there are a couple of reasons that i want to keep a blog, but they are boring. and either way i do not want to inhibit the direction it takes with what would, eventually, just be arbitrary structure.

the title of this blog and post comes from something the austrian designer, stefan sagmeister, mentioned in the documentary by hillmancurtis. he was chosen as part of hillmancurtis' artist profile series.

we justify what is convenient.

sagmeister's website

documentary on sagmeister

i made a huge mistake

here is my old place, nostalgia is underrated

a clean kitchen and wood flooring were nice. i do not know what the flooring is here, but it seems like linoleum with a big wooden-looking sticker on top of it. only 2 more months.

books

i need to stop doing this lazy movie watching when i should be reading. in the past few months, i have started three books-only getting through the first quarter, at most, of them. my excuse is the time that reading for class takes. what really happens is that i just keep acquiring too many books, magazines and movies to consume at once, and at this pace only the quickly digestible ones are attempted-the magazines and movies.

• opened three
  • the tropic of cancer
  • walden
  • ishmael

• untouched one
  • the neon bible

movies

the recent acquisition of a tv has led to an absurd amount of movie watching.
here is my past week:

o foxy brown (4) - the lines are hilarious, and willie hutch's sound track is great. the old and cheap sound effects remind me of watching old kung fu flicks. one of my favorite dialogues:

• "i dont know, vigilante justice...."
• "it's as american as apple pie."
• "well, ok."

o dave chappelle's for what it's worth (4) - "i want some of that purple stuff"

• i should probably mention a good site:
  • black people love us

o fando y lis (4) - every jodorowsky leaves me speechless
o adaptation (3)
o lost in beijing (1) - this was a fucking soap opera, no really
o across the universe (1) - i only saw a few minutes of this a couple weeks ago, but i wanted to point out how terrible this movie is. it was on at the dude's place and i couldn't take it. someone at the journalists for human rights meeting brought it up. the conversation didn't go too well:

• she mentioned how much she liked it
• "really?"
• "you have to understand that i was really high when i watched it."
• "well yea, i was too."
• great justification for liking a movie, smoking. people suck. everybody thinks they are right.

music

of course, frances and i stopped at sonic boom while waiting for a table at carta de oaxaca:

• e*rock: conscious (tbd) - i have not been chilled out enough to listen to this much. shrink ray reminds me of kid a's "everything in its right place."
• marco benevento: invisible baby (5) - "bus ride," "record book" and "atari" one after another are where jazz is going/where i want it to go

frances also burned me

• the dirty projectors: rise above (4) - the reinvention of black flag punk in a more current medium makes it hard to get at first. it makes a lot more sense understanding it as a concept album. i need to hear more of these guys.

raney, courtesy of her sub pop internship, lent me her copy of

• the ruby suns: sea lion (tbd) - "oh mohave" resembles animal collective's "winters love" and "doggy" too much

i also downloaded some lost and much needed french hip hop and old school shit this week. i may be more specific in the future, but usually i just move on. so it goes.

• mc solaar
• quarashi
• booba
• sugarhill gang
• eric b. & rakim
• afrika bambaata
• big daddy kane

eats

this has been a good week for eats. by this time in the year, i am so sick of the u district. my cabin fever tends to manifest itself in taking the bus to get dinner when eating out is an option.

• paseo (5)-i got the ham press this time. very tasty, the messy kind, but not as good as the roast i got last time.
• la carta de oaxaca (3) - presentably authentic, but overpriced-probably because of the hip interiour design or some other shit i didn't recognize/don't care about
• volunteer park cafe (5) - i got the prosciutto and cheese panini which was real good, but liz out ordered me with the french toast. that shit was unbeatable.
• cafe vivace* (4) - the cafe nico man, just do it
• stumptown (5) - coffee cupping every day at 3:00, sometimes seattle overwhelms me
• the ocho - 21+, fuck you
• cafe vita* (2) - bad capp

china tries

beijing has been receiving an increasing amount of criticism because their human rights record has not changed. but what is unfortunate is that people seem unwilling to recognize that no change will be initiated until economic sanctions are placed or atleast threatened. the us and eu are the only powers capable of doing this, but our addiction to cheap ass, shitty goods prevents us from doing this. so let's enjoy our cheap electronics, housewares and athletic clothes for now-who knows how much longer we will have them. plus, in a couple of decades-if not sooner-beijing will be too fiscally powerful and internationally integrated to be threatened by the other, older world powers.

