ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE BRAINDEAD - POSTCARDS (2012-2013)

POSTCARD # 1 HIDDENSEE - SONGS FOR THE APOCALYPSE:


Descarrega / Download



AN ISLAND.
A ROOM TO MYSELF FOR SEVEN DAYS, FAR FROM EVERYTHING, DETACHED FROM MOTORIZED TRAFFIC, FROM CITY NOISES, FROM THE ENTIRE WORLD. THE ONLY SOUNDS BEING THE SEA AND ITS BOATS, HORSE CARRIAGES AND BIRDS IN THE HEATH.

I SPEND THE DAYS CLIMBING OVER ROCKS AND DRY BONES OF SEA GULLS, COLLECTING FLINT STONES AND SHIMMERING SHELLS OF DEAD BEETLES, LOST IN THOUGHT ABOUT HOW THEY ARE ALL TINY TRACES OF LIVED LIFE, DISCARDED AND LEFT THERE TO DRY AND WEATHER, JUST AS A SONG IS ALWAYS A PIECE OF SLOUGH, SLIPPED OFF THE MOMENT IT'S WRITTEN AND LEFT AS A TRACE, A PIECE OF THE PAST BEING CAST INTO SOME KIND OF GRASPABLE ARTEFACT.

BUT THE INSTRUMENTS I BROUGHT REMAIN SILENT FOR MOST OF THE TIME. WHILE I HAD HOPED THAT THE PEACE OF AN ISLAND WOULD GIVE MY WRY MIND ENOUGH SPACE TO UNWIND, INSTEAD IT FEELS MUFFLED AND ALL THAT IT SPITS OUT ARE FRAGMENTS, LOOSE THOUGHTS AND MUSICAL MINIATURES THAT I SCATTER ACROSS MY APARTMENT€˜S FLOOR LIKE THE FLINT STONES AND SHELLS I BROUGHT HOME.
I€˜M NOT REALLY THERE. NOT REALLY ANYWHERE AT ALL.

WELL, THESE ARE THE FEW SOUNDS I MANAGED TO HARVEST. A SENSE OF ABSENTMINDEDNESS. A PEACE. A YEARNING. THE SEA AND THE GULLS.

HIDDENSEE, AUGUST 2010

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POSTCARD # 2 ISTANBUL - SONGS FOR THE HOMESICK:


Descarrega / Download



ISTANBUL. THE CITY OF CITIES.
MY FRIENDS LEFT ME IN THEIR APARTMENT IN ÜSKÜDAR FOR A FEW DAYS, ALONE WITH A TALKING CAT AND A PIANO. I'LL FEED THE CAT IN THE MORNING AND THEN PLAY THE PIANO 'TIL NOON, HAVING NO IDEA HOW THAT INSTRUMENT WORKS BUT ENOUGH TIME TO MAKE ERRORS AND MORE ERRORS UNTIL UNCONTROLLABLE SOUNDS TURN INTO MELODIES.

THE BALCONY OVERLOOKS THE BOSPHORUS.
I HAVE DINNER WATCHING FERRIES CROSS FROM ASIA TO EUROPE AND BACK, HEAR SEAGULLS SCREAMING, UNAWARE OF CONTINENT BORDERS. BACK HOME, OVER THERE, IN THE WEST THERE ARE THINGS WAITING FOR ME, UNRESOLVED STORIES, BUT I KEEP LINGERING OVER HERE, FAR AWAY AND OUT OF REACH FROM EVERYTHING.

ISTANBUL IS THE LOUDEST CITY I KNOW, THE MOST RESTLESS ONE, CROWDED, BIG AND DIRTY AND UNBEARABLE, BUT I LOVE IT MORE FIERCELY THAN ANY OTHER. I'VE THROWN MYSELF RIGHT INTO ITS VERY CORE, GOT LOST IN THE MAZE OF ITS STREETS, TALKED TO PEOPLE IN A LANGUAGE I DON'T UNDERSTAND. TO THEN COME BACK TO A PLACE I CALL MY TEMPORARY HOME, MY IVORY TOWER, WITH THE TALKING CAT AND THE PIANO, AND CAST CURRENT DESIRES AND CONFUSIONS INTO SONGS.

THESE ARE THE FIRST SONGS I EVER MADE ON THAT INSTRUMENT WHICH I STILL CANNOT PLAY, RIGHT IN THAT CITY I CANNOT SHAKE. ISTANBUL, YOU€˜LL HAVE ME BACK. SOON.

