Gogol Bordello - "Wonderlust King"

As ever, wonderful!

Charles Bukowski - "mind and heart"

unaccountably we are alone
forever alone
and it was meant to be
that way,
it was never meant
to be any other way -
and when the death struggle
begins
the last thing I wish to see
is
a ring of human faces
hovering over me -
better just my old friends,
the walls of myself,
let only them be there.

I have been alone but seldom
lonely.
I have satisfied my thirst
at the well
of my self
and that wine was good,
the best I ever had,
and tonight
sitting
staring into the dark
I now finally understand
the dark and the
light and everything
in between.

peace of mind and heart
arrives
when we accept what
is:
having been
born into this
strange life
we must accept
the wasted gamble of our
days
and take some satisfaction in
the pleasure of
leaving it all
behind.

cry not for me.

grieve not for me.

read
what I've written
then forget it
all.

drink from the well
of your self
and begin
again.

Britta Persson - "Current Affair Medium Rare"

Swedish, pop.

Swinging. Catchy. Nothing special, but nice enough.

Frente Cumbiero - "La Bocachico"

From "A soundtrack to un-convention Groningen 2011"

Swing! Oriental! Gypsy! Ska-ish! nice!!!

The Men Who Stared At Goats

George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey... Can't really go wrong with that.

CIA agents, "jedi soldiers", trying to use the mind for war.

Fun film. And probably scarily close to the truth at times.

Duffhuës - "Among the Ruins"

Dutch, singersongwriter. Bit dark. Sometimes the sound reminds a bit of the slower Nick Cave songs, but without their evocative scary quality.

Not bad. Good background music.

word: saudade

Saudade (singular) or saudades (plural) (pronounced [sɐ.uˈdaðɨ] or [sawˈdaðɨ] in European Portuguese,[1] [sa.uˈdad(ʒ)ɪ] or [sawˈdad(ʒ)ɪ] in Brazilian Portuguese[2] and [sawˈdade] in Galician) is a Portuguese and Galician word difficult to translate adequately, which describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return.

Saudade has been described as a "vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist ... a turning towards the past or towards the future".[3] A stronger form of saudade may be felt towards people and things whose whereabouts are unknown, such as a lost lover, or a family member who has gone missing. It may also be translated as a deep longing or yearning for something which does not exist or is unattainable.

Saudade was once described as "the love that remains" or "the love that stays" after someone is gone. Saudade is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, well-being, which now triggers the senses and makes one live again. It can be described as an emptiness, like someone ( e.g., one's children, parents, sibling, grandparents, friends) or something (e.g., places, pets, things one used to do in childhood, or other activities performed in the past) that should be there in a particular moment is missing, and the individual feels this absence. In Portuguese, 'tenho saudades tuas', translated as 'I have saudades for you' means 'I miss you', but carries a much stronger tone. In fact, one can have 'saudades' of someone with which one is, but have some feeling of loss towards the past or the future.

George Orwell - "1984"

Still impressive as ever. The parts of The Book were a bit boring, but Orwell was a political analist, so it's to be understood

Silly enough, I didn't remember the ending correctly. Always get confused with Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World"

Dresden Dolls - "Sing"

After reading a wonderful review of the reunion of the Dresden Dolls by by Neil Gaiman (http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/1498306391/neil-gaiman-reviews-the-dresden-dolls-halloween-gig-for) listening to "Sing" again... shivers.

Sing for the bartender sing for the janitor sing
Sing for the cameras sing for the animals sing
Sing for the children shooting the children sing
Sing for the teachers who told you that you couldn't sing
Just sing

[...]

Sing cause its obvious sing for the astronauts sing
Sing for the president sing for the terrorists sing
Sing for the soccer team sing for the janjuweed sing
Sing for the kid with the phone who refuses to sing
Just sing

Life is no cabaret
We're inviting you anyway

You motherfuckers you'll sing someday...
You motherfuckers you'll sing someday...
You motherfuckers you'll sing someday...

Charles Bukowski - "the end of an era" (from: "Come on in!")

...

he had a
real
soul
and the usual
real
needs.

CocoRosie - "Smokey Taboo"

Never considered myself a fan of CocoRosie, but this strange floriental (floating oriental) song is haunting and nice.

Novastar - "Tunnelvision" (2007)

What is it that this song makes me think of? Some sad, lingering sound, yet with tempo.

Nice.

Paul Auster - "New York Trilogy"

Wrote so many notes during reading I'm not sure what to write here.

Blown away. Meta-writing to the max, superbe!

It keeps you wondering and wondering even more, changing thoughts and ideas all the time.

What a genius.

(I know, I'm not writing anything useful down. I'll see what I can do later on)

Charles Bukowski - "Come On In! new poems"

These poems are part of an archive of unpublished work that Charles Bukowski left to be published after his death.

