日志

We missed Wagner. So I will keep associating Wagner with a strange German opera composer who died of heart attack in Venice.

But Air. When the concert started I felt as if the doors of the giant elevator have closed. Because being at the Air concert feels like being trapped in a giant elevator (that goes up, of course) with 100+ people, listening to best elevator music in the world.

Ever.

I was really amazed to learn that they actually play real instruments: drum, bass, guitar and at least 4 synths, one of which is some kind of Kraftwerk-era sound-bending machine that had to be constatnly tuned by a handyman with a flashlight.

Bass sounds so good live.

They really care about their stage appearance, at least as much as they care about their videos. And they are pretty good both.

Pong during Kelly Watch the Stars = ♥

The only thing that left me puzzled when the elevator ride ended: how come we're on the same floor that we started from when we were constantly going…

Jue 7 Oct – Air Y, bueno, era cierto que había un DJ detrás mío, al fondo, cerca de las graderías, pero eso lo supe después, una vez que terminó el concierto de los franceses, porque mientras este chileno pinchaba discos, yo me encontraba extasiada de sólo ver los teclados de JB sobre el escenario. No podía contener tanta maravilla frente a mis ojos. Y mientras me fotografiaba con la Rosi, lo único que quería era ver subir a Air para que tocaran "Do The Joy" o algún tema similar e idóneo para una apertura de dioses.

No son ingleses, y eso se notó en la hora en que pisaron el proscenio. El show estaba programado para las 21 horas, pero los de Versalles no empezaron sino pasadas las nueve y diez, o algo así. La verdad es que ya ni me acuerdo.

Mi presagio se cumplió: subieron al escenario y, tras un breve saludo al público y un par fotos tomadas por el batero, comenzaron su performance precisamente con "Do The Joy". …

1. How did you get into 29? Seelenkrank
It was Chris Pohl's project before he formed Blutengel, to be honest, it's alright but not that good. And the lyrics are just ridiculous

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? VNV Nation
Darkangel, I believe.

3. How many albums by 13 do you own? Nirvana
I only have Nevermind on CD. But I also have In Utero and Bleach on my computer/iPod

4. What is your favorite song by 15? Madonna
Oh god, I dunno D: Could be any track from True Blue, or possibly Vogue. She has so many good songs!

5. What is your favorite song by 5? Funker Vogt
Hmm.. Black Market Dealers will always be a firm favourite.

6. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? Apoptygma Berzerk
Kathy's Song (Come Lie Next To Me) ^_^

7. What is your favorite song by 10? Emilie Autumn
Ermmmmm... it really depends what sort of mood I'm in. Either Liar or Prologue: Across the Sky. Although again, there are LOADS of others.

…

Brakes On and Kelly Watch the Stars for a super hyped up mood

Sat 23 Jan – Air, George Pringle

breve in apertura la performance di George Pringle svoltasi, ahilei, durante un'illuminata ridda di cose e persone che sembravano non trovar pace. planata dall'isola di albione, la miss propone alcuni testi introspettivi la cui esegesi è drammaticamente compromessa dall'incompetenza linguistica del sottoscritto.

nell'atteso momento il duo francese si presenta sul palco:
il kraftwerk bianco (Jean Benoit Dunckel) si piazza ai synth
e il più casual Nicolas Godin imbraccia il basso.

incredibile ma vero sopravvivono ai giorni nostri artisti che, seppur impegnati in generi elettronici, suonano sul serio. evitato quindi, per questa volta, il torbido spettacolo del "venerando" dj che infila mp3 nascosto dietro il Macbook.
anche la batteria oggi è vera. o quasi.

lo show prosegue ed è più che piacevole. l'emozione che mi provocano i pezzi è direttamente proporzionale alla loro età (o meglio, esponenziale). …

Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.01a: 200 to 181
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.01b: 180 to 161
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.02a: 160 to 141

140
Lo-Fidelity Allstars
Vision Incision
How to Operate with a Blown Mind
1998

Treated by the music press as if they were the saviours of electronic music, they could never possibly live up to the billing, and nor were they anyway. They did, however, release some pretty special singles. Broadly, they were "big beat" with vocals, but their use of some pretty diverse samples and influences helped to broaden them out of what would otherwise have been a musical dead-end, as the genre was already beginning to peter out creatively even by this point. Of the first album singles - i.e. before the vocalist quit - Vision Incision's string-sample-laden, not to mention sampling The Three Degrees, epic soundscape was by far the best of them. To add to that, I was never entirely sure what the lyrics were on about…

A perhaps predictable subject for this week's Tuesday Ten: it's all about space, what with it being the 40th anniversary of the first moon landings this week. I've always thought of songs written to be about space travel, or related subjects, to be a very common theme, but in the event it actually turned out to be a really bloody hard list to collate. I'm sure that readers of this will suggest many more than I came up with, though...

Needless to say, there is a Spotify playlist for this (here - The Spotify URI: spotify:user:asw909:playlist:0HzmArtppDnynJCQDZac68), although one track from the ten is missing due to it not being on Spotify (no great surprise - the label it was released on went bust nearly ten years ago!). So anyway:

David Bowie
Space Oddity
Space Oddity

Where else to start than with the song that seems to sum up the mystery and wonder (and our darkest fears, too) about space travel like no other. Released, of course, the week of the moon landings back in '69…

Again, I only listened to music for about 7 months this year (what a travesty!), so the spectrum is slightly less broad this year. These are my favorite songs that I was introduced to in 2008:

1. MGMT - Kids

This was the anthem to one of the best summers of my life. The song was seemigly ubiquitous, whether blaring in Hallie's Neon on the way out, surprising Tim and I at eighties night at the Drink, or just coming out of Levi's guitar at open mic night at Sazerac. Good memories...

2. MIA - Paper Planes

I remember first hearing this song on an on-demand video. I immediately downloaded a pirated version online, played it 8 or 9 times that day, and fell in love. This song has most definitely inspired some of the most intense dancing I did all year. I actually lost an MIA dance competition at a party to some guy who looked like Farnsworth Bentley.

3. Clear Days Always - Pacifier

A standout track on a sampler MP3 album I downloaded, hearing this prompted me to purchase the whole album at Vertigo. …