http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRjlkR6_Weo

Lichtgeschwindigkeit 42 von Dr. Dietmar Moews im Alphons-Silbermann-Institut

Berlin mit der täglichen Piraten-Presseschau, am Samstag, den 24. Oktober 2009;

Aufnahmezeit 16.45 Uhr.

Piratenthema heute: Schäuble, Mielke, Bob Dylans Poetologie, ferner die Taz Berlin,

Neues Deutschland, BILD Berlin/Brandenburg, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung und

FAZ vom 27. August 2009 Produktion,

Performance, Autor, Direktion: Dr. Dietmare Moews;

Aufnahmetechnik und Admin: Piraten-Crew Berlin

&



Flaschenpost 42

zu Lichtgeschwindigkeit 42, von Dr. Dietmar Moews

im Alphons-Silbermann-Zentrum Berlin, dem ungeschnittenen

Auswendigformat der täglichen Presseschau in Lichtgeschwindigkeit,

am 24. Oktober 2009, Aufnahmezeit um 16.30 Uhr;

Piratenthema hier: Schäuble, Mielke und Bob Dylan, ferner Taz

Berlin, Neues Deutschland, BILD Berlin/Brandenburg und Frankfurter

Allgemeine Zeitung sowie FAZ vom 27. August 2009

Themen:

Ich möchte gerne allen, die sich bei den Piraten für Kulturförderung

einsetzen wollen, zu bedenken geben: Wisst Ihr, welche Wege die

Kulturfördergelder fließen? Wer sie empfängt? Wer sie verschwinden lässt? –

Und möchte deshalb auffordern, keine Kulturgelder mehr in die dunklen

Kanäle der Salonpersonnage der unechten Künstler und Funktionäre fließen

zu lassen. Eine Gegenüberstellung der staatlichen Kulturgelder in den Budgets

mit den geringen Summen, die am Ende tatsächliche

Künstler oder dem Kauf von Kunstwerken zugute kommen,

lassen nur einen kunst- , künstler, und kulturfreundlichen Standpunkt zu:

Die Streichung aller dieser Mittel, die allein dazu dienen, dem Staat die

Legitimation zu beschaffen, als sei für die Kunst gesorgt. Es besteht ein

Bedarf an Selbstaufklärung bei den Piraten – alle

anderen Parteien glauben ja, dass diese Salonpersonnage als

Klientelisierungswerkzeug des kreativen Kerns ein kluges

Herrschaftsmittel sei.

Doch ist es eine verirrte Kunstorganisation aus dem Hause

Bundesrepublik Deutschland, das nicht ganz unähnlich der

DDR-Staatskunst ist.

Traratrara die Pest ist da (Heinz Erhard).

Weiterer Nachtrag zu Lichtgeschwindigkeit 41 ist meine kleine

Poetologie zu Bob Dylan, hier aus neue Sinnlichkeit 57, Seite 17: …

Der noch sehr junge Bob Dylan dichtete, wenn die Verheißungen

der Freiheit wie Glockenspiele aufklingeln – wer an sie glaubt,

weil sie schön sind, der habe recht?

Wer glaubt, dass sie einfache Freiheit verheißen, sitzt einer

Täuschung auf, wenn er glaubt, die Verheißung meine: Freiheit käme.

Freiheit wäre mehr als eine Veheißung. Bob Dylan sagt gar nicht

mehr zur Freiheit als – er von seinem Staunen über das Aufblitzen

dieses Glockenspiels der Freiheit staunt.

Er redet nicht von der Freiheit. Er redet und singt vom Staunen. …

es ist nicht ein Staunen des Kindes, das alle Sekunde staunen muss,

weil es laufend interessanteste Neuigkeiten gibt, die erstaunen.

Das Staunen über die aufblitzende Freiheit ist komplizierter – wir staunen,

weil etwas völlig Absurdes, an das kein erwachsener Leser mehr glaubt:

Freiheit, erstaunliche Freiheit, aufgleißende, auftrumpfende Freiheit, die

noch aufblitzt, obwohl alle wissen, es gibt sie nicht, sie ist eine faule

Verheißung – kurz, wir staunen nicht über das Aufblitzen der

glockenspielhaften Freiheit, wir staunen über uns, die wir

staunen wollen, so, wie wir lachen wollen, wie wir belogen

werden wollen, wie wir heucheln und geheuchelt bekommen wollen,

so staunen wir über unser Staunen über das Glockenspiel der Freiheit

im Dreivierteltakt bei Bob Dylan.

Die Medienlage, Radio, Fernsehen und Internetz sowie die

deuschsprachige Tagespresse zu weiten Teilen, bietet als

Hauptnachricht die mehr oder weniger Pleiteverhandlungen

um die Schwarz-Gelb-Regierungskoalition in Berlin,

Die Tageszeitung Taz aus Berlin vom 24. Oktober 2009

macht auf: Merkels erstes Wahlverbrechen/Wahlversprechen

und Schäuble zum Finanzminister

Das Neue Deutschland vom 24. Oktober 2009 bringt auf dem Titel:

Kopfpauschale kommt auf leisen Sohlen. Die Kostensteigerung für die

Armen für Krankenversicherung und Soziales nach der Landtagswahl

in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

BILD Berlin/Brandenburg vom 24. Oktober 2009 bringt auf Seite Eins

die gesamte neue Kabinetts-Bundesministerschaft des in der Vornacht

veröffentlichten Koalitionsvereinbarung zwischen den Unionsparteien

und der FDP:

Alles ist entschieden – Das ist unsere neue Regierung! Dazu die

Portraitfotos von Kanzlerin Dr. Merkel, 55, CDU; Außenminister

und Vize-Kanzler Westerwelle, 47, FDP; Finanzen Schäuble, 67, CDU;

Verteidigung zu Guttenberg, 37, CSU;

Gesundheit Rösler, 36, FDP; Justiz Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, 58, FDP;

Innen de Maiziere, 55, CDU; Wirtschaft Brüderle, 64, FDP;

Familie von der Leyen, 51, CDU; Arbeit/Soziales Jung, 60, CDU;

Umwelt Röttgen, 44, CDU; Verkehr Ramsauer, 55, CSU; Bildung Schavan, 54, CDU;

Landwirtschaft Aigner, 44, CSU; Entwicklung Niebel, 46, FDP;

Kanzleramt Pofalla, 50, CDU;

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung vom 24. Oktober 2009 titelt:

Schwarz-Gelb gestärkt sowie: Wolfgang Schäuble soll

Finanzminister werden.

Die heutigen Tageszeitungen hängen der Aktualität dieser neuen

Ministerriege nach, bis auf BILD, die es mit viel Bild eben einfacher hat.

Weil alle Finanzminister Schäuble titeln, und weil es eines der wichtigsten

Billionenschulden-Ministerien ist, das voraussichtlich die innenpolitischen

Krisenentwicklungen in Deutschland ausstehen muss, ist ein ehemaliger

Innenminister eine treffliche Wahl.

Schäuble-Überwachungsstaat wird nun von dem stillen de Maiziere

versteckt werden.

Der Sachse Thomas De Maiziere wird ab sofort, als Bundesinnenminister,

der Hauptadressat für die Apo-Piraten sein.

Wir haben das große Glück, dass nicht wie zu DDR-Zeiten,

als der DDR-Innenpolitiker Erich Mielke, der wohl als Tschekist

schießen gelernt hatte, aber ansonsten zu wenig soziale Kompetenz

besaß, unser Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble für mich keine Überraschung ist,

denn der ist tatsächlich vom Fach.