Still love his deadpan voice.

Makes me wonder what it is like to write (poetry) on a typewriter.

It makes me starting to see the poetry in spilled salt, in the strong gusts of winds that whip the unfamiliar rain around, in everything.

... that their
morning eagerness
means that
they retired early
and thus wasted the
preceding
night

Pauline Cornelisse - "Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding"

Aardig om te lezen, zeker als verpozing of uitstel van nare, drukke zaken.

Het is voornamelijk een opsomming van waarnemingen. Sommigen beter dan anderen. Gaat nooit dieper, da's jammer.

Doet je even stilstaan bij je eigen taalgebruik en rare zinnetjes.

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

Cult rockopera, starring Anthony Head (and Paris Hilton, eew!)

Amusing enough, though not overly drunkenly fun... it becomes better in the end.

And they, the fact that Paris Hilton allowed her face to fall off on stage is a definite plus.

Sunshine (2007)

Directed by Danny Boyle, music by Underworld

The sun is dying. Mankind has sent their last hope, "Icarus 2" to the sun, with an immense nuclear payload to restart it.

A psychological thriller, having to choose between crewmembers when not enough oxygen is left, guild, and deep desires.

One of the most chilling moments was the whispered "What do you see? What do you see?!" of the shrink to the captain, prior before his death after fixing some of the panels.

The "sudden" appearance of the crazy guy seemed a bit of a deus ex machina (well, the other way around I guess), but I did not care too much.

The "snaps" of near-insane crewmembers when a flashlight flashes over the camera, prior to entering "Icarus I" was wonderful.

Impressive eye-candy.

Theatrum Chemicum - "Preghiera Al Grande Archiletto Dell Universe" (Verso La Luce)

farewell ...

Roddy Doyle - "Blood"

from "Stories", an anthology by Al Sarrantonio and Neil Gaiman

Lovely small story about a man craving to bite necks. The 4-word adagium of the book, "...and then what happened?", applies pretty well.

My Brightest Diamond - "Inside a Boy"

strange clip, fascinating.
Music pretty good.
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB-FLxglSOA&feature=related )
(don't watch "be my husband".. that's sad. like, not--funny sad)

Coffee: Sulawesi Kalossi

The strongest of the three bought in London.

Great coffee, no strong aftertaste. No specific strong flavours.

Errol Morris - "The Fog Of War (The 11 lessons of Robert McNamara)"

RobertMcNamara to Fidel Castro (1992)

lesson 1: emphasize with your enemy

lesson 2: rationality will not save us

Robert McNamara

"I have three questions for you
1. Did you know the missiles were there?
2. Would you have recommended Kruschev to use them?
3. What would have happened to Cuba?"

Fidel Castro answered: 

"1. yes
2. I not only would, I did recommend using them
3. Cuba would have been destroyed."

lesson 3: there's more beyond one self.

lesson 4: maximize efficiency

about the nuclear bombing of Tokyo:

interviewer: you knew this was going to happen?
Robert McNamara: well I was part of a mechanism that recommended it

lesson 5: proportionality should be an issue in war

(Errol Morris certainly has his own style. Keep wondering about the many cuts in the middle of sentences though. Sometimes it seems a strange kind of MTV clip, switching every couple of seconds, while the gracious sentences keep rolling on.

lesson 6: get the data

lesson 7: belief and seeing are both often wrong

Errol Morris (is it him?) is sometimes heard, and he's very very eager, angry almost. Far from the objective journalist.

lesson 8: be prepared to reexamine your reasonings

lesson 9: in order to do good, you may have to engage in evil

Definitely do not agree with him. He's sometimes too quicksilver about the moral highground. "When I was secretary of state, Agent Orange was used. After the war, some said this was a toxic chemical. But let's look at the law for a moment. We don't have a clear law stating which chemicals are illegal. I would never allow the use of an illegal chemical. Did I sanction its use? I cannot remember."

Quite intriguing though.

lesson 10: never say never

McNamara: never answer the question that's been asked. Answer the question you wish had been asked.

lesson 11: you can't change human nature

"The fog of war means, it's so complex it's beyond the human mind to comprehend. Our judgement, our understanding, are not adequate. And we kill people."

And again Philip Glass did the score.

Duffy - "Endlessly"

Can't help to shake off the memory of Olivia Newton-John in Grease, the way she sings, the lyrics.. violins and a slightly high-pitched voice as if she had a whiff of helium.

update

Actually, it's not bad. It's good backgroundmusic, which means it's not interesting enough to really listen to.

update

and "lovestruck" is 95% Kylie M.

