As the holiday season draws on, the covid issue really begins to disgruntle everyone. It is terribly boring not to be able to make travels or even plans for New Year's eve. Everyone's fed up with it but please be careful at least until the vaccine arrives at a health center near you... In the meantime stay with music and enjoy staying at home...
As Ray Charles once said;
“Music is powerful.
As people listen to it, they can be affected.
They respond.”
Here is the list for this weekend;
Brittany Howard - "History Repeats"
Róisín Murphy - "Narcissus"
Lizzo - "Good As Hell"
Tomeka Reid Quartet - "Old New"
Black Midi - "Ducter"
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.
I was happy to see that Nils Frahm released an album last week called "Tripping With Nils Frahm". It is an album recorded live in a venue that I adore in Berlin. The iconic "Funkhouse" is a former GDR broadcast center built in the 1950s, located overlooking the River Spree in Berlin's east. The product of joint efforts by architects and acousticians to create a world-class broadcasting campus, the multi-purpose venue houses spaces dedicated to recording symphony orchestras, choirs, chamber and jazz ensembles, pop music and radio plays.
The album consists of 8 tracks all recorded live during Nils Frahm's performances in December 2018. I think this recording is the pinnacle of his live recordings, even better compared to "Spaces".
In my opinion, what makes Nils Frahm so ethereal and emotional is that he creates this atmosphere (I also had the chance to watch him live and what I am about to tell is more obvious in a live setting) via accomplishing to lose all that technology behind his music. Yes, he is always surrounded by many gadgets and towers of synths with thousands of knobs, but when he starts to play, all that technology somehow disappears and you are in the middle of a sonic ocean.
This album is no different. I do not know if his style has evolved in that fashion because he was a classically trained pianist but his sound world is cruising between classical and electronic and that is what makes him so unique.
"Tripping with Nils Frahm" is released also as a movie that I believe could be a great experience to watch.
Here is a trailer for you;
Let's finish with Nils Frahm's own words and listen to a great piece from the album...
"I think music can be the most beautiful drug experience of your life — it is almost like an addiction," Frahm says. "And also, the word 'tripping' came because I'm on this trip for the last 10, 11 years where I'm traveling the world to make my show. And so all of this became so intense that I thought, 'Yeah — it's a trip."
The song of the week is a rock single written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows in 1975. It is a song that is best known by one of its covers that was recorded six years after the original.
Here is the song for this week;
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll"
Merrill explained in a Songfacts interview how this song came about: "That was a knee-jerk response to the Rolling Stones' 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll.' I remember watching it on Top of the Pops. I'd met Mick Jagger socially a few times, and I knew he was hanging around with Prince Rupert Lowenstein and people like that – jet setters. I almost felt like 'It's Only Rock and Roll' was an apology to those jet-set princes and princesses that he was hanging around with - the aristocracy, you know. That was my interpretation as a young man: Okay, I love rock and roll. And then, where do you go with that?"
The song was released as a B-side with The Arrows' "Broken Down Heart." The group was recording for RAK Records, which was run by Mickie Most. As Merrill explains, "I Love Rock And Roll" didn't suit his current tastes, as during that time Most preferred ballads and blues. Most's wife Christina Hayes encouraged him to flip the sides, but the song didn't catch on, as it suffered from a poor run of luck at the time of its release. First, it had to be re-released as an A-side. Second, the song came out during an English newspaper strike, so new songs weren't getting the exposure they'd normally get. Third, The Arrows were feuding with their record label. As a result, the song didn't chart and was banished to obscurity.
All was not lost, however, as The Arrows performed this song when they were guests on the UK TV series Pop 45. The show's producer, Muriel Young, was so impressed that on the strength of this performance, she gave them their own TV show, simply called The Arrows Show, which ran from 1976-1977 in the UK for two full 14-week seasons on the ITV network. It was this show that Joan Jett saw in 1976, which prompted her to acquire a copy of "I Love Rock and Roll" and later cover it in 1981, producing what is arguably one of the most successful covers in rock history.
Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - "I Love Rock n Roll"
Jamie Lancaster - "I Love Rock n Roll"
Miley Cyrus - "I Love Rock n Roll"
LA Guns - "I Love Rock n Roll"
Hayseed Dixie - "I Love Rock n Roll"
Britney Spears - "I Love Rock n Roll"
Ghoti Hook - "I Love Rock n Roll"
Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).
nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.
Here is the 100th of the "Five Songs For The Weekend" post. This means 500 songs over a period of two years. I hope each and every one of you has found at least a song you love and discovered an artist to your own liking.
As Hans Christian Andersen once said;
“Life is like a beautiful melody,
only the lyrics are messed up.”
Here is the list for this weekend;
The Cinematic Orchestra - "The Awakening Of A Woman"
Plaid - "Dancers"
Soviet Soviet - "Ecstasy"
Jyoti - "Bop For Aneho"
Brian Eno - "Decline And Fall"
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.
This week's song is coming from one of the greatest electronic music bands of all time. It was released in 1978 in Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine album (released in German as Die Mensch-Maschine). The song was initially a B-side to their single, "The Model" ("Das Model"), but later the sides were swapped. The 12-inch single was pressed on luminous vinyl.
By the way, I am currently reading a book by Uwe Schütte called "Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany". I would like to thank my dear friend from Basel (@cereyanlimusiki) who was kind enough to send me the book during these tough times. I highly recommend the book not only to Kraftwerk fans but to all music lovers.
Here is the song for this week;
"Neon Lights"
The song was written by the band members; Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider and Karl Bartos.
It has a lilting melody and reflects Düsseldorf at night, paying tribute to the many colorful neon signs that advertise shops, hotels and bars in the band's hometown. "Neon Lights" is a frequently underrated classic in the Kraftwerk oeuvre, a sublimely atmospheric piece.
Andy Gill in his review for the NME hailed the album but he did not single out either the title track or "The Robots". Instead, without hesitation, he names "Neon Lights" the best track on the album. Indeed, the captivating melody has been described as a "sonic refutation of the allegations that Kraftwerk had no soul"...
Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).
nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.
