The eerily beautiful Fade Into You was the biggest hit for Mazzy Star, taken from their 1993 album So Tonight That I Might See. The band were formed by ex-Rain Parade guitarist David Roback and singer Hope Sandoval from the ashes of Opal, and recorded three albums. Never officially splitting, a fourth LP has been in the worksd, on and off, for over a decade.

Some nights I like to sit alone, weeping uncontrollably into the darkness. I’ll pour myself one too many babychams and think about times past. Maybe if I’d been willing to see things differently, maybe if I’d been willing to change, things could have been different. I light another cigarette, lie back, put another record on. Just a coupla more tunes to see me through troublesome times. Sometimes it’s Armchair Boogie by Michael Hurley, sometimes it’s the Never Ending Story by Limahl. Doesn’t matter. Just me, myself and the music. And sometimes – sometimes that’s enough, y’know?

But crapping crikey, do I really need to pay £20 to go and ‘see’ someone perform in near darkness? One of the best things about listening to music in the dark on your own is that YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN. It’s like being serenaded by angels whilst you have a particularly emotional wank. Things change when you’re sat amongst hundreds of other people doing the same.

Hope Sandoval’s last solo album, Bavarian Fruitbread (and most of the Mazzy Star back-catalogue), is one of those albums you can turn to in a crisis. It never lets you down. It’s dreamy, it’s hypnotic and it can completely re-tune your brain. It goes with darkness like civil servants go with a blank absence of ideas and intellectual rigour. But the choice to actually perform in darkness is questionable.

Ok, I’ve seen some bands pull it off: Mogwai, Melt Banana, Spiritualized etc. There are bands that made nineties journalists dribble themselves into a care homes with talk of soundscapes and sonic cathedrals. There are bands creating a noise such that you don’t know whether to punch yourself in the eyes, or shit yourself inside out. Hope’s music aligns her with the former. Trouble is, it’s music that engages through it’s emotional and lyrical resonance. It isn’t just about the sound. For the audience to be fully engaged and immersed, it helps to see the physical nuances of the performer’s delivery as they convey, amplify or even distort the feelings behind the words.

Don’t get me wrong, the video work is a captivating performance in itself. It’s repetitive enough to draw you in and let the music wash over you.  But without the focus of a visible human being, on it’s own, I’m not sure it’s enough . It may be that performing in darkness is a way for Sandoval to deal with a reported crippling shyness. It may be a way of resisting lazy journalistic reductions of this music to talk about the physical beauty of the performer, which used to happen a lot when she was in Mazzy Star. In which case, all well and good. It’s just a shame that such an unscalable barrier is erected in the process. It begs the question of whether Hope actually needs to attend her own gigs. And that can’t be a good thing.

Convincersi che l’ascoltatore debba sempre essere imboccato è stato un errore, piuttosto grosso, nella costituzione di alcune puntate, a risentirmi ho ecceduto di didascalicità, di predicazionismo, forse per la riuscita delle trasmissione è meglio lasciare scorrere i testi: chi vuole coglie, chi non vuole si lascia solo suggestionare dai suoni.

In questo senso avevamo già aperto una via con la puntata On the Road, avevamo ripristinato lo stile dei nostri primi lavori: nessuna intenzione didattica, nessun itinerario organico, solo associazioni percettive, anzi elettive. Allora ho costituito una playlist di musica elettronica (perlopiù), un po’ per avvicinarci alle sonorità della puntata in collaborazione con Paolo di pclectic ( qui il suo blog), un po’ perchè mi permetteva di affrontare nuove sonorità, e staccarmi dall’indie un po’ troppo battuto di recente.

La scelta dei brani musicali è stata facile, ho deciso di prendere gruppi che non si sono da sempre occupati di musica elettronica: Muse, Editors, Mazzy Star, Beirut…. anzi che provenissero da background sonori profondamente diversi, new-wave, folk bandistico, brit-rock, e che il synth lo usassero come complemento e completamento di un suono già esistente.

Le letture invece sono tratte da due raccolte di poesie: Versi Nuovi di Biagio Cepollaro ( qui il suo sito da cui potete scaricare intere raccolte poetiche dei maggiori autori degli ultimi 20 anni) e la Distrazione di Andrea Inglese ( che potete leggere su Nazione Indiana, in assoluto uno dei miei blog preferiti).

La dimensione della scrittura poetica a mio avviso si poteva avvicinare alla frammentarietà meccanica di alcune sonorità che ho proposto, per cui a voi decidere se il risultato è stato efficace.

Domani alle 19:00 su Mwradio.it

L’immagine di questo post è di  Anton Corbijn, fotografo e regista, foto analogica, medioformato Hasselbald….

The Kills

PopMatters, March 2008 8/10

Decadent, sullen and minimal, the Kills have always been a band seemingly out-of-sorts with the industry they’ve chosen. Their ragged garage blues and photobooth posing suggest an art installation or some conceptual burst of freedom in an underground movie, not the austere album/tour order of the music business.