House-roll

better make this a separate overwhelming grabbing-all post

• Werde:Erdball - "Lass mich ein Komputer sein" (!)
• Antiloop - "In My Mind" (!)
• Zombie Nation - "Kernkraft 400" (!!)
• Darude - "Feel The Beat"
• Werde:Erdball - "Sternenkind"
• PPK - "Resurrection" (!)
• PPK - "Reload" (resurrection sequel) (mneuh)
• Grauzone - "Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein" (-)

Zombie Nation - "Kernkraft 400"

Am I mistaken, or am I on a house-roll?

Antiloop - "In My Mind"

90's techno-house (not too hard)

beautiful when coding in a silent world at 7am

Welle:Erdball - "Lass uns ein Computer sein"

Komm nun zu mir und schalt mich an.
Drück meine Tasten sanft und dann,
lad mein Programm in dich herein
so können wir vollkommen sein.

Wir werden monoton und kühl.
Es gibt kein Schmerz und kein Gefühl.
Wir speichern alles in uns ein,
und würden auch unsterblich sein.

Dass ist ein Zustand der sich lohnt
von allem Menschlichem verschont.
Jetzt ist es endlich an der Zeit,
die Technik steht für uns bereit.

Jetzt sind wir ganz weit weg von hier
zu einer Einheit schmelzen wir.
Die ganze Welt ist viel zu klein,
so lass uns ein Computer sein.

Wir würden bald die Welt regiern
und jeden Sinn für Zeit verliern.
Ich wär ewig mit dir allin,
komm lass uns ein Computer sein.

lass uns ein Computer sein.

Jetzt sind wir ganz weit weg von hier
zu einer Einheit schmelzen wir.
Die ganze Welt ist viel zu klein,
so lass uns ein Computer sein.

Jetzt sind wir ganz weit weg von hier
zu einer Einheit schmelzen wir.
Die ganze Welt ist viel zu klein,
so lass uns ein Computer sein.

Progamm geladen
der Start erfolgt jetzt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFCL_yHmSjk

Emilina Torrini - "Thinking Out Loud"

...

Like the leaves at my feet
He is a victim of gravity
The unbearable colour of things
Gets him down

And as his raincoat covers me
We know it was never raining

Sorry it was me
Was I thinking out loud
Sorry it was me
Was I thinking out loud
Sorry it was me
Was I thinking out loud
Sorry it was me
Was I thinking out loud

Like strings in a fan
The shoelaces aren't done
The solitude reflection of his fate
Gets him down

And as the shadow covers me
I thought he was only sleeping

Sorry it was me
Was I thinking out loud
Sorry it was me
Was I thinking out loud
Sorry it was me
Was I thinking out loud
Sorry it was me
Was I thinking out loud

His clothes on the floor
Underwear silverlined
The smell of lavender and tar
Brings me down

If the telephone should ring
God knows it could never be him

...

Emiliana Torrini - "If you go away"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrj3YPTCbtA

One of the most haunting versions I've heard so far.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez over Joseph Conrad

In ‘De geheime geschiedenis van Costaguano’, uw tweede roman, speelt de Pools-Britse schrijver Joseph Conrad een grote rol.

,,Ja, zijn invloed strekt zich uit over alles wat ik schrijf. Van hem heb ik geleerd wat je in een roman allemaal kan. Een romanschrijver moet de duistere plekken opzoeken, in de wereld, maar ook in de mensheid, en daar vervolgens zo nauwgezet mogelijk verslag van doen.’’

[...]

„Zeker, maar er is wel een verschil met de positie van de schrijver hier [Europa] en in Zuid-Amerika. Schrijvers worden daar nog altijd gezien als mensen die ertoe doen. Misschien is dat lang niet altijd terecht, maar belangrijk is dat de woorden van schrijvers en intellectuelen daar nog serieus worden genomen. Ze maken mensen kwaad, men vreest ze. Vargas Llosa heeft onlangs nog Hugo Chavez uitgedaagd met hem te debatteren. Chavez ging die uitdaging niet aan. Hij durfde niet.’’

Een geschiedenis die zichzelf als de enige ware ziet, baart dictaturen.

[NRC, 2010-11-27]

Swans - "Why Are We Alive"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbuiZdzRfqo

Tragic, slow-buildup. Pretty nice, but will a whole album not become boring?

update: definitely has its Current 93 ish moments.

Greg Bear - "Darwin's Radio" and "Darwin's Children"

Amusing enough, but read both books very fast.

