You might have seen the pictures, and wondered what it all meant. We saw too many nice things in London to keep to ourselves, so here it goes.
Despite the horrible start of our journey on the 23rd (imagine two Easyjet check-in desks and a row of at least 250 meters of people in front of it, barely moving, with only an hour until your flight leaves), we managed to get to Britain. After we dropped our stuff at the St Giles Hotel (really central spot, next to Tottenham Court Road tube station), we trodded into town. The first thing we saw was a small exhibition of John Lennon pictures at Proud Galleries, where Erik scored a Rubber Soul tee.
Next up was a visit to Tate Modern, and besides the temporary art on display — big spiders by Louise Bourgeois and a crack in the floor by Doris Salcedo — it was great to see famous works by Magritte, Max Ernst and Mark Rothko amongst others in real life.
The next day we visited Highgate Cemetary and the area of Spitalfields. The latter was a real surprise... it harbours the Bangladeshi centre of London and is turning into a freehaven for artists and small indepent shops on the site of the Old Truman Brewery. On Spitalfields Market, open on weekdays and Sunday, the stalls offered various items of clothing in very original prints and i bought a shirt with a design by Shiroi Neko. Very happy with that one!
The area also included some very well assorted vintage (read: secondhand) clothing shops like Beyond Retro that was simply too big to find anything in. A bit too expensive for the label 'vintage' in my opinion as well.
That night, it was Christmas eve and the only thing left to do, with shops closing early, was to grab the last movie that evening at 17:45... Rendition with Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep and Jake Gyllenhaal (first scene in underwear... hunk!). A very intriguing story concerning a suicide bombing in a North African city, that's all i can say without spoiling it too much.
On Christmas day, there were only two things to do.
1. Buy an umbrella;
2. join the London Walks, on The Christmas Day Charles Dickens' London Walk. Which was absolutely worth the 6 quid. We both only knew Charles Dickens from The Muppet Christmas Carol, but it seems he wrote a whole lot more... which we learned about while being led through some streets of London we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Absolutely wonderful!
And being the bloody tourists that we are deep in our hearts, on Wednesday — Boxing Day, it's MADNESS! — we enjoyed the wintersun at the Thames and took a ride in the London Eye.
Now... how about food distributing facilities, or in more popular slang: restaurants? We hit some really nice spots, which offered a good value for money. Like Busaba Eathai in Wardour Street where you have to crawl up each other laps to have a seat, but get served fantastic food. Thai ofcourse.
Or the eco-friendly (no tuna there) Tokio Diner (sorry, no weblink available, unbelievably) near Leicester Square. It's a bit 'strip light and wood panelled walls' but the food was amazing, and very affordable. You really should try the Tonkatsu Bento!
It had been almost 8 years since i last was in London, and i realized soon enough how much i missed it. The insanely well assorted record stores, the excuisite advertising, the smell of the tube, the Britishness in all it's various wonderous shapes... but we also noticed what had changed. The overemployment (four cashiers in a store and no customers) and how they charge you for everything (a quid to store our bag in the hotel on our departure date for instance). However, i suppose it's not going to be another 8 years before i'll be there again.
Wow... we've made it! A whole year has passed, and 52 songs made up the 2007 Mixtape. I hope it was as much fun for you as it was for me... even though they weren't all on time as planned. But i guess in time enough for you. Ofcourse it's not going to stop at this darlings... i will continue in 2008, but not as the 2007 Mixtape ofcourse, duh. Just wait and see.
So, last song in the 2007 Mixtape extravaganza is Modeselektor, whom i got referred to by electro connaiseur Erwin... their latest album Happy Birthday! is one that escaped my attention until now, even though it features Thom Yorke on one song. But before you start throwing up, I DIDN'T PICK THAT SONG FOR YOU! Enough of ratty bearded Thom for a while, Godspeed is one of the great tunes on that album. Enjoy.
Usually, offering something for free on the web, means a lot of people will take advantage of it, but the sender doesn't get much in return. Like putting a mixtape up for download. Not that it really matters, the fun is putting something up at all.
But i was still surprised by the idea of Sketch Swap, where you have to doodle something to get something in return. It seems your drawing will be reviewed before being put in the swap, so put more than a dot there to be fair.
I discovered Troy somewhere in 2006, and every now and then i stumble upon this song I Block The Sunlight Out on my iPod... which suprises me everytime. Troy von Balthazar was the lead singer & guitar player of the Los Angeles based band Chokebore. His debut solo album has only recently been released here in Europe, and he's furiously touring Germany now. Let's hope some day soon he'll be on a stage near you.
For my mixtape group at last.fm, i went out on a limb this month and put some serious effort into making a genuine MIXtape. The end result, i'm too proud of, to keep to the selected few, so it's up here for download as well. The tracklisting is as follows:
The Ponys - DOUBLEVISION
Interpol - NO I IN THREESOME
Feist - MY MOON MY MAN
Patrick Wolf - THE MAGIC POSITION
Klaxons - GOLDEN SKANS
Amy Winehouse - LOVE IS A LOSING GAME
Maxïmo Park - OUR VELOCITY
Radiohead - JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
Digitalism - POGO
Simian Mobile Disco - HUSTLER
The Gossip - STANDING IN THE WAY OF CONTROL
Bat For Lashes - WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO?
LCD Soundsystem - SOMEONE GREAT
Justice - PHANTOM PT. II
If you choose to download it, it's about 75 MB, i hope your modem get's that... and let me know what you think of it.
An album that got a bit snowed under all the new and exciting stuff that i discovered, but is up there among my personal favourites, is Maxïmo Park's Our Earthly Pleasures. Sounding even more like The Smiths than their first album, their sound hasn't necessarily changed though... it just more of the same but unlike some other bands (Bloc Party, Interpol) hasn't gone stale. Your Urge could be the best song of the album... but it always depends on my mood.
This song made it to my song of the year list almost instantaneously, and what's not to like about a bop-boppy bouncing electro pop song about 'Something in the air', right? The album Idealism is one of those rare ones that sound good at home, but sound mindblowing when played loud at a club. Something that Justice for instance, didn't quite achieve, in my opinion.
I'm afraid i'm a bit behind on this, but i'll make it up by a small best-of 2007, of songs that for some reason got skipped in the 2007 Mixtape, until now ofcourse. First up:
I don't know if it's officially from 2007, but i only recently had a good listen, and realized this is a magnificent song... Radiohead meets Kraftwerk, that's what i'm thinking from the top of my head. Don't miss this one.
Even though the proportion of the monolith seems a bit off... it's supposed to be 1 x 4 x 9, the rectangle here doesn't fit any of those dimensions. But that's just nerd-talk. I'm still drooling.
Our visit to New York last April is something to never forget, but now it has been immortalized in another way. Some gal from the internet travel guide Schmap contacted me because of a picture i took inside the Lenox Lounge (which was strictly forbidden by the owner, but the bartender didn't mind). And now it's part of their official piece about the Lenox Lounge! Yip yip! It takes some searching and good eyes to find the picture and recognise Erik in it, though. But if you do, click on it and leave a message at the Flickr page it links to.
