KW 22 / Darts und Scrabble


Immer mal wieder verirrt sich James KirbyHistory Always Favours The Winners mit seinem Projekt The Caretaker in eines meiner offenen Browsertabs. Und während sich Schellack-Knirschen, Ballroom-Rhythmen und Klaviermelodien vermischen, werde ich das Gefühl nicht los, das schon mal gehört zu haben. An empty bliss beyond this World von 2011 vielleicht?

1. All you are going to want to do is get back there
2. Moments of sufficient lucidity
3. The great hidden sea of the unconscious
4. Libet’s delay
5. I feel as if I might be vanishing
6. An empty bliss beyond this World
7. Bedded deep in longterm memory
8. A relationship with the sublime
9. Mental caverns without Sunshine
10. Pared back to the minimal
11. Mental caverns without Sunshine
12. An empty bliss beyond this World
13. Tiny gradiations of loss
14. Camaraderie at arms length

Letztes Jahr hat er dann den Abschluss des Caretaker-Projektes begonnen. Es wird in sechs Teilen bis 2019 veröffentlicht:

Everywhere at the end of time is a new and finite series exploring dementia, its advance and its totality.

Featuring the sounds from the journey The Caretaker as artist will make after being artistically diagnosed as having early onset dementia.

Stage 1 - September 2016 (A+B)
Here we experience the first signs of memory loss.
This stage is most like a beautiful daydream.
The glory of old age and recollection.
The last of the great days.

Stage 2 - April 2017 (C+D)
The second stage is the self realisation and awareness that something is wrong with a refusal to accept that. More effort is made to remember so memories can be more long form with a little more deterioration in quality. The overall personal mood is generally lower than the first stage and at a point before confusion starts setting in.

Stage 3 - Released in September 2017

Stage 4 - Released in March 2018

Stage 5 - Released in September 2018

Stage 6 - Released in March 2019

A1 - It’s just a burning memory
A2 - We don’t have many days
A3 - Late afternoon drifting
A4 - Childishly fresh eyes
A5 - Slightly bewildered
A6 - Things that are beautiful and transient
B1 - All that follows is true
B2 - An autumnal equinox
B3 - Quiet internal rebellions
B4 - The loves of my entire life
B5 - Into each others eyes
B6 - My heart will stop in joy
C1 - A losing battle is raging
C2 - Misplaced in time
C3 - What does it matter how my heart breaks
C4 - Glimpses of hope in trying times
C5 - Surrendering to despair
D1 - I still feel as though I am me
D2 - Quiet dusk coming early
D3 - Last moments of pure recall
D4 - Denial unravelling
D5 - The way ahead feels lonely

An Empty Bliss Beyond This World ist in Berlin entstanden, die Hexalogie Everywhere at the end of time in Krakau. John Doran ist dorthin gereist und schreibt, warum es sich in Krakau besser arbeiten lässt als in Berlin, über weitere musikalische Projekte, über Dart und Schließzeiten polnischer Kneipen.

A Quietus Interview
Out Of Time: Leyland James Kirby And The Death Of A Caretaker

[…] so he moved to Berlin in 2006.

He is now ambivalent about his six year stay in Germany: “It was too messy… too disruptive… too many people visiting every weekend. They’re not coming over to play Scrabble are they? They’re coming over to go out so I was out as well. That was it. It was endless. I was doing work in between but I knew I had to get out of there so I could do better work and more of it. And so that I could look at the work more intensely.

“I never listen to my own music once it’s out but I had reason to listen to An Empty Bliss Beyond This World recently and it just brought it all back to me. The dingy flat I was living in, the constant noise from the guy stomping about in the flat upstairs, the shitty equipment I was using, the long walks every day across town listening to Time Is A Thief by Joe Fagin on headphones.... The endless bars.”

Robert