ISTANBUL, JUNE 2011

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POSTCARD # 3 COLOGNE - SONGS FOR THE BREATHLESS:


Descarrega / Download



COLOGNE. A ROOM.
OVER TIME I COLLECTED QUITE A BUNCH OF INSTRUMENTS. THERE ARE STRINGS TO BE PLUCKED AND WOODEN STICKS TO BLOW AIR INTO, THINGS TO BE HIT AND THINGS TO BE SHAKEN, MILLIONS OF WAYS TO SET SOME KIND OF MATERIAL INTO MOTION, TO MAKE ANOTHER RESONATE WITH SOUND. IF PEOPLE ASK ME WHICH WAS THE FIRST ONE I PICKED UP, I TELL THEM IT WAS THE RECORDER. BUT ACTUALLY, IF I WANT TO BE PRECISE, THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE BEFORE.

IN FACT, THE FIRST CORDS I EVER MADE VIBRATE WERE RIGHT IN MY THROAT, THE FIRST BODY I MADE RESONATE MY OWN. BEFORE I COULD EVEN THINK OF WAYS TO HOLD OR PLAY ANOTHER INSTRUMENT, I HAD ALREADY DISCOVERED I WAS EQUIPPED WITH ONE: A VOICE. IT STILL TOOK A LONG TIME TO GET TO KNOW IT AND BEFRIEND WITH IT. YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE UNSETTLING, DISSOCIATING EXPERIENCE OF HEARING YOUR RECORDED VOICE FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND BELIEVE ME, YOU WON'T LIKE IT. YOU HAVE TO FACE ITS FLAWS AND MAYBE LEARN TO USE TURN THEM INTO BENEFITS.

FINALLY, AT A TIME WHEN THE WEIGHT OF MY GUITAR WOULD FEEL WRONG IN MY HANDS AND THE STRINGS OF MY BANJO WERE ONLY ALIENATING, I SAT DOWN IN A CORNER OF MY BED, STRIPPED OF ALL MUSICAL PROTHESES, AND DECIDED TO FINALLY ATTEMPT TO MAKE AS MUCH USE OF MY ONE VERY OWN INSTRUMENT AS POSSIBLE.
OVER SOME TIME, A LITTLE COLLECTION OF PURELY A-CAPELLA SONGS EVOLVED AND IS NOW BEING RELEASED INTO THE WORLD.

COLOGNE 2010 - BERLIN 2012

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POSTCARD # 4 CALIFORNIA - SONGS FOR A SOFT HEART:


Descarrega / Download



THE DESERT. THE VAST LANDS.
IN FACT I AM ALREADY BACK HOME IN THE CITY, AND YET THE SILENCE OF THOSE CALIFORNIAN WASTELANDS DOESN'T CEASE TO RESONATE IN ME. I WALK THROUGH GERMANY'S DULL WINTER DAYS, STILL DRAGGING A FAINT NOTION OF THOSE VIVID, FLAWLESS SKIES ALONG, AND STILL PRETEND TO FEEL THE DUSTY HEAT AS I AM WRAPPED UP AND MY SCARF IS SPARKLING WITH THE FROZEN DRIPS OF CONDENSED BREATH.

AND THERE IS MORE I CAN'T LET GO OF YET.
AND DAYS GET HEAVY AS THE NEW YEAR ROLLS IN, DARK AND DULL AND FULL OF DISAPPOINTMENT. I AM WEAK AND ACHING, TURN INTO A GHOST OF RETROSPECTION, TIRED OF DRAGGING ON THE YEARNING FOR A FAR PLACE AND LOST LOVE LIKE A DEAD LIMB. FAIL TO DROWN MY WOES IN BLACK INK AND IN CHLORINE WATER. CURLED UP INTO A BALL AND WAITING TO IMPLODE.

THEN SUDDENLY I FIND MYSELF IN SOMEONE'S KITCHEN, PLAYING A WEIRD INSTRUMENT HE BROUGHT FROM SOUTH AMERICA, AND AS I LEAVE I HEAR: HEY, BY THE WAY, I BROUGHT THIS ONE FOR YOU. THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST GIFT EVER RECEIVED; A SCISSOR TO CUT LOOSE MY INNER KNOT, EVOKE THE MEMORIES OF MY JOURNEY AND TO CAST THAT WINTER'S DEMONS INTO SOUND AND SONG, JUST WHEN I NEEDED TO.

THOSE DEMONS HAVE BEEN HIDDEN WELL AND SLEEPING NOW FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS, BUT IT IS HIGH TIME TO RELEASE THEM. THEY'RE NOT SCARY ANYMORE. .

COLOGNE/CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 2011

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POSTCARD # 5 BERLIN - SONGS FOR THE SLEEPLESS:


Descarrega / Download



THIS SUMMER.
NO OTHER I REMEMBER HAS EVER BEEN AS VIBRANT AND BRISK WITH LIFE. AND THERE IS HARDLY ANY BETTER PLACE TO EXPERIENCE A SUMMER THAN THE GLORIOUS CITY OF BERLIN. THERE'S THE BALMY EVENING AIR OVER THE LANDWEHRKANAL, BIKE RIDES THROUGH ALLEYS AND PARKS. THERE ARE BREAKFASTS AMONG NEIGHBORS UNDER CHESTNUT TREES AND TALKS BETWEEN STRANGERS ON TRAINS THROUGH THE COUNTRY. THERE ARE SLEEPLESS WORK NIGHTS AND RELAXED BAR EVENINGS, WON AND WASTED TIME.

YOU'LL TAKE NAPS IN THE PARK BETWEEN LONG WORK SHIFTS AND AFTER JOURNEYS, SING LULLABIES TO FRIENDS WHO ARE IN PAIN AND FALL ASLEEP WITH THEIR HAND CLUNG TO YOURS, YOU'LL REDISCOVER AND APPRECIATE OLD AND FIND NEW ONES AND FOR THE FIRST TIME FEEL TRULY EMBEDDED AND HELD BY THAT INCREASINGLY DENSE NET OF PEOPLE AROUND YOU. YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO HIDE AND EVERYTHING REVEALED WILL BE IN GOOD HANDS. AND YOU START WRITING SONGS NOT FOR YOURSELF BUT OTHERS, AS YOU LEARN THAT THEY CAN BE NOT ONLY DIARIES BUT MEDICINE, IF APPLIED WITH CARE TO THE RIGHT EARS IN GOOD MOMENTS.

THERE IS A NEW MAGIC TO FRIENDSHIPS, TO MUSIC, TO LIFE. THERE'S A SENSE OF NEW BEGINNINGS, OF TRULY BEING AT HOME. AND IF THERE WEREN'T ALL THOSE LITTLE PROVES OF YOUR EXISTENCE PRIOR TO THIS DATE YOU'D SWEAR YOU JUST HAD BEEN INVENTED. THIS VERY SUMMER. IN BERLIN.

BERLIN, SUMMER 2012

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POSTCARD # 6 COLOGNE - DECONSTRUCTION SITE:


Descarrega / Download



COLOGNE.
THE CITY I WAS BORN IN, I GREW UP IN. LIKE A SPOUSE TO WHOM I HAD BEEN PROMISED BEFORE I WAS BORN AND ENDED UP BEING MARRIED TO FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS. MY LOVE TO HER HAS NEVER BEEN QUESTIONED. AND ONLY LATELY I BEGIN TO REALIZE IT HAD NEVER BEEN MY CHOICE.
THIS IS MY HOME. I COULDN'T BE MORE TIRED OF IT. COULDN'T BE MORE TIRED OF SOUNDING CALM AND SWEET. A ROUGHNESS NEEDS TO BE RELEASED. AND CHEWED AND PUT INTO PERSPECTIVES. CONSTRUCTION SITES COVER THE CITY'S FACE LIKE OPEN WOUNDS, AND IT'S TIME TO RUB SALT IN THEM.
YET HOME IS NOT JUST THE PLACE, IT IS ALSO THE PEOPLE, MY FRIENDS THAT I FOUND IN RECENT YEARS AND BEGAN TO LOVE DEARLY.. NOW THESE SONGS ATTEMPT TO UNITE BOTH, MERGE RECORDINGS OF MY ACTUAL, PHYSICAL SURROUNDINGS, MY CITY, MY HOUSE, MY HEARTBEAT, WITH THE SUBTLE PRESENCE OF MY FRIENDS WHOSE INSTRUMENTS I BORROW AND PLAY, ONE FOR EACH TRACK.

HOME'S IMPOSSIBE TO DEAL WITH. YOU'RE WRAPPED TIGHTLY IN ITS EMBRACE, CAN'T SHRUG IT OFF EASILY. AND YET AT TIMES THERE'S NOTHING MORE DESIRABLE THAN TO CUT LOOSE FROM IT FOR GOOD.
YOU CAN'T, YOU WON'T. YOU'LL ALWAYS BEAR A TRACE OF YOUR CONNECTION LIKE A SCAR, LIKE A SECOND BELLY BUTTON. DEAL WITH IT. AND DISASSEMBLE, DECONSTRUCT AND ANALYZE YOUR PATHS AND WHERE THEY'LL LEAD YOU, REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE.

COLOGNE, SUMMER & FALL 2009

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