PeaceT(b)lo(g)

Finally the last day of the week!

Good intentions for the weekend:

1) have fun

2) have a lot of fun

3) try to drink not too much

I think this is a quite good plan.

Today we jump back in time to something I totally forgot until I found it by chance while going around on YouTube. Something from the band Dee Lite.

I don’t know anything about this band (I should say…. I didn’t know, until I started looking around). Now I know they’re from MY City. They’re a trio. Their names? Lady Miss Kier (the vocalist), Super DJ Dmitri and Towa Tei (weird names, aren’t they?!). They released just 4 official CDs but the most important one is their debut album, “World Clique”, which contains the single I’m posting today.

I danced to the rhythm of this song so many times, during the ’80s. This is “Groove Is In The Heart”:

Have a great weekend.

Domenico

One day left till the end of the week! And actually I also don’t feel quite good… is it maybe due to the weekend that is close?! Bah!? Whatever. I’m quite glad to see that also Giodi started watching the BLOG and hope he will keep the pace with the rest of the ones who daily dedicate a bit of time to music.

Since the advertisement time is finished, let’s start with today’s post. Today we talk about the Motorpsycho.

This band comes from Norway. I started listening to their music by accident when I got a nice and quite CD from my friend Giovanni who told me “if you like rock music, this is a CD that you MUST have”. The CD in question was the masterpiece “Demon Box” and while it was recorded just 15 years ago (!) in some way it’s far ahead compared with several rock bands and albums that came later, even now that rock seems to be pretty alive!

Several bands were inspired by these Norwegian guys and their music can generally be defined as psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from metal, jazz, rock, pop and many other musical styles. Later on, meaning since the album “Let Them Eat Cake (2000)”, they moved to a more intimistic musical style. Always keeping a certain orientation to something rock, and sometimes symphonic, they released some beautiful ballads with violins and bows… sometimes mandolins! Something impressive about them is the fact they started playing and releasing albums since they were 20 yrs old, and since then, they’ve released an incredible amount of music coming out almost every year with a full CD and/or an EP. This was like that until 2002 and then just a couple of albums in 2006 and 2008.

There are so many songs I’d like to post but strangely I haven’t found so many videos or any with good quality. Fortunately, I found a good video for the song “The Slow Phaseout”:

Enjoy it. Domenico

Today I’d like to surprise you. But later. First I want to mention that yesterday I took some satisfaction in telling to some people what I thought. Believe me, it’s pretty relaxing and useful (in a selfish way) to release some unknown words while slowly breathing. I also started my personal attempt (for the umpteenth time) to go to the gym, to swim, to do whatever kind of sport.

Coming back to the main topic, today I’d like to surprise (some of) you. Let’s talk about Francesco Guccini.

I definitively confess my total ignorance about this well known songwriter. I just know that he comes from Emilia Romagna and he lives close to Bologna. I know that because about 7 years ago I was in Bologna with some friends and my brother too. At that time Fabio (my brother) was in love with a girl who was a great fan of Francesco Guccini and one day, while I was enjoying Bologna and its lovely spots and streets, my brother took the car and went to this small town (maybe Carpi but I just guess) and found the house where Guccini lived at that time. He told me they knocked the door and he opened and let them in and they had a cup of tea together. That was really impressive to me. Such a famous artist but really humble and easy going. For sure.

Why am I posting something from Guccini. As I told you before, I don’t know anything about him and even never heard one of his songs (some of you will think and say “shame on you!”). Then, yesterday. I was with Max, discussing about life. Suddenly he reported some words that caught my attention and I asked to hear them again. The words were saying “…c’è una vita sola, non ne sprechiamo niente in tributi alla gente o al sogno…“. Such a simple statement, such a powerful truth. The words come from the following song “Canzone Quasi D’Amore” that I heard for the first time a few minutes ago and found it wonderful:

This is for my friend Max. Life is great cos there is always something good to discover.

Domenico

And we move on. 2nd day. Back to work. Still recovering hours (of sleep and of work). Enjoying the little moments of this city that appears to me in a different way, every time I observe it. Every time I live it. Sometimes I love Vienna, sometimes I feel it’s too narrow. Coming back from a different place always gives me different emotions. Divided between what I left and what I found (again). Friends left after the last hug till the next time we’ll meet and other friends that hug you again, happy to see you.

As you can see, today’s mood is moving between waves of soft thoughts and it’s looking forward to the next days that will come. Maybe it’s because of the time I’m writing this post. It’s 00:42 in the night and I’m back from a dinner with Max and l’uomo perlana. A lot of laughs and the consciousness of being an “eletricista”.

Let’s talk about The Hives.

This Swedish rock band is around since about the 2000, when the so called garage rock revival started and they play something named “garage punk”, considered as a mix from the two genres. The Hives are known for performing in matching suits that change with each album, but are always black and white… who knows why?! The first time I listened to one of their album I found nothing new and I still think it so. The point is that just a limited number of bands has been able to really express something significant when playing some garage rock (like the Dirtbombs or McLusky, for example).