The music is as raw as their image, cheekbone-sharp guitars and death black hair. And interestingly for a band that seems to exist in duotone—they have always advocated the artistry of their photography alongside the music—first impressions are of a band devoid of colour, stripped down to it’s bare necessities: vocals, guitar, drum machine. And yet with every Kills release you soon realise how deceiving their minimalist image is. Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince’s refusal to follow the rules and ditch the drums and bass does more than guarantee any income is split a clean 50-50. Subtle multi-tracking and inventive use of that sparse drum machine ensures the Kills have more layers waiting to be stripped away than most bands who rely on the usual drum/bass rhythm section. The resulting sound is visceral, subversive and immediate.

Midnight Boom is the Kills third full-length release, coming three years after No Wow and Keep on Your Mean Side, from 2003. When they first emerged, carving out a niche for themselves with a distinct style and sound that knowingly referenced other artists such as Velvet Underground, Patti Smith and PJ Harvey, the Kills were joyously welcomed and both records were well received. For a band who limit themselves in their choice of instruments and now on their third album, you might ask how they can progress. The answer is an album which shows a maturity that defies its limitations, yet crucially doesn’t dispel with the rich swagger and sass that gives the Kills their intensity.

It’s a brave band who open a record with 12 seconds of hushed dial tone. Over those initial seconds comes the eager tapping of numbers. It’s unclear who’s calling who but that dial tone soon builds into the effortless beat of “U.R.A. Fever”, an immediate sexual sway of a song, dripping with the Kills typically-subversive chemistry. Mosshart and Hince taunt each other with “You only ever had her when you had a fever” while discordant guitars lash violently at the pace of the song. It’s clear that the Kills have lost none of that raw tension, but it’s also interesting to note the difference drafting in producer Alex Epton (Armani XXXchange from genre-blending sleaze merchants Spank Rock) has made to the Kills sound.

Crucially Epton hasn’t pulled-out his usual record chainsaw and torn apart the Kills sound. Brought in for additional production, the Kills have drawn on Epton’s beat-making skills to add extra texture to the drumbeats. The result is more character, more intensity, and it’s beautiful. “Last Day of Magic” slides along on a cool-ass beat and a whispering backwards hi-hat, Mosshart sounding like Peaches at her most temptress, the Kills spitting out more and more erotic charge with every bar. While the fabulous “Sour Cherry” with its “I’m the only sour cherry on your fruit stand” line and tongue-in-cheek swagger, seemingly exploits what sounds like the under-used rhythmic qualities of chopsticks.

The atmosphere here is strung tight, hinting at the sexual energy Mosshart and Hince give off onstage. But the Kills are also a group that understand the Tom Waits vintage of beauty in melancholy. So yes, they’re all hip and sass at the best times, but they also know how to claw at your heart strings.

Nowhere is this more evident than on the haunting “Black Balloon”, a classic Kills ballad that begins by recalling the dry blues of “Rodeo Town” from No Wow. “You can hold on but I wouldn’t waste your time / Farewell my black balloon,” coos Mosshart. The song’s already lighter than air when half-way Mosshart breaks into an ethereal “aaah-aaah-aaah”, and the song lifts skyward along with said balloon, Mosshart calling out after it, suggesting some latent erotic union: “Farewell my black balloon / Let the weather have its way with you.”

Elsewhere Midnight Boom is such a ride. “Cheap and Cheerful”, “Getting Down” and “What New York Used to Be” all bounce along with vigour that makes the album such a joy. It feels free and rebellious, driven on an urgency and playfulness that evokes Jean Belmondo‘s character in Godard‘s À Bout de Souffle. In fact, the jump-cuts, bold energy and fresh tale of modern urban life of À Bout de Souffle make it a perfect celluloid sibling for the Kills.

The Kills talk much about the influence of art and film on their music. Hince and Mosshart have said they drew inspiration for Midnight Boom from a 1960s documentary, Pizza Pizza Daddy-O, about the playground rhymes of inner city American children. “We just started building rhythms around those and had this concept of coming up with modern-day playground songs,” Hince told Domino Records. “Cos they’re really quite dark. Cutting people’s thumbs off, kicking people in the face, throwing ‘em down stairs. I kinda liked it. So I got this old MPC-60 hip hop drum sequencer and just started making rhythms on that. And these playground songs ended up as Midnight Boom.”

Fed to the skewed guitar and beats, the influence of these ghostly patty-cake rhymes from 40 years ago litter Midnight Boom, from the gorgeous drive of “Tape Song” to the art-punk of “Alphabet Pony”. And they make perfect sense, shaping the record’s consistency and adding to the Kills’ extremely infectious build.

The Kills bleed cool and it runs darker and cooler than ever before on Midnight Boom. They’re a soundtrack waiting for a road movie;  If they didn’t exist you can guarantee they’d turn up in a David Lynch film somewhere, busking on the side of a distant highway under lonely neon and a half-moon.

