fishmoon - music by axel manrico heilhecker  Dieses Album können Sie bestellen be i :     Herzbergverlag online Hören : belle de jour one man tango for your pleasure fishmoon rising fishmoon last picture been there, done this american zonata is isn't Musiker : Harald Grosskopf Bertil Mark Helmut Zerlett Steve Baltes Axel Manrico Heilhecker 1994 ,the idea came up, to record a instrumental album, which should be routed more to atmospheres, than to structural aspects in music.To accomplish this Heilhecker collected relics of his guitar-laboratories during his work as producer for Phonoroid, Sunya Beat, Thomas Kagermann, Samson Gassama,or  Andreas Ludwig. This was done between 1995 and 1998. As a result this album established a visual sound, mainly leaded by Heilhecker's guitar, but far away from common string-acrobatics. Most different musical styles and guitar-specific playing-technics had been dismantled and brought together in new aspects. All instruments were played mainly by himself this time. "Listening to my album today, i find all influences of my collaboratories in the 90's very clearly comin' upfront. For example my work with the, meanwhile late, indian sitarplayer and music prof. from Benares T.N. Nagar . Same as Ravi Shankar,a student of Villayat Khan, he was a great architekt and storyteller on his instrument.  No picture - no sound ,this formula always has been putting a spell on me. Steve Baltes and Harald Grosskopf, my longtime fellows since those days ,represent the musical caesura of the late 90's, the moveover from linear recording to virtual tracking. Fishmoon ,moon in pisces ,is analog to a situation of sensitive processes and expressions, or a time , when one is not able to lock up from in- and external sensations - a state of unlimitation. What started as a collection will be continued as a conceptional edition and released Nov -  06." Presse : DPRP- CD Reviews - 2001 Volume 33 Axel Manrico Heilhecker - Fishmoon Country of Origin: Germany Format: CD Record Label: Think Progressive Catalogue #: - Year of Release: 2001 Time: 46:51   Tracklist: elle De Jour (4.45), One Man Tango (4.20), For Your Pleasure (4.37), Fishmoon Rising (2.06), Fishmoon (8.32), Last Picture (4.59), American Zonata (6.45), Been There Done This (4.58), Is, Isn't (5.49) Guitarist Heilhecker worked on projects like Holo Syndrome, Sunya Beat, Phonoroid and collaborations with musicians of Ash Ra Tempel. Fishmoon is his first solo album, although on a few tracks he gets a helping hand from Steve Baltes (Sunya Beat, Ashra), producer/composer Helmut Zerlett and Bertil Mark. Unfortunately I am not familiar with Heilhecker's previous work, so I can't compare his solo album to the other stuff on his resume. Fishmoon is a fully instrumental album, centered around Axel's guitar play, which is accompanied by bass, keyboards and percussion. Many of the rhythms have a rather ethnic and native feel to it, resulting in an atmosphere that can easily be compared to some of Peter Gabriel's world music influenced work. As a matter of fact, tracks like Belle Du Jour could easily have been instrumental versions of tracks by Gabriel. The twangy slide guitar on some of the tracks reminds me of Eric Clapton's work on Roger Water's Pros and Cons of Hitch-Hiking, while at other times the music brings Clapton's soundtrack for The Edge of Darkness to mind. Another guitarist that comes to mind when listening to the Fishmoon album is Mark Knopfler, probably because of the similarity in feel and sound compared to songs like Dire Strait's Ride Across The River in tracks like One Man Tango. Still, the guitarist of which I'm reminded most is one of my all-time favourites Snowy White since Heilhecker's playing has that same bluesy feel to it (e.g. in Fishmoon Rising/Fishmoon, reminding me of the instrumentals from Snowy's early albums, or in Is, Isn't). Probably the weirdest track on the album is Been There Done That, which doesn't only feature sound samples from the 'Moby Dick' and 'The Treasure of Sierra Madre' movies, but a reworked version of the melody from Ghostriders in the Sky as well (you know, that 'yippy-ah-yeeeeee ! yippy-ah-yoooooo' song). A heavy dance-like sequencer and percussion loop accompanies this remarkable mixture. Elsewhere on the album Heilhecker also uses other samples. Another interesting track is Last Picture which mixes western and eastern influences. American Zonata, which was cowritten with Baltes, on the other hand mixes modern dance rhythms with Heilhecker's steal guitar, creating a strange blend. Overall I found the album quite enjoyable. Most of the time the music is atmospheric and soothing and, with the exception of Been There Done This, which falls a bit out of place with the rest of the album, can both be played full volume or as relaxing background music. For those of you who like bluesy instrumental guitar work and world music influences this might be an album to check out ! The booklet is a (rather ugly) simple 4-pager with tracklist and credits. The album will be officially released on the 1st of September. Conclusion: 7+ out of 10. Ed Sander Eclipsed "Fishmoon" ist ein Soundrack 'for the inner mind', dabei von solch einer Intensität, daß die sich hier auftuenden Bilder nicht lange verschwommen bleiben sondern sich zu transzendenten und farbigen Momentaufnahmen verdichten. Das einzige, was flimmert, ist die fast schon spürbare Hitze.