tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276052122024-03-07T10:16:52.695+01:00Writing on the wallStories, issues and reviews.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-84823736011397519842014-12-29T19:06:00.002+01:002014-12-29T19:32:12.261+01:00Paul's 2014 Favourites<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Below 11 of my favorite albums/songs of 2014.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Royksopp & Robyn - Do it again</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is just an incredibly catchy song. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Good production, good beat, very addictive. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I don`t know what else to say about it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I just want to Do It Again. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/eAXmgId3NTQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">I`ve been following this group for almost 10 years now and this is the first single of their third album. Their new album still has to be released in the UK and the US. I hear a lot more synthesizers and a catchy beat. It's a short song and at the end I only want more. Success!</span></span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><b>Parquet Courts - Black & White</b></span></span></b></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">The Parquet Courts are a bunch of rock 'n rollers from the U.S of A who write pointy songs about the frustrations of modern (city) life. Their second album is a bit less focused than their first effort, but it certainly grew on me. The start of this song, when the guitar goes "chkchkchkchk" is one of my favorite moments recorded on any album this year. Remind me of Devo. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Mac DeMarco - Blue Boy</b></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The pepperoni playboy. Don`t let his slacker image distract you. The songs he writes are some of the most delicate and beautiful tunes published in 2014. He reminds me of a hopelessly romantic Bob Dylan. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><i>Blue boy, worried 'bout the world's eyes<br />Worried every time the sun shines<br />Worried about his haircut<br />Calm down, sweetheart, grow up</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><i>Blue boy, older than the world knows<br />Honey, that's the way that life goes<br />No use acting so tough<br />Come down, sweetheart, grow up </i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><i> </i> </span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><b>Admiral Freebee - Nothing Else to Do</b></span></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">Favorite song from the low countries this year. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">Just a nice, relaxing song, demonstrating the Admiral's nice gritty voice and solid songwriting. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">Seeing I`m live is also something I can recommended to anyone. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><b>St Vincent - Birth In Reverse</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy">Her music and performances are becoming more mechanic and less organic with every album, but she's still a hell of a guitar player and a musician with a vision. She gave me a chill down the back of my spine when I saw her open her live performance in the Paradiso with "Rattlesnake". I`m hoping that in one of her next moves she'll let a bit more air into her music and her performance. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"> </span><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><b>Tune-yards - Water Fountain</b></span></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tune-yards bring fun and experimentation back into music and their live performances are a joy to watch and very powerful. Lot's of drums, strong vocals and a funky bass to finish it off. One of my favorite acts of this decade. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="The Dø - Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy"><b>Death from Above 1979 - Right On, Frankenstein</b></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Back from the death, death from above. I saw them live in 2005 and I saw them live in 2014. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just like wine they got better with age. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - I`m in your mind. I`m not in your mind. Cellophane. I`m in your mind fuzz.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just listen to the first four songs on this album and you'll hopefully understand why this band is one of my greatest discoveries this year. It just blows your mind. Excellent music for head-banging or for when you just need to lose some excess energy (by jumping around like an insane mad-man!)</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting for you)</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the 3voor12 poll for song of the year, this one ended on my list. I have not listened to anything else this band has produced, or care for the singer's dance-moves, but this song just proves that with a bit of Stevie Wonder you can get a beautiful song about longing for someone or something...</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">TOPS - Way to be loved</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Smoky room. Lot's of people dancing..see her through the haze.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I like the atmosphere this song radiates and the delicate guitar work on it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the bands I hope to see live in 2014. </span></span><br />
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Gaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08842153372890548187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-16984913312641111792013-01-10T21:49:00.002+01:002013-01-10T21:50:05.781+01:00My 5 favorite tracks of 2012<b>Tame Impala - Endoirs Toi</b><br />
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The first thirty seconds there's a synth going from your right to you left ear and you think: "This is interesting, but is this it?". Then at 0:30 the drums kick in and the song launches itself in the sky. Amazing! <br />
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<b>The Walkmen - Heaven</b><br />
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One beat. A couple of chords with alternate picking. One guitar on vibrato.<br />
Beautiful in it's simplicity with excellent lyrics to wail along to with all your heart. <br />
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<b>Neon Bunny - Oh my prince</b><br />
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Excellent deep bass, smooth vocals. She's singing in Korean, you shouldn`t understand it, but somehow you do: Oh-oh-oh-oh....ooohooo, ooohooo. It just suits the song. Certainly the most catchy tune to oh-oh along to this year. <br />
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<b>Beach House - Myth</b><br />
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A warm bath of sound. It´s heavy, it is slow, it is dramatic, it is mystical (no typ-o), but also very, very comforting. <br />
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<b>Chairlift - I Belong in your arms</b><br />
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A huge battle between this song and <a href="http://youtu.be/98XRKr19jIE">Amanaemonesia</a>. That song has the best bassline I´ve heard all year, but it was released last year. This song, `I belong in your arms` however, is just as great. Again an excellent bassline, but the chorus is what makes this song a really high high for me. Lucy (or Paul) in the sky with diamonds. Just like the bass-player in this clip of the Japanese karaoke version of the song. </div>
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<br />Gaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08842153372890548187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-9599703512403658932012-05-28T01:23:00.001+02:002012-05-28T01:23:07.504+02:00Are we here to stay?<!--[if !mso]>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Greece</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">, </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Italy</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> and </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Spain</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> are bringing us down. Their
uncompetitive economies, irresponsible government spending and idiotic electorate
(who are unwilling to pay the price for their mistake), are not only bringing
them close to bankruptcy, but also putting a heavy load on our economy. The
only way we can save ourselves, and them, is to kick these countries out of the
European Union and start with a clean slate. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Europeans, lets not kid ourselves. This crisis
is not caused by the financial sector or overspending governments, but by a decease
which has been developing itself in our collective underbelly for the past 30
years: Ignorance combined with an unhealthy dose of arrogance. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I learned in high school that the Western world
provided the knowledge and the Eastern world the labour. That </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">China</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> consisted out of copy cats and that
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">India</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> was the service desk of the world. That idea
has become more and more outdated from the day that </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">India</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> and </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">China</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> started investing in their youth. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">They have a high pressure from home to perform,
face gruelling competition, have the desire for a better life, a top notch
educational system and live in a relatively collective society. These factors
did not only create a generation which matches us in knowledge, but also
surpasses us in drive. This is what made the real GDP in </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">India</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> and </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">China</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> grow with an average rate of 8% per
year during the last 10 years while </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Europe</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> is stuck at a growth rate of 1%. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A Dutch president once argued for the “VOC”
mentality to return to the nation, supposedly pointing to the Golden Age of the
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Netherlands</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> and the “Yes, we can” mentality that was
raging during that time. It was shot down as a glorification of our colonial
past by critics from all corners of the national political landscape. These
critics however failed to see the true point that Daniel Radcliffe was making: We
need to go overseas again to find our future. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Not to decimate and enslave the local
population, or strip the land of its resources, but to ride on the wave of
opportunity that a rapidly growing welfare provides. Why does the Spanish youth
stay in </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Spain</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> while the unemployment rate of
their age group is close to 50%? Why are they not emigrating to a country which
is currently undergoing their Golden Age? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Your purchasing power will be a bit
lower, living conditions will be poorer and there is no social safety net. You
will however see all these three things improve over the next decades in </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">India</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> and </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">China</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">, while </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Europe</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> will only be deteriorating.