Midnight Boom finishes with “Goodnight Bad Morning”, a song so full of early-morning melancholy it rivals even the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning” for sheer crow-black blues. Over a rocking-chair beat and soft-strum of acoustic guitar Mosshart and Hince whisper “….See it in everyone / Like a lost idea under lightbulb sun / Your eyes ready for take-off melt in your head / What a beautiful state we’re in.” It is a song that could have been the highlight on any Mazzy Star or Leonard Cohen album but it closes the Kills most remarkable record to date, staying with you long after it ends, Hince’s slow humming still resonating in your senses, the cold shiver still working it’s way down your spine.

Halloween is coming up. Although I’m not doing a Halloween show tonight the season is making me in the mood for some Misfits. These guys rock in such an awesomely ghoulish way, who wouldn’t love hearing them on or near Halloween.

Listen in tonight from 8 to 10 pm on KRUI 89.7 fm or online here.

1. The Misfits, Collection (1986), London Dungeon

2. The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides and Rarities (2008), Why’d You Want Me
(This is a box set encompassing tracks from their entire career.)
3. Mission of Burma, Vs. (Bonus Track on the Remastered album), Forget
Vs. originally came out in 1982
4. Dinosaur Jr., Where You Been? (1993), Start Choppin
These guys are TOURING, and they played last thursday at the Vic in Chicago. Here’s a quote from Miles Raymour I pulled off of The Chicago Reader. (I couldn’t Summarize Lou Barlow any better, even though I do love the Smiths.)

Morrissey may be popularly perceived as the King of Sadness Feelings, but his arch melodrama has always struck me as too closely related to handful-of-Tylenol “suicide attempt” drama queen-ism, which is just another way for somebody to say “Look at me!” Serious aficionados of feeling bad know that Lou Barlow is the true master of alt-rock miserablism. His 90s discography covers all the main flavors of depression, from the heartbroken “I could break down crying at any time” prettiness of Sebadoh’s “Soul and Fire” to the abject “I haven’t left the house or showered in a week” desolation of Sentridoh’s “Choke Chain,” and his frequent detours into hardcore bong-rip punk are a fair stand-in for manic jags. (Let’s not talk about the Folk Implosion.) On his new solo album, Goodnight Unknown (Merge), he sounds more settled and less self-tortured, more expansive and less dependent on minor keys—but he can still write a tuneful, melancholy pop song, and the hushed “I’m Thinking . . . ” is as dark as anything he’s done.

5. Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville (1993 on Matador records), 6′1″
6. Secret Shine, Untouched (1993), Sun Warmed Water
7. No Age, Eraser (A single off of Sub pop, released in 2008), Eraser
8. Jona Lewie, The Best of Jona Lewie (2002), The Baby She’s on the Street
(This track came out in 1978, and its just so much fun.)
9. Spizzenergi, Where’s Captain Kirk? the Very Best of Spizz (2002), Where’s Captain Kirk (the single came out in 1979)
10. Lene Lovich, Lucky Number: The Best of (2004), Say When
11. Depeche Mode, The Best of Depeche Mode, People are People (single came out in 1984)
(as you can tell from the last three albums I’m a sucker for best of albums.)
12. Elvis Costello, This Year’s Model (1978), Radio Radio
13. Siouxsie & The Banshees, Twice upon a Time- The Singles, Cities in Dust (single was released in 1985)
14. The Gun Club, Fire of Love (1981), Ghost on the Highway
This album is brilliant. When I first heard this I never heard anything like it. Allmusic has them sited as a “tribal psychobilly blues” band. Check them out.

15. Radio Birdman, The Essential Radio Birdman (1974-1978), Aloha Steve and Danno
16. The Replacements, All Shook Down (1990), My Little Problem
17. Husker Du, New Day Rising (1985), Plans I Make
18. Polvo, In Prism (2009), D.C. Trails
19. Pixies, Come on Pilgrim (1987), The Holiday Song
20. The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs (1999), I Can’t Touch You Anymore

21. Mazzy Star, So Tonight That I Might See (1993), Blue Light
22. Modest Mouse, Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004 and also nominated for a Grammy), The World at Large
23. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Tender Prey (1988), The Mercy Seat (Johnny Cash covered this tune.)
24. Portishead, Dummy (1994), Roads
25. The Swell Maps, A Trip to Marineville (1979, and re-released in 1989), Vertical Slum

26. Tom Waits, Bone Machine (1992, and won a Grammy that year), Goin’ Out West

After over 15 years, I finally got the chance to be graced with the presence of Hope Sandoval. On Friday October 16^th, Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions performed to a packed standing room only audience at The Loft in Atlanta, GA. While I have been a Mazzy Star fan for years, I actually really find her Warm Inventions material to stand strongly on its own. It has been 8 years since the release of the brilliant “Bavarian Fruit Bread” album and when I heard Hope and company were releasing a new album titled “Through The Devil Softly”, I was not just excited that I was going to get to hear new music; I was going to get to see her live with The Warm Inventions for the first time.

The show kicked off with opening band Dirt Blue Gene who I felt to be a very fitting opener. They had a sound that was like a fine mix of Mazzy Star meets Pink Floyd. The band had a very mellow sound and the use of subtle effects throughout the mix made it a very ear candy type of experience. The band really didn’t have any memorable songs but this isn’t to say that they weren’t good. I felt like they are a band to see in the moment to really get what they’re about. It was also no surprise to find out that they were also The Warm Inventions.