san francisco did ok. no thanks to mayor newsom, though. he, as expected, changed the torch route immediately before it came through the city. some say that they do not want the olympics to get political. they have not realized that every human act is motivated by subconscoiusly understood political principles. many act as if politicizing the olympics is a one-sided choice: going is not political, but choosing not to go is absolutely political. this is hypocrisy. these athletes and volunteers need to recognize that everyone of them is going to bring a lot of money to the powers in beijing. only then can they make their own personal decision, that is without being lied to about the possibilty of keeping politics out of the olympics.

these people, students for free tibet, were arrested-well done san francisco. everyone thinks they are right.

sis216

this is my paper from chaloupka's science and society. it is so hard for me to imagine what it is like growing up under international disasters and conflicts. chaloupka lived in czechoslovakia during nazi occupation. by wondering what it is like to grow up in these situations, i am really asking how different my sense of values would be. here is our first paper, there are some things i like about it, and some things that aggravate me about it. this is a running problem with my writing-lack of organizational structure. i am also not to keen on citing a magazine and a news paper, but my procrastination did not allow for finding more respectable source material.

SIS216 Response Paper #1 Spring 2008 word count (700-900): 887

last name: QUIJANO first name: Tim grade: /10

Subject: Reflections on the Introductory Lectures and Readings

How it feels to recognize yourself on the wrong track

Humans are on the wrong track. As the most powerful species, that we are familiar with, we have awarded ourselves with the gift of owning anything and everything. We, in the loneliness of modernity, have altered the evolution of an innumerable amount of species for reasons as seemingly trivial as wanting another species to come home to-a domesticated animal. We, in factory farming, have injected so many hormones into our turkeys that they are no longer able to reproduce (Good 2008). We, in industrialization, have dug through the top layer of the planet in our search for resources to power the creation of pollution and waste that will eventually be shot into space, buried (poisoning plants and animals) or burnt (releasing chemicals and greenhouse gases).

Daniel Quinn outlines the possessive nature of human civilization in his Ishmael. In the story, a wise gorilla, Ishmael, contrasts the stories of two contemporary civilizations, "the Takers" and "the Leavers." Ishmael forewords the stories by informing his student, "the premise of the Takers' story is that 'The world belongs to man.'...The premise of the Leavers' story is 'Man belongs to the world.'" This philosophy results in the demise of the Takers. Unfortunately, Quinn's solution is impractical and insufficient. He suggests that humanity must deny itself the gift of determining right from wrong-an aspect of human nature that is intrinsic and central to our definition of self.

This solution is similar to the solution posed by Bill Joy-"relinquishment." Joy advises humanity, more specifically scientists, that they will soon need to discontinue their paths of research and theory development. Not only is this impractical in the sense of enforcement, but also this also denies humanity a defining characteristic-curiosity.

Vladimir Chaloupka, in his "What Is To Be Done?" more conciselyoutlines the looming problem in the scientific world, but his solutions are vague and impractical in the near future. Much of the impracticality of implementing the changes necessary to sustain life on the planet derive from global inequality and mistrust of large ultra-powerful governing bodies-for good reason.

Particularly in foreign relations, the US has acted poorly in recent decades-the War in Iraq will, perhaps, leave as disgraceful of a footprint on US foreign policy as the Vietnam War. As a result, the United States voter turnout has loomed around 50% for eligible citizens according to the US Census Bureau. Americans often are more likely to place their trust in large corporations than in government.

Chaloupka accurately describes the US government's inability to address and rectify disaster situations. The government's response to Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks are at best disappointingly incapable and at worst a comprehensive statement of the direction of the US government-careless, wasteful and unorganized. This, regrettably, suggests that it is, as Chaloupka states, "perhaps naive to expect that our response to a large-scale disaster will be rational."

