Browse by Artist: GARLAND, WECHSEL

Artist:	GARLAND, WECHSEL
Title:	Liberation Von History
Label:	KARAOKE KALK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	KK 012CD

"Liberation Von History somehow reminds one of a jumbled up jigsaw puzzle. You are easily tempted into trying to fit together the obvious pieces in your mind according to your customary logic -- until those few little pieces turn up that just wouldn't fit in, and you realise that it isn't meant to be rearranged at all, that, rather, it's those stereotypes lodged in your head that are to be tidied away. On liberation von history, Wechsel Garland is playing a lot with seeming contradictions. The two very different facets of his music whose cohesion is not immediately accessible correspond to the album's two sides: while side one sounds sad and melancholic, side two appears very at ease and liberated from musical conventions. Jörg Follert has come a long way since his Wunder album. With Liberation Von History, he in a way liberates himself from the stereotypes or clichés that had then been attributed to him. you will nonetheless find everything you used to love about his music, everything that fascinated and enticed you, here again -- only different, taken much further. The album features guest performances by Jens Massel (the person behind the Karaoke Kalk projects Kandis, Fumble and Senking) at the bass, Jacques Palminger (member of the Hamburg-based band Universal Gonzales) and finally the voice of Japanese singer Hirono Nishiyama."

Artist:	GARLAND, WECHSEL
Title:	Easy
Label:	KARAOKE KALK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	KK 034CD

This is the third full-length release on Karaoke Kalk from Cologne-based Jörg Follert, aka Wechsel Garland. Easy finds Follert lending his voice in song to his dreamy electroacoustic instrumentations. There have been elements of both singing and song in his work before but not as distinctly arranged and not as forcefully set in scene. Approaches to more song-oriented tracks have been inherent from his Wunder project and Follert has been following his idea to travel in sound with various sketches that become more and more concrete. Creating delicate interplays between songs and instrumentals, these songs take their cue from minimal music and cool jazz, letting their elements communicate in a non-dogmatic manner. Various guests support the eclectic range of rhythms and sound details, including guest singers Yvonne Cornelius (aka Niobe) and Tusia Beridze, while Argentinan artist Gustavo Cerati extends the musical arc with his guitar, basslines and some additional sounds. Jörg Follert's second step is to take care that between the multitude of ideas, both songwriting- and sound-wise there still remains some gentle air to breathe. Touches of bossa nova, reggae, jazz pop and hints of Caetano Veloso make various lightweight appearances. Easy is the aural expression of a long, lazy afternoon.

Artist:	GARLAND, WECHSEL
Title:	Wechsel Garland
Label:	MORR MUSIC (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	MORR 016CD

2000 release. Jörg Follert was Wunder, now he is Wechsel Garland. Great expectations? ("Große
       Erwartungen") One can easily trace the atmospheric relationship between the two projects -- the synthesis of lightness
       and deep melancholy. A combination that is nearly impossible. How then? ("Wie Also?") Like an airplane, a butterfly
       ("Falter") glides through the valley of deep sounds in the beginning, only to take a rest between melodic-percussive
       patterns made of minor scales later on. In a more accelerated and abstract way Steve Reich achieved that before,
       but here the music is much slower and far more intimate. It says: Come! ("Komm") There! -- softly pointing at YOU with
       its forefinger. Deep inside your body there's a resonance. That's the place where the floating and ringing sounds of the
       marimba, the Fender Rhodes piano or the xylophone can vibrate. Their echos will remain. Like insects ("Wie Insekten")
       bass sounds buzz, like dust in the light ("Staub Im Licht") flutes, Hammond B3 and melotrone cover a soundscape that can
       be overlooked from any perspective. A peculiar idyll. With no star ("Ohne Stern") in the sky, nameless, removing, but
       even more real ("Wirklicher"): at least Wechsel Garland's music isn't based on samples anymore as with Wunder. There's no
       driving beats, but it's all rhythmic. Can you dance to it? Originally the music was composed due to an order from
       choreographer Gabrielle Staiger and had its première under the title "This Very Moment" with the Arazzo dance
       ballet at the Brotfabrik, Bonn, in February 2000. By later extending the tracks, adding important details and inventing
       ingenious song titles, the debut of Wechsel Garland was finally born. It's music you'll find between the shelves in
       record stores; music that has to create its listeners -- and that is only a small step along the way ("Viertel des
       Weges").

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