Un saludo cordial a todos los lectores de los oídos vírgenes, gracias por sus comentarios y visitas.

Lisa Germano es una cantante y multi instrumental, es oriunda de Indiana en los Estados Unidos, a la que yo podría catalogar como una incomprendida, en el año de 1994 sacó su tercer disco llamada Geek The Girl que es un disco taciturno y calmado en donde es describe con una exacta precisión el dolor, la pena, la soledad y la tristeza, con letras simples y directas guiados por la voz sugestiva de Germano en donde los instrumentos a pesar de no ser tan notorios juegan un papel importante en el desarrollo del disco, todo estas ingredientes hacen como si Lisa compartiese sus secretos, deseos, fantasías y frustraciones a los oyentes.

Este es disco es profundo y sincero, peor al mismo tiempo placentero, lleno de doce joyas que fluyen tranquilamente, doce temas que forman este gran disco, en donde Lisa Germano nos susurra y nos ve como sus confidentes, como sus amigos.

TRACK LIST
1. “My Secret Reason” – 4:33
2. “Trouble” – 2:21
3. “Geek the Girl” – 3:40
4. “Just Geek” – 2:44
5. “Cry Wolf” – 4:59
6. “…A Psychopath” – 4:37
7. “Sexy Little Girl Princess” – 3:39
8. “Phantom Love” – 3:22
9. “Cancer of Everything” – 4:00
10. “A Guy Like You” – 3:18
11. “…Of Love and Colors” – 3:55
12. “Stars” – 2:32

DESCARGA
PASS: oidosvirgenes
Hasta la próxima entrega

De cada vez que ouço um novo álbum de Lisa Germano tenho a sensação de que me é familiar, pelo cunho tão próprio da escrita, sonoridade e interpretação. Se isto nalguns compositores é sinal de estagnação, de estarem aprisionados a formatos e fórmulas recorrentes que nos levam a um “mais do mesmo” (como o mais recente EP de Robin Guthrie, é triste dizê-lo), no caso de Lisa acho que tal não acontece. Porque em cada novo álbum Lisa acrescenta, re-inventa como só ela sabe aquele seu mundo agreste, atormentado, feito de solidão, que tem tanto de encanto como de desilusão. Neste álbum os temas são mais cristalinos e o piano tem protagonismo, resultando numa candura envolvente. Harold Budd participa em “Paiting the doors” conferindo uma sonoridade que leva o mundo onírico de Lisa mais além.

Classificação | 8 em 10

While we wait for Magic Neighbour to arrive on my doorstep, here’s a great live performance of Cry Wolf from Lisa Germano. There is not enough love for this ladies work.

this is a strange one.  in that it’s probably the most straightforwardly listenable of her aural offerings yet musically it drifts unexpectedly, ebbs sensually and flows unstructured and vaguely out of focus.  none of this meant in the pejorative y’understand.  it hangs together dreamlike and ephemeral.  each song connected, yet not.  michael gira alludes to disney in the release notes and i can kindof see where he’s coming from.  but it strikes me more like jean cocteau’s la belle et la bête.  it has that creepy oddness, that beauty, and all it’s magical melancholy that her albums exude (yes, even the grim morning after confusion of liquid pig) but magic neighbour has it in spades.

it has less of the (occasionally terrifying) foosty murk of old and more of the curtains opened sunlight filtering through motes of dust feel.  or as ms germano put it herself: it’s about trying to be happy with all the sad shit in the world.  it’s big and wide and warm.  it’s intimate and delicate and unsettling (see the cat killing story of the title track).  it’s as naked as ever but happily breathing and starkly gorgeous.  lyrically, and musically.

it has that confessional happy/sad welcoming  intrusion of eels electro-shock blues.  so if you dig that (and kristin hersh’s lullaby folk murder ballad wanderings) you’ll dig this.  and following fire on fire and james blackshaw, this is the third exceptional record that young god’s put out over the past year.  heartily recommended.