The US government, in its myopic understanding of foreign affairs, seems yet to have recognized the legitimacy of the complaints and wishes of the terrorist groups that in their alienation from US-led global capitalism brought the 9/11 attacks. Instead, in a seemingly childish "eye for an eye" rebuttal, the US engaged Middle Eastern, purportedly Islamic Fundamentalist-friendly, countries in a military response. Repeatedly, the US government has proved itself incapable of properly confronting problems/disaster situations at hand, thus a quick-response program to deal with future catastrophes will be unsuccessful. Conversely, bioerror is not as serious of a problem as Chaloupka considers it-I put faith in our ability to deal with this problem. A "bioerror" problem will likely arise in an environment that is easily quarantined, where as bioterror will, by definition, be instituted in a place will be very difficult to contain and its existence will most likely not be recognized as quickly as in a bioerror situation.

Although perhaps "the real driving force of History will be Science and Technology," this is largely unrealistic in the foreseeable future. Presently, science and technology are simply means by which to attain knowledge, granting one access to money and power. Science and technology will not surpass money and power as the driving forces of history until the world is truly "flat."

Thomas Friedman's blindly optimistic defense of globalization as a global (economic) equalizer, in his The World is Flat, is a premature exaggeration of present circumstances. The New York Times states in "What's Your Consumption Factor?" that the developing world (5/6 of global population) consumes and produces at a factor of 1:32. While US institutions like United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) assist developing nations "modernize" and thus reach developed nation consumption rates, these rates are unsustainable even when only a fifth of the global population participates in them. This impending energy and resource crisis will define the next two centuries just as much if not more than the rising accessibility of scientific knowledge. Humans are on the wrong track, but will not accept that the gifts that have brought them their comfortable lives in modernism will soon be the cause of their looming destruction

seattle weekly

for some reason i feel like this needs be in here. maybe because it is what started all this madness.

thank you seattle weekly, tim sweeney and victrola*

*why do the names of so many coffe shops start with "vi-"?�

Neon Bible dos Arcade fire. Site Download: mediafire

1. "Black Mirror" – 4:13
2. "Keep the Car Running" – 3:29
3. "Neon Bible" – 2:16
4. "Intervention" – 4:19
5. "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" – 3:57
6. "Ocean of Noise" – 4:53
7. "The Well and the Lighthouse" – 3:56
8. "(Antichrist Television Blues)" – 5:10
9. "Windowsill" – 4:16
10. "No Cars Go" – 5:43
11. "My Body Is a Cage" – 4:47

Unia dos Sonata arctica Download: mediafire

1. "In Black and White" − 5:03
2. "Paid in Full" − 4:24
3. "For the Sake of Revenge" − 3:23
4. "It Won't Fade" − 5:58
5. "Under Your Tree" − 5:14
6. "Caleb" − 6:16
7. "The Vice" − 4:08
8. "My Dream's but a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare" − 6:13
9. "The Harvest" − 4:18
10. "To Create a Warlike Feel" − 5:03
11. "The Worlds Forgotten, the Words Forbidden" − 2:57
12. "Fly with the Black Swan" − 5:08
13. "Good Enough Is Good Enough" − 5:32
14. "They Follow" − 4:50
15. "Out in the Fields" − 4:06
16. "My Dream's but a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare - Instrumental" − 7:11

O monstro precisa de amigos dos Ornatos Violeta Download:mediafire

01. Tanque
02. Chaga
03. Dia Mau
04. Para Nunca Mais Mentir
05. Ouvi Dizer
06. Capitão Romance
07. Pára De Olhar Para Mim
08. O.M.E.M.
09. Coisas
10. Nuvem
11. Deixa Morrer
12. Noticias Do Fundo
13. Fim Da Canção

It started with the interactive video for Neon Bible.  Arcade Fire returns with the hotness on their second installment of online video fun, this time represented in a video for the song Black Mirror from Arcade Fire’s latest album Neon Bible.  By clicking on the numbers 1 – 6 on your keyboard, you can control the several layers of audio within the song and become a song producer yourself.  The video also features art by Tracy Maurice. 

To say that this video is truly inspirational both from an artistic standpoint and also from its interactive side wouldn’t be enough.  The features provided are simple enough for anyone to use.  Engaging and creative as all hell.  Thanks to BG for sending.

