The NME got in on the act early. This Sunday the Observer Music Monthly publishes its top 50. So I thought I might as well have a go. I wanted to get mine done first and see how much common ground I’ve got with the OMM seeing as its my favourite music mag. It’s harder than you’d think to select just 50 albums that span 2000-2009. I’ve had to leave out some records I really like. But here we go… Please comment as you feel necessary!

50 – Daft Punk: Discovery.

49 – Bob Dylan: Modern Times.

48 – Camille: Le Fil.

47 – Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.

46 – The Blue Nile: High.

45 – New Order: Get Ready.

44 – Mercury Rev: All Is Dream.

43 – R.E.M.: Accelerate.

42 – Fionn Regan: The End Of History.

41 – The Beatles: Love.

40 – The Avalanches: Since I Met You.

39 – Badly Drawn Boy: The Hour Of Bewilderbeast.

38 – Roots Manuva: Awfully Deep.

37 – Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever ago.

36 – Mark B & Blade: The Unknown.

35 – Coldplay: Parachutes.

34 – Malcolm Middleton: Into The Woods.

33 – Seafood: When Do We Start Fighting…

32 – Doves: The Last Broadcast.

31 – Duke Special: Songs From The Deep Forest.

30 – Morrissey: You Are The Quarry.

29 – Guillemots: Through The Windowpane.

28 – Bruce Springsteen: The Rising.

27 – The Gaslight Anthem: The ‘59 Sound.

26 – Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue Vol. II

25 – Richard Hawley: Coles Corner.

24 – Fleet Foxes:  Fleet Foxes.

23 – Athlete: Vehicles & Animals.

22 – Spin Doctors: Nice Talking To Me.

21 – Sigur Ros: Takk…

20 – Goldfrapp: Felt Mountain.

19 – Maxïmo Park: A Certain Trigger.

18 – Delirious?: Glo.

17 – The Shins: Wincing The night Away.

16 – Ben Folds: Rockin’ The Suburbs.

15 – Green Day: American Idiot.

14 – Neil Young: Living With War.

13 – Ray Lamontagne: Til The Sun Turns Black.

12 – Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs.

11 – Idlewild: The Remote Part.

10 – Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around

An extraordinary achievement for a man in his final year. Johnny Cash’s last ‘proper’ album has the power to bring me to the edge of tears. I bought it the week he died in 2003 and played it a lot. A mixture of originals and covers, Rick Rubin’s brilliant production means there’s pathos dripping from every track. ‘Hurt’ is one of the songs of the decade which couldn’t even be ruined by that dire Nike advert. When I first heard ‘I Hung My Head’ it stopped me dead in my tracks. Just like most of the rest of this awesome album.

9 - Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights.

I think there’s a good case to be made for Interpol as the band of the decade. To my shame I’m yet to see them live but their three dark, brooding and melodic albums demand that I get round to it soon. I think their debut is the pick of the bunch. Starting with ‘Untitled’ which takes its cues from the shoegazing bands of the early 90’s, the album goes onto channel the best of My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division and classic Krautrock. I suppose it can be said about all the records in the list but I can’t listen to this album too many times. It sends me to sleep, it wakes me up and generally soundtracks my life.

8 – Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend.

The drums alone deserve some kind of award. Chris Tomson is, for my money, the best drummer in a rock band at the moment. But this isn’t Keith Moon fury, or John Bonham theatrics. He sees the drum kit as a melodic and harmonic instrument. The kit is a lead instrument here and when allied to fantastic songwriting, it’s a winning combination. The African influence if overstated (this isn’t even the noughties’ Graceland, let alone Fela Kuti or Ali Farka Touré). However, the hints of afrobeat are enough to make this stand out from the crowd. Walcott is a great track – but there aren’t any duds here.

7 – Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump.

This outstanding record is often compared favourably with ‘OK Computer’. Well, I’ll put my cards on the table. There’s only one winner; and it isn’t Radiohead. Grandaddy are impossible to categorise, but this record combines the best bits of alt-country, electronica and post-rock. The audacity of a 9 minute opening track has been matched by many bands. The difference is they’ve not made a song as arresting as ‘He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s The Pilot’. ‘The Crystal Lake’ is among the best songs of the decade while ‘Undreneath The Weeping Willow’ showcases a brilliant knack for melancholy. Released at the start of the decade, very few records have got anywhere near matching Grandaddy’s Magnum Opus.

6 – The Hold Steady: Boys And Girls in America.

‘Best bar band in the world blah… blah… blah’ said the music press. Talk about damning with faint praise. The Hold Steady are one of the greatest bands of the 21st Century, full stop. And though their earlier albums are packed with gems, this breakthrough album sees their manifesto fulfilled. How many bands could start a record quoting Jack Kerouac but never fail to be fun? The sound was compared to classic E Street Band and that’s probably as close as you can get to describing this joyous racket. Craig Finn’s lyrics are always interesting and frequently brilliant. So looking at our checklist we’ve got superb music, superb lyrics and some guys that seem delighted just to be playing rock and roll. It’ll do for me.

5 – Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid.

I suppose too much has already been written about this album. It’d be easy to include ‘Asleep In The Back’ to prove I’ve liked Elbow since I used to play them on student radio in 2000. But that would miss the point: for once, the awards committees, journalists and hype-merchants got it right. This is an amazing album. There’s not an average track in sight in an hour’s running time. Picking highlights almost seems crazy, but ‘Grounds For Divorce’ and ‘On A Day Like This’ have deservedly grabbed the headlines and soundtracked a million daytime DIY programmes. But some of the less well know tracks contain stunning music and lyrics. When Guy Garvey croons ”We kiss like we invented it” on ‘Mirrorball’ it’s enough to melt your heart.  We await their next move with eager anticipation.

