Manafonistas

Es wäre nicht passiert, wenn es am 5. August 1951 kühler gewesen wäre. Eine US-amerikanische Familie der upper class in einem Mietwagen unterwegs auf Europatour. Der gebildete, besserwisserische, durchaus nicht ganz humorfreie und sicherlich in einem Mainstreamjob gut verdienende Pascha-Ehemann John, die Kinder im höheren Teenageralter (verwöhnt und jetzt schon versnobt, lernunwillig, aber das spielt für ihren beruflichen Lebensweg keine Rolle.) Es ist der 41. Geburtstag von Ellen. Da darf sie sich etwas wünschen. Sie fühlt sich von einem heruntergekommenen, stinkenden Fischerdorf magisch angezogen, Porto Garibaldi. Dort will sie baden, im Meer. Der Ort ist so arm, dass es allen den Atem verschlägt. Da ist eine Fischerhütte, plötzlich steht Ellen darin. Eine sehr junge Frau, schwarzhaarig, gebräunt, mit billigem Schmuck um den Hals. Sie lässt sich mit einem reichen, alten Fischer verheiraten. Wir befinden uns im Jahr 1910. Leben in einem italienischen Fischerdorf. Kinder werden geboren. Gefühle ändern sich. Der erste Weltkrieg, der zweite. Visionen vom Auswandern nach Amerika. Kinder sterben im Krieg. Und all die Jahrzehnte die Hände in den Leibern der toten Fische. Ohne Raum ist unser Bewusstsein. Ohne Zeit. Sich von den Stimmen der anderen tragen lassen. Nous ne serons plus jamais seuls.

Q * * * *

 
„Maximalist art pop … ‚Someday World‘ is a joyous blend of busy rhythms and bright, surging melodies … two electro innovators forge the perfect match.“

To celebrate the release of ‚Someday World‘ out this week, Eno and Hyde will be performing songs from the album on Later … With Jools Holland with some of the musicians that performed on the album, including Fred Gibson, Leo Abrahams, Chris Vatalaro and Don E. In Eno’s case this will be the first time he has performed live on television since Roxy Music.

Tune in on BBC2 or BBC iPlayer for the Live show on Tuesday 13th May at 22:00 and the full recorded show on Friday 16th May at 23:05.  

On Manafonistas.de (entry date: May 1st) you’ll find an in-depth interview with both artists. 

We’re seriously looking for bilingual people from Poland, China, Japan, Italy, France, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Morocco, the Netherlands, Israel, Germany, Hungary, and inhabitants of other countries who are music lovers and able to translate our long Eno/Hyde-Interview (posted on May, 1st) to their native language. We’re not looking for some ridiculous google-translations, but for high quality work that implies all the subtleties of the original text. If you are interested, just leave a comment with your email adress. This adress can only be seen by the Manafonistas. We would then send you the details of the deal.

P.S.: We are very happy to announce that there will be a Chinese translation of the Eno/Hyde-interview soon. As far as I know, it will probably be posted on a Chinese on-line forum for contemporary music. Details will follow. Come on, France, Italy, Spain, Norway!

There are some funny guys who call me a „fan“, or my love for a certain kind of music a „steckenpferd“ which sounds like someone obsessively collecting stamps or coins. Mhmmm, I’m not a fan, and I’m not following a „steckenpferd“. But, deep respect for people who are collecting coins and stamps instead of old Spyro Gyra records. From some high brow perspective this all gets the aura of „regressive behavior“. Tonight, at 4 in the morning, I made my little „lucid dream exercises“ (without success, by the way) and was lost in listening on Spotify to Ian’s new discovery. A review can’t be more accurate. Charcoal Owls! Tin Roof! Wow! The word „wow“ is not just a simple expression of my enthusiasm, but also a kind of hommage for the barking dog on this terrific record! I will immediately order a vinyl copy at A-Music. This is a kind of melancoly far beyond the usual standards of old boy’s misery missing their beloved in a desolate cabin in the woods. But I digress. I will present now a totally new side of mine which will surprise many readers of this blog. I mean being a professional music journo means to be confronted with a lot of pretentious bullshit and certain forms of virtuosic boredom meaning, f.e. the fucked up Mehliana record, Wesseltoft’s hour of „sacred sensation“ in „OK World“, groovy Nils Landgren records, or the 150th Jarrett standards trio (a telling example about the bitter taste of being trapped in a time-loop). The ubiquitious music critic „Johnny Boy“ Kelman and the magic „wolfman“ Kampmann might heavily argue against my point of view –  that’s fine with me. But now, something totally new (from my limited, utterly fragmented world) – did you ever hear about a record titled „Someday World“? I couldn’t resist to write a review on amazon.com, and here it is. Brian Eno and Karl Hyde are creating disturbing, beautiful songs with a sense of wonder and wilderness. Brian knows how to look for exit signs on old, well-trodden paths. Getting lost is a heartfelt need. For both of them. Between the blurred edges of England’s old soil and another blue world, „the satellites sing songs / The days run into one / I need the sound of cars / To drown the quiet sun“. It’s an album that grows with time. Opposite emotions co-exist in the same frame, there are second and third bottoms in tracks that offer dark lyrics on one side, but warm, lush, embracing tunes on the other. The songs are full of existential issues without simple messages. Death, childhood, love, missed opportunities, a strange take on the creation of the world, a lullaby (with two bleak four-liners) for our endlessly numbered days. The music is full of twists and turns, never a simple formula, always an element of surprise – and excellent singing. I’ve heared these nine songs for four weeks now, and for all their diversity, their hidden corners, their singalong qualities, their joyous melodies, their mix of harshness and sweetness, it has become quite an addictive experience. And, to return to  the beginning now, I’m not a fan of anyone or anything, with one exception: I’m a fan of Borussia Dortmund. Thanks for reading.

Thanks for the charts … Great!

Here is a treat for you

A short film about my Robert Wyatt installation running this week in Canterbury …

Text and film here

Clouds from Cuckooland from Janek Schaefer on Vimeo.

10 Songs Of Love And Hate (For The Sake Of So-called „Good Old Times“)

Leonard Cohen: Coming Back To You

Neil Young: Like A Hurricane

John Lennon: Stand By Me

John Hiatt: Have A Little Faith In Me

Ian Hunter: Bastard

Joni Mitchell: A Case Of You

The Magnetic Fields: The Book Of Love

David Bowie: „Heroes“

Paul Simon: Further To Fly

Tom Waits: Somewhere

Tourdaten Österreich und Deutschland
 
17.10. AU-Wien, Arena Big Hall
21.10. Berlin, Berghain
23.10. Leipzig, Schauspiel Leipzig (w/Pharmakon)
24.10. Köln, Gebäude 9 (w/Pharmakon)
25.10. Hanover, MusikZentrum (w/Pharmakon)
27.10. Hamburg, Kampnagel (w/Pharmakon)
29.10. Dresden, Beatpol (w/Pharmakon)
30.10. Wiesbaden, Schlachthof (w/Pharmakon)
31.10. Karlsruhe, Jubez (w/Pharmakon)
01.11. München, Feierwerk (w/Pharmakon)

 


 
 
 
Listen. Sie dienen der Vermessung, erfordern Einteilungen, Bewertungen, Flurbereinigung. Listen. Sie dienen der Erledigung, sind Handlungsimperative. Listen. Sie mahnen, rufen zur Einkehr auf. Keine Liste, die nicht irgendwas davon hätte oder alles zugleich. Es wäre schön, eine Liste zu haben oder zu machen, die einfach nur da ist, ohne all das. Das wäre doch mal was!