After a surprisingly pleasant 45 minute set, Hope & Co. made their way to the stage. I was right up against the stage because I just had to take in the entire experience up close and personal. Hope Sandoval has to be one of the most captivating performers I have ever seen. I read a lot of reviews of her shows and they always tend to be written by these kind of obsessive, sometimes bordering on stalker, male fans who talk about how beautiful she is and it actually gets kind of creepy. Let me start off by saying that she truly is beautiful but for me, it’s not her beauty that is so captivating; it’s her aura and the way that she appears to be connected to each word she sings with no distractions. She is in it 100% and that projects right to her listeners.

She enters the stage walking kind of briskly to the microphone and she clasps her hands behind her back. She turns to her band and the band launches into “Courtin’ Blues” by Nick Drake. From that moment on, the audience will be completely under her spell. Her presence is very commanding without being abrupt or even direct. She rarely says more than a slight “thank you” after every fourth song or so and the most I heard her say was at the encore where she said, “Thank you. You all are very sweet.” The dark, swirling undertone of “Blanchard” as the third song really drew me into her space and “Around My Smile” from “Bavarian Fruit Bread” was one of my “have to hear this song live” songs.

The stage presence of Hope Sandoval really reminds me of Jim Morrison on a polar opposite spectrum. While Jim did it with utter chaos, disorder and sexual charisma, Hope uses silence and softness as her tools while delivering her songs with a voice that sounded like thick air as she rarely opened her eyes or made any kind of eye contact. As she stood there in the soft blue and purple lights, it was impossible to not be completely pulled in. Her soft, warm voice is completely enveloped by the intricate yet subtle music made by the band and the chemistry between is completely unspoken. It’s almost as if they are on this mental and emotional wavelength with her that they all just flow in and surround her like a warm, musical aura.

One of the things I was also so impressed to see was the connection they all had to each other as they improvised extended “jams” throughout the songs. Hope’s drummer and creative partner Colm O’Ciosoig made his way to the front to play acoustic guitar on “Satellite” and took over on glockenspiel for a show stopping “Suzanne” which literally brought the house down. Watching Hope play the glockenspiel and vibraphone with such intensity on songs like “Around My Smile” and the dark, haunting and beautifully chaotic set closer “For The Rest of Your Life” was like something I’ve never seen. It was like watching a quiet, fragile person letting you know that she was completely capable of unleashing on you in in a very intense way. It almost made me feel that she could be the type of person that would either cry herself to tears in solitude or rip your fucking head off and make you wish you’d never been born. Again, this goes back to the reason why her presence alone is so fascinating and captivating. Performing to 300+ people in a club isn’t easy task in itself to have that place drawn completely to you and so quiet you can practically hear a pin drop at times is astonishing.

Hope Sandoval has really established herself as a true music icon in my eyes. She has the ability to create such an amazing live experience matched only by that of Bob Dylan in my experience. For over an hour and half, I felt like I was floating and like I was the only person there. There is such intimacy to her performance and her music. The vibe of those songs captured on recorded medium is definitely replicated and in my opinion done so on a much grander level in a live setting. Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions completely took me to a place that I am rarely taken to in a live setting by bands. They took me someplace that I hope to go with them again and again. I still have their music to listen to whenever I want and as I listen, I will always remember that feeling of lightness as I was swept away with a smile.

~*~ My favourite makeout playlist ~*~

Alright ~ Kinnie Star

How My Heart Behaves ~ Feist

Five String Serendade ~ Mazzy Star

Fallen ~ Sarah MacLachlan

Been Let Down ~ Mazzy Star

Tell Me ~ Carly Rae Jepsen

Sweet Talker ~ Carly Rae Jepsen

Drifing ~ Sarah McLachlan

Stay With Me ~ Colbie Caillat

Sweet Jane ~ Mazzy Star

Dirty Little Secret ~ Sarah McLachlan

Glitter In The Air ~ Pink

Madly ~ Tristan Prettyman

Interviews ~ Tristan Prettyman

In My Head ~ Anna Nalick

Push ~ Sarah McLachlan

All Your Sisters ~ Mazzy Star

Give Me Your Lovin ~ Mazzy Star

Falling Slowly ~ The Frames

Hope Sandoval stays cloaked in darkness on the Music Hall of Williamsburg stage.

Last night was a busy one for Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? After the fantastic GraceMusic performance by Anonymous 4 in Nyack, there was just enough time to make it to Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg for Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions.

Because she had some technical difficulties, there was plenty of time to get into position for her set.

If you’ve never seen Hope perform before (I hadn’t), you need to know that the former Mazzy Star lead singer like to perform in darkness. The set started with an announcement that no photography was allowed, and one of the band’s roadies was pretty aggressive about pointing out suspected photo pirates in the audience, using a very bright flashlight beam. (As you can see, WYMMWIG got access to a photo. My apologies for the poor quality, but conditions were far less than ideal.)

