#andria degens

[restwaerme]

https://www.discogs.com/de/Pantaleimon-Trees-Hold-Time/release/1143256

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Andria Degens AKA Pantaleimon

1. Kate Bush, The Kick Inside (EMI, 1978)

I was about nine when The Kick Inside came out. My mum bought the vinyl and I remember sitting for many hours listening to each side, whilst absorbing the lyrics and gazing at the image of Kate, all glistening, and hanging mysteriously from a big kite. I was completely mesmerized on all sensory levels. 

2. David Bowie, Hunky Dory (RCA, 1971)

I’d just reached high school, so I was about 12 years old, when I was given my very own vinyl records. They were tatty copies of Changes One Bowie and Hunky Dory. From the first moment I heard Hunky Dory, David Bowie’s music changed my perception of life. I dived right into his alternative reality, which I immediately related to. This exposure also happened to coincide with being told by my optician that I no longer had to wear glasses. I couldn’t believe it, for from the age of three I’d been ridiculed for wearing them. It was one of the best days of my life. I was free. And inspired by Bowie, I went straight out that day and dyed my hair orange. Bowie has been a huge influence on me from that moment on. And oddly, I’ve had the privilege to meet him three times in my life. All encounters were quite by chance—the first time when I was 17 at Shepperton Studios; the second time while I was working at Tower Records, Piccadilly, London—he came into the shop on two consecutive days; and the last time was at Reading Festival when I was there with The Dirty Three. He was always very down to earth, and very friendly. During one of the Tower Records encounters—he had asked me to help him find some records—I inquired how he manages to move around London relatively unseen. He told me that he “Turns it on and turns it off.” I knew exactly what he meant by “it.”

3. Can, Tago Mago (United Artists, 1971)

Can is one of my all-time favourite bands. Even though I am fond of all of their albums, Tago Mago was the first one I was exposed to. Specifically, the track "Oh Yeah" created a shift in my brain cells. I was in my early 20s, working at Mute Records at the time. I was hidden away in a tiny office listening to Radio 4, rooting through the archives and documenting every master tape, original artwork films, and videos for the whole of the Mute roster. One video I came across was the footage of Can’s “Oh Yeah”—with Damo all long black hair and tight red catsuit singing in a peculiar language—who wouldn’t be hooked? Since that moment, I absorbed everything they had released. Later on Steve Stapleton from Nurse With Wound who is a huge Krautrock collector, introduced me to Neu!, as well as to the music of La Dusseldorf, Popul Vuh, Klaus Schulze.

4. Fripp and Eno, No Pussyfooting (Island, 1973)

I’ve been a big admirer of Brian Eno for a long time. Think I probably came to him through David Bowie. In my mind he is a genius of sound. And through his music, he introduced me to the idea of long hypnotic pieces, experimentation and improvisation. That is why No Pussyfooting, with only two tracks—one lasting 21 minutes and the other coming in around 18 minutes—was and is so especially appealing with Fripp’s fluid guitar swooping in and around Eno’s circular soundscapes.

5. Djivan Gasparyan, I Will Not Be Sad In This World (Warner, 1990)

Travelling for two and half years through Asia in my mid-20s, I had just completed a 10 day Vipassana silent meditation retreat, when I was given the most beautiful and haunting album I had ever heard. The richness of space within I Will Not Be Sad in this World is immense. Vibrating straight into my heart. I realised through listening to this album that it is the space between the sounds that carry the most emotion, the most weight.

6. Eden Ahbez,  Eden’s Island (Del-Fi Records, 1960)

I love Eden Ahbez and everything the man stood for. He lived in the Hollywood Hills—literally. He slept under the stars with his family, living a natural life and cycling everywhere. He was a true yogi. Eden’s Island has a breezy South Pacific feel, kind of dreamy and surreal. Everyone knows he wrote Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy,” but his own solo album was lesser known.  His spirit was a big influence for my first album Trees Hold Time.

7. Missisippi Fred McDowell, The First Recordings

I was introduced to the music of Mississippi Fred McDowell by the folk singer Shirley Collins. She had gone out to the U.S. in the late '50s with Alan Lomax to record the popular blues and folk of the time. When I first heard Fred McDowell, I felt like I was listening to an old friend. I fell in love with his guitar playing and his voice. This record was on rotation around the time I was working on Mercy Oceans. His songs took me to another time and place that felt very familiar.

8. Perry Leopold, Experiment in Metaphysics (Gear Fab, 1999)

The fact that this record opens with an eight or so minute track, "The Absurd Paranoid" made me sit up and listen. Mr. Leopold’s second album Christian Lucifer was the first of his albums I heard, but when it comes to the feeling of a record, I’ve always been more drawn to Experiment in Metaphysics. His voice is deep and sage like. His guitar playing is crystalline and intricately woven in its delivery. This record was quite influential early in my career. Particularly the instrumentals “And Then, The Snow Came” which drives with intensity until it succumbs to a simple discordant slide guitar—beautiful; and the title track, Experiment In Metaphysics which is imbued with so much emotion he doesn’t need to sing.

9. Bonnie Prince Billy and Matt Sweeney, Superwolf (Drag City, 2005)

I could pick any of Will’s albums. He has been a significant influence for me both personally and professionally. I absolutely love his voice and music. I did so the moment I heard him, after he sent me a pile of his CDs to listen to. But Superwolf is a particularly strong album. The combination of Matt’s guitar and Will’s lyrics is a match made in the highest realms. And Matt is probably one of the best guitarists on the planet.

10. Soundgarden, Superunknown (A&M, 1994)

With any artist or band I get into, I listen to their entire catalogue, until I reach saturation point … which can take anywhere from six to 18 months. This happened with Soundgarden relatively recently.

Due to the fact I was travelling around Asia in the early Nineties, I missed the emergence of grunge from America when it happened. And so Soundgarden was completely off my radar until three years ago whilst working on my new album The Butterfly Ate the Pearl. A friend of mine happened to play “Black Hole Sun” and that was it. I played their records non-stop. Thankfully I was living on my own, so it didn’t drive any one else crazy. The album Superunknown is pretty special. The weird tunings, the shape-shifting guitar riffs, and Chris Cornell’s voice and lyrics just reeled me in. In hindsight, the heavy sounds supported the heavy times I was going through, and definitely percolated into my own creativity.

[beauty-will-save-us]

Pantaleimon - Another World  to be released, 2013

[soundarchitects]

I Am by Pantaleimon. 

Pantaleimon is Andria Degens from England. Her music is great blend of folk and ambient drone sounds.