Recommended
A BRIEF SUMMARY
A BRIEF SUMMARY
MARTIN HALL
LP/CD/MC
MAY 2018
PANOPTIKON (OPTIK 50)
In relation to his 40th anniversary as a musician Martin Hall released the double album A Brief Summary on the 4th of May 2018, a retrospective release featuring several new recordings such as the digital single and video track ”Lesser Gods”. Another newly recorded track is ”Semi”.
Quite surprisingly the album went directly in as #2 on the official Danish vinyl hitlist in week 19 (2018), giving Hall his highest chart ranking ever.
1. P.O. (2:36)
2. St. Petersburg Notes (4:04)
3. Lesser Gods (4:11)
4. A.S.A.P. (1:51)
5. 40 Versions Of The Time Before (2:41)
6. Semi (3:46)
7. Minor Frame (2:42)
8. Ash And Lemon Water (3:09)
9. Tu Es Mon Image (7:00)
10. Tout Le Monde (1:32)
11. Plaza Flesh (2:33)
12. Muted Cries (4:17)
13. Interim (1.46)
14. Cue (3:20)
15. Emblematic (2:21)
16. Exit Signs (4:55)
17. Sob Story (3: 39)
18. Pantomime (3:38)
19. Schwund (1:46)
20. Meth (8:20)
21. Mimic (4:28)
22. Replicator (2:46)
P.O.
I’ve seen your face a thousand times
I’ve seen you hide in the crowd
I feel you run within my blood
But dreams are never quite enough
Not enough
All I want to believe in is the look in your eyes
All I want to believe in is your sigh
Let me stay here forever, let me stay here tonight
Let us stay here together for a while
No one knows you better than me
ST. PETERSBURG NOTES
The cigarette smoke in the air
The smouldering waves everywhere
Full of eyes
Prune-coloured eyes
In Moscow and St. Petersburg
The places turn into a blur
In your mind
A violent sigh
The salt water traces that burn on your skin
The words that you hid in letters never sent
Your heartbeat’s a rage never tamed, never shown
Wherever you go, you’re never alone
The alcohol glows for a while
It’s shining like gold in the light
Like a trace
Of halcyon days
Like ghosts in their circuits of loss
You carry your own little cross
As a shield
Against any need
Wherever you go, you leave something behind
The parts of yourself you’ve been trying to find
The smell of the night seems to stick to your skin
All locked in a cage, the journey begins
LESSER GODS
Suddenly
Came to see
Everything so differently
Children of lesser gods
Haunt my mind
All the time
Strangers inside of me
All distant memories
Turning another page
In the book of days
Rain falling in the night
Like teardrops from the sky
Falls like my imagery
Falling inside of me
Seemingly endless
Pauses inside of me
Empty of memory
All of the whys and hows
Coming full circle now
Rain falling in the night
Falls from an empty sky
Seemingly
A.S.A.P.
She’s turning away to lie still for a while
Just watching the clouds drifting by on the night sky
The skin of a girl and the face of a child
She touches my hand and suggests that we go out
She’s checking her face in the mirror
Adjusting her hair endlessly
The hard light of the elevator
Follows her out in the street
It’s too hot to sleep
40 VERSIONS OF THE TIME BEFORE
Falling asleep on a long distance flight
The images in the still of the night
A scent of waste
The sight of your face
A flicker of uneasiness
Will I be able to forget now?
Nurses and young girls in a row
How can I ever let you go now?
Like 40 versions of the time before
The ballerinas at my feet
The connoisseurs out in the street
You mean nothing to me
Just try to tell yourself the tale again
You tell yourself it’s all the same again
The city lights that came alive
The stars that fell down from the sky
You turned around within the light
Your skin so frail and lily-white
The centre of the Western world
A glamorous confusion zipped
Upon the parting of your lips
Intangible as every breath
As inescapable as death
It means nothing to me
SEMI
Hey baby
Let’s go out tonight
I don’t want to feel this way
Forget all your troubles
Forget them tonight
MINOR FRAME
Crowded Saturdays
Guest among ghosts
A girl made of shivers
Girls on their own
Rolled down shades
Sweet, harsh sweat
It’s the choked laughter
The unmade bed
All the things you might remember
Things you might forget
Looking young and old
In the same glance
Nervous tenderness
But steady at hand
Curly hair
And vinyl sounds
Guess it’s carved in the faces
Carved and painted down
A cigarette that’s burning
Along the line
I guess that she’s the one you won’t forget
ASH AND LEMON WATER
Ash and lemon water
Shining on your lips
Whatever you do
Don’t try to resist
It’s the kind of understanding that makes you feel uncomfortable
It’s the kind of circumstances that make you feel so old
You’re all immune
To crowded rooms
Your heart’s made of air
It’s easy to share
You’re sliding down
The open sky
A handle that breaks
Excitement’s a rage
TU ES MON IMAGE
Les rails de la nuit noire
Ils brillent comme lumière
Le monde ne dort jamais
Nourrit nos rêves
Mon image de toi
Est tombée du ciel
Les rêves paraissent continuer
Les chants intérieurs
Murmure des mots inouïs
Tu es mon image
Enfourche la lumière comme une vague
Les yeux d’océan, d’amant ne mentent jamais
Détournons nous comme des étrangers
Tout ce que je veux, c’est tout
Tout ce que je veux, c’est toi
Tu es mon image, c’est toi
Les rails de la nuit noire
Ils brillent comme lumière
Le monde ne dort jamais
Nourrit nos rêves
Mon image de toi
Est tombée du ciel
Tombée du ciel
Tu es mon image
Plus bleus que toute raison
Timides comme tout mensonge
Des yeux d’amants jamais secs
Tu es mon image
TOUT LE MONDE
April 4 turning 9.25
Writing words in the air
Lovers left with a cool rainy day
Places no longer there
Cardboard letters and manners that fail
Paris Odéon girls
Doors are closing
Lights still glowing with a weak innocence
PLAZA FLESH
Show me your true desires
Show me your plaza flesh
Pictures of people dying
Seem to have no effect anymore
I don’t really give as much as a toss anymore
I just want to hide away, never beg anymore
I don’t really count the days or the hours anymore
‘Cause she’s gone
Come now
Inject the daylight
Come here
Each little girl
At first
Just want to kiss you
But then I want it all
I want excess
Your plaza flesh
MUTED CRIES
The clouds in her eyes
A whispering need
Shedding her light all over me
Try recall the cities in twilight
The clubbing
The cigarette sky
As you notice the silence
The carvings
The memory lines
The muted cries
A jaded desire
A comforting need
Walls coming down
On callous beliefs
Try recall the cities in twilight
The clubbing
The cigarette sky
As you notice the silence
The carvings
The memory lines
The muted cries
CUE
The cities of light, the mirrors beneath the stars
In all of my life I’ve followed my untamed heart
It burns like a fever in the sleepless nights
Behind closed doors and behind closed eyes
The sea of the sky keeps shining a world of gold
The sweeter the song, the sadder the tale that’s told
Like a secret that I’ll never know
There’s a feeling that will follow me anywhere I go
I’ll walk on the waters
I’ll quiet the storms
With you as my reason
With you as my calm
EMBLEMATIC
I felt a sigh pass your lips
I saw the weight on your eyelids
Yet there you swagger and there you go
The mise-en-scène of your mercy drome
Too many images at play
Too many faces in a day’s work
Your sweet incentive, it’s so relentless
My grief’s been waiting for this day
No easy answers, only hard choices
I guess we came to the end of the road
Your random gender, my desolate needs
The splintered voices of lost beliefs
Trading commodities with no fixed presets
No traces left of a long gone starlet
Pornographers and secondhand consumer rights
All sons and lovers of 70’s delight
EXIT SIGNS
Cheekbones made of light
Somewhere it’s morning
The languid grey of night
Leaving the fragrance of a cry
Guess you’re sliding back into your life
The pressure on your eyelids
Patterns of waiting
Of suffocating
Replaying the same scene
Recalling the same dream
Cover any feeling
Cover any reason now
You’re breathing the same air
The same hysteria
Like a mirrorball that shines
Just another flash of light
Deteriorating
Forgetting the details
Rewriting the scene in your mind
The exit signs of light
She’s lying beside me
She’s hidden in a sigh
In the changes of a room
Guess she’s sliding back into her life
The pressure on her eyelids
The time that it’s taking
Before she awakens
It feels like a lifetime
A memory rewind
SOB STORY
Hide away
With somebody else by my side
It could have been anyone
It could have been you
A moment ago
Whatever you do
Whatever you say
It won’t be the same
Just won’t be the same
For someone like you
It’s all just a game
I guess it’s always the same
Whatever the stakes
It’s a reason to fail
A reason to hate
PANTOMIME
Feeling like Berlin 1929
So many feelings all caught up inside
Falling like cities seen through lovers’ eyes
Shaking with fever as they say goodbye
Each time you look
Somebody hides
All of the world
Up in the clouds
Feeling so stupid in this pantomime
All that I need is a pair of starry eyes
SCHWUND
Metaphysische Diskussionen in einer Bierstube: nichts ist, nichts wird, nichts ist nicht. Wir fassen uns selbst als rationale Wesen auf, die Tatsachen akzeptieren und Argumente respektieren, in Wirklichkeit jedoch glauben wir nur an das, an das zu glauben wir gelernt haben. Unsere Spiritualität ist eine mechanische Konstruktion.
