Dense chamber jazz rock.
Dance and dream meet in the woods.
Like the late Talk Talk.
Archive for the ‘ENG’ Category
693
Oktober 17, 2020667
Oktober 5, 2020Glockenklang
September 26, 2020On nights you can’t sleep, sit up in bed
And draw the blankets around you
Stare into the darkness
And let your eyes adjust
And you’ll see me
You’ll see me
617
September 16, 2020Make a song your own:
Sing the tune, improvise, let
it fade out slowly.
Late to the party
September 10, 2020Now that I’ve met you
Would you object to
Never seeing each other again?
[Aimee Mann – Deathly, born on Sep. 8th, 1960 ]
603
September 9, 2020435
August 7, 2020A cool summer breeze.
Chiming guitars all around.
Jangle Pop heaven.
415
Juli 31, 2020Where man and machine
meet and create mystic sounds:
pitch-black savanna.
[Jon Hassell – Seeing through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two) ]
407 R.I.P.
Juli 27, 2020Sounding warm, deep, blue.
Peter Green’s Gibson Les Paul.
A guitar with soul.
Life sign from down under
Juli 17, 2020371
Juli 16, 2020„These days I’m struggling
to stand my own reflection …
And now I’m lighter …“
370
Juli 16, 2020„From a pious West
to the wooded North, … the real
freaks live in the East.“
318
Juni 29, 2020„You say you wanna
go slower but I wanna
go faster, faster“
[Gasoline from Haim – Women in Music, Pt. III Live]
312
Juni 27, 2020258
Juni 6, 2020something of a good luck sign …
[Distance, Light & Sky – Slowed It to a Stop]
218
Mai 20, 2020Peter Hook played the bass
one octave higher as he
didn’t hear the low notes.
208
Mai 16, 202068
März 29, 2020Social distancing?
It’s physical distancing,
stupid! Understood?
Hairy 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.
Retro music & retro post
Oktober 10, 2011
I spent more or less the whole month of July 1979 in the United States very close to New England. It was my first encounter with US American culture and people and it made a big impression on me. The family I lived with had a wooden summer house on the Truesdale Lake in South Salem, New York. The next town was Ridgefield, Connecticut which was maybe 5 miles away and we went there occasionally to have a sundae, an ice-cream with a delicious, very rich chocolate sauce. The family had three sons, one older than me, one younger than me and one my age. Robert already had a driving license and he had a Bug. Nobody said Beetle, of course. Sometimes he drove the family car, a huge American road cruiser, no clue what brand it was. We also went to Bridgeport, Connecticut (and probably Stamford) where there was a university. Anyways this band called the Stepkids is from Bridgeport. The song which they perform live in the video is by far the best on their first album which was released a couple of months ago and which I purchased today. Call it psychedelic funk in the 2010s. The extremely groovy track could have been recorded in the early seventies, I still cannot help thinking that it is a cover but I haven’t found the original yet. It definitely sounds like a an old classic, especially the killer bassline after about half a minute which immediately hooks the listener without ever releasing him again.
P.S. Now I am almost 100% sure that there is a very similar tune by Lansing-Dreiden, another very derivative, eclectic band originally from Miami but now based in New York. I am too lazy now to check the iPod and nail it though.
6:05 Maximum Joy – Let It Take You There (1982)
März 24, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JMjUzMWRkMzQtMWY1Zi00ZmNhLTlhNDgtNDFlYjc1NGQ1ZDdh&export=download&hl=de
A forgotten band from Bristol – long before it became famous for trip-hop – with a funky and vibrant post-punk track. Is there a more adequate way to finish off a project which stayed an insider tip for more than a year from the beginning to the end? Thanks for the comments, especially from here, here and here. Next will be the book of course (Nick Hornby will be put to shame) and then the audio book consisting of four cd-roms with all songs in 192 bit+ mp3 quality plus my avid and erudite comments read by myself. I am still thinking about the film but it will definitely feature all musicians – if still alive – which have been performing the music. There is a lot of organisation involved which will keep me busy for the next twelve months. Merchandise will include cups with implanted chips and loudspeakers, a teddy bear reading the posts and a card game with 365 singing cards. Some more thanks go to Charles Babbage and Tim Berners-Lee for inventing the computer and the internet, the Fraunhofer institute for the mp3 compression algorithm, WordPress for the blogging software and the servers, Google also for its servers, Apple for the iPod, Bose for the ear plugs, all the musicians and composers, my readers and listeners, the evolution for my ears and fingers, my teachers for teaching me how to write in German and English and finally my parents for making me. Did I forget someone?
(The list of all 365 selections since 1st February 2010 is here).
6:01 Talk Talk – Tomorrow Started (1984)
März 20, 2011I’ve said I’m wrong when I’ve been right
I’ve seen times when I’ve been sure but still I find
I’m just the first that you take
Not all of the synthesizer music in the eighties was rubbish. On this song there is a two note motif – which is played first after hundred seconds – so full of yearning and longing that it is impossible not to fall for it if you have a soft spot for romantic feelings. Like a cork-screw it drills deep into my heart. But this is just a tiny part of the gorgeous song. There is also Paul Webb’s cosy, bubbly electric bass and the omnipresent drumming and percussion. Not to forget the trumpet solo and last but not least Mark Hollis singing which is rather restrained and confident here. The marriage of pop music with other genres like jazz, world and classical music has hardly ever been as convincing as on this track.
***
A question for my English readers. Are you actually reading what I write here or does this not reach you at all? For the last couple of weeks I have alternated between German and English but I didn’t get any feedback of English-speaking readers so I wondered if there is a point in continuing the English exercise. Thanks for answering.
(The list of all 361 selections since 1st February 2010 is here).
5’59 Blonde Redhead – In Particular (2000)
März 19, 2011Lying on my back,
I heard music,
Felt unsure & catastrophic,
Had to tell myself it’s only music,
It blows my mind,
But it’s like that.
That verse could almost be about me. Kazu Makino, Blonde Redhead’s Japanese high-pitch voice, sings about an Alex but apparently it is the teenager from Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange who gets a kick from listening to Beethoven. At one point of the story Alex is subjected to an overdose of classical music and tries to kill himself by jumping out of a high window. That it is a setting I have always been afraid of. To be driven crazy by having to listen to my favourite music forever. The biggest nightmare imaginable for a music lover.
(The list of all 359 selections since 1st February 2010 is here).
5’57 The Gun Club – Cry to Me (1993)
März 16, 2011Yes I’ve heard
of your misfortune
Our misfortunes are nothing new
Yes it’s true
I’m watching you
It’s my wish to be with you
Cry to me
One of the swan songs of Jeffrey Lee Pierce from Lucky Jim, the last album of his band. The groovy keyboards and the guitar sound very much like Carlos Santana but the track is still 100% Pierce. Quite unlike the early, demonic stuff which was in between punk, blues and rockabilly though. Here he seems to have found his peace of mind after all the sex, drugs & rock’n‘ roll. Three years later he died of liver failure. He was thirty-eight years old.