lisa germano / young god records

Well due to my holiday and getting back into the routine, September was a very quiet month for HPM in general but towards the end we had a massive influx of visitors for one man – Christopher Tin! He grabs this months most viewed award with the review of his debut album and his interview afterwards. Lisa Gerrard also popped up the order with audio samples from forthcoming album Black Opal. Here’s the top 10 artists:

01) Christopher Tin (NE)

02) Lisa Gerrard (^)

03) Imogen Heap (v)

04) Lisa Germano (^)

05) Brendan Perry (v)

06) Hikoki Kikuta (^)

07) Module (v)

08) OverClocked ReMix (v)

09) Utada (v)

10) Vienna Teng (RE)

In the gaming front, Battl Tanks was the top read review this month and actually the second highest hit post this month too! We will be going really into game reviews from all old consoles from October and they will feature more prominantly, as the site will now be taking a much more active approach due to a change in circumstances of myself!

01) Battle Tanks (NE)

02) Shatter (v)

03) Numblast (v)

the world revolves around you

but it revolves around me too

lisa germano // small heads

_

LISA GERMANO
The Prince Of Plati

Lisa Germano has always been an artist that’s been hard to pin a label on. The violinist, pianist and vocalist first popped up on John Mellencamp’s 1987 album The Lonesome Jubilee and was a mainstay of his band for seven years. Since then, she’s gotten rid of the tag ‘John Cougar’s fiddle player’ and hooked up with a string of A-List talent including Sheryl Crow, David Bowie, Neil Finn, Bob Dylan, Simple Minds, Indigo Girls and Iggy Pop and all the while, occasionally drops little gems of her own…her album Geek, The Girl, was even included in the list of the top alternative albums of the decade compiled by Spin magazine. Yet for all the success she’s had and her obvious talent, she has still managed to remain largely unnoticed outside of the coffee shops and small clubs where her kind of music shines. Today she releases her twelfth solo recording, Magic Neighbor, a melancholy collection of her truly unique songs that will surely keep the coffee house crowd happy.

Go makes friends on MySpace or check her out on her website

Here are this week’s new music releases:

Alice Donut – Ten Glorous Animals
Basement Jaxx – Scars
The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love
Billy Talent – Billy Talent III
Black Tape for a Blue Girl – 10 Neurotics
Brand New – Daisy
Brother Ali – Us
Chynna & Vaughan – One Reason
Guy Clark – Somedays the Song Writes You
Harry Connick Jr. – Your Songs
David Crowder*Band – Church Music
Alan Cumming – I Bought a Blue Car Today
Deadmau5 – For the Lack of a Better Name
Diamond Rio – The Reason
Orla Fallon – Distant Shore
Five Finger Death Punch – War is the Answer
Flying Machines – Flying Machines
Lisa Germano – Magic Neighbor
Girls – Album
David Gray – Draw the Line
Richard Hawley – Truelove’s Gutter
Andrew Hoover – Chances Stances & Romances
Reagan Hudson – The Boar Hog Twist
Islands – Vapours
Joshua James – Build Me This
Janus – Red Right Return
Sean Kingston – Tomorrow
ksm – Read Between the Lines
Larry the Cable Guy – Tailgate Party
Los Lobos – Los Lobos Goes Disney [Amazon exclusive]
Mae – (M)orning
Matt Maher – Alive Again
Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
Monty Are I – Break Through the Silence
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Speed of Life
Noisettes – Wild Young Hearts
Pillar – Confessions
Rain Machine – Rain Machine
Rescue Signals – Indecisions
Sea Wolf – White Water, White Bloom
Jon Secada – Expressions
Skindred – Shark Bites and Dog Fights
Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays
Spiral Beach – The Only Really Thing
Jeffree Star – Beauty Killer
Adam Steffey – One More for the Road
Angel Taylor – Love Travels
Three Days Grace – Life Starts Now
J. Tillman – Year in the Kingdom
Times New Viking -Born Again Revisited
Vertical Horizon – Burning the Days
Wallpaper – Doodoo Face

Es una de mis cantantes favoritas, una de las mejores compositoras de nuestra época y sin embargo, a veces tengo la sensación de que sólo nos acordamos de ella unos pocos.

