Wednesday, April 15, 2009
"The Morning Hour": U2, Magnificient
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
A different start to the post today. Just yeasterday I was day-dreaming about spring time in Italy while looking out of the window onto a decent day in London. Maybe the town felt it wasn't fair, so today we woke up here in a grey and misty day, that it has now turned into a pale sunshine. Anyway, this is the sky we found once back here on Monday... we blame the English weather a lot, sometimes it's not so bad afterall.
This U2 song makes the morning hour for the second time- it's pleasant for a wake up tune and quite catchy. I don't want to write more about it or the band as i'd like to keep this post on the positive (sunny) side... I've picked the video with the album cover, as it's a beautiful photo from a Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Going for an intense afternoon and evening, good things might come today, let's hope for the best!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
"The Morning Hour": Franz Ferdinand, Ulysses
This brings me a few years back: Franz Ferdinand were indeed my first ever article on the web, for Yellow Submarine on OraD'Aria. That was also my first year in London with Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight and The Killers being its soundtrack.
It was a rather new music for me back then, I'd been listening to a lot of Brit Pop while I was in Italy and got stuck for a while on Coldplay as an almost natural evolution of the Oasis, Blur, Radiohead years... I still remember the first sentence of that first article "Il vento fresco arriva dalla lontana Glasgow, scende giu' sul sud dell'Inghilterra per divenire uragano e infiammare la capitale, veste con gusto ed eleganza anni '30, sale sul palco in camicia di raso e cravatta, pantalone con la piega e stivaletto, ma ha un'unica missione: divertirsi e far scatenare il pubblico."
The change of rithm and the beat of Take Me Out is still one of my favourite tune ever!
For me it was actually just like that, new town, new music scene, new rithm. This was all I thought this morning as my sleeping ears cought the new song from Franz Ferdinand. The four Scots (or sort of) seem back to their basics, at least for me. I'm not a fan of their second album, but the first two songs of their last one and the white shoes Alex is wearing in this video are promising.
Anyway, I'm back in London after 4 days of Italian spring- jeez, I'm getting more and more homesick by the year, and this worsen a lot with the summer approaching... when, while on that side Ferruccio Tagliavini sings "Voglio Vivere cosi' col sole in fronte", here we have Travis with "Why does it always rain on me".
For the curious (and Italian friendly) ones, here is the link to OraD'Aria http://xoomer.virgilio.it/oradaria/archivio/Giallo-franzferdinand
It was a rather new music for me back then, I'd been listening to a lot of Brit Pop while I was in Italy and got stuck for a while on Coldplay as an almost natural evolution of the Oasis, Blur, Radiohead years... I still remember the first sentence of that first article "Il vento fresco arriva dalla lontana Glasgow, scende giu' sul sud dell'Inghilterra per divenire uragano e infiammare la capitale, veste con gusto ed eleganza anni '30, sale sul palco in camicia di raso e cravatta, pantalone con la piega e stivaletto, ma ha un'unica missione: divertirsi e far scatenare il pubblico."
The change of rithm and the beat of Take Me Out is still one of my favourite tune ever!
For me it was actually just like that, new town, new music scene, new rithm. This was all I thought this morning as my sleeping ears cought the new song from Franz Ferdinand. The four Scots (or sort of) seem back to their basics, at least for me. I'm not a fan of their second album, but the first two songs of their last one and the white shoes Alex is wearing in this video are promising.
Anyway, I'm back in London after 4 days of Italian spring- jeez, I'm getting more and more homesick by the year, and this worsen a lot with the summer approaching... when, while on that side Ferruccio Tagliavini sings "Voglio Vivere cosi' col sole in fronte", here we have Travis with "Why does it always rain on me".
For the curious (and Italian friendly) ones, here is the link to OraD'Aria http://xoomer.virgilio.it/oradaria/archivio/Giallo-franzferdinand
Friday, April 10, 2009
"From Texas": The Moody Blues, Tuesday Afternoon
I was watching TV and suddenly, during the commercial for Visa's Check Card, a particular sound caught my attention. It was the beginning of an absolutely amazing song I’d never heard before.