4 - Midlake: The Trials of Van Occupanther.

Take a moderately successful Texan indie band and give them a copy of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’. Stand well back and light the blue touch-paper. Doesn’t sound promising does it? How wrong could we be??? This was THE album of 2006. Inventive harmonies, layered synths and lyrics pining for the antebellum South came together to produce a stunning record. The guitar solo that comes halfway through ‘Head Home’ is one of my favourite musical moments of the decade, but this album contains several contenders for that title. The real genius of ‘…Van Occupanther’ is its ability to keep you on your toes. Just when you think it may slip into mid 70’s FM rock pastiche, the band pulls out a track like ‘Young Bride’ which forces you to admit this is a record which is far more than the sum of its considerable parts.

3 – Damien Rice: O.

David Gray is a perfectly decent singer songwriter. The same can’t be said for the likes of James Morrison and James Blunt. But how any of them came to be spoken of in the same breath as Damien Rice is beyond me. The irishman deserves to be in far better company (Jeff Buckley for example). This debut album was a slow-burning word-of-mouth behemoth that managed to retain artistic dignity while being offered on 2-for-1 deals in Tesco. Its strengths have been repeated endlessly, but any blogger who can’t find room for Lisa Hannigan’s beautiful vocals, the stunning string arrangements or the strange re-working of Silent Night is a fool. If this album has a flaw, I’m yet to find it. I can’t pick one track as a highlight because the others simply look at me reproachfully and say ‘actually we’re all rather lovely’. And they truly are.

2 – My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves.

This album sounds like the best party you’ve ever been to. If you want to label it I suppose it’s alt-country. But what on earth does that matter when the music is as much fun as this? Don’t get the idea this is some kind of comedy record though. Howling vocals, squealing guitars and pounding drums fuse together to create a brilliant racket. ‘One Big Holiday’ has a guitar hook to die for, but this isn’t an album of simple pleasures. The genius of the songs reveals itself slowly. The first time you hear it, it sounds like these are well crafted and edited jams. But like Led Zep at their peak, the tracks are more cunningly moulded than that. Crazy Horse are another reference point and when talking about a rock and roll band there are fewer bigger compliments than that. It’s a long record (71 minutes) but unusually for an album of that length, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Superb.

1 – Stephen Fretwell: Magpie.

I’m annoyed I couldn’t find a decent picture of this album without the parental advisory sticker on it. Ok, maybe it doesn’t make an ideal present for a toddler, but any parent who’s doing their job properly should be investing in this if their child shows any kind of serious interest in music. It’s as close to a perfect record as its possible to get. At the start of the decade, Scunthorpe’s Stephen Fretwell found himself in Manchester as a promising singer-songwriter. A little while later, he was in a recording studio creating some of the most beautiful music that great city has ever produced. By 2004 it was ready for release. In reality, the Manchester thing is a bit of a red herring. Fretwell owes little to the genius of the Smiths and Joy Division or the more prosaic talents of Oasis. He’s just a good old-fashioned acoustic troubadour. So who are the key influences here? I’d guess Neil Young, Bob Dylan et al. But that doesn’t tell you much about this record’s greatest strength. Fretwell’s gift for melody is astounding. Songs like ‘Emily’, ‘New York’ and ‘Rose’ are beautifully crafted and sung. But there isn’t a track here which leaves you cold. You may know ’Run’ as the Theme of ‘Gavin and Stacey’ but don’t stop there. Investigate it immediately. Buy it and love it. There’s only one album of the decade after all; whatever the Observer says!

Já quero, bolsas da New Order:

Entrando na onda do trompe-l’oeil, vestidos by Rosalind Keep. Amei o primeiro:

Para conhecer a coleção da New Order, visite o site.

I never thought I would lament the end of radio.

In the pre-Internet age, commercial radio, TV news and the front page of newspapers, all provided a shared experience to their community (not, mind you, that this was an unmitigated good). Unlike the other two media, though, radio also reached back in time, since it didn’t just present the music of the day. I grew up with a good independent radio station, and as a result, I had a de facto education in alternative music from the rise of punk onwards, which was augmented by listening to this show every week. That kind of historical context can be lost if you’ve gotten all of your music online.

I thought about radio on the weekend when this question came up: “What is the most influential modern instrument?” (post-electric guitar, not post-sousaphone). My immediate response, “The drum machine,” was met with incomprehension. While you could argue whether this is the right answer (and please do, in the comments), you have to have some knowledge of the antecedents of today’s music in order to answer the question.  I’m not sure how widespread that will be from now on.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go shoo some kids off my lawn.

Exhibit A: New Order – Blue Monday (12″)

every time i hear New Order’s “True Faith” on the radio, i’m confounded…it has such a cool chorus…but for some reason, the radio edit takes out half of it…the original lyrics are: 

I used to think that the day would never come
I’d see delight in the shade of the morning sun
(My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun…)

but they take out the whole part i put in parentheses – it completely ruins the song and doesn’t really save any time, thereby making it more “commercial” – did they take it out because he says “drug?” although the album version is almost six minutes long and the edit is just over 4 minutes, surely they could have just cut down the musical interludes and left the chorus lyrics, arguably what makes the song great, intact?

The best album cover ever?