Und wir können froh sein, über Bundeskanzlerin Merkels

Fingerspitzengefühl und Schlauheit in der Personalpolitik.

Nicht nur, dass Schäuble nicht mehr

Innenminister ist, sondern eine kompetente Besetzung ist,

wie ich jetzt an einen Aufsatz von Schäuble ablese: Ohne Maß ist

die Freiheit der Ruin – in der FAZ vom 27. August 2009 – aus dem

ich Fundamentales zitieren will:

…das sozialpolitisch gewollte Anheizen des amerikanischen

Immobilienmarktes, die verhängnivolle Entscheidung der Securities

and Exchange Commission zur Aufhebung der Verschuldungsgrenzen

für Wertpapierhandelshäuser, die refinanzierungs und weltweite Verteilung

eines gigantischen Hypothekenrisikos durch Verbriefung und sogenannte

Finanzinnovationen. Was den deutschen Kontext angeht, wird man einige

Punkte ergänzen müssen. Zum Beispiel das Aufblähen der Landesbanken

mit öffentlichen Geldern. Unter dem Damoklesschwert

künftiger Beschränkungen durch die EU-Kommission wollten einige

Landesbanken ein letztes Mal ein großes Rad drehen. Dabei wurden

Risiken eingegangen, die nicht vernünftig waren und offenbar auch

von den Aufsehern kaum verstanden wurden. Auch die immer weiter

gehende Liberalisierung der Regularien für die Finanzindustrie war im

Nachhinein betrachtet ein Fehler. Kommentar

dietmarmowes: Daran war Schäuble als Regierungsmitglied

mit beteiligt und mitverantwortlich. …

Aufnahmezeit um 20.45 Uhr;

Produktion, Performance, Autor, Direktion: Dr. Dietmar Moews;

Aufnahmetechnik und Admin: Piratencrew Berlin

&

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRjlkR6_Weo

Lichtgeschwindigkeit 42 Piraten-Presseschau

am Sa, 24. Okt. 2009, von Dr. Dietmar Moews im Alphons-Silbermann-Zentrum Berlin; Aufnahmezeit um 16.30 Uhr;

Piratenthema hier: Schäuble, neuer Finanzminister, Mielke und Bob Dylan

ferner Taz Berlin, Neues Deutschland, BILD Berlin/Brandenburg und Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung sowie FAZ vom 27. August 2009

Produktion, Performance, Autor, Direktion: Dr. Dietmar Moews; Aufnahmetechnik und Admin: Piratencrew Berlin

Flaschenpost 42

zu Lichtgeschwindigkeit 42, von Dr. Dietmar Moews im Alphons-Silbermann-Zentrum Berlin, dem ungeschnittenen Auswendigformat der täglichen Presseschau in Lichtgeschwindigkeit, am 24. Oktober 2009, Aufnahmezeit um 16.30 Uhr;

Piratenthema hier: Schäuble, Mielke und Bob Dylan, ferner Taz Berlin, Neues Deutschland, BILD Berlin/Brandenburg und Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung sowie FAZ vom 27. August 2009

Themen:

Ich möchte gerne allen, die sich bei den Piraten für Kulturförderung einsetzen wollen, zu bedenken geben: Wisst Ihr, welche Wege die Kulturfördergelder fließen? Wer sie empfängt? Wer sie verschwinden lässt? – Und möchte deshalb auffordern, keine Kulturgelder mehr in die dunklen Kanäle der Salonpersonnage der unechten Künstler und Funktionäre fließen zu lassen. Eine Gegenüberstellung der staatlichen Kulturgelder in den Budgets mit den geringen Summen, die am Ende tatsächliche Künstler oder dem Kauf von Kunstwerken zugute kommen, lassen nur einen kunst- , künstler, und kulturfreundlichen Standpunkt zu: Die Streichung aller dieser Mittel, die allein dazu dienen, dem Staat die Legitimation zu beschaffen, als sei für die Kunst gesorgt. Es besteht ein Bedarf an Selbstaufklärung bei den Piraten – alle anderen Parteien glauben ja, dass diese Salonpersonnage als Klientelisierungswerkzeug des kreativen Kerns ein kluges Herrschaftsmittel sei. Doch ist es eine verirrte Kunstorganisation aus dem Hause Bundesrepublik Deutschland, das nicht ganz unähnlich der DDR-Staatskunst ist. Traratrara die Pest ist da (Heinz Erhard).

Weiterer Nachtrag zu Lichtgeschwindigkeit 41 ist meine kleine Poetologie zu Bob Dylan, hier aus neue Sinnlichkeit 57, Seite 17: …Der noch sehr junge Bob Dylan dichtete, wenn die Verheißungen der Freiheit wie Glockenspiele aufklingeln – wer an sie glaubt, weil sie schön sind, der habe recht? Wer glaubt, dass sie einfache Freiheit verheißen, sitzt einer Täuschung auf, wenn er glaubt, die Verheißung meine: Freiheit käne. Freiheit wäre mehr als eine Veheißung. Bob Dylan sagt gar nicht mehr zur Freiheit als – er von seinem Staunen über das Aufblitzen dieses Glockenspiels der Freiheit staunt. Er redet nicht von der Freiheit. Er redet und singt vom Staunen. … es ist nicht ein Staunen des Kindes, das alle Sekunde staunen muss, weil es laufend interessanteste Neuigkeiten gibt, die erstaunen. Das Staunen über die aufblitzende Freiheit ist komplizierter – wir staunen, weil etwas völlig Absurdes, an das kein erwachsener Leser mehr glaubt: Freiheit, erstaunliche Freiheit, aufgleißende, auftrumpfende Freiheit, die noch aufblitzt, obwohl alle wissen, es gibt sie nicht, sie ist eine faule Verheißung – kurz, wir staunen nicht über das Aufblitzen der glockenspielhaften Freiheit, wir staunen über uns, die wir staunen wollen, so, wie wir lachen wollen, wie wir belogen werden wollen, wie wir heucheln und geheuchelt bekommen wollen, so staunen wir über unser Staunen über das Glockenspiel der Freiheit im Dreivierteltakt bei Bob Dylan.

Die Medienlage, Radio, Fernsehen und Internetz sowie die deuschsprachige Tagespresse zu weiten Teilen, bietet als Hauptnachricht die mehr oder weniger Pleiteverhandlungen um die Schwarz-Gelb-Regierungskoalition in Berlin,

Die Tageszeitung Taz aus Berlin vom 24. Oktober 2009 macht auf: Merkels erstes Wahlverbrechen/Wahlversprechen und Schäuble zum Finanzminister

Das Neue Deutschland vom 24. Oktober 2009 bringt auf dem Titel: Kopfpauschale kommt auf leisen Sohlen. Die Kostensteigerung für die Armen für Krankenversicherung und Soziales nach der Landtagswahl in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

BILD Berlin/Brandenburg vom 24. Oktober 2009 bringt auf Seite Eins die gesamte neue Kabinetts-Bundesministerschaft des in der Vornacht veröffentlichten Koalitionsvereinbarung zwischen den Unionsparteien und der FDP: Alles ist entschieden – Das ist unsere neue Regierung! Dazu die Portraitfotos von Kanzlerin Dr. Merkel, 55, CDU; Außenminister und Vize-Kanzler Westerwelle, 47, FDP; Finanzen Schäuble, 67, CDU; Verteidigung zu Guttenberg, 37, CSU; Gesundheit Rösler, 36, FDP; Justiz Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, 58, FDP; Innen de Maiziere, 55, CDU; Wirtschaft Brüderle, 64, FDP; Familie von der Leyen, 51, CDU; Arbeit/Soziales Jung, 60, CDU; Umwelt Röttgen, 44, CDU; Verkehr Ramsauer, 55, CSU; Bildung Schavan, 54, CDU; Landwirtschaft Aigner, 44, CSU; Entwicklung Niebel, 46, FDP; Kanzleramt Pofalla, 50, CDU;

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung vom 24. Oktober 2009 titelt: Schwarz-Gelb gestärkt sowie: Wolfgang Schäuble soll Finanzminister werden.

