M H – Side 29 – martinhall.dk

KONTINUUM

MARTIN HALL
PROSADIGTE
SEPTEMBER 1989
BORGENS FORLAG (ISBN 87-418-5463-2)

Kontinuum er Martin Halls tredje bog, en tekstsamling der udkom fem år efter dens forgænger, Fremmedgørelsens identitet.

Udgivelsen består af en serie fortættede refleksioner, noter nedskrevet i et kontinuum på 24 dage – en rejse gennem “disse dages Europa”, som det formuleres i introduktionen. Bogen må dog ikke forveksles med en traditionel rejsebeskrivelse, den er snarere en poetisk undersøgelse af, hvad rejsen gør ved den rejsende, end en dekorativ beskrivelse af steder og seværdigheder.

Om end tonen i Kontinuum er betydelig mere afklaret end i Halls tidligere bogudgivelser, er værkets billedverden stadig meget skygget og dobbelttydig.

Genre: Prosadigte
Sideantal: 38
Design: Martin Hall

”Og de første ord faldt. Dette er lidt om meget. Fragmenter og panorama, 24 dages kontinuum i disse dages Europa.”

“Moderne mikrotavler. Smukke og skræmmende digte fra Martin Hall … meget, meget autentisk: Man tror på, at han har været der, for han kan give oplevelsen videre.”
Politiken – Thomas Bredsdorff (29. september 1989)

“En nervespændt mosaik, der i lysende øjeblikke samler sig om det væsentlige kunstneriske forhold mellem sprog, verden og identitet … Martin Halls fint slyngede ordranker bliver ”som frostglød i vinternats krystal”. Svalt poetiske kræfter, hvormed han møder livet, og det der er større end ham selv. Hans billeddannende evne er original og sproget ”blødt som blod, der spredes i vand”, ja, så ejendommeligt nærværende kan han bruge det.”
Berlingske Tidende – Henrik Wivel (26. september 1989)

“Tiden går svanger med de digte, som Martin Hall nu præsenterer offentligheden for – eller rettere: med drømme og tendenser, som på mange måder kan have glæde af hans digtes spidsformuleringer. I de sidste årtier har det ikke været god tone at skrive filosofisk og med læresætninger, der kan streges under. Virkeligheden har været under lup, er blevet dissekeret og endevendt. Nu er den moden til en gensamling, men på bevægelsens præmisser, og det er, hvad Martin Hall kredser omkring.”
Fyens Stiftstidende – Jørgen Gleerup (oktober 1989)

TRIPTYKON

Bliver opmærksom på lyden af vandet, der falder mod håndvaskens marmorflader. Et hotelværelses spejl viser mig et ansigt. Senere vasker jeg hænder – betragter vandet løbe gennem mine fingre, som tiden gør det.

Jeg går tilbage, hvor jeg kom fra – ind i scenografien af stuen; en erindring allerede mens det opleves. I dette rum har alt engang været en forestilling, en tanke i en eller andens hoved – sengen, stolene, bordet, malerierne; alt sammen af en anden verden. Det gør mig til en del af en forestilling; et teater, hvor tid er arkitektur.

For enden af rummet er værelsets vinduer arrangeret som et triptykon, en levende gengivelse af den bevægende verden uden for. Indrammet ligger havet nederst, mørket øverst. Dybden af det kender ingen, det skjuler sig selv. Bølgerne rejser sig for dernæst at falde; alt der bevæges, forandres.

Senere den nat sover jeg en drømmeløs søvn.

FELT

Over havet, under himlen, i stilheden af menneskeløsheden. Havets stenagtige flader brydes igen og igen, som bristepunkt indefra, som bevægende tyngde udefra. I disse øjeblikke hersker ingen adskillelse mellem virkelighed og mulighed; dette er havet, ophavet, dybt som mørket, og stille som det ufødte.

Dette er blevet kaldt englenes land, og jeg befinder mig ved lands ende, på en platform af forstenet jord. Klipperne udgør grænselandskabet mellem vandet og luften, mod hvilket bølgernes fald lyder som pulsslaget af disse verdener; et requiem for alt der har været, en messe for alt der endnu må komme.

I silhouetter fremstår landskabets forladte miner som ufuldstændige katedraler, rejst af mennesker, men nægtet fuldendelse af jordens og havets kræfter. Morgenlyset fremkalder langsomt tætheden af billedet, og mens alt endnu ligger indhyllet i et skær af usket, skærer vinden gennem mig som en hvisken og et råb – et skrig endnu uforløst, inderst inde.

Tanker her er ikke mere, ikke mindre, end ekkoer i tomrummet.

FROSTGLØD

Denne rejse er alene. Disse dage er ét. Som det begyndes, må det ændre sig. Alt ændrer sig i rytmen af modstand, dør eller bliver stærkere.

Metal mod metal, ton mod ton, i en hast hvor kun det der ligger på afstand kan ses. Sol blænder, brænder frost hvidglødende, mens mure af lyd resonerer i mig. Øjne omkring mig stirrer dødt ud i togkupeen, i håbet om næring.

