Ayer fue un día “raro”, musicalmente hablando. Todo empezó escuchando algunas canciones del nuevo disco de Baaba Maal. A partir de ahí, fue cogiendo cuerpo esta recopilación que os dejo hoy en esta entrada. Aunque creo que tiene coherencia musical, es una mezcla de ritmos brasileños, jamaicanos, africanos, jazz, soul, pop y, sobre todo, mucha fusión de estilos (la versión soul-funk que hace Manito de Na Baixa Do Sapateiro es impagable). Sé que no es la típica recopilación que suelo dejar en el blog, pero merece la pena escucharla.

Haz clic para descargar las canciones y la carátula de la recopilación

Haciendo clic en la imagen os podéis descargar “Home Is Where The Heart Is“, que incluye canciones de Badi Assad, Caetano Veloso, Les Rita Mitsouko, Tony Allen, Manito, David Byrne, The Very Best, Horace Andy, Paul Simon, Rodrigo y Gabriela, David McAlmont & Michael Nyman, Nina Simone, Bettye Lavette, Cesaria Evora, Baaba Maal, Salif Keita, Roberto Silva, Beth Carvalho & Zelia Duncan, Maria Bethânia y Cassandra Wilson.

AQUÍ tenéis el listado de canciones que he incluido.

P.D.: La foto la hice en Harlem, en marzo de este año.

Up until recently French national team coach Raymond Domenech was in very real danger of losing his job with many French citizens and media members demanding his head. Thanks to a new pop song from Catherine Ringer titled Je Kiffe Raymond (I Fancy Raymond) he’s likely received a reprieve.

With lyrics like “If he attacked my penalty areas, I would be without defenders,” Ms. Ringer’s song is just a tad bit suggestive. Considering her past, that’s no surprise. Ringer, who rose to fame with Les Rita Mitsouko, an alt-rock group before going solo started out in a very different field, ’70s porn. Perhaps you remember 1978’s Color Climax Special 257 or Stories of Bottom in 1979. And who could ever forget her phenomenal 1981 works Marathon Love and Deep Throats and Little Girls? I know I haven’t.

Thanks to her song becoming a hit, Domenech’s popularity is on the rise and calls for him to be replaced aren’t as prominent. Here’s the song below for you to enjoy in all it’s French-ness.

[Sports by Brooks]

]]> http://bidimensional.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/mezclas-genius/ Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:38:05 +0000 bidimensional http://bidimensional.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/mezclas-genius/

Hoy creo que es el día en el que me he hecho amiga el genius de mi itunes (he dicho). Resulta que antes no me gustaban nada las mezclas que me hacía, y esta mañana, como por arte de magia, he descubierto una opción llamada mezclas genius (que creo que tendrá algo que ver con la nueva actualización que le metí ayer mismo), que me ha encantado. Tenemos las sigiuentes listas:

1. Mezcla pop rock, basada en : Band of Horses, Peter Bjorn and Jhon, CSS y otros
2. Mezcla pop rock indie, basada en: Deluxe, Josele Santiago, Love of Lesbian y otros
3. Mezcla singer/songwriter, basada en: Feist, Andrew Bird, Cat Power y otros
4. Mezcla rock, basada en Klaxons, Radiohead, Iron and Wine y otros
5. Mezcla alternativa, basada en: Maximo Park, Ben Harper, Jane’s adiction y otros
6. Mezcla pop, basada en Quique Gonzalez, Los planetas, Pereza y otros
7. Mezcla electronica, basada en Calvin Harris, Ladytron, Patrick Wolf y otros
8. Mezcla indie, basada en Fleet Foxes, Islands, Belle and Sebastian y otros
9. Mezcla chanson, basada en Bruce Springsteen, Les Rita Mitsouko, Eef Barzelay y otros
10. Mezcla electrónica(esta vez con acento ?¿), basada en Bjork, Hot Chip, Beck y otros
11 Mezcla rock 2, basada en Bon Iver, Wilco, Calexico y otros
12 Mezcla folk, basada en Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Nacho Vegas y otros

Os dejo una captura de las listas, que es que son tan graciosas.

Sinceramente, no se yo si habrá acertado al hacer la clasificación de arriba (se que más de uno se escandalizaría), pero de momento estoy escuchando la mezcla folk y la selección está siendo increíble. ¡Mi iTunes me quiere y sabe lo que me apetece escuchar!
Aunque, ahora que lo pienso, la que se lo que me gusta soy yo, que para eso he metido las canciones…
Ya os contaré qué tal se va portando con el resto de las listas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6FVlfOgTo8

Clássicoooooooooooooooo 80’s!

