SLOB Press release
Tullscapes
I just received this message from my contact at
Papillon. At the moment we are working with a task
force of 9 fans to decipher the SLOB lyrics and I
myself am working on the annotations at the same time. We are working our
tails off to have it all ready by Tuesday and accessible to all of you at
Cup of Wonder then. So stay tuned.
Cheers,
Jan
----------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE
new solo album from IAN ANDERSON
'THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF BIRDS'
On March 6th Papillon/ Roadrunner Records is to
release 'THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF BIRDS' the new solo
album from Ian Anderson. While Anderson is best known
as the leader of Jethro Tull, his third and latest
solo album sees a more pastoral approach as he returns
to his roots.
"For 31 years, I've been the unplugged guy in a rock
and roll band, but I always like to come back to the
simple and essential elements of singer/songwriter
music."
"Although I wasn't very brave at the beginning of
Tull, by the time we made the 'Aqualung' album I had
included 3 or 4 genuine acoustic pieces, which were
predominantly me playing alone in the studio with
acoustic guitar, usually with a live vocal and maybe
embellished with piano or a string quartet."
"For that reason I've always felt that the kind of
acoustic album that I would make would probably sound
like at least a part of Jethro Tull's history so I
avoided it. But this time round I thought I'd do what
I believe the fans expected of me; so I guess I'm
doing the personal, sometimes introverted, sometimes
humorous and sometimes quite revealing kind of music
that wouldn't really work for me in the context of
Jethro Tull. This is just me in the studio doing my
rather private little thing with a few musicians who
kindly came along to adorn the product."
Anderson resides in the South West of England, a rural
setting that provided part of the inspiration behind
the record. "I don't get out and wander the
countryside as much as I'd like to, for me it's more a
state of mind. I tour the biggest and busiest cities
of the world and when I come home I like the contrast
and the peace, I'm eternally grateful that I can work
from home."
"If you're lucky enough to live in the country, and
wake up in the morning to the sound of birds, you may
wonder sometimes what it is those birds actually see
as the not so silent witnesses to bedroom shenanigans.
In 'The Secret Language Of Birds' I'm imagining the
ultimate in corny chat up lines, where the guy says to
the girl 'Hey, come home with me and learn the secret
language of birds!"
"There are several tracks on this record which make
considerable reference to visual images, often
specific images by specific artists. Like many people
of my generation, I began not as a musician but
actually studying painting, therefore everything I
write does have a visual reference. Indeed the track
'The Little Flower Girl' comes from the painting of
that name by Sir William Russell Flint, 'A Better
Moon' refers to a work by Balraker while L.S.Lowry,
who is famous for his townscapes peopled by
matchstick-like figures, was somewhere in the back of
my head while I was writing the song 'Circular
Breathing'. Even the songs not directly connected to a
painting or artist start from pictures, when I go on
tour or holiday it is always visual references that
are the genesis of the lyrics to my songs. I tend to
be an illustrator in that sense, I use lyrics to
substitute for the paintings I don't paint, it's my
stock in trade."
"The favourite over-asked question is whether I write
the music or lyrics first. It's never the same thing
sometimes it's a title, a line of melody or a chord
progression, or it can be more cerebral an
intellectual proposition or a gut feeling that I want
to express in words."
"Sometimes the music comes and already has a degree of
completeness and doesn't require to be developed
necessarily with lyrics. Equally there are occasions
when I think, I really like this lyric, what a shame I
have to ruin it by putting it to music, but I'm not a
poet and never wanted to be, so I end up having to
find some music to go with them. Then again I can just
have a nice little tune, but just scratch my head for
hours and still not come up with a title I'm
comfortable with. It often helps to have a title in
the first place and a picture in my head, that's the
ideal. It doesn't have to be a big colour glossy
image, it could be a simple black & white, but the
form, line and tone are just the same tools of
expression that the visual artist uses, they all cross
over very neatly in to the musical domain. The
semantics are the same, but the end results are poles
apart, yet in some ways irrevocably linked."
Anderson also explains the stories behind more of the
tracks on 'THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF BIRDS', "I've always
had a soft spot for Boris Yeltsin, I wrote the music
to 'Boris Dancing' based on a visual image of a CNN
news report from when Boris was seeking re-election.