Language and immigration laws remains as the two most sturdy barriers, but
these can be broken down by a shrewd Indian or Chinese businessman with a keen
sense for business opportunities…. </span></div>Gaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08842153372890548187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-24510407011010241262010-11-06T22:53:00.003+01:002010-11-06T23:31:53.870+01:00It's complicated...There are trends in music!<br /><br />While progressive rock has been shot and burried, I am hearing it back in more and more new music I buy these days. Take the latest Sufjan Stevens record for instance; It's as complex as an early Genesis and King Krimson album, but no hipsters will ever dare to listen to these two old bands!<br /><br />The new Sufjan is getting some negative comments from the press though. When I`m listening to it, it sounds very crowded and self indulgent at times. Some people might call these negative espacts, I call them plus points. An artist shouldn`t care about his audience; He should do what he wants to do, and take nobody's ears into account. Experimenting should not always be pleasent to the ears.<br /><br />When an artist starts listening to what the audience wants, you get bands like U2 and the Kings of Leon. one trick ponys, who learned how tho draw a crowd with their albums, and decided to continue doing this trick till infinity. Bland music. No excitement. Just 3.40 minutes of nothing.<br /><br />The most intesting thing about Sufjan's Age of ADZ is how he manages to mix the absolute with the relative, the analog with the digital and the ugly with the beautiful. Its an album full of contrasts, and these contrasts make it sound alive.<br />If you want a demonstration of this, just listen "Too Much". As the second song on the album it is basically a summary of everything to come. Its a mix of electronical beats and classical instruments. Unlikely bedfollows, but he somehow manages to make it work for my ears. It also helps that throughout the album I`m hearing the excellent voices of Annie Clark and Sarah Worden in the background. Or maybe that's just my imagination.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1129u2iwwTmkuHt-3yl_cmyN2GbaDAvGLGfTDJszrn7Ggp2jnsca1i71IA7QGGeSiWfG98tRjGJnpiPUuUhNFKAe1nmpI8siLkHLloJgKY7AnNDmz3qKyvrqTRLbZ4Q5ngo0OA/s1600/Sufjan+Stevens+-+The+Age+of+Adz+-+AKR077+The+Age+of+Adz+CD+Booklet_Page_06.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 398px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1129u2iwwTmkuHt-3yl_cmyN2GbaDAvGLGfTDJszrn7Ggp2jnsca1i71IA7QGGeSiWfG98tRjGJnpiPUuUhNFKAe1nmpI8siLkHLloJgKY7AnNDmz3qKyvrqTRLbZ4Q5ngo0OA/s400/Sufjan+Stevens+-+The+Age+of+Adz+-+AKR077+The+Age+of+Adz+CD+Booklet_Page_06.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536567928053118690" border="0" /></a><br />Imagine the Kings of Leon making exciting music. I`ve seen them performing live yesterday on Later with Jools. I`m trying to look into their faces. Trying to spot something in their eyes. Are they consolidating on their current fame? Are they playing save? Are they making the music they actually want to make? Or is their record company pushing them to give birth to 10 other sex on fires?<br /><br />Questions that might never be answered, but who would even be able to hear these answers through the sounds that make the Age of Adz?Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-15534647786665496802010-05-06T22:24:00.004+02:002010-05-06T23:11:13.858+02:00A night on the turntable #1<div style="text-align: justify;">You start off with a bit of Marvin Gaye, a bit of "Let's get it on". The most sensual record ever made according to experts: <i style="font-style: italic;">Serving as Gaye's first venture into the funk genre and romance-themed music, Let's Get It On</i><span style="font-style: italic;"> incorporates smooth soul, doo-wop, and quiet storm. It has been noted by critics for its sexually-suggestive lyrics, and was cited by one writer as "one of the most sexually charged albums ever recorded" (wikipedia). </span>Produced for only one purpose. Turn it off after the first song - you don`t want to get stuck on this on a thursday night. Best listened to with the lights off and the eyes closed.<br /><br />So you move on to Allen Toussaint's "Southern Nights".<br />Allen is a New Orleans pianist who is relatively unknown to the large public.<br />A song writer for Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey and a lot of other New Orleans artists - he also produced a number of solo albums. The latest being "The Bright Missippi" which has got some great ol' tunes which display Allen's skill behind the piana perfectly. "Southern Nights" is a brilliant song, really reminding you off a warm summernight, enjoying some drinks with your girl together with some good music, watching the sun go down.<br /><br />Next on the schedule is Billy Joel's "Just the way you are". Again a very smooth song - only a bit more sentimental than "Let's get in on". Mostly played on weddings. It's a great song, but it leaves a dirt taste in your mouth. Please stay the same lady, I like you just the way you are. Or is it more like: Do whatever you want - I`ll like you just the way you are?<br /><br />To get away from this you start listening to Randy Newman, of Pixar fame.<br />Grab the album "Sail Away" and listen to the title track. It's black, dark as the night.<br />Cynical is maybe the best word to describe it, although I`m in a bad place to judge the song's content - cause I ain`t no American. And then you`ve got the original version of "You can leave your hat on". Which sounds a lot darker, dirtier even than Joe Cocker's version. Just read the lyrics. This isn`t a simple striptease song....or maybe it is judging from his comments on this BBC show? I`ll let you be the judge.<br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VXFr_zZugjw&hl=en_GB&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VXFr_zZugjw&hl=en_GB&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby, take off your coat...(real slow)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Baby, take off your shoes...(here, I'll take your shoes)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Baby, take off your dress</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Yes, yes, yes</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> You can leave your hat on</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> You can leave your hat on</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> You can leave your hat on</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Go on over there and turn on the light...no, all the lights</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Now come back here and stand on this chair...that's right</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Raise your arms up in to the air...shake 'em</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> You give me a reason to live</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> You give me a reason to live</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> You give me a reason to live</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Suspicious minds are talking</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Trying to tear us apart</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> They say that my love is wrong</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> They don't know what love is</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> They don't know what love is</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> They don't know what love is</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> They don't know what love is</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> I know what love is</span>"</div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-12947585306088237462010-01-30T01:27:00.004+01:002010-01-30T02:32:20.668+01:00Sensual songs..I wanted to avoid any cliches here - like taking any song from Marvin Gaye, or Chris Isaak's "Wicked Games". I started with creating a list of ten "love" songs, but ended up just limiting it to three. To keep it select. To keep it limited. To keep the standard high.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />(1) Robbie Robbertson - Somewhere down the crazy river</span><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4KP9PNSUME4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4KP9PNSUME4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span>This song sounds like a hot summer night - a night too hot to sleep.<br />Robberston's smokey voice, the smooth bass, the subtle guitar, the loose drums - it all melts together to make a perfect "love" song. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />I'm a man with a clear destination<br />I'm a man with a broad imagination<br />You fog the mind, you stir the soul<br />I can't find, ... no control<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">(2) Vangelis - Love Theme</span><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C9KAqhbIZ7o&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C9KAqhbIZ7o&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />No need for lyrics. Without the saxaphone the song is so clean - so beautiful - so untouched. As soon as the saxaphone sets in - it becomes very, very sexy - dirty even at the points where it starts to crack up. It sounds like two people coming together. A forbidden love. They know they shouldn`t, but it's unavoidable...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(3) The Flamingos - I only have eyes for you</span><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZFkc2gbShTY&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZFkc2gbShTY&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />Nothing a little doo-wop can`t fix. It's slow, it's gentle, it's warm blooded - and has that great hollow tone. You can serenade it to her - or just be the bass if you can`t make the high notes.<br />Best part of the lyrics:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">You are here</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> So am I</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Maybe millions of people go by,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> but they all disappear from view.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> And I Only Have Eyes For You</span><br /><br />Honourable mentions: Peter Gabriel's Steam, Sade's Smooth Operator, War's Spill the Wine, Santana's Black Magic Woman.....Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-17106769583056478222010-01-12T22:36:00.003+01:002010-01-12T22:47:03.961+01:00The True Battle of Chernobyl<div style="text-align: justify;">After seeing a documentary on Belgium television about people in France demonstrating against the bad maintenance/state of French nuclear power plants - I got interested in the biggest nuclear disaster we had in Europe: Chernobyl. This documentary is fascinating - do yourself a favour and watch it.<br /><br />It convinced me even more that nuclear energy is not a viable replacement for fossil fuel.<br />Although the possibility of disasters like this one are extremely small - I feel it is not worth the risk. Europe was lucky in 1986 - it could have been far worse.<br /></div><br /><embed id=VideoPlayback src=http://video.google.nl/googleplayer.swf?docid=-5384001427276447319&hl=nl&fs=true style=width:400px;height:326px allowFullScreen=true allowScriptAccess=always type=application/x-shockwave-flash> </embed>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-39182568647712255642009-11-27T23:45:00.002+01:002009-11-28T00:29:22.752+01:00Blood on the Rooftops<div style="text-align: justify;">For years I skipped this song.<br /><br />I heard the intro and thought: "An acoustic guitar playing on and on, it must be some kind of mix-up; this is not Genesis. Probably some Spanish acoustic singer which they accidentally put on this tape. So I went on to the next song of Wind & Wuthering, Genesis' second album with Phil Collins on the lead vocals.