Presente sempre em minhas discotecagens.

ENJOY!

Bjs e Abraços

(I first slapped this up on the internet in ‘04 with kind input from Ally on her then-current, fashionable SCRUGLET webzine. Sadly, SCRUGLET has long since gone the way of the pulltop aluminum beverage can. But as I’ve now regrown my moustache, it’s hightime this piece got another airing.)

__________

As a courtesy to others, leave your Frank Zappas and Geddy Lees at home with the sitter. Please check all Freddy Mercurys, Phil Lynotts and whoever else you might have brought with you at the door. You are now taking a seat at . . .

THE REAL MOUSTACHE ROCK ROUND TABLE!!!

Introductions from left to right:

1) DAVE BALL of SOFT CELL. Not in the history of mankind has DAVE BALL’s visage been given billing over that of singer MARC ALMOND – until now, that is. And that’s because New Romantics (circa 1981) didn’t know what the fuck to make of this heavy-set bruiser with a moustache. His anachronistic look brings to mind that of SPARKS’ RON MAEL, but it also gets me thinking English seaside holidaymaker – which makes sense, since DAVE’s from Blackpool. Hopefully, focusing in on his looks for this brief moment will also lead you reconsider this man’s uncanny knack of crafting anxious, desperate melodies & beats that sound the way drinking 6 consecutive shots of espresso alone in your shitty studio apartment feels.

2) RON MAEL of SPARKS. RON’s moustache transcends mere fashion trend – it’s an integral part of what it means to be SPARKS, not to mention a potent musical force in and of itself. Take a listen to SPARKS’ Kimono My House LP again, and listen closely this time; you can actually hear RON’s moustache throwing in it’s 2 cents on damn near every cut. And it’s no coincidence that every change in SPARKS’ musical attack over the years (from dadapop to glamrock to powerpop to synthpop to . . .) has been heralded in by yes! you guessed it! a subtle moustache alteration. Just who or what is calling the shots here? Those of you who feel up to the task can explore Ron’s face in more detail here.

3) TAV FALCO of THE PANTHER BURNS. If you’re someone who doesn’t have alot of patience for things deemed “rootsy”, but always suspected things were waaaay cooler in them olden days than anyone’s grandparents are letting on – well then, TAV’s your man. TAV has an innate ability to recontextualize forgotten American musics in such a highly personalized and assbackwards sort of way that you, the listener, begin to truly understand the dark, festering places in which our collective heritage first squirmed. In the 1990’s, he also focused his attention on tracing American musical forms back to their festering European origins, and reportedly spent a fair amount of time doing the tango in dimly-lit, turn-of-the-century Parisian brothels. Which makes his ghostly moustache all the more apropos.

4) KID CONGO POWERS of THE GUN CLUB. I couldn’t really find a pic that does justice to this man’s upper lip, which is a shame. It’s often groomed in the Errol Flynn mold, but on the KID’s face it takes on a kind of seedy urban jaundice that speaks of acts of profound indiscretion. Those unfamiliar with his music should note he’s also played guitar in THE CRAMPS and NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS among many others – bands who have seen fit to infuse near lethal doses of drama and excitement into our milktoast world over the past quarter century. Plus, he bought a BURUNDI BLACK 12″ in the Hollywood record store I once managed and seemed really sweet, so he earns an honorary seat at the Real Moustache Rock Round Table.

5) WILLY DeVILLE of MINK DEVILLE. I can’t pretend to have followed much of what this man has recorded over the past 30 years. But I’d follow a moustache like this on the street in a New York minute. Perfectly sculpted, nicely thinned, trimmed to a point; in 1977, this sort of attention to personal grooming was a challenge to uptight, heterosexual American men everywhere. While WILLY was hardly the first to bring back the Errol Flynn, he was probably the first to plaster it on the face of downtown NYC punk rock clubland culture. A bold move, MR. DEVILLE. Bravo.

