Tim Motzer - Many Ways Around the Sun (2021)

Music was everywhere for Tim Motzer as a child; at 11 he dreamt he should play the guitar and promptly acted on it. Immersed in sound from family and his surrounding community – FM radio in its formative years, swapping tapes with friends, and of course the local record shop. An early adopter of recording with a four-track Tascam, Tim’s desire to experiment with sound would lead him on an outer and inner journey spanning decades.

With nine solo soundscape albums to his credit, Motzer is widely known for his distinct textural electro-acoustic guitar voice utilizing looping, bowing, electronics, and prepared techniques. He appears on stunning collaborations with credits on over 100 albums, not the least of which is the historically important album King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan, where Tim’s cinematic textures led to features in Miami Vice, True Blood, and several independent films.

Tim Motzer tours the world with Bandit65, an improvising trio he co-leads with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and drummer Gintas Janusonis. He has worked with an impressive and diverse array of artists including David Sylvian, Burnt Friedman, Jaki Liebezeit, poet Ursula Rucker, King Britt, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Vernon Reid, David Torn, Markus Reuter, and Pat Mastelotto. A pioneer in the independent artist space, Tim has released an eclectic array of over 50 musical projects under his 1k Recordings imprint.

At a time when we all took a deep breath and had a good look around – both at our outer and our inner worlds, Tim Motzer met his muse once again. Songs began to ‘drop from the sky’ as he puts it, songs grounded in the healing power of love. Some of the phrases read like mantras, meditations for a complicated time. He was inspired, quite handily, to perform and record all parts of these evolving compositions, including vocals – a first in his career. Mellotron, guitars, bass, prophet synth, optigan, wood flute, cymbals, drums, reed organ, electronics, drum machine, and toy keyboards all flow together in a lush and mysterious way, psychedelic at times, transcendent and futuristic at others.

Many Ways Around The Sun is therefore drawn from Tim’s deepest musical influences, including his own musical history. One is reminded of The Flaming Lips for a moment, of Magical Mystery Tour in another, and then drawn into a floating world of sound with meditative messages of love and hope. There are many ways around the sun for all of us.