Die heutigen Tageszeitungen hängen der Aktualität dieser neuen Ministerriege nach, bis auf BILD, die es mit viel Bild eben einfacher hat. Weil alle Finanzminister Schäuble titeln, und weil es eines der wichtigsten Billionenschulden-Ministerien ist, das voraussichtlich die innenpolitischen Krisenentwicklungen in Deutschland ausstehen muss, ist ein ehemaliger Innenminister eine treffliche Wahl. Schäuble-Überwachungsstaat wird nun von dem stillen de Maiziere versteckt werden. Der Sachse Thomas De Maiziere wird ab sofort, als Bundesinnenminister, der Hauptadressat für die Apo-Piraten sein.

Wir haben das große Glück, dass nicht wie zu DDR-Zeiten, als der DDR-Innenpolitiker Erich Mielke, der wohl als Tschekist schießen gelernt hatte, aber ansonsten zu wenig soziale Kompetenz besaß, unser Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble für mich keine Überraschung ist, denn der ist tatsächlich vom Fach. Und wir können froh sein, über Bundeskanzlerin Merkels Fingerspitzengefühl und Schlauheit in der Personalpolitik. Nicht nur, dass Schäuble nicht mehr Innenminister ist, sondern eine kompetente Besetzung ist, wie ich jetzt an einen Aufsatz von Schäuble ablese: Ohne Maß ist die Freiheit der Ruin – in der FAZ vom 27. August 2009 – aus dem ich Fundamentales zitieren will:

…das sozialpolitisch gewollte Anheizen des amerikanischen Immobilienmarktes, die verhängnivolle Entscheidung der Securities and Exchange Commission zur Aufhebung der Verschuldungsgrenzen für Wertpapierhandelshäuser, die refinanzierungs und weltweite Verteilung eines gigantischen Hypothekenrisikos durch Verbriefung und sogenannte Finanzinnovationen. Was den deutschen Kontext angeht, wird man einige Punkte ergänzen müssen. Zum Beispiel das Aufblähen der Landesbanken mit öffentlichen Geldern. Unter dem Damoklesschwert künftiger Beschränkungen durch die EU-Kommission wollten einige Landesbanken ein letztes Mal ein großes Rad drehen. Dabei wurden Risiken eingegangen, die nicht vernünftig waren und offenbar auch von den Aufsehern kaum verstanden wurden. Auch die immer weiter gehende Liberalisierung der Regularien für die Finanzindustrie war im Nachhinein betrachtet ein Fehler. Kommentar dietmarmowes: Daran war Schäuble als Regierungsmitglied mit beteiligt und mitverantwortlich. …

Aufnahmezeit um 20.45 Uhr;

Produktion, Performance, Autor, Direktion: Dr. Dietmar Moews; Aufnahmetechnik und Admin: Piratencrew Berlin

What if Syd Barrett was the singer of “Exile On Main St.” era Rolling Stones in 1993.  This collection of songs answers that question, and the result is pretty fucking cool.  Dave Baker was once in Mercury Rev but here he strikes out on his own and the result is totally magical.  Fumbling and stumbling through half realized emotions and letting accidental beauty play peek-a-boo throughout.  This is astral damaged blues played perfectly.  If you like early 90’s art-rock like  Flaming Lips, Rollerskate Skinny, Lotus Crown, etc… than this will be near and dear to your heart in no time.  The recording and overall sound on this disc is incredible too, lots of crazy effected instruments in the margins of the songs making this excellent on headphones.

The Go-Betweens

16 Lovers Lane (1988 Beggars Banquet)

http://www.mediafire.com/?ohye22y1vn5

Believe it or not, this red-blooded American once identified so closely with the sexless indifference of Morrissey that it resembled some wayward strain of Stockholm Syndrome. This is sad and ironic since my high school existence was most assuredly sexless, but jam-packed with nothing but lust and longing. Even during those low points where I found misguided parallels with these paeans to abstinence and restraint, there was something empty about this perpetual cock blocking because all I really wanted to do was race down the street and make awkward conversation with any and all females who would tolerate my formative flirting. All of this seems ridiculous now, but there was a purity to those moments when love was a blank canvas yet to be stained by a single stroke. However, those squeaky clean moments pale in comparison to the richness of a wrinkled and stained life where one can reflect upon the hullabaloo that was their life and the lessons learned in the process.

Therefore, I now harbor an unadulterated love for a similar minded group of misanthropes and romantics that fixate on the bruises and stains instead of Morrissey’s porcelain and pale. The Go-Betweens bored me to tears in my 20s as their dour, slow-motion ruminations on mortality and regret seemed too monochrome for my florescent fantasies of bob hairdos and sassy lasses. Let’s just say that my winding road is littered with potholes and the Go-Betweens weather-beaten tales now ring so true that I feel naive for ever thinking that a homoerotic “come hither” like the Smiths’ “Hand in Glove” could ever be my anthem for an afternoon.

16 Lover Lane, their sixth album, isn’t even my favorite, but it the one I revisit most since it best captures the knot in your stomach one gets when in the midst of a difficult decision. Its protagonists roll the dice and either revel in ecstatic summits or tumble down into depression as a result. In short, it is an album about fucking up and making up. This duality seems apt since the band’s musical and lyrical identity was also split between two distinct forces, Robert Forster and Grant McClennan. Yeah, their respective songs were both pretty bleak, but McClellan always seemed to aim for a much lighter shade of gray. Both sing about spilled mik, but McClennan wipes it up while Forster shrugs and walks away in resignation.

Just see how each tackles heartbreak. “Dive for Your Memory” turns rejection into an ode to building new homes on old rubble. It reminisces on history, then uses it as fodder for new campaigns. However, the lyrical flipside can be found in “Clouds” which gets beaten and lays on the canvas feeling sorry for itself. Where Morrissey openly pined in isolation, Forster and McClennan fought, fucked and loved and sat down to tell you that life is goddamn gorgeous, not a piddling chore. It might piss on your leg on occasion and cause you to wear pajamas for 48 hours from time to time, but it was ultimately a lovely tumble that left you dizzy and smitten.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/no-expectations/

“Our love is like our music, it’s here and then it’s gone.”   Jagger/Richards

Reservation Road was the second novel from John Burnham Schwartz, author of The Commoner.   It is a tale of psychological suspense made all the more interesting as it is told through the thoughts of three characters (Ethan, a college professor; Grace, his wife; and Dwight, the man whose actions cause the death of Ethan and Grace’s son).   Ethan is a literature professor at a small college in New England, whose life is on course until…  

Returning late from an outing, the family makes an unscheduled stop at a gas station on Reservation Road.   As Grace and daughter Emma go in to use the rest room at the almost-abandoned gas station, Ethan and son Josh wait near the side of the road.   In a matter of mere seconds, a car driven recklessly by Dwight hits and kills 10-year-old Josh.   Life will never be the same for Ethan and Grace Learner…

Life, in fact, becomes “too much to bear” for the Learners.   Grace becomes paralyzed by her grief and Ethan moves on driven strictly by thoughts of revenge against the hit-and-run driver who killed his son.   Dwight, by contrast, is a man who has already ruined his life, his marriage and his legal career due to his recklessness and violence.   He becomes “like many whose lives are fueled largely by regret.”   He’s a dead man walking who eventually does “not seem to care any longer what happened to him.”