I couldn’t recognize the band and I didn’t understand the words (so I couldn’t look for it on the web), so I had to ask to an American friend of mine for a suggestion.
The song is “Tuesday Afternoon”, composed by the British band The Moody Blues in 1968 (on the album this song was listed as “The Afternoon: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)", at the insistence of the producer).
The Moody Blues were born as a blues band, but after the introduction of orchestral arrangements and the tones of mellotron, they set the stage for the progressive rock movement.
In fact the strange sound I was listening to was produced by the “mellotron”, an electronic keyboard invented some years earlier.
This band composed the only song by them I knew: “Nights in White Satin”, of which the Italian band I Nomadi performed a cover called “Ho difeso il mio amore”.
According to an interview with Justin Hayward, he wrote "Tuesday Afternoon" while sitting in the middle of a field near his home in England on a beautiful spring afternoon. He claims that he had his acoustic guitar in hand and the song just came to him.
The use of mellotron fits the poetry of the lyrics and the daydreaming atmosphere and it’s like getting captured in this fantastic and relaxing world, a place where you can find your peace of mind.
Was the writer under the effects of any drugs or does this song reflect the habits of that period? In the 60’s and 70’s the use of hallucinogens and psychedelic drugs became a very popular means to find a new realty and to reach the truth.
“I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way
...
Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near, I've got to find out why?
Those gentle voices I hear, explain it all with a sigh.”
I couldn’t recognize the band and I didn’t understand the words (so I couldn’t look for it on the web), so I had to ask to an American friend of mine for a suggestion.
The song is “Tuesday Afternoon”, composed by the British band The Moody Blues in 1968 (on the album this song was listed as “The Afternoon: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)", at the insistence of the producer).
The Moody Blues were born as a blues band, but after the introduction of orchestral arrangements and the tones of mellotron, they set the stage for the progressive rock movement.
In fact the strange sound I was listening to was produced by the “mellotron”, an electronic keyboard invented some years earlier.
This band composed the only song by them I knew: “Nights in White Satin”, of which the Italian band I Nomadi performed a cover called “Ho difeso il mio amore”.
According to an interview with Justin Hayward, he wrote "Tuesday Afternoon" while sitting in the middle of a field near his home in England on a beautiful spring afternoon. He claims that he had his acoustic guitar in hand and the song just came to him.
The use of mellotron fits the poetry of the lyrics and the daydreaming atmosphere and it’s like getting captured in this fantastic and relaxing world, a place where you can find your peace of mind.
Was the writer under the effects of any drugs or does this song reflect the habits of that period? In the 60’s and 70’s the use of hallucinogens and psychedelic drugs became a very popular means to find a new realty and to reach the truth.
“I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way
...
Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near, I've got to find out why?
Those gentle voices I hear, explain it all with a sigh.”
Thursday, April 9, 2009
"The Morning Hour": Sheryl Crow, If It Makes You Happy
today i'm short of sleep, short of time and short of words... hence just enjoy the video.
I'll add one thing though, on Radio Prosecco you can now register your email and receive the posts once a day (if there are new ones) in your inbox... just a thought for the interested but lazy ones..
have a g'day!
I'll add one thing though, on Radio Prosecco you can now register your email and receive the posts once a day (if there are new ones) in your inbox... just a thought for the interested but lazy ones..
have a g'day!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
"The Morning Hour": The Beatles, Day Tripper
It wasn't a song or the raucous voice of the dj that woke me up today. It was a whisper in my ears, from a very familiar voice, while my eyes were still shut: Ti amo.
With such a start, this needs to be a great day!
It follows almost naturally that, unawarely, she picked the song for the morning hour today... she picked The Beatles (I could see that coming...) and a song that we actually had been singing (her)/humming (me) a few days ago within a driving-related-Beatles-songs theme. Drive me car, One ticket to ride, Day Tripper, Get back.
