tracks

In The Morning
Sweet Subtropics
Wild Fennel
The Girl With The Freckels That Sound Like Two Bells
The Dusty Road Over There
Adam, Eve And The Jellyfish
New Affirmation
Reggae Days
El Tablado
It's Sweet To Do Nothing!
José
In The Evening

notes

"Dolce farniente" - that’s what they say in Italy. It means "It's sweet to do nothing."

Over the last decade, Guitar’s Michael Lueckner has crafted six albums released on labels such as Morr Music and Onitor (Germany), Third-Ear and & Records (Japan), and Clairecords (USA). Each album brought a unique twist to his marriage of electronics and more traditional instrumentation, and most with a certain refreshing twist on shoegazing. However, on It’s Sweet to Do Nothing, his seventh full-length, Michael purposefully takes a 180-degree turn by blending classical string arrangements (harp, piano, violin, contrabass, etc.) with drum programming and samples. He returns to his roots here, as his first love of music, his most collected and most listened-to music is modern classic chamber music.

It’s Sweet To Do Nothing is intentionally impressionistic - the listener is requested (and inspired) to think about Monet, Sisley, Degas, Pisarro - landscapes, lakes, people in motion. The album’s impressionistic cover art was commissioned from artist Jonathan Armstrong, who was sent an early release of the album to absorb before painting the piece.

The sound and arrangement of the pieces are close to the ideas and techniques of Debussy and Ravel. Soprano vocals by Stina K. are provided on several tracks. The entire album was created over 5 years (2005-2010), and was designed to be evocative of relaxing in, and traveling to, “dolce farniente” places in Europe, Japan and North-America. Places like the Canary Islands, Okinawa or Catalina Island. And it could only be done with classical music instrumentation -- more specifically, with chamber music arrangements.

Upon initial listen, the album may seem far removed from Michael’s earlier work with symphonic walls of guitars, but ultimately the arrangements are similar -- minus the distortion this time.

credits

Vocals – Christina Kühne (tracks: 7, 8)
Written-By, Producer – Michael Lückner

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