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k6nhzEBSLOw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k6nhzEBSLOw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />It was my second Genesis album after hearing "We can`t dance" a few 100 times, and it is still my favorite. It has got something magical about it. Something you just can`t touch. A fifth element. For those first years however I kept skipping track number 6 - completely clueless of what I was missing.<br /><br />I can still remember the day when I kept on listening, passing the 1 minute mark.<br />Tears came to my eyes. It was the most beautiful piece of music I ever heard.<br />When listening to the lyrics I always get vivid images in my mind.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A family is sitting in front of a television in the middle of winter. It's warm and cozy inside their home. Outside it's dark and snowing. Snow piles up on the rooftops while the moon is shining bright. It's a cold night. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The family is captivated by the images displayed on the television. It's five past eight in the evening. The world's news is on the television. After a segment about local politics and people complaining about a new tax being implemented the topic switches to a third world country. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">War broke out there a few months back. People are suffering. Thousands are on the move, trying to get to the border of their neighboring nations. Many however do not make it. Images of corpses are lying on the side of the road. Rotting, nobody has time to clean them up. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">In the meantime the family is enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. The news jumps to the next topic, an important foreign statesman is visiting their nation. They can barely remember the images in the previous news topic. And why should they? They see those images almost every week. They have gotten used to it. Accepted it as something that just "is". </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The tube creates distance, and as soon as their favorite comedy show starts they have forgotten all about what they have seen. There's Blood on their Rooftop. It stains the white virgin snow. The ugly truth of a society that is becoming increasingly individualistic - or are we just becoming numb?</span><br /></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-84092051454992103402009-11-25T21:49:00.004+01:002009-11-27T21:52:48.317+01:00Dr. John's Gumbo<div style="text-align: justify;">"You can even smell it, a smell like it has been in a bookcase for a very long time", said the Belgian girl to me when I was heading back to the South and was examining my catch from the record fare. It does smell it's age. Recorded & produced in 1972, this record is more than 36 years old. It doesn`t only smell a bit like mold, it even looks a bit moldy from the outside.<br /><br />I paid about 10 euro's for this record, and while examining the record in the train I`m wondering if it was worth it. The cover is beautiful - The doctor is standing in front of a large wall, portraying an industrial-farm landscape. The back cover shows him lying on several bar-stools in front of "Yudda's Yummy Hamburgers Hot Dogs" - A little hamburger place. When opening the the record the inner sleeve is even more impressive. It has a slightly greenish quality, displaying the doctor from head to toes - dressed in a nice suite and a top hat. With the bad lighting it is however hard to see if the record has a lot of scratches yes or no.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ITKEprklPbFiF5K5ClFhp5Z159uhSxCwpcCaj0ISRs9a6eVpDwolL5KliJFYF-_c4Yfh7XSzbWpefpTJNpCfWpTWgqIBrix-_lVuiqIEJghEJBCB6O3g7Cxnj-uH3AZ_sjhLJQ/s1600/drjohn_gumbo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 399px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ITKEprklPbFiF5K5ClFhp5Z159uhSxCwpcCaj0ISRs9a6eVpDwolL5KliJFYF-_c4Yfh7XSzbWpefpTJNpCfWpTWgqIBrix-_lVuiqIEJghEJBCB6O3g7Cxnj-uH3AZ_sjhLJQ/s400/drjohn_gumbo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408153724666101746" border="0" /></a><br />I start reading the insert. It starts with an intro from the Doctor himself what moved him to record this album. Dr. John is born as Mac Rebennack in New Orleans. From the early 1950's he started working as a studio musician in New Orleans playing the guitar and piano. He worked in the studio where Shirley & Lee, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Professor Longhair and Heuy Smith recorded their records. Later in the sixties he started to record his own material - Gumbo is his third record.<br /><br />The record is filled with New Orleans classics from the 50s and 60s which have been re-recorded by the Doctor and his band. And how. "Iko Iko" starts the record off extremely catchy. I don`t get the lyrics (They seem to be based on Creole), but the music speaks for itself - It's a great mix between "Dixieland, Rock & Roll and Funk", as the Doctor describes it. The only thing I know is that it is catchier, dirtier and swings more than anything coming from the British Isles in the past decade (European music most of the time is very straight-lined).<br /><br />The song that blew me of my feet however was "Big Chief"; The organ that runs through this song is just amazing. It's unlike anything I`ve heard before and again as catchy as hell. The song is funky. It's hard to stay still during this song. It also sounds like the musicians had a lot of fun playing these song - and the record is in perfect condition - so it all sounds as clear as an ice cold winter morning.<br /><br />"Mess Around" displays the Doctor's excellent piano skills, he himself describing his solo at the start of the song as "radiating the adiating". The piano is on fire, that's for sure. In his liner notes he tells that this song was written by Ahmet Ertegum for none other than Ray Charles. It would have fitted Ray perfectly. Up tempo, one big celebration.<br /><br />The second side starts of with "Junko Partner". Described in the notes as<span style="font-style: italic;"> "the anthem of the dopers, the whores, the pimps, the cons. It was a song they sang in Angola, the state prison farm and the rhythm was even known as the "jailbird beat". Dudes used to come back with all different verses. The hard-core dopers couldn`t wait to hit the street after their release so they could score again.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"Six months ain`t no sentence</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">One year ain`t no time</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">They got boys in Angola </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Doing nine to ninety-nine" </span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Meaning they had no intention of reforming even before the beginning their sentence. It's a song all New Orleans bands had to play: kind if a Calypso-oriented rhythm with Cajun dialect."</span><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r79_9p_VTFY&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r79_9p_VTFY&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />The Doctors excellent piano playing accompanies the record right to its end. It's one of the most enjoyable records in my collection (definitely entered my top 10 of favorites - out of more than 300 classics now) - and I can recommend it to anyone who loves music. It was my best 10 euro's spend in a long long time. It's living proof that great music goes beyond the notion of time.<br /></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-22194343531645897522009-11-18T22:00:00.002+01:002009-11-18T22:31:05.977+01:00Utrecht Records Fare 2009<div style="text-align: justify;">This weekend I will attend my second records fare in Utrecht, and I am really looking forward to it. What hidden gems will I discover this time? Will I finally find that one record I have been looking for the past years? What new old music will I discover?<br /><br />Why did I start buying records in the first place? It started just before I went to India. I wondered around a flea market and saw a bin with some records in it. Rummaging around it I found one which caught my interest: The first record of the Dire Straits. Sultans of Swing was the track I recognized. The seller only asked 1 euro for it. And so my current collection was born.<br /><br />As a music lover, records are for me a cheap and easy way of getting to discover great music, great music of any age. With an average price below 5 euro's its even worth to take risks. You for instance buy an old Santana record for 2 euro without knowing any of the songs on it. You play the record and find out it is an extremely musical light jazz album. Or you stumble on a record from Ry Cooder, a guy you know as the father of the Buena Vista Social Club, and find out he's one of the best guitarists ever. Going to a records fare is like a big adventure into a treasure cove for me; you never you what great piece of music you`ll find. Some people might not find old music relevant in this day and age - but for me a good music is timeless. Listening to the first record of Devo or an early Lou Reed can be just as exciting as listening to the debut of the Japandroids or the latest Dirty Projectors or TV on the Radio album.<br /><br />So what will I be looking for at the records fare? I`ve been looking for the debute from DEVO for more than a year now; Apparantly the band really has a cult following since I`ve yet to see it anywhere. "Blue" of Joni Mitchell would also be a nice addition. Thanks to the Dirty Projectors I`m really getting into the Talking Heads. Perhaps I can also find the debute of Roxy Music? And what am I still missing from David Bowie? And what about Old soul records from Marvin Gaye, James Brown and maybe Lee Dorsey or Otis Redding? Minnie Ripperton - I still need to find the record that made her famous for a reasonable price. Dr. John also created some extremely catchy music and some early stuff from Van Morrison would also not be bad.<br /><br />I wonder what my budget will be?<br /><br /></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-12856085508707008352009-10-02T23:11:00.005+02:002009-11-27T21:53:26.653+01:00Q: Are we not men? A: We are Devo!<div style="text-align: justify;">A: We are Devo!<br />Q: Why are you Devo?<br />A: With songs as "Jocko Homo" and "Satisfaction" you are basically deconstructing music.<br />Q: Why deconstruction?<br />A: Cos these two songs sound like a toddler trying to force a square brick into a round hole. It just does not fit, but you don`t care.<br />Q: More groups have tried that - why is Devo's effort so special?<br />A: Besides making square songs they are also completely unpredictable.<br />Q: Unpredictable as in?<br />A: Listen you "Jocko Homo" and see how it turns into an anthem at 02:30.<br />Q: Do they go beyond this gimmick?<br />A: Absolutely, listen to "Gut Feeling". Probably one of my favorite songs ever. It starts of with a simple guitar riff, speeds up, then the piano sets in, speeds up even more, the piana starts to get frantic, the guitar spits in together with Mark Mothersbaugh's words. At 03:30 in crashes into chaos, only to end with another frantic punk prelude for "Slap your baby down". Crazy and brilliant at the same time.<br />Q: So you really like this single song, anything else worth listening to on this album?<br />A: Well, yes: "Too Much Paranoias" makes you feel paranoid and very uncomfortable. In the middle the song breaks up, only to materialize again for one final push. "Mongoloid" is a beautiful song, telling the story of a mentally disabled person who just like everyone else brought home the bacon without being noticed. Such a sensitive song.<br />Q: Are there any weak points on this album?