6) FREDRIC CHICHIN of LES RITA MITSOUKO. The somewhat unexpected runway appearance of early 80s inspired fashion in this new millennium might’ve suggested all sorts of colorfully futurist possibilities, but make no mistake about it: this corporate visitation is a hesitant (read: unwilling) nod to those asymmetrically times, at best. The dearth of wacky retro 80’s gear for large size women in your local mall speaks reams of the dominance of hardbody culture over the past 20 years, and lost are the devil-may-care juxtapositions that made 80’s fashion so exciting. Which brings us to FREDRIC CHICHIN: one half of LES RITA MITSOUKO (hands down the best 80’s French new wave duo ever), and a fashion icon unto himself. Everything this man wore – be it hair, fur, silk, skin, metal, paint or plastic – he wore like a freakin’ demon. And it goes without saying that his long, beautifully manicured moustache has much to do with the ease with which he pulled it all off. If you need more visual stimulation do check out the 100+ photos of FREDRIC here.

7) KID CREOLE of KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS. If you ever attended a high school grad night or New Year’s Eve party in the 1980’s, no doubt you were suckered into shuffling around the dancefloor to something by this man. However embarrassing those memories may be, I’d wholeheartedly suggest you re-explore the first couple KID CREOLE LPs, as well as everything he did with his earlier 70’s/40’s disco acts (DR. BUZZARD’S ORIGINAL SAVANNAH BAND and GICHY DAN’S BEACHWOOD #9). Those records are stylistically clever, suavely over-the-top romps through a goofy, colorful terrain few but KID have ever sought fit to explore. And the sight of him here on this page – wearing that Cab Calloway moustache & zoot suit – still makes me giggle in a really good way.

LEE HAZLEWOOD. The twisted granddaddy of em all, LEE was first to take the flying leap and slide a big ol’ droopy moustache under the radar of the fashion police. On one hand, this was a not-so-subtle insult, a middle finger of sorts aimed at record company stiffs in suits and ties everywhere. But on another level, it was pure genius: the appropriation of something as sick as a goddamn Fuller Brush moustache under the rubric of cool! And make no mistake about it, he did make it cool. Holy fuckin’ A, man – this is the moustache of my worst/best nightmares.

Guitar Hero(R) Catalog Expands With New Music From Rock ‘n’ Roll Icons Queen and Jimi Hendrix This Month

–Six Additional Tracks from Countries throughout

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 3, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — Six Additional Tracks from Countries throughout Europe and the James Bond Theme Song Further Add to Guitar Hero World Tour’s Downloadable Content Set List

This month, gamers will again be able to expand their virtual set lists with over a dozen new downloadable tracks for Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero(R) World Tour. With over 37 million songs downloaded for the franchise to date, Guitar Hero(R) fans will soon be able to experience more awesome music – from the likes of English rock ‘n’ roll icons Queen, guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, a host of European superstars and more – which will join the more than 550 songs rocking the Guitar Hero catalog already.

On March 5th, Guitar Hero World Tour’s global music library will continue to grow with three additional tracks from some of Europe’s greatest bands. The third European Track Pack, which includes the hit song “Break It Out” by Italian pop punk band Vanilla Sky and “In the Shadows” by one of Finland’s most successful bands, The Rasmus, will also contain “C’est Comme Ca” the top single from French pop rock duo Les Rita Mitsouko’s 1986 album The No Comprendo.

As a follow-up to the third European Track Pack, rockers from the Netherlands, Germany and Spain will also be contributing to Guitar Hero World Tour’s increasing catalog of downloadable content. On March 19th, the Dutch symphonic rock/metal band Within Temptation takes the virtual stage with “What Have You Done,” the first single off their fourth studio album The Heart of Everything. Joining them are German punk band Die Toten Hosen, who made their debut appearance in Guitar Hero(R) III: Legends of Rock, playing an encore as part of the full band experience with their 1988 hit “Hier Kommt Alex” and Spanish rock band M-Clan with their classic song “Carolina.”

Already appearing as an in game playable character; on March 19th, guitar savant and music legend Jimi Hendrix returns to Guitar Hero World Tour’s stage once again with an extraordinary three song Track Pack that will set fans fingers ablaze as they strive to keep up with his intense guitar riffs and insane solos. The second Jimi Hendrix Track Pack features “Freedom” and “Angel,” two hit singles off of his First Rays of the New Rising Sun album, and a one of a kind 1969 live from Woodstock recording of the timeless classic “Foxey Lady.” Additionally, the songs from the first Jimi Hendrix Track Pack – “If 6 was 9,” “Little Wing” and “Fire” – will also be available on March 19th as downloadable singles for Wii(TM).