We went on debating the meaning of this song, what actually it means to be a daytripper and which way out John is singing about... we didn't finish it, so no final word on it yet! We also listened to more Beatles song while having breakfast, hence the morning hour today has more than 1 video as usual.
I need some positive vibes today for some creative work... it'd really better be a dam good day!
With such a start, this needs to be a great day!
It follows almost naturally that, unawarely, she picked the song for the morning hour today... she picked The Beatles (I could see that coming...) and a song that we actually had been singing (her)/humming (me) a few days ago within a driving-related-Beatles-songs theme. Drive me car, One ticket to ride, Day Tripper, Get back.
We went on debating the meaning of this song, what actually it means to be a daytripper and which way out John is singing about... we didn't finish it, so no final word on it yet! We also listened to more Beatles song while having breakfast, hence the morning hour today has more than 1 video as usual.
I need some positive vibes today for some creative work... it'd really better be a dam good day!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
"The Morning Hour": Red Hot Chili Peppers, Give It Away
"The Morning Hour": Red Hot Chili Peppers, Give It Away
i guess this is the first time since I've been writing down The Morning Hour that a song is completely out of tune with my day and my mood; ah no, there's been a November Rain listened at 5am one morning.
Give It Away is the RHCP at their best, it's groovy, it's funky and very upbeat; but today I really can't listen to it.
The earthquake in Italy has proven to be much worst than a number on the Richter scale could indicate, and each single story from a victim makes that number even more meaningless.
There's a bright point in all this tragedy though: solidariety. The country, and the web actually, have mobilitated in no time with different ideas and ways to help, from money to blood, from blankets to a roof. It's great to see that Facebook users, among the thousands "doubtfully-useful" tests are also taking the time to carry messages in support of the victims or to raise money. At least, a glimpse of light!
i guess this is the first time since I've been writing down The Morning Hour that a song is completely out of tune with my day and my mood; ah no, there's been a November Rain listened at 5am one morning.
Give It Away is the RHCP at their best, it's groovy, it's funky and very upbeat; but today I really can't listen to it.
The earthquake in Italy has proven to be much worst than a number on the Richter scale could indicate, and each single story from a victim makes that number even more meaningless.
There's a bright point in all this tragedy though: solidariety. The country, and the web actually, have mobilitated in no time with different ideas and ways to help, from money to blood, from blankets to a roof. It's great to see that Facebook users, among the thousands "doubtfully-useful" tests are also taking the time to carry messages in support of the victims or to raise money. At least, a glimpse of light!
Monday, April 6, 2009
"The Morning Hour": Stereophonics, Maybe Tomorrow
today's pick is a bit of a cheat; the real morning hour song was Lily Allen's The Fear, again! As per Monday and Friday of last week. Now, I wrote that the song is brilliant... but I cannot write about it every single day! So I stayed in bed and waited for the next one...
Maybe Tomorrow was one of my favourite songs during the first months in London, a few years back- hence I thought today was going to be a good day. Unfortunately as I launched Firefox while sipping the coffee, the news from the earthquake in Italy hit me. Luckily, none of my relatives has been affected, and the only friend from the region is safe, as it's her family. Though, when a region close to home looks like a scrap yard and among the scrap you can see people... all the rest seems trivial and it's difficult to focus on the small things that make my everyday's life. I hope things don't get worst than they are (and look) right now in Abbruzzo.
Gabriele D'Annunzio
Alcyone, Sogni di terre lontane
I PASTORI
Settembre, andiamo. E' tempo di migrare.
Ora in terra d'Abruzzi i miei pastori
lascian gli stazzi e vanno verso il mare:
scendono all'Adriatico selvaggio
che verde è come i pascoli dei monti.