(The list of all 357 selections since 1st February 2010 is here).
5’55 The Cure – A Forest (1980)
März 14, 2011Suddenly I stop
But I know it’s too late
I’m lost in a forest
All alone
The girl was never there
How do you say Schnapszahl in English? I don’t know of any song which defined a band better than this one. The Cure without A Forest would not have been The Cure for me. I wrote about A Forest before when I chose my fave 1980 album. There is not a lot to add here. Maybe one thing. The guitar sounds so snakelike on this one, I never really thought about it before but the guitar is extremely smooth – I wanted to write the French „souple“. And the later dance remix is great as well. I don’t remember any cover of this. I don’t think this song can be separated from Robert Smith and his group.
(The list of all 355 selections since 1st February 2010 is here).
5’53 Ilhan Mimaroğlu – Fragmentation (1973)
März 12, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JOGZlNjNhOGYtYmNjMC00ZTI3LTgzNjAtMDAyZDE1Y2ZmNTQ5&export=download&hl=de
Today I read an interview with Henryk Broder in Die Zeit where he said something about the angst of the – even after 47 years I hesitate to write ‚us‘ – Gernans. He thinks the Germans are still waiting for the punishment for what they have done to the world and especially to the Jews 70 years ago. In the meantime another nation which fought on the same side as the Germans has been punished twice. First in August 1945 when the Americans dropped two atomic bombs on two Japanese large cities: a cruel operation which was totally useless in terms of military logic. And for the second time yesterday morning. One of the strongest earthquakes ever hit the main island, a tsunami followed and a nuclear plant only 240 km from Tokyo has apparently exploded. We don’t know what will be the next terrible news from Nippon but I am sure the cherries will blossom in the next two weeks like they do every year. Nature is simply stronger than death.
(The list of all 353 selections since 1st February 2010 is here)
5’51 Death – Politicians in My Eyes (1975)
März 10, 2011Always trying to be slick
When they tell us their lies
They’re responsible for
sending young men to die
Death were a black trio from Detroit who made some kind of hard rock in the early seventies without any success. They were soon forgotten and were rediscovered a couple of years ago. Here they basically repeat one huge bass riff ad aeternam, use lots of beautiful distortion and sing about what they think about politicians near the end of the Vietnam war. Today one politician, the German ex-minister of defence, Mr Guttenberg received the grand tattoo (Großer Zapfenstreich) which is played by the military marching band. He had resigned from office last week because of a copyright scandal concerning his dissertation. For his sending-off he could choose three pieces of music and one of them was Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water which surprised some people as he is known as a huge AC/DC fan. He should have chosen this Death song instead as not only the music is superior to the old histrionic and bombastic Deep Purple riff which has been played to death a long time ago but the lyrics would have fit almost exactly on his hopefully short career as a politician.
(The list of all 351 selections since 1st February 2010 is here)
P.S. Somehow this Death track reminds me of Golden Earring’s Radar Love which is older – from 1973 – and used to be one of my favourite songs they played in the cellar disco I went to in the mid-seventies. When the song began the girls used to kneel down and started to spin their heads and whirl around their long hair. It was phantatstic. Just listened to the song again, it did not age well at all.
5’49 The Smashing Pumpkins – Window Paine (1991)
März 8, 2011Window paine
Around my heart
Shadows streak
Around my heartDo what you got to do
And say what you got to say
Do what you got to do
Yes, start today
There was a short period of time when I thought Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins were the greatest band on earth. The reason for this slightly exaggerated evaluation was their first album Gish. An amazing debut fusing heavy metal, psychedelic rock, goth rock, prog rock and something else hard to pin down. You could call it mystic. Additionally there is a lot of quiet-loud dynamics on this album – less on this song which stays pretty disciplined all the way through. Tracks are usually hardly audible in the beginning, get louder slowly and peak later. A little like post-rock though there is a hardcore element here. I used to listen to this album after having drunk and smoked with a friend. I always listened on my own on headphones. And each time it was an expedition into some weird continent which I somehow associate with snakes and magic. As I read just before starting this entry Billy says that Gish is a spiritual album. And other people think it was made under the influence of LSD. All that makes a lot of sense to me. The paine in „window paine“ seems to be an amalgam of pane and pain. At the same time the window is an object made of glass to look through and something which causes pain, maybe when the glass is broken. The quoted verse also reminds me of my favourite line by Blixa Bargeld of the Einstürzenden Neubauten.
Nagel mein Herz ans Fensterkreuz
(Nail my heart onto the crossbar)
I still think this song has hold up quite well against the ravages of time. Especially Billy’s voice is still bearable, later on his high-pitch singing (a typical heavy metal trait I abhor) became totally insufferable.
(The list of all 349 selections since 1st February 2010 is here)
5’45 Mark Hollis – Watershed (1998)
März 4, 2011Come my love
Kick the line
Afield lies nothing but squalor to turn on
There are great days, there are normal days and there are shitty days. Guess what kind of day was today? I am glad that it is over and that I can hide under my blanket now, a blanket made of Mark Hollis voice, some percussion, guitars, harmonium and a trumpet.
(The list of all 345 selections since 1st February 2010 is here)
5’43 Howe Gelb – This Purple Child (1998)
März 3, 2011there’s some monster within slipping from sleeping to arise.
and there’s some angels there too down and deep within darkening eyes.
In memoriam von unserem Ex-Verteidigungsminister, der gestern wohl die weiseste Entscheidung seines Lebens getroffen hat. Glückwunsch nachträglich. Drei Zitate ohne Quellenangabe. Sozusagen ein Plagiat mit Ansage. Beim letzten Zitat bin ich mir nicht sicher, ob es nicht auch schon ein Plagiat war. Da kursiert so ein Gerücht in den sozialen Netzwerken, das eigentlich zu schön ist, um wahr zu sein.
About the song:
There is this horn section sample after 2:50 which sounds like an intruder from outer space in the balanced song. For the next two minutes I just wait for this extraterrestrian to come back. And it does.
Von einem, dem die Zeit wie Sand durch die Hände rinnt:
Traum: Auf der Oberfläche der Sonne verursacht eine von der Erde ausgesandte Sonde eine Störung. Zuerst sieht man nur einen kleinen schwarzen Fleck, der sich aber rasch ausbreitet. Schließlich erlischt die Kernfusion auf der Sonne ganz. Im Dunkeln suche ich mit C. nach Kerzen. Aber sinnvoll scheint das nicht. Es kann nur noch Tage oder Stunden dauern, bis die Temperatur auf diesem Planeten für immer bei minus 273 Grad angekommen ist, da helfen Kerzen jetzt auch nicht weiter. Wir resignieren.