Bevæges ind i landet, mens landskaber efterlades som en skygge kastet. I flader af tid fornemmes jordens grænser, såvel som mine egne. Mørket sænker sig udenfor, stilheden indeni; skovene står som silhouetter mod eftergløden af dagens lys, mens billedet ændrer sig fra syn til en fornemmelse af dybde.

Fragmenter af tid og sted danner verdensbilleder uden sammenligning, en mosaik af nerve, hvor enhver fornemmelse bliver en prisme for alt uset. Som frostglød i vinternats krystal overskrides punktet for tilbagevenden, i en ændring næsten for svag til at bemærke.

Mens mørket fortætter sig til nat, omskrives et tyngdepunkt. Af mørket formes modstanden, der ingen trussel kender.

Signal brænder stigma i sin transformation af spild.

ARENA

I verdensarenaen er overlevelse den stærkestes privilegium. Men at forblive intakt kræver mere end styrke.

Som styrke er det fastes kvalitet, er skønhed det bevægeliges – rummet den overordnede tilladelse. I dette jorden, vandet og luften – og som flamme tærer stof, falder skygger anderledes.

Modermærket, men ukendt i oprindelse, det er silhouetten enhver skinner, i nat mod dag.

KONTINUUM

Det siges, at det stille vand har den dybe grund. Hvor overfladen reflekterer, er dybden af en anden dimension.

Når vandet bevæges, og der opstår en bølge, taler vi om ”en bølge”. Men i sig selv findes den ikke. Der er ikke ”et stykke bølge” at gribe ud efter – der er en bevægelse i vandet, der forårsager dette fænomen, som for os præsenterer sig som ”en bølge”.

Hændelser opleves som genstande, og som stoffet hvoraf drømme skabes, bevæges vi i disse foranderligste verdener. Som et bevægende diagram udspiller verdensteatret sig i bølge på bølge – som en symfoni hvori kaskader af forskellige toner, instrumenter, rytmer og intensiteter alle sammen forbindes af pulsslagets røde tråd, hvis farve er mange.

I netværket af i hinanden indgribende processer er et menneske sin egen mediumistiske kontakt med alt, det må blive. Pulsslaget er som en rejse, retningsbestemt, men aldrig endeligt defineret, og at overgive sig til denne ”den største historie nogensinde fortalt” er bevægende, i alle ordets betydninger – ikke længere at være, men at blive, og ikke længere at lede, men at blive ledt.

Alt forgår, mens øjeblikket forbliver, i dette ”virkelighedens kontinuum”.

LIGEVÆGT

Universet er i ligevægt. Derfor kan enhver sætte sit over styr, ved at adskille sig fra det.

EUROPA

Fra guldskæret til metalstøvet. I rytmen af byernes timeløse døgn, hvileløshedens forbandelse; et ekko af Europa.

I dette skiftende lys af brændende horisonter, i disse syntetiske landskaber af det 20nde århundredes degeneration ligger jorden gold og død under mine fødder. Jordens salt føles forgiftet i denne de levende dødes civilisation, den eneste afgrøde er en hede tæt som metal, og asken af sceneriet udgør en platform af livløshed, et alter af verdens støv.

I pulsslaget af dette panorama er der en undertone, undergravende som det natteløse mørke, der forgifter både sjæl og krop i sin altætsende indadvendthed – koldt som bly, hedt som cancer; børnene af det sofistikerede mareridt balancerer mangel med den inderste vold.

En hvisken i vildnisset rejser i ekkoerne af natten, mens regnen falder som en hinde. Af mørket brydes lys, af stilheden lyd.

EFTERSKRIFT

Blødt som blod, der spredes i vand – en hvisken brydes i tusind stykker, regner gennem mig som en støv af ånd. Ethvert brudstykke af dig indeholder alt af dig.

Skarp som knivens æg; slangens æg – en flygtning krydser sit spor. Urets visere bevæger sig i cirkler, til de samme punkter i forskellige døgn. Alt der bevæges, vender tilbage; fra ét til nul i en cirkel af alle tal.

I et rum mellem himmel og jord, under kuplen af det mørke lys; billedet stilnes, mens åndedrag finder rytmen af natten. Det eneste, der er vigtigt, du ved, er at jeg ikke ønsker at være noget andet sted.

by M H

COUNTERPOINT (THE POINT OF NO RETURN SOUNDTRACK)

BANDCAMP

COUNTERPOINT (THE POINT OF NO RETURN SOUNDTRACK)

MARTIN HALL
12″
SEPTEMBER 1989
VIRGIN RECORDS (MHMX1)

Counterpoint (The Point of No Return Soundtrack) er en 12″-ep, der indeholder et radio-edit af “Crush” fra Martin Halls 1986-album Cutting Through. Counterpoint blev udsendt i forbindelse med udgivelsen af opsamlings-cd’en The Martin Hall Document (Fragments 1981–1986) samt genudgivelsen af Cutting Through på Virgin Records i september 1989.

