Peter Hook played the bass
one octave higher as he
didn’t hear the low notes.
Archive for the ‘ENG’ Category
218
Mai 20, 2020208
Mai 16, 2020Hairy monster dance
Dezember 15, 2018
My favourite video of the year. That comes from someone who has hated music videos from the start on, the first one I ever saw was around 1985 in Niš in Ex-Yougoslavia. Don’t remember what it was but I didn’t like it. Especially the fact that it transferred a huge part of the attention from the music to the film.
In praise of … the Rain Tree Crow album
Juni 8, 2018
This late album by most members of Japan – which I didn’t really know beforehand – has totally enthralled me during the last couple of days. Mick Karn’s warm and bubbly autodidactic electric bass (plus wonderful bass clarinet). The sluggish drumming of David Sylvian’s brother, Steve Jansen. Either the drums sound like trash cans or living wood. The general slowness of things. The slightly meditative East Asian world feel of the music. The breath-taking and the pauses. Music to get enlightened to. The final touch of the synthesizer flourishes of Barbieri (he seems to be their Eno). This album is the missing link between Peter Gabriel’s fiery and tribal „Passion“ and Talk Talk’s subtle chamber rock album „Laughing Stock“ which was released in 1991 (what a year for music!) as well but slightly afterwards. And two of the best things about this album are that David Sylvian does not sing too much and when he does his vocals often are not as mannered as usual (esp. on his solo albums). Example: „Boat’s for Burning“. He does not have to disguise his voice. This album is a miracle.
Gallon Drunk live
April 10, 2014
I posted this on I Love Music a week ago:
I saw them last week in the Magnet Club under the Oberbaum bridge in Berlin. They were great, very intense, James shouted like in his best times. They were loud especially the bass and I tried to wear ear plugs but the music didn’t sound right. It was like drinking a wine without alcohol, this kind of wild, hypnotic music needs to be loud otherwise it is rubbish. When listening to the music without ear plugs i suddenly had this idea that the music you love most is the music that you have to hear so loud that you become deaf. In that way it will also be the last music you have ever heard. Strange thoughts. The drums were loud too, the drummer Ian White played very motoric and energetic, Jaki Liebezeit came to mind. Actually in a way they reminded me a little of Can around 1970, see the can thread with the concert in Soest. The music was more about texture than melody or harmony. It was very dense and powerful, slower and heavier while less bluesy than in the earlier days. The stage presence of James Johnston reminded me of Jeffrey Lee Pierce (rip). There is something diabolic and shamanistic about him. Their new album The Soul of the Hour is pretty good. I bought the cd and a t-shirt. The cover is great. And Gallon Drunk is such a cool name. Gallon Drunk is how you feel after having drunk eight pints of beer, you have attained a certain degree of merriness but you are not totally pissed out of your head yet. You are ready for the next eight pints after the first eight though.
The Smiths rehearsal tape May 1983
März 18, 2013
Some great versions of „Reel around the Fountain“ (where Morrissey sings „mountain“), „Handsome Devil“ et al.. Altogether pretty mellow compared to the ones released on „Hatful of Hollow“. Morrissey’s voice is less histrionic than later on but his falsetto often mutes into a screaming – esp. on the last song „Miserable Lie“ – probably because the mike does not capture it well.
Two guitars having slow sex
Februar 27, 2013A recent post on Plain Or Pan reminded me of The House of Love, a band from London which started just when The Smiths finished and finished (more or less) when Britpop began. They tried to make a career starting from the third Velvet Underground album and failed though they had a following of die-hard fans. The song which was featured in four different versions on Plain Or Pan was their 1988 single Destroy Your Heart and I am totally enchanted by the demo version which is quite different from the Peel, the live and the single versions. The two guitars, apparently Gibsons are soaked in reverb and sound like two church bells chiming in stereo. They have an unreal quality to them like aural fata morganas which seem to lead somewhere but don’t. There is also something about the slow playing which adds an effect of estrangement, in places the guitars seem to tremble as if the recording has been sped up and sped down. Guy Chadwick’s voice has been sent through a vocoder or something, it is unusually low here, he sounds like someone very old and wise. The lyrics add more weirdness as they are about a love gone wrong, something you wouldn’t expect happening to such an honorable person. This version is totally enthralling, the guitars intertwine in a way that you can’t tell which is which, like in good sex when you don’t know anymore if you are up or down or when you have forgotten if you are the man or the woman.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6VP-jaS7U-JNjBYbXBSUC0zWkU/edit?usp=sharing
Jessie Ware – If You’re Never Gonna Move
Januar 24, 2013
I listened to and watched this for the first time this morning just past 5 o’clock and I totally fell in love with the singer, her voice, the tune, the video, even the car she drives away with at the end (not the guy though). The song and video are both kitschy in a romantic kind of way, her mellifluous whisper is sexy and clean at the same time, there is so much wrong about this song and especially about the video but they both still work for me.
Low 2013
Januar 9, 2013Low, the best band from Duluth, Minnesota and already for quite a while my favourite live band (they will play the Zoom Club in Frankfurt/M. on May, 10th) have a new album out on March, 19th. It’s called The Invisible Way (produced by Jeff Tweedy, Dave Fridmann and Steve Albini among others) and the first song they put online is rather promising. It has this typical warm and soothing Low sound, rich vocal harmonies by Mimi and a melody which makes my heart melt. How do they succeed in making still such inspired music which is so simple and straight but has this strong spiritual feeling? I think one of their secrets is the slowness. Not only of the music itself but also of their releasing speed. In twenty years they have put out just ten albums. Not one too many. The song is called Just Make it Stop and can be streamed or downloaded here. Plastic Cup, a great duet of Alan and Mimi with acoustic guitar and piano can be streamed here (there is a small audio ad before).
Advice for smokers
Januar 31, 2012Don’t stop smoking if you want to continue telling everyone including yourself that if you wanted you could easily stop but as it would be so piss-easy, you see no point in pulling the plug.