Apparently Billie Holiday, Malcolm X and Shaft spent a lot of time there. I didn't know that when i sat there, but the interior looks pretty vintage '50s/'60s, so i could imagine it was used for a lot of photo shoots and as movie set.
Next Friday, Club LA, Amsterdam. It's gonna be the second and the last edition of Cruise Control there. Which means filthy electro from DJ's KGB, DDR and Sletski. Dirty pictures by yours truly, VJ Warschau. And loads of cruise kittens. Be there or be queer.
The year 2007 is getting to an end, and my mind is wandering over the loads of good music i've heard this year. Good records from established acts (Radiohead, Björk, PJ Harvey), not so good records (Interpol...) and the odd suprise. Like Digitalism and Simian Mobile Disco, who prove electronic music is far from dead, but doesn't need to be avant-garde either to rock my house. In a similar way, but a bit poppier is a 22 year old dude from Melbourne, Australia. Already discovered by Soulwax, with whom he toured, he could make it big over here in 2008.
With many thanks to peanutsplayground, i would like to introduce you to Sea Wolf... described over there as Sufjan Stevens Light. Well, i never got chills nor hot flashes from him, but this sounds very promising. From California.
Released today, in Radiohead-style (pay-what-u-like) is the new Saul Williams record... heavily co-produced by Trent Reznor. Expect just what an addition of their talents would assume — socially aware hip-hop mixed with industrial. I'll spare you the Sunday Bloody Sunday cover, but offer you the third track of the record. 'Cause the third track is always the 'single', right? If you like it, download it for free or $100 or whatever at niggytardust.com.
Ergens verstopt op de AVRO site staat nieuws over de komende serie Wie Is De Mol, die in januari 2008 op de buis komt. De kandidaten voor deze serie zijn... Annette van Trigt, Coen Swijnenberg, Dennis Weening, Edo Brunner, Georgina Verbaan, Nicolette Kluijver, Patrick Martens, Regina Romeijn, Dunya Khayame en Joris Linssen, die nu al bij mij de meest verdachte kandidaat is. Niet alleen omdat ik al afgelopen jaar verwachtte dat hij in de serie zou zitten, of omdat hij bij ons in de straat woont (en dat De Mol een paar deuren verderop zou wonen, zou tof zijn toch?). Ook niet alleen al omdat het wel haast niet anders kan dan dat de Mol een man is dit jaar, na Inge Ipenburg, Milouska Meulens, Yvon Jaspers en die ene meid uit seizoen 3. Maar uhm, ja, noem het een vermoeden. Hij zou een goede Mol zijn.
Belangrijke vernieuwing dit jaar is de cursus Mol Kijken die de AVRO voorafgaand aan de nieuwe serie uitzend. Daarin worden alle kandidaten officieel voorgesteld en getest op hun Mol-kwaliteiten. Maar wanneer dat gaat beginnen, is nog even puzzelen...
A taster for the next Cruise Control, where VJ Warschau (uhm... that's me) will showcase some mindblowing stuff. ACU — November 10th — 11pm 'til the wee hours.
With Depeche Mode back in dormant state, Dave Gahan's new solo album is very welcome. But the best ofcourse, as always, are the remixes. So, from the first single, this is the minimalist Booka Shade remix.
After all that subtle music, it's time for some old fashioned electro, right? It comes in the form of this fabulous CSS remix of a Tiny Masters of Today song... and who are they? To quote wikipedia, they are "sibling duo Ivan, born February 21, 1994 (age 13) and Ada, born March 4, 1996 (age 11)".
What?
Yep, you read it correct. When i was that age, i wasn't so cool i got my songs remixed by one of the hottest bands of the moment. Actually, i'm still not that cool. Bummer.
Unremixed, their songs sound like indie punk rock, available at their website.
Again... i was too busy with all kinds of everything last week to post the next step in the 2007 Mixtape, but i'm back with something good. I have no other option ofcourse than to at least share with you what i've been listening to all week, non-stop:
download: Radiohead - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
This is probably the most easily accesible song of In Rainbows, but after a few listens it gets under your skin, and you'll wonder why it doesn't so logical now. At least, that's what happened to me. If you like this, go download the album at inrainbows.com for whatever price you fancy.
Voor iedereen die aanstaande vrijdag zin heeft in een leuk feestje: in Club LA (schijnbaar zo fout als het klinkt) wordt de eerste Cruise Control Amsterdam editie gehouden. Dus vunzige electro van DJ's KGB en DDR en schunnige plaatjes van ondergetekende, VJ Warschau. Be there or be square!
For anyone in the mood for a party: Club LA is the host of the first Amsterdam Edition of Cruise Control. Which means filthy electro from DJ's KGB and DDR and dirty pictures by yours truly, VJ Warschau. Ben daar of ben vierkant!
If anybody is wondering if Radiohead guerilla album In Rainbows was any succes, have a look at last.fm's weekly top songs chart. The album is the top 10, in perfect chronological order.
[small but important sequel to the last post] What i forgot, was my definitive list of Depeche Mode studio albums, from most to least loved. Correspondence about this list is appreciated, but the order is non-negotiable:
1. Violator [9,60]
2. Songs Of Faith And Devotion [9,27]
3. Some Great Reward [8,70]
4. Music For The Masses [8,64]
5. Ultra [8,58]
6. Black Celebration [8,50]
7. Construction Time Again [8,10]
8. A Broken Frame [7,64]
9. Playing The Angel [7,08]
10. Speak And Spell [6,77]
11. Exciter [5,79]
I rated each song on the albums, and gave the overall feel of the album a score too. That's what the numbers are for... as you can see, some albums are very close to each other in terms of favouriteness.
A bit strange to see albums like Playing The Angel and Black Celebration relatively low here, but i feel obliged to add that of numbers 1-9 it just depends on the day which one is my temporary all-time-favourite. Speak And Spell and Exciter though, are really the bottom of this list, and will never ever get any higher.
I went Dutch there for awhile. A few weeks ago, the last installment of the Depeche Mode remasters was released, to be exact Ultra and Exciter. And since the first remasters came out, about 18 months ago, i've been splashing out on those Collectors Editions, which all include an extra DVD with the albums in Dolby 5.1, extra tracks and most importantly, a documentary concerning that period in their career.
Very informative, funny, and around the time of Songs Of Faith And Devotion and Ultra surprisingly candid about Dave Gahan's drug overdose, Alan Wilder leaving the band and everything else that was going wrong. With all 10 studio albums out now, i got a full documentary about Depeche Mode which is approximately 345 minutes long. Wow. And all those shiny nice deluxe digipacks. Very gay.
En terwijl ik deze week in mijn pauze snel Piet Snot binnenrende om het nieuwe Storm album, De Navel van de Dubbele God, te kopen, hoorde ik achter me een vrouw vragen waar de nieuwe Thorgal lag. Daar gingen mijn oren natuurlijk wel even van omhoog staan, dus die werd ook nog even meegegrist.