1. Crush (1989 Edit) (3:43)
2. Point within Circle (4:00)
3. Counterpoint (1:24)
4. Dome (1:30)
5. 8 (6:26)
6. Erosion (4:33)

CRUSH

As you fill me again
I have no further questions
Condemned to be free
As I reach out for you again

Nothing is new
But something has grown
Bigger than both of us
Stronger than memory
And much stronger than defeat

I’m gonna crush the worlds we used to know
A seed is sown
I’m gonna let it grow
I’m quite aware what I’ll be going through
There’s no way back
It all depends on you

My destiny
I’ve seen it in your eyes
A love so deep
A stream that purifies
And in your arms
The nature of all death
Is nothing but a touch of timelessness

I’m gonna crush you with my love
I’m gonna be crushed up in love

Flemming Nygaard: Cello
Martin Hall: Vokal, instrumenter

Design: Birgitte Wester
Foto: Robin Skjoldborg

Counterpoint-ep’en indeholder også soundtracket til en tv-film med titlen “The Point of No Return”, fem stykker dengang nyskrevet instrumentalmusik af Hall. Videoerne til disse numre er inkluderet på VHS-udgivelsen Audio-Visual fra 1990.

Alle indspilningerne på Counterpoint er tilgængelige via box-sættet Catalogue fra 2007.

by M H

THE HALL OF MIRRORS

BANDCAMP

THE HALL OF MIRRORS

MARTIN HALL
MC
SEPTEMBER 1989
MIND AND MEDIA (MM888)

The Hall of Mirrors er den eneste af Martin Halls båndudgivelser, der blev udgivet via en reel distributionscentral. Udsendt i et begrænset oplag på 888 eksemplarer – alle individuelt nummererede kopier – viser båndet en på det tidspunkt ny og forfriskende side af Hall, nemlig hans samarbejder med en række forskellige vokalister. Disse gæsteindslag tilførte indspilningerne en mere levende, skitseagtig karakter end Halls tidligere produktioner, hvilket klædte både udgivelse og ophavsmand.

The Hall of Mirrors indeholder Martin Halls første indspilninger med både Irma Victoria og Aud Wilken, begge artister han kom til at producere flere udgivelser med på sit label Mind and Media. Kassettebåndet var selskabets første udgivelse.

Nummeret “Song for Someone”, som Martin Hall selv synger, er inkluderet på den senere Catalogue-boks (2007).

1. Mind (4:13)
2. Fragment (1:17)
3. Brainwash (feat. Aud Wilken) (2:44)
4. Compression (feat. Henrik Möll) (1:44)
5. Box 1 (3:20)
6. Song for Someone (3:10)
7. Intermission 1 (0:21)
8. Heyl (3:45)
9. The World (Chanson D’Amour) (feat. Ken Rivad) (3:10)
10. Memorial (feat. Irma Victoria) (3:52)
11. Box 2 (2:54)
12. Reprise (1:32)
13. Intermission 2 (0:58)
14. Tension (Focus of Unity) (6:18)
15. Box 3 (3:56)
16. Got a Feeling (4:32)
17. Finale (0:51)

MIND

”What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow; our life is the creation of our mind.”
(The Dhammapada)

Never mind = no matter
No mind = never matter

FRAGMENT

”Everything has its tides – the pendulum swing to the right is the measure of that to the left – rhythm compensates.”
(The Kybalion)

BRAINWASH

“The mirror is not to be confused with the reflections which appear in it.”
(The Cycle of Day and Night)

I can’t help this feeling
I don’t think it’s mine
I think I need cleaning of brain and of mind

Brainwash
Wash it all clean now
Brainwash
Take it away
Brainwash
The ease and the dis-ease
Some like it hot, and some not
Not at all

And I don’t need no doctor
I just need myself
The melodramatic is going to hell

COMPRESSION

”If thought precedes action, what precedes thought?”
(The Living Qabalah)

Give me your name
Give me compression
Give me your name
And give me your mind

BOX 1

Fragments of an interview:

It’s very often that people take kindness for weakness, which is a shame, because it puts you in a situation, where you need to be hard before you can be soft – you need to somehow show people the disciplines and tensions, before you can actually deal. And that’s again just a symptom of, well, the whole 20th century basically, but particularly about, well, people’s attitudes and mental arrangements, towards themselves first of all, and secondly to others.

Things are what they are, regardless of how much we disagree about them, and having emotions about something is stupid, unless it’s got a purpose – I mean, unless you can use that emotion as a fuel to change.

I mean, that’s the whole thing, that it takes one to recognize one, and what you see in others is merely a reflection of yourself.

But the question remains: What are you going to do about it – because, well, it might be that you actually are the one martyr of this world, but then if you really are, that just puts a much greater job on your shoulders than sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself. And it comes into a situation, where there’s very little escape from what is real; it comes into the scenery, where you begin to become not just responsible for your own life, but actually becoming the architect of your own, well, actually destiny, if you want to put it like that.