Niemand kann gegen Vermutungen aufbegehren, die nicht formuliert worden sind. Weder sie noch ich. Wir sind an unsere Vermutungen gebunden. Gebunden an das gegenseitige fehlende Verständnis von uns selbst. Mutige Feiglinge sind wir, Gespenster aus dem Spanischen Bürgerkrieg, Fetzen von Erinnerungen an etwas, das einst geschah.
Wir sind das Geschehene. Wir sind Schwund.
METH
Wide eyes, swollen lips
She examines herself like she’s about to fade
Into air
Into all she disbelieves
Skin engraved with burns
Like a jaded belief about to disappear
There’s no need
To enact this line of ways
Trace the fading needs
The ebbing desirability
You’re turning away
Still hiding your face
Don’t you know your name?
Through all of these years it stayed the same
It’s always been you
I just couldn’t choose
Lines
She wets her lips
Leaning back with her arms wrapped around her knees
To adjust
To recalibrate the need
Words in pantomime
Eyes like shimmering marble
Pressure veiled by grace
Once again
Seems to settle for reserves
Don’t you feel the weight?
The slight hesitation, the delay
Aesthetic beliefs
Won’t cover this need
Don’t you know your name?
Through all of these years it stayed the same
Whatever I do
It’s always been you
Try to hold back the dawn
Try to hold back the morning
Hold back the night
If just for a while
MIMIC
The midnight music from a distant room
The morning light, it always comes too soon
Lick your tongue now
Against my desires
Late at night
Even the sounds, they shine
Winter tales that last forever
Summer rites that taste so sweet
Just another chance encounter
Of lines that meet
Of mimic needs
“Once again Martin Hall proves that he belongs in the same realm as mythological figures such as Brian Eno and David Bowie … With A Brief Summary Martin Hall molds the foundation of his own mausoleum, a place where you can come to recall fallen musical legends, but where there’s obviously also plenty of room for future generations to have a party.”
Information – Sophia Handler (May 18, 2018)
(Danish equivalent to The Independent)
Martin Hall: Vocals and instruments
The Vista Dome Ensemble: Orchestra
Else Marie Pade: Electronics
Efterklang: Instruments
Konsort: Choir
Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial: Choir
Herbert Zeichner: Voice
Katja Andersson: Vocals
Biljana Stojkoska: Vocals
Marcel de Sade: Piano
Mikkel Meyer: Electronics
Miss Fish: Vocals
Othon: Piano
Linus Carlsen: Piano
Johnny Stage: Guitar, mandolin and glockenspiel
Henriette Groth: Piano
Ida Bach Jensen: String bass
Eskild Winding: Harmonium
Christian Skeel: Keyboards and string arrangements
Sara Wallevik: Violin
Iben Teilmann: Viola
Henrik Marstal: Cello
Ole Hansen: Keyboards, trumpet and french horn
Jens Albrectsen: Piano
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen: Double bass
Jonas Johansen: Drums
Karoliina Koivisto: Violin
Hélianne Blais: Violin
Anette Slaatto: Viola
Gry Vester-Andersen: Cello
James Crabb: Accordion
Mimi Kjær: Piano
Dennis Jørgensen: Timpani
Mads Strandgaard: Piano
Thomas Li: Networks and treatments
Design: Kenneth Schultz
Photo: Maiken Kildegaard
A Brief Summary features remakes and alternative versions of material mainly selected from Hall’s 21st century catalogue.
The title was released as a double vinyl album, a digipak-cd and a music cassette – all formats in limited editions. Although the design and colour code remains the same on all three versions of the album, the front cover image varies, forming its own visual entirety when compiled as a whole.
Among the guests on the album you’ll find the Danish electronica pioneer Else Marie Pade (1924–2016), the 4AD band Efterklang, the British pianist Othon and the world famous jazz musician Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (1946-2005). The latter performs on the partly re-recorded track ”Lesser Gods” that was released as a digital single on March 30th 2018.
The record is released with support from The Danish Arts Foundation, Koda, Danish Artist Union (DAF), DJBFA (Composer and Songwriters’ Production Pool and Koda’s Cultural Funds) and Danish Actors’ Association (DSF).
RANDOM HOLD
RANDOM HOLD
MARTIN HALL
LP
APRIL 2017 (ORIGINAL RELEASE FEBRUARY 1996)
PANOPTIKON (OPTIK 48)
In relation to Record Store Day 2017 Random Hold was released in a new vinyl edition. The record hadn’t been available on vinyl before. This version of the album was remastered by its original producer Thomas Li and entered the Danish vinyl chart at #14 in the following week.
At the time of its original release in 1996 Random Hold was regarded as Hall’s best record so far by an unanimous Scandinavian press. In 1997 the album was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland where it also received excellent reviews.
1. Cradlemoon (5:44)
2. Performance (5:12)
3. Another Heart Laid Bare (4:54)
4. Interim (1:47)
5. Cue (3:24)
6. She’s Eternal (6:00)
7. Golden Day Longing (4:37)
8. Skinline (11:03)
CRADLEMOON
The fire and the water keep mixing in my blood
The sons and the daughters seemed to give it all up
They got too tired of the waiting
Too tired to believe
In the promises that nobody keeps
I’ve seen a generation coming
I’ve seen a generation go
And the more I see, the less I know
I want to go to sleep
I want to drown in the deep of the cradlemoon
I want to touch the sky
I want to lie down and die
In the cradlemoon of the night
So I followed the shadows by the trail of the waste
And it led me into the heart, to the heart of these days
I never wanted to remember
Never wanted to believe
But you don’t ask why when the thunderheart beats
All I wanted was a reason
What I got was so much more
Couldn’t turn my back on the things that I saw
I want to go to sleep
I want to drown in the deep of the cradlemoon
I want to touch the sky
I want to lie down and die
In the cradlemoon of the night
In a world full of stories
There’s a time in the night
When the sky seems to break by the blink of the eye
PERFORMANCE
Fields of living fire
You’ll see me reaching into the air
The shadow of a survivor
I turn around but there’s no one there
I’ve been looking for reason
Some poisons taste like the sweetest wine
But all I ever believed in
Was all the things that I couldn’t find
The fires burn, erasing all the traces
And I spread the ashes all across the sky
Watching it all fall like rain through empty spaces
To the darkest corners of my heart and mind
Hear the cries and the whispers
The touch-and-go of another night
The afterglow of desire
Shines with the flame of a lesser light
A line of nameless faces
Fading away in a sea of time
Another time and place is
The last belief of performing mind
The fires burn, erasing all the traces
And I spread the ashes all across the sky
Watching it all fall like rain through empty spaces
To the darkest corners of my heart and mind
In a room without a view
There’s a story without end
Every time an answer shows
Then another hides away
ANOTHER HEART LAID BARE
Another heart laid bare on the doorstep to my exile
Another pantomime to disbelieve
I see your bended head, always humble in the daylight
Playing the servant’s role to never see
Of all the images that you left for my keeping
The one I like the most is the world outside
I never thought I would but the distance seems so perfect
I can’t deny the fact that I’m pleasantly surprised
Another victim cries, pointing fingers at the heavens
Declaring me the crime of centuries
The traces on my skin, they keep shining in the nighttime
A fingerprint on every memory
CUE
The cities of light, the mirrors beneath the stars
In all of my life I’ve followed my untamed heart
It burns like a fever in the sleepless nights
Behind closed doors and behind closed eyes
The sea of the sky keeps shining a world of gold
The sweeter the song, the sadder the tale that’s told