Now that the year 2008 is under way there’s been time enough to reflect on the mountains of music that 2007 brought to the ears of many. After weeding out the utterly horrible the best albums of last year have been narrowed down into a handful, thirteen albums:

-Against Me! – New Wave (Punk Rock)
Although diehard fans claimed that Against Me! sold out by signing to Sire, these Gainesville punks did the most anti-establishment thing possible: made a great album that redefined their sound without giving a shit what anyone thought about them.
Key Tracks: “Thrash Unreal,” “White People for Peace”

-Anberlin – Cities (Emotional Indie Rock)
Thoughtful and powerful songs of love, loss, and hope. A cohesive album that combines choruses you can’t get out of your head with explosive rock riffs, piano laden heartfelt love songs, an album that never makes you want to skip ahead.
Key Tracks: “Godspeed” “Dismantle. Repair.”

-The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (Indie/Art Rock)
While their first album, Funeral, dealt with death and private grief, the Arcade Fire’s newest album takes on the terrifying world of 2007, channeling Springsteen and the Pixies to create a beautiful, frightening picture of Bush’s America.
Key Tracks: “Keep the Car Running,” “Intervention”

-Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare (Indie/Retro Rock)
Already the darlings of NME and the rest of the British music media, Arctic Monkeys proved that they were more than just hype, making a second album that branched out into the band’s new-rave roots and showed that they were more than one-hit wonders.
Key Tracks: “Fluorescent Adolescent,” “505”

-Circa Survive – On Letting Go (Melodic Emo Rock)
Anthony Green belts out higher notes than man should be able to. Impressive musicianship, catchy choruses, and introspective, emotional lyrics will make you want to put this album on repeat.
Key Tracks: “The Difference Between Medicine And Poison Is In The Dose” “In The Morning And Amazing”

-Every Time I Die – The Big Dirty (Hardcore Rock N’ Roll)
A balls to the wall, face-punching hardcore album with an in your face southern rock tinge. A non-stop, fast paced album, full of surprisingly witty lyrics, and enough breakdowns to bring satisfaction to any angst-ridden day.
Key Tracks: “We’rewolf” “Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Battery”

-The Fall of Troy – Manipulator (Progressive Emo Core)
This trio creates some of the most technical, unique, and epic music of our time. With face melting guitars, catchy choruses, and demonic scream ridden breakdowns, you’re in for a memorable ride of chaos and beauty.
Key Tracks: “Seattlantis” “Semi-Fiction”

-Four Year Strong – Rise Or Die Trying (Happy Hardcore)
If you read my review of this on earlier in the year and still haven’t picked this album up yet, then you’re really missing out. Fun and fast paced, pop punk meets metal, blink-182 meets Comeback Kid.
Key Tracks: “Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die” “Maniac (R.O.D.)”

-Portugal. The Man – Church Mouth (Experimental Indie Rock)
An impressively unique sound; high pitched crooning falsettos akin to Zeppelin, organ parts like the doors, funky drums, and sing-a-long songs with Dylan-esque, nearly nonsense lyrics make it feel like the 70’s all over again.
Key Tracks: “Church Mouth” “Bellies Are Full”

-Radiohead – In Rainbows (Experimental Rock)
Most of the buzz that surrounded In Rainbows was because of its revolutionary internet release, but that overshadows the fact that this is the most stunning, accessible, gorgeous music that Radiohead has made in ten years.
Key Tracks: “Bodysnatchers,” “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”

-Say Anything – In Defense Of The Genre (Emotional Indie Rock)
You get your money’s worth with this one, a 27 song, double disc, concept album with no filler, not one bad song. This has everything from danceable radio hits, to angsty emo rock sagas, mellow acoustic tunes, piano ballads, and plenty of catchy pop punk anthems.
Key Tracks: “The Church Channel” “Baby Girl, I’m A Blur”

-Thrice – The Alchemy Index: Vol. I-II – Fire & Water (Experimental Post-Hardcore)
Another album I had the chance to review: powerful songs crossing genres; one disc is Fire themed, full of fiery metal riffs and screams; the other disc is water themed, piano and electronic drums meet soaring vocal melodies.
Key Tracks: “Burn The Fleet” “Digital Sea”

-The White Stripes – Icky Thump (Blues/Garage Rock)
Icky Thump may not be the Stripes’s best effort (that honor goes to 2003’s Elephant), but it’s certainly a solid album, letting Jack White fully embrace his inner Jimmy Page. And, as everyone knows, a good White Stripes album is better than a great album from any other band.
Key Tracks: “Icky Thump,” “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)”