Beide stripreeksen zijn volgens mij standaard bestsellers in stripland, met redelijk trouwe fans... maar slaan allebei met de zojuist uitgekomen afleveringen een nieuw pad in. Storm natuurlijk vanwege het overlijden van Don Lawrence (mede-bedenker en tekenaar), die vervangen is door Romano Molenaar en Jorg de Vos, en Thorgal vanwege het aantrekken van schrijver Yves Sente i.p.v. Jean van Hamme, die alle 29 voorgaande afleveringen voor zijn rekening nam.
Knap in beide boeken is de overgang nauwelijks te merken, en dan vooral natuurlijk in het Storm boek. De karakters ogen nu wellicht wat moderner en consequenter (Don Lawrence was soms erg vrij in het tekenen van zijn figuren — Roodhaar kon op een pagina er drie keer anders uitzien), maar de schilderachtige stijl is wonderbaarlijk goed overgenomen. Het album leest dan ook na twee pagina's al als een normale aflevering van Storm. Geweldig, ik kijk nu al uit naar het volgende nieuwe boek!
En Thorgal schiet als het ware een spin-off in, die zich concentreert op Thorgal's zoon Jolan. Er schijnt ook een zij-lijn gecreëerd te worden voor Wolvin (je raadt het misschien al, zijn dochter). Mooi om te zien hoe twee langlopende stripreeksen nog verre van doodgebloed zijn.
Three days of listening to Radiohead's In Rainbows has at least prompted one question... why no artwork? The same question was dropped at hicksdesign.co.uk, and with it sort of a contest to come up with a good temporary design while we all wait for the proper Stanley Donwood one.
However, the one above was my instant favourite. Is it because i never had a My Little Pony when i was a kid? Or might it be something else... who knows.
Finally, Control, Anton Corbijn's movie about Ian Curtis, is released. A very informative piece about Joy Division's cultural impact is at NewOrderOnline, ripped from the LA Times. It puts into words what i've been thinking about this whole Joy Division revival quite nicely:
"Bands now, you know every biographical detail," said (Grant) Gee (who directed Radiohead-doc Meeting People Is Easy and an upcoming Joy Division documentary). "With Joy Division, there was one audio tape and one major print interview -- there are gaps around everything they did. If you're discovering [the group] now, you have to work to fill in the gaps with your imagination. The image draws you in."
Ian Curtis wasn't world famous when he died, so in the years after his death some kind of silent myth allowed to be formed. But mostly through the music, not through Ian's persona. Joy Division was/is a secret you're let in on, and people love to be part of special clubs. Go see the movie, and you're part of it!
I received my download link on 7:31 AM, my time, and i noticed this at 8. I won't actually be the first to download the new Radiohead album, but i'd like to think i was in among the first few on this planet. Put it on my iPod immediately, and as we speak, i'm listening to Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.
Question is, do i expect the album to surprise me — like Kid A did. No, i didn't expect it, but ofcourse i would have like to be. But if tears well up in your eyes while listening to Bodysnatchers and making breakfast at the same time... they've done something right.
The overall sound of the album appears to me as Hail To The Thief's pretty sister. No matter how great that album was, it sounded like it was a rush-job, in all the good ways. But the calm and smoothness of some of the songs here is the biggest surprise, i don't think we've ever heard that before in a Radiohead record.
The band that soundwise started off in the shadow of Interpol, is releasing it's second album — Heaven — this week. And judging by this track, they're showing a nice progression to a more open, electronic sound. Something you wish you could say that of those doom dinosaurs, no matter how great their music is. Mobius Band certainly deserves some of the attention spent on Interpol. Check it...
Last Saturday, i totally splashed out on toys toys toys and bought me a Digital Camcorder. With being a VJ and all (je suis un artiste, non?) ofcourse it's absolutely necessary to be able to capture every fart on video, and make it into something bigger. That wasn't meant to sound gross.
But what comfort gives me my new gadget, that when i plug it on to my Mac, there's actually a YouTube button in the new iLife 08 edition of iMovie. So, in literally 5 minutes i got this clip of dinner at Nicôle online.
I love this digital life we're leading these days.
The music industry has reacted in shock to the news of Radiohead's plan to release their new album label-less. For your information, the new album will be available through their own website, initially as a digital download only, and the price which you would like to pay, is entirely up to you.
Copied from ateaseweb (which seems completely clogged the last few days), i got you some of the reactions from insiders of the music bizz.
TIME magazine writes: Few suspected the band members had the ambition (or the server capacity) to put an album out on their own. The final decision was apparently made just a few weeks ago, and, when informed of the news on Sunday, several record executives admitted that, despite the rumors, they were stunned. “This feels like yet another death knell,” emailed an A&R executive at a major European label. “If the best band in the world doesn’t want a part of us, I’m not sure what’s left for this business.”
A producer who works primarily with American rap artists says: “Radiohead is the best band in the world; if you can pay whatever you want for music by the best band in the world, why would you pay $13 dollars or $.99 cents for music by somebody less talented? Once you open that door and start giving music away legally, I’m not sure there’s any going back.”
The Times: “Radiohead have done something remarkably radical. This isn’t the way the music industry – or, indeed, any industry, has ever worked. […] What this move really relies on though, is the notion that between Radiohead and their fans is a collateral of trust and, dare the term be uttered, decency. Whilst that collateral might not be there between, say Sugababes and their fans, it’s the very thing that has propelled Radiohead to this point of unprecedented autonomy. If this experiment works, it will – at the click of a few million mice – make them the most powerful band in Britain.”
Globe And Mail: “Will Radiohead’s experiment lead others to try the “pay what you want” model? That’s difficult to say. As some have pointed out — including Cynthia Brumfield at IPDemocracy — Radiohead has a fan base that is likely willing to pay handsomely for its music, the same way that fans of Pearl Jam are willing to pay extra for high-quality downloads of the band’s music after live shows. Not every group is going to be able to make that work.”
According to Meriel Blackburn, The Official Chart Company’s Head Of Chart Operations, the uniqueness of the album’s availability has put its chart eligibility in doubt. She told NME.COM: “As they are not a chart reporting retailer (any retailer which supplies their sales data to the chart panel), we don’t currently receive sales information from them for inclusion in the charts. On chart eligibility, we have chart rules that products have to meet for us to include their sales in the UK charts. These cover content and packaging, etc. In this case we don’t know enough about the products to be able to say whether they would meet the chart rules and be eligible.” If Radiohead’s last few album releases are anything to go by, it is almost certain the record would top the album charts if it was eligible. A final ruling on whether the record will chart is expected soon.
And some quotes, published in LA Times: “This is all anybody is talking about in the music industry today,” said Bertis Downs, the longtime manager of R.E.M., the veteran alt-rock band that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. “This is the sort of model that people have been talking about doing, but this is the first time an act of this stature has stepped up and done it. . . . They were a band that could go off the grid, and they did it.”
Another high-profile manager said he was still trying to process the boldness of the Radiohead venture. “My head is spinning, honestly,” said Kelly Curtis, who represents Seattle-based Pearl Jam. “It’s very cool and very inspiring, really.”
“Only a band in Radiohead’s position could pull a trick like this,” is how Pitchforkmedia.com summed it up Monday. That’s because the band became a free agent after its contract with music giant EMI expired with its most recent album, “Hail to the Thief” in 2003. That set the stage for a one-band revolution, even if the five members don’t see it that way themselves.
