Welcome Tourist (2xCD)
It all starts with an ambiguous invitation: Welcome Tourist! A kind-hearted Bernhard Fleischmann invites travelers to make themselves at home in his musical world, furnished with musical souvenirs from his own travels. On a subtler note, Fleischmann wants to criticize a state of mind that subordinates human beings to a logic of economic utilization. Welcome Tourist is not just a political statement. It also is a document of growth and refinement. Despite a more instrumental approach (in the classical sense), you will still find Bernhard Fleischmann hunched over his tiny groovebox, creating the most sumptuous harmonies. On this record, however, he lets his musical talents unfold (you'll hear him on piano, drums, and vibraphone) and engages the support of others, which turns the once solo artist into a band frontman.