an extra bit for the day, due to one of those happy findings on the British tv- our digital box has been broken for months and we don't use any tv guide, hence we practice a kind of lucky random search of decent things on the 5 channels we've got. And tonight, it Jools Holland's Later with is on air.
He's great, hands down. he plays his magic at the piano, he plays everything on there. but even better, he's a great host.
Tonight's line up is featuring (writing as they play) the Grizzly Bear, from Brooklyn, NY. I guess they must live next door to the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, it would be a great building.
Then there's been the girl on top of the US charts for months and months, Taylor Swift. A rather pretty chick playing folk-pop; really young, really pinky. But I wanted to give her a chance, despite her guitarist playing with a silver shining tie. The interview: JH "What do you like about London, Taylor?", TS "The shopping is amazing; ohhh TopShop, I could live there!!!"- next one in line please...!
The Manic Street Preachers, rather unsettling.
A fantastic Paolo Nutini (someone hurt by my trashing of TopShop and Taylor Swift may take the chance to get back at me here). But he's great, he was completely wasted (i guess) but he rocked. The new song, Coming Up Easy, is a great piece of groovy rock. I go nuts when trumpets, saxs and violins get mixed with guitars and drums (my beloved Zutons). He's great kid, he really is.
Geoffrey Gurrumul, blind aboriginal guitarist and singer. I can't get anything from what he says, in aboriginal, but his voice is sweet and painful. Strikes many more chords than his fingers on the guitar strings
jeez... there's High Fidelity on BBC1... and it's 1am. Rob Gordon, The Rob Gordon.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
"The Morning Hour": The Beatles, Penny Lane
I don't know of any photos nor paintings describing an ordinary British high street in such a simple and yet beautiful way:
In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to know
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello
On the corner is a banker with a motorcar
The little children laugh at him behind his back
And the banker never wears a mac
In the pouring rain...
Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
In Penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen.
He likes to keep his fire engine clean
It's a clean machine
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway
In Penny Lane the barber shaves another customer
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim
Then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain...
Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies...
Penny Lane.
In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to know
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello
On the corner is a banker with a motorcar
The little children laugh at him behind his back
And the banker never wears a mac
In the pouring rain...
Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
In Penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen.
He likes to keep his fire engine clean
It's a clean machine
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway
In Penny Lane the barber shaves another customer
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim
Then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain...
Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies...
Penny Lane.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
"The Morning Hour": Moldy Peaches, Anyone Else But You
The morning hour of today should have been, actually was, one more time, the Kings of Leon, but- a kind of a relevant but-
throw in the mix a half hour waiting in the UCL hospital lounge among scaring posters about "you being the one who infects the person close to you in the next 2 minutes"
take out several litres of blood
add up sausages, scramble eggs, beans on toast
crappy weather
strange mood
a sublte headache
and the last thing you wanna hear for the day is KoL! so i started drifting, taking off from a friend's suggestion on Beirut, a couple of emails on Adam Green and- power of Youtube - I finally stumbled upon this beautiful love song, sweetly weird just as its singers (Kimya Dawson and Adam Green, aka The Moldy Peaches) and the movie whose soundtrack this was (Juno). I found the bit with the lyrics, worth every second of it.
And then i felt it, just right, this is the morning hour today!
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else but you
throw in the mix a half hour waiting in the UCL hospital lounge among scaring posters about "you being the one who infects the person close to you in the next 2 minutes"
take out several litres of blood
add up sausages, scramble eggs, beans on toast
crappy weather
strange mood
a sublte headache
and the last thing you wanna hear for the day is KoL! so i started drifting, taking off from a friend's suggestion on Beirut, a couple of emails on Adam Green and- power of Youtube - I finally stumbled upon this beautiful love song, sweetly weird just as its singers (Kimya Dawson and Adam Green, aka The Moldy Peaches) and the movie whose soundtrack this was (Juno). I found the bit with the lyrics, worth every second of it.
And then i felt it, just right, this is the morning hour today!
