MHQ: You like that title for our small talk?
Michael: Yes, for my teenage heart!!! A nice dictaphone you have, let me have a look (silence, noises). You know my taste. DRUMS AND WIRES is a fucking great XTC album. I think our Ian listens to it on a regular basis, everytime his Celtics are switching to fuckng old Bravehearts :):) Steve Wilson’s genius remixes (stereo and surround) made me return to the treasure grove of ancient Progressive Rock. King Crimson are the greatest of them all. And you know the unkown HOLY GRAIL of Prog Rock?
MHQ: Tell me.
Michael: XTC’s MUMMER. Totally surreal, inventive, melodic, dark, mysterious. Tony Visconti is a big fan of it. As good as, well, IN THE LAND OF GREY AND PINK, one of the two really awesome CARAVAN albums.
MHQ: What has been the last of those records in your studio?
Michael: THICK AS A BRICK, the 5:1-version. I loved it when I was a teen, I still love it. Some years later, Jethro Tull turned a bit too whimsical, but their special Englishness, and the inventiveness of their CEO delivered some masterpieces. PASSION PLAY is an unusual approach to death. A bit Monthy Python, a bit Harold Pinter. I listened to THICK AS A BRICK, full volume, four active speakers, ground control from Trinnov Amethyst, and I was in heaven, even as a wall was cracking!
But, now, some guilty pleasure. Different from my new old companions, John Kelman and Brian Whistler, I couldn’t stand TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS. It was pure kitsch for me, Rick Wakeman aka „Mr. Hypervirtuoso“ (a reason for punk to arise quicker!) – horrible – and when I heard it in very young years, I decided never ever to return. But now I ordered Steven Wilson’s surround edition – I will drink two glasses of red wine (Molly Dooker, Two Left Feet, 2013) before starting the machine – and then do my „reevaluation“ job.
MHQ: What do you expect?
Michael: The child in me always had big ears and merciless judgement. I think I will still find it awful, but enjoy the sound. Marihuana would suit better to play tricks with my mind. But in a few weeks from now, BEAT will be released, Steven Wilson-style. King Crimson’s great folllow-up of their unsurpassable quartet incarnation with Fripp, Belew, Bruford and Levin, DISCIPLINE.
MHQ: Another confession?
Michael: I never loved the music of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.
MHQ: No one of your fellows believe this will be your last sign of life till December 6th, on this blog. You seem, ähem, a bit addicted, writin here.
Michael: Well, death notes come sooner. You can bet on it, Joey! I will still write my „memory lane review“ of those five excellent ECM vinyl albums from the days of old (will happen within the next seven days), and do some comments on my posting of the last radio night. Then I will cross the seven seas.
MHQ: Seven seas, Michael, keep it low …
Michael: You’re right. The old romantic in me. Time for reloading batteries. The seven seas are Baltrum, the Alps near Krems in Austria, England (somewhere in England), and that’s it. Maybe, Forestville, CA – no, no, that may be something for 2017 :) – would like to see here some photos of Mr. Whistler’s power spots there, with some short notes … Or stories.
MHQ: Eight free weeks, that’s pure luxury!
Michael: First of all, it’s brainstorming. And shit can happen anyway. But: Health comes back, or so it seems. ASS 300 was quite toxic, and this specialist in the „Sauerland“ didn’t tell me a fucking word to take it regularly after the meal, and after some Omeprazol.
MHQ: Will you visit Brian Eno in Notting Hill?
Michael: Dunno. He’s still the busiest guy I know. Yesterday I wrote him a mail concerning a meeting in Hamburg. I do know two fucking great places, great food, great view, and no shitty background music – thanks to the late Peter Rühmkorff, by the way … I miss the days in the studio of eccentric Michael Naura. Loved that guy!
MHQ: Something new on the loudspeakers?
Michael: In the car. Got a promo copy of that awful LAZARUS-musical with Bowie. There they even killed some of his best songs in broadway style. But: three pure, great songs from Bowie’s last months! A propos Broadway and entertainment. Leonard Bernstein did a great job with Mahler symphonies, and then, me, oh my, this awful musical and movie WEST SIDE STORY. Shakespeare drowned in American mainstream. With a ridiculous view on harsh realities. There is only one medicine: the greatest (Shakespeare-fuelled) TV-series ever, „Sons of Anarchy“.
MHQ: Last question: which song do you sometimes sing in a shower?
Michael: Oh, my favourite question from Mojo Magazine. „Tell Me Why“ from Neil Young. „Some Of Them Are Old“ from Eno. All my personal evergreens. There is another one I would like to sing these days, but I couldn’t sing without my voice cracking, „Do You Realize“ from The Flaming Lips. And I would need a band in the bathroom for support, the band from the master class movie „Frank“, and, yes, Frank should better sing it, I would be very, very happy to do the background vocals. Oh, in fact I’m really keen to see the Flaming Lips again live on January 16th, 1917, in Berlin. Buy the ticket today!