Schwartz does a masterful job of building and maintaining suspense through this novel’s 292 pages even though the denouement is obvious…   When the criminal justice system fails to find the man who so tragically killed Josh, we know deep down – as does Dwight – that Ethan will find him.   And what then?

But this is more than just a crime mystery.   It is a quasi-morality play about how people deal with losses – death and separation – in their lives.   We see how some rebound to live again and others never recover.   What is the line from Neil Young?   “On the day that she left he died but it did not show.”   This is a story about Ethan and Grace, who lose part of their life (their reason to exist) late; and of Ethan, who has lost his strength and his will to survive early on.

At the end of Reservation Road, Ethan finds Dwight and gets to serve as his judge, jury and – perhaps – his executioner.   What happens?   You’ll have to read Schwartz’s Reservation Road to find out.

Recommended.

Note:   This book was purchased by the reviewer at Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon.

Today’s fashion September 17,2009

Skin: &Bean ~ Closer Nude Pale
Hat&Hair: Muism ~ Jojo /dark ash blonde
Eyes: MADesigns ~ NATURALS – rusty grey eyes SMALL
Necklace: ARAI ~ square02
Jacket: Emery – Jacket B.Y. Ash
Tank top: BEGGARS BANQUET ~ Ank 005
Jeans: Aitui ~ Tokyo Jeans + Sculpts – Ultra Low Rise /Dark Wash
Shoes: Urban Bomb Unit ~ PornStar Xtra Hi-Tops MultiColor v2

Shop SURL
Tact Arida Blog

Every day, our top 666 songs of alltime countdown gets one step closer to #1. Sunday’s song is #318:

The Rolling Stones – Memo from Turner

Originally credited to Jagger solo, this first appeared on the soundtrack to the cult film Performance with the Stones’ frontman playing a supporting role. Recorded during the sessions for Beggars Banquet, it’s one of their funniest songs: is he gay or isn’t he? Also incidentally one of Brian Jones’ most stinging moments in the band.The link above has the song playing over an amusing pastiche of clips from the movie. Mp3s are everywhere, but you’ll have to sift through a lot of dodgy outtakes. If you want something better sonically, it’s on a million European vinyl Stones anthologies.

Sigur Ros plays live

(Beggars Banquet) Jonsi Birgisson, Georg Holm, Kjartan Sveinsson, Orri Pal Dyarson, Amiina, Hildur Arsaelsdottir, Maria Huld Markan, Edda Run Olafsdottir, Solrun Sumarlidadottir. Directed by Dean deBlois

Music can be transcendent and cathartic. It bridges cultures and unites the most diverse of people. It is the glue that brings families together and makes memories live. It is beautiful and can be understood even if the language being sung is unfamiliar.

The band Sigur Ros got together without the expectation of fame or fortune. They just wanted to make music that spoke to them. When one of their songs appeared in the film Vanilla Sky, soon other songs began appearing in commercials and different movies. Soon, they were critical darlings and selling records at an amazing rate. A world tour followed, as such things inevitably will.

When the band arrived home, one gets the impression they didn’t quite know what to make of their fame and fortune. After all, their music isn’t the sort that gets played on “American Idol” much. It is beautiful, almost reverent at times. It is contemplative and heavily orchestrated. It’s not even sung in an actual language most of the time – vocalist Birgisson more often than not uses nonsense syllables in a language translated roughly in English as “Hopelandic,” a mixture of Icelandic and the literal translation of their first album.

Thinking a “thank you” to their friends and family who stuck by them might be in order, the band set out to perform a series of free concerts around their island nation. Some, as in the capital of Reykjavik are large, traditional affairs but they also performed on hillsides, in abandoned factories and small cafes. Few of the shows were announced beforehand. They also played an acoustic show at a protest camp near the construction site for a large dam meant to generate power for an aluminum smelting plant for American industrial giant Alcoa. The dam would end up submerging pristine Icelandic wilderness beneath dark waters.

Some of the shows are witnessed by little more than disinterested sheep; others by family members nodding along to the music in quiet satisfaction, others by large groups of people chatting amongst themselves over the music. Director deBlois intersperses footage of the band performing (often in an almost music video kind of live setting) with gorgeous footage of Iceland, windswept plains, verdant grassland, majestic waterfalls, modern cityscapes.

Birgisson sings in a falsetto that is almost otherworldly. It complements the music perfectly. DeBlois has a wonderful eye for textures, and his imagery is often haunting, even in the most mundane of settings. The results are a feast for the eyes as well as the ears.

Heima can be translated not only as “at home” but also “homeland.” This is a love letter from a band to its native land, to the people who have supported it and to their families. While there are interview segments in between songs, the concert footage rarely shows the band addressing their audience directly. They are one of the most intensely musical bands I’ve ever witnessed, so involved in their music that there’s almost nothing else in their field of vision. Maybe that’s why the music is so powerful.

I’m not into concert films at all. I’ve seen several over the years and for the most part, they rarely capture the experience of a live appearance, or worse yet, fail to encapsulate the essence of the band. You leave having no understanding of the band or their music. While I’d be the first to say that you won’t gain much of an understanding of the people who make the music that is Sigur Ros, you will get a glimpse into the things that inspire them, motivate them and bring them joy. In short, you get an insiders look into their soul. This is a magnificent, magical film.

WHY RENT THIS: The extraordinary music of Sigur Ros gets inside your soul and brings serenity, and the gorgeous imagery from deBlois complements the music perfectly. This is flat-out one of the finest concert/music films I’ve ever seen.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Most of the songs are sung in a variation of Icelandic and the interviews are a bit vague.

FAMILY VALUES: Perfectly suitable for any family.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Director deBlois’ previous film was the Disney animated feature Lilo and Stitch.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: A second disc of 25 complete live performances, including some that are only partially shown in the film.

FINAL RATING: 9/10

TOMORROW: Inglorious Basterds

  …<3 Uma

Counterpoint (left to right)

Skin – ‘bird skin – heavy brow’ by (fd)

Hair – ‘The Fear  . black tones’ by (Epoque)

Shirt – ‘My check shirt . blue’ by (Milk Motion)

Tube top/pants (one) by >KGY</>KAGUYAHIME< (great find for 80L)

Socks – ‘mokomoko socks – argyle white’ by *UnTone Quilt*

Shoes – ’sporty flats navy’ by [MG fashion]

.

Hair – ‘Throwback – blonde tones’ by (Epoque)

Jacket – ‘Main St. swing jacket – orange u gr8′ by [PO] . Pink Outfitters

Shirt – ‘BBT – ank 004′ by BEGGARS BANQUET

Jeans – ‘Skinny roll-up cuff jeans indigo’ by *Muism*

Shoes – ‘ant flats . brown derby’ by Miel

.

Hair – ’shipping & handling – blonde tones’ by (Epoque)

Jacket – ‘Opened Trench , red’ by (P-K)

Top – ‘tunic white’ by *Kurotsubaki*

Pants – ‘i cropped pants blue’ by ! NU

Shoes – ‘Drunks’ by UBU

Cat (mouth) by *M* (arigatou Meru!! <3)

Listening to….THIS

“some folks were born silver spoon in hand” (“fortunate son” creedence clearwater revival)
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and the most precarious yet precious ones now take them to their local junk food restaurant.
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precarious new beggars banquet!
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a photo series by nicolas maillat (maillat@alchemy.fr).