SONG FOR SOMEONE

”Without struggle, no progress and no result.”
(Views from the Real World)

So your cynicism is your new religion
Where your doubt allows you no devotion
It makes you feel secure ’cause they can’t say you’re wrong
And that’s right ’cause you’re close to nothing at all

So while you’re fighting blinded in your mirror land
You run against the size of your own little box
In a two-mask nightmare theatre
You live what you call your life

I call you slave of guilt
I call you sick-sick-six
You know my name but you don’t know me
In the stupidity of mass identity
Your self-fixation won’t set you free

Now analysis is very easy to offer
Help is a quite different feature
I wish you’d come down to the basics
I wish you’d begin to surrender

INTERMISSION

“Thou shalt separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, gently with much sagacity.”
(The Smaragdine Tablet)

HEYL

“That garment is made up of tales and stories; but we, we are bound to penetrate beyond.”
(The Zohar)

THE WORLD (CHANSON D’AMOUR)

“O then come hither, and lay my book, thy Head and Heart together.”
(The Pilgrim’s Progress)

Got the world in my pocket
Got the world in my hand
Got the world in my singing
But I don’t understand

What came first from the big void?
What came first, hen or egg?
It’s too strange to consider
So I love it instead

Sometimes when I think about the great buildings in this world, I feel proud – I don’t know why, but I feel proud. And when I feel proud, I also feel love. And when I feel love, I want to sing. And when I sing, I sing a “Chanson d’Amour” … And if you want to sing a “Chanson d’Amour” too, then sing along with me now:

La-la-la, la-la-la

God bless you …

MEMORIAL

“It’s a matter of observation, not learning.”
(Assume Power Focus)

Wake up children
The day is near
Wake up children
I feel so weird

I can remember
I can forget
Sometimes it all seems like a dream in my head

Wake up children

I can remember
Hey-hey, hey-hey
I can forget
Tra-la-la-la

BOX 2

Fragments of an interview:

Well, it’s easy to know about something, but to actually understand it, that’s something else. I mean, if you really understand something, it’s going to change your life – because otherwise it’s just an intellectual commodity that you carry around in your head. But, I mean, true understanding, I don’t think that that is a matter of information, or just dumping more information into your brain – I think it’s more a matter of actually getting rid of nonsense in yourself.

I’ve had enough of emotional hysteria. It’s quite stupid to produce this massive emotion about feeling not understood – because after all, when you take into account, that you’re actually dealing with something like six billion emotionally and mentally handicapped people, then the big issue about being personally misunderstood, it’s a bit grotesque.

Well, I think it’s a bit weird, that what’s most easily obtainable in this world, is what people identify themselves most heavily with – a thing like common emotion, getting angry about something, or feeling something, is what people somehow make their ultimate identity, and in the light of the fact, that, as I’ve said, it’s the most easily obtainable, it becomes a bit bizarre, that people turn it into their religion.

REPRISE

“What is now proved, was once only imagined.”
(The Marriage of Heaven and Hell)

INTERMISSION

”You do not question or worry about your wisdom. You just do whatever is required. The situation you are facing is itself profound enough to be regarded as knowledge. You do not need secondary resources of information. You do not need reinforcement or guidelines for action. Reinforcement is provided by the situation automatically. When things must be conducted in a tough manner, you just do it because the situation demands your response. You do not impose toughness; you are instrument of the situation.”
(Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism)

TENSION (FOCUS OF UNITY)

“Opposition is the source of all growth.”
(Tao Teh King)

Tyranny of ignorance
You will know who you are
As the mask of identity falls and breaks on the floor

Tension grows in the focus of unity
Tension grows in the still of the night

See the pain and the pantomime
20th century erosion
In the blood print of stimulus
It takes more than a dream

BOX 3

Fragments of an interview:

Personally, there’s a lot of things that I’d like to rewrite in myself, and there’s a lot of things that I’ve done that, well, I’d do it differently today. It’s very difficult for me to forget things, and, well, that’s been quite a struggle in a way, to overcome this weight of the past. But the strength to actually change comes very much, I think, from a superior viewing – because a thing like all the time bringing your past into your present is wrongful according to, really what a life is. And, well, let’s take an example like bitterness, I mean, it’s a thing that most people would find quite easy, to actually surrender to the feeling of bitterness, because there’s so much evidence in a 20th century life of, well, pain and resistances. So it, unless you actually take a stance against it, it’s a bit like a ghost that tries to take you into the shadowplay of self-solemn martyrdom, and really, the only way to avoid all these aspects that are so dominant features in, I think, every person’s inner life, you really need to add up up what you’re in, what you’re doing – because in the end, you’re stuck with you.

In the end, you’re going to die alone, so what you’re doing is really between you and you, all the time. And in that context, it’s, well, it’s different to live, because what you do is between you and you, and you need no justification or “forgiveness” from any outer world.

GOT A FEELING

“The standard of the physical plane is strength; the standard of the astral plane is beauty; the standard of the mental plane is truth; and the standard of the spiritual plane is that of right and wrong as we understand the terms; therefore there is no ethic except in terms of spiritual value; all else is at best expediency.”
(The Mystical Qabalah)

Got a feeling in my heart
And it makes me wonder why
Wake up in the morning and it’s there
I feel it inside me
Everywhere

FINALE

“The nature of reality is to liberate.”
(The Book of Tokens)

Stronger than thousand suns
Zero equals one
Two reveals unity
As all things to be

