Metropolitan Suite

Martin Hall

Format:	CD
Released:	March 2001
Label:	Music NetWork
Catalogue:	MNWCD 361

Lyrics:	Martin Hall
Music:	Martin Hall, Christian Skeel
Producer:	Christian Skeel
Cover:	Kenneth Schultz
Photo:	Casper Sejersen

Tracklist:

1. My Argentine Rose 1:52 2. Opium And Sugar 1:10 3. Stating The Obvious 1:17 4. Plaza Flesh 2:31 5. A Vulgar Display 1:42 6. She's My Goodbye Europe 0:58 7. Unzipping The Abstract 1:11 8. The Moon's A Balloon 1:24 9. The Mephisto Effect 1:36 10. An American Tragedy 1:04 11. Walking On Eggshells 1:59 12. Natives Of The Gutter 1:10 13. Animal Emotion 2:04 14. The Circus Comes To Town 2:18 15. Young, Vain And Beautiful 1:52 16. Pieces Of Venice 1:23 17. In Chambers 1:13 18. Subject To Injury 0:51 19. Pink And Fuzzy 1:03 20. Eichstadt 2:23 21. A Lonely Impulse Of Delight 0:44 22. Pristine 1:27 23. Greed 2:10 24. A Résume Highlight 0:35 25. Tomorrow Belongs To Me 1:14

Musicians:

Christian Skeel: piano Martin Hall: vocals The Vista Dome Ensemble: orchestra

Recorded at Mainstream and Sensual Logic, in the period 1998 to 2001. Mixed by Thomas Li at Generator, winter 2001.

Notes:

'Metropolitan Suite' is a classically instrumentated work produced by the visual artist Christian Skeel. In collaboration with Martin Hall he wrote and orchestrated the 25 musical vignettes which in tailor-made fashion portrays the singer as a true "décadent". Electrical instruments were banned on the recordings, something that allows the album its own thin air of exclusivity. Titles such as "Walking on Eggshells", "Unzipping the Abstract" and "Plaza Flesh" indicate the mental geography at play and MH's many well-hidden references to both current and classical literature presents the audience to a joyous voyage of exploration. The project took three years to record and is - with MH's own words - "the perfect follow-up release to the Boel/Hall success from last year" (a collaboration with Danish platinum-act Hanne Boel; an album selling gold in Scandinavia). In layman terms: An artistic highpoint, but a commercial disaster.