10/31/2008 9:59:00 AM
Lou Reed once said that nothing beats two guitars, bass and drums. Ten years
of crap grunge bands almost made me think he was out of his mind.
Enter "The Shock of the Lightning" by Oasis, 2008. I can no longer start my
day without it. So lads, put on those round sunglasses, plug those guitars, say
a four-letter word, stand still and strum. No better way to celebrate the 45th
birthday of Johnny Marr.
I'm glad my career as a critic was short-lived. All my defenses are
down.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Four notes to spoil the world
10/24/2008 1:09:00 PM
Simplicity is difficult. It can hypnotize you into a nirvana or get on your nerves big time. Examples:
- "Life's What You Make It" by Talk Talk features a piano riff that releases endorphin instantly. It's great company on a running track for example.
- "4 Minutes" by Madonna features a horrible synth riff that Timbaland probably found in the wastebasket of his computer. Haven't they heard of half notes?
Where have you gone, Mark Hollis? The nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
Simplicity is difficult. It can hypnotize you into a nirvana or get on your nerves big time. Examples:
- "Life's What You Make It" by Talk Talk features a piano riff that releases endorphin instantly. It's great company on a running track for example.
- "4 Minutes" by Madonna features a horrible synth riff that Timbaland probably found in the wastebasket of his computer. Haven't they heard of half notes?
Where have you gone, Mark Hollis? The nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
The state of the industry
10/14/2008 8:40:00 AM
Reality TV characters are the gladiators of our time. And we are not much different from the Romans sitting at the Colosseum.
My absolute favourite is Ève Angeli. Her reality TV show is a disturbingly true reflection of the music industry today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%88ve_Angeli
Reality TV characters are the gladiators of our time. And we are not much different from the Romans sitting at the Colosseum.
My absolute favourite is Ève Angeli. Her reality TV show is a disturbingly true reflection of the music industry today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%88ve_Angeli
Monday, July 28, 2014
Road to nowhere
10/7/2008 8:12:00 AM
It is almost hallucinating to watch TV spots of people at the Paris car fair, sitting in Humvees and Ferraris while the rest of us are wondering whether we still have money in the bank.
My dad used to say that petrol is not expensive enough. How right he was.
http://www.mondial-automobile.com/
It is almost hallucinating to watch TV spots of people at the Paris car fair, sitting in Humvees and Ferraris while the rest of us are wondering whether we still have money in the bank.
My dad used to say that petrol is not expensive enough. How right he was.
http://www.mondial-automobile.com/
Friday, July 25, 2014
Dust in the wind
9/26/2008 3:43:00 PM
Songs from the childhood have a strange effect. They emerge from the depths of your spirit when you're at your most vulnerable. They bring magic consolation. No one can put a bullet through your soul.
Songs from the childhood have a strange effect. They emerge from the depths of your spirit when you're at your most vulnerable. They bring magic consolation. No one can put a bullet through your soul.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
It all keeps adding up
9/18/2008 8:19:00 AM
U2's Zooropa Tour had a feature that I liked very much: a news broadcast that made no sense, a huge tv set with a man reading news that were absolute mumbo jumbo.
Sometimes I catch myself thinking that this is actually how things work. We have only been engineered to "understand" the "information" we get from the media.
It was nice to find a book that takes this thought to the absolute extreme: the whole history is a bluff. "The Secret History of the World" by Jonathan Black is hilarious. Am I the only one who thinks this is all very funny?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/oct/13/society
U2's Zooropa Tour had a feature that I liked very much: a news broadcast that made no sense, a huge tv set with a man reading news that were absolute mumbo jumbo.
Sometimes I catch myself thinking that this is actually how things work. We have only been engineered to "understand" the "information" we get from the media.
It was nice to find a book that takes this thought to the absolute extreme: the whole history is a bluff. "The Secret History of the World" by Jonathan Black is hilarious. Am I the only one who thinks this is all very funny?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/oct/13/society
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Can’t get there from here
9/10/2008 12:56:00 PM
Dear guitar thief,
You might think that when you plug a vintage Rickenbacker 360 into a Vox AC-30 out comes automatically the intro to "Shiny Happy People". It won't. I can tell you that much.
Return that guitar.
Dear guitar thief,
You might think that when you plug a vintage Rickenbacker 360 into a Vox AC-30 out comes automatically the intro to "Shiny Happy People". It won't. I can tell you that much.
