„That wind is from the North, I know it well;
No other breeze could have so wild a swell.
Now deep and loud it thunders round my cell,
Then faintly dies,
And softly sighs,
And moans and murmurs mournfully.
I know its language; thus it speaks to me (…)“
(Anne Bronté, The North Wind)
Let’s look at this music as a free-spirited romantic adventure story, for a while at least! Just putting it all into perspective, Mats Gustafsson references (in his first answer) inspirations for one of the best works of the year. Even a genius like Brian Eno once called himself a „re-packager“: but, whatever sources he found, from Erik Satie „furniture music“ to Neu!‘s „romance with repetition“, or Steve Reich‘s asynchronicities, he looked at them as starting points for different horizons, and so it goes with „Echoes“ from The Fire! Orchestra: it‘s all about metamorphosis, invention, re-invention, and new grounds. Thanks, Mats, for doing this interview „from a distance“.
It is all still in the making, but next „Thursday Afternoon“ (the name of a stellar album, too) seems to be another starting point, in this case for „The Two Michaels“ talking on sound and vision. Via Michael45rpm (see blogroll). The premiere will be recorded around 3.00 p.m. (and „aired“ later in the evening, or Friday) with Michael 1, introducing, asking, wondering, and Michael 2 being „the radio voice from the off“. The third man (and the second in the background) is of course Mats opening some more gates to the never-ending magic of „Echoes“.
„The wind is in from Africa,
Last Night I couldn‘t sleep (…)
(Joni Mitchell, Carey)
