B i o g r a p h y
Danish vocalist Gry Bagøien and former Einstürzende Neubauten member FM Einheit co-wrote the bulk of these dozen songs and recorded them along with an assortment of guests this past February at Munich's Marstall Media Lab. The duo and friends were part of the Invisible Records "Lowest of the Low" North American tour in 1998. The live set I saw seemed to be heavily improvised and experimental jams but this cd is a variety of 3-5 minute electro-organic pop songs. Gry's vocals (most in English) remind me a great deal of Canadian pop songstress Esthero, only with a Danish flavor. Einheit handles programming, piano and synths, 'beat' and various effects. A full band line-up is assembled for each track from the impressive guest list: Alexander Hacke (also of Neubauten) and his wife Meret Becker, Pan Sonic, Funkstörung, Zaki 'the human beatbox' Hyrland, Chrislo Haas (DAF), DJ Fetisch of Terranova and several others. The music is somewhat surprising as it's pretty mellow, unobtrusive and radio friendly ... pleasant enough but half of the songs don't leave much of a lasting impression. Four in particular do. "Rocket" features bombastic horn and percussion arrangements and an amusing Cab Calloway styled call and response chorus. "Princess Crocodile" is irresistibly fun with a ragtime sample loop accentuated with drum 'n bass fills. Lee Hazlewood's "Summer Wine" (as popularized by Nancy Sinatra) is covered well with Gry and Alexander Hacke trading off vocals. "Ghost" is slow and sexy, much like Portishead, with brushed snare, singing saw, cello, a bit of beat box and nasally vocals. "Public Recording" suffers from a mismatch of creative and interesting tracks versus bland and forgetful ones. It's just too tempting to skip around ...
Touch of E - 1998-06-29 -
Public recording - 2000-06-23 -
Rocket Coctailsm Ray Pop Ego Count to down Princess crocodile Helicopter heart Summer wine Unreal Ghost Christo's revenge (Instrumental)
Touch of E
*** Thanx a lot to Timothy for these lyrics ***
Poles apart
I promise by the moon that we shall meet again I bring a souvenir from planet transparent I bring it just to you We were poles apart Even though my heart beats rhythms Of long forgotten songs I promise that we shall meet again some sunny day I fake me strong in water wind brings in my eyes We'll leave the past behind us Of ones we say goodbye I promise by the moon Maya Maya Maya Maya My Maya And all the fireworks explode the quite night We'll beat the stars below us And love and scream and fight I promise Even though my heart beats rhythms Of long forgotten songs We were poles apart Svaermere
There lives under sorrow and tunnels of teardrops In darkness of beetles and worms A black little beast with chalk white in veins In the deep where the dragons grow old Deep down where the dragons grow old I know that she lives there I often go down At nighttime when high sky is gone We make love between beetles and tickling worms And drink of the dawn ink that dreams are made of Follow the track that the rain leaves on windows When tanglopper jump into midnattens toner She smells light of clay And whistles violent wind words To svirende svævende Sværmere iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Svævende sværmere Svævende sværmere Everything or all
Jeg Vågner i brugte vokaler De Vikler sig ind i mit sprog Og Sover i Sætninger og taler Forstyrer alt drømmende Væv Everything or all everything or all Everything or all everything or all I wake up in nonsense and speeches It trickles around in my brain I sleep to the sound of vacabularies Destroys all that's left to be dreamed I keep it in my mind I fight back in my brain I keep it in my mind Everything or all everything or all Everything or all everything or all I keep it in my mind I fight back in my brain I keep it in my mind Everything or all everything or all I keep it in my mind Everything or all everything or all I keep it in my mind Everything or all I keep it in my mind Black balloon
She picked the black balloon And tied her head on it To tre et to tre et to tre And under dark white skies She tied her hands to Three four two three four two three four Do we belong ? Do we belong ? Rød ballon grøn ballon gul ballon Do we ? From far away She looked down at us But were too gone to say Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye Do we belong ? Do we belong ? Rød ballon grån ballon gul ballon Mosquitoes grow big And smashed her heads into it To tre et to tre 1 2 3 Do we belong ? Do we belong ? De we? Luftantenner
Kolonier af kloder forvandles i rum. Blandt dalende døgn blir himlen stum. Kursrettede kugler deler atomer, Tar sin vej igennem mig, Danner sygdoms syndromer. Luftantenner sender ud. Paraboler tager imod. Luftantenner sender ud. Para....tikler Af tid grumser hverdagen til. Alarmende larm glemmer stilhedens sang. Parasitter parrer sig i elskovssved. Om natten, Om natten bliver ved. Aerial
Colonies of globes Transformed in space In-between falling days the sky turns Course holding bullet divides the atoms Takes their route through me Creates symptoms of illness Aerials are sending (out) Parabolic dishes are receiving Particles of time grow everyday life dull Alerting noise is forgetting the chant of silence Para....sites are mating in love sweat In the night in the night stay by... Aerials are sending... Far from flesh
Out there where it's gone Grows the symphony of silent songs We can hear it as vibrations All way down in our times We can seel it as heat in winter nights Out there where it's gone Could it be that we could meet in light We never knew of Who are we two three together A spider spin of muscles Dressed ub with blood in soft A violent wind interests my skin Excites me for your touch Under the skin far from flesh Hides a pearl Slowly as you kiss A spider spin of muscles Dressed up with blood in soft A silent wind interests my skin Excites me for your touch Touch of E!
