Stick Enterprises, Inc. (www.stickent.com)
or via E-Mail: webmaster@united-beat-band.de
This compilation CD presents songs from various Stick players from Germany (and one from Austria),
showing the wide diversity of their music.
The Reviews:
from the
website of Stick Enterprises
If variety is the spice of life, these 16 artists (15 from Germany and
one from Austria) deliver a highly varied compilation that showcases
their diverse song-writing and playing talents which is sure to keep
the listener’s palette entertained. Everything from simple solo Stick
playing to loopy overdubs and full-blown orchestrations with drums,
percussion and vocals is here.
The experience of many years of cumulative Stick playing shows in the shear variety of techniques. Thomas Ederer’s "Scenes from an African Market" presents a great example of this - muted tapping setting the stage for layer upon layer of sound. His solo sound recalls classical guitar but throws in pulloff trills and other rock elements.
Mathias Sorof’s "Sandteufel" presents a vintage Stick sound with all of the chimey high notes and slappy, percussive bass we associate with the instrument, but with his own harmonic understanding, and lyrical soloing.
The true masala on the record comes in Johannes Korn’s "Frederik Und Die Fünfte Herzkammer," which deftly presents taste after taste of deliciously processed sound, each within its own space and time so as not to be overshadowed by the others.
Things get heavy and proggy with Marc Menningmann’s
"Virtual Time," and there’s even a cover of Don Henley’s "The Boys of
Summer" complete with vocals.
Amid all of the intense productions are the spare and solo pieces, some
deceptively simple, like Frank Heim’s "Rose" which weaves several
simple elements together into a beautiful and restful moment. The
record gives scant details about how the tracks were recorded, but if
you want more information about the artists there are web links
provided for each track.
There’s a great variety of instrumentation here - guitar, trombone, synths, vocals, drums, making this less a compilation of "Stick music," and more a reflection of a community of musicians. One can hear the years of absorbing influences from both inside and outside the Stick world (occasional shades of Cides, Culbertson, Baggerman, Chapman) as well as true individuality and unique creative voices.
It might seem like there are too many elements at work here for the record to be a success, but it all works well together. Thanks to thoughtful programming and excellent production, which glue all of these tracks together, instruments from different eras with different pickups and even MIDI sounds, playing vastly different styles all fit seamlessly together.
As a compilation, this one does exactly what it’s supposed to do on every level. Congratulations to Harald Rost and all of the contributors.
from Guillermo Cides Stick Center Director
What good news: a compilation of stickistas of Germany!
This compilation CD is the result of a long series of activites that our friends of Germany have initiated, similar to events and activities in Spain. Both countries are the most active in Europe in the diffusion and presentation of "Artists of the Stick" through concerts, media, press and CDs.
Perhaps many of the musicians who participated in this compilation are new to the world of the Stick, and many others are already professional players, but the certain thing is that the efforts of these 16 german artists presents a true freshness from the first one to the last song, where each song has its own personality and style.
You will find songs played with solo Stick; there are also combinations of instruments that include drums, acoustic guitars, electronic rhythm and singers.
My first impression after listening to this CD was to identify the honest attempt to transcend the "demonstration" or virtuosity of the players to enhance the composition of the songs. This is a quality that speaks of a community of Stickistas that seem to be finding their way to artistic maturity.
As a defender of the emotion, rather than of the astonishment of fast execution, I can see here a clear example of the effort of a group of people that want to leave good taste and positive memories of things done by love of music, instead of the stamp of their own names.
Highly recommended!
Guillermo Cides
Stick Center director
German Review from "Bass Professor 3/2005"
Seit nunmehr 30 Jahren wird der legendäre Chapman-Stick im sonnigen Kalifornien hergestellt. Ob als 8-, 10- oder 12-Saiter - so ziemlich jede Version erklingt auf der "German Stick Player Compilation". Jedes einzelne Stück ist also so verschieden wie die Spieler auf der CD, deshalb können wir leider nicht jedes Stück vorstellen. Vielfalt ist angesagt auf der "Sticky Licks", vor allem das Stück "The boys of summer" klingt doch ziemlich hitverdächtig.
German Review from "Zentralnerv"
Ganz verschwommen kann ich mich noch daran erinnern, als erstmals vom Chapman Stick, einem tapping instrument, die Rede war. Das sind jetzt 30 Jahre her. Das von Emmett Chapman in Kalifornien entwickelte Instrument verkaufte sich bislang ca. 5000 x und hat einen eigenen Sound entwicklt. Auf der Compilation instrumentieren 15 deutsche Stickplayer und 1 Österreicher "Stick Musik". Das äußerst vielseitige Instrument zeigt, dass diese Musikvariante eine breite Vielfalt zu bieten hat. Er ist in fast allen musikalischen Stilrichtungen als tonangebend zu intergrieren und kann dem Jazz und Soul insbesondere neue Ausdrucksbilder liefern. Die Compilation ist nicht nur für den innovativen Musiker interessant, sondern die insgesamt 16 Titel bereichern auch den auf den Groove bedachten Hörer.
German Review from "Fränkische Nacht" 05/2005
Vielleicht haben sich so manche Konzertbesucher beim Anblick des hier präsentierten, exotischen Instruments schon gewundert: Ein 8 – 12 saitiges breites Griffbrett nahezu ohne Corpus, das beidhändig im „Tapping“ gespielt unglaubliche musikalische Möglichkeiten eröffnet – quasi als aufrechte Gitarre im Klavierformat. Nicht nur Gitarrist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel) versteht sich beispielsweise auf das Spiel mit diesem von Emmet Chapman entwickelten Exoten, sondern mittlerweile auch zahlreiche deutsche Musiker. Sie haben ebenso dessen unbegrenzte Variationsmöglichkeiten entdeckt und brechen damit zu neuen Ufern auf. Mit Eigenkompositionen und Coverversionen bereiten sie dem aufmerksamen Hörer dieser Compilation ein faszinierendes Klangerlebnis. Die „Possibilities“ scheinen schier unerschöpflich, „The Boys Of Summer“ (Don Henley) ertönen in nie gehörten Saitenspielen und das „Flow“-Erlebnis nimmt einen mit in die „Basstelstube“ ferner Space-Welten. Wer offen für Neues ist und Freude am Experimentieren hat, liegt hier goldrichtig!Helmut Ölschlegel