April 2016

CHEAP TRICK - Tricky and smart

He is the man with the baseball cap and the multi-necked guitars: Rick Nielsen founded Cheap Trick in 1973 in Rockford, Illinois. The following year he had his regular formation with Robin Zander, bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos. From the beginning the band fascinated with their energetic concerts. Even the makers of the "WDR Rockpalast" couldn't get past the group any more and invited them to one of their legendary rock nights in the Grugahalle in Essen in 1983.

Weiterlesen

GRAHAM NASH - Two divorces at once

The news comes unexpectedly - and has something of a drumbeat: At the beginning of March Graham Nash announces the end of his friendship with David Crosby and the end of Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young). After forty-eight years, fourteen albums and seventy million sold records, the great old men of folk rock have finally quarreled. What Nash, whom eclipsed meets shortly afterwards in Berlin, does not actually want to discuss, but does. His first solo album in fourteen years finally dealt with a further separation. He can hardly avoid the subject.

Weiterlesen

THE RIDES - Still Stops Standstill

Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles. Mr. Stills lives in a stately estate in the mountains of the metropolis of millions. The folk rock star receives eclipsed in his home studio, where a lot of antiquated technical equipment is piled up. Most of it in better condition than himself: The 71-year-old is hard of hearing, suffers from a facial muscle paralysis that makes him almost incomprehensible, and prefers to talk about topics on which he was not asked at all. Here the compressed version of a memorable two and a half hour interview.

eclipsed: How are you, man?

Weiterlesen

UDO LINDENBERG - Man with hat

Today you can stand by Udo Lindenberg as you please. There are a thousand reasons to love him, just as many to hate him, but you can't ignore the phenomenon "Udo". For some he is still the No. 1 German rocker, the personified coolness that lets all external influences bounce off him and does exactly "his thing". Others see him as an art figure hiding behind himself, a mummy of pop pop pop with alternative painting, a self-caricature with sunglasses, hat, cigar and thick lip.

Weiterlesen

Atomic Big Bang - On the soundtrack album "Atomic" MOGWAI explore new ways of making music

2015 was a year of change for Mogwai. Original member John Cummings left the band surprisingly, but a new project was already on the way. Northern Irish director Mark Cousins hired the quartet to accompany his ambitious documentary "Atomic, Living In Dread And Promise" with music; a job the band didn't want to cancel despite Cummings' departure. "The album was also a test for the band," explains multi-instrumentalist and sound witch Barry Burns, "we didn't know how Mogwai would work without John.

Weiterlesen

The unvarnished truth - With "The Hope Six Demolition Project" PJ HARVEY holds America up to the mirror

In the 60's, 70's and 80's it was customary for musicians to take a stand on current events and choose clear words - Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and CSN stand for this tradition, but also punk rockers like The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers and reggae artists like Bob Marley. But who still sings today about global grievances? Who dares to put his finger in the wounds and also to take criticism for it?

Weiterlesen

Three is not too many - HENRIK FREISCHLADER now celebrates "NewBlues" in a trio after his short break

He really surprised the blues rock community when he disappeared from the scene for some time after his live album "Live 2014 - Night Train To Budapest Farewell Tour". The multi-instrumentalist, who had first come into focus ten years earlier with "The Blues" and who first came to guitar via his enthusiasm for the blues albums of Gary Moore, took a break. But it was clear that this could not be the final farewell to the music scene, because such a talent doesn't draw a line at the beginning of 30...

Weiterlesen

The Gentleman - With GEORGE MARTIN the pop world lost its perhaps most modern traditionalist

He was as British as one could wish for in the selfish, extroverted world of pop. This was not least reflected in his ironically imbued self-perception. He never took his job and his merits as a producer as an opportunity to put his own person in the foreground. He preferred to step back behind the work and praise the artistic genius of his clients.

Weiterlesen

Rappelkiste - IRMIN SCHMIDT looks back on his life's work in the form of the box "Electro Violet

The composer and keyboarder Irmin Schmidt, who lives in southern France, is one of the most influential musical personalities Germany has produced in the twentieth century. First and foremost, his name is associated with the Cologne band CAN, but he has also created numerous solo albums, soundtracks and even an opera. One year before his eightieth birthday, a box entitled "Electro Violet" with the retrospective of his complete works appeared. With a not insignificant limitation.

eclipsed: Irmin, why this retrospective now?

Weiterlesen

The Art Of Sysyphus Vol. 87

SANTANA - Blues Magic (4:25)
Album: Santana IV (2016)
Label/Distributor: Santana IV/Thirty Tigers/Alive
www.santana.com

Weiterlesen