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Queen, one of the greatest and most influential bands of all-time, take center stage on March 26th with downloadable content for Guitar Hero World Tour. The three song Queen Track Pack contains some of the band’s most iconic tracks including the power ballad, “We Are The Champions,” which has become one of the most common anthems celebrating the ultimate victory, as well as “Fat Bottomed Girls” from the 1978 album Jazz and “C-lebrity,” from their 2008 album with Paul Rodgers, The Cosmos Rocks.

On March 26th, Bond aficionados and Guitar Hero rockers alike will have another reason to celebrate as Guitar Hero World Tour releases a new recording of the classic James Bond theme song as downloadable content.

The two European Track Packs, Jimi Hendrix Track Pack and Queen Track Pack will be available on Xbox LIVE(R) Marketplace for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 440 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation(R)Store for the PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system for $5.49. The songs in the two European Track Packs, Queen Track Pack plus the James Bond Track will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PLAYSTATION 3 system for $1.99 and Wii(TM) for 200 Wii Points each. The Jimi Hendrix tracks will be available as downloadable singles for Wii for 200 Wii Points.

Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero’s signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless controllers with new revolutionary online* and offline gameplay modes including Band Career and 8-player “Battle of the Bands,” which allows two full bands to compete head-to-head online. The game features a slick newly redesigned guitar controller, drum kit controller and a wired microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock ‘n’ roll anthems. Music creators are also able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunes(SM) where other gamers can download and play an endless supply of unique creations.

Guitar Hero World Tour is now available for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, the Wii home video game system from Nintendo and the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information on Guitar Hero World Tour, please visit worldtour.guitarhero.com.

C’est seulement la deuxième édition de cette nouvelle chronique journalière et, déjà, la tâche fût ardu. Il y avait tellement de possibilités envisageables. J’ai dû faire un choix parmis des artistes tel que Michel Pagliaro, Jet, Marvin Gayes, The Police et Barry White. Finalement, la chanson retenu est encore une fois un produit québécois.

Imaginer que je suis assi sur un banc de la rue Queen à Brisbane. Il est quatre heure de l’après-midi un jeudi et les bureaux commence à se vider. La rue est envahie par des personnes sérieuses habilées tout de noir. Il porte des souliers noirs, des lunettes fumées noires, ils ont des mallettes noires et, quelques comptables, ont des bas bruns! Le monde excentrique et joyeux de la bureaucratie est en ville. (Un peu de sarcasme ici) Tout à coup… la fille à la robe verte fait son apparition dans l’image. Wow! Immédiatement, Les Rita Mitsouko allument leur ampli et jouent leur chanson “Someone to love” (Quelqu’un à aimer)! Enivré par la vision et les décibels faisant vibrer mes tympans, je saute de mon banc et danse un mélange de salsa et de breakdance! Je n’ai aicune idée comment danser la salsa ou le breakdance, mais les deux mélangé ressemble probablement à ma manière de danser. Ainsi, je me dirige vers cette charmante daltonienne en chantant les paroles des Rita: “I found someone to love/Quelqu’un pour rire/Quelqu’un pour parler/ Quelqu’un pour vivre”! Le reste de l’histoire est typiquement Hollywoodienne… ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d’enfants!

Que c’est beau un coup de foudre! vous vous demandez à quoi ressemble la chanson? Et bien… écouter la dès maintenant grâce à la vidéo suivante.

Demain… la chanson qui joue lorsque… je vote aux élections!!!

Oli alias Le Parrain qui aime les daltoniennes!

PS: Vous ne comprenez pas la raison d’être de ce post? Lisez celui d’hier pour des éclaicissement.

PSS: Avez-vous remarqué la nouvelle section sur le blog? Regarder dans la barre horizontale sous l’image de Sydney!

Very likely one of the most stylish videos ever. Les Rita Mitsouko, with lead singer Catherine Ringer, performs “Marcia Baila”. Stunning in every way.

Yes, direct from 1983, it’s Les Rita Mitsouko singing Marcia Baila. We love the song, the singer, and the fashions. Too cool, gotta go.

www.youtube.com/marcjosephcalifornia

‘Même si tout s’éffondrait, je serais près de toi’ (even if everything was falling apart, I would be by your side). The words are taken from a song by French band Les Rita Mitsouko. Quite an appropriate caption to a wonderful evening.

