On November 5 Martin Hall released his so far most extensive project ever, the box set ‘Catalogue (Martin Hall 1980-2007)’. The release consists of five audio-cd’s og one dvd - all in all 81 music tracks and 15 dvd-features – covering Martin Hall’s musical career from 1980 to 2007.
The cd’s are divided into five categories: The first disc is subtitled ‘Airplay’ and contains singles and airplay tracks (including the - at the time - new single "World On A String"), the second is ‘Hallmark’ featuring MH’s signature songs (the heavier and more theatrical titles in his repertoire) and the third is ‘Soundtracks’ which consists entirely of instrumental works (soundtracks from various art installations, theatre projects and films). The fourth cd in the box selection is ‘Remakes’ which primarily includes new remixes of various Hall-songs made by other artists, and finally cd five is entitled ‘Encore’ featuring a selection of newly recorded works with (mainly) classical ensembles.
The dvd, ‘Visuals’, furthermore features 15 tracks (film clips, videos and live performances such as a 27-minute footage filmed at his highly appraised concert at the Glyptotek in October 2006 (receiving 6 out of 6 stars in leading Danish music magazine Gaffa).
Since the musicians involved in the recordings featured on these discs adds up to hundreds of people, we have to direct you to our discography section concerning more specific information about the individual tracks ... or to MH’s own liner notes which you can find a link to at the bottom of this page. Of the newly recorded material on the box however, the two biggest surprises probably remain the guest visits by Danish musical legend ‘Else Marie Pade’, who at the age of 82 made her first remix ever, and the appearance of yet another Danish myth, the herostratically famous Marquis Marcel de Sade who by his spectacular and flamboyant lifestyle turned Denmark upside down in the 50’s and start-60’s. Very appropriate for an artist of Hall’s stature, the final song on the release, ”Tout Le Monde”, is performed with the latter accompanying him on the piano.
Apart from Hall’s own liner notes, the box also contains an introduction written by the label Panoptikon from which the following explanatory excerpt is taken:
” Although Martin Hall’s complete discography consists of more than one hundred releases, the artist himself is fully content with focusing solely on available titles such as Camille, Metropolitan Suite, Das Mechanische Klavier, Inskription and Facsimile, his highly praised latest album. Together with the recent jubilee version of Ballet Mécanique’s The Icecold Waters Of The Egocentric Calculation and current plans of re-releasing Random Hold next year, the key elements of his musical framework thereby seem in place. However, continual requests for many of his older releases have been hard to ignore for a long time.
Therefore Panoptikon has decided to release the Catalogue box – as a summary of Hall’s recordings as both singer and instrumentalist. This process has obviously not been easy: The diversity of his working methods add up to a problem as far as the selection of material is concerned. In the words of the internationally acclaimed Danish ensemble Efterklang, Martin Hall embodies “a fascinating schizophrenic versatility” that transcends any common category. Whether you like his music or not, it is only fair to say that he has become a brand of his own in contemporary Danish music. ”
On the remix part of the box (cd 4, ‘Remakes’) the following artists have contributed:
1. Love In Vein (Trauma)
2. Cool Breeze Of Discontent (Candy’s Room remix of “My Argentine Rose”)
3. Rooms Badly Lit (Hess Is More remix of “You Know Why They Hate Me”)
4. Tu Es Mon Image (Efterklang)
5. Swimming Pool Eyes (Winterhill remix of “Damage Control”)
6. Ritualized (Dub Tractor remix of “Ritual”)
7. Vacuum (Pellarin remix of “Other Rooms”)
8. Split (Acustic remix of “Feet On Glass”)
9. St. Petersburg Notes (Christian Skeel remix of “Other Rooms”)
10. Chance Encounter (Erik Levander remix of “Mimic”)
11. Metastatic (Hall & Skeel remix of “A.S.A.P.”)
12. An Even More Vulgar Display (Wäldchengarten remix of “A Vulgar Display”)
13. Extended Frame (Pellarin & Lenler remix of “Minor Frame”)
14. Crowded Saturdays (Johnny Stage remix of “Minor Frame”)
15. Parading The Frozen (Prinz Ezo remix of “Another Heart Laid Bare”)
16. Illustration (Else Marie Pade remix of “Finale”)
The dvd contains two selections from the film ’Totem’ made by Claus Bohm and Ole John Film (1-2), two ’Random Hold’ videos made by Robin Skjoldborg (3-4), two ’Facsimile’ videos made by hansen-hansen.com (5-6), ”Other Rooms” in an unplugged version from the television programme TV2-Lorry (7), The Danish National Radio’s extensive coverage of Hall’s appearance at both The Glyptotek and Trax Galla 2006 (8-14) as well as a unique footage of MH and Marcel de Sade during the recording of the song ”Tout Le Monde” (15).
Further reading: Martin Hall's liner notes |