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else but you
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
"The Morning Hour": The Police, Roxanne
well, there's a word for my waking up today... "it sucked" and it was actually my very own fault.
short of words and inspiration right now... but I'm trying very hard to let a very young Sting and a vintage video with a horrendus quality to cheer me up. Jeez, some people can age incredibly well!
By the way, who came up with the idea of shooting the video on a red scene (Roxanne...red light...) should have been banned for life from any other video production...
short of words and inspiration right now... but I'm trying very hard to let a very young Sting and a vintage video with a horrendus quality to cheer me up. Jeez, some people can age incredibly well!
By the way, who came up with the idea of shooting the video on a red scene (Roxanne...red light...) should have been banned for life from any other video production...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
"The Morning Hour": Elbow, Ground
Third time in the Morning Hour and I think I finally found an album I want to buy, The Seldom Seen Kid.
Despite being "in business" since the late '90s, the band has self produced its last two albums and still retains a kind of "true indie" aura that most of the other bands have lost at their second album or sooner.
As the first line of the post testifies, radios are now massively pushing the band's last album, winner of the Mercury Prize of 2008, but these are musicists who, dropped by Universal, have worked for years with a label called Ugly Man Records, and made it nevertheless!
I'm not yet sure it's one of their lyrics or it is just something they asked the people at Glasto to sing with them, but I cannot help but going nuts for a band that writes "We still believe in love, so fuck you"
Despite being "in business" since the late '90s, the band has self produced its last two albums and still retains a kind of "true indie" aura that most of the other bands have lost at their second album or sooner.
As the first line of the post testifies, radios are now massively pushing the band's last album, winner of the Mercury Prize of 2008, but these are musicists who, dropped by Universal, have worked for years with a label called Ugly Man Records, and made it nevertheless!
I'm not yet sure it's one of their lyrics or it is just something they asked the people at Glasto to sing with them, but I cannot help but going nuts for a band that writes "We still believe in love, so fuck you"
Friday, May 1, 2009
"The Morning Hour": Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter
Beatles or Rolling Stones???
Who cares? I'll have them both, with a cherry on top!
Sometimes "the Question" (with a capital Q at least among music geeks) seems so stupid to me, I have to focus really hard to understand why so many people keep repeating it. I've got the luxury of having, at the mercy of my play button, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Lennon&Macca... why should I care who's the best? best for what? best for who?
Anyway...
Today a new project starts; well it's not really a brand new project, let's just say that a very promising PHASE 2 begins, phase in which I'll be a bit more involved. It's a group thing, trying to put together the thoughts, the dreams, the boredom of 14 young brains scattered all over Europe (but with a rather strong Southern Italian fil rouge). The project is PennelliSolari.
There's no stated theme, no stated line of thought nor a common way of seeing the word. The idea, and the hope, is that something thrilling will arise from mixing it all up!
My involvement will most probably comprise of two or three posts a month with photos being the central piece. I wanna try a new thing with them, pictures and words in one common place, to express an idea and provoke some reaction- I'm almost afraid to call it ...ehmm...photojournalism...
Who cares? I'll have them both, with a cherry on top!
Sometimes "the Question" (with a capital Q at least among music geeks) seems so stupid to me, I have to focus really hard to understand why so many people keep repeating it. I've got the luxury of having, at the mercy of my play button, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Lennon&Macca... why should I care who's the best? best for what? best for who?
Anyway...
Today a new project starts; well it's not really a brand new project, let's just say that a very promising PHASE 2 begins, phase in which I'll be a bit more involved. It's a group thing, trying to put together the thoughts, the dreams, the boredom of 14 young brains scattered all over Europe (but with a rather strong Southern Italian fil rouge). The project is PennelliSolari.
There's no stated theme, no stated line of thought nor a common way of seeing the word. The idea, and the hope, is that something thrilling will arise from mixing it all up!
My involvement will most probably comprise of two or three posts a month with photos being the central piece. I wanna try a new thing with them, pictures and words in one common place, to express an idea and provoke some reaction- I'm almost afraid to call it ...ehmm...photojournalism...
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