Manafonistas

Friederike Mayröcker ist ein Morgenmensch. Sie steht zwischen halb vier und vier Uhr auf und arbeitet bis zum Mittag. Sie ist 1 bekennende Exzerpiererin. Jacques Derrida (Die Postkarte, Glas), Peter Waterhouse (Hopkins Journal, eine Übersetzung), Gertrude Stein, Jean Paul (Lebensberichte) usw. Es ist noch dunkel, pink moon, die lady liest, begeistert sich an dem, was in und unter der Struktur der Sprache liegt, sie macht Notizen, beschriftet 1 Blatt Papier und mehr, setzt sich an die Maschine, verwandelt ihr Material in Magie, montiert sie mit anderen, bereits vorhandenen Notizen, die in ihrer Wohnung in Wien in kleinen bunten Plastikkörben gesammelt sind, reihenweise, eine Fülle an Stoff, der sich ausdehnt, schon nach kurzer Zeit völlig verzettelt, Flucht vor die Wohnungstür, Weitertippen im Schneidersitz, von Büchern und Notizen umgeben, die sich ausbreiten,  Schutzwall, Sätze und Wörter aus Träumen, Tagebuch einer Diebin, über der die Sterne hängen, 1 Zeile wieder gelöscht, 1 Taumel, Taube, Pulsschlag, freak. „Dann hast du in meine Kapuze HINEINGEGUCKT und gerufen, wie lieb!: in meiner Kapuze war mein altes Gesicht (wie weggekauert) …“ unter einem Himmel aus Porzellan, aber alles Fiktion, bloß keine Erzählung [Trompetenbaum in der Vitrine] sobald sich ein Erzählstrom ergibt, reißt sie das Steuer herum, schneien Papierschnipsel, fluoreszierend.

Der Band „fleur“, 2016 bei Suhrkamp erschienen, enthält Gedichte, die zwischen dem 24.3.2014 und dem 31.5.2015 entstanden sind. Friederike Mayröcker war zu der Zeit 90 Jahre alt, sie wird im Dezember 93. Mille de fleurs pour la madame! „fleur“, der Text = 1 offenes Meer, ich bin in 1 Rausch geraten, Lampionblume, Jasmin, ha! ich bin kein groupie (Verschiebung einer Struktur), c´est Friederike Mayröcker at her best!

a u d i o

Looking at PopMatters‚ top 10 list of „The Best Indie Rock of 2017″, I am happy to find Algiers at the top spot:

„The Underside of Power“, Algiers‘ follow-up to their 2015 self-titled debut, is everything that debut promised and more. The album fine tunes the balance between their dark, post-punk sounds and their soul and gospel groove. The group truly turns the post-punk genre on its head with double-time rhythms, bass grooves, and soulful vocals that come together like an AME church service in the Blade Runner universe. Vocalist Franklin James Fisher sings throughout the album about rising up, upsetting established power structures. It’s brimming with political fire and rage that’s tempered just enough with hope and youthful energy. The combination of elements is dense and seamless and reveals more with each listen and takes on new meaning. „The Underside of Power“ is an album of resistance music and music for the people into the tradition of soul, folk, and punk. This album stands as one of the most unique and powerful examples of protest music in recent memory. (Dan Kok)

Other albums in their list may be of interest to some of you around here as well: #2: Fleet Floxes („a jarring journey from beginning to end“), #3: The War On Drugs („breathy Dylan-like vocals float yearningly above vast soundscapes of expertly textured guitar solos and shimmering synths that transcend time and trend“).

„Musically adventurous and spiritually redemptive: this is what the music of our time should sound like.“ said PopMatters‘ original review of the album.

In July, Robert Loss wrote an extensive, interesting piece about the album: Algiers and the Political Structures of Noise, which draws connections between politics, history, noise and pop and is a nice addendum to my text about the issues raised in the movie Detroit. A few quotes from the article about the music:

„Cry of the Martyrs“ slips right into the album’s title track, a propulsive blend of soul swagger and the band Suicide’s drones until the chorus bursts into a beautiful pop melody. It’s Algiers‘ version of pop: a catchy hook fighting against backing vocals so delayed they sound like ghosts trying to drag the song back, an alluring but harsh noise from the past. „The Underside of Power“ sounds like „Ain’t No Mountain High Enough“ covered by a post-punk band unconcerned with irony or cultural capital and instead trying to find some truth hidden in the song all these years.

