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17. January 202117. January 2021

30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 6: Dire Straits, the debut album.

A Challenge: 30 Platten in 30 Tagen/30 records in 30 days Dire Straits, Debut Album

30 records in 30 days goes into the sixth round, with the swinging sultans from the wild west.

Here comes my musical coming-out, part 3: the debut album of Dire Straits. With this record, I travel way back in my youth. A friend of mine showed up with it one day and really wanted us to listen to it together right away. That’s how enthusiastic he was about it. It was also on my side a musical love at first sight and the record accompanied us both through many, very long nights, during which we talked about everything and anything. In the background this record was playing at least once a night. Very often more than once.

So it is always a musical memory of this phase of my youth. There is no favorite for me on the LP, it is simply excellent as a whole. In my opinion, the Dire Straits have in the following albums unfortunately no longer this unused freshness and musical nonchalance musically implement. Simply a unique piece of music.

Stay tuned

16. January 202116. January 2021

30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 5: Madonna’s first album

A Challenge: 30 Platten in 30 Tagen/ 30 records in 30 days, Madonna Debut Album

30 records in 30 days goes into the fifth round, with holydays on a lucky star.

Here comes my musical coming out, part 2. Yes, I like Madonna. When I started picking out the 30 records for my challenge last weekend, I knew that the artist’s debut album definitely belonged to this collection. Why? The album as a whole was a musical reminder of high school graduation for me. Besides, my best friend and I listened to it until we dropped.

So I was very surprised to find out that it was released a year after I graduated from high school. Crap, now I have been telling nonsense for more than 3 decades. I noticed this error when I tried to put the records in a chronological order last Saturday.

Since then, I’ve been desperately trying to figure out what was really my high school graduation anthem. I’ve been looking at all the charts and since then I’ve been getting on the nerves of my circle of friends with the question “can you still remember 1982 …”. Over the course of the last week, a hot candidate has emerged, Tainted Love by Soft Cell. But that track came out in 1981. Well, I guess I’ll be digging around for a while. I am grateful for any suggestions.

Stay tuned

15. January 202115. January 2021

30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 4: 4 by Foreigner

30 Tage, 30 Platten / 30 days, 30 vinyls, Tag 4: Foreigner 4

30 records in 30 days enters its fourth round, with heroes who urgently want to meet a woman in black.

Here comes my musical coming out, part 1. Yes, I have heard something like that once and I connect quite an exciting story with this LP. There are 2 real firecrackers on it (Juke Box Hero, Urgent), which I have heard together with my best friend at that time up and down. By chance we got shortly after it’s release into conversation with 2 classmates and to our surprise they were also Foreigner fans and loved these two tracks very much. A few hours later we had the idea to go to Munich together to see the group live. To our surprise we got tickets and on top of that a place to stay with acquaintances.

The concert was a great success and we partied long into the night. Therefore next day we were not at our best. But after one of us reminded the rest that we will write an art-exam in the late afternoon, the tiredness was blown away. We studied on the way back from Munich to the Allgäu, and we arrived in Füssen 10 minutes before class started, a bit stressed. I’ll never forget the moments when we threw the characteristics of different architectural styles at each other and the panic gradually increased during the drive home.

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14. January 202115. January 2021

30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 3: Incantations by Mike Oldfield

30 Tage, 30 Platten / 30 days, 30 vinyls day 3: Mike Oldfield, Incantations

30 records in 30 days goes into the second round, this time with düdeldideldü, ping, dum, dum and düdeldideldü again.

Please do not misunderstand, this introduction is not meant negatively. I just wanted to summarize what is the essence of the entire LP. The double album is characterized by medieval-like melodies, richly varied instrumentation and a complex arrangement. Overwhelming.

The 4th studio album of musician Mike Oldfield belongs to my category ” records for meditation and contemplation “. A record for the quiet moments, as a complement to a good book or simply as a trigger to think and ponder. Later I bought Tubular Bells and Ommadawn. And still Mike Oldfield is for me the ideal musical complement for the quiet moments of life.

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13. January 202113. January 2021

30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 2: Genesis Live (1973)

30 records in 30 days. a challenge. Day 2: Genesis

30 records in 30 days goes into the second round, this time with knives, giants and a kick-out.

This time short and sweet. The combination of Peter Gabriel and Genesis is for me one of the musical highlights of all time. I have only one LP, but bought the rest – except Trespass – in digital form over the last years. Musically, I became unfaithful to Genesis after the leave of Peter Gabriel, because I didn’t like the soft and commercialized sound of Phil Collins. But I have been musically loyal to Peter Gabriel (CDs and downloads only).

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11. January 202112. January 2021

30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household, day 1: Timewind by Klaus Schulze

30 records in 30 days goes into the first round, with synthesizer chirping, pink noise, arpeggios, and more interesting sounds.

