Natalie Merchant - "The Blind Man and the Elephant" (Leave your Sleep)

Happy, Middle Eastern influences. Swinging.

John Grant - "Queen of Denmark"

wow! not the lyrics you expect from such an orchestral singer-songwriter song!

I wanted to change the world
But I could not even change my underwear
And when the shit got really really out of hand
I had it all the way up to my hairline
Which keeps receding like my self-confidence
As if I ever had any of that stuff anyway
I hope I didn't destroy your celebration
Or your Bar Mitzvah, birthday party or your Christmas
You put me in this cage and threw away the key
It was this 'us and them' shit that did me in
You tell me that my life is based upon a lie
I casually mention that I pissed in your coffee
I hope you know that all I want from you is sex
To be with someone that looks smashing in athletic wear
And if your haircut isn't right you'll be dismissed
Get your walking papers and you can leave now

Don't know what to want from this world
I really don't know what to want from this world
I don't know what it is you wouldn't want from me
You have no right to want anything from me at all
Why don't you take it out on somebody else?
Why don't you tell somebody else that they're selfish?
Weepy coward and pathetic ...

Who's gonna be the one to save me from myself?
You'd better bring a stun gun and perhaps a crowbar
You'd better pack a lunch and get up really early
And you should probably get down on your knees and pray
It's really fun to look embarrassed all the time
Like you could never cut the mustard with the big boys
I really don't know who the fuck you think you are
Can I please see your license and your registration?

Don't know what to want from this world
I really don't know what to want from this world
I don't know what it is you wouldn't want from me
You have no right to want anything from me at all
Why don't you take it out on somebody else?
Why don't you tell somebody else that they're selfish?
Weepy coward and pathetic ...

So Jesus hasn't come in here to pick you up
You'll still be sitting here ten years from now
You're just a sucker but we'll see who gets the last laugh
Who knows, maybe you'll be the next queen of Denmark

Gormenghast (BBC series)

The crazy words of Peake you hear only through the weird Doctor's twisting sentences.

But all in all, they did a good job (Stephen Fry!), capturing the spirit of the books in a mere 4 hours.

Still, I hate to say, it doesn't do the words of Mervyn Peake justice. Read the books! Particularly the first 2...

Arid - 2 meter sessie

Belgian band. Melancholy voice, more Buckley than Freddie Mercury.

Nice!

The song "broken dancer" reminds me of what... Buckley? The Shins? Just like "Seven-Odd Years" (both titles are guesses)

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

Liked it. Bit melancholy, violins.

According to the DJ ("oooh!") it was more like their older work, but Kula Shaker is one of those bands that I just know by name...

Later, "Winter's Call"... orchestral, good.

Edgar Allan Poe - "The Pit and the Pendulum" (Tales of Mystery and Imagination)

Finally I read one of his masterpieces!

And it is good. 14 pages describing basically 4 horror-scenarios, folding into each other like an accordeon. It is impressive, to describe so minutiously every sensation and thought of hope and horror.

The end, well, a happy end. Not a Poe end! Would it have been better if he would have heard his saviours rush in at the moment when he started falling into the Pit? Or is that my doomed mind.

Considering the immense tortures they make him go through, it seems a bit like an easy ending. To make him suffer while they know they will be held captive soon, a final horror to bestow upon him, seems more fitting to me.

Kees Stip (alias Trijntje Fop) - "Op een spreeuw"

Een rupsenzamelende spreeuw
vloog door het keelgat van een leeuw.
'Ik hoop', zo sprak het beest benauwd,
'dat deze leeuw van rupsen houdt.'

Leert, kinders, dit van deze spreeuw:
Humor is lachen in een leeuw.

Edgar Allan Poe - "The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar" (Tales of Mystery and Imagination)

Short story in which a dying man is hypnotised ("mesmerized") in order to keep death away.

A mere ten pages long, it describes the effect of mesmerizing him and how his hypnosis keeps the rotting of his body and the departure of his spirit at bay.

I noticed I had to focus on the words to truly feel the atmosphere. That said, sitting outside on a warm sunny balcony with Turkish background music is perhaps not the right environment for reading Poe...

Orbital - "The Gun Is Good"

Just out. Nice!

Neil Gaiman - "Harlequin Valentine" & I Monster - "Neveroddoreven"

Reading "Harlequin Valentine" (from the "Fragile Things" collection) while listening to I Monster's "Neverroddoreven" (starting with "Heaven") is a wonderful combination and quite helps to get into writing mode.