Wisława Szymborska - De brieven van de doden

De brieven van de doden lezen we als hulpeloze goden,
goden niettemin - omdat wij van later datum zijn.
Wij weten welk geld niet werd teruggegeven.
Met wie de weduwen overhaast in het huwelijk traden.
Arme doden, blind geslagen doden,
steeds bedrogen, falend, stuntelig in hun zorgzaamheid.
We zien het gegrijns en de tekens achter hun rug.
En onze oren horen het geristel van verscheurde testamenten.
Komisch zitten ze voor ons, als op beboterde broodjes,
of rennen als bezeten om hun afgewaaide hoed te vangen.
Hun slechte smaak, Napoleon, elektriciteit en stoom,
hun dodelijke kuren voor geneeslijke ziekten,
hun dwaze Apocalyps naar Johannes,
hun valse paradijs op aarde naa Jean-Jacques...
Zwijgend observeren we hun pionnnen op het schaakbord,
zij het dat ze nu drie velden verder staan.
Al wat zij voorzagen, is heel anders uitgevallen,
of een beetje anders en dus ook heel anders.
De vurigsten van hen zien ons vol vertrouwen in de ogen:
uit hun berekeningen bleek dat ze daarin de volmaaktheid zouden schouwen.
(vertaald door Gerard Rasch)

Wisława Szymborska - Het getal pi

Het getal pi is bewonderenswaardig
drie komma een vier een.
Alle verdere cijfers zijn ook begincijfers,
vijf negen twee omdat het nooit eindigt.
Het laat zich zes vijf drie vijf niet vangen in één blik,
noch acht negen door enige berekening,
of zeven negen door enige verbeelding,
en zelfs drie twee drie acht niet door de lach of vergelijking
vier zes met wat ook maar
twee zes vier dri ter wereld.
De grootste slang op aarde houdt na ruim tien meter op.
Sprookjesslangen doen hetzelfde, al wachten ze wat langer.
De rij van cijfers die samen het getal pi vormen
laat zich niet stuiten door de rand van het papier,
kan verder gaan over de tafel, door de lucht,
over muur, blad, vogelnest, wolken, recht omhoog,
dwars door ' s hemels opgezwollen bodemloosheid.
Ach, de staart van een komeet, wat is die kort, een muizenstaartje!
Wat nietig de straal van een ster die zich in elke ruimte kromt!
Terwijl hier twee drie vijftien driehonderd negentienmijn telefoonnummer jouw maat overhemd
het jaar negentienhonderddrieënzeventig zes hoog
het aantal inwoners vijfenzestig cent
heupmaat twee vingers charade en code
waarin zing o nachtegaal, zich toch en vlieg,maar ook verzoeke de rust te bewaren liggen besloten,
en hemel en aarde zullen vergaan,
maar niet het getal pi, nee, pi zeker niet,
pi heeft nog altijd een niet onaardige vijf,
niet de eerste de beste acht,
zeker niet de minste zeven,
waarmee het de bloedeloze eeuwigheid aanspoort, ja, aanspoortom maar voort te duren.
(vertaald door Gerard Rasch)

Noord Nederlands Toneel speelt "Alice In Wonderland"

stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, 2010

Bijzonder. Overweldigend. Rauw. Explosief. Diepgravend.

En aan het einde is het hele decor ingestort, en zo hoort het ook.

Fantastisch. Zou het zo opnieuw willen zien. Alice in Wonderland, de droom is een nachtmerrie. De nachtmerrie onze samenleving. Elementen van de Friedzl-horrorstory.

En Ko van den Bosch' onnavolgbare teksten, woordjongleren...

De Rokende Rups

Ze willen ons verzuipen hier, Alice.
Het zijn de vreemdelingen.
Ze stoken de kacheltjes op,
zodat de ijsberen smelten.
En als de ijsberen gesmolten zijn,
gaan ze de Polen kappen,
omdat ze allemaal zwart werken
en er steeds meer nacht wordt aangemaakt.
De regenwouden zorgen voor nog meer water.
Alice, je ziet toch wat er gebeurt?
Het water stijg en wij zakken weg.
Ze staan te pissen tegen onze dijken
en stelen het zand van onze stranden weg.
En de tijd met haar gaten in haar hand
probeert dat zand wel aan te vullen,
maar voordat we hebben kunnen lezen
wat ze aan de zijkant van het zand van de tijd heeft gegraveerd
Is het nou God is onthutst?, of
God is goedgemutst,
is het al onder onze poten vandaan gejat.
Het zand wandelt weg
en het land gaat hardhollend achteruit.
De hHartenkoningin probeert de gaten
te dichten maar het rijmt niet meer.
En daarom moet ze steeds grovere 
stijlmiddelen gebruiken.
Ik zou graag een volkslief zingen,
maar de medeklinkers zijn gestolen
en het Babelstamelen is begonnen.

The Yes Men (documentary)

Modern Robin Hoods, being invited as representatives of the WTO, do exactly that: tell honestly exactly what the WTO is about.

