''Flux + Mutability'' is the second collaboration between

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly ...

and

Holger Czukay Holger Schüring (24 March 1938 – 5 September 2017), known professionally as Holger Czukay (), was a German musician best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described as "successfully bridg ngthe gap between pop and the avant-ga ...

. It was released in September 1989. The music consists of two instrumental tracks improvised by the participants. The album was reissued by Gronland in 2018.

Production

The album was recorded at Can's Inner Space Studio.

Critical reception

Reviewing the reissue package, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' wrote that "Czukay’s side is the more active of the two. Driven by a small drum pattern played by Can percussionist Jaki Liebezeit, the piece is evocatively subtitled 'A Big, Bright, Colourful World'. Its light synth drones and radio noise are illuminated by the lens flares of Markus Stockhausen’s flugelhorn and then slightly darkened by some fragmented guitar figures added by another Can member, Michael Karoli." ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' opined that ''Flux'' was the more interesting of the two Czukay/Sylvian collaborations, but wrote that "why anyone would bother making such a distinction is hard to say, given the generally vacuous nature of the music." '' Fact'' wrote that "while ''Plight & Premonition'' felt like a study in unease, wracked with paranoia, ''Flux + Mutability'' admits the possibility, if not any certainty, of earthly bliss."

Track listing

#"Flux (A Big, Bright, Colourful World)" (Sylvian, Czukay) – 16:56 #"Mutability (A New Beginning Is in the Offing)" (Sylvian, Czukay) – 20:59

Personnel

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

(1),

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

(1),

dictaphone Dictaphone was an American company founded by Alexander Graham Bell that produced dictation machines. It is now a division of Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Although the name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, it has ...

(1), radio (1), engineer *

– guitar (1, 2),

keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos ...

s (1, 2), art director *

Michael Karoli Michael Karoli (29 April 1948 – 17 November 2001) was a German guitarist, violinist and composer. He was a founding member of the influential krautrock band Can. Career Karoli was born and grew up in Straubing, Bavaria, moving to St. Gall ...

– electric guitar (1) *Michi - voice (1) *

Markus Stockhausen Markus Stockhausen (born May 2, 1957) is a German trumpeter and composer. His recordings and performances have typically alternated between jazz and chamber or opera music, the latter often in collaboration with his father, composer Karlheinz Sto ...

–

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

(1) *

Jaki Liebezeit Jaki Liebezeit (born Hans Liebezeit; 26 May 1938 – 22 January 2017) was a German drummer, best known as a founding member of experimental rock band Can. He was called "one of the few drummers to convincingly meld the funky and the cerebral". ...

– percussion (1), African flute (2)

Additional personnel

René Tinner René Tinner (born February 18, 1953, in St. Gallen) is a Swiss recording engineer and producer, who has produced over 200 studio records and numerous live performances. Career Tinner began his career as the audio engineer of the German ro ...

- technical advice and assistant *Yuka Fujii - art director, cover art, photography design *David Buckland - front cover photography Published by Opium (Arts) Ltd./Spoon Music

References

External links

Holger Czukay's discography

David Sylvian On Collaborating With Holger Czukay
{{Authority control 1989 albums Holger Czukay albums David Sylvian albums Virgin Records albums 1989 collaborative albums