Hope’s set was subdued but lovely. Her first song, “Blanchard,” was so low-key that her voice was almost inaudible in the sound mix. After that problem was repaired, her singing could be heard, but remained deliberately obscured.

Hope sang and played glockenspiel front and center onstage, with only the flickering light of projected silent films illuminating her face from time to time. She let her songs do her talking, pausing to speak a few words only in response to a cry of “We love you, Hope” from the audience. Her response: “If you love me, stop the people from talking!”

In the end, it was a strong set, but I didn’t feel compelled to applaud loudly for more. It was just enough,

Read more about the show at Yes, I Am That Important!, which also posted the set list:

Credit: Yes, I Am That Important!

Hope and her band are still in town, and will perform tonight at 9 a Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Manhattan. (212) 533-2111. $22 at the door.

Cu dedicatie pentru balanta favorita. La multi ani!

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions just released their second, long-awaited collection of music, titled Through the Devil Softly.

The new music stands in some dusty, murky ground between the previous HS&tWI CD, 2001’s Bavarian Fruit Bread (BFB), and the legendary body of work created by Sandoval’s other (long dormant) band, Mazzy Star. Through the Devil Softly (TtDS) is neither as downbeat-shoe-gazing as BFB was, nor is it as deathly otherworldly as the Mazzy Star work was. TtDS finds a glowing haze that the others forego in their overcast evenings and midnight reveries.

The sonic textures of old (glinting, rain-like guitar work; fleeting harmonicas; noir-ish, understated drums) are back and certainly reference the previous HS&tWI recording. But in TtDS they feel not so much quoted as rethought, reconstructed; there really is a different feeling to this new group of songs. Bavarian Fruit Bread’s sound was nested largely in an acoustic feel and this inflected every aspect of the production – even the layered use of keyboards and other ambient soundscapes present in the work. In TtDS, layered instrumentation and vocals signal the constructed, incremental product that it is.

I’m pleased with the confidence in Sandoval’s voice on TtDS and find the syncopation of delivery that she’s using really lovely. Yes, the trademark lilting languidness is there – it’s something fundamental to how she uses her instrument – but on TtDS her intonation touches a clarity and closeness not felt on previous tracks. The music stays pushed off in fade and reverb, yet Sandoval’s breathy voice is near and concise when compared to her past work.

Overall, TtDS feels more varied and staged than BFB… and that’s good. It’s a body of music that feels like it is referencing a greater range of feeling than past tracks were while retaining the trademark sound and mood for which Sandoval is known.

It’s nice to have more Hope out there.

Key tracks from Through the Devil Softly:

Blanchard
For the Rest of Your Life
Sets the Blaze

I am particularly excited for my New Release Tuesday post today. “Why?” you ask. “Is it because of the new Backstreet Boys CD or the Creed re-release?” Well, I can honestly so that it is not. It is however the first week of October which means the official beginning of the Christmas season for record labels and movie distributors, thus kicking off the nauseating three month frenzy of crap being dumped into the marketplace. Sweet!

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The Raveonettes – In and Out of Control

Emily Haines

For those unfamiliar, The Raveonettes are a brilliant band from Denmark by way of Brooklyn consisting of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo who I am in love with. Sharin shares a special place in my heart with Metric’s Emily Haines. I indeed have a weakness for waify non-American blonde indie rock chicks who play guitar. Anyway…on to the music.
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The Raveonettes’ last album Lust Lust Lust was my absolute favorite of 2008 and I’ve since been patiently anticipating its follow-up. Their music is like pre-Beatles pop songs recorded by the Velvet Underground and then covered by a Psychocandy era Jesus and Mary Chain who sent the tracks back to the future through a time warp to be mixed by a pre-felony/incarceration era Phil Spector. Helpful? After three attentive listens I’m prepared to say that In and Out of Control isn’t quite on par with Lust Lust Lust, but I didn’t expect it to be. The same seamless harmonies and efficient songwriting, just much less adventurous sonically.
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Here is their incredibly catchy new single “Last Dance”

Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones

Ryan Gosling

Two things can be expected from actors who become bored with acting and decide they want to be rock stars: A) Their album will suck. B) No matter how bad it sucks some label will take a gamble and release it. For this reason I was terrified upon hearing Ryan Gosling, one of my very favorite actors and man crush objects, started a band with his neighborhood’s hipster children’s choir and they were releasing an album. Initially I feared that best case scenario it would be dismissed as an indulgent novelty and forgotten before doing any permanent damage. Well, sorry I doubted you Ryan.
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I am relieved to say that after listening, my respect for Gosling as an artist has only deepened. Dead Man’s Bones can’t easily be summed with comparisons so I’ll just recommend listening to it. The best I can do is say that it’s eclectic, charming in a creepy sort of way and best experienced with a fake life-sized doll.

Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions – Through the Devil Softly

Best known as the former singer of mid 90’s shoegaze folk duo Mazzy Star whose song “Fade Into You” still finds its way onto soundtracks and TV shows. Hope could sing through a phone book and make it haunting and rich, (though I hope she never does because that would make for the worst album ever), and to me that’s why this album as a whole doesn’t grab me. Too much gets stripped down and cleared away to make room for her vocals and as a result sometimes the songs either run into one another or just don’t go anywhere. Through the Devil Softly was produced by former My Bloody Valentine guitarist Colm O’Coisoig who I wish would have brought some of his former band’s sonic adventure with him to this one. Click here for more good times secret

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Built to Spill – There is no Enemy

Indie-rock troubadours continue to make it work after 15 years. Nothing groundbreaking, just good vibrant pop-rock songs and giant beards.

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Noah & the Whale – The First Days of Spring

This British folk band’s name is a tribute to filmmaker Noah Baumbach and his wonderful 2005 film The Squid and the Whale which makes them instantly cool. Their sophomore album The First Days of Spring is a melancholy affair that seems to largely be about lead singer Charlie Fink and former member Laura Marling’s relationship. While it makes for a focused album it comes off as semi-pitiful when considering that 19 year old Laura’s album Alas, I Cannot Swim is quite good and seems to have nothing at all to do with him.

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Matthew Good – Vancouver

Well-crafted, emotive songs from veteran Canadian singer-songwriter.

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Brandi Carlisle – Give Up the Ghost

Produced by Rick Rubin, the mastermind behind Johnny Cash’s American recordings. Love her voice, like her songs as much as I need to.

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Air – Love 2

Sleepy and uninspired 5th album from the French electronica duo responsible for setting the moody sonic backdrop to Sofia Coppola’s debut film The Virgin Suicides.

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Clientele – Bonfires on the Heath

Well, this hazy, London indie rock band is nothing if not consistent. Sometimes predictability can work.

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DVD’s

Anvil: The Story of Anvil

The fact that I never heard of Anvil and that my only interest in 80’s hair metal is mocking its ridiculousness didn’t stop me from loving this documentary. The film was marketed as the “true to life” Spinal Tap which makes sense but at the same time trivializes the heart of the film. It is hilarious and equal time is spent laughing with them and at them but it’s also heartbreaking. At Anvil’s core is a story about disappointment and broken dreams and the relationships that sustain us. Director Rob Reiner does a great job delicately balancing humor and heart. You will find yourself cheering these guys on as they take one final stab at their dream. I Highly recommend!

Books

PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God

This book series is very meaningful to me so I’ll post about it at length in a couple days

Hoy les dejo un video que la neta no está nada interesante en el sentido de la dirección o los efectos ni nada de eso, es muy común y corriente, pero lo que hace que valga la pena es la rola. Sonaba en la licuadora musical esta rola cuando me dije a mi mismo: “Mi mismo, postéala”

Les gustará si han estado enamorados… ahhii, se me metió una basurita en mi ojito…

MASSIVE ATTACK
Splitting The Atom

It’s been more than five years since Massive Attack has released a new album, so it’s understandable that the music blogs are all aflutter over the release this week of ‘Weather Underground’, a four song taste from what is said to be recordings destined for the trip-hop supergroup’s long-awaited fifth album. Word is the boys have been working with an A-List group of artists including Damon Albarn from Blur, Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird and Tunde Adebimpe from TV on the Radio. With that kinda talent this is gonna be one of THE albums you gotta get this year! The first song on the EP, Splitting The Atom, is an electronica lullaby that features the always outstanding vocal contributions from Horace Andy and Daddy G that is both comforting and creepy at the same time…..but it’s probably the most Massive Attack-sounding song since 1994’s ‘Protection’. Keep your eyes and ears open for more news about when the new album is due out by checking out Massive Arttack on MySpace or on the Official Massive Attack Website

Two entries this week. I suppose this qualifies as the “official” one, as I fully intended to include it after I picked up the album it’s pulled from after I bought it last week (yes, I still pay for music.)

‘Lady Jessica and Sam’ by Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions

I want to hold the hand inside you
I want to take a breath thats true
I look to you and I see nothing
I look to you to see the truth
You live your life
You go in shadows
Youll come apart and youll go black
Some kind of night into your darkness
Colors your eyes with whats not there.

Fade into you
Strange you never knew
Fade into you
I think its strange you never knew
I think its strange you never knew

Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions – Through The Devil Softly (2009)

For some, Hope Sandoval will always be synonymous with Mazzy Star, a band whose particular brand of opiated country balladry casts a long shadow down the years, making itself felt in the music of the Cowboy Junkies and more recently The XX, to name but two. In fact, for Dave Roback, guitarist with paisley underground stalwarts The Rain Parade, this was a logical and powerful progression, a music so seductive that grown men abandoned family and friends for an echo of ‘Fade Into You’. Maybe not, though the lone voice crying out “Hope , I Love You” on the live version puts a powerful argument forward in support of that theory. Be that as it may, Hope Sandoval has a new album, produced by My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig. ‘Through the Devil Softly’ continues to mine the dark side of life, songs of loss and dreams of salvation. Nobody does southern gothic quite like Hope Sandoval and in the Warm Inventions she has found a worthy foil.