"Remote worker", a golden harnass with fallus-shaped TV, in order to check and correct your teleworkers.

"Recycle your food" together with a fake McDonalds representative. The students who were present at this talk were the only ones who got angry, who shooted at them.

The other people from organizations listened politely, believing every word.

Wonderful documentary

Maserati - "Pyramid of the sun"

postrock, instrumental

pretty nice, particularly as background music in a noisy work-environment (greenbytes & blade, anyone?)

Johnny Cash - "Further Up The Road"

Where the road is dark and the seed is sowed
Where the gun is cocked and the bullet's cold
Where the miles are marked in the blood and gold
I'll meet you further on up the road

Got on my dead man's suit and my smilin' skull ring
My lucky graveyard boots and a song to sing
I got a song to sing, it keeps me out of the cold
And I'll meet you further on up the road.

Further on up the road
Further on up the road
Where the way is dark and the night is cold
One sunny mornin' we'll rise I know
And I'll meet you further on up the road.

Now I been out in the desert, just doin' my time
Searchin' through the dust, lookin' for a sign
If there's a light up ahead, well brother I don't know
But I got this fever burnin' in my soul

Further on up the road
Further on up the road
Further on up the road
Further on up the road

One sunny mornin' we'll rise I know
And I'll meet you further on up the road
One sunny mornin' we'll rise I know
And I'll meet you further on up the road.

Katie Melua - "Blame It On The Moon"

Now that it's gone too far to call for a halt,
I'll blame it on the moon
'Cause it's not my fault;
I didn't think that this would happen so soon
So I'll blame it on the moon.

Gonna blame it on the moon,
Didn't want to fall in love again so soon.

I was fine, feeling strong,
Didn't want to fall in love with anyone.

thinking of M, M, P, D, M, all the letters march by

Ricky Lee Jones - "It Hurts"

But it hurts to be here
It hurts to be here
It hurts to be here

[...]

But Monday I forget
Wednesday I just don't get
Thursday I remember and
Sunday I cry

quite fitting while browsing sad pictures of someone who stepped (unknowingly?) beyond the light.

La Illusion - Nicaragua

Beautiful black beans, looking like the ones from Viêt Nàm, almost scenting just as wonderful.

No bitter aftertaste at all. Good body, not intensily rich.

The Tunes - "Pududu!" (2010)

Dutch, swinging, bit like Mika, less glamorous

AIT! - "La Libera Democratia Societa Moderna"

Italian, Romanticismo Oltranzista (2007, Punch)

dark, swinging

(X-Rated 2010-10-03, 3rd hour)

Legendary Pink Dots - "Leap Of Faith" ("Seconds late for the Brighton line" (2010))

as legendary as they always were

Olivia Pedroli - "The Day" ("The Den" 2010)

Sad, melancholy.

Beautiful

Known before as "lolo" I think it said.

Giant Sand - "proVISIONS" (2008)

Is this the same Giant Sand as the one from which I recently listened to their latest album (such a horrible sentence. I'm gonna let it stay here to remind myself to write better)

This album is dark, think Mark Lanegan, dark alternative pop?

Jewel - "Who Will Save Your Soul"

wow, strong flashback to... studentyears, must be it.

Think Alex gave me a copy of her album.

Daniel Norgren - "Horrifying Death Eating Blood Spider"

Swedish, blues, roots, singer-songwriter

Raw, slightly crazy.

• Blind - Hey, I recognize this one
• Mean Old Devil Got On It - very Tom Waits, but that's probably because of that twingy guitar sound

Giant Sand - "Blurry Blue Mountain" (2010)

"relaxed, Americana, howe gelb, alt-country"

Sounds cool!

• Chunk of Coal - Leonard Cohen-ish, slow guitar
• Monk's Mountain - surf guitar-effect, cool, swinging
• Ride the Rail - rowhiiiiide!
• Lucky Star Love - a weird duet. not exactly beautiful, but kind of funny
• No Tellin' - slow, late-night
• Time Flies - bar-song, 4am, whiskey
• Better Man Than Me - grungy, bit Nick Cave-ish

Coffee: Monsoon Maz Abaar

(bought in London)

bit sweet.
bit shallow body, or did I prepare it too light?
perhaps more nutty than chocolate-y?
(oh wait, I didn't write chocolate-y)
no strong aftertaste at all.

Warpaint - "The Fool" (2010)

A bit of a guess, since after just listening to "Tamaryn" I wasn't sure I was in the mood for more "folk".

It turns out that "desert rock" is nothing like "shoegazing" though.

Evocative voice.

• Lissie's Heart Murmur: fast-paced, intense, rather nice.

Liked most songs, though none overly special

Tamaryn - "The Waves" (2010)

"folk, shoegazing" said the luisterpaal description.