(…) In 2017, we’re rightly suspicious of music that claims to be revolutionary. The normalizing forces of commerce, the spectacle, cultural institutions, and government as they relate to popular music are powerful, so I don’t blame you if you’re skeptical. But the possibility still exists. Small actions may play their role in the structure of noise—the voices of the oppressed and their allies, the voices of people who are just sick and fucking tired of being run over, shot, suppressed, arrested, buried, abandoned — a structure which might replace the old with a new order.

(…) It seems to me that revolutionary music today has to draw connections between the past and the present in order to point to the future. In this way we sense a history that otherwise is forgotten to us; we understand ourselves as historical creatures capable of replacing one structure of noise with another. Of the potential noises, sound hits our bodies first. How can there be a movement if we’re unwilling to move?

Can sound alone make us pay attention to the political, force us to hear a subject like racialized violence, or sway us into seeing the atrocities of the past and the present? Can it really rewrite the codes?

Algiers seem determined to find out, which is one reason why they’ve quickly become so important.

Here’s a short one of a their energetic live performances, live in the studio for Seattle’s KEXP.

Much like the sometimes psychedelic nature of their music is also firmly rooted in an often grim reality, the melodrama of their set creates a dense and intoxicating atmosphere, but never at the expense of truth and pragmatism. Their music rages against inequality and fascism, but as heavy as their themes are it’s also heady, rousing and danceable. By the time they bust out their latest album’s title track the room is fully plugged into the band’s irresistible groove, and with that comes immense hope, because as Fisher sings „I’ve seen the underside of power / It’s just a game that can’t go on.” Algiers’ unifying set at the Moth Club allowed no room for figureheads – rock star, religious, or otherwise. As their sign at the back of the stage reads, all the power to the people.
(Bekki Bemrose, musicOMH)

He wrote an awful song, „Shadow on the Wall“, and the albums of his sister Sally, boring lessons of fairytale‘s nirvana. But, once upon a time, who didn‘t like Tubular Bells when listening to it for the first time, on vinyl, on air, as soundtrack of a famous horror movie? How could it happen so many record companies rejected it till Richard Branson realized its potential? And as a soundtrack, it would easily work, but horror? Quite addictive, the music.

Years later, Ommadawn, somehow similar, somehow different, a one-trick pony? Now set into the wide open? The more mature work? This is written from memory, probably with errors, without Google. As far as I remember, Ommadawn was composed to come clear with the death of his mother. The music is far from overtly sad, it‘s like someone moving into the zone creating hymn-like moods to overcome the sadness. Simple as that, I don‘t know.

But is Ommadawn such a great work, I listened to it today, in the dark, and it was impressive in some ways, not so much in some others. A great flow of ideas, sudden changes of the scenery, appealing folk chants, entrancing drum parts, but, somehow, I felt it all a bit too well-mannered, overcrowded with big gestures. On the other hand smart tricks seem to contradict the deep emotion that (as I think I  have heard somewhere) set it all into motion. Really I don‘t know what to think and feel about it.

I just visited the incredible new Neil Young Archives site and all I can say is, wow. To say it’s comprehensive would be an understatement. It’s a beautifully designed, very cool site to look at, and it’s extremely well organized. I recommend watching Young’s orientation video before using it. It streams in MQA and sounds absolutely amazing – hey, even some of the „lo-fi“ stuff sounds better in hi-fi – go figure. It’s also available to stream in 320kbs if your connection/computer can’t handle it. I’m just blown away by the generosity of this man – and what an amazing feat of web design. Well worth a visit … many visits.

www.neilyoungarchives.com

Ich bin ein begeisterter Biathlon Fan. Unglaublich wie Denise Herrmann in Oestersund die ersten 5 Scheiben fehlerfrei traf.
 
Hier meine:
 

01. Kimmo Pohjonen: Sensitive Skin
02. Maarja Nud: Une Meeles
03. Sinikka Langeland: The Magical Forest
04. Arve Hendriksen: Towards Language
05. Tara Minton: The Tides of Love

 
Auch die zweiten 5 Scheiben meisterte Denise Herrmann liegend mit fehlerfreier Schiesseinlage.
 