The last time I updated this blog was to tell of the untimely death of Fred Chichin, guitarist, one half of aforementioned Rita Mitsouko, the other half being his life companion, the flamboyant singer Catherine Ringer. The pair released an album, Variéty, their seventh, last year, and toured quite extensively as Fred was progressively falling victim to a rapidly developing cancer. They came to London in November. I was unaware of Fred’s poor health, and although I was very tempted to go and see them, I eventually didn’t.

Earlier this year, Catherine gathered the band that her and Fred had put together and got back on the road, stopping, for one night, at London’s flamboyant and rococo Koko in Camden. This time, I was determined to, and glad I am I did too.

Catherine walked on stage with her band, announcing in broken English that the night would be quite emotional, with Fred not being by her side anymore, adding how much he loved London. She then kicked off with L’Ami Ennemi, from Variéty. I must say that, if Les Rita Mitsouko have been present in my life ever since their first hit single, Marcia Baila (apparently, I was reading recently, the most played song on French radio ever) was, well, all over every single radio stations all the way back in the mid eighties, I until recently only owned their second album, The No Comprendo, released in 1986. This means that, although I know quite a lot of the band’s songs for hearing them on the radio or on TV, there were plenty I didn’t know tonight. This didn’t however prevent me from enjoying the show, especially since Catherine was giving all she had, looking like a cross between a rock chick and Edith Piaf, dressed in a sober little black number.

Four songs in, and the opening bars of C’est Comme Ça, from The No Comprendo, sent Koko into a trance. The temperature never really came back down much after that, and when she kicked off Les Histoires D’A, much later, it was pure madness. Soon enough, it was the end, but Koko was not going to let Catherine go and erupted in a typically French chorus of ‘une autre, une autre’ (another song, another song). Catherine returned to give a full encore a la Française. Not the standard ‘two songs if you’re lucky’ that most British artists dish out at the end of a gig, but four songs, including a cover of the Velvet Underground and another of Mink DeVille (she had also done a Bowie track earlier), finishing with an incendiary version of Andy, an odd to Andy Capp, which had once again the whole of Koko on its feet, clapping, singing and dancing. She then introduced the band and left as ‘une autre, une autre’ resounded once again throughout the venue. Catherine and the band returned for a second encore during which they graced us with a magnificent version of Marcia Baila, with Ringer on the guitar, the very song that propelled Les Rita Mitsouko from unkown artists to superstars.

Fred might not be around anymore, but he was looking down tonight, his presence felt through each song. And the French community in London was definitely by Catherine’s side. Même si…

Ed. Note: We apologize for taking an extra long weekend. Apparently no matter how cheap you are, you still get sinus attacks. You heard it here first.

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, we’ve decided to take High Culture on a Low Budget into a few new directions, the first of which being an aural component to budget travel. Kicking us off is the uber-fabulous Alex Robertson Textor (can we make a bad pun and say he’s ARTistic by nature?). Freelance travel writer, editor of Spendthrift Shoestring, and former editor of the EuroCheapo.com blog (and one of our favourite cohorts when it comes to travel on the cheap), Alex has fond childhood memories of ultracheap Spanish hotels (the kind with Styrofoam shelving) and supermarket lunches scarfed on park benches. Formerly an academic, Alex has spent the last several years redirecting his professional life into full-time travel journalism and editing.

And the rest is all Alex…

” In 1984, my family moved to the small German state of Saarland, which sits on the French border. We lived there for a year, in the medium-sized city of Saarbrücken, a few kilometers from France. On the weekends we visited cities like Strasbourg and Metz by train, and sometimes we drove our tiny tin can of a car to little villages in the countryside. France felt distant despite its close proximity.

The music I would hear on French radio or glimpse in video form on television was intriguing and strange. It was easily accessible but incomprehensible, and not just due to the language barrier. These songs stood apart from the other easily identifiable genres that populated my teenage life: thoroughly produced British tunes, sincere and earnest German pop music, and essentials-driven Italian disco, with many varieties of American music superimposed over the rest.

I’ve always affixed great longing to the French songs I heard back then and in the following few years, a longing probably magnified because I only understand some of the words here and there and don’t have a sense of context for them. Common to most of these songs, in my view, is a melancholy, even sentimental, plaintiveness.