Here's the seventy-third video taken from Arcade Fire's 'Neon Bible' but seeing as it's rather excellent, I don't really care. What is more interesting than watching the clip on Youtube, however is checking the video out here where you get, effectively, six channels of audio so you can switch off certain instruments/vocals etc, which is a really nice idea. They also had an interactive video for 'Neon Bible' and it's really interesting to see where the internet can bring music video. Seeing as MTV barely show music videos anymore, it does feel like the internet is the leading force in music video these days. I know, as is plainly obvious from these pages, that I get to see most of my music videos on the interweb. Hopefully, we'll get to see more bands experiment with where they can take the interactive music video as it certainly seems to me that it's an area that is only at the beginnings of being truly explored.

Le groupe Arcade Fire est connu pour innover!

Aprés avoir innover le rock en 2005 avec leur album "Funeral", et confirmer le tout de la plus belle des maniéres avec des morçeaux encore plus suprenant en 2007 avec les 11 titres de "Neon Bible", le groupe de Win Butler propose à ses fans des clips intéractif.

Neon Bible , est leur premiére piéce du genre réalisé par Vincent Morisset, vous pouvez vous amusez avec Win Butler. Le leader du groupe est sur un fond noir. Amusez vous à cliquez partout pour déplacer les mains du chanteur ainsi que plusieurs objets comme des cartes, ou des bougies, tout ceci en découvrant le nouveau morceau du groupe.Autre clin d'oeil du groupe qui à heberger son application flash sur le beonlineb, qui est l'anagrame de Neon Bible.

Le clip de Black Mirror permet aussi au spectateur d'aller plus loin que son rôle de visualisateur. Dans ce clip, vous pouvez selectionner les bandes sons que vous voulez entendre. Si vous ne voulez plus de la voie de la Win appuyer sur 1, plus de batterie appuyer sur 2, etc..

arcade fire along with tracy maurice, artist for a.f.'s album "funeral," have created another beautiful video, both of which are interactive.

this time for the song "black mirror" from their newest album "neon bible."

with the "black mirror" video you can isolate, and manipulate different parts of the audio by pushing 1 through 6 on your keyboard.

watch the video here.

the first video was for the song "neon bible." with the "neon bible" video, hover your mouse over different images throughout the video clicking at your leisure.

watch it here.

both videos are a lot of fun... enjoy.

arcade fire's "neon bible" was my #2 in my top ten for 2007. it was definitely a tough call between them and "in rainbows." i think my radiohead bias ended up settling it in the end. they're both just such incredible albums, it was a really difficult decision to make.

image from

arcade fire's website

fansite

myspace

this is a beautiful tour poster i came across and just had to share it. right now it is sold out where i found the image. you can purchase it here if you would like, or merely appreciate the aesthetics of it.

poster image from

Zgadza się. Jest ciągle mrocznie, psychodelicznie i ciągle można się zastanawiać o co chodzi. Bo pewności nigdy nie można mieć do końca. Można Neon Bible interpretować na różnorakie sposoby i każdy będzie dobry. W tym tkwi cały sekret Win'a Butlera? Na pewno jest coś w tym. Zespół ciągle w pełni wykorzystuje swój ogromny potencjał jaki stanowi siedem osób. Nie brakuje skrzypiec, akordeon, cymbałków, klawiszy (te kościelne też) i bębnów.

Włączając Neon Bible, na początku usłyszysz Black Mirror. Czarne lustro z góry Ci mówi: "tak to ciągle ten sam, dobry Arcade Fire". Nie zmieniła się koncepcja zespołu intrygowania dźwiękiem. Oczywiście pojawiły się głosy krytyczne (nie czytajcie porcysa) mówiące, że ta płytę podtrzymuje tylko No Cars Go, które powstało jeszcze przed płytą Funeral i pojawiło się na demie Us Kids Know. To prawda, że ten utwór jest wyjątkowy. Różni się od reszty, powstał przecież wcześniej niż debiutancki album. Był to zupełnie odmienny moment tworzenia przez grupę. W zasadzie zespól zapewne chciał umieścić go na jakiejś płycie a do Funeral zbytnio by nie pasował. Tak więc No Cars Go stał się plusem całej płyty. Jednak to nie prawda, że to jedyny hit z Neonowej Bibli. Mnie osobiście miażdży utwór Black Waves/Bad Vibrations. Szczególnie druga część utworu. Na wysokości 1:38 zaczyna się prawdziwa zła wibracja, która trafia. Poza tym jestem pod wielkim wrażeniem, gdy słucham My Body is a Cage.

