Weeks are passing by, which means summer is already halfway through. Chilly evenings with cool breezes keep us fresh during the summer especially during live concerts. I guess what I will miss the most in winter is going to be the open air concerts of summer. So enjoy them as much as possible...
As George Eliot once said;
"Life seems to go without effort when we are filled with music"
So here is this week's list;
Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam - "A 1000 Times"
St. Vincent - "Digital Witness"
Jacob Collier - "Hideaway"
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - "Heat Wave"
Sudan Archives - "Come Meh Way"
Hope you have a great weekend.
nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.
Many unconventional music bands are coming out of Japan since the 1960s and this band is one of the most unique ones.
"Open Reel Ensemble" is a band which the 3 members make music by manipulating reel to reel tapes and they call their own music "magneticpunk"...
Photo Credit: Mao Yamamato
They don't utilize conventional instruments during their performances/recordings and only create sounds by the help of reel to reel tapes which are mostly Teacs and Pioneers from the 70s and 80s.
They make the percussive sounds by tapping the stretched tapes with drum sticks or using bamboo sticks for pulling and pushing the tape back and forth for string like sounds.
The band members are Ei Wada, Haruka Yoshida and Masaru Yoshida who have been friends for a long time and constantly working on improving their sounds.
They are also very talented in creating new instruments where they can even combine keyboard instruments with the tapes for further sound manipulation.
Here is a short video where they describe themselves and more importantly what they do...
On the other hand using tapes in music making is not a very new concept (even dating back to late 40s, early 50s) but it seems that Open Reel Ensemble has taken it to a different level.
Here's another video of their piece "Gone".
If you are into new musical experimentations and new sounds do check them out...
Hello dear followers, here we are with the 35th "5 songs for the weekend" post. I hope the series have been reaching to many listeners as I have been trying to find songs for almost any taste. Lucky me if I could make any one of you discover a song that you like. If you say not yet, keep on following :)
As Aaron Copland once said;
"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable."
So let the music flow;
Rodrigo y Gabriela - "Take Five"
James - "Runaground"
Objekt - "Secret Snake"
Space - "Neighbourhood"
Stéphan Oliva Trio - "Stéréoscope"
Hope you have a great weekend.
nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.
The Brazilian father of bossa nova has passed away this weekend at the age of 88. He was one of the most influential South American musicians of all time and a true pioneer of a genre that will always be remembered with his name.
Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
He was a singer, guitarist and a composer who had begun his musical career in the late 40s. However his revolutionary singing style caused him to be put in a mental hospital by his father. Obviously this didn't last very long and he returned to Rio where he met Antonio Carlos Jobim and his musical life began to change for good.
His first album "Chega de Saudade" which is often referred as the first bossa nova album became hugely successful all over the world.
Most probably his most famous recording was the one he made with Stan Getz in 1964. It was called Getz/Gilberto and featured Jobim and Gilberto's wife Astrud (after the album she had a relationship with Stan Getz).
Here is the opening track from this great album, "Girl From Ipanema"...
Farewell shy king of the bossa nova. You will be missed.
Pretty hot days all over (at least on our hemisphere), so here is another list to make your weekend a bit cooler. I was at an open air concert during the week and believe me because of the weather the tuning of the instruments were effected therefore had to be re-tuned again and again during the performance. There is nothing left that global warming isn't taking its toll...
As Kurt Vonnegut once said;
"No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful."
And here is this week's list;
Chet Baker - "But Not For Me"
John Lee Hooker & Canned Heat - "Whiskey & Wimmen"
Billy Joel - "Piano Man"
Talking Heads - "Nothing But Flowers"
Jonathan Richman - "Cosi Veloce"
Hope you have a great weekend.
nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.