Like a secret that I’ll never know
There’s a feeling that will follow me anywhere I go
I’ll walk on waters
I’ll quiet the storms
With you as my reason
With you as my calm
SHE’S ETERNAL
I never wanted her to see
The world inside me
The world was turning round and round
Like something running out of time
She whispered “listen to the wind” and her breath burned my skin
I didn’t understand but it made me feel so still
There’s a tale of the night, there’s an unspoken word
And the story that she told couldn’t be explained in words
‘Cause she
She’s eternal
With her the world dies
And she
She’s eternal
With her the world dies
Let it die
A stone that falls into the sea
It falls inside me
These winterlands, they never change
They’re covered in this quiet grey
Voices calling in the night from the corners of my mind
From the desolated worlds I was trying to leave behind
Never thought I’d be returning to the place it all began
To the tainted heart of longing, till she took me by the hand
GOLDEN DAY LONGING
Sweet
Golden day longing
I feel it inside
Each breath that I take
High
High as the empty
It falls on my skin
To cover the burns
Turning silver
See the writing that runs down the wall
Book of reason
I don’t need it anymore
Sweet
Golden day longing
No words can explain
The feelings I have
SKINLINE
Days are burning like the rainbow
In a corner of the world
Your forever is a nevermore
And it turns the sky and the earth
The moon and the stars
The skin and the scars
Keeping your eyes on closing doors
Counting the shadows on the walls
Pieces of eight still fill your mind
Burning your skinline
Break the silence into stories
Tell them like a children’s tale
Always staying at a distance
As you bleed the light of the day
You’re lying awake
You lie there and wait
“Hertzlich willkommen. Mit Martin Hall’s Random Hold liegt das erste Produkt vor, das Public Propaganda als Label auf den Markt schmeissen… und was für eines! Martin Hall, eine der wichtigsten Persönlichkeiten in Dänemarks Musik- und Kunstscene, verbindet electronisches und klassische Sounds zu einer perfekten Untermalung seiner düsteren Gesange, die einen sofort in ihren Bann ziehen. Das ganze klingt ausserdem extrem ruhig und atmosphärisch, dabei aber nicht immer kuschelweich, sondern oft auch nachdenklich machend. Mal wirken die Songs als solche, mal experimentiert Martin Hall mit Stimme und Klängen. Verdammt entspannende und starke 43 minuten, die uns Public Propaganda da ins Nest legen. Unbedingt reinhören. ”
( 5/5 )
Bodystyler (December 1997)
“Die perfekte Musik …”
Gothic (December 1997)
“Einfach eine grossartige CD!!!”
Dark Mind (November 1997)
“Musik, die einfach schön ist … Denn Kunst kommt von Können. Und das ist Kunst in Reinkultur! Atmosphärische Klänge, wie sie die heutige schnellebige Zeit dringend nötig hat, um einen Ruhepunkt zu finden.”
Orkus (November 1997)
“Random Hold ist ein bewegendes, ein ausgereiftes Kunstwerk. Gut, dass endlich die Musik unserer Nachbarn im Norden mehr und mehr in unser Bewusstsein rückt …”
Notes (November 1997)
“Hall’s Musik so ganz anders ist.”
( 8/10 )
Neurostyle (December 1997)
“Der Däne Martin Hall blickt mit seinen 34 Jahren bereits auf stattliche 31 Veröffentlichungen zurück. Einem breiten Publikum ist er hierzulande allerdings noch nicht bekannt. Random Hold könnte das ändern. Hall schafft ein unspektakuläres, zurückhaltendes Album voller Emotionen. Er versichtet auf klanggewaltige Arrangements, entfaltet sich lieber im Detail. Stilprägend wirkt dabei die Kombination elektronischer Musik und klassischer Instrumentierung, die gleichberechtigt nebeneinander stehen und die gefühlvollen Texte unterstreichen. Zeitlos schön und ubedingt hörenswert.”
T5 (November 1997)
“Da haben wir ja ein richtiges Multitalent.”
( 9/10 )
Feedback (December 1997)
“Musik für den Herbst. Musik für Schwärmer, Romantiker, für die melankolischen Stunden allein, für Stunden zu zweit. Musik wie für mich komponiert.”
Astan (November 1997)
“Bleibt zu hoffen, dass Martin Hall mit diesem atmosphärisches aussergewönlichen Album auch hierzulande auf offene Ohren stösst.”
Entry (December 1997)
“Dänemarks Vorzeige Multimedia-Künstler vor Durchbruch in Deutschland.”
Zillo (November 1997)
Henrik Marstal: Cello
Iben Teilmann: Viola
Martin Hall: Vocals, drums, bass, guitar, tape material
Ole Hansen: Keyboards, piano, trumpet, french horn
Sara Wallevik: Violin
Signe Kjærsgaard: Bass
Thomas Li: Networks, treatments, logic, percussion
Design: Birgitte Wester/Kenneth Schultz
Photo: Robin Skjoldborg
Throughout the years Random Hold has attracted more and more international listeners. At the time of its original European release it primarily caught the attention of the gothic and electronic scene, but since then the album has enjoyed a varied audience in countries such as Germany, Italy and Poland. As an example the Polish indie-band Hidden by Ivy included a cover version of the song ”Another Heart Laid Bare” (one of the original singles taken from Random Hold) on the group’s third album’s Beyond that was released in March 2017.
You can read more about the original release here:
“The grandiose and beautiful, dusty album Random Hold from 1996. It is the hermetic Hall’s most flawless pop work ever.”
( * * * * * )
Politiken (the Danish equivalent to The Guardian)“Martin Hall has rarely appeared more precise, serene and focused than on his latest release.”
Berlingske Tidende (the Danish equivalent to The Times)”A damned good release from Martin Hall.”
Information (the Danish equivalent to The Independent)“Martin Hall’s best record so far. A little miracle.”
( * * * * * )
Nat & Dag (the Danish equivalent to The Face)“Martin Hall’s peak as an artist.”
Zoo Magazine (the Danish equivalent to Q Magazine at the time)“Random Hold is Martin Hall’s most beautiful and flawless record up until this point.”
Det Fri Aktuelt (major Danish newspaper at the time)”An uncompromising and naked expression … intimate and attentive deliveries.”
( * * * * * )
Undertoner (Danish site for independent music)“Beautiful music … art at its purest.”
Orkus (major German music magazine)“The perfect music!”
Gothic (major German music magazine)
EFTERLADT
EFTERLADT
JANINA KATZ/MARTIN HALL
LP/CD
JANUARY 2015
PANOPTIKON (OPTIK 45)
Efterladt – a Danish word that means both “abandoned” and “left behind” – is a posthumously released spoken word album featuring the Polish-Danish author Janina Katz’ last readings made shortly before her death in October 2013. The record is produced by Martin Hall.
At the time of the recordings no one knew how ill Katz actually was. During 2014 Hall continued to work on the project, assisted by the project’s original initiator, journalist and writer Søren E. Jensen, and the final album was released in January 2015.
1. I (0:55)
2. II (1:41)
3. III (3:50)
4. IV (1:21)
5. V (1:01)
6. VI (2:35)
7. VII (0:54)
8. VIII (1:27)
9. IX (1:59)
10. X (2:44)
11. XI (2:22)
12. XII (2:42)
13. XIII (0:21)
14. XIV (2:38)
15. XV (0:32)
16. XVI (2:10)
17. XVII (1:32)
18. XVIII (1:13)
19. XIX (0:44)
20. XX (3:33)
JANINA KATZ (1939–2013)
Janina Katz was born in Krakow. She lost most of her relatives in the Plaszow concentration camp in Poland from which she was smuggled out in 1943, three years old. As an adult Janina Katz studied Polish literature and sociology at the Jagielloński University in Krakow. Then she worked for several years as an assistant at the Department of Sociology and Polish philology. She left Poland in 1969 for to live in Germany for a short while, but just one year later she moved to Denmark where she worked as a literary critic and translated Polish literature into Danish. For 13 years she worked at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. In addition, she worked for Radio Free Europe and later the BBC.