Last night on VH1 Europe they did a countdown of the top 25 albums of all time.  Prince made no. 3, and, inevitably, I guess, Thriller made no. 1.  But REM’s automatic for the people made no. 2.  What I found very weird about this, is that people since about the mid 90s have been intentionally forgetting that, between the period 1977-1995, ‘mainstream’ rock, or ‘establishment’ rock, was cosidered by the listening public to be entirely different from ‘alternative’ rock.  At least, that was the case in the US.  In britain, they always seemed to blur the line more, and ‘alternative’ acts often scored top 10 hits, which in the US happened much more infrequently.  But there was still a clear idea that alternative was alternative, and mainstream was mainstream.  And today, people realize this when shopping for music on Amazon:  i.e., “the killers” and DCFC are known to be ‘alternative,’ with ‘emo’ in the latter’s case being a subgenre of alternative:  and everyone has always known that Prince belongs in an entirely different category (of its own–file under ‘weird.’) 

So why are people conflating alternative and ‘pop’ music, to the point where I often hear people lump together alternative with ‘pop,’ so as to distinguish it from ‘R&B’ and ’Dance?’  To do so, I argue, is to entirely miss the point of the ‘altnertive’ movement.  In its heyday, every single person who listened to alternative was aware that it was ‘counter-cultural.’  In essence, alternative contiued the 1960s and 70s trend, which was anti-establishment, and went along with, in some form or another, the popular marxism of the day, which was highly suspicious of corporations, and thus, the record industry.  This of course, presupposes that its listeners have the mental apparatus to appreciate social complexity–to understand society as a system, and/or who are concerned to be articulate about their interation with the world.  Pop music proper, is therefore ‘for the masses,’, i.e., for the majority of people, who, unfortunately, do not have either the will or the IQ power to grapple with complex responses to their environment.  That’s why pop music, e.g. Elvis and Michael Jackson, is generally lyrically incredibly banal.  Both the 60s protest stuff, and, punk, and alternative, and now, things like emo, are thus distinguished by their more sophisticated lyrics.  So, what we are talking about here, then, is music for those who are fortunate enough to have the apparatus and desire to engage with lyrics.  Unfortunately, after 1995, lyrics went out of style (see below) and the entire culture’s level of articulateness, I would argue, has suffered since then.   

By the time that alternative came of age, however, I would argue that it had become much more personal.  While the 60s and 70s Woodstock stuff was decidedly public music – to be performed live, e.g., the doors–and often had impersonal lyrics (e.g. Bob Marley– cryin’ lion zion…. what the hey is that all about?), by the 80s, the goth movement brought music into the bedroom, i.e., into the personal minds of the listener.  Morrissey of course puts it best:  ’When I lay in awe on my bedroom floor,” etc. 

Many people put punk together with alternative, but I see a divergence from the beginning.  Groups like Joy Division and the Cure and Souxsie were always much more cerebral, sensitive, and appealed more to the introspective person, rather than punk, which was often so absurd as to be a simple testosterone fest, despite it’s often radical-marxist lyrics.  In short, I think that punk sucks, becasue though it was perhaps good that someone was doing it, i.e., being socially aware in their music, I believe that their methods, which were essentially violent and anarchist, are inherently self-defeating.  Thus I have never been drawn to it. 

Alternative, on the other hand, foregrounded the individal emotional and (crucially) intellectual response to the world, and thus, can be seen as a re-visioning of the eighteenth-century Cult of Sensibility, which was spearheaded by Goethe, and was then brought to fruition by authors such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Jane Austen, and Keats, who, for the first time in history, asserted that the experience of the individual (particularly of the sensitive individual) truly mattered.  The artist figure, the thinker, the solitary philosopher, was worth listening to, they argued, and this could be anyone–not simply the great.  This encouraged reading and thinking and sensitive people everywhere to stop being deferent to their social superiors, and to really take their own inner dialogue seriously.  This is arguably a very crucial step on the way towards mass democracy. 

And this is why I’m interested in alternative music, from the point of view of this site.  I belive that the 1970s and 80s saw a massive increase in the sensibilities of young thinking people–they grew up in households with more money, for one, and they had more opportunities to travel and to interact with other cultures than ever before.  And they had leisure, and many of them, in Britain and the US, studied the arts, even just in high school, this was done seriously, with an emphasis on text, on poetry and literature, and this encouraged many people once again to take this inner dialogue seriously.  Arguably, the 80s bedroom revolution was quite similar to the romantic revolution which emerged after the french revolution:  a public revolution went bust, and so artist figures, who had been so engaged and so inspired by the public’s prospects, now retreated into their own minds, and continued to hold the ideals of the revolution there, in their own private spheres, until such a time as they might once again find public times propitious for their goals of reform, and remaking. 

This is precisely what the 80s bedroom revolutionaries did, and more.  They saw that the 60s and 70s had failed in many ways to produce anything lasting and concrete, besides a welcome liberalization of society–which should not be underestimated.  But they saw instinctually (I did as a high schooler, and I know my alternative friends did), that the political aims of the hippie revolution were largely unfulfilled, swallowed up by the wave of conservativism brought about by reagan (and thatcher).  And so, we moved inward.  We still had ideals, we still cherished the idea of reform–very much so.  But we also began to realize, through introspecton, that our own selves really truly mattered:  our own emotions, thoughts, etc.  But what made the alternative age different from today, ‘the post alternative age,’ is that today’s emo people, I think, have grown up in an entirely self-serving society, which is almost devoid of the ideal of social reform.  In the 80s, there was still some of that public idealism left.  And it made us idealistic, in the best possible way.  We believed that, by reforming ourselves, we could reform the world, make it better.  (see this website–it’s basically proof that i’m still working in that mode). 

