Heute kümmern wir uns um Musik, die sich aus dem Baukasten der Geschichte bedient. Die Vorstellung, dass sich nichts Neues mehr erfinden ließe, weil alles schon einmal da gewesen sei, stammt aus den 1970er Jahren und ist damit selbst schon wieder historisch. Trotzdem haben wir es derzeit wieder mit Musik voller Zitate und Referenzen zu tun – Golden Glades sucht sie aus und spielt sie ab, ohne gleich eine Theorie daraus bauen zu wollen.
„Wir erschufen das Romantischste, was zwei heterosexuelle Männer zusammen erschaffen können: eine Popgruppe.“
Mit diesem schönen Statement endet Robert Forsters Autobiografie. In Grant und Ich blickt er zurück auf die wechselhafte Karriere seiner Band The Go-Betweens, die in drei Dekaden zwar keinen echten Hit, aber doch großen Einfluss auf die Indiepop-Geschichte hatte. Forsters und Grant McLennans außergewöhnliche Geschichte bestimmt die erste Hälfte der heutigen Golden Glades-Ausgabe. Die zweite Stunde ist für weitere Songwriter-Partnerschaften reserviert, denn in kaum einer anderen Kunstform gibt es sowas: zwei Charaktere, die sich aneinander abarbeiten, sich ergänzen, konkurrenzieren und sich zuweilen sogar symbiotisch verbinden.
Die Jahreszeit gab eine treffliche Vorlage, denn goldene Lichtungen finden sich gerade und vornehmlich in freundlichen Herbstmomenten. Der Indian Summer – kristallblauer Himmel, Blätter in dramatischem Bordeaux – lässt sich zum Glück nicht nur in Neuengland, sondern auch anderswo bewundern. So lag es nahe, ein paar lichtdurchflutete Musikeinlagen zu sichten und sorgsam zu sortieren. Voilà, in der heutigen Sendung erleuchten Painted Hills, Aquaserge und Minimum Chips.
When the Reeperbahn Festival first started in 2006, I was actually part of the line-up with my band Kajak. And it was quite interesting for us to play, because it was not a common local gig: we played in Angie’s Night Club – a glamorous venue I never set foot in before. And during the show was not a single familiar face in the crowd. For me it felt like playing on a different planet, although my apartment was about 100m down the road.
To be honest: back then I never thought the fairly ambitious concept would work out, trying to establish a hybrid of conference and music shows on an international level, like a German version of everyone’s festival darling SXSW. But obviously, I was wrong! The Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg grew steadily and by now is well known as Europe’s largest club festival. This year’s 12th edition set a spotlight on up-and-coming bands and artists from all over the world, and I was very curious to check some of them out during the four festival days in late September. Here’s what I like to share with you:
Mo Kenney
Canada is currently celebrating the 150th anniversary of its confederation and it was a smart move from the festival to set a focus on to this country, because it has a thriving music scene and lots of interesting acts to offer. Like Mo Kenney for instance: She and her comrades played a pretty tight and catchy power-pop set in the early afternoon. There were feet tapping and heads nodding across the room while Mo Kenney moved through her tunes with a certain easiness – I only wish she played a few more songs!
Mauno
Next up was Mauno (see photo), also a band hailing from Nova Scotia. I set my golden ears on this act in 2015 when they released a batch of very first demo songs via Bandcamp and since that time the Canadian quartet defined a remarkable sound of their own: complex, but with a great sensibility for pop and dynamics. Initial sound problems plagued Mauno’s set as the power supply went off several times. And I’ve seen other bands getting nervous or angry about these kind of technical issues, but not here: Mauno didn’t mind to improvise, it’s part of their music and they handled the situation like experts: “The power’s telling us a lesson” said singer/guitarist Nick Everett at one point. “If you have power, use it wisely” – true words. In the end, they managed to play an elegant set of deconstructing pop with just the right amount of haunting intimacy. Watch out for their new album “Tuning”, to be released in October.