Hier meine:
 

06. Karl Hyde: Fatherland
07. Father John Misty: Pure comedy
08. Ray Davies: Americana
09. Mo Pitney: Behind this guitar
10. Neil Young: Hitchhiker

Denise hatte die schnellste Laufzeit, 25,8 Sekunden Vorsprung, obwohl sie zweimal wackelte und daneben zielte.
 
Hier meine zwei Strafrunden:
 

Paul Motian (kommt wohl noch)
Wilco: For (not) being there

 
Meine heimischen Lieblinge:
 

Hauschka: In Dubious Battle (soundtrack)
LaBrassbanda: Around the world

Uli’s TOP 30
 

1. Ryuichi Sakamoto: async
2. Björk: Utopia
3. Joachim Roedelius & Arnold Kasar: Einfluss
4. Hauschka: What if
5. Brian Eno: Sisters (!)
6. Markus Stockhausen: Far Into The Stars
7. Biosphere: The Petrified Forest
8. Tom Rogerson with Brian Eno: Finding Shore
9. Brooklyn Raga Massive: Terry Riley In C
10. Richard Barbieri: Planets & Persona
11. Arve Henriksen: Towards Language
12. Eraldo Bernocchi & Netherworld: Himuro
13. Tricky: Ununiform
14. Erik Honoré: Unrest
15. Jon Balke – Siwan: Nahnou Houm
16. Andi Otto: Via
17. Sylvain Chaveau: Echoes of Harmony – Early Music reworked
18. Penguin Cafe: The Imperfect Sea
19. Sevdaliza: Ison
20. The Necks: Unfold
21. Tamaru & Chihei Hatakeyama: Lunar Eclipse
22. Cummi Flu + Raz O’Hara: Y
23. Johnny Nash & Suzanne Kraft: Passive Agressive
24. Lali Puna: Two Windows
25. Juana Molina: Halo
26. Four Tet: New Energy
27. Michael Pisaro: Asleep, Street, Pipe, Tones
28. Danish String Quartet: Last Leaf
29. Diagrams: Dorothy
30. Valentin Silvestrov: Hieroglyphen der Nacht

 
 
Special Choice:
 
Brian Eno: Reflection als App (erreichte die höchste Laufzeit dieses Jahr und bietet erst das Vollerlebnis generativer Musik mit enoesker Optik)

Jedesmal finde ich die  Bestenlisten von euch allen interessanter als meine eigene, nicht, weil mir die Musik darauf nicht bestens gefiele, sondern, weil ich sie schon kenne, schon öfters gehört habe, in unterschiedlichen Atmosphären „getestet“. Bei den anderen Listen gibt es immer etwas zu entdecken, etwas das mich neugierig macht, zum Hören anregt. Diesesmal sind es wirklich 30 Alben geworden und es gibt noch etlich gute und welche auf denen zumindest sehr gute Stücke drauf sind, die es nur nicht auf die Liste geschafft haben. Die Möglichkeit im Netz Musik zu hören verändert auch die Art Musik wahrzunehmen, z.B. über Sets bei Autofahren oder nebenbei bei Aktivitäten im Haus oder einfach YouTube-Compilations, wo sich manches Juwel und mancher originelle Remix (vielleicht gibt es dazu bald einmal einen kleinen Extrapost) verstecken. Nun aber freue ich mich erst einmal auf die vielen Anregungen, die noch kommen mögen.

2017 top 20
 

1. Kietsuzukeru Echo – Hisato Higuchi
2. Take Me Apart – Kelela
3. Wonderful Wonderful – The Killers
4. Fatherland – Karl Hyde
5. Moth – John Beltran
6. Humanz – Gorillaz
7. Elaktrac – Shobaleader One
8. The Man Who Fell From Earth – Anders Parker
9. Blade Runner 2049 – Hans Zimmer, Benjamin Wallfisch
10. More Life – Drake
11. Live at Iklectik – Philip Jeck
12. True Care – James Vincent McMorrow
13. Gang Signs & Prayer – Stormzy
14. Narkopop – GAS
15. Process – Sampha
16. Mark Kozelek with Ben Boye and Jim White
17. Mellow Waves – Cornelius
18. 13 – Indochine
19. No Mountains in Manhattan – Wiki
20. Fiction / Non-fiction Olivier Alary