I believe that, after about 1995, these ideals basically died, in a big way, in popular culture, and what we’ve been left with is a culture devoid of public ideals.  It’s therefore all been about the desires of the individual, and thus, is essentially unsophisticated:  it’s all egotism.  Emo people are the intelligent version of the ‘gimme’ school.  But their lyrics are still essentially whining–with no underlying vision.  If you have no social dimension to what you do and think, it’s very difficult for this to be progressive–it is inherently centrifugal, I think.  And then, the less articulate version of this has been the triumph of hip hop, which, for reasons we’ll have to leave for elsewhere, has been almost entirely egotistical and self serving, especially after the few attempts in the 80s to make it political (in which case it was tied to the alternative music ethic– NWA and Public Enemy, e.g., did have much that was political in them–but after about ‘93, any impetus to put the political into music fell away, and hip hop returned to simple braggadocio, and glorification of violence, and domination of women–which, when one loses idealism, is all that’s left).

So, to put a time scale on it: i’d say

1950s:  rock invented, in US and britain.

1960s-early 70s:  protest rock– the first ‘alternative rock.’

1977-present.  Punk.  Angry marxist progressiveness.  Ultimately self-defeating.

1977-1995.  Golden Age of Alternative.  Lyrics were foregrounded, personal experience was foregrounded, but enough idealism remained from the 70s age of popular Marxism, that people genuinely wanted to make the world a better place.

1992- Grunge makes its debut.  Mixes alternative with testosterone rock.  Beginning of the end of alternative music.  After this, sensitive artists begin to avoid lyrics.

mid-1990s.  Age of ‘acid jazz’ ‘house’ – etc.  Club music draws the best and the brighest.  But it is a-lyrical, and so, essentially, the age of social engagement fizzles, quite rapidly.  And with it, idealism.  Idealistic music is no longer fashionable.  The only alternative bands who are still producing major albums are some of what we used to call B-quality bands:  i.e., Radiohead and Bjork.  They sucked compared with the giants of the alternative era, but their manneristic squeaking and shapeless music went well with the new anti-lyrical fashion, and so they became huge.

2000-present.  With internet, a great variety of musical styles, but, it’s still true that, when the lyric comes back into fashion, it is now almost entirely personal.  Political, social, progressive agendas are entirely out, and so the music never rises above the purely juvenile.  Whereas Morrissey and Ian Curtis’ poetry has the power of Wordsworth to engage us, and incite us, to think idealistically, the (admittedly good) lyrics of Death Cab for Cutie, or worse, the banal lyrics of the White Stripes, and the Yeah yeah yeahs, never rise above the purely personal of the high school student’s poetry:

‘yesterday i saw a couple/kissing by the train platform/they were so beautiful/i wondered where they were going.’

Etc.  This is drivel–because it’s purely of personal interest.  It has no idealism, thus, no universalism, and that is the essence of good poetry.

So, my argument, then, is that grunge killed alternative, and after that, we hear people talking of ‘rock being in the shitter’ (trent reznor, 1999–unfortunately his album of that year did nothing to rescue it–the inspiration had died–the age of idealism was largely over).  And until the culture once again recovers idealism, it will continue to stay in the shitter.  Read around on this site, and you’ll see how idealism and moving, real, gripping, engaging art have always been entirely intertwined with one another. 

Thus, all of the following albums, from 1977 to about the grunge era (let’s say 1995–though i do include some grunge), are filled with idealism, even if their lyrics do not explicitly sound that way at all.  And a few albums that come after this time have managed to keep some of that idealism, and so they are included here as well.  Even the industrial music which was a subgenre of alternative in the latter part of this period was not anything like ‘white zombie’ or ’tool’ which came later, and which are genuinely antisocial, antihumanist, and violent–and thus antidemocratic.  I would argue, then, that Skinny Puppy is highly idealistic and progressive, while Maynard what’s-his-name’s “Tool”, which dominated the 90s niche formerly held by bands like Skinny Puppy, replaced it with an entirely anti-idealistic, self-destructive, even psychotic atmosphere, which I argue, still holds the dominant position in our society today (see my post on violence condoning torture for more on this).   Ok, then without further ado (and knowing that we’ll have to discuss these choices at a future time):  here would be my top 25 alternative/industrial albums of all time (and it’s basically ridiculous to put them in order, I think):

Dead Can Dance-  Serpent’s Egg, or Spiritchaser; 10,000 Maniacs – Our Time in Eden; The Cure- The Top; Joy Division- Substance; New Order – Substance; Belle & Sebastian – Tigermilk; Depeche Mode – Violator; Pixies – Doolittle; Loreena McKennitt – The Visit; Smashing Pumpkins – Gish; Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes; The Smiths- Louder than Bombs; Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs; The National – The National; REM – Document or Automatic for the People; Skinny Puppy – Mind:  The Perpetual Intercourse; Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas; Sundays – Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic; Ministry - Live:  In case you didn’t feel like showing up;  Moby – Play; St. Germain-St. Germain (a-lyrical, but idealistic); Coldplay – Rush of Blood to the Head; Death Cab for Cutie – Plans; Enya – Watermark; Sarah McLachlan – Fumbling Towards Ecstasy; Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral or Pretty Hate Machine.  Lisa Gerard – The Mirror Pool.

Ok, that’s 27.  But what most of these have in common, is that they are beautiful, sublime, epic, and/or highly idealistic.  They are not essentially violent (even Ministry-I’d argue), but essentially the opposite–egalitarian, democratic, progressive, empathetic.  They strive for the good, the beautiful, the just.  And so they receive the Platonist’s seal of approval.

Editors: una band inglese che si è guadagnata il rispetto e il successo con un album più che onesto come An End has a Start che partendo da sonorità molto 80s (qualcosa tra i primissimi U2 e altri gruppi “minori” come Big Country, anche loro prodotti da quel geniaccio di Steve Lillywhite) faceva però intravedere una linea di sviluppo, una voglia di “creare dal creato” che è alla base della filosofia del mashup (in questo caso) musicale.