Monsters Of Folk - "Monsters Of Folk"

Most of the songs I don't feel like listening to, but "Man Named Truth" is still a strong song.

Arcana - "Dark Age Of Reason" (1996)

Can't say I remember why I looked this up. Must've been X-Rated.

Wait, got an entry on the 12th of April: "dark synth". Rather minimalistic.

Slow beats, high fairylike voices.

Title-track is a slow minimal soundscape, with, indeed, dark synths and echo's of voices.

Not bad. Not overwhelming either. Good during writing?

Crash Test Dummies - "I Don't Care That You Don't Mind" (2001)

It's nice, slow and soft. But perhaps not too good as background-music; it becomes much of the same.

Better while playing a game of Go or when enjoying the last glass of the bottle.

But, nice songs. Definitely not same-same.

"Put Me In A Corner Of Your Min" (huh?) - trumpets and waawaa-guitar.

"Shoot Em Up Shoot Em Down" - low, bluegrass-ish

Broken Bells - "Broken Bells"

Is it the singer of the Shins? (aye! and Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton)

Let's see where it leads ...

I'm not good at original descriptions, but both melody- and voice-wise, it is very much like the Shins, with, yes indeed, a bit more of a beat...

Enjoyable, though I haven't heard tracks yet which drove me crazy.

"Citizen" is a bit catchy... and notice the orchestral trumpet ending of "The Waiting Game"

Het Zesde Metaal - "Gasten"

Twee tracks gespeeld, en blijft zangerig rondzingen. Heerlijk

VPRO Marathon Interview - Liesbeth Koenen

Henny Vrienten - "Het oudste liedje", met "hebban olla vogala..." aardig.

Paolo Conte, was eigenlijk advocaat. Heeft ze geïnterviewd voor Vrij Nederland.

Kabbelt wat voort. Een leuk interview, uitgevoerd door Jan Haasbroek (? hoofdredacteur van de VPRO).

De argumenten voor de afkeer van godsdienst vond ik niet sterk. Ze beriep zich volledig op rationele argumenten en zag niet in waarom mensen "oude boeken" zouden raadplegen wanneer ze op zoek gaan naar het waarom van het leven. "Dat moet je toch zelf uitzoeken." Te kort door de bocht.

Jeroen Brouwers - "De Verzonkene"

Ik denk dat dit het eerste boek is dat ik van hem gelezen heb. Een cadeau van zijn uitgeverij voor relaties, is het een grote polemiek tegen vage, post-vanalles denkers.

Het was in het begin moeilijk door te komen. Er zit dan ook weinig verhaal in, maar toch boeide het wel. Hij schrijft mooi, maar ik moet meer van hem lezen om te kijken wat ik er van vind.

Muse - Live in Goffertpark

Fabulous. Loved the festival spirit, and loved every single second of their show.

VPRO Marathon Interview - Rijk de Gooyer

Prachtige man! Wat een verrukking na die elitaire zuurpruim van een Siebelink!

Niets hoogdravends, niets arrogants. Ooit opgepakt toen hij met zijn dronken kop (zijn eigen auto netjes laten staan - geparkeerd op het Leidseplein! - ) in een mooie wagen zat. Uit een openstaand raampje van het politiebureau gesprongen en meteen opgepakt door een potige bouwvakker. In elkaar gemept. En zich er totaal niet op voor aan laten staan dat hij "meneer Gooyer" is. "Nee absoluut niet. Eerder het omgekeerde. Dan zeggen ze, meneer de Gooyer, u heeft een voorbeeldfunctie. En dat is ook wel een beetje zo."

Prachtige verhalen over Sinatra en een dame uit Berlijn. Over Wim Kan (lagen elkaar niet) en Wim Sonneveld (groot cabaretier), Johnny Kraaijkamp en zijn goede vriend "Eelke" (?) met wie hij samen "Koos Tak" schreef.

"De gereformeerde kerk heeft ook humor. Als je 'm maar weet te vinden."

Heeft Himmel opgepakt, al wisten ze niet zeker dat hij het echt was. "Het had net zo goed een gek kunnen zijn die zichzelf Himmel noemde." Bij het bezettingsleger gezeten. Eerlijk over zijn (tijdelijke) haat tegen alles wat Duits was. Staat het liefst voor de camera's, vindt het publiek, zeker dat op de eerste rij, eigenlijk maar niets.

Houdt van lachen. Houdt ongelofelijk veel van lachen.

Johnny Flynn - "Been Listening"

Nice singer-songwriter. Folk-influences.

The duet "the water" is a little gem.

Must keep this artist in mind.