“It’s more of an experiment. The band is not fighting for the sake of the fight or trying to lead a revolution,” said their spokesman, Steve Martin of New York publicity firm Nasty Little Man. The group declined to comment Monday.
When i first saw the picture posted on their website (the same as above) — them all laughing and happy — i was fuck off, Radiohead isn't laughing and happy! Who do they think they are? The teletubbies? That and the apparent artwork of their new album, i though this was a joke. But the further i got on inrainbows.com, the less i was laughing. Where are the designs of Stanley Donwood? I guess the album being primarily available as download, cut out the cost of the middle-man so to speak.
But as a true fan, i'll be going for the disc-box, which will include a download on October 10th, and in December a package including a CD and 2x 12 inch heavyweight vinyl. With something that resembles real artwork. Spread the news, spread the news...
Trendpicker that i am, i found some interesting stories from the interweb that have one thing in common... they're about the concept of childhood.
First up is the book Consumed by Benjamin Barber (blog here, very interesting too). Its subtitle explains a lot more about the book: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole. More exactly, the book...
"offers a wrenching portrait of how adult consumers are infantilized in a global economy that overproduces goods and targets children as consumers in a market where there are never enough shoppers. Driven by a frantic imperative to sell, consumer capitalism specializes today in the manufacture not of goods but of needs".
Makes you put your XBox controller down for a moment there, right?
"In every mammalian species, immediately upon reaching puberty, animals function as adults, often having offspring. We call our offspring "children" well past puberty. The trend started a hundred years ago and now extends childhood well into the 20s. The age at which Americans reach adulthood is increasing -- 30 is the new 20 -- and most Americans now believe a person isn't an adult until age 26."
These are both recently published books. However, in 1994 a book by Neil Postman was published called The Disappearance of Childhood (read it here). In the first chapter, it reads:
"Within the past decade the children's clothing industry has undergone such rapid change that for all practical purposes "children's clothing" has disappeared. It would appear that the idea put forward by Erasmus and then fully accepted in the eigteenth century — namely, that children and adults require different forms of dress — is now rejected by both classes of people.
Woops! I went away there for awhile. Last week, i was too occupied with making the set to my first VJ gig to actually care about the 2007 Mixtape. But last Friday was a smash hit, so i'm back with a double edition!
First up, Stars. With members of that great collective Broken Social Scene that already spawned the talent of Feist, this is the next big thing. I tell you. Folky strings and piano and glockenspiel, there's nothing that spells C-A-N-A-D-I-A-N more than that, but it works very well. Now, next up:
PJ's back with a new album and the first song to hit the airwaves is When Under Ether. A logical extrapolation from songs like Pocket Knife from her last album... just better and more spooky!
In short, this diet consists only of foods "that is coded for in our genes- it contains only those foods that were 'on the table' during our long evolution, and discards those which were not." Like potato, bean and grain products, whose basic ingredients "are inedible in the raw state as they contain many toxins... The cooking of grains, beans and potatoes had an enormous effect on our food intake- perhaps doubling the number of calories that we could obtain from the plant foods in our environment."
This had some very drastic consequences to the evolution and civilization of man, but for that, i suggest you read the article. Worth the time.
Vandaag zag ik dit filmpje voor het eerst. Schijnbaar doet het al een paar dagen de rondte, en heeft het NOS journaal er aandacht aan besteed. Toen ik halverwege het filmpje was, dacht ik wel te begrijpen waarom... nogal schokkend, zo'n lek systeem van de NS. Al was het wel erg toevallig een érg schattig IT-ertje dat heel gewoon met z'n laptoppie op het perron de omroepberichten hackt.
Als je de grap aan het eind nog niet doorhebt, bekijk dan de rest van Max' avonturen op youtube. Briljante reclame.
After eighties heroes Duran Duran, something that seems to stem from their heydays: TV Eyes. Like Gary Numan's and The Knack's tourbusses crashed into each other. TV Eyes' sound can't be much of an accident though, 'cause unlike so many current 80s retro bands, these guys were well into their teens before the decade even started. They paid good attention, and put their influences to good use. Look where it got them, to the frontpage of my blog!
I've stumbled upon another site which lets you do all kinds of strange experiments with your face... it's called Face Research, and it seems to be a project of the University of Aberdeen. For instance, you can create a mashup of your face with someone else's. Like the example above, which is a merge of Erik's and my face.
There also are lots of experiments you can participate in, all for the sake of scientific progress. Like what makes a face attractive? Or which face is more trustworthy? You have to register to do those tests, but at least one hour of your day will not be boring...
A bit earlier than usual... but i'm not sure how long this mala fide link will be up, so i present to you Duran Duran's new single. Not in stores for quite some time, but a smashing tune, and a return to their slick glam pop sound from when hairspray was nothing else but a styling product. With the help from Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, this is how i like my DD - making surefire hits.
What's this? I heard this song earlier this week on the radio, and was surprised by the voice of the singer. A little research followed, and it turned out to be this song by Robyn. Apparently, it's been number 1 in the UK already... and it's kind of a relief to hear a pop song where the singer doesn't sound like everyone else. So, enjoy it!
Back from the dustclouds and mudpools that surrounded the LowLands festival last weekend, a small reminder of one of the best bands we saw: Battles. It also was the very first gig we witnessed and i'm glad to say, eventhough it was brilliant, this one got topped by Devendra Banhart and Patrick Wolf amongst others. Too bad i didn't get to the t-shirt stand after the concert in time to buy one of their shirts (they looked really cool), and even my attempt to purchase them from the bandmembers themselves as they were loading their gear and boxes with shirts in their van was fruitless. Still, a great story to tell the grandchildren i'll never have.
Too bad Lily Allen won't be present at LowLands, but this cockney bird is a swell replacement for her sunshine smart pop... apparently they're friends too, so what more do you want?
Tony Wilson died last night of complications arising from kidney cancer. If you've seen the movie 24 Hour Party People, you'd know he was responsible for setting up Factory Records, and getting bands like Joy Division in the public eye. Stephen Morris (drummer of New Order) said "There would be no Joy Division or New Order without Tony". Since that is the case, my hat off to Tony Wilson for making some of the best music in my life possible.
A name even completely new to me, Jack Peñate comes from London (but his last name from Spanish ancestors), makes clanky britpop just the way we like it these days. Strange that i haven't heard from him earlier on. Seems like a good way to open the festival, he's one of the first acts on Friday. Now start praying the sun shines.
If there is any performance i'm looking forward to on LowLands, it can only be Patrick Wolf before his so-called retirement. And 2007 will be an excellent year in musical terms if there's any album that can beat The Magic Position as my favourite of this year. If you don't know any of his music yet... listen to this song and i dare you to stop smiling for the rest of the day.
Googlizing the word 'face' brought me to so many places, but the site myheritage.com was one of the most interesting. Unfortunately, on a mac it only works properly in Firefox, but don't let that stop you.
