"The Morning Hour": Smog, Cold Blooded Old Times

Heard the Turin Brakes cover of this song (though there's no sign of it on Youtube) and immediately thought about the original one, by Smog. heard it for the first time in the movie "High Fidelity" - one of my favourite movies of all time, definetely my favourite soundtrack and, interestingly, in the all time top 5 of my books, without having actually read the book.

Couldn't find a decent video on Youtube but this has got good audio and an interesting clip.

Late-Night Audio: The Boy Least Likely To - "Be Gentle With Me"

This song is for Francesca, who is very tired and very exhausted:



Life can be cruel sometimes, but cheer up!

Taking it back to Jove

Exhibit A on why Echo and the Bunnymen are the most underappreciated of the major post-punk bands of the 1980s:



That would be the Bunnymen performing the awesome single "The Back of Love" in Liverpool for the BBC series Pop Carnival in 1982. Ian McCulloch used to be able to sing the hell out of a song, as he does here. Too bad the official music video is not on Youtube, because then you could hear how awesome the recorded version of the bridge section is.

"The Morning Hour": A Dylan one

after forgetting to put the alarm on for two days in a row (i know we are going down with the work-ethics... and probably with something else as well), today i woke up with a 30' long interview to David Cameron, Tories leader (for the non UK residents). Jeez, he's a nice guy and smooth talker, but no music, no interruptions at all. A sign that the morning hour is on summer holidays.
So i switched the CD player on and played the cd that was inside: Dylan, "Blood on the tracks". I so wish i could love it madly (the album title is simply great) but truth is that i can't.
I've tried, but i'm not madly in love with Dylan, fact.

Some songs really amaze me though- as the case for this one.


with lyrics (80% of the fun is here)
You walk into the room
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked
And you say, who is that man?
You try so hard
But you dont understand
Just what youll say
When you get home

Because something is happening here
But you dont know what it is
Do you, mister jones?

You raise up your head
And you ask, is this where it is?
And somebody points to you and says
Its his
And you say, whats mine?
And somebody else says, where what is?
And you say, oh my god
Am I here all alone?

Because something is happening here
But you dont know what it is
Do you, mister jones?

You hand in your ticket
And you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you
When he hears you speak
And says, how does it feel
To be such a freak?
And you say, impossible
As he hands you a bone

Because something is happening here
But you dont know what it is
Do you, mister jones?

You have many contacts
Among the lumberjacks
To get you facts
When someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To just give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations

Youve been with the professors
And theyve all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have
Discussed lepers and crooks
Youve been through all of
F. scott fitzgeralds books
Youre very well read
Its well known

Because something is happening here
But you dont know what it is
Do you, mister jones?

Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
And then he kneels
He crosses himself
And then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice
He asks you how it feels
And he says, here is your throat back
Thanks for the loan

Because something is happening here
But you dont know what it is
Do you, mister jones?

Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word now
And you say, for what reason?
And he says, how?
And you say, what does this mean?
And he screams back, youre a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home

Because something is happening here
But you dont know what it is
Do you, mister jones?

Well, you walk into the room
Like a camel and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket
And your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law
Against you comin around
You should be made
To wear earphones

Because something is happening here
But you dont know what it is
Do you, mister jones?

Late-Night Audio: Sandie Shaw - "Long Live Love"

As a bonus for tonight, here's something on a different tack:

Late-Night Audio: Pizzicato Five - "Happy Sad"

I was browsing through Allmusic and I eventually ended up at the bio page for Pizzicato Five, a long-running Japanese pop group. "Happy Sad" is the only song by the group to chart in the United States. So of course I had to look that up on Youtube. It's a perfectly alright tune, but it would've been totally unremarkable if it were an R&B release in the early 1970s. Just sayin'.

"The morning hour": Imelda May

We have a new friend writing for Radio Prosecco: AJ. At first sight (hemm... read) he seems to be the only one here that combines two skills: knowing what's talking about and actually writing it.

After having to pass on two tickets for Oi Va Voi, I got two tickets for the Itunes Live Festival y'day night, for Madeleine Peyroux and Imelda May. I had no idea of who Imelda May was (too bad for somebody who "writes" for a radio-blog) and had only listened to a couple of songs from Peyroux. The latter had a decent set, but her attitude stinks.

Imelda was a complete surprise, very upbeat- at the beginning i thought she was from the movie The Committments, though she looks definetely more professional and commercially groomed. Her set was interesting and though her style comes from the past (the likes of Johnny Cash come to mind), she doesn't look to me like she's mimicking it (a sort of Buble' effect). As Jools Holland puts it: "She sings beatifully, she swings"; i'll go with that.

Will listen a bit more, for the fun of it.

Late-Night Audio: The Long Blondes - "Once and Never Again"

Hi there, I'm A.J. I'm primarily going to share with you songs I listen to late at night (because I am prone to staying up unreasonably late), as well as music-related Youtube videos I find in the wee hours.



I was a big fan of the four-song EP British group The Long Blondes released on What's Your Rupture? a few years ago. I didn't keep tabs on them, but I eventually discovered their lackluster second album on Rough Trade Records. However, that led me backwards to the 2006 debut album Someone to Drive You Home, which has become one of my favorite records to come out in the last few years.

This is my favorite song on the album. Simply put, it's a fantastic pop song: short, upbeat, and insanely hooky. While The Long Blondes typically draw upon 80s post-punk and disco, this song sounds closer to The Pipettes or even (God forbid) No Doubt. It's a nice change of pace that pays off well, and I sure as hell can't stop playing this on my iPod.

"The Morning Hour": Pino Daniele, Che Soddisfazione

This song will certainly get one of the co-bloggers, the indie-snob, mad... well, after months of mishandling of my name... it's still not enough.

Anyway, i haven't written in a while, lack of inspiration, of time- it's just that life lately hasn't been great and the only respite from a messed-up situation has been on holiday. Even there, actually, my body and my mind has behaved in a surprising way; i think the stress of the job and the town has finally taken its toll.

I have been listening to some old italian music in the past two weeks- actually, while on holidays, we have been driving around in a rented white 500 and a cd playing all the time with the main acts being Baglioni, Battisti, Mia Martini and Lucio Dalla (it looked like we were doing the remake of my parents' honeymoon... with a newer car- theirs broke down mid-way).

I found this cd laying around yesterday night and played it- got hooked up with it and played again today. I like this song, not his hair...