posted by Thomas on Sep 4
AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
If I could afford a ticket to go to the US just for this, I would be so there.
Archive for the ‘music’ Category
posted by Thomas on Aug 8
Interested in exchanging Mix CD’s with random strangers? Go here.
posted by Thomas on Jul 28
…I wanted some music while I read a friends play that I had promised to finish this weekend. Some music to fill the quiet. I go to soundtracks when I feel this way usually. Our modern equivalent to classical music. Elmer Bernstein’s score for To Kill A Mockingbird is especially gorgeous.
But I didn’t put that in.
I put in the soundtrack for Il Postino.Il Postino is a fictional story about a fisherman who meets the poet Pablo Nerudo and how the friendship changed his life.
In 1995 my ex gave me the CD that I popped into my computer this evening. I had just moved to Seattle and we weren’t together and never would be, but it would take us another five-six years to fully realise that.
The first 15 tracks are Neruda poems read with varying success by celebrities. My favorite has always been ‘Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines’. Click here to hear it read by Andy Garcia.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example, ‘The night is starry
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.’
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.
To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.
What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.
This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.
The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.
I no longer love her, that’s certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tries to find the wind to touch her hearing.
Another’s. She will be another’s. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, that’s certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.
Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.
posted by Thomas on Jul 6
Big thanks to Lillie for pointing this one out!
posted by Thomas on Jun 2
Damn. I never got to see him perform.
posted by Thomas on Apr 2
“Because you want to know where the triggers are, you know?. . .If you’re at all interested in what I do, then check out Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, check out Louis Armstrong—they are the essentials. I’m only a mish-mash of what I’ve heard, you know? And I’ve taken it my own way, but listening doesn’t hurt.” –Keith Richards
I’ve always loved The Stones. I think it may be because of the blues. I dig the blues more than any other kind of music and The Stones at their heart and soul are all about the blues.
Back in 1993 I was driving with the guy I was seeing at the time (Kevin, if you’re reading this, hope you don’t mind my telling this story.) and I had a copy of Hot Rocks in my car. He picked it up and looked it over.
“I like The Stones.” I said.
He tossed the cassette aside. “They’re not the Beatles.”
I didn’t say anything, but I thought, Well. No. That’s because They’re The Rolling Stones.
When we saw the preview for Shine a Light, the documentary concert flick about The Stones directed by Scorsese, I thought, I wanna see that.
Stuart got us tickets for tonight. They had 100 theatres across the UK that screened it in tandem with the Leicester Square premier. Before they film they showed the band arriving on the red carpet and were each quickly interviewed by some bird. Was moderately entertaining, but the best bit was when she was talking to Keith Richards, he was rather flirty, kept touching her arm and before he walked away said, “Take a card.” He had given her his card. Was fantastic. I don’t think he realised he was on camera. I hope his wife wasn’t watching.
There was a part of me that was worried about the film because I really don’t dig watching filmed concerts. They lack the gravitas and energy of an actual live show. While Shine a Light isn’t as good as seeing a live show, it’s pretty damn good.
There’s a ton of energy and the old clips are hysterical. There is also something sweet and almost shocking in seeing their baby-faces against the miles of life on their face now.
The best part of the concert is the song with Buddy Guy. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Mick Jagger’s unrelenting energy is nothing short of amazing.
It looks fantastic which is no big surprise not only because of Scorsese, but it was shot by Robert Richardson (The Aviator). A quick bit of research online also shows the camera operators aren’t slouches either. They include John Toll (”Legends of the Fall”), Robert Elswit (”There Will Be Blood”), Andrew Lesnie (”The Lord of the Rings”), Emmanuel Lubezki (”Children of Men”), Stuart Dryburgh (”The Piano”) and Declan Quinn (”Leaving Las Vegas”). The coverage that they get is kick ass. They’re able to tell a story. You see Richard’s eyes flick and connect — the give and take and listening as they work together.
The sound is also nothing short of remarkable.
So, go. If you like The Stones, check it out. You’ll have a good time.
posted by Thomas on Mar 5
Monday night I was watching one of those puff pastry celebrity wankfest biographies on the Osbourne’s. When it got to the bit about Crazy Train I smiled.
When I started at GoTo in autumn 1999 we were the tiny little ugly stepsister of the Internet, AltaVista was the king of search engines and Google wasn’t a verb yet.
We were something like 200 employees with all that crazy dotcom energy flying around and every Friday at 5PM someone would blast Crazy Train. I heard it all began a few months before I started by a developer fueled by too much caffeine and frustration at code.
For years the tradition continued even after Yahoo! bought us. It was a great way to say “Fuck, yeah! It’s Friday!” There were times however it was problematic if you happened to be on the phone with a customer.
“What’s all that noise?”
“Er. . . That’s Ozzy Osbourne sir.”
“Sounds like you’re having a party.”
In a way we were. We were having a party. And all good things must come to an end. When I left two years ago there was no Ozzy on my floor. I don’t know if there are still subversive pockets of it there or not.
Last night I was at work late and I downloaded it. First few bars of that guitar riff I grinned to myself at the sense memory.
EYEE!EYEE!EYEE!
posted by Thomas on Jan 30
Click Here to listen to Mr. Johnson.
posted by Thomas on Oct 4
Inspired. . .
Great article about it in the NY Times as well.
I have a feeling Jonathan Swift would approve.