AUTOR: Ileşoi Ionuţ Titus

TITLU: BAUHAUS. TRECUTUL

Taţii Goth-ului

Cum e când nu mai vezi pe cineva de aproape un sfert de secol? Hai să spunem 24 de ani? Surprinzător şi revoltător în acelaşi timp. “Go Away White” este acel ceva ce a lipsit toţi aceşti ani, iar când a apărut a fost un şoc. Ultimul produs discografic al celor de la BAUHAUS apărut pe 4 martie 2008 la propria lor casă de discuri, Bauhaus Music, este mai mult decât s-ar fi aşteptat oricine dintre cei ce au crescut cu părinţii gothic rock-ului. Nimeni nu credea că după, aparent, ultimul album “Burning From The Inside” (© Beggars Banquet, 1983) şi rupturile puternice din interiorul trupei, aceştia se vor reuni. Să ne aducem puţin aminte că au avut o perioadă scurtă (1978 – 1983) cu line-up-ul iniţial: Peter Murphy (voce), Daniel Ash (chitară), David Jay (chitară bass) şi Kevin Haskins (tobe).

Dar chiar şi aşa au reuşit încă de pe atunci să intre în mainstream-ul mişcării post-punk britanice, mergând puţin mai departe şi dând naştere la ceea ce mai încolo a devenit stitul gothic, goth-rock. Şi asta cu câţiva ani buni înainte ca formaţii precum FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM (© Situation Two Records, 1985), SISTERS OF MERCY (© Merciful Release, 1985), DEAD CAN DANCE (© 4A.D., 1984), COCTEAU TWINS (© 4 A.D., 1982) şi CLAN OF XYMOX (© 4 A.D., 1985) să îsi aibă debuturile discografice, consolidând şi mai puternic viitoarea scenă goth. Despărţirea a survenit oarecum natural din interior, într-o perioadă de vârf a scenei britanice/europene de idie, în care mişcarea post-punk din Manchester era în floare, chiar dacă piesa de rezistenţă: JOY DIVISON (Factory Records) era deja istorie (1980) şi cei de la THE SMITHS mai aveau un an şi scoteau primul lor album de studio: The Smiths, The Smiths (© Rough Trade, 1984).

Trecând peste declaraţia dată de bassistul David Jay pentru NME.com: ”Our chemistry was so volatile we actually split up” (30.12.08); din dorinţa de a experimenta maturitatea la care au ajuns fiecare în parte prin proiectele în care au activat sau mai activează, discuţiile de regrupare a componenţei iniţiale au venit în urma recitalului la Coachella Festival (2005). Festival la care au concertat în deschidere  pentru Nine Inch Nails, colaborând ulterior cu front-man-ul NIN: Trent Reznor şi  cu Jordie White (a.k.a. Twiggy) la Bauhaus Radio Sessions, 2006.

Istoria trupei a început în micul oraş englezesc Northampthon în anul 1978, unde patru personaje obscure, provenind din diferite experienţe muzicale (mai presus de toate legate de decadenta scenă punk) au decis să formeze ceea ce va deveni, nu peste mult timp, una dintre cele mai importante trupe a anilor ’80: BAUHAUS (iniţial Bauhaus 1919), având următorul line-up iniţial: Peter Murphy (voce), Daniel Ash (chitară), David Jay (bass), Kevin Haskins (tobe).

După doar o săptămână, aceştia lansează primul lor demotape ce va deveni şi primul lor single “Bela Lugosi is Dead” (© Small Wonder Records), o piesă inspirată din miturile apărute în jurul morţii faimosului actor Bela Lugosi.

Debutul a fost excelent şi trupa a avansat rapid în noua scenă gothică. Cea mai potrivită dimensiune pentru trupă a fost cu siguranţă cea a cântărilor live, ce se dovedeau a fi adevărate  performance-uri în care foloseau un talent remarcabil de abordare a scenei practicând deliberat ritualuri ambigue pline de senzualitate, eliberând o energie sălbatică, combinată cu stări  spectrale, mişcări melancolice, toate acestea într-o atmosferă decadentă.

IN THE FLAT FIELD

În 1980 al doilea lor single “Dark Entries” apare la nou născuta casă de discuri 4 A.D., single ce a ajuns pe locul nr.1 în clasamentul indie. După apariţia celui de al treilea single “Terror Couple Kill Colonel” apare şi primul lor album de studio: “In the Flat Field” (© 4 A.D.) ce conţine nouă piese în care cei patru îşi exprimă versurile impregnate cu o ritmicitate ameţitoare. Tot în 1980 apare al patrulea single: ”Telegram Sam” pe a cărui B-Side apare piesa: “Crowds” inspirată din muzica lui David Bowie (Murphy admite o anumită afinitate cu acesta).

MASK

În 1981 cel de-al doilea album: “Mask” apare după single-urile “Kick In the Eye” şi “Passion de Loyers”, ambele caracterizate de un sound mai morbid şi ritmat. În acel moment colaborarea lor cu importanta casă de discuri londoneză: Beggars Banquet, a început. În 1982, datorită lui Bowie, au cântat single-ul  “Bela Lugosi is Dead” în filmul “The Hunger”, regizat de Tony Scott  şi în care Peter Murphy joacă împreună cu Bowie, Catherine Deneuve şi Susan Sarandon. Single-urile  “Spirit” şi  “Ziggy Stardust” (cover-uri Bowie) au fost, tot datorită lui Bowie, difuzate pentru prima dată la televiziunea britanică în cadrul emisiunii: “Top Of the Pops”.

THE SKY’S GONE OUT – BURNING FROM THE INSIDE

Cel de-al treilea album “The Sky’s Gone Out” a fost produs de casa de discuri  A&M. Acesta a fost cel mai eterogen produs al lor, iar piesele remarcabile sunt cover-ul după Brian Eno: “Third Uncle”, sunetul obsesiv de pe  “In the Night”, o nouă versiune la “Spirit” şi minunata piesă “The Three Shadows”. În 1983 single-urile  “Lagartija Nick” şi “She’s in Parties” au fost înregistrate, ultimul reprezentând poate cel mai înalt vârf din discografia BAUHAUS.

Tot în acelaşi an apare şi ultimul lor album: “Burning From the Inside”, ocazie cu care cei patru se despart, doar pentru a se reuni în toamna lui ’98, cu ocazia unui Full US Tour.

Dorinţa de a experimenta forţa ce-i ţinea împreună a fost şi cauza pentru care, având fiecare personalităţi puternice, s-au despărţit. Chiar şi aşa lumea muzicală îi consacră ca fiind părinţii gothic-rock-ului…

Peter Murphy începe cariera solo. Restul formaţiei se numeşte Tone on Tail, ulterior Love and Rockets. Ambele proiecte au succes comercial pe piaţa americană. În acelaşi timp dispar din Clasamentele britanice.

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a newborn baby it just happens ev’ryday

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and it has been painted black
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts
It’s not easy facing up when your whole world is black

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

Hmm, hmm, hmm…

I wanna see it painted black, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun, blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah

1966. Año en el que reinan en la música Bob Dylan, que revolucionó la música rock el año anterior con Like a Rolling Stone; The Beach Boys, que sacarían a la luz en este año Pet Sounds y, por supuesto, The Beatles, que antes del Pepper´s publicarían una obra, Revolver, que si bien a mí, particularmente no me hace ni puta gracia, en su momento fue aclamada como una obra de ingeniería musical.