Last but not least:
Ich war immer bereit zu kämpfen. Aber ich habe die Grenzen meiner Kräfte erreicht.
(The list of all 343 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
5’41 Captain Sensible – Wot (Maxi 1982)
März 1, 2011It went bang – I said rap up.
Well I’m aware that the guy must do his work
But the piledriver man drove me berserk.
It’s strange but I am having all these flashbacks in the last couple of months. Mostly totally unimportant memories which suddenly come and go. Do I have an example? Yes, for instance the first time I drank alcohol. I must have been around 13 and there were all these blokes sitting at a long table at a friend’s house. We were maybe eight or nine altogether and IIRC everyone had two glasses of beer. I remember that I was disappointed as I hardly felt anything except a slight relaxation but nothing mind-bending. Why do I write this? Because if I had to choose one year, I would go for 1982. Not because of Captain Sensible’s one hit wonder, I heard it first a couple of years later. No, it was the end of school and I decided to make a cut. It was the best decision of my life. What an amazing Greek summer. Later on in November or something I came back to Germany. In retrospect it probably was the right thing to do but at the time I was in doubt. Now I can still dance to this song and it brings back myriads of memories. What more can you ask from pop music?
(The list of all 341 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
5’39 Tord Gustavsen Trio – Tears Transforming (2005)
Februar 26, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JMWNmZTY2NGUtYzk0MS00MDNiLWIxNWItOWQ0YTlhOTA2OTU4&export=download&hl=de
Tord Gustavsen has been my favourite jazz pianist for quite a while now. In the early eighties it used to be Keith Jarrett (cf.). One difference between them is that whereas Keith Jarrett used to moan during his solo concerts, Tord Gustavsen remains perfectly quiet and only plays his instrument. The trio is a perfect place for him. Bass, drums and piano, it really is a minimal setting but absolutely sufficient to create the kind of intimate chamber jazz music I adore. Like Jarrett Gustavsen is on the Munich ECM label and he definitely belongs there with his introspective sound. I listened to this phantastic understated piece this morning on our leather couch with the B**e ear plugs and it was a revelation. The tender melody starting the piece, the subtle cymbals, the slow unfolding of things. Marvelous stuff, just listen and forget about these superfluous words…
(The list of all 339 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
5’35 Blur – Miss America (1993)
Februar 22, 2011Miss America sits in the shower
She’s plucking hours from the sky
Picks up the telephone into another home
Don’t ask me why
When you think it’s over, it has just begun. I have become addicted to post music on a daily base. I started a little more than a year ago with My Bloody Valentine’s 5’34 song I Only Said – which is still online btw – and counted down until 0’00. What now? The most obvious thing to do would be to count up from where I started. And that is what I am going to do. The whole thing will stop when I have no more tracks on the hard disk with the demanded length.
In the beginning I wanted to choose Yo La Tengo’s beautiful ballad Today Is the Day which immediately gave me the heebie-jeebies but then I went for this Blur track from their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish which is actually my favourite of theirs. Today’s song is not typical for that rather uptempo and rocking album. It would have fit better on Thirteen, the more sophisticated and varied later release.
It begins with someone shouting „Michael“. Apparently it is Graham Coxon, the guitar player, who calls the producer. Then someone else laughs. Immediately we are in a lively setting, the studio is not the clean, perfect place you’d imagine, no the studio is alive. The whole recording seems rather imperfect, the music starts with some seemingly disconnected tones, they just hang there in the room. And then the melody slowly unfolds. The piece is dominated by the warm sound of the acoustic guitar strings, the chord changes can be heard, the atmosphere is intimate. The melody is sweet and tender, to me the track is like the foreplay, it never really explodes, until the end it stays in slow-motion. And of course that is the charm of it, I recently listened to it when waiting to board an airplane on Frankfurt airport on Monday morning and I was immediately hooked and could not refrain from smiling while moving my feet very slowly. The rhythm had caught me and I closed the eyes to retreat into the music; my brain did not want to share it with the visual perceptions of my eyes. There is also a dozy and somnambulant quality to this song which is underlined by Damon Albarn’s gentle singing. And at the same time the guitar strings vibrate as if they were slightly drunk. In the good old cassette days I would have said the tape wows and flutters.
Concerning the lyrics the interpretation that he does not care about Miss America as he loves his (probably) British girl-friend, seems most likely. The words are occasionally cryptic and surreal, could that have to do with the inability of the narrator to understand American girls and especially the apotheosis of them, Miss America? In any case this is an uplifting love song and that makes it even more attractive and powerful. Magic music if there is any. Great to fall asleep to or wake up to.
(The list of all 335 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:00
Februar 20, 2011Finally I have done it and finished my little project. I have surprised myself. It’s time for a break. It won’t take long, I promise. Here is the ranking of the most featured bands and artists, those ten accounted for eighty of the three hundred and thirty-four tracks.
- 13 The Smiths
- 10 Joni Mitchell
- 10 Nick Drake
- 9 Johann Sebastian Bach
- 7 Boards of Canada
- 7 Joy Division
- 7 Yo La Tengo
- 6 New Order
- 6 Serge Gainsbourg
- 5 Cat Power
(The list of all 334 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:01 Alex whistles with four fingers (2011)
Februar 19, 2011Now here is the final piece of my music countdown project. I learnt normal whistling about 40 years ago from my father’s mother. My parents gave up soon on me but she had enough patience to teach me how to do it. Actually out of tune whistling is the only music production technique – except out of tune singing – that I master. Today’s track though concerns a slight variation, the finger whistle which I learnt a couple of days ago. Many thanks to my colleague A. who gave me the idea. This is the video where I learnt it from and the secret is actually to fold back the tongue with the four fingers. Something which sounds easy but isn’t. My fingers usually slip on the tongue and I have big problems to get a whistling sound out of my mouth. Here I succeeded to whistle this way for a short time, that is one reason why the track is only a second long.
(The list of all 334 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:03 Electro Hippies – Mega Armaggedon Death (1987)
Februar 17, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JZGE2YjcwYmMtYjRjYS00NmU5LWI5MzYtZjlmZGNkNzY3ZmM3&export=download&hl=de
Today I have got a curiosity for you. A piece of music which is shorter than it takes to pronounce its name properly. I guess John Peel was a fan of this band as they performed live on his show. Here they just play a fanfare, actually there is a lot of silence here. The pause in the beginning is slowly mounting the tension towards the incredible end. Which is then followed by the total silence after the apocalypse. Quite realistic, like in real life. It’s rubbish but it’s short, so that’s fine with me.