Superorganism
After this first highlight it was time to hook up with my friend and colleague Alice Peters-Burns. If you’re not already familiar with her, please tune into her radio show Kaleidoskop on ByteFM or Offbeat via NovumFM. As well, she runs a fabulous blog where she features music off the beaten track.
The first thing we witnessed in the eve was a new thing called Superorganism. The word is that this group comprised of eight members from all over the world and is fronted by a 17-year-old Japanese girl from Maine. Smells a bit like the next big thing? Well, Superorganism just got signed to Domino Records and here at the Reeperbahn Festival they were thrown in at the deep end by playing their very first live show in one of the bigger venues in town – and I can report: they didn’t sink, they did a pretty good job! If you’re a fan of infectious electropop tunes, you might love this buzz band Superorganism. Supported by visuals, playback und three punchy background singer/dancer, the show was colorful fun from start to finish.
King Creosote
Alice and I floated on to King Creosote at the Imperial Theater. Here it was more than suitable to sit down in fluffy chairs while listening to the bard of Fife alias King Creosote who apparently, just shaved his head completely bald. Furthermore, his music was stripped down to a solo performance with acoustic guitar and voice only. He played a bunch of honest and wistful folksongs with lovely banter in between – all this worked well for King Creosote.
Jane Weaver
Quite interesting was the response to Jane Weaver’s show late at night: some people grooved along to the music, others just closed their eyes to get lost in it. And both was fine. The elusive songwriter’s been making music for 20 years now and her latest release Modern Kosmology was an ambitious piece of unearthly psyche-pop and futurism. Surrounded on stage by a tight backing band with Kraftwerkian beats and analog sci-fi sounds, Jane Weaver had enough freedom to present her pop gestures in the likes of Kate Bush. It was a performance you don’t see very often these days and I was surprised, the club was not completely packed with people. Hopefully next time.
Marika Hackman
The other night Marika Hackman rocked out with her band on quite a different level: no fancy dress or make-up like Jane Weaver, only basic t-shirts and simple hairstyles. But it fit perfectly to the 90ties inspired American slackersound she played, some of them in the spirit of Nirvana’s softer side. But still, the live sound was heavy enough to move and bob along with the songs, and especially the fan crowed upfront was really into it.
All We Are
Later on, the stage was invaded by All We Are, a trio based in Liverpool. I never really liked their records, but my friends Alice knew better as she met the band before. And indeed: the live sound was filled with energy and catchy hook lines. And I quite enjoyed the fact, that the drummer stood while playing. All We Are delivered top notch festival entertainment, although I left with a feeling that they were trying a little too hard to please everyone.
Aquaserge
Probably the best thing about visiting the Reeperbahn Festival is simply drifting along. All (70+) venues are within walking distance and there’s a lot of great stuff to discover. Of course, the schedule was packed and I missed quite a few acts I badly wanted to see. But as well I popped into unknown shows and made completely new discoveries. Thanks to that I fell in love with a French group named Aquaserge: they were mind-blewing! With five performers dressed in costumes, Aquaserge delivered a hypnotic show with analog keys and (bass-)clarinet. Lots of effect pedals served the psychedelic paradigm and when the polyphonic voices came into the mix, it felt like they’ve found the sixth sense of music. Imagine Stereolab with Tortoise as experimental jazzy shapeshifters, you may get an idea, what Aquaserge is about.
Thank you, #RBF17, for putting on this great discovery and all the other fabulous artists. See next year at #RBF18!
Vor 54 Jahren wurde die Musikkassette erfunden, um die Jahrtausendwende verschwand sie fast komplett vom Markt und feiert nun als Liebhaberprojekt ein rauschendes Comeback. Golden Glades wird heute aber nicht etwa die Zeit zurückspulen, sondern ganz viel aktuelle Musik abspielen, die derzeit On Tape zu haben ist, u.a. von Deerhoof, Alvvays und LAPD.