Janina Katz made her debut as a writer at the age of 52 with the poetry collection My Mother’s Daughter (1991), 22 years after she had come to Denmark. During her authorship she has released 18 books, novels as well as poetry. Her writing especially reflects her Polish Jewish origin and experiences during World War II. Janina Katz has mainly written in Danish despite her Polish mother tongue.
In 1993 she received the National Arts Foundation prize for best novel, My Life as a Barbarian. In 1998 she received the Beatrice Award and in 2002 she was awarded the National Arts Foundation grant for life. In 2012 she was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for his poetry collection Written in Polish.
Janina Katz died on the 18th of October 2013.
Martin Hall: Electronics, keyboards, environmental recordings and tape material
Linus Carlsen: Mandolin, e-bow, guitar, melodica, piano, bass and glockenspiel
Christian Skeel: Orchestration
Othon Mataragas: Piano
Johnny Stage: Ring modulator and keyboards
Tag Brass Band: Brass band
The Vista Dome Ensemble: Strings
Design: Kenneth Schultz
Photo: Johnny Stage
Janina Katz was born in Krakow. She lost most of her relatives in the Plaszow concentration camp in Poland from which she was smuggled out in 1943, three years old. As an adult Katz studied Polish literature and sociology at the Jagielloński University in Krakow, but left Poland in 1969. After a short stay in Germany she moved to Denmark where she made her debut as a writer at the age of 52 – 22 years after her arrival. During her authorship she released 18 books, novels as well as poetry. Her writing especially reflects her Polish Jewish origin and experiences during World War II.
In 1993 she received the National Arts Foundation prize for best novel, My Life as a Barbarian. In 1998 she received the Beatrice Award and in 2002 she was awarded the National Arts Foundation grant for life. In 2012 she was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for his poetry collection Written in Polish.
Janina Katz died on October 18, 2013, at the age of 74.
Among the musicians on Efterladt you’ll find Greek-English pianist Othon Mataragas (probably best known from his works with names such as Marc Almond, Current 93 and Peter Christopherson from Coil and Throbbing Gristle), the young Danish musician Linus Carlsen, producer and visual artist Christian Skeel as well as The Vista Dome Ensemble.
The release is funded by grants from Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfonds Projektstøtteudvalg for litteratur), Andreas Harboes’ Foundation, Danish Artists Union and DJBFA. Apart from the cd and download versions of the album, a limited edition of 100 vinyl copies were made available in relation to Martin Hall’s and Søren E. Jensen’s presentation of the project at Bogforum 2014 (a yearly Danish bookfair in Copenhagen in November).
Special thanks need to be credited Jytte Nordholt and Den2Radio in regards to the recordings. Acknowledgements also go to the publishing agencies Gyldendal, Rosinante and Lindhardt & Ringhof.
The portrait of Janina Katz is taken by Piotr Topperzer.
Written and read aloud by Janina Katz. The record’s musical staging is produced, composed and arranged by Martin Hall – track 3, 10 and 20 in collaboration with Linus Carlsen, track 6 with Othon Mataragas and track 16 and 18 with Christian Skeel. The album is mixed by Martin Hall. Final mastering made by Johnny Stage.
PHASEWIDE, EXIT SIGNS
PHASEWIDE, EXIT SIGNS
MARTIN HALL
LP/CD
APRIL 2013 (EUROPEAN RELEASE OCTOBER 2013)
PANOPTIKON (OPTIK 40)
Phasewide, Exit Signs is a Martin Hall solo album – at its release his first in seven years – a musical log book recorded in cities such as Montreal, London and Brussels.
On the record Hall works with several international collaborators, one being the Greek-English pianist Othon Mataragas (probably best known from his works with names such as Marc Almond, Current 93 and Peter Christopherson from Coil and Throbbing Gristle).
1. Emblematic (2:23)
2. Muted Cries (4:18)
3. L (1:49)
4. Tin Music (6:55)
5. Meth (8:29)
6. Retrograde (3:44)
7. Forgetting the Details (5:11)
8. Red Lips, Marble Eyes (4:29)
9. Site Specific (2:36)
10. Phasewide (5:45)
EMBLEMATIC
I felt a sigh pass your lips
I saw the weight on your eyelids
Yet there you swagger and there you go
The mise-en-scène of your mercy drome
Too many images at play
Too many faces in a day’s work
Your sweet incentive, it’s so relentless
My grief’s been waiting for this day
No easy answers, only hard choices
I guess we came to the end of the road
Your random gender, my desolate needs
The splintered voices of lost beliefs
Trading commodities with no fixed presets
No traces left of a long gone starlet
Pornographers and secondhand consumer rights
All sons and lovers of 70’s delight
MUTED CRIES
The clouds in her eyes
A whispering need
Shedding her light all over me
Try recall the cities in twilight
The clubbing
The cigarette sky
As you notice the silence
The carvings
The memory lines
The muted cries
A jaded desire
A comforting need
Walls coming down
On callous beliefs
Try recall the cities in twilight
The clubbing
The cigarette sky
As you notice the silence
The carvings
The memory lines
The muted cries
TIN MUSIC
Tin music
Seeping out into the street
Jasmine scented, stagnant air
Hatching any need
While the summer lingers on you tell the tale
Still hiding
Just a face within the crowd
Running ‘round
Falling down
Guess it’s all the same
So embarrassed by the loss of all this weight
The intimacy of casual ease
It’s no relief
METH
Wide eyes, swollen lips
She examines herself like she’s about to fade
Into air
Into all she disbelieves
Skin engraved with burns
Like a jaded belief about to disappear
There’s no need
To enact this line of ways
Trace the fading needs
The ebbing desirability
You’re turning away
Still hiding your face
Don’t you know your name?
Through all of these years it stayed the same
It’s always been you
I just couldn’t choose
Lines
She wets her lips
Leaning back with her arms wrapped around her knees
To adjust
To recalibrate the need
Words in pantomime
Eyes like shimmering marble
Pressure veiled by grace
Once again
Seems to settle for reserves
Don’t you feel the weight?
The slight hesitation, the delay
Aesthetic beliefs
Won’t cover this need
Don’t you know your name?
Through all of these years it stayed the same
Whatever I do
It’s always been you
Try to hold back the dawn
Try to hold back the morning
Hold back the night
If just for a while
RETROGRADE
Still lying wide awake
Imagining your face
A cool, white offering
Caught in this retrograde
Lips drawn and quivering
Veins faintly shimmering
All pierrots in rags
Spastics and acrobats
Discredit every move
Condolences to prove
The friction and the heat
Your genuine belief
A gravitational pull that never seems to decrease
FORGETTING THE DETAILS
Cheekbones made of light
Somewhere it’s morning
The languid grey of night
Leaving the fragrance of a cry
Guess you’re sliding back into your life
The pressure on your eyelids
Patterns of waiting
Of suffocating
Replaying the same scene
Recalling the same dream
Cover any feeling
Cover any reason now
You’re breathing the same air
The same hysteria
Like a mirrorball that shines
Just another flash of light
Deteriorating
Forgetting the details
Rewriting the scene in your mind
The exit signs of light
She’s lying beside me
She’s hidden in a sigh
In the changes of a room
Guess she’s sliding back into her life
The pressure on her eyelids
The time that it’s taking
Before she wakens
It feels like a lifetime
A memory rewind
RED LIPS, MARBLE EYES
Lights from cars slowly driving by
Her eyes reflecting a desert sky
Lover’s rental
Sentimental child
Guess you’re hiding
Down along the line
Dresses in fields
Shirts on the sea
Imagine yourself then
Imagining yourself now
Red lips and marble eyes
Bourgeois bohemia high
They say nobility grows out of contained emotion
Well she feels a bit bloated right now
Skin like alabaster
Swollen like a plaster
I guess she’d rather look like somebody else
It’s like a seal
A heap of needs
Imagine yourself then
Imagining yourself now
Another poster girl
Fake fur and high-heel spurs
All of these sons of Cain and girls with wings
Still staring at the ceiling
The illegitimate desires never fade
SITE SPECIFIC
Incestuous needs
A tender display on your pillow
Diverging beliefs
Written all over your face
The look in your eyes
A desolate kingdom of reason
The crown that you hide
Revealing a pagan belief
Enemy
Find the key
Anomaly
PHASEWIDE
Look at us now
This is what we’ve become
She can’t recognize anyone
Her arms ‘round her knees
Her eyes closed to see
Don’t expect too much
This is what we’ve got
Let’s just lie here
Watch the lights appear
Cosmetic disapproval
Descending like snow
The residue of daylight
Flickers in the street
Flickers in the heat
Don’t expect too much
This is all we’ve got
Let’s just lie here
Watch the lights appear
”Haunting beauty and a delicate, melancholic desperation.”
