2015 has been a year of anniversaries and honors for Wim Wenders, a year full of photography exhibitions and film retrospectives, a year with a big round birthday milestone right at it's center, and Wim's 70th birthday. A group of admiring co-conspirators threw in together to make him a very special birthday gift, a triple-LP record album on time-honored vinyl, full of songs that harbor a deep connection to Wim Wenders, to his life and his work. The album bears the title Wim's - Driven By Music and is a compilation featuring many of Wim's musical companions and friends. The idea arose out of Wim Wenders's circle of friends and immediate family to give the filmmaker, notorious for his passion for music, a very special gift for his birthday, by presenting him with a record on vinyl produced especially for him. To make this idea a reality, various bands, musicians, and artists, friends of Wim's, were asked whether they would like to contribute one of their songs to this birthday album. Among these pieces there are some that have already appeared on soundtracks to several Wenders films, though there are also new mixes of songs or entirely new ones here, which can only be heard on the album Wim's - Driven By Music. Over the entire time, his friends had to go to great lengths to make sure our little project remained top secret. Wisely avoiding the project name "Operation Birthday Album", they opted instead to fly under the radar with the purposely snore-inducing tag "Music Rights Clarification III" - the only thing that may not have escaped his notice entirely, though a phrase that was meant to communicate as much ennui as possible, in order not to arouse any curiosity in case someone left a file lying around somewhere. Inner sleeves in gold embossed triple gatefold; Liner notes from Nick Cave, Calexico, Bonnie Prince Billy, Bono (U2), Irmin Schmidt (Can), Mark Oliver Everett (The Eels), Jun Miyake, Laurent Petitgand, amongst others. Features Portishead, Calexico, Jürgen Knieper, Crime & The City Solution, Bryan Ferry, Bonnie Prince Billy, Ry Cooder, Texas, Irmin Schmidt, New World Renaissance Band, BAP, Axel Linstädt, Get Well Soon, Lou Reed, Sibylle Baier, Mick Harvey, Die Toten Hosen, U2, Travis, Patti Smith, Thom, Monta, The Eels, Lovegrove, Pal Flata, Sqürl, Radiohead, Laurent Petitgand, Roxy Music, Can, Laurie Anderson, Nick Cave, And The Golden Choir, Pieta Brown, Lovegrove, Gemma Ray, Jun Miyake, and Wim (the band). Includes exclusive new songs (from Bonnie Prince Billy, Get Well Soon, Laurent Petitgand, WIM The Band), and remix (Die Toten Hosen). Also includes exclusive re-recording especially for this album (Axel Linstädt, Patti Smith).