Non mi aspettavo un album come In this light and On This Evening.
L’ho vissuto come un dietrofront rispetto al desiderio di crescita che avevo percepito tra le tracce dell’album precedente.

Questo lavoro non riesce ad andare oltre la citazione.
E a sorprendermi è anche il fatto che sia stato prodotto da Mark “Flood” Elllis (che ho amato per il suo lavoro con PJ Harvey), ma come?

Non so prendiamo il singolo “Papillon”…
un po’ Yazoo

(Don’t Go, gemma pop anni 80 realizzata da Vince Clark appena fuoriuscito dai primissimi Depeche Mode…è lui l’autore del tormentone Just Can’t Get Enough, non il raffinatissimo Martin Gore che poi ha firmato tutti gli album successivi) e un po’ New Order.

Ecco New Order, mi pare che Flood abbia operato un mix misterioso in cui ha assemblato il cantante Tom Smith (forse inteso come il nuovo Ian Curtis, mai abbastanza compianto cantante de Joy Division dalle cui ceneri nacquero appunto i New Order) e quel sound “tronico” figlio della scoperta di arpeggiatori e sequencers che all’epoca dominarono la scena. Mi ricordo che pensai seriamente che in fondo la chitarra sarebbe diventata presto uno strumento inutile)

Oggi invece vorrei parlare con loro, vorrei capire se davvero questo è quello che volevano fare. Produttori…brutta razza…

Perchè sotto sotto ci sono pezzi con una scrittura interessante, ad esempio Bricks and Mortar, ma la realizzazione, miodio, no dai, sono arrivato fin qua per dover ascoltare tutto ciò?

Ora io, oltre che essere appassionato di musica, sono un instancabile studioso delle nuove forme di comunicazione digitale,

adoro vedere prevalere la cultura contemporanea che prende il sopravvento e trasforma alla radice quello che noi abbiamo considerato regole.

La canzone è fatta con canzoni di altri, ogni cosa è modificata per somigliare il più possibile a chi la vuole. Il pre-esistente non interessa più di tanto.

Ma questa operazione qui io la trovo non riuscita, forzata, poco convincente.

Continuerò ad ascoltare questo album (mentre cercherò di scrivere una mail al chitarrista degli Editors ) ma qualcuno mi dica se nel 2010, in piena rivoluzione culturale/digitale ispirata da e al futuro abbiamo veramente bisogno di citazioni direttamente dal passato come queste.

Bad Lieutenant
Never Cry Another Tear
Original Signal Recordings

New Order frontman Bernard Sumner has a new side project. Bad Lieutenant possesses a newness yet feels nostalgic. It’s haunting and soothing. While full of 90s sensibilities, the edginess brings it into the now. There’s the keyboards and guitar combo that provides that mix of yesterday and today. Sumner [vocals/guitar] has always been in touch with real life situations. His writing catalogues all those observations of the mistakes and joyful moments around him. Never Cry Another Tear kicks off strong with the soaring “Sink or Swim,” is quite the catchy one: Whatcha doin’ with that stupid little girl/ stop you’re foolin’/ don’t you know it’s gonna hurt/ when she leaves you. “On Summer Days on Holiday,” drums and keyboards provide that swirling atmosphere for the wistful vocals to make you fell like you’re out in the sun enjoying a cocktail. The harmonizing chorus: So shine on me/ along adds to the soothing yet imminently dance-y vibe. “This is Home” is stunning. Just lush and gorgeous. The vocals are impeccable. Newcomer Jake Evans (vocals/guitar) soars and Sumner brings in his trademark sound— just tell me that it’s true, I want you by my side. Probably my favorite song on the album. “These Changes” becomes introspective and exudes a bit of regret and confusion. It’s quite lovely. Once again, Sumner succeeds in creating an eclectic mélange of arrangements and melodies. Never Cry Another Tear will delight the most discerning music fan.

GRADE: A-

–review by Amy Steele

[review copy provided by HER FITZ PR]

מאזינות ומאזיני אנדרקאבר שלום!

אנו מתנצלים על האיחור בפרסום הפרטים אודות התכנית – אך עדיף מאוחר מאשר לעולם לא!

את הבוקר פתחנו עם ביצוע של ה Blind Guardian ל Surfing USA, למרות שמזג האוויר הסוער בחוץ לא באמת אפשר זאת…נאלצנו להישאר באולפן ולגלוש על גלי האתר משם עברנו לשמוע את הביצוע של מיכאל גריילסאמר לחלליות של ברי סחרוף במקור – וכצפוי שחר הביעה רתיעה מכך שמישהו מעז להתעסק עם מקור כמו של ברי…

גילינו מה קורה כשבירת הפסטה פוגשת את Crowded House …וכצפוי היה דביק  כשמר Antonello Venditti ביצע את Don’t Dream it’s over שגם ככה היה מתקתק!

כאן לפניכם – רשימת השירים מהתכנית עם אזכורי המקורות ושנות הביצוע,כמובן!

Antonello Venditti מתקתק מתמיד!

לואיס וקלפטון בשיתוף פעולה מיוחד!

Ontem estava passando a garota de rosa shocking no telecine cult, e por sinal é um dos meus filmes favoritos! Lembro de quando eu era bem pequena e ele passava sempre na sessão da tarde, porem  para minha tristeza parou de passar, eu passei anos tentando pelo menos alugar esse filme e num achava! Por isso quase morri de felicidade quando vi na programação do telecine!