(The list of all 332 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream (Live BBC Session)
Februar 15, 2011
There is something about this James Blake. Somehow he reminds me of Arthur Russell. His music and his voice is so damn intense. He sings like a ghost, he sings ghost soul. I don’t like when he treats his voice with the vocoder like on his debut album. It does not add anything, it only subtracts from his beautiful voice. His most pop moment is of course his cover of Feist’s Limit to Your Love, I am not sure if I prefer the original or the cover but the latter seems a simplification. Whatever. I have to think more about James Blake, he definitely also has the aura of someone like Mark Hollis, someone who knows how to use breaks and pauses in music, someone who pushes borders.
0:07 Johnny Cash – The best part of wakin‘ up is Folgers in your cup (commercial, L. Pearl 1984)
Februar 13, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JMjVkZjc0MTYtYWQ3MS00YWJkLTk0MDUtMzAyZTA3MmJmYWNl&export=download&hl=de
Apparently this jingle is quite well-known in the US, I had never heard it before, not being an expert or aficionado of US coffee brands. Johnny Cash wasn’t the first to record it, I don’t even know from when his version dates. Hopefully he really liked the coffee and did not only sing for the cash.
(The list of all 328 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:09 Tortoise – Intro (live Frankfurt 1999)
Februar 11, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JMjVjMzMwNGUtYTg2MS00OTJmLTg2MDItYjk2M2UxM2M5NDZi&export=download&hl=de
The first time I heard something by Tortoise was in May 1999 in a bookshop somewhere in Massachusetts. It was a very long, instrumental piece with ups and downs, I think I didn’t leave the place before the end and I asked somebody what kind of music it was. It was Djed, from their chef d’œuvre millions now living will never die (what a great title), a natural symphony with thunder and wind and stuff, altogether twenty minutes long. Here they get nine seconds, hardly enough time to develop their sound. Cut. Today in the plane from Berlin to Frankfurt there was this red-haired lady, a couple of weeks ago I shared a flight with this man who looked even younger than on tv. Politicians seem to spend a lot of time in the air.
(The list of all 326 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:11 Schoolchildren of Wanseko, Uganda – Row, Row, Row Your Boat (1971, Trad. 1852)
Februar 9, 2011Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
Rowing down the stream of life together with a smile and the realisation that it’s all just a dream, that is quite a lot of wisdom in a little nursery rhyme.
(The list of all 324 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:12 Charles Mingus – Coin in the Pocket (1979)
Februar 8, 2011I never had it too, too hard, you know
all my life, you know
just everything I touched, turned to gold
I am not rich but you know I always have some dollars in my pockets
From one of the great underrated masterpieces, Joni Mitchell’s Mingus. Joni always had a faible for bass players who in turn loved her, she even married one later on. Charles Mingus had contacted her after having heard the phantastic improvisational orchestrated piano piece Paprika Plains from Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and wanted to work with her. The fruit of their collaboration was the Mingus album which was released without a lot of critical feedback just after his sudden death. Here he raps with his warm bass voice about his rather serendipitous relation to money.
(The list of all 323 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:13 Melt Banana – Zip Zero (2005)
Februar 7, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JY2EzMjBiYzItYWM1YS00ZmNlLThlZmMtMzUxMzNmZGQwZGIw&export=download&hl=de
Noch dreizehn Sekunden und wir haben es geschafft. Melt Banana ist wieder so eine Mädchenband, die ähnlich wie Bikini Kill die Frauenpower in die Rockmusik bringt. Das ist auf jeden Fall eine gute Sache auch wenn die Musik jetzt nicht immer hundertprozentig meinen zugegeben manchmal schwierigen Geschmack trifft.
(Die Liste aller seit 1. Februar 2010 ausgewählten 322 Stücke ist hier.)
0:16 Miles Davis Quintet – Paraphernalia (1969)
Februar 4, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JM2FkYmY5M2EtZDM0NC00NmMxLTk5M2YtMjc1MzA0YWFiNzdm&export=download&hl=de
Friday evening is a good moment to hold your breath and slowly glide into the week-end. To help you in doing so I have chosen some cool jazz from the late second Miles Davis Quintet. They perform live in Brooklyn here and they almost play anachronistic music as at the time stylistically Miles was already moving somewhere else. Jazz rock was the big thing to come but this classic jazz aged way better than the new fad. Paraphernalia in German translates to Krimskrams, a word which I like a lot, as it seems very figurative and physical in a way. Its sound matches its meaning perfectly. Whatever.
(The list of all 319 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:17 Die Fantastischen Vier – Lauschgift (1995)
Februar 3, 2011Ha! Da sind Sie Lieutenant!
Kronberger. Rauschgiftdezernat.
Was wollen Sie von mir?
Augenblick. Was soll das heißen? (Tohuwabohu)
Überall ist Lauschgift! Hier ist überall Lauschgift. In allen Ecken!
[Mr. Yunioshi (Mickey Rooney) in Frühstück bei Tiffany]
This is from a film scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. No clue how it was in English but the German synchronisation is quite funny. It plays with the Chinese pronounciation of the „r“ as an „l“. And it reminds me of that other famous scene in Casablanca where Humphrey says to Ingrid the toast „Here’s looking at you, kid!“ (instead of „Here’s good luck to you“ as it was written in the script) which in German changed to „Schau mir in die Augen, Kleines.“ (Look into my eyes, little one). Probably the most famous sentence of any movie in Germany.
(The list of all 318 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
0:18 Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 – Jagged Ambush Bug (1995)
Februar 2, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JZTgyZDgxOGYtZWFjMC00YTcyLThlMjgtODZkMTBjOWUwNzFh&export=download&hl=de
This morning I learnt that the year of the rabbit has started today. They said that there was one Chinese zodiac sign that should beware this year. The rabbit himself. Rabbits are supposed to face a huge professional change this year. As they said it on the radio it wasn’t necessary a change for the better. Guess which sign I am? And guess with whom I had an argument today (hint: think Springsteen)? Today’s music fits well to all this. Not exactly a chart topper. By the way the next year of the dog is in seven years.
(The list of all 317 selections since 1st February 2010 is here.)
Here Before
Februar 1, 2011is the three syllable name (cf. the first three LPs) of the new album by The Feelies which is supposed to be out in April. It has only been 19 years since their last and fourth offering Time for a Witness. There is a song called Should Be Gone from the new album over at Pitchfork. Breezy, tuneful, intricate and lovely as always. Maybe a little heavier than usual, the guitars have aged a little but they have aged well. In the meantime until April we can kill time by listening to the wonderful live show at NPR’s World Cafe from May last year where they played four of their classics. These new interpretations are for indie guitar rock what Glenn Gould’s second performance of the Goldberg Variations in 1981 was for classical music. Only better! Concerning news and stuff (the Wikipedia article still does not mention the forthcoming album), the I Love Music thread is a safe bet.