Una niña precoz que compuso su primera obra con siete años pero que se dio a conocer en 1994, con Geek the girl. Pero en mi opinión (que es discutible), su mejor disco es Slide. Lisa Germano fichó por 4AD, y eso ya debería decir mucho.

Lo mejor es (una vez más) dejar de leerme y escucharla. Aquí. Si no les pone los pelos de punta ni una sóla canción, hagánselo mirar.

Hi kids!

Enhver fan af thrillers og gys ved, at det værste – eller bedste, alt efter præference – og mest effektfulde ved den slags er, når uhyggen breder sig ganske stille, og utrygheden sniger sig ind på sit offer. Som den tøsedreng jeg er, husker jeg mangen et afsnit af X-Files, der pludselig blev afbrudt af et målbevidst tryk på fjernbetjeningen, ligesom paranoiaen var mest udtalt. Sekundet efter var jeg tilbage for at se afsnittets monster flænse sit offer i småstumper, mens det grinede bestialsk. Det var som regel ikke det store problem at overvære.

Lige så er chokeffekten større i et stykke musik, når det bygges op og bygges op, og idet det når det punkt hvor det skal eksplodere…så stopper det! Hvis det bare er fire minutters larm og skrig, så er det som regel mere enerverende end uhyggeligt.

Her er fem sange, der er snigende uhyggelige på hver deres facon – nogen bliver forløst, mens andre bare bliver hængende i luften, på ubehagelig vis.

• Cowboy Junkies – State Trooper (fra Whites Off Earth Now, 1986)

Cowboy Junkies’ fortolkning af Bruce Springsteens State Trooper, er en creepy sag. Paranoiaen er virkelig udtalt her, og det starter allerede med Alan Antons monotone bas, som ligger under hele sangens 4½ minutters spilletid. Den altid fremragende Margo Timmins folder her sin sensuelle stemme ud i fuldt flor, og tilføjer et skær af uhygge, for selv om hun – mens hun kører ud af landevejen på en regnfuld aften – erklærer

“License, registration, I ain’t got none/but I got a clear conscience ‘Bout the things that I done”

- så er der åbenlyst et eller andet i gære. Hvad det er hun har gjort kan man selv få lov at fortolke på – jeg tvivler på hun netop har holdt en vellykket fest for en nær ven – ligesom man kan gruble lidt over, hvorfor hun absolut ikke har lyst til at blive stoppet af den lokale betjent:

Mister State Trooper/Please don’t stop me/Please don’t stop me/Please don’t ya stop me

Ud over den tunge, skurrende bas og Margo Timmins’ foruroligende nøgterne vokal, så bidrager guitarist Michael Timmins også til uhyggen med sine eksperimenter. Hans instrument skramler og kradser, men koger aldrig over i støj, og på den vis formår han at fastholde lytteren i den der temmeligt anspændte stemning. Rystende og gruopvækkende.

Springsteens egen version (fra Nebraska, 1982), der kun består af Bossens stemme og hans akustiske guitar, er ikke mindre skræmmende, men her kommer der dog en smule forløsning via hans stikkende skrig mod slutningen. Den forløsning kommer aldrig i Cowboy Junkies’ udgave, der bare bliver hængende ubehageligt i luften.

• Lisa Germano – …A Psychopath (fra Geek the Girl, 1994)

Nu er det jo ikke fordi titlen ligefrem forsøger at skjule, at der er noget alvorligt galt i denne fortælling, men skulle man alligevel tro, at det nok bare er spil for galleriet, så opdager man hurtigt, at det ikke er tilfældet. De første lyde man bliver præsenteret for er optagelsen af en telefonsamtale. En kvinde, skræmt fra vid og sans, har ringet til alarmcentralen fordi en mand står uden for hendes dør og forsøger at komme ind til hende i huset. Manden på alarmcentralen forsøger at guide og berolige hende, men hun bliver mere og mere desperat, og da Lisa Germano – efter 50 sekunder – første gang præsenterer sig i sangen er det med ordene “A baseball bat/a baseball bat beside my bed.” Velkommen til dit værste mareridt.