Das Motto der heutigen Ausgabe sah ich unlängst in einem Winterthurer Schaufenster, und es stimmt ja ohne Frage: Musik hat einen ungeheuren Einfluss auf unsere Stimmung. Selbst Landwirte drehen im Stall die Lautsprecher auf, damit die Kühe glücklicher sind und – so das perfide Kalkül – die Milch zügiger fließe. Glückseligkeit ohne Produktionszwang winkt all denen, die heute Golden Glades einschalten. Unter anderem gibt’s einen ausführlichen Ausblick auf das kommende Reeperbahnfestival sowie neue Musik lebensfroher Zeitgenossen wie Alvvays, Ariel Pink und Lee Ranaldo.
Findet man auf der Speisekarte oder bei einem speziellen Gericht den Hinweis à discrétion, so bedeutet es, dass man ohne Aufpreis so viel essen darf, wie Herz und Magen begehren. Entsprechend gibt es bei Golden Glades heute musikalische Spezialitäten bis zum Abwinken bzw. Satthören. Es sollte für jeden (guten) Geschmack etwas dabei sein – je vous en prie!
Last weekend I took the train to Winterthur about 90 minutes NE of Bern, to pay a visit to the city’s annual Musikfestwochen. The name “Musikfestwochen” sounds like an earnest classical affair, but don’t worry: this neat and predominantly free festival started in the seventies as an alternative music event and proudly celebrated its 42nd edition this year with 12 days of music and a nice selection of local and international acts. Thankfully the rainfall stopped in time and the sun came out again when I found myself in the historic center of Winterthur on Saturday to watch the Canadian singer-/songwriter Andy Shauf. He released the most impressive concept album last year based on a party, filled up with sophisticated string arrangements and mesmerizing melodies. Furthermore I was curious to hear, how this intimate, soul-feeding gentle pop works out on a Swiss festival stage.
Of course, you figured out by now that the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen is not a common festival. Apart from some notorious hipsters the audience is pretty mixed, more like a social event for all ages. And the whole setting is nice and comfortable, with many stalls to get your beer from the local “Chopfab” brewery or traditional Swiss food. All this works well for Andy Shauf. When he enters the stage, long haired and coupled with a trucker cap, he looks like the young J Mascic of Dinosaur Jr. But this first impression on Andy Shauf from Regina, Saskatchewan is leading to the wrong path: instead of furious feedbacks he prefers tone over volume and creates an emotionally resonant and captivating performance from the first minute to the end. His narrative style is accompanied by a full band which includes not only one, but two clarinet players and they capture the studio sound of the record surprisingly well: all the subtleties and melodic lines sound perfect and the audience pays decent attention, although most of them probably had never heard of Andy Shauf before and want to see the other acts of the following evening.
While the sun sets down, the Irish songwriter Glen Hansard puts on a solid one man show for the lovers of more roots inflicted singer-/songwriting tunes. Thereafter it’s time for another renowned artist from Canada: Feist is closing the night with a glamorous show, performing songs from her latest album Pleasure. I’m surprised how relaxed she keeps chopping her guitar and how she enjoys talking to the audience in-between songs. But when I head back home, it’s the empathetic sound world of Andy Shauf that keeps spinning in my head.
Anyhow, it looks like I’ll be getting on the train again in August 2018, when another round of music and celebration hits the lovely town center of Winterthur.
So lange ausprobieren, bis der Shit wahrhaftig wird – letztlich geht’s im Indierock doch um nichts Anderes. Oft bekommen wir den mühsamen Prozess einer musikalischen Selbstfindung ungeschminkt serviert, als Hörer erfreuen wir uns am jugendlichen Gerumpel und denken: Die nächste Platte wird super, oder spätestens die übernächste. Sowas wäre in den meisten Musikgenres unmöglich. Also: ein Hoch auf das Unperfekte, das wir in der heutigen Sendung u.a. an folgenden Beispielen vorführen wollen: Wesley Gonzalez, H Hawkline & Daniel Johnston.
In der heutigen Ausgabe hält sich Miss Zettpunkt mit der Moderation zurück und lässt die Musik für sich sprechen. Mit dabei: Molly Burch, Steve Gunn & Pavo Pavo.