Continuous long-stretched songs, immense soundwaves with voices that go on and on and on, becoming - for me - tiresome after a while.

Must admit I've skipped through songs after the 4th one. Working now, and it is too distracting.

Going Postal

Mini-series, basically 1 big film, split in two 90-minutes parts.

Enjoyable. Well done. A bit of a feel-good film.

But as with every Pratchett-film, I'm having a slight sense of discomfort. It is not *my* Pratchett... and I hope it never will.

Don't want no LoTR effect.

System Of A Down - "Radio / Video"

La lie lie lie lie lie lie,
Hey man! Look at me rockin' out,
I'm on the radiooooooo,
Hey man! Look at me rockin' out,
I'm on the videooooooo,
Hey man! Look at me rockin' out,
I'm on the radiooooooo,
Hey man! Look at me rockin' out,
I'm on the videooooooo,

Evil Dead 2

"Screen on the Green", London. Wonderful 1-screen cinema.

Halloween. Beer. Friends. Beer.

"You're goin' down. Chainsaw."

"Groovy."

"That's right... who's laughing now... who's laughing *now*?"

"Workshed."

Angus & Julia Stone - (various)

just got this from P, but tags indicate I've listened to them before?
sing-a-songwriter-ish... nice.

Entheogenic - "Entheogenic" (2002)

Goa-trance, again. Much more lounge than "Younger Brother". Some parlando samples. Many flutes.

Younger Brother - "A Flock Of Bleeps" (2010)

Found by following links from Shulman and Shpongle. More technical, also Goa influences.

What do these people have with song-names? "Even Dwarves Start Small"

• The Receptive - dreamy, french lyrics

Charlie Parker - "Bird Up - the Charlie Parker Remix Project"

"Night in Tunesia" : weird, chaotic, jittery like Tom Waits

"Bird up" is the name of the album. Freaky

Devotchkia - "How It Ends"

slow-long, building up, orchestral, melancholic voice

There is no escape,

From the slave-catchers' songs.
For all of the loved ones gone.
Forever's not so long.
And in your soul,
They poked a million holes.
But you never lettem show.
C'mon it's time to go.

And
You
Already know.
Yeah, you already know
How this will end.

An Pierlé - "Hinterland" (2010)

• Where Did It Come From: Tori Amos-ish. Good

The rest (from what I've heard) nice. Not impressive. Should listen to the last few songs though.

the Bees - "Every Step's A Yes"

oldfashioned, close-harmony

Shulman - "Soundscapes And Modern Tales"

ufo-talk

ambient

not-quite killernames: "Avant Garden" and "Fromage"

• elements: repeating monotonous chorus, zen-beat & flute
• Aion: klik-plop, good! strange trumpet

Shulman - "In Search Of A Meaningful Moment" (2003)

half of the Shpongle duo.

Very goa / trance, this album. Ok enough, but didn't grab me as Shpongle did.

A Clockwork Orange (1971) OST

still fabulous!!!!

Tracy Bonham - "You Don't Know Me" (Down Here)

From the same album as "Something To Give"

haunting, on the edge of hysterical..

Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell - "Bombed"

soft, sad, musical

The beauty of 4-letter words, neon

http://vimeo.com/10437744

De Dijk & Solomon Burke - "Hold On Tight" (2010)

• Good for nothing: doesn't really work for me. prefer the original. That's curious, because that means that the words and their meaning sound different in another language, enough to make such a difference: usually this is the other way around: better in English than in Dutch
• Perfect Song: melancholy. nice
• No One: jazzy, ok

Homer Simpson - quote

"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel." - Homer Simpson

Shpongle - (various)

In the category of Ratatat, the Residents, Spy-Fi, and that catchy group, starting with a letter near the I-L..., we present "Shpongle"

Great to play, if only for its name!

Goa-trance-ish.

Divine Moments of Truth: breakbeat ish

Electroplasm - Goa, electro

Shpongolese Spoken Here - click, plop plop plop!

Ineffable Mysteries - catchy with Goa/Indian voice-pitching

Invisible Man In A Fluorescent Suit - moves from orchestral score to fastpaced catch-me tune

No Turn Un-Stoned - female voice, velvety, LushFM-ish, slow beat

Levitation Nation - south-American, party

Nothing Lasts ... - more ambient, though not really ambient vaguely ambient?

Shnitzled in the Negev - good! fantasy-world, orchestral, stammering beats and piano like Linking Park's "session"

The Stamen of the Shamen - brazil, groovy

Mentalism - dreamy electronic blips

Molecular Superstructure - very goa, vocoder, flute going slightly mental

Tron (1982)

Had to see it because of the upcoming Tron 2.0 (which looks spiffy, to say the least).