Germano synger sine foruroligende ord blidt og nøgternt, mens hun filer skingert løs på sin violin. Mellem versene fortsætter telefonsamtalen, og kvinden, Karen/Carolyn, bliver mere og mere desperat, mens hendes stalker tilsyneladende kommer tættere på at bryde døren ned. Hendes rædselsslagne skrig “why are you here?/why?/why?” klinger ud gennem telefonen, og efter knap fire minutters terror, er manden formentlig kommet ind i huset, violintonerne klinger ud…og telefonforbindelsen ryger. Yikes!

Det er en mildest talt grufuld sang, der burde kunne få selv de mest hårdhudede til at krympe sig. Som den tøsedreng jeg længere oppe indrømmede at være, har jeg naturligvis for længst trukket alle gardiner for, barikaderet samtlige døre og vinduer, og gemt mig under min seng.

• PJ Harvey – Down by the Water (fra To Bring You My Love, 1995)

Efter disse to mareridtssange virker Down by the Water ikke specielt uhyggelig, og det er den på sin vis heller ikke. Men alligevel – hvis nogen skal gå under betegnelsen femme fatale, så må det være Polly Jean Harvey. Hun er både dragende og skræmmende på samme tid, og hendes besynderligt flirtende dans i videoen ændrer bestemt ikke på det. Når man dertil lægger hendes kulsorte hår, kridhvide ansigt og heftige røde læbestift, så ligner hun noget, det ikke kan være sundt at involvere sig med. Slet ikke når hun dæmonisk hvisker “Little fish, big fish swimming in the water/Come back here man gimme my daughter”.

Det sidste minut af sangen kan få fuldvoksne mænd til at vride sig af angst. Har jeg hørt.

• Radiohead – Climbing Up the Walls (fra OK Computer, 1997)

“Do not cry out or hit the alarm/You know we’re friends until we die”

Der er heldigvis altid plads til en stalker-sang mere. Eller i hvert fald en der let kan fortolkes sådan. Da OK Computer udkom i 1997, var dette nummer et af de mest gennemtrængende, netop på grund af den dunkle og ubehagelige atmosfære. Thom Yorkes vokal er voldsomt forvrænget, og den musikalske back-up er skurrende og foruroligende: Colin Greenwoods bas knurrer, Phil Selway banker monotont på sine trommer, og lydeffekter kravler ind og ud af hovedet på den sagesløse lytter, mens Yorke vrænger

“And either way you turn, I’ll be there/Open up your skull, I’ll be there/Climbing up the walls”

Al denne creepiness bliver forløst i et inferno i det sidste 1½ minuts tid, hvor Jonny Greenwood endelig får lov at slippe sine guitarmonstre løs, mens melodramatiske strygere og de øvrige instrumenter bakker ham op, og Thom Yorke brøler hele sin, gennem årevis, opsparede angst ud i et øredøvende aaaaaaarrrrgggghhhh. Og så kan nummeret ellers tone ud i ekkoet fra hele instrumentparken.

Den virker stadig.

• Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr (fra Illinois, 2005)

Få steder er konstrasten mellem fremførelsen af en sang og dens lyriske indhold så voldsom som her. Stevens har en smuk, lys stemme og den fletter han sammen med en akustisk guitar og et afdæmpet klaverspil. Men ordene, oh the horror! De fortæller om seriemorderen John Wayne Gacy, Jr – det var ham der klædte sig ud som klovn inden han tog livet af sine ofre – og er naturligvis tragiske og forfærdende.