Rating: 4 out of 6 stars
Jyllands-Posten – Anders Houmøller (March 27, 2013)
(Denmark’s biggest newspaper)
”The ever changeable Hall in disturbingly good shape.”
Rating: 5 out of 6 stars
Gaffa – Finn P. Madsen (March 31, 2013)
(Denmark’s biggest music magazine)
”This album is a delight to listen to.”
Rating: 5 out of 6 stars
BT – Henning Høeg (April 1, 2013)
(Denmark’s equivalent to The Daily Mirror)
”Breathtakingly beautiful.”
Rating: 5 out of 6 stars
Lydtapet – Peter Krogh (April 3, 2013)
(Danish site for independent music)
“Beautiful and unique.”
Politiken – Kim Skotte (April 3, 2013)
(The Danish equivalent to The Guardian)
”An altogether stunning experience.”
Rating: 5 out of 6 stars
Aarhus Stiftstidende – Thomas Nygaard (April 4, 2013)
(Danish daily newspaper)
”Extremely present.”
Information – Anna Ullman (April 8, 2013)
(Denmark’s equivalent to The Independent)
”One of the most important records of 2013. Outstanding.”
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Nowamuzyka – Łukasz Komła (April 15, 2013)
(Polish site for independent music)
”Quite simply an aesthetic experience.”
Rating: 5 out of 6 stars
Undertoner – Thor Penthin Grumløse (May 1, 2013)
(Danish site for independent music)
“A very positive surprise … impressive.”
Rating: 11 out of 15 points
Baby Blaue – Siggy Zielinski (August 23, 2013)
(German site for independent music)
”To bow before such an artist is a duty, to enjoy his art a pleasure not to be denied.”
Rating: 8 out of 10 points
Darkroom Magazine – Roberto Alessandro Filippozzi (September 14, 2013)
(Italian site and magazine covering independent music)
“Intoxicating … be sure to check it out.”
Orkus Magazine – Manuela Ausserhofer (September 25, 2013)
(Major German music magazine)
“A quiet, thoughtful and spherical album.”
Rating: 7 out of 10 points
Der Hörspiegel – Michael Brinkschulte (September 29, 2013)
(German site for independent music)
“A testament to creativity and sovereignty that allows deep insights into what a brilliant artist Hall is.”
Alternativ Musik – Tristan Osterfeld (October 1, 2013)
(German site for alternative music)
“A rousing album.”
Music Scan – Daniel A. Rabl (October 3, 2013)
(German music site)
“Dark and hypnotic: Hall understands the award of forging strong tension.”
Rating: 12 out of 15 points
Musik Reviews – Jochen König (October 17, 2013)
(German site for alternative music)
“A poignant, but obscure experimental album that comes in a kind of cabaret format making it more accessible.”
Rating: 6 out of 7 points
Side-Line Music Magazine – D.P. (December 17, 2013)
(Belgian music site)
Martin Hall: Vocals, dobro, guitar, tapes and keyboards
Othon Mataragas: Piano
Linus Carlsen: Piano
Johnny Stage: Guitar, mandolin, glockenspiel and ring modulator
Henriette Groth: Piano
Ida Bach Jensen: String bass
Eskild Winding: Harmonium
Peter Marott: Trumpet
Mads Mathias: Alto saxophone
Vincent Nilsson: Trombone
Jakob Munck: Sousaphone
Esben Duus: Snare drum and percussion
Søren “Blackfoot” Frost: Bass drum and percussion
Christian Skeel: Piano, string arrangements
The Vista Dome Ensemble: Orchestra
Karoliina Koivisto: Solo violin
Cathérine: Speak
Nele Devillé: Televox
Design: Kenneth Schultz
Photo: Territorium
Phasewide, Exit Signs is recorded on a series of different locations around the world. It’s characterized by an occasional almost sketch-like production where methods of recording include the application of dictaphones and old-fashioned cassette machines (as an example one lead vocal is recorded in a hotel room in Białystok in Poland). Although the album both musically and lyrically remains soaked by a strong sense of isolation, the many different places used during the recordings have obviously all had an impact on the final sound and style of the title.
Martin Hall didn’t give any Danish interviews in relation to the release of the album, but wrote the following notes for the Danish music magazine GAFFA:
In October 2013 the album was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland where it received excellent reviews. In relation to the European launch Hall gave one of his rare interviews to the German music magazine Orkus. You can read the English translation of the interview here.
At the end of the year Martin Hall was nominated for two GAFFA awards (in the categories “Danish album of the year” and “best Danish male artist”). Furthermore Phasewide, Exit Signs was elected “album of the year” by the Polish site Nowamuzyka (top 10 featured artists such as Flaming Lips and Mazzy Star).
”The ever changeable Hall in disturbingly good shape.”
( * * * * * )
Gaffa (Denmark’s biggest music magazine)”Haunting beauty and a delicate, melancholic desperation.”
( * * * * )
Jyllands-Posten (Denmark’s biggest newspaper)”To listen to Phasewide, Exit Signs is quite simply an aesthetic experience.”
( * * * * * )
Undertoner (Danish site for independent music)“Breathtakingly beautiful.”
( * * * * * )
Lydtapet (Danish site for independent music)”An altogether stunning experience.” ( * * * * * )
Aarhus Stiftstidende (Danish daily newspaper)“Beautiful and unique.”
Politiken (The Danish equivalent to The Guardian)“Extremely present.”
Information (Denmark’s equivalent to The Independent)”This album is a delight to listen to.”
( * * * * * )
BT (Denmark’s equivalent to The Daily Mirror)“One of the most important records of 2013. Outstanding.”
( * * * * * )
Nowamuzyka (Polish site for independent music)“Intoxicating.”
Orkus Magazine (major German music magazine)
IF POWER ASKS WHY
IF POWER ASKS WHY
ANDREA PELLEGRINI/TANJA ZAPOLSKI/MARTIN HALL
LP/CD
OCTOBER 2012
PANOPTIKON (OPTIK 25)
If Power Asks Why features a line of (at the time newly written) Martin Hall songs performed by the mezzo-soprano Andrea Pellegrini and the classical pianist Tanja Zapolski. The Danish avant-garde ensemble Lydenskab also appears on the recordings.
The album is produced by Martin Hall and the greater part of the songs is arranged by the internationally acclaimed violinist Alexander Zapolski.