"Set my spirit free, Set my body free"

Z pewnością nie jest ten sam szok, jak ten gdy doznałem po przesłuchaniu Funeral, ale różnica jest mała. Nie zgodzę się z zdaniem, że ta płyta to nie wypał. W moim przypadku wypaliła i o to chyba chodzi. Ocena 8\10.

Olá! A convite do Loff (o qual agradeço desde já!) venho aqui propor uma possível lista dos melhores álbuns de 2007 (eu sei que vai ligeiramente atrasada mas também se os Óscares podem ser em Fevereiro qual é o problema?!). Este Top20 deveria ter sido anunciado com pompa e circunstância numa gala, com jantar de luxo e montes de gente conhecida, mas este blog solidarizou-se com os propósitos dos argumentistas e será apenas apresentada assim…

Declarando à partida que comentei apenas os 12 primeiros álbuns (normalmente as honras seriam dadas ao top10, mas como 10 não é múltiplo de 4, e como 4 é um número bastante relevante neste blog, ficou decidido assim) e que as últimas 8 posições do top20 não serão ordenadas, apenas sugeridas. Então aqui vai:

Caribou – “Andorra” (pop psicadélico para assobiar alegremente)

http://www.myspace.com/cariboumanitoba

New Young Pony Club – “Fantastic Playroom” (pop electrónica alternativa)

http://www.myspace.com/newyoungponyclub

Wilco – “Sky Blue Sky” (rock despreocupado de influências folk)

http://www.myspace.com/wilco

Wraygunn – “Shangri-La” (rock-blues infernal vindo directamente de Coimbra)

http://www.myspace.com/wraygunn

Patrick Wolf – “The Magic Position” (pop com cabeça, tronco e membros)

http://www.myspace.com/officialpatrickwolf

Basia Bulat – “Oh, My Darling” (folk com voz doce)

http://www.myspace.com/basiamyspace

The AllStar Project – “Your Reward...A Bullet!” (post-rock português)

http://www.myspace.com/theallstarproject

God Is An Astronaut – “Far From Refuge” (rock ambiental de fazer sonhar)

http://www.myspace.com/godisanastronaut

12º Oceansize – “Frames”

Uma banda do tamanho do oceano em termos de complexidade lírica e intensidade instrumental, é talvez uma boa forma de os descrever. Rock ora progressivo, ora melancólico, para degustar lentamente ao som das ondas. Embora não atingido a mestria que foi o anterior “Everything Into Position”, é um óptimo álbum, cheios de momentos instrumentais bastante fortes, qual orquestra rock!

http://www.myspace.com/oceansizeuk

11º Porcupine Tree – “Fear Of A Blank Planet”

Rock progressivo, melodia a passear de mãos dadas com guitarradas, a cantarolar coisas com significado (as boas letras são uma constante no álbum). “Anesthetize”, o ponto alto do disco, são 17:40 minutos a vaguear por diversas paisagens sonoras, mudanças de ritmo constantes e refrões sofridos finalizam a composição.

http://www.myspace.com/porcupinetree

10º Nine Inch Nails – “Year Zero”

Apesar de não ser dos melhores registos de Nine Inch Nails, há que dar mérito ao mentor do projecto, Trent Reznor, pela capacidade de se auto-reinventar e inovar a cada álbum que passa (e principalmente pela coragem em arriscar). Abdicando quase por completo da vertente rock industrial que o tornou um fenómeno, enveredou por caminhos bem mais electrónicos, mas sem nunca perder o norte. Aliás, as ideias bem iluminadas e os pés bem assentes no chão são uma constante ao longo de todas as faixas, inteligentemente interligadas para criar o fim do mundo algures em 2022, como consequência das politicas governamentais do “Sr. Dr.” Bush nos dias de hoje.