Han bevuto profondamente ai fonti
alpestri, che sapor d'acqua natía
rimanga ne' cuori esuli a conforto,
che lungo illuda la lor sete in via.
Rinnovato hanno verga d'avellano.
E vanno pel tratturo antico al piano,
quasi per un erbal fiume silente,
su le vestigia degli antichi padri.
O voce di colui che primamente
conosce il tremolar della marina!
Ora lungh'esso il litoral cammina
la greggia. Senza mutamento è l'aria.
il sole imbionda sì la viva lana
che quasi dalla sabbia non divaria.
Isciacquío, calpestío, dolci romori.
Ah perché non son io cò miei pastori?
Maybe Tomorrow was one of my favourite songs during the first months in London, a few years back- hence I thought today was going to be a good day. Unfortunately as I launched Firefox while sipping the coffee, the news from the earthquake in Italy hit me. Luckily, none of my relatives has been affected, and the only friend from the region is safe, as it's her family. Though, when a region close to home looks like a scrap yard and among the scrap you can see people... all the rest seems trivial and it's difficult to focus on the small things that make my everyday's life. I hope things don't get worst than they are (and look) right now in Abbruzzo.
Gabriele D'Annunzio
Alcyone, Sogni di terre lontane
I PASTORI
Settembre, andiamo. E' tempo di migrare.
Ora in terra d'Abruzzi i miei pastori
lascian gli stazzi e vanno verso il mare:
scendono all'Adriatico selvaggio
che verde è come i pascoli dei monti.
Han bevuto profondamente ai fonti
alpestri, che sapor d'acqua natía
rimanga ne' cuori esuli a conforto,
che lungo illuda la lor sete in via.
Rinnovato hanno verga d'avellano.
E vanno pel tratturo antico al piano,
quasi per un erbal fiume silente,
su le vestigia degli antichi padri.
O voce di colui che primamente
conosce il tremolar della marina!
Ora lungh'esso il litoral cammina
la greggia. Senza mutamento è l'aria.
il sole imbionda sì la viva lana
che quasi dalla sabbia non divaria.
Isciacquío, calpestío, dolci romori.
Ah perché non son io cò miei pastori?
Thursday, April 2, 2009
"The Morning Hour": Stealers Wheel, Stuck in the Middle with You
I woke up with a classic tune today, well, it's classic here as you can hear it often in the pubs and become accustumed with it despite, in my case, ignoring completely who's singing it and how it's become so popular in the years. In my playlist, it sits along "I will walk 500 miles" (also known by its official name "I'm gonna be") by The Proclaimers, and "Weather with You" by Crowded House. These are the songs that can bring together a whole pub in a second, strangers singing together and smiling at each other- an arcane mystery for some foreigner who has heard those songs only a couple of times in his/her life on the radio.
It's day 2 of the G20 and I'm still trying to figure out what all of this means for the town that is hosting it and, coincidentally, is hosting me as well.
i went to the demonstrations yesterday night. Not so much to protest but more to witness the moment since it's all over the media and so close to my house, and take some pictures (though i forgot to put a new memory card in...). Well, the demo was in line with what i was expecting, lots of people of different sorts shouting and holding banners, tightly guarded by the police in riot gear (i guess the open face policy of the morning had to give up to a tougher stance once the protesters became too "energetic").
What really struck me is what i didn't see... less than 50 meters far from the shouting crowd, people were watching the England game in the pub, the news stand was selling the mags with the pictures of the morning clashes, and the Terravision guy was selling the tickets for the shuttle coach to and from Stansted Airport. Everything very normal, everything so smooth and ordinary, but for the amount of police around and the helicopter constantly flying over my head. Not even debris in the street...