Perfume for phantoms
Fire flight to Kyro Seek behind the Zero Let iris cover night shade Dring dark dust champagne Simsalabimboom bastaladultaladey Her hunger grows in closet Sucks the sweat black pollen Perfume for phantoms Perfume for phantoms Simsalabimboom bastaladultaladey Crawl into the secrets In this gas of daydreems Perfume for phantomes Simsalabimboom bastaladultaladey Leave me alone
Leave me alone Leva me alone to sado so solo I light of the night I saw a black swan fly Surrounded all sorrow I knew then that love was gone Under the sea I swam into the moon And burried my bones in the heartache lagoon Leave me alone leave me alone Leave me to sado so solo Leave me to sado so solo Take off your skin and let light in Feed the flames to burn out memory I stay in the distanve I dive in my owm Drag me to the heat drag me to the hole of my gravity Leave me alone leave me alone Leave me to sado so solo Leave me to sado so solo All knowledge has grown destroyed all I've known Keeps preachin' keeps preachin' keeps preachin' Leave me to sado so solo Leave me to sado so solo Sado sado solo Postcard
Hello hello I know I'm frozen cold Hello hello I know I've self defenced Ice ice grown flowers So silent white so quite still Hello hello Are you still there? It's kind of cold in here Ice ice grown flowers So silent white so quiet still Sun red salamander Sun red salamander Farvel Old raven
Old raven who did steal the glow ? It might be the long lost love In memory of touch I know it is Mor Hulda In her neon yellow socks Consume me Old raven who did steal the glow ? I seem to hear the Krymelyr Having hunger lower land The power zoomer mobile Automaniac mutamt Old raven old raven old raven Consume me Old raven who did steal the glow ? Maybe it's the memory Reminding me of me The traffic Tango singing Killer mean machine Consume me Old raven who did steal the glow ? Follow me to sleep When meat turns porcelain Digital daydream Electric tears in veins Consume me
Public Recording
*** Thanx a lot to Kitty for these lyrics ***
It was a cold grey afternoon My mission for ein bißchen sun I raced wkth cars, the bike and the train Only to come cold back again I searched the roof Through pockets, Under beds, in the closet, In the fridge everywhere and over all in it Then suddenly the stars fell down One by one, undressed the big blue room My oneway to escape out through The horizontal verti-calling movements in the Matto azul Boom, boom rocket to the moon Oh I wish upon a star On a cold grey afternoon I catched a spot of the sun of the moon I traveled light, Traveled time, Traveled thoughts. I returned from the jungle With a glas full of stars, I've got sunshine in my pockets Brought it back to spray the day And a fist full of glow Boom, boom , boom rocket to the moon
Coctailsm
To grow I have to kill And steal my oxagen Escaping into kisses Sometimes sounds like soda In here it's nearly holy We only steal each other The atmosphere is frightened Recycle is a zero It's oxygen on soda It's oxygen and tonic Sometimes makes me drunk Inhale me We share it all We share it all To live I have to die But remain a mortal frame Escaping into touch That's bodybuilding me Foundation is a gas Aroma enter kharma Like oxygen on soda Sometimes makes me drunk We share it all We share it all
Ray
Night, night, night invites light Entering air, opens a line Blue, blue, blue shapes in red Cristals the space, stars fall to sleep Sun up-set, the moon melts down Breeze, breeze, breezes awake Plays with a beam, paints the scene It's green, green, green is the grass Covered by pearls A web splits the light into a glance Sun up-set, the moon melts down Sky high, shadows fall Drawing the time, for flowers to bloom Moon, moon, moon fo away Down to the land opened for eyes To see in deep, deep darkness, Covers a skin, touched by a hand. Sun up-set, the moon melts down
Pop
Se som, se som, Solen skinner Se som, se som Luk dig op If I was aware of all The things I do Which hurted you I promise I owould make me go But let you know I love you so. If the days were quiet as the night I'd sleep the light away If I was a bird to fly I'd give my wings. Saelsomt som vi to Kun kann vaere Langt Fra livets atmosfaere I'm as busy as a spieder spinning day dreams I'm as lonely as a baby in a swing.