1. Dead Horses on a Beach (5:32)
2. Rather Quotable than Honest (3:36)
3. MILFs, Cum and Schopenhauer (4:07)
4. A Garboesque Leaning (4:21)
5. Feeling like a God (4:11)
6. The Stench of Your Pity (5:00)
7. Hope Is a Lack of Information (5:29)
8. Notes on Self-Destruction (4:26)
9. If Power Asks Why (5:40)
DEAD HORSES ON A BEACH
Dead horses on a beach
Red starfish at my feet
This used to be the place
Where we would hide away
The mirrors of the streets
The cafes where we’d meet
All places in the past
Where we would hide away
I used to believe
That there would be a way
I used to believe
That I would find a way
To cure this pain
Dead letters make up words
Scar tissue seals the hurt
This used to be the place
Where we would hide away
I keep running to the shore
I keep calling out for more
Blood-driven to the sand
To see it wash away
Keep running to the shore
To try to see your face
Keep running to the shore
Still trying to find a way
To cure this pain
Life doesn’t cease to amuse just because people die or get crippled
Neither it stops being sad just because someone laughs
Someone sing me a song
Somebody tell me a joke
Make me cry, make me bleed
Make me wake up and see that this dream ain’t for real
All these suicidal wrecks
These aristocrats of death
Keep running to the shore with me
The bodies at my feet
The horses in my dreams
Somebody take them away
Dead horses on a beach
Red starfish at my feet
This used to be the place
Where we would hide away
Keep running to the shore
Keep calling out for more
Blood-driven to the sand
To see it wash away
RATHER QUOTABLE THAN HONEST
Like a beacon in the gutter
Simulation’s your ideal
Rather quotable than honest
Seems to be the way you live
You tell me women fake their orgasms
Men entire relations
Well, I couldn’t really give a damn ‘bout your moral indignation
It’s a sign of constipation
Some Darwinian frustration
You apply divine intention
To your spontaneity
Even add a little reason
To the lack of sanity
You tell me women base their promises
Entirely on emotions
Well, you’re such a great authority
In all your self-indulgence
You’re so stupid it’s insulting
Even your clothing is revolting
Pardon my French
But you’re too lazy to be a nihilist
At best you’ll make a travesty
A tragedy that needs to be unzipped
You’re a male, but you’re a cunt
Second only to no one
Yea right, well take advice
The only thing that alcohol does not preserve for long is the state of dignity
I raise my hand
To swear a sacred oath, to make a toast
For wasted times, for blinded eyes
For tragedies and suicides
Yet the ride was my delight
It’s the story of my life
Oh God, I need advice
Yet, Freedom! yet thy banner, torn, but flying streams like a thunderstorm against the wind
MILFS, CUM AND SCHOPENHAUER
What a wonderful mixture of glamour and pain
In a room with the rich and the famous, the useless and vain
People reading each other like price tags, oh what a game
First the artist’s a painter that drinks, then a wino that paints
Give me MILFs and cum and Schopenhauer any day of the week
Give me white bread and dark beer to avoid more of this
Luciferian figures and shemales wherever you go
Plastic spoons on a table that’s covered with traces of snow
Someone lights up a swaggering reefer, look at him choke
Hear the sound of your brain cells go “pop” by the smell of the smoke
Better check the urban dictionary, the guy is out of hand
His excitement and vocabulary need coordinated plans
Remember that song
They used to play everywhere we went
At airports, in homes
From Zurich to Munich
Girls pulling off their panties
Yet they don’t
They leave you all on your own
Begging for mercy at the throne of the poster stand
From barbarity to decadence at incredible speed
Skip the whole state of civilization to suit current needs
Such a marvellous scientific study, it’s such a relief
‘Cause it proves what I’ve known all along:
That everyone – else – is a hypocrite
A GARBOESQUE LEANING
What a Garboesque leaning towards seclusion
What a glorious way to believe in yourself
What an elegant way to uphold your composure
Such erratic behaviour all veiled in a mist
Sliding down rainbows
Pale moons keep rising
Tongue-tired conversing
In Saturn draped autumns
No more kitchen sink dramas or sweet temptations
No more coloured belief in the way that you liked
All this Vaseline might get it on, but it’s filthy
It’s the caricature of a heart made of gold
Sliding down rainbows
Pale moons keep rising
Tongue-tired conversing
In Saturn draped autumns
Good-looking boys on runaway trains
Hiding their hard-ons with the same old phrase
Still cracking cheeks with wildfire smiles
Suggested behaviour in lingerie styles
There were bags and mags and crazy stuff
We drank some wine and we laughed a lot
We talked about all the glamour and pain
First Lana Turner and then Cheryl Crane
What a Garboesque leaning towards seclusion
What a glorious way to believe in yourself
What an elegant way to uphold your composure
Such erratic behaviour all veiled in a mist
Sliding down rainbows
Pale moons keep rising
FEELING LIKE A GOD
What is not worth saying is what you sing about
What is not worth believing is what you rant about
A failed suicide, you can’t get much lower than that
What is revenge but love caught with its trousers down
Can’t say that you love someone
Then rape them all ferociously
Yet that’s what people do all the time
Forgiveness might appear a little too extravagant
Behaving like a pig while feeling like a god
Feeling like a god
Better to be hated for all of the things you are
Than appreciated for what you are not
Oh vanity, it’s the uncertainty of arrogance
All very cultural, ’cause really nothing’s going on
Can’t say that you love someone
Then rape them all ferociously
Yet that’s what people do all the time
Forgiveness might appear a little too extravagant
Behaving like a pig while feeling like a god
Feeling like a god
What is the perfect pleasure?
Exquisite in its nature
Yet it never satisfies you
Scratch in the surface, you’ll only find a little more
Is there a difference – artist, criminal or whore?
A sympathetic worn-out understanding of living
Won’t get you anywhere, not anywhere at all
Yet you’re feeling like a god
THE STENCH OF YOUR PITY
Don’t make me suffer the stench of your pity
Don’t make me suffer the sound of your voice
Don’t make me embarrassed on behalf of your conscience
Don’t make me offer you any way out
You made me feel so obsolete
You made me feel so incomplete
Half socialite, half necrophile
You only desire what you despise
So absent-minded it seems contemplative
So absent-minded it seems all profound
Convincing the public of your noble nature
Taking advantage of naïve rebounds
Dove of delight, pigeon of peace
Relieving yourself on all you meet
All high and dry, up in the sky
The smell of your piss all over me
HOPE IS A LACK OF INFORMATION
Hope is a lack of information
A spirit of temptation
A flicker inside of each heart
Even though you don’t believe it
Still you’re goaded on to seek it
Revolted by all of its claims
Hope is the absence of summation
Disregarded calculations
A whimper inside of your heart
Though you might want to believe it
It will fail you when you need it
Someone is said to have died for the sake of your lies
Well, be my guest – what a feast, what an armoured belief
Bring out your credos and songs, your perverted mischief
All these excessive delights make you cry like a child
I need to see nothing else than the look in your eyes
It’s so pathetic, my God, it makes me puke at the sight
What does it do to you?
Making a fool of you!
Look what it does to you
Where is the love – and the beauty, the truth we all seek?
But in the mind of the stupid, the feeble and weak
It makes me sick to my stomach, my bones and my core
To see you drool in delusion while begging for more
To see you high as a kite on sedated beliefs
Just a sick little junkie in search of relief
Don’t lay your hands on me!
Hope is leprosy!
Stay away from me
Filthy leprosy
Hope is a lack of information
A mere interpretation
A flicker inside of your heart
NOTES ON SELF-DESTRUCTION
Self-destruction remains
The quickest way to regain
Control over your destiny
It’s so blatantly clear
Give me a rule and I’ll break it
Show me a fool and I’ll shake ’im
Erratic censorship rules
An angry ass ridicules
Time to burn off some fuel
Do-re-mi-pla-ce-bo
Baby, mama, girl, ho
Could you please make up your mind?
Your metaphorical ass kicking is going nowhere
It’s surely not as in Santa comes to town
It’s all men imitating women
Women imitating men
People are imitating other people’s lives
Without the caricature of yourself where would you hide?
I’m gonna tear your playhouse down
So whenever in pain
Self-destruction’s the game
You’ll fake your way into history
Though you’re only a parody
It’s all a matter of spleen
Of downright dirt, be obscene
There ain’t no easy way out
You rave and twist and you shout
Gonna go down real loud
Do-re-mi-pla-ce-bo
Baby, mama, girl, ho
Could you please make up your mind?
Your metaphorical ass kicking is going nowhere
It’s surely not as in Santa comes to town
It’s all men imitating women
Women imitating men
People are imitating other people’s lives
Without the caricature of yourself where would you hide?
I’m gonna tear your playhouse down
Let’s turn the light off now
Let’s pass the night on now
In just a little while
We’ll reach the midnight hour
IF POWER ASKS WHY
If power asks why
Then power is weakness
If silence is shy
Then silence is cheap
For so long
I’ve seemed to manage this role
Consider
How do you short-circuit control?
High status women
And narcissistic men
Articulated
They do it all again
Salon des Refusés
Depressingly out of date
If power asks why
Then power is weakness
If power abides
Then power is lost
To conquer
You need to silence the prey
Relentless
There’s nothing left here to betray
A lover’s rental
Don’t get too serious
If sentimental
You’ll get delirious
Salon des Amateurs
Such a despicable waste
A vague embarrassment at play
Profound desires came too late
Cosmetic changes all the way
The comfort zone of silent hate
A female victim once again
Innocence caught by the male gaze
Such an ambiguous display
Enacted by a renegade
She’s nodding tentatively towards you
Recalling how she once adored you
She’s running out of social graces
She’s running out of fitting phrases
A figure carved out by uncertainty
It’s the veneer of jaded hostility
Just an illumined hunger admiring itself
She’s out of breath
“Excellent melodic material and brilliant arrangements … a great success from start to finish.”