0:19 John Peel/Pink Floyd – Top Gear introduction (1968)
Februar 1, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JOGIxOTRlZTYtZmEwZS00OWQyLWI3ZDUtZWUyM2M1YmRkZTE2&export=download&hl=de
Top Gear was a BBC radio programme in the sixties. At the time the BBC had lost a lot of its young audience to RTL and pirate stations. In the early years of BBC Radio 1 from 1967 on the show was revived and by then it featured mainly progressive music. This small bit can be found on a Pink Floyd bootleg called Celestial Voices. John Peel announces the bands and artists he will play on the show and there is some menacing rather extraterrestrial sounding instrumental music by Pink Floyd, I suppose, in the background. This is radio and rock history.
(The list of all 316 selections since 1st February 2010 is here)
0:20 Sadja (w. K. Wells, R. Bunka, C. Burchard et al.) – Track 5 (1974)
Januar 31, 2011136.1 Hertz or 136.1 Hz is the standard frequency of the Om tuning fork. It’s also the sound signature of the earth as it travels around the sun.
136.1 Hz is the frequency used to tune the instruments for Indian temple music. It is called Sadja, or Sa, the base tone of the Sitar and Tambura. The Om Tone is said to stimulate the Anahata (heart chakra) and hence is widely believed to be good for meditation. (s)
The world is full of egocentric assholes, narrow-minded crackpots and shameless liars. They drive me crazy. They suck the few energy which is left in me out of me. But there is a solution and it is easy. It is called Om, a syllable I should intonate more often. Humming all the shit away…
(The list of all 315 selections since February, 1st is here)
0:21 Yo La Tengo – Too Much, Pt. 2 (1996)
Januar 30, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JODlhYmJmMzUtODAzZi00N2U3LTkxYTctMDcwODhhMDY0MmE1&export=download&hl=de
I already had part 1 of this track in this program. Both are from disc two – which assembles the instrumentals – of the wonderful compilation of rarities, alternate versions and out-takes Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo. Which I cannot find anymore at home for some reason. It’s always the same, the stuff you don’t care about fills the racks and the stuff you really, really love gets swallowed by a black hole or something. Besides that I am a little tired as I have just spent five hours on 550 km German motorways between Frankfurt and Berlin. I think I have earned my two Weißbier by now. Sleep well in your Bettgestell everybody!
(Die Liste aller 314 seit dem 1. Februar 2010 ausgewählten Stücke ist hier.)
0:24 – DJ Shadow – Untitled (1996)
Januar 27, 2011Maureen’s got five sisters
They all got ass
One of them has eyes as big as Jolly Ranchers
Beautiful girl
Das hier könnte man einen hot chill nennen. Hat jedenfalls Groove und coole Lässigkeit in spades. Jolly Ranchers sind amerikanische Bonbons aus Colorado. File under useless knowledge.
(Die Liste aller 311 seit dem 1. Februar 2010 ausgewählten Stücke ist hier.)
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Januar 25, 2011
New Order play Ceremony live in New York City in 1981. Ian is there, floating in the air. Terrific performance and amazing how young they were.
0:31 Cat Power – Fiance (1996)
Januar 20, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JYWUyNjU4MDItMzAwOC00MGEyLTljN2MtMjkyNmZlZmYxOTkw&export=download&hl=de
A guitar instrumental from the second Cat Power album Myra Lee. Yes, I must admit that I was in love with Chan Marshall. Though I am not quite sure anymore if it was her body, her hair, her eyes or her voice which attracted me most. When listening to this it suddenly dawned on me. It must have been the sound of her guitar.
(The list of all 304 selections since February, 1st is here)
Listening Room
Januar 20, 2011This is so cool. A virtual place where you can upload music which can then be listened to by the people online and can be chatted about. The above room is for users of the forum „I Love Music“. But everybody can get inside. It reminds me of the good old internet days about ten years ago. There were these listening chambers at ILM. One unknown track per chamber you could discuss about. Now you can listen all night to different tracks if someone else is there and uploading. Great to discover new stuff.
P.S. February, 14th: The listening room has closed due to copyright problems and a missing business plan.
0:42 Deerhoof – The Eyebright Bugler (2002)
Januar 9, 2011https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JYTA3MGI0MmItMzFlMC00ODRlLWIzMDctYzVjZTlkODRkMGQw&export=download&hl=de
IIRC Deerhoof are a music collective from San Franciso. Most striking about them is their singer of Japanese origin with a high-pitch voice you can’t forget. I am not sure but Japanese women seem to be able to scream like no other females (Yoko Ono or the singer of Blonde Redhead come to mind). I would like to have been at this Tokyo concert of The Beatles in 1966 just for the screaming of the Nippon girls. The song is a letdown as the band doesn’t get its act together – esp. Paul seems to be totally out of sync – but I think they can be pardonned with all that shrieking action of the audience going on.
(The list of all 293 chosen tracks since February, 1st, 2010 is here).
0:44 Nick Drake – Saturday Sun (1969)
Januar 8, 2011Saturday sun came early one morning
In a sky so clear and blue
Saturday sun came without warning
So no-one knew what to do.
The complete version of this song finishes off Nick Drake’s first – and my favourite – album of his. Here he just starts the song on the piano, sings a couple of verses from the distance and then closes the lid of the piano with a bang. This broken up rendering with some classical opera(?) music in the background somehow summarizes Nick Drake’s life much better than the long version. Additionally it is Saturday tomorrow and according to the weather forecast sunshine will be quite improbable in Berlin. So if it occurs nobody will know what to do again! This is actually the first time I have chosen the same song twice. I should have done that more often.
(The list of all 291 chosen tracks since February, 1st, 2010 is here).
1:00 Sonic Youth – Nic Fit (1992, Untouchables 1982)
Dezember 11, 2010sonic death
sonic smoke
sonic youth
What a lucky guy I am, I did not have a nic fit today. But I knew from the beginning of this project on that I would choose this song which sounds like a great way to handle a nicotine craving attack. It is probably the hardcore punk song I like most. And until recently I didn’t even know that it was a cover and that the original was by a band from Washington DC. What do I like about it? The speed, the noise and the raw power. And that it fits nicely on Dirty, my first & favourite Sonic Youth album.
(The Liste of all 275 tracks is here.)
1:17 Jonathan Richman – Egyptian Reggae (1977, live Central Park, 2000)
November 24, 2010https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JMWZmNGMxMWEtYTU3Yy00MGEwLTljNzgtYmZiZmU4Nzk0ZTZk&export=download&hl=de
Winter has arrived in Berlin today. On the way to work – I walk about a mile up the Motzstraße to catch the subway at the Nollendorfplatz – it was raining a mixture of rain and snow. On the way back finally it snowed snow and the temperature was below zero degrees Celsius as I could scratch the ice from the windshield of my car at home. When this instrumental came up on my iPod I could not refrain from dancing, it is such a fun to bounce up and down to this easy-going tune full of good vibrations.
(The list of all selected tracks since February, 1st is here.)