Ego
It shall be you that crosses my land That walks in my sand That drips in my mind It shall be you that teases my dew That dance in my language That influences my view Ego, ego, ego where you go It shall be you if I tell you to My ego complains that in those wishes of you I‘m too far away Ego Ego demands that it shall be you That poems my skin That salties my tongue That those pieces of you, it's to me they belong.
Count to down
I'm sneaking around the world To lift the endings, so you turn Turn to, face to face your shade melts down You'e got no underground You're counting up to down Down, down, down You're dead, you're dead bow baby Jeg lister mig i verden Lister mig og lofter verdens aender Sa du vender dig om Og ser, ser mod mig Dit blik fanger mig, du blik fanger mig
Princess crocodile
I've seen it all All through eyes Heard it in ears Smelled it alright. Do do you believe you can hide? I've seen it all. I go under the earth And listen to the dead people talk They tell stories They know it all They tell stories of you. Do do you believe you can hide? I've seen it all. Princess crocodile A heart full of bells Rings in your moves Whatever you do, I see it all in you.
Helicopter heart
Nar kirkeklokker synger tid Pa bunden af en by Ser jeg dig i zeeflacks sorte flade speyl Drikker tro i draber fra en sky Mirror cold Frozen skin Watersnake Ocean train. Meterkill Rode engel uden krop Bor pa bunden af en by Danner tanker uden snor I et reb du haenger i Taler indad i dig selv Til et tomrum uden vaegge Hvor luften lofter lungerne til fly Rode engel uden krop Bor pa bunden af en by Thermo thoughts anuimalic tone figure Signal in the air. Klang san Helicopter heart Freezer beat. No temperature Kulden er dyb En overfalde blinker Ser laengselsfuldt pa fisk Med vaegtlost blod i stimer Savner trost og taeller stov Rode engel uden krop Gummi moves Paper wind Catchliess air No temperature Paper wall No temperature
Summer Wine
Alexander Hacke (the bassist of German industrail band Einstürzende Neubauten) : Walked into town on silver spurs that jingle too A song that I had only sung for just a few She saw my silver spurs and said lets pass some time And I will give to you summer wine Oh, summer wine Gry : Strawberry, cherries, and an angle kissin spring My summer wine is really made from all these things Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time And I shall give to you summer wine Oh, summer win Alexander Hacke : My eyes grew heavy and my lips they would not speak I tried to get up but I could find my feet She reassured me with an unfamiliar line And when she gave to me more summer wine Oh, summer wine Gry : Strawberry, cherries, and an angle kissin spring My summer wine is really made from all these things Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time And I shall give to you summer wine Oh, summer wine Alexander Hacke : When I woke up the sun was shinning in my eyes My silver spurs were gone, my head felt twice it size She took my silver spurs-the dollar and the dime And left me cravein for summer wine Oh, summer wine Gry : Strawberry, cherries, and an angle kissin spring My summer wine is really made from all these things Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time And I shall give to you summer wine Oh, summer wine
*** Thanx a lot to Timothy & Xiang for this one ***
Unreal
I site and wait for you kiss Although I know that it is Unreal That you will never find me It's unreal That you will never kiss me Still I sit and wait for your kiss Although it is quite unreal Still I sit happity Still I sit patiently And wait for you Wait tenderly Beautiful young life given Kiss
Ghost
You're a ghost You chase the night You're a ghost You tickle tears out from my eyes I'm the beast I live of your freams The days I breathe Are killing me I switch of the light To turn ion the night Missing you It's you by bye my side bye, bye, bye It's late so I fake, I awake From a long distance call Through my walls I hear ring Ding... dong....