<br />A: Yes. The first 10 songs are just one big winning streak. Not one weak link in there; It catches you with its hyperactive jabs and does not let you loose. I never really understood "Shrivel Up" though. It misses a bit of direction, it feels a bit out of place. Still a good song though - but it does not feel as "urgent" or "relevant" has the others.<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZWmf7r_37eA&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZWmf7r_37eA&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br />Q: And why do you still listen to Devo in 2009?<br />A: Nothing came before, and nothing came after it quite like it. Devo devolve there music like no-one else, and therefore listening to it sounds like a great party where people can only move in stop-motion. Check out there first album at your local record or web store. It's worth the money.<br /></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-36189558288356159532009-07-11T23:23:00.005+02:002009-07-12T00:13:41.226+02:00You`re an extra, lost in the scene<div align="justify">It has been a long, long time since my last post. Don`t let the gap of 3 months fool you: I`ve been listening a lot of music and learning about myself in the process. It for instance seems that I`m a person who likes a bit of structure in music. Groups like Animal Collective and the Dirty Projectors seem to be on the wrong side of this thin red line of mine. I don`t think they're bad, but I just don`t get it (yet). I don`t get what's so appealing about it (yet).<br /><br />Artists that are appealing to me at the moment are Phoenix, The Pains, Allen Toussaint, Talking Heads (yea,yea, due to the dirty Projectors), Apostle of Hustle, T. Rex, Charles Spearin and St. Vincent.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ifrppd_8O3gjR2_h3qMMf-UlnB1uD_vQ8x1eB7-1l5aa7neYoqDTXp1p2MefFzGp5j4OyVCwQqMmuXwXDhCDQf_LiH7GszhjMHYV3ttA4WOBd1kEhiZuVzr24_joMTCNBWtGrg/s1600-h/st-vincent-actor-album-art.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 362px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357328025847445298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ifrppd_8O3gjR2_h3qMMf-UlnB1uD_vQ8x1eB7-1l5aa7neYoqDTXp1p2MefFzGp5j4OyVCwQqMmuXwXDhCDQf_LiH7GszhjMHYV3ttA4WOBd1kEhiZuVzr24_joMTCNBWtGrg/s400/st-vincent-actor-album-art.jpg" /></a><br />St. Vincent in particular makes me smile. It's hard to describe how her music sounds like; It's a mix of styles. It's a (lot) rougher version of My Brightest Daimond - with a beat. Her latest album is a carefully constructed patchwork of songs. Some can start of as dreamlike and then at one point fall back into harsh distortion. It is this combination that makes me really like <em>Actor</em>, and songs like <em>Marrow</em> and <em>The Strangers </em>perfectly demonstrate this. Playing them very loud though will get your neighbours yelling at you.<br /><br />Luckily she has some very neighbour friendly songs like <em>Save me from what I want </em>and <em>Laughing with a mouth of blood</em>. Judging from their titles and lyrics you would not call them upbeat, but they do sound like it. I especially appreciate those nice backing vocals she did on both the songs; the "Watch your step's" give <em>Save me.. </em>that little bit of extra.<br /><br />Finally, the first single <em>Actor out of work</em> is a great stacato marsh from the start to the end. I really like how the songs builds up to the finale. It's not a second too long at a little bit more than two minutes, and makes you want to play it, again, again and again.<br /><br />The best thing about this is that I`m going to see St. Vincent live in action in Nijmegen in about a week's time. I`ve taken half a day of to go see her perform her songs. And if this Letterman performance is anything close to what I`ll see that monday, I`ll go back home happy. Hopefully my right foot doesn`t drop off in the meantime.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9zVlr-ynnAI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9zVlr-ynnAI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-14249039103607964882009-04-04T16:49:00.007+02:002009-11-27T21:55:57.877+01:00Two Suns from Bat for lashes<div align="justify">Natasha Khan is Bat for Lashes and with the first song on her new album "Two Suns" she immediately caught my ears, and after seeing the album cover, she caught my eyes. A beautiful album design placing her in the centre, two worlds in her hand. Is that a tear on her cheek and a crown of stars or thorns? So many questions. Is there a vinyl version? - this would look great on any wall.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0_ou_4Am3GaIUrAI8XViMtPmLWCZ0L6EefBKA9qHautfL1YPx4vXDrTQ7kY2c0cly0nJcAABB9HQ_Vao42jC_e9llYjSTbm_HgP4yxiUjGKqepHhJF86V6nBVCN5wRNkmwLZWAw/s1600-h/batforlashestwosuns2009db4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320864532870085586" style="width: 400px; height: 400px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0_ou_4Am3GaIUrAI8XViMtPmLWCZ0L6EefBKA9qHautfL1YPx4vXDrTQ7kY2c0cly0nJcAABB9HQ_Vao42jC_e9llYjSTbm_HgP4yxiUjGKqepHhJF86V6nBVCN5wRNkmwLZWAw/s400/batforlashestwosuns2009db4.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />It all started when I saw her as a similar artist on last.fm for PJ Harvey and My Brightest Diamond. So basically nothing could go wrong with me picking up her record, and after listening it for several times, we were a match made in heaven.<br />Her music reminds me of 80s Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush (although I only own one album of the latter) and more recently, Yeasayer. So it did not really come as a surprise when I read that actaul members of Yeasayer participated in the creation of this record. Her voice is indeed almost as strong as those of PJ Harvey and Sarah Wooden, but still unique. Music wise she is a lot smoother than Polly Jean (Check out her latest cooperation with John Parish), and replaces Sarah Wooden's guitar with a grain-shed of other instruments.<br /><br />As mentioned earlier, "Glass" is a very strong opener, the perfect song to kick the album off. It takes you to a different universe with its echoing (tribal?) drums, synthesiser bass and hollow guitar. All together it sounds epic, and that's wher it reminds me of Peter Gabriel: Serious lyrics, dominating drums and low bass. It's only four and a half minutes long, but you`ll keep repeating it till infity.<br /><br />I like "Sleep Alone" for the background vocal and cymbal which set in after about 45 seconds. Haunting vocals, subtle synthesizers and nice rhythm which keeps your feet tapping. Together with "Moon and Moon", this song is stuff that puts you into a dream like state (<em>edit: actually counts for the whole album in retrospect</em>). "Daniel" is the first single from this album and a good one. It's got a catchy chorus that you can pick up without a lot of difficulty. Those violins at the 2 minute mark must be an addition of Yeasayer, they sound so recognisable.<br /><br />"Peace of mind" is a great combination of traditional and modern instruments, woven together into a songs which follows the beat of the drum. "World Music" just popped into my head while writing about this song. "Pearl's Dream" wants me to buy a drum machine and start experimenting myself. Wonderfull rhythm she devised there. Also love the chorus which acts as anchor in all the experimentation and sampling.<br /><br />"Good Love" sounds like a mix between BSS' "Anthems for a seventeen year old girl" and the Zombies' "Way I feel inside". The organ at the start of the song resembling that of the Zombies, and the generally sad mood of the song reminding of the Anthem. Together with "Two Planets" (Which is the song that is most out "there" on this album), "Good Love" makes sure that the whole album keeps you captivated. There is no filler here.<br /><br />What is on this album, is a great mix between piano and drum-lead songs. Experimental at times, but highly listenable. Dreamy, but not at all light. Unusual and delicate music with a lot of detail, but without making it sound as complicated kitsch.<br />In short: Buy it on monday. </div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-6122499829485908842009-03-25T21:39:00.004+01:002009-07-12T00:14:31.302+02:00The Pains of being pure at heart<div align="justify">Only 10 songs on this album.<br />A pretty melo-dramatic band name.<br />And when I arrive at song four I already feel like I heard this song before on the very same album. There is not much variation in between songs, and I do not really bother listening to the lyrics. They're not really worth listening to.<br />All reasons why I should not like <a href="http://unapieldeastracan.blogspot.com/">this</a> album, but something, something about this album just makes me like it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGnx8LgkWILu4euaZPmSN4GaQnrO9DraB1NcH66XMofc_8f59M6rhDB2LVWhujy2Sshc2tIp2otMdFHPuMcT0Fh66T9T0I5hxj61MJQuElBg52ESABnL4ogwBwUq-V1usiT0zEQ/s1600-h/the-pains-of-being-pure-at-heart.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317231459100294658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGnx8LgkWILu4euaZPmSN4GaQnrO9DraB1NcH66XMofc_8f59M6rhDB2LVWhujy2Sshc2tIp2otMdFHPuMcT0Fh66T9T0I5hxj61MJQuElBg52ESABnL4ogwBwUq-V1usiT0zEQ/s400/the-pains-of-being-pure-at-heart.jpg" /></a><br />This album summarized into one sentence: Robert Smith from the Cure (Stay Alive) suddenly starts wearing colorful shirts and convinces the Jesus & The Mary Chain (Contender) to join him on a crusade to make the world care-free.<br /><br />And every morning when I select this album on my mp3 in the train on my way to work, they succeed. Thanks Robert Smith and Jesus & the Mary Chain!</div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-41859858932257760642009-03-24T21:34:00.004+01:002009-11-27T21:54:32.071+01:00Black Hearted Love for PJ Harvey<object width="425" height="264"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IWrfLhX964I&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IWrfLhX964I&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="264"></embed></object><br /><strong>10 Reasons why I (really) like PJ Harvey</strong><br /><br />Her voice - Deep & Powerfull<br /><br />Her guitar - She plays a beautiful Gibson Firebird VII<br /><br />Her songs - Great lyrics but often not too complex: Less is more<br /><br />Her lack of genre - She does not fit into one. She is free, creative.<br /><br />Her appearance one stage - Five years ago I saw her performing on Rock Werchter 2004. While singing some songs the audience was so intimidated by her performance they seemd to back off a few meters. I think it was during "Meet Ze Monster".<br /><br />Her cooperations - She actually played together on one of the Desert Sessions with Joshua Homme, did some duets with Nick Cave and now joins John Parish for her latest album.<br /><br />Her residence - She still lives in rural England.<br /><br />Her lack of any fixed style - Just as varied as her music. One day she can be a classic femme-fatale, the other day a stylish punk and then a conservative victorian girl.<br /><br />Her attitude - Whatever she does, it's full of energy and emotion.<br /><br />And finally, she's <em><strong>raw</strong></em>.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-45416167825665552062009-03-17T21:55:00.001+01:002009-03-17T21:57:20.381+01:00When Under Ether<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6rKNOBPpeg8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6rKNOBPpeg8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />The ceiling is moving<br />Moving in time<br />Like a conveyor belt<br />Above my eyes<br /><br />When under ether<br />The mind comes alive<br />But conscious of nothing<br />But the will to survive<br /><br />I lay on the bed<br />Waist down undressed<br />Look up at the ceiling<br />Feeling happiness<br />Human kindness<br /><br />The woman beside me<br />Is holding my hand<br />I point at the ceiling<br />She smiles so kind<br /><br />Something's inside me<br />Unborn and unblessed<br />Disappears in the ether<br />One world to the next<br />Human kindnessPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-53449548192674421312009-03-14T22:45:00.007+01:002009-03-14T23:19:27.841+01:00Lash at that Bat!