“Det nyeste og mest interessante udspil fra Hall er kassettebåndet The Hall of Mirrors med gæstesangerne Irma Victoria, Ken Rivad, Henrik Möll og Aud Wilken … Musikalsk er det en omfattende rejse gennem mellemøstlige klange, djævlelignende sang, soul og frankofile chansons. Nærlytter man, dukker små overraskelser op; som f. eks. i ”Brainwash” hvor Aud Wilken pludselig afløses af Charles Manson. The Hall of Mirrors er Martin Halls mest varierede, men også mest obskure udgivelse i lang tid. Som altid trodser han janteloven og sætter den på plads med ordene “it takes one to recognize one, and what you see in others is merely a reflection of yourself”. Velkommen i spejlsalen.”
MM – Henrik Føhns (oktober 1989)

“På The Hall of Mirrors er Halls selvhøjtidelighed atter i velgørende rette rammer. 12 nye kompositioner og interviews. Et luset kassettebånd med plads til både skitser, krumspring og denne forrygende monumentale jeg-bevidsthed forklædt som ydmyghed … både mere spændende, underholdende og udfordrende end Presence.”
Det Fri Aktuelt – Kim Skotte (11. september 1989)

“Den mest spændende nyhed er The Hall of Mirrors, der består af nye numre og interviews. Halls musik er herpå langt mere varieret end på hans tidligere udgivelser, og står alligevel frem på en sær homogen måde. Musikken spænder således lige fra fjerlet pop, med Halls og Aud Wilkens stemmer i forgrunden, til tung og fascinerende industrisampler-musik. De numre, der er mest fremtrædende, er “Brainwash”, en velklingende popsang, “Song for Someone”, hvor Halls stemme svinger fra blidt kontrolleret til hysterisk vild, og “Memorial” med Irma Victorias søvngængeragtige stemme foran en dunkel dragende baggrund.”
Record News – Jesper Hansen og Christian Rosén (oktober 1989)

Aud Wilken: Vokal
Henrik Möll: Vokal
Irma Victoria: Vokal
Ken Rivad: Vokal
Martin Hall: Vokal, instrumenter

Design: John L. Christensen
Foto: Ken Rivad

by M H

REAL THING 1989

BANDCAMP

REAL THING 1989

MARTIN HALL
7″/12″
JANUAR 1989
VIRGIN RECORDS (111940/611940)

“Real Thing 1989” var den anden single fra Martin Halls succesrige comeback-album udsendt i efteråret 1988. Singlen blev udsendt i både 7″- og 12″-format, lanceret som henholdsvis “Discotheque” and “Broadcast” i de to forkellige versioner af sangen.

12″-udgaven indeholdt også et nyt nummer “Theme”, hvis video er inkluderet Audio-Visual VHS-udgivelsen fra 1990.

1. Real Thing 1989 (Discotheque) (5:32)
2. Theme (4:34)
3. Real Thing 1989 (Original Version) (5:35)

1. Real Thing 1989 (Broadcast) (4:41)
2. Real Thing 1989 (Original Version) (5:35)

REAL THING 1989

River deep, mountain high
Out of the blue

As pure as the real thing
The state and the feeling
It leaves me no doubt of what needs to be done
A thunder’s been raging
A choice has been taken
To never look back
To be one of the few

While all things must pass
A fire will burn, purify – never change
It’s seen in the sky
As there’s so much more to this than meets the eye
It’s something within
The longing inside is the drive that allows
The work to be done

River deep, mountain high
A shadow inside
In the light of a greatness from which none can hide
Out of the blue, into the fire
And I’m stronger than ever in my one surrender
A red storm arising
Now I know what I want
And I know how to get it
It’s calling within and without

As pure as the real thing
The state and the feeling
It leaves me no doubt of what needs to be done
A thunder’s been raging
A choice has been taken
To never look back
To be one of the few

I know it ’cause I feel it
I don’t need no further proof to believe it
There’s a guiding light
Burning inside out
As pure as the real thing

I return
In the light of the sun
A shadow is cast of a moment in time
Like turns of the tide
In the still of the night it begins
What is is to be

THEME

Regain your human rights
Surviving
The countdown
Face the fact

Born to die

Cut down to black and white
Love under will

REAL THING

I return
In the light of the sun
A shadow is cast of a moment in time
Like turns of the tide
In the still of the night it begins
What is is to be

While all things must pass, a presence remains
A fire will burn, purify – never change
It’s seen in the sky, it’s felt deep inside
As there’s so much more to this than meets the eye
It’s something within, it’s something without
The longing inside is the drive that allows
The work to be done

River deep, mountain high
A shadow inside
In the light of a greatness from which none can hide
Out of the blue, into the fire
And I’m stronger than ever in my one surrender
A red storm arising
Now I know what I want and I know how to get it
It’s calling within and without

As pure as the real thing
The state and the feeling
It leaves me no doubt of what needs to be done
A thunder’s been raging
A choice has been taken
To never look back
To be one of the few

I know it ’cause I feel it
I don’t need no further proof to believe it
There’s a guiding light
Burning inside out
As pure as the real thing

In this forum of time and of place
There’s a rainbow arising after the rain
As the sun melts the snow
The ice and the fire

Mountain streams overflow
Run down from the higher
And the water, it glitters like diamond
As pure as the light

Flemming Nygaard: Keyboards
Lotte Grundlev: Kor
Martin Hall: Vokal, keyboards, guitar
Tina Schæfer: Kor

Design: Birgitte Wester
Foto: Robin Skjoldborg

Presence modtog strålende anmeldelser i alle større aviser og blade. Det blev ligeledes det første Hall-album, der gik ind på den officielle top 20-salgsliste. Kort fortalt er pladen et krystallinsk popalbum, der byder på lige dele iørefaldende sange, grandiose arrangementer og episke tekster. Albummet blev efterfølgende udgivet i resten af Skandinavien, hvor det også modtog en række flotte anmeldelser.