Det der gør denne sang så forstyrret, er den smukke melodi og de barske ord om denne charmerende og intelligente mand, der i bund og grund fremstår sympatisk. Altså, hvis man lige ser bort fra at han slagtede

“Twenty-seven people/Even more, they were boys/With their cars, summer jobs/Oh my God”

Der er noget helt foruroligende i at tage sig selv i at nynne med på ord som

“Look underneath the house there/Find the few living things, rotting fast, in their sleep/Oh, the dead”

men det er den effekt den sang har, for det er noget af det mest blide og smukke der er kommet på plade inden for de senere år. Og formentlig også derfor den er så uhyggelig som den er. At Sufjan Stevens så lige får flettet udgangsreplikken

“And in my best behavior/I am really just like him/Look beneath the floor boards/For the secrets I have hid “

ind, gør heller ikke gruen mindre. Selv om ordene nok ikke skal tages så bogstaveligt. Vel?

• Bonus: Suicide – Frankie Teardrop (fra Suicide, 1977)

For de virkeligt modige er her en af populærmusikkens mest berygtede numre: 10½ minutters industriel synthterror med indlagte skrig, der kan knuse enhver knogle i lytterens krop. Ikke en sang jeg har lyst til at høre ret meget mere i mit liv, men jeg skal da ikke forhindre dig i det.

Sov godt!

Los Smiths molaban. Con su estilo altivo y elegante, con Morissey y Johnny Marr. Con Hand in glove y, sobre todo, con There is a Light.

A partir de la versión original ha habido unas cuantas réplicas. Hasta Mikel Erentxun se ha apuntado a la lista con su versión en español. Pero yo últimamente tengo mi cuelgue con esta:

Crowded House tienen canciones muy populares. No tanto como Michael Jackson, pero Neil Finn no está muerto. De hecho, como dirían Simple Minds, está alive and kicking. Su último proyecto es coordinar una mega banda que ha dado en llamar 7 Worlds Collide.

Cuando las estrellas de la música se unen suceden cosas curiosas. Recuerdo los Travelling Wilburys (Dylan, Harrison, Orbison, Petty y Lynn) o Temple of the Dog (Cornell con partes de Peral Jam en los 90, con la magnífica “Hunger Strike”). Más recientemente tenemos The Velvet Revolver (Guns and Roses con Stone Temple Pilots), Audioslave (Soundagarden y Rage), The Minus 5 (Tweedy de Wilco, Stringfelow de The Posies con “el 5º REM”). Luego están los conciertos homenaje (a alguien que las ha pichado) en este caso están Concert for George (Harrison) o anteriormente a Black and White night, homenaje a Roy Orbison, con un plantel impresionante: Jackson Browne, T-Bone Burnet, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen o Tom Waits.

Y sin que se haya de morir nadie, míticos son los conciertos del Prince Trust de los 80 con Knopfler, Clapton, McCartney, etc. Que también se juntaron por el incendio de Montserrat (no el de la moreneta, precisamente):

Volviendo a 7 Worlds Collinde (sacado de Distant sun, de Crowded House: 7 worlds will collide whenever I am by your side and dust from a distant sun will shower over every one): se trata de una interesante formación austral, con incorporaciones de Radiohead y Wilco y, especialmente, de Johnny Marr.

Esta aventura empezó en 2001 con un concierto. Está todo en You tube, por supuesto. Pero acaba de publicar este mes pasado un disco con canciones nuevas (casi todas, ya que You never know está también en el último trabajo de Wilco, aunque aquí esta canción tan ELO, cuenta con nuevos músicos).

Merece la pena conocerlo. Se llama the sun came out y cuenta con colaboraciones de casi toda la familia Finn, de casi todo Wilco, casi todo Radiohead, Lisa Germano, KT Tunstall, Johnny Marr y varios músicos de Nueva Zelanda y Australia. La música es buenísima y muchas veces original.

Como conclusión, decía antes que en estas reuniones pasan cosas muy curiosas. En genral el gusto de escuchar versiones de otros interpretadas por grandes artistas. Esto es lo que me pasa cada vez que vuelvo a escuchar There is a Light. Un temazo, que en la voz de Neil Finn (Crowded House) gana calidad. Me pone la piel de gallina cada vez que escucho:

And if a ten-ton truck Y si un camion de diez toneladas

Kills the both of us, nos mata a ambos

To die by your side… morir a tu lado

Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine. Bueno, el placer, el privilegio es mío.