( * * * * * )
Gaffa (Denmark’s biggest music magazine)
”Martin Hall brilliantly stages mezzo-soprano Andrea Pellegrini and pianist Tanja Zapolski in a masquerade of classical lieder and perverted pop.”
Information (the Danish equivalent to The Independent)
“A masterly performed principal work!”
P6 Beat (Danish National Radio)
”Fantastic! An incredibly good record.”
DR2’s Smagsdommerne (the weekly cultural recommendations on Danish National Television)
”A deliciously decadent universe.”
Berlingske Media
”Pellegrini’s warm and enchanting voice has the capacity to melt icebergs.”
Politiken (the Danish equivalent to The Guardian)
”Give yourself the opportunity to be amazed and get this release.”
Tempelores
”Genuinely thrilling … Give it a chance, it’s definitely worth it.”
Santa Sangre Magazine
“Unique.”
Heathen Harvest
“Gorgeous … This is not something you want to miss.”
Brutal Resonance
Nominated for The Danish National Radio’s P2 Award 2013
Andrea Pellegrini: Mezzo-soprano
Tanja Zapolski: Piano
Alexander Zapolski: 1st violin
Anja Zelianodjevo: 2nd violin
Grigoriy Khodos: Viola
Mette Spang-Hanssen: Cello
Ida Bach Jensen: Couble-bass and strings
Thea Vesti Pedersen: Acoustic guitar
Eskild Skovbakke Winding: Percussion, harmonium and percussive piano
Johnny Stage: Electric guitar, mandolin, autoharp and sitar
Ketil Duckert: Trumpet and flugelhorn
Hans Nybo: Bassoon
Martin Hall : Music box, tapes and details
Design: Kenneth Schultz
Photo: Robin Skjoldborg
If Power Asks Why is a series of piano-based “hybrid lieder”, songs all characterized by a high degree of sombre drama – titles such as ”MILFs, Cum and Schopenhauer”, ”Rather Quotable than Honest” and ”Hope is a Lack of Information” might serve to illustrate the lyrical nature of the project.
In terms of content the listener is presented to a collection of passionate objections against the cultural imperatives of our times, in particular any kind of standardised parameter of desire. The album probably contains some of Martin Hall’s most exuberant lyrical work ever.
Andrea Pellegrini is one of Denmark’s most praised and awarded younger mezzo-sopranos. Tanja Zapolski has likewise gained great positive attention as a concert pianist performing with most Danish symphony orchestras. Hall and Pellegrini have earlier collaborated on albums such as Camille (2002), Das Mechanische Klavier (2004) and Hospital Cafeterias (2009), whereas it is the first time Hall works with Zapolski.
If Power Asks Why was released as vinyl-lp as well as cd and received production grants from Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfonds Tonekunstudvalg), Danish Actors’ Association (Dansk Skuespillerforbund) and Danish Musicians’ Union (Dansk Musikerforbund).
The album was nominated for the Danish National Radio’s P2 Award 2013.
“Excellent melodic material and brilliant arrangements … a great success from start to finish.”
( * * * * * )
Gaffa (Denmark’s biggest music magazine)”Martin Hall brilliantly stages mezzo-soprano Andrea Pellegrini and pianist Tanja Zapolski in a masquerade of classical lieder and perverted pop.”
Information (the Danish equivalent to The Independent)“A masterly performed principal work!”
P6 Beat (Danish National Radio)”Fantastic! An incredibly good record.”
DR2’s Smagsdommerne (the weekly cultural recommendations on Danish National Television)”A deliciously decadent universe.”
Berlingske Media”Pellegrini’s warm and enchanting voice has the capacity to melt icebergs.”
Politiken (the Danish equivalent to The Guardian)”Give yourself the opportunity to be amazed and get this release.”
Tempelores”Genuinely thrilling … Give it a chance, it’s definitely worth it.”
Santa Sangre Magazine“Unique.”
Heathen Harvest“Gorgeous … This is not something you want to miss.”
Brutal ResonanceNominated for the Danish National Radio’s P2 Award 2013
HOSPITAL CAFETERIAS
HOSPITAL CAFETERIAS
MARTIN HALL
CD
FEBRUARY 2009
PANOPTIKON (OPTIK 15)
Hospital Cafeterias, an album featuring a wide range of guest vocalists and performers such as legendary Danish electronica performer Else Marie Pade and members of Efterklang, was met with a line of top ratings from the Danish music press.
With the album’s mix of classical compositions and electronic sounds, recitations, opera and music hall, the general opinion was that Martin Hall had managed to create one of the best and most complex albums in his career so far.
1. – (0:39)
2. 40 Versions of the Time Before (2:38)
3. Das Doppel Meiner Selbst (2:15)
4. No Thanks and Then Some (2:28)
5. Eden Cinema (0:59)
6. So Much for Nothing (1:35)
7. Lied Zwei (3:03)
8. P.O. (2:36)
9. Lavender Grey (3:37)
10. Tinfoil (3:36)
11. Wohnung (2:58)
12. Brother Spare a Moment (4:13)
13. Soft Tissue Damage (3:10)
14. Sob Story (3:46)
15. Wartesaal (1:56)
16. At The Lido (Helium High) (2:31)
17. A Case of Epic Needs (2:46)
18. Nætterne er så Lyse (3:09)
40 VERSIONS OF THE TIME BEFORE
Falling asleep on a long distance flight
The images in the still of the night
A scent of waste
The sight of your face
A flicker of uneasiness
Will I be able to forget now?
Nurses and young girls in a row
How can I ever let you go now?
Like 40 versions of the time before
The ballerinas at my feet
The connoisseurs out in the street
Oh you mean nothing to me
Just try to tell yourself the tale again
You tell yourself it’s all the same again
The city lights that came alive
The stars that fell down from the sky
You turned around within the light
Your skin so frail and lily-white
The centre of the Western world
A glamorous confusion zipped
Upon the parting of your lips
Intangible as every breath
As inescapable as death
Oh it means nothing to me
NO THANKS AND THEN SOME
Young, thin and already faded
A whispering shine
Boats drift along silent rivers
Fall from the sky
No thanks and then some
It’s too far away
No thanks and then some
Your sentimental waste
Clean like a face in the morning
Lips made of air
Cream-coloured light falling gently
But nobody’s there
EDEN CINEMA
There’s a silent craving
In the ballroom of your eyes
Like a face map of desire
I don’t know what more to find
In tomorrow’s tabloids
Down in Eden Cinema
Run around in circles
Never seem to find the place you are
SO MUCH FOR NOTHING
I know a girl with a smile on fire
Dressing up like a memory
Never seen the things she’s hiding
Hope I’m not one of them
So much for nothing
Is all I hear her say
So much for nothing
Feeling so
Feeling sad
LIED ZWEI
Sad whisper
Told unforgiven
Lied towards
I reflected yours
At all to feel
This too has caused
Curse of need
Sand of bleeding
Painful doubt
Lies of love
They have killed me beneath me
Nor likely
Reach for fall
I will not fall
High will save
Gutter’ish feel
You have to kneel
Before and for
Nothingness doomed
Sweet-lain or dried
Conquership or
Conquered emotions
Would you lie to me?
P.O.
I’ve seen your face a thousand times
I’ve seen you hide within the crowd
I feel you run within my blood
But dreams are never quite enough
Not enough
All I want to believe in
Is the look in your eyes
All I want to believe in
Is your sigh
Let me stay here forever
Let me stay here tonight
Let us stay here together
For a while
No one knows you better than me
No one knows you better than me
TINFOIL
Her skin is like tinfoil
She glitters and breaks
Hand-written silver
The lines that she makes
If she didn’t say so
I wouldn’t believe her
If she didn’t say so
I’d feel no relief
A case of symmetry
Between her heart and me
Where I want to be
Is by her side
A case of symmetry
Between herself and me
Where I want to be
Is by her side
WOHNUNG
Die Wohnung war stockdunkel. Ich schaltete eine Lampe an. Ihre Lider waren schwer, entzündet wegen Schlafmangels; sie betrachtete mich mit äußerstem Misstrauen. Die kleinen Bewegungen ihres Kopfes erinnerten mich an diejenigen einer Kuh an einem Zaun, und ihres Blickes bestechlicher Glanz erfüllte mein Herz mit Traurigkeit.
Die Stimme war die einer Fremden. Sie sprach zu mir wie zu einem sechzigjährigem Mann, obwohl ich damals erst 37 Jahre alt war.