Nevertheless, in days like this, it’s good to listen to some songs like the one I’m posting today, that is “Walk Idiot Walk”:

Rock it and enjoy it.

Domenico

I’m back. Finally I’m. It was a great holiday. Two weeks together with Fra and our special friends. So many things to remember, so many laughs, so many adventures like “La casa dei mostri” with Taxi Driver, ‘O Camion, ‘Oppane… Thanks to all of you, my lovely friends to make these days so special.

On the other hand, I was so curious to see how did the BLOG forum react to the Kelly’s weeks that I went through them and I’d like to thanks Kelly for her music selection and the care she took of the BLOG during my absence. Then, thanks to all of you for the several comments. Now, I’d like to slowly come back to the normal life, that’s why today I’ll put a song from a band that I’ve already spoken about, that is 99 Posse.

The song I post is “S’adda appiccia” and it’s really a minor and almost unknown song from this band that they performed with Bisca, another Neapolitan band, during the Incredibile Opposizione Tour in 1994, when Berlusconi was elected. The fact is we (the ones who went to Portugal) started singing the initial part of the song and we kept doing that all over the trip:

The song is also incomplete, but the missing part is a continuous saying “S’adda, s’adda, s’adda appiccia…”

Lots of love to everybody. Let’s start the week.

Domenico-Very-Tired-From-The-Trip

P.S. I’ve commented to the diatribe on Pink Floyd… have a look to the respective post. Kisses. D.

I had to convince Dome to let me put these guys on – so mainstream, everyone knows them – how can you not – the classic, the prog rock visionaries of the 1970s – Pink Floyd. While getting their start in the 1960s as the psychedelic rock bank in the 1960s with Syd Barret front man by 1969 he had been replaced by Dave Gilmour on guitar and vocals. In 1973 they released on the greatest rock albums of all time, “Dark side of the moon”. However, today we talk about another album, dedicated to Syd Barrett, “Wish You Were Here”, from 1975. I can never decide which one is my favourite.

I thought since today is my last day with the distinct honour of guest blogging and that tomorrow I am leaving Vienna and thus leaving behind many people I care about that I had to play my favourite Pink Floyd song of all time: “Wish you were here”. Two summers ago in Austria I saw Dave Gilmour play and when he played those opening chords, so hauntingly sad yet beautiful I thought, ah, I can die a happy woman, I’ve seen and heard Dave Gilmour play my favourite song. So enjoy, this live performance from the Pink Floyd ‘reunion’ from the 2005 Live8 in London. So long my Vienna family, I’m sure this song will make me think of each of you.

Kelly

What do you get when three members of “Rage Against the Machine” team up with the former front man, Chris Cornell from “Soundgarden”? Some seriously kick ass rock called AudioSlave. After Rage’s lead singer Zach de la Roca went to pursue a solo career the guitarist, Tom Morello, Bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilks found themselves without a singer– until they hooked up with Cornell. They debuted with a heavy classic rock sound self titled album in 2002. Two more studio albums followed Out of Exile (2005) and Revelations (2006). Chris Cornell, eager to do something different after recovering from heroine and Soundgarden (not sure if the two were related) agreed to collaborate on one condition – they do not do songs about hate and anger. Despite their heavy sound and commitment to social activism they managed to achieve this. In 2005 Audioslave ignored the official US boycott of Cuba and played in Havana – this has since been made available in both CD and DVD.

While Audioslave is no more, Chris Cornell has gone solo, Rage Against the Machine reunited and Tom Morello has recently released a critically acclaimed solo album – they did leave us with some great music from their short five years together.

Today we will listen to a song off their first album, “Show me how to live”. Heavy and intimate. Turn up the volume and enjoy.

Kelly

Polly Jean or PJ Harvey is one of the most interesting, dedicated song writers to come out of the UK in the 1990s. Often compare to Patti Smith and associated with the whole feminist grunge scene she rejects these labels and claims influences from the blues influences, bands such as Television and The Pixies, claiming gender is not an influence – good music is. Her sound goes from punk to folk to rock to blues, depending on her mood. One of her best albums, Stories from the Cities Stories from the Sea with tracks featuring Thom Yorke on vocals. The following year she won the prestigious UK Mercury Prize.

In 2004 I got a lucky and was offered a ticket to see her in Earl’s Court. The stage presence of this tiny woman behind a guitar was immense. She played the classics, she crooned, she screamed, she whispered and thrashed her guitar all while wearing 4 inch pink patent stilettos. Wow. Kudos to miss Polly Jean from Dorset. Let’s go back in time to her ‘Diva’ stage from the melancholy “To Bring You My Love” album from 1995 and watch “Down by the Water”.

Kelly