Download “The Prince of Plati” by Lisa Germano
off “Magic Neighbor” out Mid-September.

Lisa Germano guests

Sixteen years into her recording career, Meshell Ndegeocello’s remarkable back catalogue stands out as one of the most formidable of the last two decades, both in terms of artistic vision and with deference to her critical acclaim (10 Grammy nominations, but sadly not the sales to match). Operating on the fringes of the industry, she remains a powerful advocate for music created with intelligence and integrity. Her eighth album, Devil’s Halo, reasserts her strengths without hesitation, taking her music back to pure, organic musicianship. Giving electronics as wide a berth as it is possible to do in 2009, Meshell found her creativity in music “created and performed by people’s hands”. World renowned as a badass bassist, she’s joined by co-producer / guitarist Chris Bruce, drummer Deantoni Parks, keyboardist Keefus Ciancia and Lisa Germano on cello. Occasional touring bassist Mark Kelley contributes backing vocals, as does Oren Bloedow of New York dream-pop duo Elysian Fields.

Said to be influenced by everyone from Wu Tang Clan to Yes, via The Human League, Devil’s Halo once again shows Meshell’s versatility as a vocalist, just as adept at railing and raging as she is at cutting close to the bone with tender, truthful lyrics. The album is released through Mercer Street, an imprint of Downtown Records, on October 6th. Preview track ‘Mass Transit’ is streaming from her Myspace now.

Devil’s Halo
01 Slaughter
02 Tie One On
03 Lola
04 Hair Of The Dog
05 Mass Transit
06 White Girl
07 Love You Down
08 Devil’s Halo
09 Bright Shiny Morning
10 Blood On The Curb
11 Die Young
12 Crying In Your Beer

Alan Pedder

Info is still scarce yet next month will see Lisa Germano release “Magic Neighbour”. With no sound clips as of yet to go by, we have finally got our hands on a track list:

1. Marypan
2. To the Mighty One
3. Simple
4. Kitty Train
5. The Prince of Plati
6. A Million Times
7. Magic Neighbour
8. Suli-Mon
9. Snow
10. Painting the Doors
11. Cocoon

We’re sure it’ll be another masterpiece!

June missed being our most busiest month by just 21 hits so March 09 still holds the crown of busiest month – however for the first time ever one artist completely outrun everyone else by such a margin, their top post (our most viewed post this month) had more hits than the second, third and fourth busiest posts combined! Well done the Imogen Heap – everyone’s gone mad over the tracklist for Ellipse and we’ll be buying the album on release day so expect a sharp review on the day (provided its in shops – we couldn’t get a copy for Speak For Yourself in a store and had to buy online and wait). Patrick Wolf, Dead Can Dance & Vienna Teng’s album reviews all followed behind. Here’s the top 10 artists followed by the only two game reviews on site (we will be doing a top 5 game hits too). Congrats to Lisa Germano for making a new entry and Tori Amos, number 1 last month, dropped straight back out the charts again! June should be a busy month with lots of reviews not just here, but over on new site I Love Disaster Movies, which is another personal indulgence to another hobby of mine! Enjoy the summer!

01) Imogen Heap (1 Month)

02) Patrick Wolf (RE)

03) Dead Can Dance (RE)

04) Vienna Teng (-)

05) Akira Yamaoka (^)

06) Utada (v)

07) Brendan Perry (-)

08) Sarah Slean (v)

09) Lisa Germano (NE)

10) Yasunori Mitsuda (RE)

(In ascolto: Point Mort – Yann Tiersen)

Pubblicato su Lankelot, giugno 2009.