<div align="justify">Anxiously I`m waiting for the new PJ Harvey and Jon Parish album. Already read a promising review in OOR, and they say it's going to be a very diverse album covering a wide range of sounds. It will be released in two weeks, so in the mean time I found another great one: Bat For Lashes.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZ-gqeUHbMLTnYfnnffsSEc0JHASb9HBGaqKFhwv3SmT21n3Xw53ntnuBr-z4MbFYYw5KzhMTdGX2k13bjraJoSqjxghbxClBcOxQIQw44hY0i8HP__dlfED6ASGXLyr5dMRRmA/s1600-h/bat+for+lashes.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313166326942726498" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZ-gqeUHbMLTnYfnnffsSEc0JHASb9HBGaqKFhwv3SmT21n3Xw53ntnuBr-z4MbFYYw5KzhMTdGX2k13bjraJoSqjxghbxClBcOxQIQw44hY0i8HP__dlfED6ASGXLyr5dMRRmA/s400/bat+for+lashes.bmp" border="0" /></a><br />She's a British singer-songwriter and will release her second album later this year. I`m listening to it now for the first time, and those first 5 songs are very impressive. On Last.fm her similar artists are My Brightest Diamond (I like), PJ Harvey (I like like), Cocorosie, Cat Power and Patrick Wolf (I know and interested). So I guess this album and me are meant to be? Hopefully she will come near one day. Or maybe she will play on Lowlands 2009?<br /><br />On other concert news, I bought concert tickets today for Mostly Autumn, ZzZ and Roosbeef. Mostly Autumn is a British Progrock band who were destined to be the "2nd Pink Floyd" in their early days, but seemed to have had some bumps along the way. Bumps always make people stronger, so I`m hoping for a great concert. ZzZ is a Rock 'n Roll band from the Netherlands who I saw 3 years ago on Lowlands, just after the release of their first album. The play two instruments: Drums and a Hammond. And they sound pretty massive and raw.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-HaafIxw6Fwtb2451inSuERac1gRg9F3nuuK5yP0Yx3na4_H6hn_lQjCCG7KP86ePHN2bQK0NalBp5lPd3YQDQ4gTG_r-1MHCUKUnH0xqNkh8MvFATaLa_3Oh4Proo-J9GNNtw/s1600-h/423763034_6_tsy6.jpg"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWyFUa0w-iN20xTs2xRWoCbKTEMYUDFjxBY-J7xD6bewvYyElYRBE1T6NSUGfV5_qX53vR_FRinfsKpEqQJNhTU5aM2M85ZHwMGr31o18_ZwuRvHv3_0kLhRDXgwAlv_DKdYpH5g/s1600-h/423763034_6_tsy6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313170166685084466" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 95px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 84px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWyFUa0w-iN20xTs2xRWoCbKTEMYUDFjxBY-J7xD6bewvYyElYRBE1T6NSUGfV5_qX53vR_FRinfsKpEqQJNhTU5aM2M85ZHwMGr31o18_ZwuRvHv3_0kLhRDXgwAlv_DKdYpH5g/s200/423763034_6_tsy6.jpg" border="0" /></a>Finally there is Roosbeef (she picture to the left), she's a dutch singer-songwriter who seems to be either loved or detested. On 3FM (The worse dutch radiostation there is; they aim at a young audience by playing the same hits every day and talking a lot of sh*t in between) they only played her song a few times and got a lot of feedback from disapproving radio listeners. It had something to do with her singing, she has a certain style..My opinion: Bob Dylan is a great singer, and so is Roosbeef. You just have to get used to it, give it a chance. That's what I will do on a friday evening in May. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Finally: I do not like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Girls">Vivian Girls</a>. It's too straight forward and too rickety.</div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-72725530070269474012009-03-10T20:39:00.003+01:002009-03-10T21:05:35.614+01:00Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix<div align="justify">Phoenix are my favorite French band.<br />The first song I heard from them was "Too Young", which is a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACal9syYDPU">great little tune </a>on the soundtrack of "Lost in Translation", a movie from Sofia Coppola. The lead singer is actually married to Ms. Coppola, but do not fear, their marriage had nothing to do with the inclusion of this song on the soundtrack. It does not need the film to be great. <br /><br />About three years ago I read some reviews of their last album "It's never been like that" which caught my attention. "A french band making an album that should have been the second Stroke's album". I bought the album and indeed, it was full with great pop songs. Listen to songs such as "Consolation Prizes", "Rally" and "Long Distance Call" and you`ll know what I mean. It's just fresh, music without worries, only great catchy songs.<br /><br />Now they unveiled their first single from their new album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" which will be released in May 2009. Looking forward to it already. <a href="http://www.wearephoenix.com/">Download</a> it here. Or simple listen to it on You Tube.<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BSLbW1S5gHA&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BSLbW1S5gHA&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-3507454575587853992009-03-07T15:54:00.003+01:002009-03-07T16:09:49.053+01:00Prog Rock Britannia<div align="justify">Found an interesting documentary about progressive music showing its rise and demise. My music listening experience started with Genesis thanks to my dad, however I only got into their progressive roots gradually. I like the way the band is portrayed in this documentary. From the "Lamb lies Down" they noticed that making another album that would be even more complex, would not please anyone. A joy it is then to listen to a "Trick of the Tail" which is such a briliant song. Genesis did focus more on the songs than on the musical complexity, and that's probably why I never can listen long to Yes or ELP: Complexity only for complexities sake does not make good music. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><br /><br /><object height="264" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l8T904BrY_k&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l8T904BrY_k&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="264"></embed></object><br /><object height="264" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-7Xt4D8ANGc&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-7Xt4D8ANGc&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="264"></embed></object><br /><object height="264" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nh4P-LMfQ8o&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nh4P-LMfQ8o&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="264"></embed></object><br /><br />That first introduction of King Crimson sounds great though, need to check that album out.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-23711851758660373842009-03-03T22:05:00.012+01:002009-11-27T22:05:43.175+01:00Spirit If...Kevin Drew and Peter and the Wolf<a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/564789236569848c/">RnR on a Firebird</a><br />I will never be a highly skilled technically perfect guitarist.<br />And I don`t care.<br />I`m playing this instrument with fun and love.<br />And that's all that matters in <strong><em>my</em></strong> music.<br /><br /><div align="justify">For music produced by <strong><em>others</em></strong>, I am only looking for something unusual, original, fresh, beautiful, emotional, dirty, soothing, messy, uncoordinated, multi-layered, not too complicated, fuzzy, downbeat, melancholic, intelligent, soft, rough, raw, romantic, crooked, but with a great rhythm. Summarizing: I`m just looking for that certain something that rings my bell.<br /></div><div align="justify">This is what I found in the past few weeks to be quite interesting:<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309076311489660818" style="width: 320px; height: 317px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyrmdtnstN0WgdaOnOlXiVOdrb3x28f3xZ8p0Jva2WfRptX1lgALCxy4Gt_hghVciYNDI-OVgt5MwwOrj9ers-F3FeULKKsCX_krWOPVvL8ji51F-8_HIVBoBIDcCtLmu0jdOcLw/s400/mellow_owl.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.myspace.com/whiskeyandapples">Peter and the Wolf - Mellow Owl </a></div><div align="justify"><br />As the title suggests this is an extremely mellow album. Something to wake up to in the morning. Preferably in a hammock on a tropical island with a view on a crystal blue ocean. The band originates from Austin, Texas, and was formed by the musician Red Hunter. It's genres are defined by wikipedia as "Folk, Lo-fi, Singer/songwriter". The coolest tune on this album? One which displays the album's strength? Definitely "The Bride of S. Travels" which is a delightful little tune. The first thing that makes in great are the "Ahaaaaaaa"'s. Perhaps not the most beautiful "Ahaaaaa's" you`ve heard in a song, but definitely fitting the song perfectly. The second thing that makes this song great is its topic, travelling, which makes the song perfect for daily commuters such as me. <em>If you`ve got to run, safe travels</em>. From the 2 minutes mark the ending of the song is set in, with a subtle guitar and Aya's to lead to song to its end. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />Other great songs are "Fireflies", "Ballad of Redhook" and "This Kid I knew". Melancholy, romance and a bit of nostalgia would be to key words to characterise these songs. Finally I`ve got to mention "Bottle Rockettes", a perfect pop song. It already starts of pretty good, but at the moment when the female singer joins in to sing her lines this song goes into higher grounds. And the break "Hey now honey, I`ll be fine. I just got to clear my mind. You go have a super time, I stay here and clear my mind". And then she replies magically....well..just listen the song. It`s just..beautiful. </div><div align="justify"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJarREvXuFrtMtlFXcghwObCJG1hn_z1QaAci1rjJ6lEvYgw3dHDofn9QeNdcAUX-rgTUzVu-daf4UWp__kqBV6wEf9oR9KsCQLTSycKzKa5xjH_5Wq5EgcRnhANJK4dLeaUmjXg/s1600-h/ac027.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309081728533352770" style="width: 316px; height: 282px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJarREvXuFrtMtlFXcghwObCJG1hn_z1QaAci1rjJ6lEvYgw3dHDofn9QeNdcAUX-rgTUzVu-daf4UWp__kqBV6wEf9oR9KsCQLTSycKzKa5xjH_5Wq5EgcRnhANJK4dLeaUmjXg/s400/ac027.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.myspace.com/kevindrewspiritif">Kevin Drew - Spirit if...(2007)</a></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Starting off in complete musical chaos you might be inclined to immediately push the eject button and throw the disk in the garbage bin, but please, please, control yourself and wait. After a minute or 2 the song settles down and transforms into something a lot more soothing. If you read some of my previous posts, I kind off dismissed this album compared to other BSS releases, but after 1.5 years it has won me over. It sounds like the intended follow up to "You forgot it in people". What one me however was the fact that Kevin can write a beautiful song titled TBTF. Translated: To Beautiful To F*ck. It's a bit tragic, which I could would be the case if you found a girl who is <em>TBTF</em>. In other ways in can be the ultimate compliment: "You are to beautiful to be touched". Reminds me a bit of Nick Cave's <em>Where the Wild roses Grow</em>, but there the girl got killed. She'll stay <em>forever young</em>, which is again a great Bob Dylan song, a song which in turn again relates to <em>Ageless Beauty</em> from Stars. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />Back to the album! <em>F*cked up kid</em> has a great hook in it, just after the line: "ah sh*t..I guess I`m in love..with the f*cked up kid". The Lucky ones is probably my favorite tune on this album. It has an great positive vibe to it, great breaks, a perfect chorus and an even better ending. After this song the more experimental side of this album starts with songs like<em> Gang Bang Suicide, Frightening Lives, Big Love</em> (Great song to test your speakers with or any other audio equipment). This is followed by <em>Backed out on the, </em>which is great rock song. Distorted guitars, loose singing, dislocated solo's..it has <strong><em>fun </em></strong>written all over it. