† 2021

Beginning:

Prisoner
– The Jezabels

Definetely, I’m a prisoner to this open cage of wide sounds and intriguing atmospheres I’m not equipped to describe properly but whose effects on me I cannot escape.

2nd Track:

Tesadüfen Hayatta
– Brek

There’s a strong link in any language you speak: between the sound of a word and its meaning that cannot be un-heard. And there’s a vast associative space that opens up just listening to some phonetic material whose meaning is hidden behind translation.

3rd Track:

斑马，斑马
– 宋冬野

It’s been a while I’ve listened to a fable in (pop) music, and one that stays completely within the realm of the poetic imagery it created. Less like a song and more like a poem.

4th Track:

Steine
– belitzki.

Zum ersten Mal live in Darmstadt auf’m Konzert gehört. Welches Konzert? Welches Darmstadt? Gab es jemals ein Konzert in Darmstadt? Verschweigen uns die Bandchroniken hier irgendetwas?

5th Track:

Fast Car
– Tracy Chapman

Dreams and how they shatter. Trying so hard and still being caught up in ever repeating fates — one cannot escape no matter how fast the car.

6th Track:

You Don’t Own Me
– Lesley Gore

I’ve always doubted that there’s such a thing like a »self« that just has to be left on its own to thrive. Rather, I guess, it’s only the entanglement with others that constitute the self as a meaningful part of something beyond itself. However, that’s not what this song is about.

7th Track:

1983
– Sophie Hunger

Having been at a concert of Grup Yorum in Athens this summer I have to correct Sophie Hunger insofar that there’s very much an active music scene in some of the Mediterranean countries which is rooted in traditional music while still being relatable even to the Left, if not especially.

8th Track:

Baggage Man
– Sizarr

There seems to be no direct translation of Zweisamkeit that would represent the counting from Eins to Zwei. And I have to admit that while not lacking much in meaning, togetherness doesn’t resonate half as much with me personally.

9th Track:

Heavy Days
– Still Corners

My personal summer hit running every other hour at »athens voice, εκατόν δύο κόμμα πέντε« (»102.5«). Even if exploited maybe a little bit too much there I concur that the gaze comprises a whole realm of expression beyond the speakable.

10th Track:

On A Roll
– Balthazar

Indeed the night might quite often turn out to make you feel alone. But the strive that this isn’t what the night is supposed to mean is what keeps it – and possibly you – going.

11th Track:

Love My Way
– The Psychedelic Furs

Oliver spontanously dancing with a stranger next to a car whose radio is playing this song. Meanwhile Elio having to puke from the unusual amounts of Italian wine they had had in Bergamo. Meanwhile the stranger tells Oliver how she had hitchhiked to London to see them play live. Such a genuine passion.
Just a scene from Call me by your name.

12th Track:

old man at the bar
– tinie creatures

Feeling older than I’ve once been is some sort of feeling old. I know this has to sound ridiculous to some. Still there’s something buried in every past moment that’s accessible in memories only.

13th Track:

Tamzara
– The Halay Lamba

Things I learned this year: Distinguishing an oud from a lute. What I already knew: Today’s deadliest border, the Mediterranean Sea, has been the interconnecting hub of a cultural space that predates the division into Middle East, Europe and North Africa.

14th Track:

Zuckerwatte
– Tristan Brusch

I understand just too well how the smell of spilled beer – possibly unpleasant to most – made it into this enumeration. There’s a hidden promise that the reversal of all values actually might start with the sense of smell.

15th Track:

Feel The Way I Do
– Jungle Giants

Regardless the philosophical problem of other minds, there are these rare moments when two persons‘ understandings align for a split second — and you know you’ve just been on the same page overcoming the estrangement that signifies individuality.

16th Track:

Kalbim Seni Arar
– Palmiyeler

The End:

I Know The End
– Phoebe Bridgers

You don’t choose your name and neither your origin. Both are given to you. What’s in your power, at least to a certain degree, is to not let them define you. While the departure is determined, the destination is up to you. Which brings us to the last stop – το τέρμα – of this sampler.