Time and Again - Again!
The Time and Again project all started in 1990, when Lasse Helner and Poul Ilsøe wrote a number of new songs at Søbo Manor, Denmark.
That same year, Lasse, together with Mathilde Bondo, met with Canadian musician and producer Daniel Lanois. Working together with Peter Færgemann, Mathilde was doing everything she could to locate Lanois and book him to perform at the Midtfyn Festival.
In addition to treating the festival audience to the sublime experience that hearing Daniel Lanois live always turns out to be, Lasse & Mathilde hoped to persuade Lanois to contribute to Lasse's planned solo project, Time and Again.
And they succeeded.
At the time, Lanois was busy producing Peter Gabriel's Us and U2's Achtung Baby, but despite his busy schedule Lanois found the time to travel to New Orleans to host and initiate the recording of Time and Again in his legendary Kingsway studio.
Kingsway has been used by a host of big-name artists, such as Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, U2 and the Neville Brothers.
Some of the very finest musicians in the world contributed to Lasse's project, and, as Kingsway has since been dismantled and Lanois moved on to employ his renowned talents elsewhere, Time and Again became one of the last projects to see the light of day at Kingsway.
The Time and Again CD was released in 1992, but only in a single printing, as the artist and record company could not agree on how the final production should sound.
The CD was produced by Lasse and Mark Howard - Daniel Lanois' sound engineer.
Now, ten years on, the CD has been remixed to sound as it did when it left Kingsway.
With the help of Focus Studio / Hans Nielsen and Mik Neumann, Lasse succeeded in reconstructing the production, a process that involved adding 7 new vocal tracks and some overdubs to the original recording. The project was nerve-wracking at times, as the old tapes had to be baked in an oven to restore the coating so that all the tracks could be transferred (20 minutes on the lower rack at 200 degrees)!
Bonus track: "200 FT deep".
Lasse & Mathilde have made many friends on their frequent visits to New Orleans since 1991, so it was quite natural that Lasse's song "200 FT deep" (written in New Orleans) was recorded when Dr. John and his band visited Denmark in the summer of 2002.
After a concert at Ridehuset in Aarhus, Feedback provided their studio, Chilli John put on his chef's hat, and a New Orleans vibe began to fill the studio. At 4 a.m., a tired but happy Lasse left the studio with a great bonus track for the re-release of Time and Again -
thanks to Dr. John and The Lower 911!
Special thanks to:
Mathilde Bondo and Jimmy Mac for organising everything in New Orleans.
Mik Neumann for production work and mixing in Copenhagen.
Focus Recording / Hans Nielsen for recording facilities, technical expertise and faith in the project.
Michael Ritto , EMI / Medley for a fair deal and plenty of understanding.
The Danish Artist Union and D.J.B.F.A. for support during the creative phase.
Daniel Lanois, Mark Howard and everyone at Kingsway, who gave me an unforgettable experience and an everlasting addiction to New Orleans!
Lasse Helner
www.lasseogmathilde.dk