Enjoyed it tremendously. True enough, the cult status helped, but the film still manages to create its very own mood. 

Loved the "bit" humor: how to have fun with something that just says "yes" and "no". Timing, boys and girls, it's all about timing.

De Dijk & Solomon Burke

Solomon Burke died, 2010.

• Made an album with De Dijk
• "My Rose Saved From the Street"

Songs sound interesting, not overwhelming.

• 
  

Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat - "Hewers Of Wood And Drawers Of Water"

• Flemisch
• dark, slow, guitar
• hypnotic
• folk-influences
• "Argonaut and Magneto" : sounded familiar and very good

Yann Tiersen - "Dust Lane"

• "Dust Lane" : "mac-voice" as used by Radiohead, soundscape
• "Chapter 19" : parlando, Tiersen's typical minimalistic pianola-sounds
• "Ashes" : overwhelming, building up, chorus, impressive
• "Till The End" : 1st part is repetitive (in a slightly boring way), but it is followed by a lovely build-up
• "Fuck Me" : if this was called, "baise moi", at least it would have *sounded* slightly Amélie-ish. That was probably the reason to give it this name.

definitely 'harder', not the friendly Amélie sound. But it has accordeons and is beautifully musical.

Stephen Fry - "The Life of a Manic Depressant"

touching and wonderful document about people with the bipolar syndrome. He is a wonderful interviewer, who doesn't shun showing his own emotions.

"would you press a button that would erase your syndrome completely?" Only one would. The rest love their manic moments too much. 

Lithium: "I don't want to be part of the lithium generation." Symptoms come back and *worse* after taking lithium compared to the symptoms before lithium was used. Wow.

"Eat, Drink, Man, Woman"

Father, a masterchef, and his three daughters live through the difficulty of life and love against the background of lovely food.

How hungry can you get from watching a film!? What "Chocolat" did for bonbons, does this film for Asian cooking. Drooling images.

"Man On Wire"

Impressive documentary of a french guy insisting to rope-walk between the two WTC towers. Part heist, part psychological profile. Impressive.

"The Boat That Rocked"

Radio-pirates!

Lovely doc/mockumentary about radio-pirates on a boat in the North Sea, defying the government and its cold bans on everything inappropriate.

Great music, 1967's 1968's, wonderful characters, lively story.

The deleted scenes (45 min or so!) are almost just as much fun as the film.

Sam Cook - "Summertime"

bit "haunty" as the Doctor rightfully said

Hard Candy

Grim film with Ellen Page as a 14 yo taking revenge on a pedophile.

Explicit use of strong colours and repeating camera movements. Particularly the visual effect was interesting in the beginning, but it began to slightly wear off after a while.

There was a sudden change in colorisation (enough to make me wonder whether my TV was doing something weird) but it was probably meant to emphasize the change in mood. Should not be necessary.

Was a bit doubtful how believable his suicide in the end (persuaded by her, since his crimes would come out) was, but it was ok.

Interesting.

Metal Gear Solid Soundtrack - "The Best Is Yet To Come"

Oldie but goodie...

hack.SIGN

A boy finds himself in "the World", an online (immersive VR-like) game, unable to log out, and not sure how he ended up there.

Strange, but pretty nice.

E.M. Forster - "A Passage To India"

Interesting, and some wonderful paragraphs, but had to force myself more to read it than I would've preferred.

Inception (2010)

Impressive!

Long film, didn't feel like it. Keeps an impressive pace. The "heist" part is amusing, oesn't get boring at all.

Long discussions about the last shot (the totem, circling forever on the table). They're still not finished, and of course there's an NDA, so hush hush for now.

Let's say I found some errors / inconsistencies within the film, but they didn't downgrade my opinion at all. Impressive storytelling.

Kula Shaker - "Peter Pan R.I.P."

Violins, britpop-ish, slightly sad, 

Toy Story 3 (3D)

Pixar short: "Day and Night"

brilliant! A 3D adventure with essentially two 2D figures!

short, funny, sad... marvellous

Toy Story 3

Liked it!

way ahead of 2 and 1 concerning graphics of course

but story-wise, even more so: this was a "true" Pixar film: funny, passionate, sad, scary almost

the "near-death" scene is definitely impressive, very very much so

Raymond E. Feist - "Magician

2nd book of the Riftwar saga.

Bought because of the long trip home from San Diego.

Not bad. Not particularly good. Better than the first, I'd say, but still superficial, and the "Game" that sounded so promising, has hardly been touched and might not be that interesting at all.

[actually, I haven't finished it, and small chance I will anytime soon. Tag as finished to get rid of it.]

