PHANTOM GHOST, MICHAELA MEISE
// Date: 28. April 2011 // Venue: HBC, Berlin // Doors: 20:00, Show: 21:00 // Tickets: 16 € Box Office // Presale: 13 € + Commission www.koka36.de      Their common passion for the made-up, the thrown-together and the weird and wonderful has paved the way for Dirk von Lowtzow (Singer of Tocotronic) and Thies Mynther (Producer of Chicks on Speed etc, Part of Superpunk, Stella, Bierbeben etc.) for the last ten years and now they have arrived at a point where a dalliance with artificiality, mannerisms, exalted quotations and theatrical poses can be observed in it’s purest form: on the stage, in drama school, behind and in front of the velvet curtain. Even though “Thrown Out Of Drama School” is no ‘real’ high-school musical, it loosely follows the concept of a musical show - a small and fantastical Concert with nine compositions, albeit with a few rough edges. After all, Phantom Ghost sing a paean of praise to those unruly, disobedient gestures that are governed not only by silly humour but also by a sweetness of temperament. Even before the curtain rises, a timid waltz resounds. The introduction to ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is a squint copy of an English march, with all the military rigour removed. The dance of the light brigade is basically the first joke. Others follow, although probably the ultimate tongue-in-cheekiness is ‘Thrown out of Drama School’. Up-tempo and as funny as a screwball comedy, it is a frolicsome ode to the art of wilful dallying. Thies Mynther’s piano is caught up in close complicity with the vocals; at times as demonstratively docile and innocent as a do-re-mi finger exercise, only to wander off in the next moment, a sort of affronted prima donna, making a complete farce of its function as an accompanying instrument. Alongside these made-for-the-stage musical numbers, there are also songs on the album that work on a visual level and conjure up film-like narratives. They transport the listener to far-flung regions, to Morocco, Miami or even further, to surreal dream worlds. One example is the musical scoring of the literary text ‘The Process’ (after Brion Gysin) that tells of a hallucinatory trip across the Sahara. Sometimes the piano shimmers dully from the background, and then it resembles a laryngitic string ensemble, rasping and vibrating. The duet with the Berlin artist, Michaela Meise (who also sings in several other songs) perfects the desert magic, although Dirk von Lowtzow’s voice sounds so dark and shrouded in mist, that one fears he may never return from this journey that knows no beginning and no end. Yet to linger in such spheres is not possible. “Thrown Out Of Drama School“ casts us time and time again back into a truly tangible reality - a reality however that never really leaves the realms of the stage. Applause, the curtain falls. And even if the title disagrees: drama school never ends.  (Press Sheet Dial Records)   Support: Michaela Meise   > www.myspace.com/phantomandghost > www.hbc-berlin.de	> April 28, 2011
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