Manafonistas

1914, 1917 – The First World War, the Battle of Verdun: faraway times with a birth mark that set the fabric of memory in motion. Soundtracks, novels, movies, documentaries, paintings: Anthony Durr’s All The Light We Cannot See comes to mind, another soundtrack by the Nottingham-Noir-combo Tindersticks – and not far from now, a record will see the light our somehow rather dark days called The Ship. „Inspired by the vast deep ocean where the Titanic sank and the battlefields of WW1“, the whole work „conspires to be immense and intimate at the same time“, James Oldham writes, and continues: „The first track, with its collage of echoing sonar electronics, radio broadcasts and chanted lyrics, is a suitably ambitious opener, but it’s more than matched by what follows. The reverberant atmospherics of `Fickle Sun´, a suite in three parts, are revelatory. The three parts conclude with a weightless cover of Velvet Underground’s `I’m Set Free´, which feels like a completing of a circle for the composer.“ According to Mr. Oldham, it is nothing less than „magnificent“. I would have loved reading a very long and detailed review. But I’m happy to read these lines at all. P.S.: Really great news on a day of complete sleeplessness after a night of full-time activity.