9. Holger CzukayMovies
Holger Czukay walks between worlds. He’s kind of a clown but he’s also serious. He’s a no-bullshit guy.
He’s strange but he’s great. He did a few shows in Cologne where he was just playing videos and talking and he’s like an entertainer. It feels like he’s using music as the platform or the medium, the material which he understands and re-sculptures the world around him. He’s not dogmatic about the sounds he’s using but he does everything so carefully, or at least he did with his solo records.
He made so many great records, like Rome Remains Rome and On The Way To The Peak Of Normal but Movies for me has biographical resonance, because when I got introduced to that record I was having a wild time. It was the soundtrack to something in particular that was both intense and great, and I still love listening to it. It includes different levels of sound sources and qualities. How he brings it all together is really carefully thought through. He maintains tension in the music that keeps bringing you back to the records. They sound totally up to date. Nothing about them is old or weird, or an in-joke or anything.
Funnily enough when I lived in Cologne, my backyard faced his flat. At one point he became aware of Mouse On Mars and we had a quick chat over the fence. It became clear he really didn’t want to speak to me, or deal with Mouse On Mars or anything connected to it. I’ve no idea why. At the time he was hanging out with more techno guys and he really enjoyed what they were doing. I didn’t think it was very good. It could be because I was pissed off and really angry and jealous, but I can assure you that the incorruptible little percentage of my brain which just likes to listen to good music could not appreciate what he did in the 90s in terms of techno stuff.