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />And then there is <em>Bodhi sappy weekend</em>, which after an easy start shows it brilliance at 47 seconds. That chord progression! Amazing! In general this album has a very relaxed vibe and it is certainly not as chaotic (read: busy) as the second and third Broken Social Scene albums, but it has it's moments of brilliance. Largely due to smart simplicity. I love this album. </div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-81056722585833773222009-03-01T14:14:00.011+01:002009-03-01T15:00:57.707+01:00Why did you buy..<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXDAL74QsLY7SZ9oX7yXSSUW98dwwRJe4aBb1xy_IZCwjdJFyFAUqnsoFUcIWnwhT1I1uPNigc9U8INuOhkbZsTfjGvF9ypuq3SsEt-tqlboIOsk3vegZQJydrKa8h4A2GBtZ2g/s1600-h/patb.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308209841620190066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 193px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXDAL74QsLY7SZ9oX7yXSSUW98dwwRJe4aBb1xy_IZCwjdJFyFAUqnsoFUcIWnwhT1I1uPNigc9U8INuOhkbZsTfjGvF9ypuq3SsEt-tqlboIOsk3vegZQJydrKa8h4A2GBtZ2g/s200/patb.bmp" border="0" /></a> <strong>Pate Benatar - Crimes of Passion</strong><br />You better run! You better hide! Pat Benatar was one of the hardest rocking ladies of the 80s and this album is rumoured to be one of her best. I`m checking it out right now, and it reminds me a bit of Bryan Adams' "Reckless". Still waiting to hear "Hell is for Children" which should be a hard rock song about child abuse. <10> Which turns out to be a rather mediocre standard rock song. Ah well, it was the 80s. Musically comparable to the dark ages? Wasn`t this the decade that MTV started? Maybe that's why it was all f*cked up: visuals were getting the upper hand.<br /><br /><strong>Crusaders - Street Life 300S. </strong><br />Yes! I`ve got it! Street life! I`ve been looking for this song on Randy Crawford albums for the past few years. Why? Well, you can find a perfect performance below from this century, but the first time I saw them was on Jools Holland's Later a few years back. She just has on of the most beautiful voices ever, and the band is incredibly tight and good. Listened to the first side of the album and the 10 minute version of the title song is great. Worth every 1.5 euro I spent on buying the album!<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oZguZw7Wagg&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oZguZw7Wagg&hl=nl&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><strong>Janis Ian - Between the Lines<br />Janis Ian - Stars </strong><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308218453905701266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4_Zit1__qt3sGmqG9JG7odeErmWH6DIoSdzNTP5cKwF7L_J2VKZwqL8olo-hZcuMFQMMiT9aXfrPrddyiOSMH61Sm4plrpSqhq4LWqqXii997l3nlAjMfunpfMHK88LHM7GOPw/s320/album-stars.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="justify">Janis Ian is one of those songwriters who made a lot of albums during the 70s but has been completely forgotten except for one song, "Seventeen", that has been imprinted in everyones brain the first time they hear it. A song that makes you silent, and perhaps a bit nostalgic. I`m just reading the lyrics and they still hit hard. <em>"Remember those who win the game, lose the love they thought they gained, in debentures of quality and dubious integrity. Their small-town eyes will gape at you, in dull surprise when payment due, exceeds accounts received at seventeen".</em> BAM! Get that hometown queen! I`m pretty happy to find these two albums (in goods quality) of her and hoping they will be a (serene) blast. Funny thing I noticed about these two album covers is the kind of contemplative position of her hand. Interesting..<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCF6d19WARMIaUuC0DzAFN2rfw5tSFINu4RikcsaoG6JiBWAueCyVu91_fi1IZ-SySLCg7PewPumRCwe8Ti56Wuxw3uz2s9fRIzkyGF_Hn1iku5cD4K3Sp7WZ0BdpWw2LIxm8U7g/s1600-h/Ianis+ian.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308218571738780482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCF6d19WARMIaUuC0DzAFN2rfw5tSFINu4RikcsaoG6JiBWAueCyVu91_fi1IZ-SySLCg7PewPumRCwe8Ti56Wuxw3uz2s9fRIzkyGF_Hn1iku5cD4K3Sp7WZ0BdpWw2LIxm8U7g/s320/Ianis+ian.jpg" border="0" /></a></p>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-70903572645908069682008-11-17T22:07:00.007+01:002008-11-17T23:12:35.453+01:00Paul's Best Music of 2008The year is also to an end, and as a music lover it has been a pretty good year. Therefore I am creating this post to share my "best of" list of 2008 with you, together with some additional discoveries. My top 5 are in no particular order, since I simply cannot make a decision which album is best.<br /><div><div><div><div><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - DIG!!! LAZARUS DIG!!!</strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojxxhsXf6kqHx4bQA2NAb3RNTlsr-0w1yodZZCrQI19hBYes6J8uRiGc7NUrfnWJo4bCokbAsEQV6lhzI9SWbGedcQEUb_4siTCJqIpriHQfzbIiqh5sv8B-xa9TR8DkF9G3e3g/s1600-h/untitled.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269749352706648258" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojxxhsXf6kqHx4bQA2NAb3RNTlsr-0w1yodZZCrQI19hBYes6J8uRiGc7NUrfnWJo4bCokbAsEQV6lhzI9SWbGedcQEUb_4siTCJqIpriHQfzbIiqh5sv8B-xa9TR8DkF9G3e3g/s200/untitled.bmp" border="0" /></a>Since the release of "Abbatoir Blues & The Lyre of Orpheus" in 2004 Nick Cave has been on my play list continiously. This album finds Nick Cave moving in a more "Rock 'n Roll" vibe, probably influenced by his adventures with Grinderman. If you like good lyrics with content, Nick Cave is your man. The title song is already of such a high lyrical level that all other current artists are blown of their feet. My personal favorite on this album is "Midnight Man". Especially when those organs kick in in the chorus. Below you can see a performance on "Later..." of "More news from Nowhere". </div><br /><div align="justify"><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Brendan Canning - Something for all of us</strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR138X4aoHcyCxwii_YyJDwGTEYUMle-R6ho8JvqJCKhDXzCP1KKbcVOycwz_oQSnV5wrTIzmvPESRNzl_AMXXFin0bgbKVr83ZCZiwefNakJL10f1jojcwJfIWZX9buGf5HAI5g/s1600-h/ac034.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269751059721024882" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 187px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR138X4aoHcyCxwii_YyJDwGTEYUMle-R6ho8JvqJCKhDXzCP1KKbcVOycwz_oQSnV5wrTIzmvPESRNzl_AMXXFin0bgbKVr83ZCZiwefNakJL10f1jojcwJfIWZX9buGf5HAI5g/s200/ac034.jpg" border="0" /></a>Didn`t really like that Kevin Drew album of "Broken Social Scene Presents....", but this one is a lot better. There is something on this album for all of us. The title song, "Hit the Wall" and "Churches under the Stairs" have that characteristic Social Scene sound: Driving drumbeats and bass, colored in by a guitar with nice distorted sound. What stands this album apart from the other BSS albums are the instrumental songs. "All the best wooden toys come from Germany" and "Chamaleon" are two beautiful instrumental tunes, which put you in a dreamy state of mind. Perfect after a long hard day of work, while heading home in the train. All dark outside. Just you and this music in your ears. </div><div align="justify"><strong>The Dø - a mouthful</strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_DI-5fVAA0ytWQfEoTrcRqt-3Xmkg8eCp0hB4enbe8p63jXVUFmKlxYeeIhtwKFyRxpc-4Y1TV-KeNfxYPSVc3lCpIJDHMyjht3g_KFKlXUV4PuO4nV2pVBc3GoDbsNfqmJteBg/s1600-h/the-do-a-mouthful-a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269751279916497506" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_DI-5fVAA0ytWQfEoTrcRqt-3Xmkg8eCp0hB4enbe8p63jXVUFmKlxYeeIhtwKFyRxpc-4Y1TV-KeNfxYPSVc3lCpIJDHMyjht3g_KFKlXUV4PuO4nV2pVBc3GoDbsNfqmJteBg/s200/the-do-a-mouthful-a.jpg" border="0" /></a>My parents didn`t really like this purchase. The girl who sings on this album is from Finland, and has a very high pitched voice. I`ve got to admit, sometimes it comes very close to the "irritating level", but most of the time she just sounds incredibly cute. And backed up by a very solid production and a sound ranging from Finnish Folk to Psuedo-hiphop to Indie, this is a delight to listen to. If you want to get to know this band, get your hands on the songs "At last", "stay (just a little bit more", "Unissasi Laulelet" and "Queen Dot Kong". These should give you a pretty complete view of what this two man band is capable of. </div><br /><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Nicole Atkins - Neptune City</strong><br /><br /></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7wPhZ7wyY_0pxfeyVVFX9WJec3Iwt0ALBO9zpEwyNonekkgPBCNNvvUA1Y_5CZfNyqZrgelQq-NaakGDwLs8nXYtBQEEZpAAmcybxYWySGjCeWD1yNo4R815M-Elq_TMzfP3pQ/s1600-h/nicole_atkins_neptune_selec-774402.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269752064480056098" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 199px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7wPhZ7wyY_0pxfeyVVFX9WJec3Iwt0ALBO9zpEwyNonekkgPBCNNvvUA1Y_5CZfNyqZrgelQq-NaakGDwLs8nXYtBQEEZpAAmcybxYWySGjCeWD1yNo4R815M-Elq_TMzfP3pQ/s200/nicole_atkins_neptune_selec-774402.jpg" border="0" /></a>So what? I bowed for the girl singer songwriter hype that has taken over our world. Please mind though, this is no "Duffy Winehouse" clone. This lady is from New Jersey and not from the British isles. At for a fact, she actually is closing in on the three decennia mark instead of being far below the legal age for drinking in her own country. I`ve got to admit, it's a pretty dramatic album with a very "noir" vibe to it. Perfect for a rainy autumn day. The production on this album is also very high; there's no song avoiding the violins and other orchestra stuff. But despite this overkill, something on this album wins me over; Her beautiful voice including a number of very strong songs. She also seems to sing very easily, which only makes it more impressive. The thing that won me completely over was her performance on the BBC. She was in complete control and new exactly what she was doing. There are a lot of highlights on this album. "Maybe Tonight", "The way it is", "Cool enough", "Neptune city", "Brooklyn's on fire" and "Party's over" are all songs that I would recommend to listen. That's 6 out of the total playlist of 10 songs. Not a bad score for a first album. </div><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On </strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLac0zMe7EWf94-pQv3s4APzOwH6zqr_YQwYMuuy71YW67mTZaBJbcbMYXSsf_HpWD6-SaqPpiouEoaXWcCUNoEnl3AkkYveLkyFhNyoQuDRqnB_K_-eRDZ8bOmPQJrT5czqxOQ/s1600-h/eodm.