A garota de rosa shocking conta a história de Andie, a menina pobre, que é toda new wave, não popular, que estuda na  escola de pessoas ricas e tem um crush por um dos  plaboyzinhos da escola! Andie trabalha em uma loja de discos (que tem um poster lindo dos Smiths, com o Morrissey novinho), tem um melhor amigo incrível, engraçadissímo e que gosta dela, o Duckie, e uma amiga mais velha a Iona!

A confusão começa quando Blane, (o playboyzinho que ela gosta), chama ela para sair e tanto os amigos dele, como os amigos dela, não aceitam muito bem o relacionamento dos dois, devido a extrema diferença entre seus mundos!

Além do filme ter um figurino 80’s incrível, ele tem uma trilha sonora de matar!

• • “Pretty In Pink” - The Psychedelic Furs
• “Wouldn’t It Be Good” -  Nik Kershaw
• “What’s It Going To Be” -  Maggie Lee
• “Love” –  John Lennon
• “Round, Round” - Belouis Some
• “Pursuit” – Winston Sharples
• “Rave-Up/Shut-Up” – The Rave-Ups
• “Positively Lost Me”- The Rave-Ups
• “Copacabana (At The Copa)” – Barry Manilow
• “Thieves Like Us” – New Order
• “Elegia” – New Order
• “If You Leave” – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
• “Whisper / Touch” – Code Blue
• “Bring On The Dancing Horses” – Echo & The Bunnymen
• “Do Wot You Do” – INXS
• “Shell-Shock” – New Order
• “Try a Little Tenderness” – Otis Redding
• “Cherish” – The Association
• “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” – The Smiths
• “Rudy” – Talk Back
• “Left of Center” – Suzanne Vega
• “Get to Know Ya” – Jesse Johnson

Uma das melhores cenas do filme:

Se você nunca assistiu esse super clássico de 1986, pelo amor assista djá!

Bene.
Potrei scrivere un lungo, noioso, menoso post su quanto sono stressato, su come gli esami siano uno dietro l’altro, su come sia vergognosamente di nuovo senza soldi, di quante volte al giorno la  mia testa mi suggerisce di farmi un tuffetto nel Ticino o di mettere le dita nella presa, potrei scrivere un prolisso e smielato e autocommiserativo articolo su tutto ciò, e lo farò. Solo, indirettamente, così fa più figo, e ve lo dimostrerò, state a vedè.

Mi sono un po’ fissato con questa canzone:

che non sembra poi essere così blue, così  triste come dice il titolo eh. Questo è l’unico motivo per cui ho intitolato in questo modo il post, perchè nonostante mi trovi ad essere molto impegnato e molto contro la mia volontà [n°1: riferimento allo studio massacrante] non mi sento affatto triste, anzi, penso di essere anche abbastanza sereno…oltretutto mi appresto a starmene solo soletto per una decina di giorni (il che significa FREEDOOOOM!) e soprattutto in un periodo morto, quindi penso che mi farò bastare quei pochi soldi che mi restano [n°2: riferimento alla mia povertà patologica] e mi godrò la situazione, senza seccature nè sguardi voluttuosi verso le prese di corrente o i ponti sul Ticino [e n°3: riferimento agli istinti suicidi], semplicemente nell’ozio! Dopotutto l’umore umano è qualcosa di strano: fino a ieri ero infuriato e very very blue, ma mi è bastata una notte di sonno per lavare via qualsiasi orrida ombra dalla mia mente, ed eccomi qui fresco come una rosa di campo in un frizzante mattino di primavera [prego notare la maestria nell'assemblaggio lessicale]!

Ed eccovi propinato un discorsino sulla mia disastrosa situazione ma senza la componente piagnona e deprimente che avrebbe di sicuro ammazzato i toni! Adesso, col sorriso sulle labbra e l’allegria stillante da tutti i miei pori, aprirò il libro di fisica e comincerò a solfeggiare formule!

(n.b: avrò sicuramente scritto questo post sotto l’effetto di qualche stupefacente che, evidentemente, deve avermi somministrato ieri notte Tamura Kafka a mia insaputa.)

I’ve never seen the movie (seems to be out of print) but the highlight is the soundtrack with its original songs from New Order and Cabaret Voltaire. Classic 80s, in a good way.

This is the Interphon edition with three additional tracks.

Enjoy

Info

In dem Forum von  Plattentests.de findet momentan eine Wahl der “100 besten Elektroniktracks der Ewigkeit” statt.

Wer mitmachen möchte, schicke bitte seine von 01 bis 50 geordnete Liste bis 26.11.2009  an Quadratvogel@web.de, optimalerweise in folgender Form:

01 Artist – Song
02 Artist – Song
03 Artist – Song

(…)

Man darf gespannt sein, ob es nun am Ende Kraftwerk mit dem bahnbrechenden “Wir sind die Roboter” oder doch New Order mit “Blue Monday”  auf Platz 1 sein werden.

Tonights list is dedicated to songs that come in all shapes and sizes, literally. The criteria for the list required having a shape (or reference to shapes) in the song title or the artists name. Some songs are quite long, the New Order track clocks in at just under 7 minutes and there are a few short ones, namely the track by The Octagon and the song “Tommib” by Squarepusher which is barely over a minute long. The avid film fans among you may recognise that particular Squarepusher track from the film Lost In Translation. The particular scene that it’s from is a perfect example of music and cinema coming together to create a beautiful moment.