The meditative sounds of Klaus Schulze have accompanied me throughout my teen years. Sometimes these sounds were so meditative that I spontaneously fell asleep. Not because the music is bad, but because it is pleasantly soothing.

In addition, this LP strengthens the musical stamina of an average listener, because both tracks together are 50 minutes long. Therefore a lapse in concentration is possible. I have already praised this LP once in my blog and would have had two others by Klaus Schulze in my record collection, but for me it is still the artists highlight. And it has drawn me to the electronic side of music. Enough for today, now I’m going to listen to Klaus Schulze.

Stay tuned

11. January 202119. January 2021

30 records in 30 days from 2 collections from one household.

Normally I am very sensitive to such challenges, but about this nomination I was really happy. First, it has something to do with music and second, I can rummage through my musical past again. At the beginning I thought that this will be a relatively simple task. Go to the basement, briefly check the collection and present the most interesting pieces in the next 30 days. On Saturday – after the nomination – I disappeared into the basement and was only spotted again last night. Starved and close to dying of thirst. Was not so easy after all. Because some records I now simply find horrible, other records I once liked, but now I classify them under the category of irrelevant, musical blah blah blah.

It was interesting for me what I found again, because my records are since the move from Forchheim to Deggendorf (2000) in the basement. Last year in October I took 2 of my favorite pieces to a friend to digitize them with the help of his equipment. Of course they are also included. It was also interesting that I completely forgot about some artists over the years and when listening to them on iTunes (I don’t have a turntable anymore) I realized that they are still really good. So Apple will make some money again. Enough of the introduction. Tomorrow it starts with one of my oldest records.

Stay tuned.

8. October 202011. January 2021

Severed Heads – danceable electronic experiments.

At about the same time that I discovered Alien Sex Fiend, I stumbled upon Severed Heads. In Munich’s biggest record store I came across the LP “Since the Accident”. I was simply thrilled by the weird cover. I really don’t remember if I listened to the LP, but most likely I didn’t. Except for one song – that I’m still celebrating – you can benevolently call this work experimental. Malicious tongues would simply call it noise. But “Dead Eyes Openend” was and is simply a blast. There is not much more to tell about it now, so this article will be very short. Have fun listening to it.

Alien Sex Fiend – linking punk and electronic music.

After Human League there was no electronic milestone for a long time. O.k., there were some Neue Deutsche Welle/New Wave bands that inspired me, but in retrospect I had a musical AHA effect only with the British band Alien Sex Fiend again. A very adventurous combination of punk, synthesizer sounds and drum computer. Especially the dark lyrics appealed to me, here is an excerpt:

*Breakdown is on it’s way*
*Breakdown in a month or a day*
*Breakdown and cry, lay down and die*
* Goodbye, goodbye. *

Somehow it was really cool at that time to learn these destructive lyrics by heart with enthusiasm and to set it as a counterpoint to the whole perfect Popper world. I still remember the lyrics and the song (“Breakdown and Cry”) is still one of my absolute favorites. But the absolute highlight on the LP was “E.S.T. Trip to the Moon”. In 1984 this track was in the British Independent Charts for quite some time and I celebrate it until today. Have fun listening to it.

Klaus Schulze – the master of time

Pink Floyd (last story) helped me to enter the electronic music world, but the first real milestone was the LP Timewind by Klaus Schulze.

I bought the record in a freaky store in my hometown Füssen. There you found – for small-town conditions – an extremely varied, modern and mostly alternative assortment: a lot of reggae, a lot of electronics, hard rock, etc. The store combined a dusty pharmacy flair with the aura of a drug den, but you could listen to records for hours without being looked at crooked. Here the musical dreams of a music-loving 16-year-old were stored. A complete alternative to the biggest radio shop on the square, there were the Oberkrainer Musicians, Cindy and Bert, James Last, Heino and other monstrosities from the Schlager or folk music corner. In addition you were looked at crooked if you listened to a record for more than 5 minutes. So the shopping was not really fun.

One day in this shop I discovered the Timewind by Klaus Schulze and immediately fell in love with this record. At that time it was very expensive for me (20 DMark with 100 DM pocket money). But the LP was worth it, a window into a new music universe. To appreciate the tracks, I usually looked for a quiet place and enjoyed the spherical sounds to the full. Sometimes I also fell asleep during this process. Either way I have rested after enjoying the record.

Even today – in our hectic, fast-moving times – a wonderful musical resting place and a huge contrast to the Spotify consumption environment (just listen for a minute). Little by little, two other records by the artist were added, the Black Dance and the Body Love. But to the latter there is a nice extra story. But this one will be available soon.

Personal favourites in the work of the artist do not really exist. But because the Timewind was my entrance into the world of Klaus Schulze, I’ll play it briefly. Have fun.

Stay tuned.