Efter at have toppet adskillige læserafstemninger og årslister i forskellige danske musikblade ved udgangen af 1988 begyndte Martin Hall at føle sig en anelse fremmedgjort i sin nye rolle som popstjerne. Som en kommentar til tingenes udvikling ønskede han derfor at udgive remixet af “Real Thing” med en ny titel, Surreal Thing, en idé som Virgin Records ikke brød sig om. Et kompromis blev indgået ved at kalde den nye version af sangen Real Thing 1989. Da nummeret mange år senere blev inkluderet på Catalogue-bokssættet (2007), blev det dog langt om længe kaldt Surreal Thing.

De følgende videobilleder er taget fra Hall’s optræden i det danske tv-show Fluen i januar 1989, et program der blev sendt på DR hver fredag aften i den periode.

Produktionsmæssigt benytter Presence sig af en Fairlight CMI music computer. Albummet blev co-produceret af Flemming Nygaard, tidligere medlem af det sene Under For samt musiker på Halls foregående plade, Cutting Through. Det er også Nygaard, der spiller flygel på de foregående tv-billeder.

Flemming Nygaard var både klassisk trænet cellist og en fremragende tekniker og alt i alt af uvurderlig hjælp for Hall under indspilningen af Presence. Da Nygaard meget tragisk døde i sensommeren 1989, dedicerede Hall sit Requiem til ham, en orgelkoncert han opførte i Taksigelseskirken i december samme år.

by M H

PRESENCE

BANDCAMP

PRESENCE

MARTIN HALL
LP/CD/MC
SEPTEMBER 1988
VIRGIN RECORDS (259309)

Presence var Martin Halls meget succesrige comeback-album efter to et halvt års retræte fra musikindustrien. Pladen er en Fairlight-produktion og co-produceret af Flemming Nygaard.

Presence blev modtaget med et regulært mediehype og indeholdt bl.a. hitsinglen “Beat of the Drum”, et nummer der endte med at blive årets mest spillede danske single på The Voice i 1988. Medregner man internationale kunstnere blev nummeret ironisk nok kun overgået af John Farnhams verdensomspændende hit “The Voice”.

1. Real Thing (5:37)
2. Beat of the Drum (4:54)
3. Penetration (4:31)
4. Intermezzo (6:00)
5. Magnum Opus (9:17)
6. Presence (12:20)

REAL THING

I return
In the light of the sun
A shadow is cast of a moment in time
Like turns of the tide
In the still of the night it begins
What is is to be

River deep, mountain high
A shadow inside
In the light of a greatness from which none can hide
Out of the blue, into the fire
And I’m stronger than ever in my one surrender
A red storm arising
Now I know what I want and I know how to get it
It’s calling within and without

As pure as the real thing
The state and the feeling
It leaves me no doubt of what needs to be done
A thunder’s been raging
A choice has been taken
To never look back
To be one of the few

I know it ’cause I feel it
I don’t need no further proof to believe it
There’s a guiding light
Burning inside out
As pure as the real thing

In this forum of time and of place
There’s a rainbow arising after the rain
As the sun melts the snow
The ice and the fire

Mountain streams overflow
Run down from the higher
And the water, it glitters like diamond
As pure as the light

BEAT OF THE DRUM

Now one day I woke up to some rules of life
That a serious heart needs a light mind to survive
That if you only hope you won’t get very far
‘Cause dreams call for action

No matter what you want the way is to begin
‘Cause knowing all about it is not the living thing
And those who sit and ask for great things all the time
Well I hope they’ve sorted out the many small things on the line

A focus inside out
The still of the centre
You must live by demand
But also surrender

As the beat of the drum beats the ghosts on the run
So the beat of my heart keeps me wondering
Now it’s been said this world is a stage
Well then if that is true
It’s an unwritten play
That makes being a becoming

It’s so easy seen when it’s someone else
But are you any better when you’re by yourself
‘Cause in this hall of mirrors you’re in a counterpoint
Where it takes one to recognize one

Now there are those who say that life is hard and then you die
Well petty leads to pity if you do not wonder why
‘Cause the way to solve a problem is to get a bigger one
So to those who cry for freedom
Well there’s working to be done

PENETRATION

The cooler the game, the more it will run hot
The sharper the knife, the deeper it will cut
The more you hold on to, the more you will lose
The more you let go, the more you constitute

It’s so easy to criticize someone else
But if you’re superior why don’t you help
‘Cause knowing the truth in your head is a lie
If you aren’t in practice of it in your life

Solar plexus charge
Guided by the heart
As the silence rules
Before the storm

You’d better know what you’re into
You’d better know how to get out
What’s easy said’s always harder done
So rather small tries than big shouts