 
 
… bubbling under:

• As You Were – Liam Gallagher
• Ctrl – SZA
• Lifetime of Love – Moon Diagrams

 

 
 
 
I’m relatively new to Django Bates artistry, so he is still a bit of an enigma to me. I gather he has many facets. Having first heard him on Anouar Brahem’s Blue Maqams and then on his brilliant new trio album, Beloved, I didn’t know what to expect when I saw this – but I knew I had to have it. I watched a couple live YouTube videos and was intrigued.

For the most part Bates has stayed almost religiously true to the canon of Pepper; there is barely a bar that has been changed with regards to form and structure. Rather than completely reinvent the album as was done to Revolver by San Francisco jazz singer Ann Dyer (Revolver: New Spin,) he has wisely chosen to keep Pepper’s bones intact, for the most part anyway, and instead adds some jazz filigree to the mix, by augmenting it with earthy big band horn parts, a few surprising harmonic twists and turns, occasional funky guitar riffs and subtle groove shifts. He plays a lot of Rhodes piano, deftly riffing here and there, but never muddying the sacrosanct Pepper waters. Amidst the augmented arrangements, all the associated licks and classic guitar solos are reverently played (although not always by guitars,) once again showing Bates has a great deal of respect for the material. There are exceptions: one tune, (and it might be the Sgt Peppers theme itself if memory serves), is mostly in 5/4. But these sorts of liberties are rare.

The vocalist is perhaps the weakest link in the chain. He too stays true to the originals, offering little in the way of reinterpretation. He has the right Brit rock/pop pipes, no doubt, but there is very little to distinguish these vocals. I would describe them as appropriate and serviceable, yet they come off for this listener as a bit flat, i.e. they don’t get in the way of the proceedings, nor do they particularly shed any new light on the material.

That being said, a more radical departure may not have worked. I think of Nguyen Le’s Dark Side of the Moon, a reimagining of the classic Pink Floyd album. It is a far more radical departure from the original, reinventing the material entirely for big band and employing female (as well as males) voices for the vocal chores. Le even adds his own entirely original material to the mix – it’s the complete opposite approach to Bates’s, and while extremely bold, doesn’t seem to find its way onto my player very often. This version of Pepper however, is plain fun to listen to and finds a sweet spot between reinvention and fidelity to the original.

The bottom line is, Bates has managed to create a highly listenable version of a masterpiece, run through the kaleidoscopic lens of Bates’s wild imagination.

Kürzlich habe ich wieder damit angefangen, Matetee zu trinken. Ah, sie liest Rayuela, werden einige Manafonisten denken. Anmerkung für alle, die das Buch nicht kennen: In diesem Klassiker von Julio Cortázar ist Mate quasi eine der Nebenpersonen und es gibt das Gerücht, dass einige Manafonistas den Roman unter einem tagelangen Materausch zu sich genommen haben. Anmerkung für alle, die unter 30 sind oder die Mate nur als Clubmate kennen: Der Mateteestrauch ist in Südamerika beheimatet und ist dort ein belebendes, pur getrunkenes Kultgetränk, das auf eine sehr dezente und lang andauernde Art Geist und Körper anregt.

Und wenn Sie sich, liebe Leser, einmal an „Rayuela“ ranmachen (bei mir liegt immer noch eine Übersetzung, die ich Robert Wyatt schicken will), dann besorgen Sie sich grosse Mengen von Mate-Tee, und gehen einfach mal das Risiko ein, dass Ihr Lebensabschnittsgefährte sich von Ihnen trennen wird. Denn Sie werden für eine ungewisse Weile verschwinden im Pariser „Schlangenclub“, mitten in einem Haufen Jazz liebender, abgedrehter und unendlich liebenswerter Menschen. Ein paar scharfe Bräute sind auch dabei, die Celine und Julie aus dem alten Rivette-Film in nichts nachstehen, und, ja, ich zahle jetzt freiwillig, 10 Euro in die Macho-Kasse der Cronopien.