James Nice is rebuilding a collection of all things Reininger ( you might have noticed). His LTM label (les temps modernes) now has six remastered and enhanced CDs of work from this unique and prolific nomad of the soul.
The latest, "Night Air 2" is Nice's stab at a fantasy sequel to Bleininger's solo "Night Air", released in 1984. He has chosen songs from contemporary and later material that, like "Night Air", evoke the sombre loneliness of a traveller half numbed, half thrilled by the ghosts of a continent much older, more self-protective and less welcoming than his native America.
In 1984's late July (in case your nanny never told you) Sixth Formers and cultural cadets in the UK were sneering at WHAM!, going gobsmacked over FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD while handing round their JOSEF K, ASSOCIATES and ORANGE JUICE vinyl. NEW ORDER were at 87 in the official singles chart. A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, THE SMITHS, BOB MARLEY and KILLING JOKE were out and about with singles. It wasn't a terrible year for music. And it wasn't the Dark Age of crap-journo myth either.
So it isn’t at all surprising that we can now get hands on this glorious aftermath of 1984 and its musical descendants from the violin-wielding romantic Dadaist BLAINE L. REININGER. The period was a very rich vein that set flows running right to the present. As Today's Audience (as ever) starts to pale at the thought of another fuzzed-up guitar band, Today's Musical Vanguard might glance over this collection to see what else can be done for people who want to dance but who don’t necessarily want to leave their intellect with the doorman.
They will need, of course, a grounding in film score production, orchestral standard violin playing, a commandingly soulful voice, deep cultural awareness and mysterious sexuality. Über-talented musical friends and associates with international access to studios and producers will also help. The recipe for a Reininger album (even a discretely warmed over collation) calls for ingredients that might not be easy to find or cheap to buy on an indie non-budget.
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Having said that, this collection is not just a pattern book of great sounds and amazingly prescient suggestions. The second section of the CD comes from a creative winter at the end of 1989 with tracks like the three parts of "Europe After the Rains" and the avant garde influenced "Voice of the Hive". The first half consists of later material (reaching from 1994 into 1999) and includes part of the soundtrack to the Triandafyllidis film "The Overcoat". Nice's genius is to have chosen and sequenced the material so that it can still do the work of an album – setting up and sustaining an atmosphere unique to this artist for just over an hour of playing time. "Manic Man" at track 6 is a personal favourite, with a deep natural drum sound and some seriously interesting string parts, played on real instruments. There is some more of that artful stuff in "Ghosts of the Arbat" too – a heartbreaking and wonderful tune that could do with wider exposure.
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