Daniel Mason - "A Far Country"

As poetic as "The Pianotuner"

There's not many quotes I wrote down. If I would have done so, half the book would be printed here.

When she thought of him now, she realized she couldn't remember his entire face, only fragments of it. He is ceasing to be, she thought, but then later she wondered: Maybe I am getting closer, to that place where a person breaks into pieces - a walk, a laugh, a smell, the strength in an arm. Isaias used to say this when they told stories of grandparents or aunts who were gone. Think, he said, of people you know, You don't know their faces, You know bits of them, their movement, their voice, The closer you are, the more broken they become.

Used this book while writing. Reading a few pages and then writing. It helped a lot to eliminate so many useless words, empty sentences.

Lange Frans & Sef Thissen - "Het zwaard van Damocles"

Een tragisch oud jaren-60 begin gemixt met een rustige rap van Lange Frans. Hedendaagse dystopie in de stijl van "Vluchten kan niet meer".
Heeft wel wat, maar even belangrijk was het volgende stuk tekst
en aan de rand van het ravijn
blijft heel de wereld dansen
tot er geen morgen meer zal zijn
en de muziek verstomt
Vooral die 2e zin: blijft heel de wereld dansen. Niet staan. Niet hangen. Maar dansen. Op de één of andere manier is die zin zo raak, zo juist, zo perfect. Wow.

Met dank aan de immer fantastische Def P. voor het draaien hiervan.

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Same year as the Matrix. Things have changed.

Visually, absolutely better. More puns, both visually and in storyline.

Story-wise amusing enough. Not special.

Watched this and the first so I can see 3D number 3 this afternoon.

Toy Story (1995)

The classic.

Have I seen it? Perhaps.

Amusing enough, though its relevance for animation exceeds the story-telling. This is not (yet) as brilliantly Pixar as Pixar will become, imho.

Gregory David Page - "Ocean of dreams"

"I wrote this song for my neighbour, who lives in a house without running water, who chainsmokes cigarettes and drinks Budweiser."

That sums it up pretty well.

Nice song.

Ilanois - "Chase the Sundown With Me"

Dutch band, heard on KinkFM.

Catchy song, bit old-fashioned guitarsound to it, wonderful minor chords

update

Alas, the other two songs are of the common whiny-singer-songwriter-as-band type

Timber Timbre - "Until The Night Is Over"

Canadian blues/folk singer.

It's catchy if you start with dark audio and the words "there's a house in New Orleans..."

There is a house in New Orleans
Where you woke from a coma and they bit your cheek
And they cleaned you out when you went to sleep

Oh, I just wanna change your mind
I just wanna change your mind
And it might become right away
It might become till the day I'm done

And I saw it as the house caught fire
And I saw it when the thief got brave
It's like a night, night, crawler, crawlin' out in the yard
And it's comin' over me in waves

But you're haunted by the morning sun
You keep digging till the night is over

I ain't no doctor, babe
I ain't no doctor, son
But I'll cool your fever till the doctor comes
It's a miracle, babe, but it ain't no fun

I just wanna change your mind
I just wanna change your mind
It might become right away
It might become till the day I'm done

And I saw it as the house caught fire
And I saw it when the thief got brave
It's like a night, night, crawler, crawlin' out in the yard
And it's comin' over me in waves

But it's not here now
It's the chance of it I hate
It's a hundred thousand miles off
Comin' closer everyday

update

it's a nice song, but wasn't very impressed by the other songs I found on myspace. Quite peculiar voice, it must be said

Death In Vegas - "Dirge"

trippy.

Could easily be added to "siren's lament" Qollections, though the backing is harder than most songs in that category.

William Gibson - "Burning Chrome"

Collection of shorts, ending with "Burning Chrome".

I'd have to reread it to properly write about it here, but it is absolutely amazing. Every single story.

Giardini Di Mirò - "Il Fuoco"

heard 4 songs on X-Rated: "X", "XX", "XXX" and "XXXX"

Post-rock, they say it's called. Beautiful soundscapes with violins.

Emmylou Harris - "All My Tears"

When I go don`t cry for me
In my fathers arms I`ll be
The wounds this world left on my soul
Will all be healed and I`ll be whole

[...]

It don`t matter where you bury me
I`ll be home and I`ll be free
It don`t matter where I lay
All my tears be washed away

Chuck Palahniuk - "Lullaby"

Small and intriguing book, in which the existence of a "culling song", a song to be read (sung) to dying elders, soldiers, young infants when no food was around, to give them peace, of mind, body and life.

Main character Streator and Helen Hoover Boyle become a dark Bonnie & Clyde, intent on destroying the book, yet wishing for more. He couldn't stop.

Loved the story, and the characters. He repeats a lot, it made me think of "Slaughterhouse 5" (poo-tee-weet?)