http://www.myspace.com/nin

E por curiosidade, vale a pena visitar: http://blitz.aeiou.pt/gen.pl?p=stories&op=view&fokey=bz.stories/17408

9º Blonde Redhead – “23”

Apesar do percurso algo reservado ao longo da última década e meia, esta banda formada em New-York por 2 japonesas e por 2 italianos (e viva a multi-culturalidade!) deu o salto este ano com este disco de número estranho, marcadamente indie-rock (seja lá o que isso for) repleto de guitarras com cheirinho a Sonic Youth (versão post-rock) e pontuado com a voz angelical de Kazu Makino, a dar o mote para um bom registo de canções calmas de fazer dançar a alma (mas só a alma, que o «shoegaze» é isso mesmo). E que venha o 24!

http://www.myspace.com/blonderedheadislove

8º Teenage Bad Girl – “Cocotte”

Esqueçam as batidas monótonas do Techno, desprezem os remix’s manhosos da rádio Orbital, livrem-se dos hits comerciais tocados pelos dj’s na discoteca ao fundo da rua, Teenage Bad Girl chegou para abalar o electro e pôr a abanar até a anca mais incauta. Desde o porno informático de “USB Dick (Plug me in)” (sem questionar o teor da letra, para mim é a melhor faixa do álbum) até às frequentes variações de ritmo patentes em todas as faixas, tudo se conjuga num som esquizofrénico e promíscuo difícil de ouvir parado. A menina dança?

http://www.myspace.com/teenagebadgirl

7º Feist – “The Reminder”

Doce e melodiosa, assim se caracteriza a voz de Feist, uma mui talentosa singer songwriter canadiana, que se (re-)afirma com um álbum cheio de boas canções para todos os gostos: há desde canções de lágrima ao canto do olho (influência folk em destaque) a músicas divertidas, pop ritmado de estalar o dedo, mostrando como a música pop pode ser tão boa (é verdade, o pop não é só o que passa na Mtv). Guitarra acústica, contra-baixo, xilofone e muitos outros povoam a sonoridade do álbum, mas é sem dúvida o piano o co-autor da maioria das faixas. A ouvir a dois (ou a um e a pensar em dois) numa tarde chuvosa de Outono.

http://www.myspace.com/feist

6º Justice – “ † “ (Cross)

Da escola dos Daft Punk (à semelhança dos Teenage Bad Girl, Simian Mobile Disco, Boys Noize, MSTRKRFT, Digitalism, entre outros) estão a reinventar a música de dança, e a provar que os ex-inimigos França e Alemanha são hoje em dia o epicentro da música electrónica. Desde o refrão orelhudo do single “D.a.n.c.e.” (a música do videoclip das t-shirts animadas!) até à guitarrada de “Waters of Nazareth”, passando pelo falsete de “DVNO” e as constantes e confusas mudanças de ritmo em “Genesis”, tudo vale para chamar multidões para as pistas de dança!

http://www.myspace.com/etjusticepourtous

5º Battles – “Mirrored”

Será rock? Será música de dança? Será Indie Pop? Não! É a banda mais freakó-roqueira do momento! Mais do que inventar um estilo de música, é inventar um que não é estilo nenhum: bateria pujante, guitarras persistentes, cânticos electrónicos joviais, tudo conjugado para (de)formar o álbum mais inovador de 2007. Como é afirmado no single “Atlas”: “People won't be people when they hear this sound”! Aviso: impossível de ouvir sem bater o pé.

http://www.myspace.com/battlestheband

4º Lcd Soundsystem – “Sound Of Silver”

James Murphy é grande. Este senhor, apesar de discreto em visibilidade e atitude, transborda em exuberância no que toca a criar música de dança, tornando-a interessante e com propósito sem deixar de fazer aquilo que é suposto fazer, ou seja, pôr pessoas a dançar frenética e descontroladamente: quais movimentos pré-programados para uma pista de discoteca house, aqui solta-se a franga! Funk, rock, punk, electro minimal, tudo se conjuga num cocktail repleto de suor e promiscuidade, pronto a ser servido com muitas substâncias ilícitas à mistura e de preferência com uma bola de espelhos por perto. Por cima da batida techno em repeat, há guitarras deixadas à solta, baixos fortes, sintetizadores e pianos teimosos (no caso do piano, principalmente em “All My Friends”, uma das melhoras faixas do disco), tudo a lutar por um lugar ao sol sob a mão sempre controlada de Murphy (ao vivo este controlo estrito intensifica-se), criando músicas sempre em crescendo de intensidade, com os decibéis (e a nossa sanidade) a rebentarem cada vez mais, mesmo quando pensamos que mais já não é possível. Nunca o divertimento foi tão esquizofrénico.