Return that guitar.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
One for the road
9/2/2008 12:38:00 PM
We've all been there. On an autobahn four o'clock in the morning in the rain, trying to survive amongst the ten ton trucks and the BMWs doing 200 km/h. In that situation, as always, the key to success is a good soundtrack. Here is mine:
A perfect starter. Sounds amazing if you have a six point speaker system.
Makes you feel like you're flying an airplane.
If the kids are awake skip this one. The lyrics are explicit, to put it
mildly.
Try to get the twenty-minute version.
This helps when you're about to loose faith, 500 kilometres from home.
We've all been there. On an autobahn four o'clock in the morning in the rain, trying to survive amongst the ten ton trucks and the BMWs doing 200 km/h. In that situation, as always, the key to success is a good soundtrack. Here is mine:
World in My Eyes / Depeche Mode
Airbag / Radiohead
Cocaine Blues / Johnny Cash
Oxygene / Jean-Michel Jarre
I Believe / K's Choice
This helps when you're about to loose faith, 500 kilometres from home.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Allez, viens!
8/25/2008 8:59:00 PM
How to spot a real classic? Well, if you hear a song four
years after its release, for the upteenth time, and it still makes you shiver
you're pretty close.
That happened to me on 14 July with Raphaël's
"Caravane" and I wasn't the only one. It somehow hit a nerve spot on.
It's that space where you feel a strange generational unity and the presence of
the divine.
The video of that song is a masterpiece as well, featuring
my favourite weather.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Please, say "Si Si"
7/30/2008 11:57:00 AM
What on earth happened to summer hits? I'm beginning to believe that summers really were sunnier thirty years ago. Here's my evidence:
I remember singing this with a hairbrush.
Great use of flanger. The chorus will stay with you for a while once you've
heard it.
That sense of death you get in springtime for some reason.
Soft, warm wind in your face.
Your mother cried when she heard this at the airport coming home from
Spain.
What on earth happened to summer hits? I'm beginning to believe that summers really were sunnier thirty years ago. Here's my evidence:
Beg, Steal or Borrow / The New Seekers
Mexico / Les Humphries Singers
Seasons in the Sun / Terry Jacks
Top of the World / The Carpenters
Spanish Eyes / Engelbert Humperdinck
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Truly that bad
7/23/2008 1:35:00 PM
Recent events have made me reload some of the texts of my favourite columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof of the NYT. He is the only one I know who can approach horrific issues with absolute intellectual clarity, a bit like a surgeon.
Below is an example. Some readers might find the text disturbing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/opinion/10kristof.html
Recent events have made me reload some of the texts of my favourite columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof of the NYT. He is the only one I know who can approach horrific issues with absolute intellectual clarity, a bit like a surgeon.
Below is an example. Some readers might find the text disturbing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/opinion/10kristof.html
Monday, July 14, 2014
Whodunnit?
7/18/2008 4:11:00 PM
Some people have an amazing ability to piece things together. One of them is Anthony Seldon. His account of the later Blair years ("Blair Unbound") is so exhaustive that he begins to sound like a fly on the wall.
But it's worth the read. You realise that little has changed since Westphalia.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/politicsphilosophyandsociety/0,,2208912,00.html
Some people have an amazing ability to piece things together. One of them is Anthony Seldon. His account of the later Blair years ("Blair Unbound") is so exhaustive that he begins to sound like a fly on the wall.
But it's worth the read. You realise that little has changed since Westphalia.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/politicsphilosophyandsociety/0,,2208912,00.html
Friday, July 11, 2014
Good times never felt so good
7/10/2008 7:50:00 PM
Pop music ages so much better than rock music. Last week saw two major developments in this respect.
1. Abba were reunited at the premier of a film about them and Benny said they should just get together and sing. That is so true. I beg you, get together and sing. There are millions of us waiting for a decent pop song to replace that r'n'b-ballad-bs in the charts.
2. Neil Diamond had the Glastonbury at his knees. No sunglasses, no long hair, no confused '60s nostalgia. Just great songs and a decent singer.
Your time has come.
Pop music ages so much better than rock music. Last week saw two major developments in this respect.
1. Abba were reunited at the premier of a film about them and Benny said they should just get together and sing. That is so true. I beg you, get together and sing. There are millions of us waiting for a decent pop song to replace that r'n'b-ballad-bs in the charts.
2. Neil Diamond had the Glastonbury at his knees. No sunglasses, no long hair, no confused '60s nostalgia. Just great songs and a decent singer.