Tabarly è la colonna sonora che Yann Tiersen ha composto nel 2008 per il documentario omonimo del regista Pierre Marcel dedicato al navigatore francese Eric Tabarly, vincitore nel 1964 della regata transatlantica in solitaria e scomparso  nel 1998, al largo del mare d’Irlanda. Quella di Eric Tabarly in Francia è una vera e propria figura di culto, i cui libri – editi in Italia da Ugo Mursia Editore – hanno formato intere generazioni di velisti e appassionato ogni lettore che avesse nel mare il cuore. Tiersen, originario di Brest in Bretagna, già con l’album del 1997, Le Phare, si era lasciato ispirare da quello che da sempre è una delle fonti artistiche più scandagliate da poeti, musicisti e pittori. Alcune delle canzoni di Le Phare finirono poi anche nella colonna sonora de Il favoloso mondo Amèlie, contribuendo al successo del film che ha donato al compositore francese una certa notorietà anche al di fuori della Francia. Tant’è vero che ancora oggi, complice anche la spledida soundtrack firmata per il film Goodbye Lenin, Tiersen viene considerato, o meglio, ricordato dal grande pubblico soprattutto come compositore di colonne sonore. Un tipo di musica da sempre ostracizzata dalla critica musicale e  repentinamente relegata in una sorta di ghetto, per l’erronea valutazione di considerala sempre subordinata alle immagini. Eppure, Tiersen è un musicista dall’incessante attività, autore di album come il già citato Le Phare, L’absente (2001) e Les Retrouvailles (2005) che si pongono come degli splendidi ibridi tra musica colta e musica folk, e, negli episodi non strumentali genuinamente pop, grazie anche all’apporto di gente come Elizabeth Frazer dei Cocteau Twins, Stuart Apples dei Tindersticks, Neil Hannon dei Divine Comedy e Lisa Germano. Tutti nomi dall’incredibile background internazionale che ben testimoniano la stima di cui gode Tiersen tra i suoi colleghi. In questi album ciò che emerge è il grandissimo talento di Tiersen nell’intrecciare splendide melodie non solo con il pianoforte, ma  anche con un’incredibile gamma di strumenti – onde martenot, xylophono, chitarra elettrica ed acustica, clavicembalo, ma anche tastierine Bontempi e macchine da scrivere  – tra i quali sicuramente spicca per intensità l’accordèon, il cui suono Tiersen modula ora in maniera struggente ora in maniera gioiosa, restituendo quasi i colori al mondo.

Per Tabarly, Tiersen, essendo al lavoro anche sul suo nuovo album, ha lavorato quasi esclusivamente con il pianoforte, sebbene in alcune interviste abbia espresso come questo modo di comporre musica gli sia venuto a noia. L’eccezione per Tabarly è dovuta proprio alla possibilità di un’ispirazione che doveva giungere dal mare. E, ascoltando i 15 brani di cui è composto l’album, viene da pensare che Tiersen abbia lavorato non solo nel tentativo di suggerire con le sue note i colori e il movimento delle onde, ma abbia cercato con il suo tocco di sostituirsi ad esse, restituendone quasi l’odore. Come spiegare il mare a chi non lo hai mai visto. Dire il mare. Ciò che potrebbe  sembrare estremamente ambizioso è in realtà svolto nel segno del minimalismo: i suoi piano-solo ancora più che in passato sono infatti debitori non solo della lezione di un maestro mai troppo omaggiato quale Erik Satie ma anche dei sentieri già solcati da Harold Budd. Quella che è la sua cifra stilistica più riconoscibile, ossia l’abilità nel variare di intensità all’interno di uno stesso pezzo agendo perfettamente sulle dinamiche piano/forte, sembra quasi restituire i moti dell’animo di Eric Tabarly, che si fa quasi archetipo di tutti gli uomini di mare, e di tutti quegli uomini che del mare hanno fatto la propria musa. Da qui brani ora languidi e distensivi come La Longe Route e La Corde, ora brani di stampo più romantico (termine da considerare nella sua accezione più autentica) come Naval e Point Mort nei quali è evidente l’influenza di Chopin e Debussy soprattutto. Altre volte ancora, il sentimento è più malinconico e in brani come Yellow – arricchito anche dall’accompagnamento dell’accordèon -, Derniere e Atlantique Nord, lo sguardo sembra  essere proprio quella del vecchio Eric Tabarly al ritorno da una delle sue regate e che alle prime luci del faro sulla costa, volge il viso a metà tra il mare alle sue spalle e la terra che si avvicina, respirando a pieno polmoni, per un istante, la brezza marina.

