Burnt Friedman ‘First Night Forever’: Album of the Week

Burnt Friedman ‘First Night Forever’: Album of the Week

11 October, 2007 | 3.31PM

• Written by: lizwarner
• Filed under: Music News: album of the week, burnt friedman, first night forever, nonplace

Ever the experimentalist, Cologne’s Burnt Friedman has returned with yet another breathtaking beauty.

And somehow it’s always apparent that method and magic go hand in hand.

The Nonplace label owner has ventured into many sound categories, including jazz, dub and difficult to categorize experimental projects.

His list of collaborators is impressive, from Atom Heart and Can’s Jaki Liebezeit to Stina Nordenstam and David Sylvian — to name a few.

Each collaboration is clearly an attempt to push the limits further than before.

Friedman took some time to chat with us about the making of ‘First Night Forever’.

You’ve collaborated with several artists throughout your career, each one seemingly with a specific idea in mind. What is the specific idea for ‘First Night Forever’?

On a First Night no one knows rules, routine is suspended and a receipt cannot preempt the menu.

This describes the fortunate mindset that helped in creating the pieces on ‘First Night Forever’.

Eros is the key figure, the one who mixes up and melts the elements in a game without aim nor winner, away from specific ideas and determination.

Considering that you’ve been involved with so many types of studio trickery, how, now that it’s complete, would you classify ‘First Night Forever’?

As a studio baby, it is 100% artificial, incorporating electronic and acoustic sounds without wanting to be authentic or natural.

Formally, a multi-rhythm palette plays a major role.

In our times, rhythms are so dominate but also limited that they easily define the genre.

The trouble is, when different kinds of rhythms occur, it becomes increasingly difficult to classify the music.

The more improbable the musical elements, the more information is contained, hence, the longer the descriptions.

How long did it take to make the album, considering the various collaborations involved?

The first recordings date back to 2001.

I’ve carried sketches of tracks while traveling and have collected recording takes whenever musicians were in the studio.

That added up to around 30 open sessions that have mutated over the years, until in 2006, I decided to put an end to this otherwise infinite process.

Did you record any of the collaborations in the same studio at the same time?

Most of it was fortunately recorded in my own studio, but some of the takes were created under various conditions.

Steve Spacek chose to sing in Sydney and send the files via cable.

I worked closest with Theo Altenberg, we met many times to redo or experiment with spontaneous lyrics.

What was the most memorable moment while making ‘First Night Forever’?

Only a few weeks ago, I listened to the vinyl test pressings.

Because I was so familiar with the songs, I chose to check the pressings using the wrong speed, which means I pitched the record player from 45 RPM to 33 RPM.

This is the great option you have with vinyl — one actually has two programs on one disc.

However, the tracks seemed hot and groovy to me, so I decided that I will dedicate an entire long player to this kind of sound world in the near future.

These sudden surprises are mind expanding; they’re moments when stunning results are achieved by chance.

Have you had the chance to play selections from the album in the live setting?

Studio records and live performance are two different worlds.

I expect a live show to present music invented in the moment and to have a high dose of improvisation, whereas studio records are like sound sculptures that have eternal life, no matter how long or how fast the production took.

Records are completely unnatural to music, as music is moved air and doesn’t belong to any one carrier.

I compare musical pieces from records to artwork, and although music is perception in time, and artwork lacks this dimension, on a record or on canvas, they are both frozen.

There’s no sense in bringing this back to stage.

You’ve made ‘First Night Forever’ available both digitally and on vinyl. Do you feel that it’s listened to differently on vinyl?

It s always listened to differently each time, no matter which format.

It has become apparent that the work, as a unit, is best presented on vinyl, as every single track has its place.

The CD has already destroyed artistic coherence and the digital downloading of single tracks completely obliterated this essential part of musical content.

Regarding pure sound characteristics, music from vinyl has the potential to play back music in the best technical way.

What will be the next Burnt Friedman project?

Dubbing out ‘First Night Forever’ in 33 RPM.

How do you feel about being awarded ‘Album of the Week’ on Beatport?

I hope that people are allowed to dig a little deeper into my catalogue in the future.

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