• Tout doucement – Bibie
  I think of this song as extremely French. It’s easy to imagine Édith Piaf’s vocals on a different production of it. On the version I found online and downloaded, there are audible vinyl scratches that add immeasurably to the song’s mood.
• Ouragan – Stéphanie
  Princess Stéphanie of Monaco released this piece of pure pop taffy in 1986. It manages to feel extraordinarily plaintive despite its upbeat, commercial production.
• La 3eme sexe – Indochine
  This is another emblematically 1980s song, suitably up-tempo, with an almost obligatory saxophone in just the right places.
• Square Rooms – Al Corley
  “Square Rooms,” a notably moody bit of synth-driven pop, was a massive hit in France in 1985 for American television actor Al Corley.
• Cargo de Nuit – Axel Bauer
  I remember seeing the video to this song on the late great German music program Formel Eins, a mess of machinery and shirtless men. It was inexplicable. Yet intriguing.
• Voyage, Voyage – Desireless
  Desireless’s “Voyage voyage” is a 1980s classic. Note, again, the sadness in the ultrapoppy melody and production.
• Marcia Baïla – Les Rita Mitsouko
  “Marcia Baïla” is an iconic song if there ever was one, strange and beautiful and familiar.
• Johnny Johnny – Jeanne Mas
  Dreamy and reminiscent of many songs of its time, “Johnny Johnny” is possibly the most average pop song on this playlist, but it’s also charming”

Alex Robertson Textor (L) with fellow EuroCheapo auteur Annie Shapero. (Photo Courtesy ART)

N-a fost rau in sine socialising-ul angro de la serata de la institut, in conditiile in care eram deja sufocata de prezenta acelorasi 4 oameni in viata mea – namely actorii din Crave. doar ca imi trebuia ceva mai multa stapanire de sine.
Si, intr-un fel, faptul ca am dat cancel la intalnirea cu Mr Ticket-To-Ride, din cauze pragmatice , nu m-a scapat de tentatia seductiei , mai ales cand s-a prezentat sub forma mai multor vodka tonic din partea celui mai recherche dandy al serii, genul de tip care seamana cu 50% din cantaretii din trupe ’80s revival meets Stendhal-antiheroes meets polka-dot-shirt-policy-etcetera. Si da, evident flirtul a fost cel mai spumos pe care l-am avut de hat-hat-hat cu un tip, evident ca m-am ofuscat vazand ca danseaza mai bine ca mine, evident ca l-am socat nu o data ca sa intretin flama, evident ca palaria bunicii si outfitul meu de Mary Poppins going guerilla a avut ceva contributie. Evident ca stiam ce trebuia sa fac si totusi excitantele induse pe cale orala au castigat. Evident ca trebuia sa fug cat ma tineau picioarele dupa ce m-am ciocnit cu Nenumitul, dar n-am facut-o si abia abia am reusit sa fac sa vireze la loc dinamica relatiei in favoarea mea, dupa ce, dusa de val si de mana lui de “porc care isi asuma lipsa simtului ridicolului” sunt trasa la el acasa, din cauza unui whim care se manifesta aproape ca la Ionel Teodoreanu : “Trebuie neaparat sa ascult ACUM cu tine melodiile alea 2 de Jean Louis Murat, doar 2, si dup-aia ajungem si la I., hai “. Si dupa cele 2 melodii, am castigat – chiar am luat niste beri din frigo-ul lui si ne-am dus la I., unde dandyul se prajea pe toate partile, fiind deja la curent cu istoricul meu cu Nenumitul .
ma uit inapoi la felul in care am scris si imi dau seama ca suna f.snobbish, autoindulgent si kiar laudacios , dar d fapt firul evenimential e atat de umilitor, incat doar asa pot sa ma “scot”.
si asta pentru ca mi-am meritat-o din plin. stopul ar fi trebuit pus dupa ce am plecat de la I. p la 7 , dupa o zbantuiala isterica p Les Rita si nu numai. ar fi trebuit doar sa traversez strada si sa urc la mansarda. in schimb, in dulcele stil papillonant si autodistructiv al celor care isi fut singuri tripul fain, m-am trezit p undeva p la Piata Iancului dup-amiaza. un sforait ritmic si o fata congestionata mahmura, de tip divortat cu behavior de divortat,care isi arata varsta de 27 spre 28 spre 30 si insensibila la dulcegariile mele de fata trezita, un tricou I love NY care nu a stat prea mult p mine, un soare de duminica-altora-si-nu-a-mea, cosurile de pe barbie tot acolo, si in bucatarie, o carte de Marguerite Duras deschisa cu cotorul in sus pe masa, un bilet de tren Valence Ville-Lyon Saint Exupery de acum 4 zile, un dus si un demachiant straine, hainele mele acum al naibii de stridente la lumina zilei, un mormait in loc de pa si o usa pe care a trebuit sa o descui singura ca sa ies. si era totusi acelasi individ cu care aberaseram despre Arcade Fire si Gianina Carburaniu not so long ago. e clar, tre’sa-mi fac o pancarta cu “No French, no cry”. Eh, ben, c est comme ca……