Cut down to black and white
Put all your views aside
And face the main thing
We’re in the same thing
There’s too much luxury
Too much hypocrisy
From penetration to revelation

Surviving the 20th century drain
Requires control of emotions and brain
So don’t have a drama but try to make sense
Of what’s going on in this world consequence

The rules of the game are as solid as rock
There are millions out there living in culture shock
Now one thing’s to see it, another to change
To know where you’re going, not just fight against

INTERMEZZO

Changeless
Beyond the point of return
Nameless
Written to whom it may concern

Fineness
Cast like a shadow of life
Timeless
Moment by moment, always now

The nearer the source, the purer the stream
The stronger the will, the more real is the dream
The truer the flame, the brighter it burns
The harder the fall, the stronger the return

For all as for none, for you as for me
You may feel alone but you never will be
All life is a wave that rises and falls
A part of the great sea in which it dissolves

All things
Rise in the light of the sun
Being
Meanings are many, reasons one
For years
Searching but too close to see
We’re here
And this is where we’re meant to be

The nearer the source, the purer the stream
The stronger the will, the more real is the dream
The truer the flame, the brighter it burns
The harder the fall, the stronger the return

For all as for none, for you as for me
You may feel alone but you never will be
All life is a wave that rises and falls
A part of the great sea in which it dissolves

And born under stars, in eternity
In all that has been, all that is, all to be
A feeling within still to be fulfilled
Of something inside that can never be killed

MAGNUM OPUS

River of life, salt of the Earth
We are the children of unseen worlds
In this arena the strongest survives
But only intact if they stay true to life
And touched by a sparkle, a cool fire burns
The flame is a guest but it has to return
To its kingdom
Its arising
To its source

The mystery lives in crystal and cell
Untouchable real as the heartbeat itself
The immanent life, an eminent line
A journey more directional than defined
A resonance ringing, a midnight sun burns
What’s said by the words is what silence confirms
The media of senses, of heart and of mind
In worlds of the moment, the past left behind
It leaves me all breathless, it feels so complete
The heavens so still and the Earth so concrete
And it calls me
In a whisper
In a scream

Like a shadow that’s cast from above
In this kingdom of flesh and of blood
A superior allowance rules
The Magnum Opus of life

Calling for some, knowing you’re there
Hiding away in own worlds, unaware
Living in darkness, living without
The beauty of life, of demand inside out

Now stop the self-torture of doubt and of fear
The fact that you are says you’re meant to be here
To feel weak costs nothing, to rise above does
A future is calling for each one of us
And if you don’t want it, then die on your own
I’m gonna proceed even if I’m alone
‘Cause I want it
More than ever
For us all

Reasons known, reasons still to be found
Where there’s will, there are ways, none without
A superior allowance rules
The Magnum Opus of life

And it calls me
In a whisper
And it calls me
In a scream

When all is said and when all is done
A moment alone will come to everyone
To make you consider, to make you see clear
What you have caused in the time you’ve been here
It’s beginning
So may each find what each seeks

PRESENCE

A diamond is shining but it’s empty in its inside
A crystallization providing a home for the light
Purified by the flame, only core remains
In the face of mass ignorance you can’t change the world
But you’re responsible at least for your own

The sound of children crying
The words of leaders lying
In this nightmare theatre of shock insensitivity
So everyone loves the talking
But when it comes to the working
I see an empty stage and everyone returned to fantasy

Now I’m not getting heavy, I’m just pointing out some facts
If a gun was put against your head, I think you would react
There’s an instinct to survive, a will to live
And don’t you think there’s a reason for such technology
Or do you take it all for nothing in your self-view luxury
‘Cause if you do, well really
Who do you think you are?

The rising sun drives back the darkness
The morning light exposes Earth
And here I stand within the realms of all to come

A tension inside
A feeling arising
Like a charge in the sky
The pressure before it bursts
The lightness when it has been released
A shadow is cast from clouds slowly passing
While summer rain’s falling
The sky opens up

And as I walk upon the face of Earth
Deep in my heart, a stillness undisturbed
In open fields, the wind carries the words
Within, without – a flame burns on this Earth

I’ve got the spirit, I’ve got the feeling
And I’ll be true to what I believe in
An inner greatness is my conviction
And it’s the sparkle of my resistance
I feel the promise within the longing
I’ve gone from being into becoming
And in this journey of my existence
My only statement is my persistence

From circle to spiral
From charge to release
From feeling to knowing
From the inside into the outside
A life is what it becomes as it goes through this world
Its appearance is its allowance, its kingdom the Earth
It’s a matter of seeing what it’s in the middle of
It’s a question of below before a question of above

A cool flame burning inside, it’s embodied in flesh
A radiation of divinity
I feel a fullness inside, I see the richness of life
I see the wounds slowly heal and it’s amazing to me
I see a newborn child, I see integrity
The small intensity in the enormity
I see a single flame give birth to thousand lights
I see the principle in its simplicity

And as I walk upon the face of Earth
Deep in my heart, a stillness undisturbed
In open fields, the wind carries the words
Within, without – a flame burns on this Earth