Scientifically all very justified, it lets you do all kinds of stuff with your face, like morph it into a celebrity's face which resembles yours, and find out like which celeb's you look like. As the result above showcases the world, i have 57% Tony Blair and 57% Jason Priestley in me. That places me somewhere between the hey-days of 90's Britpop revival and Beverly Hill 90210, and strangely enough, i'm kind of comfortable with that.
The picture of me was taken on a Sunday morning... can you imagine who i would resemble with all my make-up on? Yep, lots more Lech Walesa!
Too bad they're only performing a DJ-set at the upcoming LowLands festival, because they are one of the hottest electro bands around now. Formed from the ashes of Simian, the two members James Ford and James Shaw have an album out now, but as i said, no live performance but a dj-set. This song is from a selftitled EP which was released a little earlier this year... it sounds like their set is a party to be present at.
Interesting, interesting... this website, The Face Of Tomorrow, is "a concept for a series of photographs that addresses the effects of globalization on identity." Putting it into visuals, on different locations around the world, a hundred people have been photographed, and their faces are blended in with each other, to make up the 'average face' of that spot on our earth.
Since it proves what it investigates, the effect of globalization on identity (or more correctly, the effect of Photoshop on identity), there's not much difference in facial features in a city like Amsterdam between male and female faces, or in the looks of the blended people of London and Amsterdam for example. It's more in the details where there are differences. But... interesting.
To gear up for the upcoming LowLands festival, the next few weeks i'm going to highlight some of the artists performing there. Because we'll all be there when CSS plays, perhaps this other Brazilian musician might be looked over. But with this clubby, latin groove, he shouldn't be. Sounds like the summer
It's been ten years since Radiohead's biggest album OK Computer came out. Stereogum gathered a bunch of artists like Moebius Band, Cold War Kids and My Brightest Diamond to pay tribute to the album, and let them cover one track each. Free to download! Knock your computer out!
Bitchfork already reviewed the whole thing, and interestingly enough, compares it to the Prodigy's Fat Of The Land (did you remember it was released at the same date?). How the cards for the Prodigy seemed so positive at the time, and how Radiohead became more of an innovator in the dance/rock crossover area than those twisted firestarters.
In the same league of a band like Architecture In Helsinki, Los Campesinos, except this 7-piece is from Cardiff, not Australalialand. So crazy screams, chaos, and all that in a popsong shorter than 2 and a half minute. Brilliant.
It started with the five tones from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, the movie where aliens seek contact with the humans. White fingers of light beamed out from behind a pyramid shaped stage, where two figures with helmets on appeared, to reach out and touch the audience, and slow, but increasingly faster, a synthesized voice spoke the words: 'Robot. Human.'
That's how the Daft Punk concert started last Wednesday, and it was one of the most explosive shows i've ever seen. No sorry, it was THE MOST EXPLOSIVE SHOW i've ever seen. The increasing speed of the words Robot and Human climaxed to the start of Robot Rock, which made everybody in the audience go nuts. I read somewhere that that night, Daft Punk were greated as a new band, playing for the first time for 5000 people eager to see them... while in reality, they're not so new at all, and they don't have a new album out, and their last one wasn't the alternative smash hit they probably hoped it would be. So it must have felt like a rebirth for both the band and the audience. Certainly, it worked like that for me.
The 90 minute show featured all their well known songs... sometimes as a too small teaser (like Around The World, shame!), sometimes as a break point in the set list (One More Time) to lift the audience's enthusiasm to a higher level. The light show was the most amazing thing... looking at two dj's on stage, even with robot helmets on, isn't much of a sight. They made quite some effort to make the light show as interesting as possible. For the first four or five songs, a new part of the stage seemed capable of being able to emit light or projections. Every song, the lighting was completely different to the one before, and in the end, during the encore, they changed to suits that lit up in blacklight to show their contours. On their backs, finally leaving the stage and the audience going wild, it said 'Daft Punk' and 'Alive'. And that's how it was.
Free! Download! Mika! MP3!
This is for boosting the traffic on my site, now i'll talk a bit about Mika. Because this isn't the soft-pop Mika you're thinking about, but the band Mika from Vienna. I don't know who was first with the name, but for them it must be a blessing and curse. Great track this, with a Dionne Warwick sample at the end, and with a Morrissey reference you can never go wrong.
You can make your own Simpsons Avatar at www.simpsonsmovie.com. The Simpsons Movie opens in theatres July 27th in the US, and August 16th in the Netherlands. Woohoo!
Bedroom snap, crackle and popmusic, from Northampton, UK. All music by Maps is made by James (anyone knows a last name?) in his bedroom actually... while his mom waits downstairs with a cup of tea probably, and is played live by a couple of more musicians. Currently touring in the UK, would be a great addition to some European summer festivals. Who knows, it might happen. Oh, and they're on record label Mute... home of so much more great music.
The Guardian interviewed all these famous musicians about which album they think is the most overrated in the history of rock. Along come obvious candidates like The Strokes, but also some albums which you might not have expected. And more than once, the people interviewed have contradicting opinions. Craig Finn disses The Doors in favour of the Velvet Underground, Ian Rankin does the exact opposite. I ask myself... who are Finn and Rankin anyway? The award for most ridiculous argument goes to the snotty kid from the Kooks, for hating Pet Sounds amongst others because of its cover photo. I know it's dumb, but it's Pet Sounds.
I have to admit that i just bought my first Coldplay album... while having been a relentless Coldplay hater for years.
What's the reason for this sudden change of wind? I can't put my finger on it really, but i read some old interviews with them during my last holiday, and it kind of changed my perception of them. They're not a band that take themselves too seriously, and that's always a good thing. Plus, their last album was kind of a let down for a lot of people, but since it's a bit more light-hearted than their previous LPs, i'm thinking that really put them in a league of their own.
So, as of now, i'll be officially known as a Coldplay follower. You could address me as such, i will respond.
Last night, Erik and i were at the HMH in Amsterdam, to watch Lou Reed perform his classic LP Berlin in one go. Our seats were situated on the balcony, so Lou Reed appeared no larger than a small puppet, but the music came through larger than life.
From the Happy Birthdays of the opening track, to the last notes of the girl choir singing 'Sad Song', it was magnificent. With that choir, a small orchestra of eight and a full band, Lou truely recreated the album on-stage. And since i had my first listening to Berlin after we bought the tickets to this concert, the music was still all very fresh to me, and even grew more on me during the concert. Which wasn't that hard by the way, the sound was so crystal clear you could get a good idea of how the songs worked. For me, it's difficult to imagine that this album got such bad reviews when it came out, because it was deemed too experimental or different from his previous LP Transformer. Sound- and songwise, i thought the songs of Berlin were a logical follow-up to Transformer, but a lot more evolved. Anyway, glad that Lou Reed got over the bad reviews, and gave us this night.
What a nice surprise it was when he came back for an encore, to do Sweet Jane, Satellite Of Love (which brought tears to my eyes) and Walk On The Wild Side. It would be a bit ungrateful to say it was the best thing that happened last night, but it surely was the happiest ending we could have wished for. Oh... what a perfect day.
