Tracks
- dronewar.mp3 (More, )Kommentar
- towerflightmixdown.mp3 (More, )Kommentar
Bezug über
ramiro1.bandcamp.com/album/more
Details
It's scary if you think about it. The early seventies are now as far away from us as they will ever be, now that the world has the oh-so roaring twenties ahead of itself. And like that decade, classic rock is also as far away as it has ever been. No way back to relive the first issues of the great albums dropping in the stores, the fourth Zep album in an unmarked paper sheet, Don MacLean's “American Pie“, Marvin Gayes “What's Going On“ next to “There's A Riot Going On“ by Sly & The Family Stone next to “Who's Next“ and John Lennon's “Imagine“. There are just too many to name.
+1971 was a turning point, and so is 2021+
In that vein, Ramiro recorded “More“. Because he wanted more. More of the zeitgeist of a generation having their hearts freshly broken by the death of Joplin, Morrison and Hendrix and their naiveté taken away by a brutal war in Vietnam and inequality still in power from Washington to San Francisco. More of the urge to change things for better, that gave birth to projects like Greenpeace (founded in 1971), George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh (played at Madison Square Garden in August, 1971) and years later Live Aid and Farm Aid.
Frustration and hope can both be heard on “More“, which was recorded in a live situation in a dense basement without any fresh air. But “More“ is not only a tribute to the year of 1971, it is a reflection of US history since World War II, seen through the eyes of a total outsider: the German songwriter with latin roots Ramiro. Watching the USA, glorifying its rich culture, cursing its politics and denying his own exasperation is what really led to many of the songs on the new album.
+You gave us the Blues back+
As a German, whose ancestors were freed by the Americans, Ramiro is wondering what went wrong after that. “We were right on track“ he is singing, but “you gave us the Blues back“, answers the Latino side, regarding the 1973-coup in Chile, when the US helped the brutal Pinochet-regime rise to power, still finding a way downhill from there, right up until the last drone bombing of innocent people in Afghanistan in 2021.
Ramiro dedicated his song “Hindu Kush Ride“ to the people of Afghanistan, whose life also has radically changed over the course of the last fifty years. “War is a strange word to them, they don't know what it means“ Ramiro sings about the innocent Afghans, who were never ready for decades of conflict to come. And who are still seeking refuge in Germany up to this day.
+An indie-songwriter picks a fight with Spotify+
But Ramiro is not a peace-loving snowflake either. At least not when it comes to the modern music industry. In “Chop Their Heads Off“ he declares war on Spotify and other streaming-services. “Tell me why should I suck it to some curator puppet who makes up all the Spotify playlists?“ Knowing that the glory days of making a fortune in the music business as a rock songwriter are long over, Ramiro is looking back to 1971 with no regrets. Music is just not going to have the same value for the listeners as then. And this is why the songs on “More“ will exclusively be released on bandcamp.com and none of the big platforms.