Asimismo, en este año un joven Jimmi Hendrix apuntaría sus maneras con Hey Joe; el mismo Hendrix que dejó, literalmente, atonitos a los miembros del efímero supergrupo Cream, que con Eric “manolenta” Clapton, Jack Bruce y “Ginger” Baker estarían en la  cima de la música durante un par de años.

En ese año, los Rolling Stones publicarían Paint it, Black, escrita por Jagger y Richards, como sencillo en el Reino Unido, y posteriormente formaría parte del álbum Aftermath en su versión norteamericana. Si bien ya antes habían lanzado su megaconocido tema (I can get no) Satisfaction, lo de esta canción es diferente, especial (hasta el lío de las comas ahora tiene su gracia). Probablemente representaba la esencia de unos Stones que se contraponían (en teoría) a unos más blandos Beatles, ellos eran el Let it Bleed del Let it Be. Y que tendrían una carrera meteórica en los finales de los sesenta y principios de los setenta con sus discos Beggars Banquet (1968), Sticky Fingers (1971) y, entre otras, la colosal obra Exile on Main Street (1972, atención a la canción Let it Loose y a una portada que veinte años después imitarían los U2 en su Achtung Baby).

Quizás sea la canción de los Rolling que más haya ganado con el paso de los años. Su inclusión en los créditos finales de La Chaqueta Metálica de Kubrick (si bien el tema no aparecía en la B.S.O.) sirvieron para cimentar una popularidad que se ha ido transmitiendo de generación en generación. En Andalucía, hasta Medina Azahara hizo una más que respetable versión (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VuKvnz2NZg).

Y aquí la tenemos, resistiendo el paso del tiempo, “painted, painted, painted, painted black”. Y nos seguimos volviendo locos cuando distinguimos los acordes y vemos a un viejuno Jagger entonar el “I see a red door and I want it painted black” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP2VyquMAaM&feature=related).

Sólo el One me puede hacer sentir algo similar a las emociones que desatan en mí este Temazo (con mayúsculas). ¡Viva The Rolling Stones! I wanna see it painted black…

P.D. Como epílogo, un nota haciéndose un 100% en el Guitar Hero en el modo experto. ¡Atieeeeende!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZwSzlizy40&feature=related

Post especialmente dedicado a AM, a AK y a JDC.

En 1992, apenas tres años después de su fundación, y aunque sus singles fueron cruciales para el desarrollo de la escena dance en el Reino Unido, Warp Records ya había diferenciado claramente sus producciones, de la multitud de álbumes de 12” que habían surgido a raíz de la explosión Acid House. Los álbumes editados por LFO y Nightmares On Wax insinuaban el apoyo que daría el sello a las carreras, a largo plazo, de estos artistas y los lanzamientos de  Forgemasters y Sweet Exorcist, ambos proyectos incluían al ex miembro de Cabaret Voltaire, Richard H. Kirk, mostró desde el principio que se trataba de un sello que podía cómodamente existir tanto en el aquí y ahora de la cultura rave británica, y en la más profunda, más amplia historia de la experimentación electrónica.

Pero fue la edición durante dos años de la serie de álbumes “Artificial Intelligence” “Artificial Intelligence”, rematada por dos compilados, con discos de B12, FUSE (Richie Hawtin), Autechre, Black Dog, Polygon Window (Richard D. James alias Aphex Twin) y Speedy J, que consolidó la posición del sello como una piedra angular en el mundo Post-Techno, Post-Rave. La idea de “música electrónica para escuchar”, es decir, Techno sin ataduras a la pista de baile, privilegiando melodía y textura, por sobre el ritmo, no era nueva en sí misma. The Orb (que figuraba, como Alex Patterson, en la primera compilación AI), The KLF, Aphex Twin, Future Sound Of London y otros ya estaban bien establecidos, pero la infalible selección, a cargo de Warp, de artistas que mostrarían coherencia e  influencia en los años siguientes, y su hincapié en el álbum como objeto ( vinilos de color, diseños temáticos durante toda la serie) daban importancia al concepto de “escuchar”, y presentaban la electrónica como algo con potencial más allá de las inmediatas, y contingentes demandas de la cultura de club. Estos álbumes aspiraban a la longevidad, la clase y la influencia de Kraftwerk o Pink Floyd, hecho que llevó a algunos a cuestionar si estaban dándole la espalda a la cultura-DJ.

Al escuchar de nuevo los discos, sin embargo, es sorprendente lo mucho que hay en su sonido de la escena rave. Los álbumes, Dimension Intrusión, de FUSE, Surfing On Sine Waves, de Polygon Window, y Ginger, de Speedy J, son principalmente discos Techno, los sonidos menos amigables de Autechre, Black Dog, B12 y Kenny Larkin, todos incorporan el estruendo, un nerviosismo eufórico y bajos breakbeat en la colisión de influencias, todos tienen una sensación psicodélica que unió los puntos entre las influencias Industriales (Cabaret Voltaire, Chris & Cosey), el Acid House y el nuevo sonido del Trance Alemán. Mientras tanto, un grupo disperso de artistas (Dave Angel, Bandulu, Mu Ziq, Reload, Biosphere, The Source) y sellos (Apollo, Clear, Nu electrónica, 100% Pure, Rephlex, Skam) estaban haciendo lo mismo: exploraban los margenes del Techno manteniendo al menos un pie en la pista de baile.

Esto se reflejaba el medio ambiente a partir del cual surgió Artificial Intelligence. Hasta al menos 1992, la inclusión proteica de la cultura rave mantuvo al Techno, el Hardcore, el Trance, el Hard House y otros sub-géneros superpuestos en cierta medida, indiferenciados: clubes como Pure, The Orbit, Club UK, Lost y Eurobeat 2000,  hicieron hincapié en la intensidad del cruce Detroit/Euro Techno.

Así, aunque la especificación de los géneros se aceleraba, incluso mientras se estaban realizando los álbumes, y aunque se fueron vistos como una separación de la electrónica diseñada para fuera de la pista de baile,  como un género por derecho propio, la serie “Artificial Intelligence” también podría ser vista como un intento ampliado de aferrarse a las raíces del género, la explosión rave donde todo era incluido, en oposición su fragmentación. Esto está en directa oposición a la filosofía de la música de baile inteligente (IDM) que siguió, y que tiende a considerarse por encima de la simple música pensada para la pista baile. Después de 1994, la idea de “escuchar Techno” se perderá, el IDM, el triphop, el chill out y cepas de drum’n’bass diluido, ocuparan su lugar en el ecosistema, mientras que la diáspora Artificial Intelligence seguirá salvajemente diferentes rutas: Speedy J y Hawtin permaneceran en la corriente principal del Techno, Plaid (dos tercios de Black Dog) perseguirán la melodía por encima de todo, Autechre entrara en un hermético mundo de abstracción, Aphex Twin estudiara la hiper-aceleración post-jungle, junto a Luke Vibert y Squarepusher, y sólo B12 quedaran como puristas adeptos al sonido de su álbum para Artificial Intelligence, Electro Soma. Warp, también, deberá diversificarse necesariamente fuera de sus raíces Techno/rave, mientras se expandía para convertirse en uno de los “principal sellos independientes” al lado de 4AD, Beggars Banquet y Mute. Sin embargo, el nexo de su período Artificial Intelligence, que condensó y conservó las influencias pasadas y contemporáneas, mientras que ellos mismos influían en las generaciones venideras de productores, a través de Photek, Pinch y Claro Intelecto, garantizado con éxito su posición justo en el corazón de la música electrónica mundial.

