Woman in the Window heisst der besagte, aktuelle Film. In diesem Fall vertrauen wir der Einschätzung aus der Hanseatenstadt, sind eh nicht bei Netflix gemeldet zur Zeit, weil der neue Fernseher mit eingebautem „Meskalin-Effekt“ die Pforten der Wahrnehmung geöffnet hat und jeglichen noch so banalen Inhalt wie Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds rüberbringt, vorzugsweise aber Nachrichten, Weltbilder, Kulturbeiträge und sogar Naturfilme zum Hochgenuss macht. Es stellt sich Entspanntheit ein, Detailzauber und das herrliche Gefühl: alles ist gut (mal abgesehen davon, dass die Krisen in Nahost und anderswo ja gar nicht gut sind und bestätigen, was ich heute morgen bei einem Düsseldorfer Denker namens Rudolf Heinz las: dass der Kern des Menschseins Feindschaft sei, und die geballte Ansammlung arabischer Judenhasser hierzulande sah unsereins ja auch vor Jahren schon kritisch, Regierungskreise scheinen hier mal wieder recht blauäugig, those sleepwalkers sleepwalking). Zurück zu Amy Adams und The Woman in the Window: schade, wäre schön gewesen, ihre Schauspielkunst mal wieder zu bewundern. Sharp Objekts jedenfalls bleibt in Erinnerung, da gäbe ich sogar die volle Sechs, Misses Gong!

As Soul Jazz Records HQ (London) announced in 2020, the duo from Tucson, Arizona, Trees Speak,  sees their project „as much a sound laboratory as a rock and roll band.“ Combining elements of experimental rock, electronic avant-garde, Krautrock and Miles Davis „Bitches‘ Brew“ era jazz. They construct abstract improvisational jams into coherent compositions in the „sound lab“ of the studio. The result is a collection of dynamic songs, as the band described them, „translucent jams for a virtual autobahn“.

Philosophically, the members of Trees Speak also draw inspiration from the philosophy and creative process of the Surrealist, Dadaism, The Avant-Garde and Vanguard movements from the 1920s. So far, so good, or even better – with the release of „PostHuman“ at the end of May, Soul Jazz Records will have published three albums of this highly creative duo of the Diaz brothers. „Trees Speak are Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz from Tucson, Arizona and their music often draws on the cosmic night-time magic of Arizona’s natural desert landscapes. ‘Trees Speak’ relates to the idea of future technologies storing information and data in trees and plants – using them as hard drives – and the idea that trees communicate collectively.“ (SJR HQ)

I discovered their music with the second album, „Shadow Forms“, and was particularly thrilled by their ways of keeping diverse spirits of „the golden era of kraut rock and beyond“ alive, alive and kicking – and pushing them into new landscapes. It was not a short affair, I went back to the albums again and again. Nostalgia is only a small part in the game of digging into the world of Trees Speak.

We exchanged some mails, and sending them some of my night hours and ideas, they obviously appreciated my ways of curating music, and are now in the mood to be virtual, real, really virtual guests on my „Moon In June“- radio night in Cologne, giving their first interview ever (which came as a surprise for me, looking at the high critical acclaim of their music). They will speak about all of their three albums and their special approach to sounds from distant eras and distant horizons. Improvisation is one of the tools of their modus operandi. Excerpts of or „trance-atalantic“ conversation will be part of the first hour, and the fourth one (the first time travel section of the June 19).  Make a mental note, don‘t miss the show for your own good. Get high without drugs – trees speak!

The July edition. This is not advertising, this is personal. The founder of VinylChapters isn‘t bothering asking people about vinyl albums in their collections. Well  I have one with BLUE, a story still going on. An album as life‘s company, from decade to decade. „The wind is in from Africa“ … this line alone, the way she sang it, put a spell on me when I was sweet sixteen. (m.e.)

„I was 15, 16 and had started writing songs, and at some point my dad said I should listen to Blue and Blood On The Tracks – because those are, like, the bibles of songwriting. So I had a fall and a winter driving around rainy Seattle in my 1980s Toyota Camry listening only to those records.

I started learning all the songs on Blue and playing them at coffee shops, and for All I Want, because I wanted to do it right, I had to buy a dulcimer. The song is all about how little you need to be infinite, and the dulcimer is definitely a part of that. Dylan is like, I only need 6 strings. Joni’s like, I only need 4 – total flex!

All I Want is like the overture to Blue, setting up the mission statement that this is going to be about relationships, and we even get the first appearance of the word “blue”, with that amazing melody, moving from the G to the F for “…so I hurt you too”. It’s a master level move.

There’s stuff on Blue that I think about almost every day. Even [from River] “I’m gonna make a lot of money and quit this crazy scene” –I aspire to that sometimes! Some people have the Bible and I have Blue.“ 

(Robin Pecknold, Fleet Foxes)