The ear listens, backwards. An acoustic breather and yet three steps beyond. This compilation of Morr Music's little sister A Number Of Small Things begins with six brand-new songs (two on each page) that will be released on vinyl in the weeks to come. More on that later on.
First, we go further back. Back to Bernhard Fleischmann's »Nico« from autumn 2001. A glittering ode, as nonchalant and yet enigmatic as the legend of the same name. A good beginning for the little stories that A Number Of Small Things should tell from now on. Stories from Morr Music's heartland that have demanded this special and personal stage. Five vinyl-minutes, twice. Not longer than that. Or, to put it differently: an eternity.
Markus Acher's (Tied & Tickled Trio, etc.) and Valerie Trebeljahr's alter ego John & Yoko uses the time for a congenial cover version of Smog's »Morning Paper«. ISAN thought melancholy and minimalism together – on the basis of Eric Satie's bare pianoscapes Gymnopedie. Masha Qrella finally got to the heart of pop's big promise: Her version of Brian Ferry's »Don't Stop The Dance« became a hit on the radio. And it is also about an artist who set out to leave behind the borders between indie-rock and ›Wohnzimmer-Elektronika‹.
And anyhow, this is an essential story behind A Number Of Small Things: To find greatness within the small. But: This compilation tells the story exactly the other way round. It starts with an outlook for the beginning. An outlook for Butcher The Bar, a young, melancholy English artist. An outlook for the cooperation between Anthony Ryan (ISAN) and Simon Scott (ex-Slowdive) who - under the name Seavault – went down into the echoing spaces of past Britpop magnificence. And it is also an outlook for Seabear and their equally sovereign and innocent definition of indie pop. All that can be expected of A Number oOf Small Things. Also in the future, for the next twenty double-sided vinyls coming up.
