Do you like football?
Let’s get lost.
Do you like football? no, it makes no difference whether you like it or not.
The original idea of making the compilation I’m going to talk to you about is by Wio.
It emerged during one of the famous Almost Halloween Time brainstorming sessions.
”What can be the theme of the next compilation?” is the question that occurs every time we complete a project.
In a biblical sequence of events: ”Crock Rot” was the father of ”It’s Halloween Time”, ”It’s Halloween Time” was the father of ”Lodger Doll Three” and ”Road To Istanbul” and some other ideas that are still in a early age of development.
A multi-twins birth. If you already know all about ”Lodger Doll Three” and it’s not time to talk about embryos, you probably want to hear something about ”Road To Istanbul”, a project that I have already mentioned in some previous posts.
The name of this compilation is related, or I should say was related, to the seat of the 2020 UEFA Champions League Final.
The final for this year was originally going to be played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, in Istanbul, Turkey on 30 May 2020, but you all know the turn the events have taken. The final was subsequently relocated by the UEFA Executive Committee to the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
This final is historical for many reasons. The match will be the first ever European Cup/Champions League final to be played on a Sunday, and the first since 2009 to not be played on a Saturday. It will also be the first ever final of the competition to be played after June. The match will be played on 23 August 2020, behind closed doors, though spectators could be allowed subject to a review of the situation and the decisions of the national and local government.
”Road To Istanbul” is not the story of the final that is not going to happen or that will happen elsewhere, it is not even completely about football and the city of Istanbul. Lisbon made its appearance only when most of the songs had already been written and recorded.
”Road To Istanbul” is a collection of 12 songs resulting from the collaboration between two or more artists, some well-known names that have already recorded for Almost Halloween Time Records and some new entries.
Two or more artists were joined by a draw whose regularity is certified by a video.
The result of the draw determined the formation of the following 12 groups:
- Furniture Of The Atomic Age: Joel Huschle (Furniture Huschle, Wckr Spgt) + Bryon Allison of (Kids Of The Atomic Age)
- Jeff Vs Wio: Jeff Fuccillo (Irving Klaw Trio, Hockenheit, Helll) + Wio (de portables, Wio)
- 1% Slasher: Jürgen De Blonde (Köhn, Ed Nolbed, de portables) + Isaac Levine (Isaac Levine)
- They Ran Out Of Blue: Caleb Fraid (Caleb Fraid, Giraffe) + Kyle Wood (Lovers Turn To Monsters)
- Goosewind x Nutrition Fun: Rick Goosewind (Goosewind) + Andrew Berkley (Nutrition Fun)
- Jacob Anderson And John Davis: Jacob Anderson (Spirit Duplicator, Yak, Celesteville) + John Davis (John Davis and The Cicadas, Folk Implosion)
- Simmons/Nunnally: Will Simmons (Will Simmons And The Upholsterers, Cruise Control Pills) + Phil Nunnally
- Little Bucko: Bob Bucko Jr (BBJr, Sex Funeral) and Little Whirls (Little Whirls)
- The Hookers With Debts: The Debts + The Hookers (I AM THE LAKE OF FIRE + Death Club)
- Ed De Goey: C. Worth + Steve Marreyt (Edgar Wappenthaler, Luster, Joe Speedboat, Het Interstedelijk Harmoniumverbond)
- Scalding Corals: Elton Wong (GG) + Adam Grahs (S.M. Wolf) + Doo Crowder
- Monogamy x Kiss Hello: Monogamy (Monogamy) + Kiss Hello (Kiss Hello, Gang Wizard)
I don’t know much about the genesis of these songs, if the artists knew each other or knew at least the repertoire of the other artists assigned to them by chance. Who took the first step, how the music exchange took place.
Some collaborations were so natural, immediate, as if they had been written in the fate of the artists, others have been more complicated, troubled and have required my intervention.
Like a modern cupid, I have not skimped on the use of arrows and darts.
In some cases, the result of the collaboration is exactly what you would expect knowing the characteristics of the artists involved but sometimes not, it is surprising, unsettling, unexpected. In both cases you would like to hear more, other songs, a full lenght album.
The ”Road To Istanbul” experiment will be repeated next year too and the intention is to make this an annual appointment. A new draw every year, perhaps some new entries and a single rule: always create new matches.
The compilation is out now in a limited edition of 50 cassettes featuring portraits of famous football players that have made the history of the UEFA Champions League but due to the contiguous events they will not be recognizable and will wear a mask.
Listen to the album here