It was probably a matter of expectations after having watched the news all day about the riots and the excitement, the mob and the police, smashed windows and dressed up people- or maybe it was that i didn't manage to get close to the "action".
oh well, I'll leave it like that.
here are the pictures from Trafalgar Square, 15 minutes before the rally.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gianleo/sets/72157616165602061/
and here is the video:
It's day 2 of the G20 and I'm still trying to figure out what all of this means for the town that is hosting it and, coincidentally, is hosting me as well.
i went to the demonstrations yesterday night. Not so much to protest but more to witness the moment since it's all over the media and so close to my house, and take some pictures (though i forgot to put a new memory card in...). Well, the demo was in line with what i was expecting, lots of people of different sorts shouting and holding banners, tightly guarded by the police in riot gear (i guess the open face policy of the morning had to give up to a tougher stance once the protesters became too "energetic").
What really struck me is what i didn't see... less than 50 meters far from the shouting crowd, people were watching the England game in the pub, the news stand was selling the mags with the pictures of the morning clashes, and the Terravision guy was selling the tickets for the shuttle coach to and from Stansted Airport. Everything very normal, everything so smooth and ordinary, but for the amount of police around and the helicopter constantly flying over my head. Not even debris in the street...
It was probably a matter of expectations after having watched the news all day about the riots and the excitement, the mob and the police, smashed windows and dressed up people- or maybe it was that i didn't manage to get close to the "action".
oh well, I'll leave it like that.
here are the pictures from Trafalgar Square, 15 minutes before the rally.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gianleo/sets/72157616165602061/
and here is the video:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
"The Morning Hour": MGMT, Kids
It's G20 today and I'm writing from the office before going to lunch- here everything is quiet, there's a generous sun shining over Central London, making the day pretty bright.
Over a couple of miles east though, the sky is now red with tear-gas and everything is a mess. thousands of people are protesting and the police is there in massive force. The pickle, for me, is... "it's the same city and, nonetheless, without tv, radio, internet you could live your day not noticing it at all. I guess it's a compliment to the London police to allow both protest and normal life at the same time- or it's just that this town is so big that each area can live a different life of its own.
Though... my feet are itchy and i want to see... I guess i'll go there after work today and shoot pictures at what is left. At the moment i can see on tv that for each protester there are at least 5 cameras shooting him... one guy went down while fighting with the police and got surrounded...hemm by photographers!
i'll close the post today with the best chant i've heard from the protests "MAKE LOVE NOT LEVERAGE"
Over a couple of miles east though, the sky is now red with tear-gas and everything is a mess. thousands of people are protesting and the police is there in massive force. The pickle, for me, is... "it's the same city and, nonetheless, without tv, radio, internet you could live your day not noticing it at all. I guess it's a compliment to the London police to allow both protest and normal life at the same time- or it's just that this town is so big that each area can live a different life of its own.
Though... my feet are itchy and i want to see... I guess i'll go there after work today and shoot pictures at what is left. At the moment i can see on tv that for each protester there are at least 5 cameras shooting him... one guy went down while fighting with the police and got surrounded...hemm by photographers!
i'll close the post today with the best chant i've heard from the protests "MAKE LOVE NOT LEVERAGE"
"The Morning Hour": The Killers, Mr Brightside
It feels a bit strange to be writing The Morning Hour in the deep of the night... just a few hours before the next song will play and wake my ears to a new day... it feels also strange to be writing about a song and a group on which I wrote a lengthy article back in 2005, when I had the music column of OraD'Aria- good old groovy times! Closing the day on a slightly sad note... the link to my articles there seems to be out of order... bollocks!
the eyelids are getting heavier and the fingers more uncertain on the keyboard.. wrap it up man!
I've picked this acoustic version as I thought it may sound new to a few ones- I personally prefer the original version, it's punchier and the beat supports much better the panic mode of the average guy who finds out his girlfriend has been screwing somebody...
g'night!
the eyelids are getting heavier and the fingers more uncertain on the keyboard.. wrap it up man!
I've picked this acoustic version as I thought it may sound new to a few ones- I personally prefer the original version, it's punchier and the beat supports much better the panic mode of the average guy who finds out his girlfriend has been screwing somebody...
g'night!
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