1:30 Pixies – Broken Face (1988)
November 12, 2010I got no lips, I got no tongue
Where there were eyes, there’s only space
A ninety second glimpse into the crazy mind of Black Francis aka Frank Black born Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV. You have been warned.
(The list of all 245 chosen tracks since February, 1st is here.)
1:52 The Mountain Goats – See America Right (2002)
Oktober 8, 2010If we never make it back to California
I want you to know I love you
But my love is like a dark cloud full of rain
That’s always right there up above you
John Darnielle kenn ich ein bisschen von I Love Music und von seinem Blog Last Plane to Jakarta. Er ist ein Heavy Metal Fan, eigentlich eine Spezies, die ich aber sowas von nicht verstehe. Aber diesen Song und das Tallahassee-Album auf dem er drauf ist, kann ich sehr gut nachvollziehen. Hassliebe, Alkoholismus, Selbstzerstörung. Ein Paar, das nicht miteinander aber erst recht nicht ohne einander leben kann. Don’t we all know it? John ist glaube ich Psychotherapeut oder sowas ähnliches. Er weiß, wovon er hier singt.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 223 Stücke ist hier.)
2:07 Wire – On Returning (1979)
September 23, 2010You’ll be sorry when the sun has roasted you to
Lobster red, nothing said
Man muss auch mal schweigen können.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 208 Stücke ist hier.)
Divorcing the post-punk way
September 20, 2010
2:20 The Smiths – Panic (1986)
September 10, 2010I wonder to myself
Burn down the disco
Hang the blessed D.J.
Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life
This is what I wrote about the song a couple of years ago:
October 1986. I was on the Greek cyclade Naxos where I met a black English guy who was deejaying in a club in the main town. He was ranging his LPs as the season was over and he was about to go back to rainy England. Before he played a single for me. A song by a band from the whereabouts of Manchester I had never heard of. Called The Smiths, a name I instantly loved for its modest ubiquitousness. The song was called Panic but it took me at least seven or eight years before getting that title. From the beginning on I thought it was called after the chorus at the end, Hang the DJ. A two minutes and something pop song which didn’t impress me much at first but which somehow stayed in memory. Which became a token song for nostalgia. I don’t know how many times I asked deejays for this song. Usually because they only played music which didn’t say anything to me about my life. Sometimes they played it (as they liked the song themselves but didn’t realise why I asked for it), many times they didn’t. This song starts the wonderful compilation of singles, b-sides and 12“ extra songs called The World Won’t Listen (how could I not love that title) which came out in early 1987. Whatever Panic is about (e.g. riots in England and radio deejays who pass stupid songs on the public radio after Chernobyl has happened a couple of hours before), it has a feel of power which in the end becomes so totally overwhelming and irresistible (that kid’s choir is angelic). As if changing the music could change the world. That’s what I always liked most about Morrissey. He always incarnated the romantic side of revolution for me.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 195 Stücke ist hier.)
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September 6, 2010Beauty: The power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.
Ambrose Bierce
She’s Hit
August 28, 2010was a song by Nick Cave & the Birthday Party in the early eighties but these days it is the name of a band of four very young lads from Glasgow. Besides Nick Cave I hear Jesus & the Mary Chain and Gallon Drunk – who were probably influenced by Nick Cave themselves – in their music. They are making lots of noise and like the Vinyl Villain who went to a concert of theirs yesterday I haven’t been excited by a band like this for a long, long time. My Bloody Valentine 1991 would probably go back too far but Radiohead 2001 sounds pretty realistic.
2:41 Buzzcocks – Walking Distance (live 1978)
August 20, 2010https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JZWMzMGNjN2EtYThiYy00ZTM1LTg3OTktMjFhNGU3YmQ4NWY1&export=download&hl=de
Wenn man es sich mal überlegt, dann sind die Buzzcocks im Grunde ja die englischen Ramones. Kurze, schnelle, melodische Songs sind auch ihr Markenzeichen. Hier spielen sie ein Instrumental, das ohne den kurzen Soundcheck und die Ansage in diesem wunderbar weichen, nordenglischen Akzent nur gerade mal zwei Minuten gedauert hätte. Der Titel des Stücks passt übrigens perfekt zum Ort des Geschehens. Die Gruppe spielt im Apollo in Manchester, locker fußläufig zu erreichen von ihrer Heimatstadt Bolton. Fast hätte ich allerdings ein Reggae-Instrumental gewählt, Izzy Royal’s Coronation Dub, eines der Lieblingslieder von John Peel, das auch in seiner bekannten Box drin war. Meine mp3 rauscht und knistert wie Schwein, man hört förmlich wie John Peel die Single zu Tode geliebt hat.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 174 Songs ist hier.)
2:46 The Smiths – Handsome Devil (1983)
August 15, 2010Let me get my hands
On your mammary glands
And let me get your head
On the conjugal bed
Ein weiteres frühes Lied der Band aus Manchester mit dem Allerweltsnamen. Die Lyrics gehen offensichtlich um Sex, wobei nicht ganz klar ist, ob zwischen pubertierenden Jungens oder zwischen einem Jungen und einer älteren Frau. Schwer vorzustellen, dass eine Band heutzutage mit einem derartigen Text nicht der politischen Inkorrektheit geziehen würde. Aber die Lyrics interessieren mich hier – bis auf den sehr prägnanten Titel – eigentlich weniger. Der Song hat vom musikalischen her etwas Bedrohliches. Er scheint sich im Verlauf zu beschleunigen, er rockt wie kaum ein anderes Lied der Smiths. Hier kommen die punkigen Wurzeln der Band zum Vorschein. Das ist hier die Peel-Session-Version, wie sie dann später auf Hatful of Hollow veröffenticht worden ist. Natürlich liebe ich auch den Garagensound, später waren die Produktionen dann glatter und perfekter. Hier hingegen kann man noch den ungeschliffenen Diamanten hören.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 169 Songs ist hier.)
2:50 Nick Drake – Milk and Honey (Jackson C. Frank, 1967/68)
August 12, 2010Gold and silver
Is the autumn
Soft and tender
Are the skies
Yes and no
Are the answers
Written in
My true love’s eyes
I couldn’t decide if The Smiths Handsome Devil or The House of Love’s Man to Child was better so I went for this. I didn’t even know this song beforehand. It was recorded as a demo tape in Tanworth in Arden, the sound quality is rather poor, there are background noises which add a certain charm of imperfection and authenticity to it. For some reason I needed something pure and stark tonight. Here it is. An early Nick Drake recording where he covers someone else who did not become famous neither. Would it have changed something for Nick Drake if he had become succesful? In the past I had always hoped that it would not have changed a thing, that he would have killed himself anyway. But these days I am not so sure anymore. Does anybody know what I am talking about? I have no clue whatsoever why I wrote this in English by the way. Somehow it wouldn’t have felt right in German.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 165 Songs ist hier.)