Trodde det var åpenlyst, noe som lå utenpå. Noe du merket, i det minste. Siden det var deg det handlet om.

Jeg hører på Mazzy Star med Fade Into You. Det er utrolig godt egentlig, for det passer så fint til gåsehuden på armene, i nakken. Det er kaldt her.

Trodde som sagt det lå utenpå. Mye har endret seg siden da. Allikevel er det ikke lengre siden enn at det stadig kommer krypende innover meg. Som erfaring nå, ikke bare smerte.

Litt klokere, sånn i teorien.

Jeg elsker høsten.

Whatever became of Hope Sandoval? She was so brilliant, looking all twelve and singing like a hazy dope angel. I think the world needs an endless supply of Mazzy Star’s heavy-dream music. Like Timbuk 3, they were a rare case of one-hit-wonders who truly deserved more. Well, enjoy what you have, right?

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

Oggi parlo di te, un po’ perchè ne ho voglia, un po’ perchè, un dubbio credo comprensibile, assale me e, forse, parte della nostra allegra comitiva, la più intima, s’intende. Oggi parlo di te perchè, a quest’ora non ho un caz di meglio da fare e perchè, nel pome, ho promesso all’amico ingegnere che avrei provato a raccoglier in un post alcune delle minchiate di cui tu sei stato artefice in questi lunghi anni trascinando spesso anche noi proprio in quel vortice di follia pura che ti accompagnava dal risveglio fino alla notte…comprese le notti in cui volevi che dormissimo, a turno, a casa tua per proteggerti da non si sa bene cosa…e nessuno ha mai capito da cosa avrei mai potuto proteggerti io visto che realtà vuole che tu sia alto e grande almeno il doppio della sottoscritta! Ma tant’è! Eri tu e noi ti abbiamo sempre amato così!

Negli anni, qualcuno, per strada, lo abbiamo perso, questo è vero, qualcuno forse lo ritroveremo ancora e qualcun altro, nella fattispecie concreta tu, è ricomparso così, all’improvviso, in una sera qualunque, nella magica scatoletta del videocitofono del condominio di Via Murri, nota meta di pellegrinaggio delle anime in pena, compresa la mia che nel condominio in questione ci vive proprio.

Avevo da poco finito di cenare quando sento suonar il citofono e al di là del cancello ci sei tu, bello come sempre(chè va detto che sei un gran bel manzo anche se fingi di vergognartene ogni volta che te lo dico). Ci sei tu e senza chieder chi è apro il cancello e ti lascio entrare. Va da sè che già sapevo i fatti tuoi prima ancora che venissi a raccontarmeli(e diversamente non può essere per gli avventori abituali dell’interno 3 della Murri di cui prima!), ti guardo avanzare ed è un po’ che non ci vediamo e credo più per colpa mia che tua o forse, per colpa d’entrambi. Io uscita non del tutto illesa da quel che appunto eravamo ho cercato una via di fuga per tornare a sentirmi un minimo normale(cosa che se ti consola non è successa dato che, come sai, son finita a far cose che avresti potuto tranquillamente fare tu, come la storia del treno che ti ha esaltato così tanto che ora cerchi una donna da costringer a prender un treno,foss’anche solo per Porretta(cit) per  poterla riprodurre tale e quale!….va da sè che, la piccola Melissa, è probabile sia disposta a risalir su un treno così, a cazzo, solo per spirito di solidarietà e anche perchè sprezzante del pericolo lo è sempre stata, quindi, se hai bisogno..chiamala!).Tu, dal canto tuo, hai recitato la parte dell’uomo a-un-passo-dal-matrimonio e, come tale, ti abbiam visto prender in mano la vita e giocartela così, come era poi forse giusto che fosse. Giusto fino a qualche mese fà, a quanto pare! E così, eccoti qui, a casa! Un bentornato lo sentivo salir dal cuore l’altra sera, anche se non te l’ho detto e, se non l’ho fatto, avevo due buone ragioni:

1) mi vergogno anche io ogni tanto quando voglio bene a qualcuno e non riesco a dimostrarglielo e, meno ci riesco meno ci provo, alla fine (mea culpa);

2) ero impegnata ad incassar il fatto che ti sei presentato all’ora di cena strafogandoti tutte le frise pugliesi che con tanto amore mamma mi aveva nascosto in valigia!(senza contare che poi, qui, viene Melissa, non le trova e si deprime!)

Bentornato(tacci tua!) te lo dico adesso, adesso che leggerai al di là di uno schermo e in sottofondo sentirai una canzone che conosci molto bene e forse ricorderai anche il giorno in cui quel cd me lo hai regalato, io comunque quel giorno lo ricordo e Mazzy Star ha finito per saper di te in tutto questo tempo. Ma, bando alle romanticherie, questo non è un post lieve, nel senso che, se sei qui, è per pagar pegno chè mica puoi pensar che noi altri la storia dell’uomo cambiato pronto al matrimonio ce l’eravam bevuta così! Ce ne siam stati zitti zitti per anni aspettandoti al  varco! Ed eccoti qui! Nel caso gli anni prematrimoniali ti avessero offuscato la memoria oggi è il tuo gran giorno.

