Holger Czukay: Good Morning Story ---Ink Blot Magazine

Holger Czukay: Good Morning Story

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Holger Czukay,
"Dancing In Wild Circles"

at a glance...

Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Born: 1938

Members:
Holger Czukay -guitar, bass, vocals, forged ethno samples, short waves, trumpet mouthpiece, VS 60 synthesizer
Michael Karoli -sampled guitar
Irmin Schmidt -sampled alpha 77 synthesizer
Jaki Liebezeit -drums, sampled drums
Sheldon Ancel -vocals
U-she -vocals
Jah Wobble -bass
Stefan Fischer -sampled Hammond organ

Bands In The Family:
Can

Notes:
When Holger Czukay was a small boy growing up in Germany during and after World War II he dreamed of becoming a symphony conductor or a church organist; as an adult he has learned how to make music out of radio broadcasts and skillfully edited snippets of tape. He studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen in the 60s, worked with Can from 1968-1979, and since the late 60s has worked on a series of solo and collaborative albums that wed his appreciation of happy accidents with his dogged willingness to work over a piece of music for years to get it right.

Holger Czukay
Good Morning Story
Tone Casualties, Released 1999

Holger Czukay finds fertile new ground by churning up old turf on Good Morning Story. On recent releases he's recorded throbbing techno with Air Liquide's Dr. Walker and imaginary soundtracks to non-existent movies - the four tracks that kick off this album are the first actual songs that he's released in the 90s. And what songs!

The multi-voiced jump-cut dialogue on "Invisible Man" poses unanswerable riddles over an elastic Jah Wobble bass line, while the delightful title tune relates a whimsical story of an early morning shopping trip. The latter is one of several tracks that are based on rhythms appropriated from Czukay's old band Can. He uses their vintage grooves to give his montage-like sequences of samples and jubilant guitar melodies an irresistible forward momentum.

Czukay delights in adorning his creations with vivid details that only become apparent after multiple listens; at first the instrumental "Atlantis" sounds like endless repetitions of a single deconstructed funk riff, but on closer examination it teams with sputtering rhythmic sidelines and momentarily glimpsed windows into unattainable sound worlds. He abandons rhythm entirely on the captivating, dream-like finale "Mirage." Time stands still as gypsy violins, air-raid sirens, and a chanting muezzin chant filter in and out of earshot over static yet endlessly changing drone.

If you like Holger Czukay, check out:
Can The Can Box

-- Bill Meyer

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