It's been bloody ages, but Underworld are returning with a new album... Oblivion With Bells. Will that mean even more cowbell than the last album? Blimey!
I was never a huge fan of either Moloko or Roisin Murphy's first solo record, but this new single of her upcoming record sounds more like my cup of tea. Which means most hard-core Roisin fans will probably hate it. Well... tough luck for them.
The singing hobbit and his band have a new single to pain the airwaves, Nothing In My Way. Doesn't anyone else think, when listening to the chorus of Nothing In My Way, the melody and phrasing sound just like Morrissey's The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get?
Well, it reminds me of that, and a million other songs. Clever, you should always steal only from the best.
Radiohead have finished their new album! Finally! I reported earlier that they were working on it, but they got the work done a little later than i thought. So what this YouTube movie is, is all the snippets of tape that producer Nigel Godrich didn't use from mixing the album or something, so the music that you're hearing is the crap that could be left off the record. So even if it sounds good, the actual album is going to be better! Yay!
It's not a brand spanking new album, but Nouvelle Vague's estranged cover versions of 80s alt classics are still on my mind. This rendition of Echo And The Bunnymen's cult hit The Killing Moon is not only great because you can download it here for free. It's a haunting song, in an eerie, fragile, toylike arrangement. Love it!
Through the toontastic sounds of Matt & Kim and Gay Against You... a crossover to Japanase pop seems not very awkward. Eventhough pop might be the wrong word for the music of Tujiko Noriko, by some people (mostly Japanese) called the Japanese Björk. It bleeps, ticks and purrs. Not much melody. But it sounds okay. Listen for yourself.
Bringing some sort of flow back to the 2007 Mixtape, instead of the haphazard bunch of songs of the last few weeks, here's something to follow up Matt & Kim. They're big on last.fm, Gay Against You from the UK. Making something that they themselves call noise-pop-midicore. Beautiful. I want that too.
Hurry up, this song is still a free download, but it sure sounds like the 2007 Summer Smash Hit. And by then, you'll be coughing up serious dough to get a hold on this. Matt & Kim, from Brooklyn, make use of a keyboard with one key on it and a drumkit. But they prove with limited means it's even more rewarding to record a good song. The album is very addictive, check it out!
Giving proof of my aforementioned music nerddom: it's Saturday night, and i'm posting a link to a stream of the new Smashing Pumpkins single Tarantula.
The mix sounds terribly off, i hope this is not the album version. The thing i do like is the short breakdown near the end... sounds a bit Siamese Dream. But the mix is HORRIBLE!
And while i'm posting videos, here's a new Interpol song! This video is from the Coachella festival, but this song was also the opener at their Monday gig at the Paradiso. With much kudos to straight Erik for the link.
I'm not famous for posting a lot of YouTube videos, but this one is a brilliant mash up of Star Trek and Monty Python. It really makes me want to watch The Holy Grail again. Not Star Trek though.
Last night, at Paradiso, was my first time seeing Interpol, and i thought it was brilliant. Even though the concert was too short, there weren't a lot of new songs, and the old songs were exact replicas of the recorded version down to every note and bit of feedback.
But what impressed me was the execution of it all. Melancholy stylized to the core. Control of every tone that came from the stage. And definitely not the kind of group to give you lots of energy. Or movement at all. It was so flawless, you could even question what the level of sincerity was. Daniel K's signature walk looked a bit too velvety, and him dropping on his knees for a guitar solo looked more like a soft landing than a heart felt drop. But, executed the way they did it, i'm more a fan than i was before.
Soundwise, no surprises. The only obvious difference between the new and the old songs was the few seconds of strange sound concoctions at the start of them. Interesting to see that they carved their own sound now though, i really couldn't call them a Joy Division clone anymore. That title goes to the Editors.
So bring on that third album. In hindsight, i think Antics was a lot better than Turn On The Bright Lights. Curious what the future might bring.
Recently, i purchased my first installments of the Depeche Mode singles box, which is sort of the final step in DM fandom. Before you have to admit every song they ever put to tape, is in your record collection. And there's nothing else to buy. And it's really beginning to become an addiction.
But i'm not there yet, i only got the first three of them. Something else though, is really making my infatuation with all thing popmusic look like an illness. I am a proud owner of a WARP T-shirt!
With the purchase of Maxïmo Park latest album (the only 'rock' band on WARP, in case you don't know), my favorite recordshop was so kind to give away some record label merchandise. And only true music nerds are proud to carry a WARP shirt, and you can't call yourself a music nerd unless you own one! So i finally arrived, yay!
BBC's 6 Music asked their listeners for their worst lyrics ever. I had to laugh quite a bit at the Black Sabbath lyric: "Generals gathered in their masses/Just like witches at black masses". And yes... Duran Duran is somewhere else in that top 10. Check it out.
Monday, we finally got to see Inland Empire, the new David Lynch movie. I really don't know what to make of it. I'm glad i sat through it, because it definitely has its moments of raw beauty. It's just too bad the other 160 minutes of the movie is utterly incomprehensible artistic drivel... that was my opinion anyway.
However, when i read the Love It comments on IMDB that same night, my opinion started to lean more to the positive side. Some quotes: "Resumes (David Lynch's) whole filmography", "It's everything he has ever wanted to put into a film", "The film is suffocating, dark and endless yet paradoxically contains some of the director's funniest and lightest scenes", "INLAND EMPIRE is an experience". It certainly is definitive David Lynch.
Next thing i did, was reading the Hated It comments, ha! What do the people say? "David Lynch became far too self-indulgent", " I will not continue to be a fan of Lynch's work if it will be nothing more than him filming anything that comes to mind in Digital Video and throwing it together", "The film was incomprehensive", "For me, it was a series of images that a novice took on a cheap camcorder". Well, nothing i couldn't think of when i left the theatre. It's definitely a movie that sticks in your head for a while. And whatever you think of it, it's even for David Lynch a bold step, to make something so uncompromised.
Yes, i think my mind has got a little grip on the movie. But before i'll watch it again, it's gonna take some years.
So... The Manics are back with a new album, and apparently, new vigour. Watch this, they even reversed the R's in the artwork. That means they are really pissed. And amazingly, their current single Your Love Alone Is Not Enough appears to be a bonafide radio hit. Which is a surprise, because their last album saw them heading straight down Best Forgotten Lane. Judge for yourself, this is the second of their new album Send Away The Tigers.
Something new, something that's been on my mind for years... those tiny stories about pop songs, like "isn't this bit in song Y a reference to David Bowie?" or "the guitar in song X sounds as if they slaughtering cows!". We all know 'em right? For me, it's a way of living. So i might as well start sharing these things with you. Let's start with a particular classic from the eighties. Eek!
I got into the Pixies really at a dead point in their multitude of waves of success. Too late after their initial split, and to early before there were even talks about a reunion. My first introduction was Trompe Le Monde, which i secretly copied from my older brother's record collection, and loved to death... and the first record i bought myself was the Best Of that was released somewhere at the end of the nineties. That was the first time i heard Here Comes Your Man. And one thing made me laugh. Besides the obvious Velvet Underground reference from the title, isn't Black Francis/Frank Black doing an over the top Lou Reed impression in the first verse? At 0:20, he sings "Outside the families stro-o-o-oll". Which imediately struck me, in combination with that VU thing, like a praise/sneer at mr. Reed. If i got it all wrong, never mind this bit, i still had a laugh.