He was filmed in Red Square, sweating profusely,
bright red in the face, boogieing frantically in front
of a young Moscow rock band. He nearly died from a
heart attack just a couple of days later. The song is
in several rather difficult to follow time signatures,
as when Boris was dancing he wasn't quite on the beat.
'Boris Dancing' is just a celebration of his strange,
individual dance style."
"The song 'Postcard Day' is really about the point in
mid-holiday when that sense of guilt comes upon you
and you think 'God, I'd better send some postcards
home, cos if I leave it to the end, we'll get home
before they do' - which rather negates the point."
'Set Aside' probably doesn't mean a lot to our friends
in North America, but the agricultural policies that
are necessary, it would appear, in this day and age
are to literally set aside areas of agricultural land
in rotation, in order NOT to produce crops. The
ridiculous irony is that although there are millions
of starving people throughout the world. In richer
Western countries farmers are actually being paid not
to grow anything. This song dwells on the dereliction
that attaches itself to farms and farmers from this
policy, because it becomes a sadly infectious,
depressive state of mind which visits itself upon
those farmers who are intrinsically paid not to grow
crops. It's a sad world, make the best of it."
"On a lighter note, I think quite a few people know
that I'm keen on spicy food, particularly those who
have visited our website . I use a lot of chilli
peppers when I cook at home and the generally accepted
number 10 strength killer is the habanero - in the
Caribbean a close relative of this is the Scotch
Bonnet, which I also refer to in this song. 'The
Habanero Reel' is just an ode to capsicum, which gives
off that excessive, burning heat. Of course, the best
thing about it, as I say in the song, is that it is
strictly legal!"
Ian Anderson is preparing to play a short series of
low-key, acoustic club shows around the release of
'THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF BIRDS'. Subsequently, he is
to tour Scandinavia and Eastern Europe with Jethro
Tull, whose most recent album 'J-TULL.DOT COM' was
released in autumn last year. Anderson will also be
appearing in Venezuela, where he will be performing
with the Caracas Symphony Orchestra. In addition Sky
Choice will be broadcasting a major documentary on Ian
Anderson during the week of release.
'THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF BIRDS', which features a
stunning sleeve by celebrated artist Bogdan Zarkowski,
will be released by Roadrunner on CD only - RR 8557-2.
The Jethro Tull website can be found at:
www.j-tull.com.
==================
Email: jvoo...@kabelfoon.nl
Website: "Cup Of Wonder : The Annotated Jethro Tull Lyrics Page":
http://cupofwonder.cjb.net
--
Jan Voorbij
Email: jvoo...@kabelfoon.nl
Website: "Cup Of Wonder : The Annotated Jethro Tull Lyrics Page":
http://cupofwonder.cjb.net
Andrew Silk
Arend Raifsnider wrote:
>
> What is Sky Choice? Is that a TV station? I'm guessing it's not in
> America since I've never heard of it. Is there any way to see the
> documentary in the US if that's true?
>
> Thanks,
> Arend Raifsnider
Arend Raifsnider
America since I've never heard of it. Is there any way to see the
documentary in the US if that's true?
Thanks,
Arend Raifsnider
poon...@my-deja.com
everything in the country at such a tender age..........
SH!
In article <3891C96C...@pacbell.net>,
Arend Raifsnider <raif...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> What is Sky Choice? Is that a TV station? I'm guessing it's
> not in
> America since I've never heard of it. Is there any way to see the
> documentary in the US if that's true?
>
> Thanks,
> Arend Raifsnider
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Laufi
sky choice is a TV channel in the UK, I think and it can be received also in
main europe on satellite. As far as I know, this video will also be sent out to
various people on videotape.
I'm more curious on this Caracas thing!
cheers,
Laufi
Arend Raifsnider schrieb:
--
Arend Raifsnider
poon...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> You are only 16 remember???? You could not possibly have heard of
> everything in the country at such a tender age..........
>
> SH!
>
> In article <3891C96C...@pacbell.net>,
> Arend Raifsnider <raif...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> > What is Sky Choice? Is that a TV station? I'm guessing it's
> > not in
> > America since I've never heard of it. Is there any way to see the
> > documentary in the US if that's true?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Arend Raifsnider
>