Unlike my Top 12 Bands 2007, this year is a throwback to all good things ’80s and ’90s (kinda-sorta).  Because I like to blame Tim Peysar for my musical deviations, I will continue to do so for he led me, kicking and screaming, against my will, against my better intentions, against the will of my wallet, to buy all the Cure deluxe re-issues.

As I’d like to give him that full credit — I’ll also give him The Radio Dept. — I continued to buy re-issues of The Smiths (7″ Singles: hawt!), and a deluxe re-issue of Beck Odelay (did DGC forget Mellow Gold?) all by my lonesome.  I’ve been avoiding those Sonic Youth re-issues.

If anything, it stands as a testament that this year in music was a grab-bag into the past instead of the push forward I’ve seen over the past few years.  Sometimes those leaps aren’t so obvious, or aren’t mined from the depths for years from now, but it gave me some time to discover and re-discover some of my musical roots.

The downside, this has been one of the most frustrating posts to put together and I know why I love my indies and give them all my money every chance I get.  To the major labels of my 80s and 90s icons and their weakness to share: they make it impossible to legally link to any mp3s.  High margins for them — no downloads for you — but you’ve probably heard it all before.

01. The Cure on Fiction, thecure.com
I swore off The Cure with Wild Mood Swings.  I didn’t buy Bloodflowers. Alt.End: What.Was.That? I didn’t need the deluxe reissues, I had everything I wanted on LP, tape, and CD, Boxset, OMG.  Then the I Am a Cult Hero single was on one of the Reissues, then some of the non-Curiosity Anomolies, then I saw the packaging, in person with those wonderful liner notes.  After Robert Smith’s vocals made an apparance on The Orb Orbital’s Paul Hartnol “Please” single, and the once a month campaign of CD Singles leading up to 4:13 Dream, I got sucked back in.  The Verdict: stay with the classics, they’ve held up to the test of time and bought up by the majors which is probably why their MP3s are on lockdown.  Re-issue Disintegration already!

02. Cut Copy on Modular Interscope, cutcopy.net
If you listen to any songs from In Ghost Colours you might be inclined to wonder how did you miss them on you last 80s comp you bought.  Didn’t they come out of pre-Madchester with the sensibilities and guitars of New Order?  Even their debut album, Bright Like Neon Love,  cover art is oh-so-Nagel. But as implied by their name, the genres are exquisitely cut from different pieces and blended seamlessly like a crossed memory.  There’s the edge of The Pixies on “So Haunted” and the comfort of Fleetwood Mac on “Strangers in the Wind.”  There is an urgency of youth in the tapestry of songs.  I feel very lucky to have discovered Cut Copy and had the chance to see them at Coachella last year.

• So Haunted
• Lights & Music

03. The Radio Dept. on Labrador, Shelflife, theradiodept.com
If Pet Sounds was the epitome of 60s-era genius, you could say that Pet Grief is analogous to 90s shoegaze on par with My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless.  What’s surprising, like Cut Copy, is that they have arrived within this decade!  From Sweden.  What I love about The Radio Dept. is that their take on shoegaze isn’t groundfacing, overdriven with guitar bloat.  It’s crisp as a leaf on a fall day, bringing the best of Cocteau Twin-sy ethereal without getting lost in the sirrus.  Hints of Johnny Marr, Robin Guthie run side-by-side with synth and piano, vocals receding alongside them. So many free downloads it makes you want to learn more about Labrador!

• Freddy and the Trojan Horse
• Why Won’t You Talk About It?
• The Worst Taste in Music

04. Lucky Dragons on Marriage, 555 Recordings, hawksandsparrows.org
I’d been looking forward to see how Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara would follow up Widows but to my surprise, winning tickets to see them perform at LA’s The Smell, I saw what Make a Baby was all about.  It’s hard to explain, nearly religious in experience, where the audience to become participants in Lucky Dragon’s collaborative music making — Make a Baby, because, participants have to touch skin to affect the music.  I highly recommend!  There’s plenty of free music on Luke’s site, a copy of Dark Falcon, Bleach on Bleach (A Nirvana “remix” album split with Y.A.C.H.T.).  I was happy to discover to Pierre Henry’s “Atelier” on his site, perhaps giving insight to Luke’s influences.

• Heartbreaker
• Mercy
• Morning Ritual
• New Men [Screwed Version]

05  French Kicks on Vagrant, frenchkicks.com
I burned through all of French Kick’s albums this year but was stuck on Swimming, their latest release.  The first song “Abandon” is maybe one of the best jumps into an album, with bright guitars, deep bass, clapping, and the dulcet voice of Matt Stinchcomb.  I think it’s one of those albums that is burdened by it’s past, comparisons to their post-punk debut “One Time Bells” or the shimmering electronics of “Two Thousand” somehow undo what I feel is an album that can stand well on it’s own.  And I wonder, if the weight of the past was lifted, would we be more receptive to let Swimming soar?

• Abandon
• Also Ran

06. Department of Eagles on Isota, 4AD, departmentofeagles.com
I feel like I can address that wonderful album The Cold Nose.  When they were known as “Whitey on the Moon UK”, their approach is freer, consuming abandon of The Beta Band and downing it with a good dose of trip-hop. In”Gravity’s Greatest Victory / Rex Snorted Coke,” Rossen’s beautiful pipes are still there, but now we can gleam the 50s scifi-beatnics at their finest.  On their rarities album, songs are overdubbed with both whimsy and what makes “In Ear Park” so beautiful.  On a live performance of “Sailing by Night” we are introduced to “Señor Buttmerge” and a “Cat named Johnny Glaze” who “knows his ways around all the public bathrooms / always has a cookie in his pocket.” Yeah. All over the Rossen harmonies that make us think of the Beatles.

• Sailing by Night
• Ghost in Summer Clothes
• Winter Coat

07. Beck on Geffen/DGC/Interscope, beck.com
What can I say about Beck that isn’t already covered.  I bought the Deluxe Reissue of Odelay.  Modern Guilt was better than The Information but still not as good as Guero. I wished that I had bought Midnight Vultures when it came out in ‘99, I think 10 years has aged it pretty well tho. I’ll still buy Beck albums and one of these days I’ll make it to The Echo for one of his free shows (I hope!)

08. The Smiths on Rough Trade, Rhino
I love the Smiths.  I love mexi-goths for their love of Morrisey.  I bought the Singles Box set for the dirty pictures — uh, original cover art.  There are a few songs that illicit such a precise feeling in my adolescence the way that “How Soon Is Now?” does.  The late discovery of “Jeane,” I swear it sounds familiar: “We tried and we failed.”  The tumble of the locks at the end of “Rusholme Ruffians” and all that walking home alone sums up my high school years so succinctly. Sweetness, sweetness, I was only joking I would like to mash every tooth in you head.

09. Silje Nes on FatCat, myspace.com/siljenes

I wish there was more Silje Nes in the world — I had to dig deep to find the NPR feature on “Shapes, Electric,” where the DJ is equally awestruck on how she composes this warbled little affair.  You feel deeply seated in between the ears and within the mind of Silje and just want to know more.  An Ames Room, a forced perspective illusion, is an appropriate metaphor for the album, where Silje can grow to unexpected sizes with that childlike singsong that make you want to ask along with NPR, “How’d she do that?”  It’s not all an experimental hodge-podge, i said before, it’s rooted and organic, subtle in its wash,  a stretching of cassette tape and static. The songs are like pills that’re easy to swallow, Alice-like and precocious. One of my top 3 in 2007 if I had heard it in 2007!

