„Sowieso nur ein gefrorener Himmel“
imagine a summer campfire feel, all
along tracks of purity and wit, kind
of naked, too. now imagine these songs
being even more naked while
rocking in quite nonchalant ways.
as a last step, imagine a room with
a flower, a shadow of the disappeared,
and strum simple, strum, strum – the guitar. (m.e.)
Manche halten ihn für einen Scharlatan, das ist auch schon Don Cherry passiert. Ich habe Jonathan Richman immer gemocht, aber erst seit einihej Jahren intensiver gehört – und sein neues Album spricht mir mit Charme, Witz und Wehmut aus der Seele. Ich habe das Album gestern auf dem staureichen Autobahnen zwischen Dortmund, Düsseldorf und Aachen herum auf bandcamp rauf und runter gehört. Die Lp und Cd-Versionen aus den USA sind schwer zu bekommen und teuer. Ein paar Zeilen aus Pitchfork: „Though he doesn’t dwell on the subject, death is the thread that ties together Only Frozen Sky Anyway. He admits as much in the record’s brief liner notes, writing of the deceptively lively “Se Va Pa’volver” that it represents a theme that took shape during the album’s recording sessions this past January: “The song is about how our friends are leaving, in their dying, on an errand, only to return. In another role. With another mission.” Nun, ich teile nicht „message“, aber die Fantasie!
(Neben „Modern Lovers 88“ habe ich nun also ein weiteres Lieblingsalbum von Jonathan gefunden – im folgenden zu lesen, ein paar ältere Texte aus dem alten Blog, zu „Modern Lovers 88“, von unserem einstigen Gefährten Bob T. Bright (2013), sowie Mark Smotroff (2018) – und von meiner Wenigkeit, das kleine hemdsärmelige Gedicht ganz oben.)
„In other words: Although I knew Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers through Roadrunner, Ice Cream Man and Egyptian Reggae, which I heard around the time of the first punk explosion, for some reason I never really listened to him very closely which is quite a long time to allow such a treasure to escape from your life … meanwhile I find myself more and more captivated by his enchanting music. What I find so great about him: Jonathan’s music is small and homespun in its sound and in its lyrical interest and yet manages to seem limitless in the possibilities it suggests of its possible meaning.“
„Whether he is writing about being a mosquito or about honey bees or parachute jumpers, about the joys of driving along a New England freeway or dancing in a lesbian bar; however small or parochial the nature of his concerns, the expansive nature of the joy that the lyrics give rise to in the listener and the vibrancy and ebullience of the music are such that any one of his songs could charge you with sufficient energy to still have room to counter the next wave of misery that is an inherent part of the human condition, but which he manages to somehow dissipate through his songwriting.“
„Although there are so many of his songs that are great, I particularly love ‚Twilight in Boston‚ because it expresses the joy of the mundane – of the prosaic, with precisely the deftness of touch that avoids slipping into the mawkish (of course, this is subjective). It happens to refer to Boston, but this could be an experience that anyone could have, anywhere in the world – at any time. It’s sung with that gleeful sense that enjoyment comes from the here and now, from the smallness of things, which at the same time are connected to something greater.“
Nachdem ich diese Texte zusammenstellte, merkte ich, welche Lust ich mal wieder verspürte, „Modern Lovers 88“ zu lauschen – ich stiess auf die Wiederveröffentlichung „zum Dreissigjährigen“ dank Marks Besprechung – aber sie hatte sich irgendwo in meinem Archiv versteckt. Nach zehn Minuten hatte ich sie ausfindig gemacht und laufen lassen, von der ersten bis zur letzten Rille. Wunderbar! Manchmal altert auch die Begeisterung für Dinge, warum auch immer, in diesem Falle erfüllte mich das Hören mit purer Freude. Die Sache mit Jonathan lässt sich nicht runterbrechen auf das ewige Kind im Manne, oder eine bewährte Regression im Dienste des Ichs. Sie geht um einiges tiefer, selbst da, wo ein Hetero in einer Lesbenbar singt.
4 Kommentare
Michael Engelbrecht
Alle Songs des neuen Albums sind derzeit auf bandcamp zu hören.
Michael Engelbrecht
Aaron Badgley, Spill Magazine:
Only Frozen Sky Anyway is Jonathan Richman’s 18th studio album, add in nine albums with The Modern Lovers and four live albums, one can see that Richman has been very busy since he made his debut in 1970. He hit his commercial peak with his music featured in the comedy There’s Something About Mary (1998), but one wonders if topping the charts was ever the motivating factor for Richman. He has always done what he wants to do, which is a large part of his charm. As an artist he influenced generations of musicians and bands, and his band produced members that furthered the landscape of music (The Modern Lovers at one time featured Jerry Harrison who would join Talking Heads and future Cars member Dave Robinson).
Harrison has worked with Richman on several occasions and is one of three co-producers for Only Frozen Sky Anyway (along with Richman and his wife, Nicole Montalbano). Harrison provides keyboards, while Tommy Larkins is on drums In some ways, this is reminiscent of The Modern Lovers set-up, but that is where the similarity ends.
Only Frozen Sky Anyway is a remarkable album. Richman is one of the greatest songwriters of the last 50 years, and he does not always get the recognition he deserves. Only Frozen Sky Anyway should correct that oversight. “When I make my transition, I want everyone to know I only changed positions”, sings Richman in the opening song “I Was Just A Piece Of Frozen Sky Anyway”. Richman backed by a sparse backing band sets the stage for the album about change, loss, nostalgia, and mortality.
That doesn’t mean it is a depressing album and without fun. Far from it. Richman turns the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” into a Lou Reed song. “The Dog Star” is a great love song that is pure Richman, with great backing vocals. It is brilliant. And “O Guitar” is pure magic, again a love song based around the guitar. It is a tribute to an instrument that has loomed large in his career. His very distinct style.
And at times, he does touch the listener’s soul with his honesty and pure emotion. The last two songs, “The Wavelet” and the very short “I Am The Sky” are the perfect songs to end the album. Richman wraps the album with “I Am The Sky” and adds the word “frozen” to the line, “I am the frozen sky”, making the album circular.
Only Frozen Sky Anyway is a brilliant album in many ways. Musically, it is raw, yet very beautiful. It is sparse, and yet, he uses complicated arrangements and an unusual combination of instruments and lyrically it is a bittersweet look at life. Richman is an artist whose songs may appear to be simple, but are anything but. He has come up with an honest and expressive album with Only Frozen Sky Anyway.
Martina Weber
Wow, was für ein starkes Gedicht. Melancholisch und doch ist Leichtigkeit darin. Ich hab’s zu übersetzen versucht, hab mir natürlich Freiheiten genommen. Im Englischen ist es stärker und vieldeutiger, aber hier ist die Fassung, die für mich funktioniert; etwas Interpretation mag auch dabei sein (ich feile immer sehr am Rhythmus, der für meine Sprechart etwas Fließendes haben muss):
Stell dir ein Lagerfeuergefühl vor, im Sommer, die ganze Zeit
über laufen Tracks, authentisch, mit Witz, irgendwie
ebenfalls nackt. Jetzt stell dir die Songs vor,
nackter als nackt, unbekümmert und lässig, wie sie
sich wiegen. Als letztes stell dir vor einen Raum, mit einer
Blume darin, der Schatten der Verschwundenen, und
schrumm einfach, schrumm, schrumm – die Gitarre.
Michael Engelbrecht
Nice.
Auf dem neuen Album ist ein feine Hymne an die Gitarre:
„Oh, Guitar“