MP3’s
I Change Shapes Just To Hide In This Place…
————————————————————

1. Testicicles – Circle Square Triangle
2. Idlewild – When I Argue I See Shapes
3. Squarepusher – Tommib
4. New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
5. Boards Of Canada – Turquoise Hexagon Sun
6. The Models – Bend Me, Shape Me
7. The Octagon – Suicide Kings
8. Nirvana – Heart Shaped Box
9. Russian Circles – Hexed All
10. Circlesquare – Hey, You Guys

Bonus tracks…

Two songs from absolute classic albums. both with Shape in the titles.

from The Shape of Punk To Come..

MP3: Refused – New Noise

and from The Colour and The Shape…

MP3: Foo Fighters – Hey, Johnny Park!

VIDEO: Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha Man

And thats it for another week.

“Colours answer feeling in man, shapes answer thought and motion answers will”

S.I.T Wolf X

Stephen Christian and drummer Nathan Young

PREVIEW: VISIT Anberlin’s Website.
PREVIOUS: 20 WATTS COVERAGE Editor’s Pick #209: Anberlin

In the middle of their set, Anberlin lead singer Stephen Christian told the crowd that their Sunday night performance happened to be on an off date from their All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday tour. While the crowd was clamoring for more, Christian told the crowd that at first he wasn’t sure if they should just take the day off to rest, or come to Syracuse’s Lost Horizon and play a show. The band settled on the later and Christian, with a huge smile on his face, told the crowd, “We made the right decision.”

The night started off rather slow with Oh No Not Stereo and Sparks the Rescue turning in less than memorable performances. Vinnie Caruana, the frontman of I Am the Avalanche, was the third performer to hit the stage. His acoustic performance was heartfelt, but it didn’t fit with the other bands pop-rock sensibilities.

Next up, There for Tomorrow delivered their energetic, clean cut, pop songs to a crowd that was waiting to do a little dancing. Small mosh pits broke out during their set which showed that these guys have a lot of potential.

Hit the Lights performed next, and even though they weren’t the last band to play the crowd certainly treated them like headliners. Lots of people wore Hit the Lights paraphernalia and it seemed like a good number of people were only there to see them. Hit the Lights had tons of people crowd surfing, moshing, and singing along to their pop punk anthems. If you’ve never seen Hit the Lights think of New Found Glory and you’ll have a good idea of what they’re like.

After a set change that seemed to take forever, Anberlin came onstage and burst into one of their most aggressive songs “Godspeed.” Practically the whole crowd was singing along, and for the rest of the night Anberlin’s dynamic pop-rock ruled the stage.  Anberlin kept the energy high by rolling right into “The Resistance.” The 300 or more people that managed to stick around were somewhat less rowdy then they were for Hit the Lights, but they were not at all less passionate. On older songs, like 2006’s “Paperthin Hymn” which was played third, the crowd truly came alive. When Christian held the mic out to his adoring fans all of them knew the words. When they slowed the set down to play “Unwinding Cable Car” and “Inevitable” many people in the crowd grabbed their significant other and slow danced. It was like prom, except a really good band was playing instead of a crappy DJ.

In the middle of the set Anberlin played their new single “True Faith,” which is a cover of the 1987 New Order single. Most people in the crowd didn’t really know the song, because the vast majority of them weren’t even born when the single was released, but the song’s up-tempo, make you wanna dance mentality fit nicely into Anberlin’s repertoire.

The band finished the set with their biggest hit “Feel Good Drag.” At this point the entire floor of The Lost Horizon was singing and dancing. Amid chants of “one more song” Anberlin came back out and performed an old fan favorite “A Day Late.”

Pop punk was on full display Sunday night. At times-mostly when Hit the Lights was playing- it seemed a little ridiculous, but in the end it was all about having fun. Anberlin is a band that’s worked very hard over the years and they deserve the popularity and notoriety that they’re starting to garner. These bands aren’t changing the face of music as we know it, but they are writing catchy pop songs. Is there anything wrong with that?

– Eric Hoffman

PART 1
———-

Is it philiphobia? Is it simple monophobia? Is it a fear of being hurt again? Fear of committing to someone again? Fear of putting all emotions out in the open for someone to see? Fear of taking that next step? Or is it just me thinking too much about things as always? Is it something totally unrelated to what i think it is? Do i actually maybe enjoy things the way they are but don’t realise it? Am i scared of change? I honestly don’t know. But whatever it is, it’s fucking annoying.

MP3: Incubus – Pardon Me

MP3: Ryan Adams – Dear Chicago

“I want to think someone’s beautiful, that they’re so beautiful it’s a thrill to be near them. Fill my stomach with butterflies, have me floating on air, bring something out of me i didn’t know was there. But it’s such a torturous thing that i am not excited by anyone.”

PART 2
———

Then of course there’s the flip side…

MP3: Secret Machines – Alone, Jealous and Stoned

MP3: The Coral – Dreaming of You

PART 3
———

The realisation and maybe the hope..

MP3: Chemical Brothers – Alive Alone

MP3: New Order – Temptation

A heaven, a gateway, a hope
Just like a feeling I need, it’s no joke
And though it hurts me to treat you this way
Betrayed by words, I’d never heard, too hard to say

Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home.

Each way I turn, I know I’ll always try
To break this circle that’s been placed around me
From time to time, I find I’ve lost some need
That was urgent to myself, I do believe

Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home.

Oh, you’ve got green eyes
Oh, you’ve got blue eyes
Oh, you’ve got grey eyes
Oh, you’ve got green eyes
Oh, you’ve got blue eyes
Oh, you’ve got grey eyes
And I’ve never seen anyone quite like you before
No, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before

Thoughts from above hit the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before

“And i’m alive. And i’m alone. And i never wanted to be any of those.”