• Ames Room
• Drown
• Giant Disguise (via RCRD LBL)
• Shapes, Electric (via NPR player)

10. Bauhaus on Beggars Banquet, bauhausmusik.com
Oh boy did I ever feel at home amongst my peeps at Coachella watching Love & Rockets, the Bubblemen, missing Peter Murphy, and seeing the goth-glam-goth come full out and close the festival.  With Bauhaus, I have lived primarily on “1979-1983″ Parts I & II, “Swing the Heartache,”  “Crackle,” and somehow I never bought the originals.  Oh what a trip to listen to the songs in their original inception some wildly different, others right on par.  “A trick of the light and too much caffeine, he thought.”

Next: no surprises in my Top 10 Albums of 2008.

Ronnie Wood's self portrait

By Cara Sulieman
ROLLING Stone Ronnie Wood is hoping to prove he has more to him than sex, drugs and rock n’ roll when he unveils his art exhibition in Scotland.

The 61-year-old wrinkly rocker’s work is a mixture of celebrity portraits and animal scenes; showing he doesn’t just paint it black.

But Wood himself is unlikely to visit the capital during the show as he is thought to have escaped to LA with his 20-year-old Russian lover Ekaterina Ivanova.

So the public will be left to decide if the guitarist’s art gives them any satisfaction when it is unveiled at The Dome in Edinburgh later this month.

The exhibition’s curator Jonathan Poole reckons Wood is becoming better known for his art than his outlandish behaviour.

He said: “I don’t think people are interested in his domestic life, they’re interested in him as an original artist. The works most certainly stand up on their own merit.

“He sold an original called Beggars’ Banquet for £1.2 million – no-one would pay £1.2m just because he’s a rock star. He’s a good investment and he’s a good visual artist.”

Wood with Rod Stewart

It certainly helps that Wood has a barrage of famous friends willing to pose for portraits – adding an extra dash of appeal.

As well as famous faces such as Paul McCartney and Jack Nicholson, there are plenty of paintings of the Stones in action on stage.

Poole explained: “Obviously the majority are going to include the music world because that’s his world, but we’ve got a number of animal paintings as well. There’s one called Tusk that is of rhinos and elephants, for example.”

Poole has been involved with rock art for years and has in the past arranged exhibitions of work by John Lennon and Miles Davis.

“With these exhibitions, it’s a very personal thing. Other people back him up on stage, but he’s on their own when he does this. I have the utmost respect for him as an artist.”

But offstage Wood is notorious for his extravagant and erratic behaviour, hitting headlines last year for leaving his wife for a girl 40 years younger than him.

I’m not normally much of a ‘multi-formatter’ – I don’t tend to buy the same release on every format that a record company feels the need to issue. I’ve never reached the level of fanboy obession that’s driven many to covet the same songs on 7″, 12″, CD1, CD2, tape, eight track, flexi, wax cylinder etc etc. Even the ‘bonus’/'extra’/'previously unreleased’ filler material that normally backs up the main songs tends to be slightly outside the reach of interest for all but the most special of bands.

Weirdly though, I’ve got ‘Streets Of Your Town’ on both 7″ and 12″. Not by design or by obsession, but by virtue of having an awful memory and hence having bought each format completely separately, years apart from each other, in different places, with no clue that (in the latter case) I already owned this record.

BUT… for some reason the 7″ is BEG 232 and the 12″ is BEG 218T, suggesting that they’re not actually multiple formats of the same release at all. Checking the Beggars discography online confirms this: the song was released twice within as many years, with different B-sides taking up the slack on each version. No idea of the story behind this, but Beggar (ho ho) me if I in fact don’t own the same release in two formats – I own two releases from Beggars’ and The Go-Betweens’ discographies respectively, and I am hence a better collector than I realised.

To finish, Grant McLennan R.I.P.

Q. What could be better than a crochet’d pillow in the shape of the Rolling Stones ‘Beggar’s Banquet’ on vinyl?

A. Only a crochet’d replica of ‘Born to Run’.

I am finding it very difficult to resist the temptation to buy BOTH of these. These rock-tastic record pillows are handmade by Esther of Toggle. Other records available include Blondie’s ‘Parallel Lines’, Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ and The Clash’s ‘London Calling’ to name a few.

He pasado el fin de semana en el pueblo de mi abuelo en León, por lo que tanto en los viajes de ida y vuelta como allí mismo he tenido ocasión de consumir música por un tubo. Esto se traduce en que ya tengo varios discos de los que poder hacer la crítica, y que ya saldrán en este blog según pasen las semanas. El que hoy nos ocupa es el “Banquete de los Mendigos” que los Rolling Stones prublicaron en 1968 y es el primeron de los considerados “cuatro grandes” del grupo, a saber: este “Beggars Banquet”, “Let It Bleed”, “Sticky Fingers” y “Exile on Main St.”.

Ficha:aNombre: Beggars Banquet.

Artista: The Rolling Stones.

Lanzamiento: Diciembre de 1968.

Duración: 40:31 minutos.

Productor: Jimmy Miller.

El disco empieza con “Sympathy for the Devil”, una de las mejores canciones no ya del grupo, sino también de la historia del Rock en general, un tema que entre otras cosas como el nombre de su anterior disco (Their Satanic Majesties Request) les acarrearía a los Stones la etiqueta de Satánicos. Después de este fortísimo arranque, viene para calmar un poco los ánimos la tranquila “No Expectations”. Una canción con un toque Country, “Dear Doctor” es la tercera del disco, que no baja en ningún momento el nivel de las composiciones. Otros dos temas rockeros, “Parachute Woman” y “Jigsaw Puzzle”, dejan un buenísimo sabor de boca para acabar la primera parte del disco.

“Street Fighting Man”, mi canción preferida de los Rolling Stones, abre la segunda parte del álbum y nos brinda uno de los mejores momentos de un excelente disco. “Prodigal Son” es una versión del guitarrista de Blues Robert Wilkins y “Stray Cat Blues” no suele ser mencionada como una de las mejores del elepé, pero a mí se me hace realmente agradable. El álbum acaba con “Salt of the Earth”, cuyos primeros versos son cantados por Keith Richards en una de sus primeras (que no la primera) colaboraciones en el ámbito vocal.

Este disco empezó a colocar definitivamente a los Stones en el centro de la escena del Rock and Roll mundial. En palabras de su mánager de esta época, Sam Cutler: “La banda de Rock ‘n’ Roll más grande del mundo” empezaba a dar sus mejores frutos.

Results to Round 4!

OK, so this one was kinda tough. But, a few of you did very well! Congrats to Pagawala (Arlyn) from HA and a friend on IAH facebook page. Way to go girl!

1. Southern Gent
2. Grammy Award Winning
3. Gold Albums
4. Whiskey High

additional answers:
music
pick
audience

Also Thanks to my BFF Mary for helping me out with this article. Rhett Miller is to her as Nathan Followill is to me (alas, I would never be brave enough to meet him, too shy and too prone to fainting). She has met Rhett about 1000 times and I think he may finally remember her this time. She also reported, which I left out of my article, that Ingrid Michaelson has a very impressive rack and Kevin Bacon was 3 sheets to the wind but she was determined to meet him so she could forever be ensconced into his 6 degrees of separation.

Round 5 begins!!

Check out my next article on the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade. This is much easier then the last one I promise. There are 3 clues to find in this one. Look for the link to my Examiner page on the BlogRoll to your right.

Thanks Guys. Looking forward to your responses!
Chrissie

Mary and Ingrid Michaelson

Mary and Kevin Bacon