Qui c’è gente che ricorda bene, molto bene, quel piccolo demone che si nasconde dietro la faccia da bravo ragazzo che Madre Natura ti ha concesso. Qui c’è gente che un po’ effettivamente nostalgia di quel demone l’ha sentita ma non ti illudere! Solo un po’! Chè tu sei capace di ricominciar proprio da dove hai lasciato due anni fa e noi, nel frattempo saremmo anche invecchiati, nel caso non te ne fossi accorto (l’ingegnere lavora pure e pure come ingegnere!)! Non abbiam più le forze per starti dietro anche se la joie de vivre è bene o male sempre quella, sempre la stessa quindi finiremo anche stavolta per assecondarti in qualcuna delle tue stronzate che lo sappiamo già, arriverà, come fulmine a ciel sereno, arriverà!

Questo post, del resto, nasce proprio da un dubbio che ci devi levare. La domanda è: “Dobbiamo prepararci al peggio?!” E, mentre questa domanda mi assale, mi assalgono anche i ricordi e tutto quel che è stato mi torna in un attimo nella mente come fosse ieri, non foss’altro che, neanche a farlo apposta, ieri sera ha riaperto dopo mille travagli proprio il Link che teatro dei nostri teatrini lo è sempre stato e allora chiaro che, uno, una domanda minima se la pone e dentro, intravedendo la risposta, si sente morire!

Per dover di cronaca dovremmo forse partir dal principio, da quella fatidica sera in cui le nostre strade si sono incrociate, all’aperitivo di laurea di Schiavina! Quella stessa sera in cui, tu, dopo aver passato mezz’ora a parlar di quanto fossi figo, di quanto fosse figa la vita milanese e quel che facevi lì mentre noi, poveri coglioni, vivevamo a Bologna; dopo aver scoperto che avevo un ragazzo(che tra l’altro conoscevi)e dopo aver parlato non so come di Suskind e del Profumo e di come la gente lo usi malamente per rimorchiare(tu no!chiaro!), hai esordito dicendo: ”Vabbè allora se dobbiamo rivederci ma non hai intenzione di darmela è inutile proprio che ci rivediamo che di amiche ne ho!”. A quel punto eravamo già amici. Non foss’altro per l’onestà, la schiettezza e la facciadaculo tutte tue che ti han sempre contraddistinto. A quel punto siamo entrati nel vortice. Il tuo. Chiaro! Il vortice della follia che ti ha pure quello sempre contraddistinto e ci siamo ritrovati così a passar notti intere in giro per Bologna a dar un senso all’uomo paranoia_sonoFigo_maComeCazzoèCheNonRimorchio! che eri. Ci siam trovati a girar di notte per il Link e per il Kinder a perseguitare letteralemente quasi la metà delle bariste che Bologna offriva e ad assister a scene di te che fingendoti (meschinamente) distrutto dall’amore non corrisposto portavi in dono alle malcapitate, cuori di carta con su il tuo nr di telefono, chiavi stile ‘800 arrugginite e lunghe 15cm(tre esemplari per tre ragazze diverse)che simboleggiavano quelle del tuo cuore che un po’ arrugginito,effetivamente, agli atti, risultava. Ci siam ritrovati a passar una sera intera, a bordo fiume, a idear e inviar random sms smielati a quella che proprio non ne voleva sapere di te e meno lei ne voleva sapere più noi ci prendevamo gusto e giù di sms solo per il gusto macabro di metterla in imbarazzo creando un’immagine di te che nella realtà, la nostra, non esisteva affatto. Ci siam trovati ad ascoltar racconti di rimorchi vari ed eventuali, di serenate e pedinamenti tutte cose che, chiaramente servivan più ad esaltar il tuo ego che a concluder con la sventurata di turno. Abbiamo assistito a tutto questo e molto altro(la dinamica degli abbracci “a pagamento” me la risparmio nel dettaglio!) in telefonate notturne(della durata minima di 2 ore!) di cui tu ci hai fatto dono(sarà per questo che l’ingegnere aveva optato per il piano miricarichi!).

Abbiamo assistito a questo e sentirti dire l’altra sera che userai i lego per rimorchiar una barista mi ha fatto sorgere la fatidica domanda che oltre ad includer il peggio di cui prima include anche questo:

“Dicci la verità, nient’altro che la verità, tutto questo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yC7CdI2d6E  sta per succedere un’altra volta???????”No dico, perchè c’è gente al mondo che per te pare abbia fatto anche quello!

ps: mentre cercavo il Dodo Medley mi è ricapitato sotto mano il video de E il centro? e son stata travolta dai ricordi della preparazione di quel video stesso..ho provato a spiar nel centro…ti ho trovato e mi son commossa un po’.

Ti voglio bene, oggi come allora

“SOLE, SOLE, TANTO MARE A SANTIAGO VOGLIO ANDARE!”

(“AVERE POCO TEMPO PER ESPRIMERE SE STESSI E’ COSA DIFFICILE!……DDDOLOORE!!!”)