S.I.T Wolf  X

1. What Do You Want From Me?
2. Shine
3. Sweet Lips
4. Buzz Gum
5. Blue
6. Junk
7. Billy Bones
8. Happy Jack
9. Tender
10. Under the Stars
11. Sedona

Monaco was the side project of Peter Hook (New Order) and David Potts (Revenge).  The group’s sound was characterized by the extensive use of high-pitched, melodic bass guitar, unusual in popular music but similar in style to New Order.  Their biggest single was “What Do You Want From Me?” off this 1997 release.  Music for Pleasure has definite appeal to those who like New Order, British pop, rock, and dance.

I discovered Music for Pleasure in a bin full of junk at a secondhand store.  I was in fourth grade at the time (smack in the middle of the boy band era–well, just ‘N Sync in my case!), and I’m not quite sure why I picked it up.  I actually really enjoyed the album then, especially the dance-y “Sweet Lips”.  I listened to the album for a few more years, then put it in my CD rack and basically ignored it until my junior year of high school–and I realized that the album held up over time and was even better than I remembered.

The last four tracks of Music for Pleasure make for good driving music, and “Tender” is my favorite song ever, period.  Even if you aren’t a fan of dance music, you should still check out Monaco.  Only two or three songs have a definite dance beat; the influence is more subtle on the rest of the album.  The most guitar-driven song is “Under the Stars”, so I suggest you start there if you’re more into rock than dance-pop.

I’m so glad I didn’t chuck this CD back into the junk pile.

Download (.rar, VBR mp3, 52.01 MB)

Una increible y bella canción que nunca pasa de moda.

New Order

http://open.spotify.com/track/0NvJy5gPR591Qh2z22EAak

New Order – The Best Of – Bizarre Love Triangle – 1994

The title of the post today is from a track brought to you by Generation X in the late 70’s on their self-titled album. I decided to play some old punk early in the show and peppered later on due to an exhibit I just saw at the MoMA called “Looking at Music: Side 2″. Here’s an article about it if you want to check it out: Bob Gruen’s Journey to MoMA.

Listen in tonight on KRUI 89.7 fm from 8 to 10 pm. You can listen in online here.

Here’s some of the set:

1. Generation X, Generation X (1978), Ready Steady Go
2. Frumpies, Frumpie One-Piece (God I love this title), Duvet Ta
This is a CD collection which assembled all of the band’s previous singles, created around 1996.

3. Half Japanese, Half Japanese Greatest Hits (1995), Put Some Sugar On It
4. The Clash, The Clash (1977), Garageland
5. Dead Boys, We Have Come for Your Children (1978), I Don’t Wanna Be No Catholic Boy
6. Radio Birdman, The Essential Radio Birdman (1974-1978), Do the Pop
7. Patti Smith, Horses (2005, album originally came out in 1975), Redondo Beach
8. Thurston Moore, Psychic Hearts (1995), Patti Smith Math Scratch
9. Belly, Star (1993), Angel
10. Slant 6, Soda Pop * Rip Off (1994 on Dischord Records), Blue Angel
11. Film School, Film School (2006), Eleven-Eleven
12. The Dandy Warhols, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (2000), The Gospel
(I’m sorry but this album is POP brilliance, I don’t care what you say.)
13. The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective, If Love Is The Drug
This was a compilation put out by these guys in 2004 spanning their entire career except for the album Strung Out in Heaven.
14. Built To Spill, Time Trap Sampler (1994-2006), The Plan
15. Aveo, Battery (2004), Haley
16. Chapterhouse, Sunburst-EP (1990), Rain
17. Slowdive, Morningrise-EP (1991), Losing Today
18. Stella Luna, Stargazer-EP (2002), Stargazer
19. New Order, Power Corruption & Lies (1983), Age of Consent
20. My Bloody Valentine, Tremolo-EP (1991), Honey Power

21. Fleeting Joys, Despondent Transponder (2006), Go and Come Back
22. Pinback, Some Voices-EP (2002), June
23. PJ Harvey & John Parish, A Woman A Man Walked By (2009), Black Hearted Love
24. Unwound, New Plastic Ideas (1993), Hexenzsense
25. Guided By Voices, Isolation Drills (2001), The Enemy
26. Morrissey, Bona Drag (compilation album released in 1990), The Last of the Famous International Playboys
Morrissey recently walked off a stage in Liverpool Echo Arena after being hit in the head with a drink. So this track goes out to you Morrissey, I want to know what dumb ass would throw a drink at you? You can read more about it here.

¡Qué difícil es ser original cuando (casi) todo está inventado! Y si no, que se lo digan a Bernard Sumner y a su nuevo grupo Bad Lieutenant.

Pero no quiero que parezca que desprecio la carrera de Bernard Sumner, fundador de una de los grupos más influyentes de la historia, Joy Division y, tras el suicidio de Ian Curtis, líder de New Order, precursora del sonido Madchester.

Aunque también estuvo en proyectos como el supergroup Electronic, sobre el que ya me despaché a gusto hablando aquí. En fin, que la carrera de Sumner ¡Es un carrerón! Pero Bad Lieutenant era bastante prescindible en su hoja de servicios.

Sumner montó su nuevo combo este año junto a Phil Cunningham, ex New Order y el pasado 5 de octubre publicaron su primer LP, “Never Cry Another Tear”. La crítica musical dice que son un más-de-lo-mismo de New Order, pero para mí suenan más a Mónaco, el grupo de Peter Hook. Igual es porque el que fuera bajista de New Order era lo mejor de tenían los mancunianos.

Bad Lieutenant – “Sink Or Swim”

Monaco – “What Do You Want From Me”

Wouldn’t mind stumbling upon either of these.

From this collection.