In the river of life, in the light of each day
Purified by the stream, purified by the flame
Inescapable
And unchangeable
From the fountain of life, from above to below
As the river runs down so the cup overflows
And you are what you are
All that you may become

“Flot comeback-LP. Martin Hall lyder for første gang rørende og bevægende. Hør blot selve den lange titelsang – en af de STØRSTE danske rocksange, der nogensinde er undfanget … Martin Halls bedste, mest tilfredsstillende udspil til dato – som bestemt er uden sidestykke i danske rockhistorie.”
Politiken – Anders Rou Jensen (6. september 1988)

“Pompøs og helstøbt Martin Hall.”
( * * * * * )
B.T. – Susanne Johansen (1. september 1988)

“Først og fremmest Hall’s hidtil bedste plade … Grænserne mellem rock, ballader og klassisk musik overskrides, og små glimt af afrikansk og østerlandsk musik leger med i en genialt tænkt musik.”
Gaffa – Per Reinholdt Nielsen (september 1988)

“Det er hverken kitsch eller kunst, men begge dele på én gang, dybt som floden, højt som bjerget … det mest livgivende danske pop i lang tid.”
Levende Billeder – Niels Frid (september 1988)

“Det er et glædeligt genhør med en stemme, der ikke længere skriger, men som nok har viljen til at råbe. Stemmen er udtryksfuld og kompositionerne nærmer sig de ørehængere, som verden ustandselig sukker efter…. Musikalsk er han en god oplevelse, og han har gjort sig den umage at afslutte numrene ordentligt. Altså ingen udfadninger. Hurra!”
( * * * * )
MM – Katrine Ring (september 1988)

“… en plade, der ikke lyder som noget andet dansk”
Chili – Martin Kongstad (oktober 1988)

“Det er en gennemført smuk plade, hvor især balladen ”Intermezzo” har en melodi, der går lige i hjertet. Produktionsmæssigt ligger den fuldt ud på linie med den store internationale poplyd, men fungerer på egne præmisser uden skelen til tidens strømninger. En luksus, man bør unde sine ører.”
Jam (oktober 1988)

“Vi har bevæget os ind på den sofistikerede etage af rockens Empire State Building.”
Kick Magazine (oktober 1988)

“Helstøbt udspil fra rock-myte.”
Aalborg Stiftstidende (september 1988)

“Tilbage står det uomtvistelige faktum, at musikken på Presence er det mest imponerende og internationalt storslåede fra dansk rock nogensinde … enestående flot er det.”
Horsens Folkeblad (september 1988)

“Både tekst og musik er simpelt hen tæt på det fremragende … Her er en mand, der går fuldt og helt ind for sit værk og ikke blot følger strømmen.”
Skive Folkeblad (oktober 1988)

“Nu vender han tilbage som en magtfuld sanger, der er mere poppet og mindre avantgardistisk end før. Musikken er iørefaldende og spændende arrangeret med en udansk, international appel – typisk for Hall, der altid har arbejdet ud fra et meget højt bevidstheds- og ambitionsniveau …”
Kolding Folkeblad (august 1988)

“Det er lykkedes pladeselskabet Virgin at lokke den nu 25-årige multimediekunstner ind i et lydstudie igen. Og resultatet, den smagfulde Presence, er absolut noget af et kup … En ualmindelig flot lydende plade.”
Ringkøbing Amts Dagblad (september 1988)

“Martin Hall – en dansk rockmusiker af internationalt format.”
Randers Amtsavis (september 1988)

“This multi-talented singer/songwriter has a considerable history in his native Denmark. This is his first release for two years, and proves that he has immense potential and is an artist of considerable class … This is promising stuff.”
Music and Media (september 1988)

Flemming Nygaard: Keyboards, cello
Lotte Grundlev: Kor
Martin Hall: Vokal, keyboards, guitar
Tina Schæfer: Kor

Design: Birgitte Wester
Foto: Robin Skjoldborg

Som allerede nævnt blev pladens første single “Beat of the Drum” et massivt hit I Danmark, ligesom sangen også modtog en del international bevågenhed. Albummets anden single “Real Thing” blev et mindre radiohit i begyndelsen af 1989.

Nygaard var både klassisk trænet cellist og en fremragende tekniker og alt i alt af uvurderlig hjælp for Hall under indspilningen af Presence. Da Nygaard meget tragisk døde i sensommeren 1989, dedicerede Hall sit Requiem til ham, en orgelkoncert han opførte i Taksigelseskirken i december samme år.

by M H

BEAT OF THE DRUM

BANDCAMP

BEAT OF THE DRUM

MARTIN HALL
7″/12″
AUGUST 1988
VIRGIN RECORDS (111675/611675)

“Beat of the Drum” var den første single fra Martin Halls succesrige comeback-album udsendt i efteråret 1988. Nummeret endte med at blive årets mest spillede danske single på radiostationen The Voice, ironisk nok kun overgået af John Farnhams verdensomspændende hit “The Voice”.

Singlen blev udsendt i både 7″- og 12″-format samt lanceret i en særlig presseudgave, der blev udgivet i en sort boks med separat inlay-materiale.

1. Beat of the Drum (4:54)
2. Repeat of the Drum (4:54)