This is not totally legal, but is downloading an mp3 ever? Well, sometimes yes, but that's not the point. This is the new Editors single, ripped from radio, so not in perfect condition, but it's here. It's still Joy Division Light, but that's okay.
One day belated, because of jetlaaag and stuff (see previous post), a new entry for the 2007 Mixtape... the new Architecture In Helsinki single! I saw them last year at Ekko, which was erratic but just as brilliant a concert. Highlight was the Roxy Music's Love Is A Drug cover. This song however sounds like an hysteric afternoon in the summersun, with its steeldrums and screams. Too bad it's not released earlier than August 7, my birthday by the way, but perhaps that's right in time to guarantee a gig at LowLands this year. Be quick to download this... it might not be there too long.
For anyone who didn't know... Erik and i just spent a week in New York City. Proof? See above, a selfportrait on the Brooklyn Bridge at night. Perhaps facial expressions seem a bit strained, but it was cold and we both had to pee. Well, i did anyway.
What can i say about it? It was very surreal the first few days. Fortunately, when we were flying from Schiphol to Newark Airport, in the seat next to me was a very nice 'Single Serving Friend' (watch Fight Club for further explanation), a Dutch antiques dealer who, with his tales of the USA, kind of massaged our brains in to a New York State Of Mind. Which made the fact that i was going to a different continent and to a true metropole for the first time, a bit easier to grasp.
But as i said, it was still very surreal. I didn't see the city as a whole for at least two days, don't even know if i do now. More about what happened, in the next few days...
This is kind of interesting... the Johari Window. The site says that "the Johari Window was invented ... in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up."
In the category of long songtitles, here's another one. The Rakes are one band i should really check out, because this song sounds punky enough to fit in with anything this year, yet promising enough to make it worth while keeping track of them. I wonder if they'll play LowLands...
The newest club hit, made by god-knows-who (Too Many DJ's? Tiga? Daft Punk?) under the moniker Homotronic, is called U Look Like A Gay. Great idea... it's what all the kids will shout at each other this summer!
All apologies beforehand for my abscence here, but my MacBook Pro broke down last Sunday. It's really too painful to go into details, but i'm hoping on a quick recovery. So until then, no news about how excited i am about Bjork coming to Amsterdam, our upcoming trip to New York, how splendid our five kittens are growing, what new music i had in mind of posting, or what i think is the meaning of life. No... none of that. Hang on, i hope i'll be up in the air sometime next week.
... Would that be Nine Inch Nails? On the official tour page, the 16th of August a gig in Austria is planned. On the 24th, they play at Leeds Festival. Somewhere in between, both geographically and chronologically, is the LowLands weekend. I think it's a no-brainer.
With spring manifesting itself all around us, in the form of blossom, flowerbuds and kittens, i suppose it's time for some music that resonates that feeling. So how about some powerpop from Brooklyn? The Picture is part English, part American, and they themselves find influences in Blur, Stone Roses, Velvet Underground, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Cure. So somewhere inbetween all that... you get it.
How fast and fickle are the ways of the interweb... Pennsylvania based band Illinois (i know this much about US geography that they're two DIFFERENT states) released some free mp3s beginning of this month, and look, they've trickled their way in to my blog-o-graphy. And now i'm passing them on to you. A gorgeous piece of indie-pop this is. Enjoy it!
It looks cheesy enough to actually be the thing, bordering on the edge of arty/farty photoshop effects, crazy costumes, make-up like a loon with crayons attacked her... and promises just what i'm hoping the record will be. Full blooded, 100% Björk. Yaow!
How about some promotion for a Dutch band, right? Seen live last Monday, opening for And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. If you have to label as anything, try Post-Rock for a minute. But comparing them to Mogwai? Nah, they're much less focused on noise. Tortoise? Nope, much livelier. So... best for you to check them out by downloading the stuff. Right here.
Move over all them b-stars stuck in television shows, dancing on ice... opening in the movie theatre in May (in the Netherlands), is Blades Of Glory with Will Ferrell and Jon Heder (that guy from Napoleon Dynamite! Huh? Yeah!). Looks like a hilarious movie! Make note in diary... [scribble scribble] must-see movie.
Something to cheer the world up after getting a bit melancholic the last weeks, from Greenville, South Carolina. That sounds like a place where it's always spring, just like this week's song.
Pitchfork, or if you dislike their fairweather reviews as much as i'm starting to: Bitchfork, are doing something right... Björk has been interviewed by them, and the piece is being published in parts over the next few days/weeks/months. Sheds some light on what the record is going to sound like. Like yum!
Total rock 'n roll... first we saw The Black Keys in concert at Tivoli last night, then we went on the observatory to watch the lunar eclipse. But it was a bit of a let down to gaze at the moon through a telescope, though it had a silvery pink hue from up close... i guess because the contrast between light and dark bits was much clearer visible with the naked eye. A bit later, i took this picture in our backyard.
There is some similarity between the eclipse and seeing The Black Keys live. Those two person bands all have the same dynamics on stage, and songs kind of sound alike after awhile. I like them better on record i think. More on the eclipse later...
The name is Volta, according to Björk's official site. And they're usually well informed on the matter. The people credited for work on this album suggest it's a departure from the stillness of Medúlla (yes, i get all my accent marks right) to a more full-blooded sound. I mean, Timbaland provided some beats. Very interesting indeed.
And to end my romantic streak, here's the most heart-aching song i've heard in years, by already disbandoned New York outfit On! Air! Library! (I love bands with exclamation marks in their name, yes!). Like a good pop song, it is too short, i haven't got the foggiest idea what it's about, it has a really weird composition, but it is magic. Enjoy this!
A good warming up for our holiday to New York City coming April is the site Overheard In New York. It is what is says... snippets of conversation from the streets of NY. A short introduction to the characters: the streets of New York are crowded with dudes, chicks, suits (businessmen), hipsters (uhm, hip people i guess), JAPs (Jewish American Princes/Princesses) and so on...
Really addictive stuff, this seemingly simple game. You have to 'infect' all the cells in a field with a certain color, and clear the field in as few turns as possible. I... can't... stop... playing! Aaaah!
Like last week, another one in the category of breath taking melodies. Was Sebastien Tellier's song leaving you sobbing where all the good times had gone, Scottish indie pop band Camera Obscura are proving that despite all the cruelty in the world, 3-minute pop songs can send you right to heaven. Ahhh... one of my favourite songs of last year! It seems they'll be touring the Netherlands in April, but no idea yet if they're really stopping by in Utrecht. I'll keep you updated.
With the warmest winter since the birth of meteorology in the Netherlands ending (meteorological spring starts March 1, yay!), chunks of the polar caps floating through our seas, actually appearing in cube-like shapes in my soda just last week (!), can you imagine, climate change is no longer coming in a matter of decades, or even years, it's here right now, and things are going to change a lot faster than anyone might imagine. And stick for a very long time.