http://www.myspace.com/lcdsoundsystem

3º Radiohead – “In Rainbows”

Bem, por onde começar…que esta é das mais importantes bandas da década de 90 e da actualidade, isso ninguém tem dúvidas. Que o álbum “The Bends” foi marcante para a história da música e que o “OK Computer” é uma obra-prima inexplicável, também não. Então e será que o novo álbum acompanha a genialidade que estes rapazes de Oxford nos vêm habituando? Apesar de não atingir o nível de “OK Computer” (mas também não era isso que pedia) este é sem dúvida um bom conjunto de canções. As guitarras com gentileza à lá Pink Floyd continuam, os devaneios electrónicos também, mas mais contidos que em registos anteriores, talvez resultado da ressaca do álbum marcadamente electrónico que o líder Thom Yorke lançou o ano passado. Líder este que continua a encantar-nos com a voz sofrida e a atitude alienada de sempre, principalmente em momentos como “Nude”, “All I Need”, “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” e “Reckoner”. Rock progressivo altamente recomendado!

http://www.myspace.com/radiohead

2º Arcade Fire – “Neon Bible”

Depois do fantástico “Funeral” romper com todos os alicerces do rock alternativo, este colectivo canadiano lança mais um disco repleto de óptimas canções, a provar que a casa-mãe do rock alternativo na actualidade está situada no Canadá (que o digam Broken Social Scene, Final Fantasy e muitos outros). O som é composto não só pelas típicas guitarras, bateria, baixo, etc, mas também por piano, muitos violinos, pandeiretas, instrumentos estranhos e até um órgão de igreja! Todos os membros da banda tocam vários instrumentos (é delicioso vê-los a trocar de posições em palco e darem conta do recado em qualquer instrumento), sendo Win Butler o maestro desta «orquestra» e principal autor das letras (sempre com proporções bíblicas). De realçar a completamente transcendente “No Cars Go”, música para ouvir com um arrepio na espinha e de preferência com milhares de pessoas a entoá-la a uma só voz (notar que Arcade Fire são das melhores bandas ao vivo da actualidade por alguma razão!). E tu, já rezaste hoje?

http://www.myspace.com/arcadefireofficial

1º The National – “Boxer”

Melancólico e introspectivo. Estas serão algumas das palavras-chaves mais associadas a este fabuloso álbum. Continuando o óptimo trabalho do anterior, Alligator, a banda Nova-iorquina afirma-se agora perante um público mais alargado com um disco pop-rock de qualidade, uma mão cheia de canções ritmadas com guitarras pertinentes e piano bastante presente (e por vezes violinos e até trompete!), sempre acompanhadas por um trabalho na construção de letras cuidado. Nota: vêm com “Mistaken for strangers” e “Fake empire”, duas das melhores canções do ano.

http://www.myspace.com/thenational

Beijinhos e abraços!

It's that special Award-dominated time of year again, and the next load of nominees to be announced on this side of the Atlantic are for the Brit Awards 2008.

Made up of a few fan-voted awards and a bunch of record industry suits-voted awards, there are debates over the meaningfulness of the Brits, but it's more about the evening's performances and dresses than the actual awards, right?!

There are some great nominees this year, but all I can say is: COME ON TAKE THAT!!!! The show will air on Feb 20th...

Nominees:

Male Solo Artist:

Jamie T

Mark Ronson

Mika

Newton Faulkner

Richard Hawley

Female Solo Artist:

Bat For Lashes

Kate Nash

Kt Tunstall

Leona Lewis

PJ Harvey

Group:

Arctic Monkeys

Editors

Girls Aloud

Kaiser Chiefs

Take That

British Album:

Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare

Leona Lewis – Spirit

Mark Ronson – Version

Mika – Life In Cartoon Motion

Take That – Beautiful World