Ihr Ton war voller Unterstellungen, es war schwer, die Bedeutung der Wörter zu unterscheiden. Vielleicht war es der Wein, vielleicht der Inhalt.
Längst war alle Feinheit, Finesse dem Verschleiß der Gewohnheiten gewichen.
BROTHER SPARE A MOMENT
Brother spare a moment
Sister lend an ear
People show compassion
For the cross I bear
No one seems to notice
No one seems to care
For the broken-hearted
Lovers in despair
Say you feel it too
You sentimental fool
Don’t you know it’s true?
Every word I’m telling you
Brothers born as strangers
Brothers born to hate
Goaded on like creatures
Drained of any faith
How I want to free them
Set their souls alight
Turn their rage and fury
Into battle cries
Don’t you know it’s true?
Living by these bullring rules
Say you feel it too
Stranded on a ship of fools
Don’t you know it’s true?
We’re sentimental fools
Say you feel it too
Come and share my lonely view
SOB STORY
Hide away
With somebody else by my side
It could have been anyone
It could have been you
A moment ago
Whatever you do
Whatever you say
It won’t be the same
Just won’t be the same
For someone like you
It’s all just a game
I guess it’s always the same
Whatever the stakes
It’s a reason to fail
A reason to hate
WARTESAAL
Das bemalte Gesicht mit der kessen Gangart lachte wieder laut und körnig auf. Gut versteckt in einem Kamelhaarmantel mit Perlmuttknöpfen wirkte sie gleichzeitig zerbrechlich und heiter. Das Licht im Wartesaal, braun wie Suppe, bedrückte sie offenbar, denn wie eine schuldbewusste Verrückte murmelte sie jetzt unzusammenhängendes Zeug über alles und nichts, besonders Letzteres.
Aus der Sicht eines Filmkritikers war ihre Leistung unvergleichlich.
AT THE LIDO (HELIUM HIGH)
Blue eyes, blue eyes
Blue like all of the sky
Blue eyes, blue eyes
Climb your helium high
All unbroken
Windows open
Blow you out
Climb the airwaves
On the staircase
Sliding down
Blue eyes, blue eyes
Feel the needles and pins
Blue eyes, blue eyes
Don’t know where to begin
A CASE OF EPIC NEEDS
Sad and stupid
Perverted Cupid
An undisputed case of epic needs
Parade the frozen
Conceal the broken
Just a token of my epic needs
Never thought I’d ever feel the same
No rhyme or reason will capture this feeling
She said “free all angels”
With a nervous laughter
In the still of night
Did she ask me?
Did she love me?
I guess I’ll never know
Forever
The painted smiles and the sweet delight
It’s over
Falling like rain
All over again
Still awake in the morning
“Exceptional: In the wild growing Martin Hall catalogue Hospital Cafeterias is both a concentrate as well as a climax in his production.”
( * * * * * )
Politiken (the Danish equivalent to The Guardian)
“A varied and beautiful album: Hall balances self-assured on the knife edge between decadence and humility, to a degree where you can be nothing but fascinated.”
( * * * * * )
Soundvenue (the Danish equivalent to Q Magazine)
”Best album since 2001. Outstanding.”
Information (the Danish equivalent to The Independent)
“One of the best albums in his career.”
Geiger (the Danish equivalent to Wire Magazine)
“Hall is a pioneer who still searches for the absolute limit.”
( * * * * * )
Undertoner
“Magnificent!”
( * * * * * )
MetroXpress
”Grandiose and generous.”
( * * * * )
Skopet
”An extraordinary and spectacular experience. Wow!!!!”
Voxhall
”Desolaten Atmosphäre und desperaten Intensität.”
Grenzwellen
“Hospital Cafeterias is a masterpiece! A beautiful masterpiece!”
Ernesto Tomasini
Andrea Pellegrini: Mezzo-soprano
Casper Clausen: vocals, keyboards
Christian Skeel: Piano
Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial: Vocals
Else Marie Pade: Electronics
Herbert Zeichner: Voice
Johnny Stage: Guitar
Katja Andersson: Vocals
Knud Odde: Vocals
Marcel de Sade: Piano
Martin Hall: Vocals, instruments
Mikkel Meyer: Keyboards
Miss Fish: Vocals
Sara Fiil: Vocals
The Vista Dome Ensemble: Orchestra
Volkmar Zimmermann: Guitar
Design: Kenneth Schultz
Photo: Territorium
Hospital Cafeterias has been described as a salon record – as a thunderstorm of clashes, ideas and words that do not nervously seek recognition or intelligibility. Several songs and recitations take place in German and classical score music plays a central role throughout the record.
As Kim Skotte wrote in Politiken (the Danish equivalent to The Guardian) where the record received five out of six stars:
“Tableaux staged as flickering soundscapes. A kind of soulful drunkenness flickers on the eardrum via ghost phones, European train drumming and electronica crackling as today’s ectoplasm. It starts with a lonely voice and it ends with one. Voices in the night desperately seek each other, but the room is large and the hospital corridors endless.”
The first video made for the album was “P.O.” where Martin Hall collaborates with Danish electronica legend Else Marie Pade (85 years old at the time).
The video, however, was banned by YouTube and removed from the site a few days after its premiere due to its “offensive nature” – something that in hindsight might seem a a bit ironic, especially since current videos featuring executions of civilians and standard sexist pop behaviour caused no censorship.
Hospital Cafeterias features a line of guest vocalists and other contributors on each separate track. The index goes like this:
1. “ – ” (Anonymous)
2. “40 Versions of the Time Before” (Martin Hall feat. Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial)
3. “Das Doppel Meiner Selbst” (Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial feat. Christian Skeel)
4. “No Thanks and Then Some” (Martin Hall feat. Mikkel Meyer)
5. “Eden Cinema” (Andrea Pellegrini)
6. “So Much for Nothing” (Martin Hall feat. Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial)
7. “Lied Zwei” (Sara Fiil feat.Volkmar Zimmermann and Mikkel Meyer)
8. “P.O.” (Katja Andersson feat. Else Marie Pade)
9. “Lavender Grey” (Knud Odde)
10. “Tinfoil” (Martin Hall feat. Christian Skeel)
11. “Wohnung” (Herbert Zeichner feat. Casper Clausen)
12. “Brother Spare a Moment” (Andrea Pellegrini)
13. “Sob Story” (Martin Hall feat. Miss Fish and Mikkel Meyer)
14. “Soft Tissue Damage” (The Vista Dome Ensemble)
15. “Wartesaal” (Herbert Zeichner feat. Johnny Stage)
16. “At The Lido (Helium High)” (Andrea Pellegrini feat. Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial)
17. “A Case of Epic Needs” (Martin Hall feat. Marcel de Sade)
18. “Nætterne er så Lyse” (Anonymous)
The record is written, arranged, conducted and produced by Martin Hall except as follows:
“Das Doppel Meiner Selbst“: Lyrics written by Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial, piano sequence by Christian Skeel. Arranged by Martin Hall. “No Thanks and Then Some“, “Sob Story“ + “Nætterne er så Lyse“: Electronical post-production made by Mikkel Meyer. “So Much for Nothing“ + “Tinfoil“: Orchestral arrangement written by Christian Skeel. “Lied Zwei“: Guitar arrangement written by Volkmar Zimmermann, vocal interpretation by Sara Fiil. Original recording made by Peter Helms, post-production and remix by Mikkel Meyer. “P.O.“: Modulations performed by Else Marie Pade. Arranged by Martin Hall. “Lavender Grey“: Original song written by Knud Odde, orchestral arrangement by Martin Hall. “Wohnung“: Music written by Casper Clausen, mixed by Mads Brauer. “Brother Spare a Moment“, “Lavender Grey“ + “Wartesaal“: Guitar by Johnny Stage. “Soft Tissue Damage”: Written by Martin Hall and Ole Hansen, arranged by Ole Hansen. “Wartesaal“: Music written by Johnny Stage. “A Case of Epic Needs“: Piano arrangement by Marquis Marcel de Sade, orchestral arrangement written by Martin Hall. “Wohnung“ + “Wartesaal“: German translation made by Herbert Zeichner.
The video accompanying “40 Versions of the Time Before” is shot at a soirée held at Marquis Marcel de Sade’s residency on the night of the release: