Some wise words from Werner Herzog

 

‘Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.’ 

💫

News from Switzerland 🇨🇭- a new Yello’s on Triston Tapes 💫💫💫

 

Yello ‎– One Second [2 x Analog Reel-To-Reel Tapes]

Triston Masters in Switzerland is preparing master tape for commercial master tape copy release coming soon!  

A timeless album showcasing Yello’s spacious, beautiful pop sounds with their sensuous Latin feel – from the shaking and grooving ‘La Habanera’ and the hauntingly beautiful ‘The Rhythm Divine’, to the noisy, growling ‘Si Senor The Hairy Grill’. Released in 1987, the album also features both Billy MacKenzie and Shirley Bassey, the latter singing vocals on ‘The Rhythm Divine’.

Album: Yello ‎– One Second

Format: 2 x Reel-To-Reel, 15 ips, ¼", 2-Track Stereo, 10.5" NAB Reel, Album, Limited Edition, CCIR Eq.

Country: Germany

Released: 2024

Genre: Electronic, Pop

Style: Leftfield, Synth-pop

The Tape Tracklist:

Tape One:

1 La Habanera 5:10

2 Moon On Ice 4:17

3 Call It Love 5:05

4 Le Secret Farida 3:17

5 Hawaiian Chance 4:18

Tape Two: 

6 The Rhythm Divine 4:10

7 Santiago 5:48

8 Goldrush 4:19

9 Dr Van Steiner 4:18

10 Si Señor The Hairy Grill 4:49

11 L'Hotel 3:56

Music Composed By Producer, Engineer – Boris Blank

Lyrics By, Vocals – Dieter Meier

Backing Vocals – Billy MacKenzie

Bass Trombone – Don Randolph

Drums – Beat Ash

Guitar – Chico Hablas

Piano, Accordion – Philip Kienholz

Trombone – Steve Trop

Written-By – B. Mackenzie, B. Blank, D. Meier, and R. Winters

Co-producer, Engineer – Ian Tregoning

Cover – Ernst Gamper

Producer – Yello

Cutting room: The Townhouse - London.

This album is timeless in many ways, and the musicianship of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank never goes out of style.

Yello's spacious, beautiful pop sounds with a sensuous latin feel. From the shaking and grooving 'La Habanera' through to the hauntingly beautiful 'The Rhythm Divine', through to the noisy, growling and enigmatically titled 'Si Senor The Hairy Grill', there's something for everyone and every track delights.

Released in 1987, the album is noteworthy for featuring both Billy MacKenzie and Shirley Bassey, the latter singing vocals on "The Rhythm Divine". The songs "Call It Love", "Si Senor The Hairy Grill“, "Moon On Ice", "Hawaiian Chance" were used on episodes of Miami Vice and the song "Santiago" used as a sample from Dunya Yunis' "Abu Zeluf“.

AAA 100% Analogue - Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes. Pure analog transfer from the original master tape - The entire tape mastering analog domain chain was kept analogue from start to finish. There was no compression or limiters used. Master Quality Reel To Reel Recording On RTM SM911 Tape.

All Right Reserved: Phonographic manufacturer and registered owner of the work. Unless specific permits are prohibited duplication, hire-lease, loan and use this phonographic support for pubic performance and broadcasting.

Thanks to my friend Jürg Schopper 🥇💫🥇🥂💫 for the great job and dedication 🇨🇭

Disk of the day - Lavinia Meijer - Are you Still Somewhere? (Sony Classical 2022)

 

Fantastic player, program and recording. 

Thanking my pal Marco 💫

Tools of the trade - Dr. Brian May’s “Red Special”

 

Few guitars in the world of rock can boast the fascinating history of Brian May’s Red Special. This instrument has accompanied the guitarist since he was sixteen, through the great successes of Queen, and has earned nicknames like “Fireplace” and “Old Lady.”

At the time, the Mays couldn’t afford to buy an electric guitar, so Brian and his father Harold, an engineer with a passion for modeling, decided to build one themselves. The name “Red Special” refers to the reddish color of the mahogany wood used to make it. It’s estimated that the value of the instrument at the time of its creation was around 8 pounds.

The nickname “Fireplace” has a more particular history. It seems that Harold and Brian used an old fireplace mantel to build the neck of the guitar, and they also used putty to fill the holes made by woodworms.

The Red Special has been a lifelong companion for Brian May throughout his long career.

The Long Journey 💫

 

Life is a long journey where you are both teacher and student. Sometimes you teach, but every day you learn.

Fall, hopefully 💫

 

Disk of the Month - Wadada Leo Smith & Günther “Baby” Sommer - Wisdom in Time (Intakt CD128 - 2007)

 

This Swiss-recorded disk is simply marvelous, in the purest FMP tradition and a joy to listen to.

It’s a real gift for yours truly as I was lucky enough to attend to a concert of this amazing duo exactly during the same tour which made this recording happening, shortly after a concert in Zurich.

The music is adventurous but highly enjoyable and pleasing and remains a great Polaroid of the stature of these musicians for whom unable to witness their music alive.

💫🥇💫

 

La Leggerezza

 

Photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson 🥇

Tools of the Trade - Ry Cooder’s Stratocaster

 

An iconic instrument belonging to an iconic artist 💫

Notice the cool Bigsby twang-bar 💫

A Jürg Jecklin’s appreciation 💫

Sometimes… often, I regret I didn’t study German 😏

Finally, just over 21 and a half years after the death of Maestro Jürg Jecklin, our book «Augenblicke für di Oren – from the life of Maestro Jürrg Jecklin» has been published.

I had conversations with Jürg in 2020 and 2021. You are the basis of this autobiography in conversation form. An entertaining mix of anecdotes and manual has been created. Jürg was not only an inventive master of sound, but was also the creator of the famous Jecklin disc or the electrostatic FLOAT headphones. After 30 eventful years as a master of sound at the Schweizer Radio, he worked as a university teacher at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Jürg had an unconventional way of approaching problems and maintained an empathetic treatment of students, musicians and musicians.

All participants contributed free of charge to this appreciation of Jürgs Schaffen.

The publication in Switzerland can be ordered, for example, here:

https://www.orellfuessli.ch/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1072249660

or here:

https://buchshop.bod.ch/augenblicke-fuer-die-ohren-juerg-jecklin-9783759751577

White 💫

 

Ampex ATR-102

 

One of the very best 💫

Jazz

 

Reversed E-strings 💫

 

A noble heritage, as seen in flamenco guitars ✅

… aehm: sometimes it’s not the case 😉

Grundig Audiorama 7000 💫

 

My amazing Grundig Audiorama 7000 without whom I’d be painfully music-less 😵‍💫

BTW - CD isn’t dead 😏

Tools of the trade - Steve Tibbets and his Martin D12-20 💫

A nice video here 

Steve Tibbets and his beloved Martin D12-20… a gift of his father when he was in his teens; Steve used in most of his amazing albums and this guitar adapted to his style. One of the last mods was using all unison strings E to e (no octave high strings)

💫 💫💎💫🥇

Muddi Uoters in Torino 💫😏💫

 

Fantastic tape 💫🥇💫

Ex-RAI 🥇with typical Italian-style typos on Muddy’s name (see reel label) 😉😳😏😉

I’m soooo fussy 😂

Happy birthday to George Gruhn 💫🥂💫🍀🥂💫

 

Miles’ box-sets 💫🥇💫

 

FZ

 

llustration by Boris Pleša, 2019