2:57 Aphex Twin – IZ-US (1997)
August 4, 2010http://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JZGJlODkxZDgtYTk1My00MmZmLWJkYWItYzgzMDJhYTVmNGRh&export=download&hl=de
(Tip: If there is a problem with audio play try shift+reload before play)
Stop making that big face!
Mit der Auswahl dieses Tracks habe ich mich selbst überrascht. Ich bin ja normalerweise nicht so der Fan von elektronischer Musik; bis jetzt habe ich erst ein derartiges Stück in diesem Projekt besprochen. Und es war ähnlich wie auch hier eine Art von synthetisch generierter Musik bei der man meinen konnte, dass der bzw. die Bediener den zur Sounderzeugung benutzten Maschinen Gefühle entlockt haben. Auf IZ-US höre ich eine diffuse, träumerische Sehnsucht gekoppelt mit einer tiefen Traurigkeit in den Synthesizerklängen. Als wären die Maschinen unsere Brüder und genauso wie wir völlig einsam und verloren im Kosmos. Die Drumprogrammierung ist nicht ganz so monoton und steril wie so oft; es liegt vielleicht auch daran, dass es sich nahezu ausnahmslos um relativ hohe Beckenklänge handelt. Insgesamt ist das Stück sehr vielfältig mit den Flötenlinien und einigen fetteren Bassbeats, die aber schön im Hintergrund bleiben. Meiner Meinung nach ist Richard D. James einer der ganz wenigen, die in der Lage sind, lebendige, abwechslungsreiche elektronische Musik mit einem human touch zu kreieren.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 158 Songs ist hier.)
3:06 Galaxie 500 – Instrumental (1988)
Juni 29, 2010http://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JNDcxMWY0YTEtMGMxMy00YjExLTkxZmEtNjg1ZWE4YWE3ODk2&export=download&hl=de
Ich weiß jetzt nicht so ganz was ich zu Galaxie 500 sagen soll. Indie Aficionados werden sie gut kennen, die meisten anderen wohl eher nicht. Ihr Mastermind war Dean Wareham, der gut zwei Wochen nach mir geboren ist, allerdings auf der anderen Seite der Erdkugel, in Wellington, Neuseeland. Nach einem Aufenthalt in Sydney kam er mit 14 nach New York. In Harvard hat er dann ein Sozialwissenschaftsstudium mit einem B.A. abgeschlossen. Wieso schreib ich das jetzt alles aus der Wikipedia ab? Vielleicht weil es ein bisschen seine Musik erklären kann bzw. seinen Sound, den er mit Galaxie 500 entwickelte und dann später mit Luna perfektionierte, wo dann noch der Feelies-Drummer mitmachte und jemand von den neuseeländischen Chills. Wie man an alldem sieht, ist Wareham ein Globetrotter mit intellektuellem Touch und seine sehr ruhige Musik, die man als Gitarren-Dreampop bezeichnen könnte, strahlt etwas Universales, Allumfassendes aus, das mich von der Sekunde an, wo ich ihn das erste Mal gehört habe, sofort angesprochen hat. Ein Instrumental passt besonders gut zu ihm, da seine Stimme eher schwach und unscheinbar ist und meist im Hintergrund eingesetzt wird, meines Erachtens sogar fast schon etwas nervt und vom eigentlichen Sound ablenkt, den man als traumtänzerisch bezeichnen könnte. Ich mach jetzt Schluss mit dem Gelaber und wünsche allen eine gute, erholsame Sommernacht, möge diese gesanglose Wiegenmusik dem Einschlummern förderlich sein.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 149 Songs ist hier.)
3:07 Wilco – Heavy Metal Drummer (2002)
Juni 29, 2010I miss the innocence I’ve known
Playing Kiss covers, beautiful and stoned
Bei diesem Lied denke ich immer an
– das Video mit Jeff Tweedy und dem kleinen Jungen im Wagen, die beide mit den Händen auf den Schenkeln trommeln
– einen Ex-Kollegen, der wahrscheinlich der größte Kiss-Fan in Berlin ist, zumindest in Berlin-Moabit. Hi there, S.
– Destroyer, meine erste Langspielplatte, die ich vor ziemlich exakt 24 34! Jahren zu meinem 13. Geburtstag gekriegt habe.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 148 Songs ist hier.)
3:08 UB40 – Present Arms in Dub (1981)
Juni 27, 2010http://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JYTI1NmM1YjEtYmZmOS00N2QwLTlhZjktMTRjMWU0OTU0NThm&export=download&hl=de
Bei dem Supersonnenwetter scheint mir dieses Reggae-Echomonster genau die richtige Mucke zum Runterchillen zu sein. UB40 aus Birmingham nannten sich nach dem Formular zum Beantragen der Arbeitslosenhilfe (unemployment benefit form 40), welches sie nach diversen Hits in den Achtzigern dann später wohl kaum noch ausfüllen mussten. Großartig ist hier natürlich das fette Bläsermotiv, aber die diversen hin und her hallenden Töne und Geräusche geben dem Stück zusätzlich fast einen experimentiellen Charakter.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 147 Songs ist hier.)
3:10 Buzzcocks – Harmony In My Head (1979)
Juni 25, 2010Vom Punk habe ich ja in der zweiten Hälfte der Siebziger kaum was mitbekommen. Ich war zwar von 1976-78 dreimal in Südengland im Sommer – Bournemouth, Margate, Marlow – aber auch schon diese Bewegung schien mehr ein Medienhype als real existierend gewesen zu sein. Erst später in den Achtzigern habe ich meine Lieblingspunkband entdeckt, die Buzzcocks. Sie hatten neben der englischen Schnoddrigkeit und den ohne Umschweife auf den Punkt kommenden Titeln (wie z.B. Orgasm Addict oder Just Lust) auch noch die Melodien dazu. Das heutige Lied kann man kaum als Punk bezeichnen, erstens ist es zu lang, dann zu langsam und es wird zudem sogar noch ein bisschen gejammt. Aber das macht alles absolut überhaupt nichts, denn dieser Titel hält alles, was er verspricht. Aus meinem Kopf geht der Ohrwurm heute jedenfalls nicht mehr so schnell raus.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 145 Songs ist hier.)
3:11 R.E.M. – Crazy (1989, cover)
Juni 25, 2010http://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JZWFjODE0ZDQtNjViOS00N2JjLTljZWEtMjA1MmIyMmNkN2Mw&export=download&hl=de
Es ist unglaublich, aber wahr. Der einzige Song unter dreiundneunzig, der etwas hervorsticht aus dem Mittelmaß der 191-Sekundenlieder auf meinem iPod ist erstens ein Cover und zweitens ein Cover von einem Song, dessen Originalversion ich vorgestern schon vorgestellt habe. Viel zu schreiben gibt es jetzt nicht mehr. R.E.M. halten sich schon fast sklavisch an das Vorbild, sie nehmen allerdings ein bisschen den Pepp raus, allein schon durch Michael Stipe’s Stimme. Das wäre jetzt nicht nett, wenn ich schreiben würde, dass dies ihr bestes Lied wäre, wenn es denn von ihnen wäre, aber das ist mir jetzt egal. Auch Blogs sind geduldig.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 144 Songs ist hier.)
