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November 14 2011
While my guitar gently weeps
This is an all-star version of Harrison’s probably most famous song and it pretty much blows my mind.
Prince may be a tad insane, but he knows how to work that Telecaster.
October 12 2011
4-chords by the Axis of Awesome
This is pretty much everything you need to know about music:
July 25 2011
Inception Dubstep Remix
Everyone and their grandma loves Inception. Every hipster and their single-speeds love dubstep. Put it together and you get this, which’ll make 2:08 minutes of your life more enjoyable:
June 24 2011
Prince: I am music
Prince or Symbol or The man who hates the Internets, in an interview with The Guardian. And despite (or maybe because of) the fact that he’s quite probably very insane, it’s an interesting read:
Sometimes he seems a little too fond of boundaries. “It’s fun being in Islamic countries, to know there’s only one religion. There’s order. You wear a burqa. There’s no choice. People are happy with that.” But what about women who are unhappy about having to wearing burqas? “There are people who are unhappy with everything,” he says shruggingly. “There’s a dark side to everything.”
Noting my unconvinced expression, he tries to clarify, but gives up with a sigh. “I don’t want to get up on a soapbox. My view of the world, you can debate that for ever. But I’m a musician. That’s what I do. And I also am music. Come to the show for that.”
leyrer
June 23 2011
Glastonbury drug test – rather not
Glastonbury, biggest music festival of the British Isles, is going down this weekend. Analytical toxicologists had asked if they could test the festival’s waste for legal highs and illicit drugs. Festival manager Michael Eavis declined, as writes The Guardian.
If he hadn’t declined, here’s how they would have done it:
All the festival sewage gets tipped into a huge container and then fed out slowly into the local sewage works over the next few weeks. This gives the toxicologists the opportunity to sample the “wastewater” without having to tackle the problem of sampling the output of thousands of onsite portable toilets. It also ensures the process is totally anonymous.
“We can only do it if there is a central sewage system,” said Ramsey, who carried out a similar project at a festival in Antwerp. “The joy of Glastonbury is that they have their own plumbing.”
I for one would have liked to see the results.
June 11 2011
What are you listening to? Copenhagen!
Jason Kottke showcased first the NYC version, then the London version of people with headphones getting asked what they are listening to. Well, fresh off the press, here’s the same thing done in Copenhagen. Enjoy:
The music mixture is, compared to the NYC and London versions, not as hip but definitely more eclectic. Mainland Europe, I guess.
May 25 2011
Rock posters for cash
Would you pay 500$ for a Nick Cave concert poster? Some people apparently do and, according to this Guardian article, they pay even more for other posters of contemporary rock acts:
Now contemporary posters are fetching silly sums, too. A Citizen Kane-style poster for a White Stripes’ 2003 gig by Chicago artist Rob Jones (who does most of the band’s artwork) sold on the night for £15, but fetched £1,600 on eBay in 2008. “Each [poster] was done in a limited edition of 333, for every concert, and there won’t be any more,” explains Jody Goodall, director of Manchester’s Richard Goodall gallery.
May 23 2011
52 pianos on one stage
Yesterday Chinese pianist Lang Lang performed with 100 young pianists playing on 52 Steinways at London’s Southbank Centre (read more about it on the Southbank Centre blog). And here’s a rather impressive image from the rehearsals of yesterday’s concert:
Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA
I’d love to mention that I know Lang Lang personally, but I don’t actually do. But as a matter of fact, my sister, who’s the manager at Southbank Centre and responsible for the whole of Lang Lang’s 4 concerts he played there last week, does. And according to her, he’s quite a pleasant chap!
May 17 2011
Blue Bayou by Andrea Corr
I’ve never really liked Irish family-folk band The Corrs, so I didn’t really notice when they weren’t anymore. But as it seems, that’s what happened sometime during the last few years. Now Andrea Corr, one of them, is releasing an album of her own, and the British Telegraph has filmed her performing a couple of songs. One of those is this one (after the jump, cause it starts playing automatically, which no sane person likes):
Even though her music is too similar to what The Corrs made for me to actually like it, I do find the imagery of that clip quite charming. Like that barefooted keyboard guy and something that looks like a makeshift bed.
May 14 2011
Felice Brothers: Ponzi
Speaking of The Felice Brothers. Here’s a video of “Ponzi”, a song from their latest album (both song and video are wonderful):
And if you want to listen to the whole thing, they are gracious enough to let you do that right on their website.
May 13 2011
Celebration, Florida
The Felice Brothers, a combo which I’m quite fond of, just released their latest album “Celebration, Florida”. I haven’t had a chance yet to listen to the album, but in the course of my research (that is, searching for “Celebration, Florida” on the Interwebs) I stumbled upon a Wikipedia entry on the actual place called Celebration, of course located in Florida. And it’s kind of creepy:
In the early 1990s, the Disney Development Company (DDC) established the Celebration Company to spearhead its development within approximately 4,900 acres (20 km2) of land in the southern portion of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Total investment for the project is estimated at US$2.5 billion.
That’s right. Celebration, Florida was developed by the Disney corporation. And I’m obviously not the only person who thinks that’s a tad Stepfordish. British combo Chumbawamba seemed to think so too when they released a song called “Celebration, Florida”. It includes fun lyrics like these:
They’re sharing homemade corn chips
Even the dogs get facelifts
Down in Celebration, FloridaThere’s a bake sell at the schoolhouse
And they’re selling innocence
They’re keeping out the deviants
To protect the residents
Of Celebration, Celebration, FloridaThere’s nation fighting nation
There’s kids with malnutrition
But not in Celebration, FloridaSocial engineering
It gives you that fuzzy feeling
Down in Celebration, Florida
Listen to the whole thing here:
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May 12 2011
Donovan at the Guardian
Singer Donovan at the Guardian live sessions.