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269752272776775634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLac0zMe7EWf94-pQv3s4APzOwH6zqr_YQwYMuuy71YW67mTZaBJbcbMYXSsf_HpWD6-SaqPpiouEoaXWcCUNoEnl3AkkYveLkyFhNyoQuDRqnB_K_-eRDZ8bOmPQJrT5czqxOQ/s200/eodm.jpg" border="0" /></a>The Eagles have landed! Their third album, and in my opinion the best of them all. It's starts of perfectly with the classic rocker "Anything 'cept the truth", which might be a bit too long for it's own good. This however is made up by the short and feisty "Wannabe in L.A.", which also happens to be the first single. Things start to really warm up though with "(I used to couldn`t dance) tight pants". Maybe it is due to the friction, but this song man, wow! It's probably the best rock song to be released all year and is really, really danceable. Especially the high pitched chorus line "I don`t want to do what I`m supposed to, I just want someone to get close to". It cannot get any sweater than this. This is followed by an even dirtier "High Voltage" which is like sending out an pack of elephants out on a banana field ready for harvesting. </div><br /><div align="justify">"Secret Plans" is also pure perfection. High tempo, simple lyrics, great chorus. That's all what a good song needs. "Now I`m a fool" is the perfect song to chill out to and shows the Eagles from a more sensitive side. This sensitivity is abandond at the song "Solo Flights" which is about, well, self gratification. Not many songs in music history must have been about this act, this one pulls it of, just. The last song "I`m your torpedo" has got a brutal rhythm section to kick the life out of you. Sounds a bit like those drums are oversteard? Well, it makes a perfect ending to this Rock 'n Roll album. The finest in years. </div></div></div></div></div></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-49581701558553740362008-11-17T21:44:00.009+01:002009-11-27T21:57:24.245+01:00The Edmonton Folk Fest (2)<div><div><div><div><div align="justify">Saturday was again another beautiful day. My friend Jen was again fully occupied with volunteering (beer tickets anyone?) while the rest of our group was scattered over the festival. For me my day started at stage number three, where there were some interesting combination. First of all there was the garden party with Dervish, Bellowhead and the Carolina Chocolate drops. </div><br /><div align="justify">The odd one in this group were the Carolina Chocolate drops, the only band not coming from the European continent. From what I can remember, I was pretty impressed by the Carolina Chocolate Drops. I bought their cd the same day, so I must have been. After that there was the masterclass with a great female banjo player called Alison Brown, french artist Daby Toure, Jerry Douglas and Maura O`Connell, an Irish woman with a beautiful voice. There seemed to be a special click between Alison Brown and Daby Toure, who had a lot of fun together when playing their songs. These are the best moments musically at Edmonton: When you notice that two completely different artist who never met before, have a connection with each other and just click. This is what happened at the masterclass. Maura O`Connell the the icing on the cake. Compared to the other songs, her's were a bit more timid and classic, which made a perfect combination with great banjo-picking and african tones. </div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLvg3H9BVLgMx7N7t6SxVA9ZmlNhouD_cEe7d4bH6kTyzcvaiFuxGH3i3BlGkQmueUmV_zGkmFILVWYbdsXSO2KhvdVDiZuvAhkjHghW5twvgPdZAVyp8rvLWL30FZ058WB_mhKw/s1600-h/IMG_2742.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269734177689476914" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 200px; height: 150px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLvg3H9BVLgMx7N7t6SxVA9ZmlNhouD_cEe7d4bH6kTyzcvaiFuxGH3i3BlGkQmueUmV_zGkmFILVWYbdsXSO2KhvdVDiZuvAhkjHghW5twvgPdZAVyp8rvLWL30FZ058WB_mhKw/s200/IMG_2742.jpg" border="0" /></a>Now it was time for my first ever view of the Broken Social Scene. Maybe it is a bit of an anti-climax to see one of your most favorite bands playing on a small stage while everyone is chilling out in the sun, but I loved every second of it. The most stylish guy on stage was definitely Brendan Canning; Wearing a pink top with a chequard short skirt. Pretty impressive. Luke Doucet fitted in perfectly in the formation. It was pretty hard to distinguish him from any of the other Socials. John Bottomly was a bit more distinctive on stage as a person, but is music fitted in perfectly with the rest. Another amazing thing about the Folkfest: By going to your favorite band you will also get to know 3 or 4 other bands. </div><br /><div align="justify">After a spicy dinner I went on and saw the Peatbog Faeries for the first time. A violin and bagpipe play the solo's together, while the rest of the band lays down a subtle groove. It's one of a kind, and the first time I was indeed baffled. Later however you came to realise something: They are a bit of an one trick pony. The bagpipe and violin lead every song and there is not much variation in this theme. Still, in this first concert they were one of the revelations for me for this festival. Heading back to the maintsage it was time for..sleepy music. Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow quartet featuring Bela Fleck was interesting, but they played music that would come much better to it's right in a more intimate setting. I cannot remember anything from Ryan Shaw, which probably says enough. Joan Osborne was on next. </div><br /><div align="justify">After she finished singing "One of Us", its started raining. A message? A sign? All in all, it was a bit too much "middle of the road" music for me. Aimee mann had a better voice and songs. Last but not least came Michael Franti and Spearhead. Sometimes you just wish that the dead would rise up against the living. In this case the dead guy should be Bob Marley vs. Franti. Shallow, simple and empty. These are the three words with which I would like to describe Franti's music. He can talk all he wants about his former teacher, father or brother, his music lacks the same emotion has he tries to portray in his speeches. Did Bob Marley talk as much? I don`t know..but my opinion is that you should let your music do the talking, and with Michael Franti it was the other way around. What makes it all worse is that everybody was enjoying themselves, and I just didn`t get it. Of course I tried to join in; but after the 20th time where we were asked to jump by Franti I was like; Jump yourself! A good artist giving a great concert shouldn`t have to tell his audience to jump constantly, they`ll do that on their own. Bah..that psuedo-emotional and happy crap was just not meant for my ears. Call me a grumpy old cynic, but you should have seen me during Rage Against the Machine, or Moloko, or the Flaming Lips, or Franz Ferdinand, or Nick Cave...or...or...</div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qJs03VuGTDsyoXFpeAV9BuoFwM6d8ZisGMaKtJqd7DYzl5MQ3AsRZ5xlDrpo0uvmagwkQhYAd30hrhq4e6vEiziEW0a0nfJceRVRw2aTaskMY_-7PXfg_UmW5Bcu31Lp9u1cEA/s1600-h/IMG_2740.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269734496684021714" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 275px; height: 210px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qJs03VuGTDsyoXFpeAV9BuoFwM6d8ZisGMaKtJqd7DYzl5MQ3AsRZ5xlDrpo0uvmagwkQhYAd30hrhq4e6vEiziEW0a0nfJceRVRw2aTaskMY_-7PXfg_UmW5Bcu31Lp9u1cEA/s320/IMG_2740.jpg" border="0" /></a>Sunday was the last day of the Folkfest. I already had a heavy sunburn that day. Luckily the day started with the Broken Social Scene, Serana Ryder and Royal Wood on one stage. "Looks just like the sun" was a great start of the day. A bit to early apparently for Brendan Canning who joined in a bit later with his bass. Serena challanged Kevin Drew to an improvisation battle, and after some hestitation he took the challange. The lyrics he made up were quite hillarious and made him pass the challange with flying colors. Eventually the band also started to make up a song as a bit of an ode to the Folkfest. Again..my memory abandoned me..I`ve forgotten the lyrics. But believe me, it was a great song and one of the highlights for me of this festival. </div><br /><div align="justify">After that I made one of my best choices ever: I went to the Mighty Popo. His band is a mix of American and African musicians, and his songs reflect this multi-cultural line-up. He even got the crowd up to dance at some songs, quite a feat at the fourth day of a festival, in the burning sun. Afterwards he would also do a cd-signing. I bought it and got it signed. I don`t know why, but every time I meet a band I never know what to say. You try to avoid the clichee: "wow, that was a great show". But what else is there to say? You don`t know him; You just found out that he and his great music even existed. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269734932042572610" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-rZE4sNq4hfMSrnbxaFJZsPiAPiBDpYQ1DjLyCb6Ekxy2F7AVs-6ymNz6WEukGSIc5fih75U0CbDQYoAx3STOqNizZanny9_0V1KZbW8PNyEOjpO3YJnhUFJi1rooQ0S79Bn-Q/s400/IMG_2748.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="justify">Fast I went to the stage where the Carolina Chocolate Drops were performing. I got a perfect seat right in front of the stage, and enjoyed every second of their show. It's not only how they mastered their instruments, it's also their pure enthousiasm while playing. They also have a bit of an experimental side to them. At one of the side stage concerts, the girl, sang a song in gaelic. Quite impressive for somebody from the States. After this performance the festival was pretty much perfect for me. Except for one thing: I still had to see the Broken Social Scene on the main stage. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269735239040045234" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSe1_Eia4uil79ugZKsXWLPL3P3B-pPC2j4WUHBXhr2rZPqRrktCLHI5UCfsdnoMAWGNJWPIY6-g7uVrGeU5v6KwYDX6cWGZF6mnCVlQnk3AgLRTWHQT7_U1rudDW-FLynmL4ktw/s400/IMG_2772.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="justify">They tried to get a standing audience in front of the stage, but the security didn`t allow for it. The first half of the concert I thus spend sitting (from a perfect position that I gave us by getting up extremely early) and enjoying the concert passively. I got increasingly annoyed by the clear ambiguity of the audience in front of me. They didn`t seem to care that one of the best and most innovative bands of Canada was playing on stage right in front of them. And they weren`t even performing badly: There was no bad note during the whole concert, it was a tight concert. So halfway the set I decided to go to the front of the stage, and move a bit on the music (some might call it dancing). </div><br /><div align="justify">A song I especially remember was Ibi dreams of pavement. It's an all out emotional song with a perfect harmony at the end. We were asked to scream our lungs out, and so we did (in the dancing area at least). Thinking back at it, I`m a bit emberassed, but why should I be? It felt good at the time, and if it felt good at that time it was the best thing to do. </div><br /><div align="justify">For the Duhks I had to get closer to the main stage, since one of my Canadian friends absolutely loved them. I liked what I heard, it was danceable, but that's about all I can remember. Chris Isaac however. Wow! Coming up in a pink suite, runnig around on the field with a hoard of crazy old women chasing him. Trying the climb on the light-tower but miserably (but graciously) failing, running back and finishing his song in style. Then starting to sing a song called bad, bad man. Putting himself in the position of the dictator in the band, who does horrible things to his fellow band-mates (who have been on tour with him for the past 20 years). And to start his most famous song "Wicked woman", and playing it perfectly, still with that same voice as 20 years ago. He changed to an even brighter costume during the second half the set, and continued to play a selection of slow love and rockin' songs. Later I had to explain to me friends that it is not a matter of liking the music yes or no; It is more about the show as a whole, which was just first class entertainment.<br /></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8uLiux0X73n-ZV_xvW0qtFC1yus94r90Ip6520NLuPezEqiqB37ZGj5XhLgkxxk3pBduYdtoeffrvDYTIjv-3MsWXeGfoO3XLHwcmuQlOnVapfLHI8yfbX6kbjhwh0LOR_G14Tg/s1600-h/IMG_2796.