Manafonistas

The colours are coming back, the clouds, too. Nice morning place with good vibes. Some minutes later in the Jubilee Line: a professor from Pennsylvania introduced to the people around a young student from Florida, and that their theme is – today – public talking.  So the young girl started with a nervous smile and then she talked about certain things you can do with your Iphone or Ipad you might not know. At first there is an app with which you can find out, even here in the depth of an old English tube, which airplanes are just flying over you (high in the sky, in this moment of time), and where they are heading to. Funny. And then things became interesting for me as a journo. If you are going to make photos, just keep your hands on the virtual „photo“ signal, and it will do more than a hundredandfifty photos in a minute, even when you’re moving around. Ten seconds, and you have pictures, pictures, pictures. Wow: easy going for my photo shooting in the early afternoon.

Thanks, Guy, for all the kindness. You have been so busy, we hadn’t even a ghost of a chance to continue our wonderful talks about the things that turn us on when listening to music. Hope you had a great evening with Alison (I remember an old century, a dark bluesy voice and early electronic synth patterns!). I’m now heading to the Notting Hill area. I gave Janek Schaefer your adress in case he wants to write you something about his project with William Basinski. His record is a beautiful quiet affair, and I hope you busy man will have time to drift in and out of „Lay-By Lullaby“. I put it on the table in the kitchen. Warmest wishes, Michael.

I listened (again and again) to the forthcoming album of the dude with the hat from Morocco and that guy who’s carrying hidden places in his name. The lyrics are – in parts – surreal  – a wild joy is at work, and darkness a close friend, and nearly every song is full of cars and stars, and dreams and demons. The last song is – firing on all cylinders – a subversive form of nostalgia, a bitter-sweet lullaby for the end of the world. 

Now this visit was funny. In fact all I needed was a remedy against Alzheimer, a remedy against depression, and a remedy against impotence, brewer’s droop and radiation-induced erectile dysfunctions that can also be used as a highly effective „fat-burner“ with lots of side effects, if wrongly dosed. I didn’t want any soft homeopathic pills, but really powerful tools.

I gave the man behind the counter a list of the three names, hardcore material from your favourite psychiatrist. Well, he started to look a bit suspicious. Whatever I would say now, would make the whole situation even more suspicious. But what should I do? So, here was the naked truth: „Sir, as you might see, I’m not suffering from Alzheimer, I don’t think you would call me depressive, and believe me, my sex drive is fine. I need these pills for my scientific research (I’m a trained psychologist, Sir!) for inducing lucid dreams in the last and longest R.E.M.-cycle of sleep. There these pills work, when handled with care, as neuro-transmitters. They present a real progress in the neuroscientific research of dreams, and lucid dreams particularly.“

Now, at this moment, I realized the silence in the shop. Two Indian looking women gave me a nervous smile, as if they would think i’m just at the peak of the manic phase of a serious  bipolar psychosis. I tried to save the situation by smiling trustfully and adding that I know I might need a prescription for two of them, but, as far as I would know, No. 3 is freely available in England. Again I said the name of the substance and that it is made, distilled, whatever, from some special Black African Beans.

„Black African Beans?“, the older woman asked, and she obviously didn’t feel very comfortable. The man behind the counter looked into my eyes and said (after looking carefully into his lists): „Sorry, but for these black beans, too, you need a prescription. And even with a document from a doctor you have to pay 200 English pds. for them.“ A deal was not in sight, I somehow enjoyed all those things that were lost in translation. And wished them a good evening.

Stars and Skies
 
[             ]    Manif
 
part as
 
dream     as

„Beim Schreiben dieser Memoiren habe ich mich an die Fakten gehalten, es sei denn, sie wollten sich einfach nicht der Erinnerung, dem dichterischen Willen oder der Wahrheit, wie ich sie gerne verstehe, beugen. Wo immer ich mir Freiheiten mit Namen, Daten, Orten, Ereignissen, Unterhaltungen oder den Identitäten, Motiven und Beziehungen von Familienmitgliedern und historischen Persönlichkeiten erlaubt habe, sei dem Leser versichert, dass es mit der entsprechenden Hemmungslosigkeit geschah.“

(Michael Chabon)

No, this man is not off to another galaxy, maybe he’s off to a „someday world“. In fact, when I entered his studio, he was just working on an idea in his head (a special sound maybe, a rhythmic, a melodic shape?).  I was quiet for a moment so that he could make a mental note. – You look a bit Moroccan, I then said to him. I’ve never seen Brian Eno with a white beard. He really was in the Moroccan hills a short time ago, as I knew from one of his latest e-mails. What I didn’t know was that he bought a hat in that country that was once a „hippie dream world“ deep in the last century, that turned to hell for too many young people. You can see this hat in the photo. The coloured version will be posted here (amongst some other surprises) on May 1. I have known Brian since 1989, and when I’m in London, there are casual meetings once in a while. So, nothing was planned, no promotion activity set up by Warp Records. But, well, when chance meets opportunity, why not have a little conversation about a record that (I promise!) will blow some people’s minds. When I left the studio, with some nice little things in my bag, I saw him returning to his place and setting a pulsating electronic rhythm in motion. Always fun to hear a glimpse of a possible future. Hope he could nearly seamlessly return to the idea he had in his mind meaning the completely different place he had been some minutes before!

In which galaxy this guy might be, listening to an e-book from Audible? Let’s guess: is he listening to Ruth Ozeki’s „A Tale For The Time Being“? No, he doesn’t look so.  Not a Zen guy. Maybe it’s that dark spy novel „Faceless“, Terry Hayes‘ terriffic crime story! No, there is too much delight in his face, you can see that though he’s wearing sunglasses – and we all know, he’s only an actor, a fake.  But don’t miss that guy who’s just passing the scenery: the other „grey man“. His features are too vague, he’s not traceable anymore. He might be a ghost. But he’s not faking.