tip of the day: in loc de un sms de mersi de la un one-night-stand care parea ca te apreciaza mai mult decat visai, inainte sa te futa, conteaza mai mult pe sms-ul de exprimare a bucuriei revederii de la un ex pe care l-ai insultat si snobat in cunostinta de cauza,toata seara precedenta. de parca as mai fi avut nevoie de vreo confirmare a faptului ca esti interesanta doar cand te refuzi. Cresida, totally!!!

P.S. am aflat corespondentul termenului de cocalar in argoul francez actual – courtesy al unui conectat de la job (culmea!) – “Tectonik” , mai ales apropo de vestimentatie cocalara…. fara sa imi dau seama de provenienta termenului, m-am amuzat copios. end of story.

Fred Chichin, de helft van Les Rita Mitsouko is niet meer. Hij is vandaag overleden aan de gevolgen van kanker. Fred was 53 jaar oud.

Hier te zien in ‘The Tongue Dance‘.

Les Rita Mitsouko zegt u? Ja, mijn jeugdhelden. Deze maand waren ze nog te zien hier en daar in België. Fred was er niet bij, wegens ziekte. K blijkt nu. De nummers bleven die avond tijdelijk overeind zonder hem. Ik had de dynamiek wel willen zien tussen Fred en Cathérine, zoals je die ook ziet in hun clips. Maar helaas…

Y’a d’la haine (Album: Système D)

Fred Chichin en Cathérine Ringer kwamen elkaar in 1979 tegen en 5 jaar later verscheen hun eerste album met de hit ‘Marcia Baila’. Meteen hun enige hit van betekenis wat Vlaanderen betreft (naast Andy misschien). Ironisch genoeg gaat ‘Marcia Baila’ over de dood van danseres Marcia Moretto, overleden aan… kanker.

Hoewel ik toen slechts een kleine lama was, hebben ze me sinds het begin geïntrigeerd en geraakt. Ik had een aantal albums op cassette overgetaped en ganser dagen heb ik daarnaar geluisterd. Jaren na datum kan ik sommige nummers onbewust meelippen. Ze waren gek, artistiek, maakten doldwaze clips, hadden een bewogen verleden en hebben geen twee dezelfde nummers gemaakt.

De volledige discografie vind je op hun officiële site, maar mijn persoonlijke all time classics zijn:

• Vol de Nuit (The No Comprendo – 1986) – Tragisch en melancholisch.
• Le Petit Train (Marc & Robert – 1988): voor de geschifte clip: Bollywood avant la lettre
• Modern Baleine (Système D – 1993) -Traag en langoureus
  
• Les Amants (Système D – 1993): voor de clip door Jean-Baptiste Mondino met een hoog Pierre & Gilles gehalte en de zinsnede “Il marchent sans sourciller, d’un pas irrégulier”
• Ding Dang Dong (Variety – 2007). Voor de eerste keer gehoord in de Handelsbeurs en na 30 seconden uit volle borst staan meezingen. Als ik me niet vergis meteen hun laatste single.

Het is een verlies, het is erg, het is alle clichés bij elkaar. En de cirkel is rond, want ze zongen het 23 jaar geleden al…

Mais c’est la mort
Qui t’a assassinée, (…)
C’est la mort
Tu t’es consumée, (…)
C’est le cancer
Que tu as pris sous ton bras
Maintenant
Tu es en cendres, en cendres
(…)
C’est la mort
Qui t’a emmenée

Bronnen &Links

Les Rita Mitsouko MySpace
Les Rita Mitsouko site officiel
Le Monde “Fred Chichin, le guitariste des Rita Mitsouko, est mort”
Beeldverslag van het optreden van Les Rita Mitsouko in Bergen, oktober 2007 door Mons Télévision
Les Rita Mitsouko @ Wikipedia