Your time has come.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
The city I live in
7/3/2008 1:02:00 PM
I like to contradict myself (see previous entry). So, here are some of the most beautiful songs written about a hometown:
Amazing authenticity. Makes you want to go back in time.
A great poem led to one of the greatest guitar intros of all time.
That smalltown feeling.
I like to contradict myself (see previous entry). So, here are some of the most beautiful songs written about a hometown:
Waterloo Sunset, The Kinks
Under the Bridge, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sunshine on Leith, The Proclaimers
That smalltown feeling.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Gezellig
6/27/2008 9:15:00 AM
There are very few bands these days who can take you on a musical trip that covers more than their hometown - or their bedroom in most cases.
Zita Swoon are so different. They take you to this strange space made of dreams and undiscovered places somewhere in the back of your mind.
Their gig in front of the Royal Palace last Saturday was magic. A sunset and everything. And the best guitar playing I've heard in ages.
http://www.zitaswoongroup.be/
There are very few bands these days who can take you on a musical trip that covers more than their hometown - or their bedroom in most cases.
Zita Swoon are so different. They take you to this strange space made of dreams and undiscovered places somewhere in the back of your mind.
Their gig in front of the Royal Palace last Saturday was magic. A sunset and everything. And the best guitar playing I've heard in ages.
http://www.zitaswoongroup.be/
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Simon Le Blog
6/18/2008 1:53:00 PM
Most pop star blogs are awful. Stuff like "working hard on the new album, it's going to be another masterpiece".
A welcome exception comes, of course, from the more experienced side of the industry. Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran has gone where few pop stars have gone before him: books.
http://www.duranduran.com/bookclub/
Most pop star blogs are awful. Stuff like "working hard on the new album, it's going to be another masterpiece".
A welcome exception comes, of course, from the more experienced side of the industry. Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran has gone where few pop stars have gone before him: books.
http://www.duranduran.com/bookclub/
Friday, July 4, 2014
More than a thousand words
6/13/2008 2:43:00 PM
I never get tired of the annual World Press Photo exhibition. It captures our time in a chilling way so prepare to be cell-shocked. Humanity does not seem to be making any progress, quite the opposite.
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/
I never get tired of the annual World Press Photo exhibition. It captures our time in a chilling way so prepare to be cell-shocked. Humanity does not seem to be making any progress, quite the opposite.
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/
Thursday, July 3, 2014
A spin doctor we can believe in
6/5/2008 4:18:00 PM
Whatever you think of American politics you have to acknowledge that it's professional. And I don't say that like it's a bad thing. There's nothing more depressing than a bad speech.
Chapeau, Jon Favreau! You are writing history.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/fashion/20speechwriter.html?_r=2&ref=style&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Whatever you think of American politics you have to acknowledge that it's professional. And I don't say that like it's a bad thing. There's nothing more depressing than a bad speech.
Chapeau, Jon Favreau! You are writing history.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/fashion/20speechwriter.html?_r=2&ref=style&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
The frog diet
5/30/2008 10:16:00 AM
If you need inspiration for writing furious punk songs, try surfing international news agencies. You won't be disappointed:
"Myanmar's ruling junta lashed out at foreign aid donors Friday, saying cyclone victims did not need supplies of 'chocolate bars' and could instead survive by eating frogs and fish." (AFP)
Keep up the good work guys. The medals are on their way.
If you need inspiration for writing furious punk songs, try surfing international news agencies. You won't be disappointed:
"Myanmar's ruling junta lashed out at foreign aid donors Friday, saying cyclone victims did not need supplies of 'chocolate bars' and could instead survive by eating frogs and fish." (AFP)
Keep up the good work guys. The medals are on their way.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Brussels-Helsinki, EUR 728,56
5/23/2008 9:48:00 AM
That's the price of an ECONOMY ticket if you're flying Finnair. When you look around in the aircraft you realize that most of those tickets are paid with taxpayers' money. Is that an excuse or what?
There's only one thing I like about Finnair: those black leather gloves that come out when the air hostesses start to deal with luggage or a difficult customer. Could you turn that into a separate service at the airport?
That's the price of an ECONOMY ticket if you're flying Finnair. When you look around in the aircraft you realize that most of those tickets are paid with taxpayers' money. Is that an excuse or what?
There's only one thing I like about Finnair: those black leather gloves that come out when the air hostesses start to deal with luggage or a difficult customer. Could you turn that into a separate service at the airport?
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