3:30 Wipers – The Chill Remains (1987)
Juni 7, 2010http://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JYzE3YWJjMzYtMjc2My00ZTg0LWE1YzItYWJhNWRiZWNjOWM1&export=download&hl=de
Greg Sage und seine Wipers habe ich das erste Mal in meiner Münchener Studentenzeit Mitte der Achtziger auf dem Zündfunk (Bayern 2) gehört. Ihr extrem melodischer, düsterer mit viel Verzerrung arbeitender hypnotischer Gitarrenrock hat mich damals sofort angezogen. Heute werden sie bei Wikipedia als Punkband geführt. Seltsam, für mich war das immer Post-Punk, die Stücke sind meist viel zu lang für Punksongs und sie scheinen durchkomponiert, was man von den meisten, hingerotzten Punkliedern nicht behaupten kann.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 126 Songs ist hier.)
3:47 Giant Sand – (Well) Dusted (For the Millennium) (2000)
Mai 20, 2010http://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JYzUwNDIwN2MtNDM1Yi00ODA2LTg5MTUtNmY2M2EwYzI4MjVh&export=download&hl=de
Das ist gerade die Musik, die ich noch mit am ehesten ertragen kann in meinem jetzigen katzenjämmerlichen Zustand. Howe Gelb’s arschcooler, flüsternder Bariton, eine Slidegitarre unter Peyoteeinfluss aus der Wüste in Arizona dazu sowie John Convertino’s trockene Snare Drum mit dem Charme eines klappernden Blechmülleimers plus der vornehm zurückhaltende Bass von Joey Burns. Diverse bewusstseinserweiternde Synthesizereffekte nicht zu vergessen. Ich würde mich nicht wundern, wenn gleich der Sand aus den Lautsprechern rieseln würde. Giant Sand vor der Entbindung von Calexico war einfach noch besser als danach. Dies ist der erste Song – nach der Ouvertüre – von dem wunderbaren Rainer Ptacek-Gedächtnisschrein Chore of Enchantment, von dem ich vor bald acht Jahren in meinem allerersten Blog schon mal geschwärmt habe.
(Die Liste aller seit dem 1. Februar ausgewählten 108 Songs ist hier.)
4:08 Joy Division – A Means to an End (1980)
April 28, 2010http://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JZTYyMzU1MTMtYzdhYy00OTIzLWE0YzctZGQyYjMzZmRiYWEy&export=download&hl=de
Heute mittag habe ich mein erstes Subway-Sandwich gegessen. Thunfisch auf Vollkornbrötchen mit Mexican Southwest Sauce und Honig Salz und Pfeffer sowie allem außer Paprika. Wir – zwei Kolleginnen und ich – gingen dann bei herrlichem Sonnenschein zum französischen Dom, wo wir uns auf die Stufen setzten. Nachdem ich das Sandwich ausgepackt hatte, konnte ich mir folgende kritische Bemerkung nicht verkneifen:
15 Zentimeter? Das sollen 15 Zentimeter sein?
(bei Subway gibt es normale 15 Zentimeter lange „Baguettes“ und 30 Zentimeter lange, ich hatte mich für die Kurzversion entschieden)
Worauf eine der Kolleginnen etwas in der Richtung sagte, dass sie diesen Gedanken auch schon mal gehabt hätte, allerdings in einem etwas anderen Zusammenhang. Es dauerte etwas bis es bei mir klingelte.
Der Bezug dieses Eintrags zu dem gewählten Lied mag auf den ersten Blick nicht erkennbar sein, aber das scheint nur so. 😉
(Die Liste aller seit 1. Februar [5:34] ausgewählten 87 Songs ist hier.)
4:10 The Smiths – Still Ill (live 1986)
April 26, 2010Does the body rule the mind
or does the mind rule the body?
I dunno…
1. Es ist vollkommen unmöglich, in einer Lieblingsliedliste zu viele Songs von den Smiths zu haben (dies ist übrigens erst mein Zweiter).
2. Diese Livefassung ist vielleicht nicht die Beste, aber bestimmt die Unterhaltsamste. Morrissey artikuliert in Topform.
3. Johnny Marr’s Gitarrenspiel auf Still Ill klingt heute noch so locker-flockig frisch wie vor 24 Jahren.
4. Selten hat ein Titel so gut auf meinen aktuellen Körperzustand gepasst wie dieser hier. Was seltsam ist, im klimatisierten Großraumbüro läuft die Nase mit Haile Gebreselassie um die Wette während sie sich zuhause diskret ausruht. Erschlagen bin ich trotzdem.
5. Bzgl. Morrissey’s philosophischer Frage würde ich sagen, dass bei mir ganz klar der Körper den Geist beherrscht während es eventuell Leute gibt, ich denke da z.B. an Yogis und tibetanische Mönche, die ihre Körperfunktionen mit ihrem Geist steuern können.
(Die Liste aller seit 1. Februar [5:34] ausgewählten 85 Songs ist hier.)
4:22 Kings of Convenience – I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From (Röyksopp remix 2001)
April 14, 2010I had never really known you
but I realized that the one you were before,
had changed into somebody for whom
I wouldn’t mind to put the kettle on.
A wonderful ballad which didn’t make it before as the contenders were too strong. This is by far not my fave version – that would be the acoustic album recording – but it gives a new perspective on the song. I may be wrong but to me the electronic treatment makes the song sound lighter, the material resonation of the guitar strings is resolved into a floating movement of synthesized sounds. Does that make any sense?
4:24 Elliott Smith – Jealous Guy (Lennon, Live 1998)
April 12, 2010I was feeling insecure
You might not love me anymore
I was shivering inside
This is very familiar ground to anyone even only slightly acquainted with pop music. Besides Julia probably my fave song by John Lennon. The acoustic cover version by Elliott Smith is even more intimate than the original. Smith’s subdued way of singing while articulating each word very clearly gives it an extra pound of weight which then vanishes into thin air due to the feathery whistle solo.
4:26 Nada Surf – 80 Windows (1998)
April 10, 2010https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6VP-jaS7U-JZTM2Y2YwYTYtYzNkMS00OWI5LTk0M2YtMzM5ZWU4ZTkyYTA3&export=download&hl=de
I posted this song before as a picture story. I looked for images on the web illustrating the situations and places described in the lyrics. The ballad is one of my favourite songs by a power pop band together with Alcoholiday by Teenage Fanclub. Each time I hear the sweet tune with the sad undertone I fall under its spell again.