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269735588341879474" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8uLiux0X73n-ZV_xvW0qtFC1yus94r90Ip6520NLuPezEqiqB37ZGj5XhLgkxxk3pBduYdtoeffrvDYTIjv-3MsWXeGfoO3XLHwcmuQlOnVapfLHI8yfbX6kbjhwh0LOR_G14Tg/s320/IMG_2796.jpg" border="0" /></a>What I especially liked was that he does not take himself too seriously: He knows that he is an entertainer, he knows that he is not the greatest songwriter of all time, so what would stop him of giving his audience a great close to a great festival? Nothing! Thanks Chris for beating my expectations of you to pulp! The finale was a song by Ian Tyson; "Four Strong Winds". The crowd sang along en masse. I only knew a few words. Thanks to Neil Young who covered it at the Band's Last Waltz. If the flight-tickets are a bit cheaper next year, there will be a next year. This festival is a lot better than "the way to cocky for its own good" Lowlands. I hate an audience who are trying to be hip a bit too hard. This audience was just nice, gentle and incredibly mellow. And I prefer it that way. </div></div></div></div></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-105945535219055462008-11-17T21:20:00.006+01:002009-11-27T21:57:02.627+01:00The Edmonton Folk FostThe Edmonton Folk Fest! Now I`ve been to quite a number of festivals, and let me tell you, this one beats most of them. First of all because it has a line-up, which besides some big names on the main stage, is completely unfamiliar too me. Next to this, it is a sit-down festival. At some times I found this to be a very frustration position to be in. For some music you just have to get up and dance. Two times I managed to get to the dancing area (both on the last day) to get myself in a more familiar, standing, position. Now I`m not much of a dancer; I`m dutch; a bit of a "houten klaas" (translated, a wooden plank). I try to keep that last thought out of my mind though while standing in the dancing area; It's all about having fun hey?<br /><div><div><div align="justify"></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269728814426386338" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3n4oFqkR_L701qop2XDQNDMBnO0IpAXqfIlvM_xe2ZjuRqLr6p4YjqR1rDLxmtv_OJga4XQO_Nlj60h1XUWxaPSxC6yugyVSvo4Y7K8tkAIMJFYXfD3VqZKRQFLsrkR3mZXOpyA/s400/IMG_2756.jpg" border="0" />It all started of with Cat Power. Wow. She was really out there, somewhere. Her setlist mostly consisted out of slow, heartwrenching songs, and she put a lot of feeling in every word that came out of her mouth. I would call it Soul, with a capital S. I wouldn`t buy a cd from her, but that performance was 100% real, no act. Aimee mann was next. I don`t remember much from this performance, and this was not due to too many beers in the beer garden. I do remember being impressed by her voice, and the beautiful slow songs. It was not fireworks, more like watching a candle burn, at a very beautiful night.<br /><br /><div align="justify">Which brings me to the location of this festival. Edmonton has got it all, and thus also a small ski-hill in the middle of the city, close to downtown. Now in the winter I figure that people will ski from it, but in the summer it makes up for the most ideal festival location ever. Great views and sound from all over the field, and a great view on downtown Edmonton also. The weather was also flawless during the 4 days of the festival, which makes it the place were I got most of my tan this summer. </div><br /><div align="justify">On friday the sessions at the side-stages started, and these sidestages were the places where the action really happenned. We started the day with a session called "Finger Pickin' Good". Three bands were on stage at the same time: Amos Garrett and the the festival House band, Jonny Lang and Don Ross & andy McKee. Now the goal of these sessions is to get the musicians working together, resulting in some awesome and mindblowing jam-sessions. During this first performance I already experienced on of these. Especially the songs lead by Jonny Lang were quite exciting. I think he played some blues-standards, and the good thing about these is that they allow all the other musicians to join in pretty easily. Don Ross & Andy McKee are both specialist guitar players (one has got 15 million views on youtube), and this made up for some great solo's. These two also played some individual songs, but it was when they played together with the band that things really started to become very interesting. Four guitars on one stage creates so much dept in the music (or makes it a mess, whatever's your take on it), that you don`t know to which guitar you have to listen to first. </div><br /><div align="justify">After that it was time for the "Shades of Africa" workshop. Here I met 4 of my favorite new discoveries of the festival. Bill Bourne and Madagascar Slim. Two old veterans from the festival, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbIBQ1xGQX9hPhIL1_6vdza8yH-VenkLZsu72taXkKXYJZusnfRhpK64AJcBlNBJmon4ll1S542HoNITwLUvN-4lJsXshLLqpU-0iftVL8T4_HNMAHfEmXWMg6H81bBY47eFp9w/s1600-h/IMG_2746.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269729279525625426" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbIBQ1xGQX9hPhIL1_6vdza8yH-VenkLZsu72taXkKXYJZusnfRhpK64AJcBlNBJmon4ll1S542HoNITwLUvN-4lJsXshLLqpU-0iftVL8T4_HNMAHfEmXWMg6H81bBY47eFp9w/s320/IMG_2746.jpg" border="0" /></a>and both very capable musicians. They seemed to have jammed with almost everybody these four days, always doing it with a smile. Then there was Daby Toure. A young french musician, who I happen to know from a Peter Gabriel concert, where he was the opening act. He impressed me a lot more here than back then. Especially is drumming on the guitar was great to hear, he had a good sence of rhythm. The Mighty Popo is an artist from Rwanda, who emigrated to Canada a few years ago. He had a great band around him, and made some original and smooth African music. </div><br /><div align="justify">At the end of the festival I bought his cd and got it signed! So if the Mighty Popo becomes the Incredibly Mighty Popo one day, I can say I`ve seen him from 2 meters distance. Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko are an odd but great couple. One is a great Canadian banyo player, while the other has his roots in Mali (I believe). Sissoko plays a strange african instrument with a sound like a harp. Pretty complicated to play I guess, but he mastered it perfectly. Together these four bands really recreated the feeling of being in Africa, in Edmonton. </div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cPbRf1PxoSwn4aqayWmg8sKJvwzoua4ETzF2G0l8RN2kh1YdrQyHj-oBEQ5LpoU7h1MURKzMoRtReVrqPXZix1sDPsLIWP55rAecHPKusRis7gNqllwbA-v819gINeQQ-mUVBQ/s1600-h/IMG_2744.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269729640185140962" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cPbRf1PxoSwn4aqayWmg8sKJvwzoua4ETzF2G0l8RN2kh1YdrQyHj-oBEQ5LpoU7h1MURKzMoRtReVrqPXZix1sDPsLIWP55rAecHPKusRis7gNqllwbA-v819gINeQQ-mUVBQ/s320/IMG_2744.jpg" border="0" /></a>Serena Ryder. First of all, I listened to some of her recordings now, and she sounds a lot better Live than on cd. Her solo performance on stage 6 was together with only one gitarist and this helped to create a much less pollished , and I guess unique, sound. Especially that voice of her's was just subliminal. At one song she just went all out with it, and I got a lump in my throat. This does not happen very often anymore (except when I see old favorite legends like Genesis and Neil Young), which should indicate that this was a very..very special concert. Her looks are also not working against her, so I was pretty much sold after the concert. Her music could best be described has a mix between country/folk and a bit of soft rock. And then she started to play "This Wheel's on fire", an old Band song. Damn you evil woman! You're doing everything right tonight for me to loose my heart. Which I did, for a split-second. </div><br /><div align="justify">After that I saw two of friend's favorites. Jonny Lang and Hawksley Workman. Now Jonny Lang used to be a gitarist-wonderkid, and I`ve already seen quite of those come and go. They are indeed great guitar players, but this does make you a great songwriter. My impression of this concert was that he was trying too hard, especially with his voice. I prefer subtle music, but his style of Blues (the 80s rockin' kind, a la Gary Moore but then with less memorable songs) just didn`t appeal to me. Hawksley Workman was something completely different. I came here to have fun, and the music sounded just like that. Modern Rock, with a bit of a dramatic twist to it (it reminded me a bit of Queen at some points, and not just because he played "Under Pressure"). He played quite a bit of covers (3 or 4), a bit of shame since I would like to have heard a bit more of his own stuff. The songs he played were solid, and it was a great show indeed. I only believe that this guy has a bit more up his sleeve that he had shown us that night. I`ll keep an eye on him.</div><div align="justify"></div></div></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27605212.post-41887691678973930232008-10-11T00:30:00.003+02:002008-10-11T00:48:05.055+02:00Food & Drinks at White avePart three of my trip to Canada is a bit hazy for me personally. Perhaps it was the alcohol, or the sun, but memory of this period is a bit limited. What I do remember is the following:<br /><br />The day after coming back from Jasper, Jen dropped Clara and me off at the West Edmonton Mall. This is supposed to be the biggest mall in North America. It ended up being a bit of a disappointed. We went to Galaxyland: The largest indoor amusement park in the world. It does not really have a lot of competition for all the obvious reasons: It is not that wise to built an amusement park in the middle of the building since the space for expansion is limited.<br /><br />Besides the usual fair attaction they had several rollercoasters, and these were quite stomach-turning. The first one was a rollercoaster where the carts themselves spinned around while you were being tossed around the track. So instead of only having to focus on the area right in front of you, you turned around constantly, losing your orientation in the process. After this ride we went straight to the top rollercoaster. Yes, indeed, the largest indoor rollercoaster in the world. In took three loops (although I completely missed the second one) and an awefull lot of turns. Your body was literally thrown around.<br /><br />The mall itself...euh...Shops everywhere...exclusive shops..shops with pushy owners..not my taste. But it was surely a great taste of kitsh and the grandest scale.<br /><br />That evening we had our first real night out in Edmonton. We went to White ave, and old part of the city of Edmonton, and it was quite primitive. Luckily however they had a great bar which was accomodated especially for drinking games. It was somebodies birthday and the drinking game was already going on for quite some time judging by the lack of focus in the birthday boy's eyes. All I remember from playing this game was that my number was three, and that I lost a lot. Mostly intentially. The punishment was drinking a little bit of beer, and since I hadn`t had a drink since entering Canada, this was an end to a long period of drought for me. So we were playing a very loud drinking game which started to attact a bit of negative attention. Finally, around 2am, we prepared ourselves to go back home.<br /><br />We took a cab, and arrived at somebody's appartment. A pretty nice one I`ve got to say. There we watched some television and had some more drinks. And I, your's truly was the only one to finish his rum-coke! I regretted finishing it in the morning though...ugh..it was a clean night but a bit unstable.<br /><br />I also remember that Jen, Clara and me went to a Cajun place somewhere along white-ave. Dee-da-do was the name of it. A nice little bar, great 30-40s music, a bit of Jazz. I don`t know exactly anymore what I had, but it was a big sandwich, with a lot of pork on it, and the taste was simply..well..delicious. I had a hard time finishing it though..and for something tasting this good, that's rare!<br /><br />Now I`m also remembering this great Japanese place I went to on Robson street in Vancouver. I love ramen. I wish we had a ramen shop in Brunssum. Ramen has several things going for it. 1) It's generally cheap 2) It's filled with fresh vegetables and optionally some meat 3) It is a soup. Basically this means that you get two meals for the price of one. And at this restaurant they were simply delicious. Hmmmm.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268524158985718355noreply@blogger.com0