Charlemagne Palestine's performance on the organ of the Friedenskirche, Eupen
for the reihe-M showcase at the Meakusma Festival 2019 was one of the many
highlights of that year's festival edition. This record features the full live
performance as Palestine conjures up his dense definition of maximized
minimalism, introducing the performance with a minimalist drone and himself
singing on top. His voice touches upon melancholy and the absurd and gives the
piece context and direction. From there on, anything goes. The piece develops
while complex layerings of chords and musical sentiments shift in and out of focus,
yet all take center stage all the time. Ending the piece, Palestine excitedly shouts
out that the organ is still the best synthesizer ever made. In typical Palestine
fashion, his performance made the whole church resonate, an effect that can be
repeated easily when listening at home, because this record demands volume and
lots of it.
Brooklyn-born Charlemagne Palestine has long been hailed as one of the
originators of modern minimalist and experimental music. He very firmly describes
his music as maximalist. His immense body of work features many solo albums,
collaborations, performance-driven video works and much more. In his work in
performance, music, video and related media since the late 1960s, he uses certain
emblematic objects such as teddy bears, cognac and scarves. They serve as
signatures, he calls them symbols of identification.
This record comes with a 12-page booklet that features an extensive Interview with
Charlemagne Palestine, conducted by Dirk Specht and Hans W. Koch of reihe-M.