I seriously hope he’s not as pressed for money anymore as he was when he did that.
Edit: Seems like his Wikipedia article is ignorant of above linked abomination. Good for him.
December 02 2010
Double Trouble
I recently, by sheer accident and luck, stumbled upon Sean Costello, a blues-guitarist/singer-songwriter. His performances are so vibrant and heartfelt, I could weep everytime I see them. Well, not weep. But at least move my foot or tap a finger on my desk. There’s a pretty big archive of his fantastic life-performances on YouTube. For example, here he is performing the Otis Rush classic Double Trouble:
Unfortunately, he died two years ago at the age of 28. After researching him a bit, I found that film-maker Sarah Baker is currently in the pre-production of a documentary about Sean Costello and the life of musicians today (Facebook Page). From the blurb:
For Costello, the blues was indeed a calling, and he played it against considerable odds. Using Costello as a protagonist, BLUES MAN explores the livelihoods of modern musicians. How do they survive? How do they get gigs, tours, and radio airplay? What role did Sean play in the development of his own career?
It sounds like a wildly interesting and ambitious project which can be supported via Kickstarter. Please do pledge some money for the project, because I definitely want to see this film someday.
Until the film is out, here’s more from YouTube:
June 30 2010
Aortic Dissection
Watching this clip, I wonder how Lux Interior made it even to 62 before dying of aortic dissection. I’m glad he managed to have a singing role on Sponge Bob before he died, though. Which I present to you now. Enjoy:
November 18 2009
Concerts – A Rant
There are a couple of things young people like to do (yes, I still consider myself young, so fuck off, will you?). One of these things is going to cocerts. I myself am not as avid a concertgoer as some of my peers, mainly because I’m too elitist to listen to most of what is playing in venues near me. But once in a while, I do like to indulge in a live-experience, and whenever I do, I remember another reason why I don’t do this more often: the people.
That’s right, people. It’s similar to the movies, really. You come to see and hear someone or something, and most of the time your enjoyment is hindered by someone else who has come for the same reasons but, unlike you, is an inconsiderate or stupid bastard. Or both.
So let me run down a few things that tend to make me want to shoot someone in the head (”shoot in the head” is of course a figure of speech – I’d actually bludgeon them to death with my plastic beer cup):
- Dancing: Yes, I have heard from people that moving your body in a fashion resembling the way the schoolgirl-zombies move in STACY is something to be enjoyed. I am inclined to believe that notion, but I’m als extremely annoyed when people think it’s their prerogative to move that way in a crowd that’s already as packed as a can of sardines. I don’t exactly care for your idea of feeling the music through weird movements of arms and legs, so bumping into me repeatedly with a look of bliss on your face is not something I take to lightly. I might make use of that plastic cup.
- Cameraphones: Yes, it is perfectly alright to take pictures of your favourite band. I’ve done it! But it’s not alright to constantly take photos with your crappy cameraphone, thus obscuring everyone else’s view behind you, forcing them to watch the whole concert through the crappy lense of your crappy cameraphone. Enjoy the music (don’t dance!), and try to forget about posting crappy pictures off your crappy cameraphone to facebook once in a while, willya?
Actually, that’s it. Apart from the fact that I’m really not into handing in my coat, therefore being envious of all those people who prance around in their tshirts and don’t have to either carry or wear their coats and sweat like a pig, there’s nothing else I’d like to add. I guess I’m only half-way to being the bitter, old man I’m aspiring to be.
November 16 2009
Oceansize, Flex, 09
It’s not that long ago that I wrote on here about one of the best concerts I’d ever been to. It was Oceansize’s gig at Vienna’s Flex, about two years ago.
I was quite ecstatic, and for solid reasons. First of all, I was in the fortunate position to interview lead-singer Mike Vennart, which in itself is always a nice way to start a night. And second they simply played a fantastic set, seemed to be really into it and, last but not least, the audience seemed to be too.
Last Monday, they played again in Vienna, again at the same venue. The vivid memories from their last gig still fresh in my mind, I went there with great expectations, sky-high I’d like to think in retrospect. Can you guess what happened next? In case my powers of dramatic storytelling have failed me once again, I’ll tell you. It was disappointing.
First of all, they didn’t seem to be too taken with their audience, and the audience didn’t either. I think it didn’t help that lead-singer Mike Vennart repeatedly told them that he’d appreciate if people went outside or to the back to smoke. While I do understand that it must be tough to sing in a smoke-filled club, it’s never a good idea to tell people to do one of the two things that people do at clubs, namely smoke and drink. Especially in Vienna.
Apart from those rather unhealthy dynamics, they also played a set-list with many either very new or yet unreleased songs. They didn’t play a single song off Frames, their latest LP, which I think is their best (which is of course no reason for them to think so too, but fuck, I’d have loved to hear “Trail of Fire”. Or at least “Only Twin”). And after a rather short concert, they played just that one encore. Which actually was quite awesome, I must say.
Didn’t help, though. In the end, it was a great band’s disappointing concert. Which I think is somehow worse than the other way round.
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