For the first time, i'm hearing news about any government doing something concrete to reduce energy consumption. Australian environment minister Turnbull has issued a ban on conventional lightbulbs, to be effective as of 2010. The article further states that "green campaigners and the opposition party in Australia... are suggesting that ratifying the Kyoto Protocol would be a more powerful way for the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions." But at least, something is done, and it can't happen soon enough.
Valentine's Day deserves a romantic ditty, and only from the people who invented genitals such a song would be appropriate. The french. The man's name is Sébastian Tellier, and other than the fact he's signed to Air's own label Record Makers, and that this song is from his 2004 album Politics, i've nothing note worthy to mention about it. Romance and melancholy, that's always a heart-breaking combination. Sniff.
A break from the dancey-punkey-electro shit you might have almost grown accustomed to, this track is from My Brightest Diamond album Bring Me The Workhorse that was released last year. Swirling from soft chimes to full band emotional bursts, it's everything i love in female pop. The Kate Bush factor. Take note: in concert in the Amsterdam Paradiso on February 13.
What would you do if, one godforsaken day, you would wake up on the moon. I would ask myself things like 'How did i get here?' or 'Where can i get a space suit, real quick?', but NASA made a list of 181 other things you could do. They're planning to send back people no later then 2020, and the experience gained on the moon would carry over when NASA eventually sends people to the Red Planet.
Not just the panorama photos of the Moon on this site are mindblowing, but check out any of the other panoramas from the drop down menu on the top right. I want this too!
Oh my god... you must be going crazy by now about much i'm talking about the Ian Curtis biopic, Control. But now there's an actual site. On it, not much news yet, but i've heard it's opening in Britain on March, so probably not too much later in the Netherlands. Fingers crossed!
But don't worry, that's not the only movie i'm anxious about. There are much more good ones coming in the next few months. Like The Prestige, and The Fountain and some others which i forgot about.
Last night, Erik and i made a first attempt ever on making our own sushi. To make this a succes, we went for the best tuna we could find in a 30 km radius... namely De Marlijn in Wijk Bij Duurstede. Amazing how much fresh fish they sort.
So, with about 300 grams of raw tuna, we started fiddling about. And the end result is above. Tasted damn good! To be continued.
I suppose it's some kind of mind-fcuk... Clark's MySpace page. If the first track you hear is Jesu Joy Of Horny, that is. Probably attracts quite a different target group, namely Evangelists... with a reading impediment. But the connaisseur of IDM knows (Chris) Clark. Certainly the track i'm offering you isn't anything like the piece of fingerpicking on MySpace, but a funky quirky beat that oozes into all kinds of territory. And taking us from the psycho-punk-funk of !!! to something a bit moodier... next week.
The second-last installment in the Depeche Mode remasters, Construction Time Again and Black Celebration are up for release on March 26th! And a month later Ultra and Exciter, the last two, will see the light of day.
Start saving your allowance kids, it's going to be expensive times!
See, a preconceived idea like a year-long mixtape can be current too. This just in, it's the first preview of !!!'s new album, Myth Takes, which comes out March 4. Really looking forward to that, since Louden Up Now, their 2004 album was my favourite of that year. And what's more, i actually sense some sort of progress in their sound, more Gang Of Four, more psychotic, darker... this song alone makes up for that show they gave at LowLands last year, where it was just me not getting it, or them not getting into it.
The wind is blowing force 10-11 at this moment, and when i saw the first peak of this movie, promoting the Culturele Zondagen in Utrecht, my first thought was it was some kind of newsflash. But it's not. The first house you see breaking loose, with the mill in the background, is in front of where i work. Very very eerie sight, and so cool.
Wat? Nederlands? Ach ja... ik kan mezelf wel voor blijven houden dat dit een internationaal gerespecteerd weblog ben, maar eigenlijk komen hier alleen maar mensen die ik onder een sneltoets in mijn mobiel heb staan. Dus waarom nu niet even zo... vooral vanwege het onderwerp: Roze Zaterdag.
Wat vertelde Inge me een paar dagen geleden? Tiel gaat proberen de Roze Zaterdag binnen te halen. Volgens Wikipedia (hoe actueel kan je zijn) zijn er "inmiddels gesprekken gevoerd met het College van B&W, ondernemers en de moslimgemeenschap". Moslimgemeenschap? Ik zou me meer zorgen maken om de Christelijke Rednecks!
Zie namelijk hier het artikel in de Gelderlander waar een beerput aan negatieve reacties langskomt. Ik kon het niet laten en moest toch even een genuanceerd verhaal toevoegen aan de diarree van meningkjes (vol van spelfouten en verstoken van normale interpunctie). Helpt het?
Ik kreeg in elk geval vanmiddag een mailtje van de Gelderlander zelf of ze mijn achternaam mochten weten, voor plaatsing van het stuk in de aankomende zaterdag editie. 1-0 Voor de homo's! Let op: dit is het begin van mijn carrière als columnist.
I've been a busy little bee lately... just now Erik and i have finished the redesign of his website. It's all gone bloggy now, and crispy clean, in nice contemporary colours. Have a look, don't rub your eyes out.
My thoughts on the upcoming iPhone? It looks like the coolest thing on earth... but it's not likely this will be available as a working device in Europe some time soon.
In the process of making the iPhone, as The Times reports, Apple got their phone service partner Cingular so far to "re-engineer its infrastructure to handle the iPhone's unique voicemail scheme". An Apple henchman further says "They broke all their typical process rules to make it happen!". So it clearly requires some technological adjustments for whatever phone provider will be servicing the iPhone in the Olde World. It also suggests that Apple is not only trying to worm themselves into the mobile phone market, but forcing it to update its rigid standards at the same time. I guess only a company with the stature of Apple could do that.
One feature of the iPhone that will have to a hard time proving itself as an advantage, is the fact that you can't operate it without looking at it. With a standard mobile phone, you can feel your way around it... to dial voicemail, or put it on mute. You can't do that with the iPhone. More about that here.
Furthermore, after the introduction of the iPhone, it'll only be a matter of months before a touch-screen iPod will be introduced. I think the user interface of the iPod part of the iPhone is just brilliant. Goodbye click-wheel! But once again, how would you stop playback when you got that thing in your pocket? I would only know if i would have it in my hands.
Since forever, i've been thinking about purchasing all the Star Wars movies on dvd, but i suppose waiting for a boet with all six of them would make some sense. A very interesting read is the following story, that explains the events in part IV: A New Hope in the light of what happened in part III: Revenge Of The Sith. Very nice!
In the week between Christmas and New Year, Erik and i went to the Bodies exposition which is currently in Amsterdam. Very much a recommendation, although almost all women i talk to about the exhibition react with utter disgust... even though it's anything but disgusting and/or confronting.
As we were walking there, and noticed how many medical students were walking around and naming muscular tissue by its Latin title, we wondered what the equivalent would be of this exhibition in our own field of expertise. For Erik, it would be a complete dissection of a mixing console. I thought about the deconstruction of a painting of Picasso, from the first drafts up to the finished end-result.
et with all six of them would make some sense. 