Video:

Trailer del film

Naval

Yellow

Derniere

]]> http://higherplainmusic.com/2009/06/09/lisa-germano-new-album/ Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:02:45 +0000 Higher Plain Music http://higherplainmusic.com/2009/06/09/lisa-germano-new-album/

Lisa Germano has a new album coming! “Magic Neighbour” is due out of the 18th of September. Nothing else is really known as of yet but we aren’t worried, Lisa’s albums are as intimately revealing as they are extrovertly beautiful. We can’t wait!

Post 1 (the beginning)

So… this is me. Lonelyspouse30. Welcome to my blog.

I always had high hopes for marriage. Out of the stress of dating. Goodbye loneliness. Sharing life’s experiences. Comforting someone in bad times, and having that someone comfort me in bad times, too. Sharing moments of joy, the thrill of discovering life together. You know. Wedded bliss.

I’ve heard of wedded bliss. And I’ve seen those people who “have it” so I know happiness in marriage is possible. You can pick happily married couples out of a crowd. And I mean happy, not merely content. I’m insanely jealous of those people. I was one of those people in a former life. (Well, not the married part. That’s another story for another day.)

Well, I don’t “have it” in my marriage. Girlfriends don’t jab their boyfriends in the ribs when my wife and I are out. Old couples don’t point in our direction, whisper, smile, and nod approvingly. And it’s damn painful.

What a waste. What a waste to feel the way I feel. When happiness is just around the corner…

And I’ll be honest with you. I’ve tried hard. I’ve read relationship books and put their advice into action. I’ve surfed the Web looking for marriage counseling tips. I’ve put on the smiling face for weeks, layed on the romance, avoided every fight and argument (sometimes biting my tongue so hard that it bled), hoping things would get better. And they did get better every time I tried that hard. They got better… for her. As for me, I got exhausted. And the whole thing would collapse again.

Once around the world. Could I feel my way around the world? Twice around the world. Feel my way around.

And I’ll be even more honest with you. I get frustrated. Very frustrated. I even get angry. And I shut her out emotionally. I can be a bastard. I admit it.

Nobody teaches how to laugh. Nobody teaches how to live. Nobody told me what to do. When life gets pretty ugly.

Marriage is tough. I hoped it would be easier.

Italicized lyrics are from Lisa Germano’s “Around the World.”

Spread the word — send others a link to this blog. And please leave comments of advice, comfort, criticism or just a random “hello.”

this film deserves to be tied to boy george’s radiator and abused as only a faded bald popstar can.

an odious manipulative paean to squeezing out chunks of baby and buying bigger houses.

it has all the emotional engagement and artistry of a volvo ad.

the equivalent of dog snuff.  waiting an hour and half for the dog to die.  yes it kicks the fucking bucket.  bobs eighth law of movies states that films about cute dogs nearly always end with canine corpses.

made somehow worse by the soundtrack presence of rem’s shiny happy people: an ominous vomitous portent of what lay ahead.

fuck…bile…choking…as….type…

i want to take sharp pointed sticks to owen wilsons wonked face.  i want to mail freshly excised tumours to rachel karen green.  i want to sleep with alan arkins wife and have him catch us at it, plough-stylee.  i want to beat annoying mopey kids with cactii until tiny freckled faces are wet with tears.

there’s a pleasant little film in here somewhere: a man, his dog.  i need no more.  something of the wonderfully aberrant david lynch straight story would have worked for me.

this? this leads to thoughts of water boarding, pierced scrotums, slopped cups of lukewarm vomit, old men in drag, bloated famine corpses, sliced eyeballs, unsettlingly damp bus seats.  nothing nice.  y’dig?

avoid.

unless yr some twisted paraphile whose particular kinky bent is getting off watching kids at a freshly dug dead dog grave.  in which case: two thumbs up.  you sick fucks.

• okkervil river: dead dog song
• neutral milk hotel: dead dog
• lisa germano: bye bye little doggie