Kate Bush

I first heard the name Kate Bush when I read that Placebo was covering her song 'Running up that hill' back in 2002/2003. I loved the cover and wanted to know more about who wrote it and listen to the original version, which unfortunately, I found too 'outdated/80's' for my preferences at the time. So I discarded Kate Bush from my musical library for a while. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, right?

Some months ago a friend 'borrowed' me some of Kate Bush albums praising how wonderful she was.  And he was 100% right.
Although I have to say that her very early records are too 'poppy' for my taste, she first got my full attention with 'The Dreaming'. There is a 'before' and 'after' that record for me. When I listened to it an realized that it was written and produced in 1981/1982 I was astounded. The compositions were so innovative, with great strong rhythms ('Sat In Your Lap') or vocal exploits ('There Goes a Tenner', 'Pull Out The Pin', 'Get Out My House'). Her lyrics are profound, and not just a repeated cheesy 'I love you'. She writes about characters in her songs, and describes them as if she was living it all. The album is made to be played loud and you should definitely do it.

Then comes the 'Hounds of Love' record in 1985, from which the opener 'Running up that hill' brings me back to the beginning of this post. It's a true experimental pop record, the first half filled with singles and powerful songs and the second half more calm/experimental-like. It's full of great stories of love and imagination (as the 'Hounds of love' song, "Take my shoes off and throw them in the lake/And I'll be 2 steps on the water"- only slightly suggesting what is going to happen). The sounds are definitely more 80's-like than in 'The Dreaming', with a larger use of synthesized drums and keyboards.

I would suggest to listen to all of her records, specially 'The Dreaming', 'Hounds of Love' and 'Aerial' (2005).  She just released a revision of some of her old songs in 'Director's Cut' (2011), which has already received mostly positive reviews. If you haven't heard her still you can look some of her videos posted here below. Enjoy!

From 'The Dreaming':

From 'Hounds of Love':

From 'Director's Cut':

Official Website: Kate Bush

Bright Light Bright Light

Nearly two months ago a friend made me discover the work of Bright Light Bright Light, a dj/musician/producer/singer who lives in London. His electronic pop style might not be innovative, but his skills as songwriter/producer are remarkable. The music is honest, catchy and makes you want to dance immediately!

Check his myspace and his new video for the new 'Disco Moment' below:

Berlin Music Broadcast - Séance #3 with Simonne Jones

On Friday 11 March I was invited to attend an intimate concert given by Simonne Jones, organized and hosted by the Berlin SUNST. Brothers (Sebastian and Tobias Amberger) in their own studio. The event was called "Séance", and was the 3rd on a series where the name of the artist is kept secret until the night of the show, giving only little description of who it/they might be on the invitation. The artist invited for that evening was the young and charismatic Simonne Jones, a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter who explores different musical genres.

At 20:00 the studio was already full. The FilmCake crew was all around documenting it all. Simonne was not there yet, but her eye (projected on a circle on the wall) was keeping a close watch on us. The excitement on the room rose up every minute while more people tried to get in.

After a short introduction Simonne came in, picked up a guitar and gave start to the show with 'I love it', an acoustic joyful pop tune that immediately put a smile upon many people's faces. Cornelius Rapp (Sweet Machine, Boxer, Peaches) added some rhythm on it with a shaker. Then came 'Aquamarine', a wonderful song that showed Simonne's technical proficiency and experimentation with the guitar, playing arpeggios with one hand and drumming with the other. The lyrics take us to a world underwater, where she transforms into Chuck Berry's Nadine.

'Beauty in the blues' and 'White horse' showed Simonne's ability to write and interpret graceful sad songs on piano or on guitar. Her voice becomes more intimate and communicates a fragile and melancholic air. Fortunately we live "in a beautiful world" and the "white horse" is only in her dreams.

Asking the audience to stomp the rhythm on the floor, 'Make love to you' (formerly 'All I want is you') brought some dance ambiance with some catchy guitar riffs and chorus. Simonne then transformed herself by taking off her jacket and putting on a hoodie for the more rock/electronic 'Let you go', where she danced and asked the extremely shy audience to sing along. She also changed her voice to a lower register, showing us a great mastering of her vocal range. This "other" Simonne was also present in the songs 'We are young'  (which makes use of a lot of live created loops) and the rocky 'I wanna be your girl', the last song of the evening (with Mathias Brendel (Sweet Machine, Boxer, Peaches)). She also played two wonderful piano based songs in between, 'Machine' (where she simultaneously played some drums, making you wonder if she isn't actually a "machine") and the more jazzy 'Dance, dance, dance' (with some well suited drumming from Mathias).

Despite some little problems with the projector and lights during the show and the very shy audience (maybe because the venue was too intimate for some dance tunes?), Simonne's professional and outstanding performance definitely put her in the future spotlight.

(Thanks to the SUNST. Brothers for such a wonderful evening, that even included a poster and a T-Shirt of the event. Photos were taken by Christoph, Julia, Luka, Lila and Nitzschke).

Simonne's website

The King of Limbs - Radiohead

"So? Have you listened to the new Radiohead album? What do you think about it?"

These are common questions my friends make me nowadays. So I'll try to give a complete answer here.

I've been listening to Radiohead since I first heard Ok Computer back in the 90's, enjoying every music phase they've had since and always looking forward to the next record release. That's because these guys know how to surprise you and I've always found it to be a very good surprise. Their shift to an intelligent use of electronics on Kid A and Amnesiac was revolutionary for a rock band in those years, bringing that to a mainstream public tired of the same guitar-base-drums-synths bands. They combined these electronics with a more clean pop-rock like approach on Hail to the thief, and improved all that in their In Rainbows masterpiece. Some hints to what would follow where given on their download track These are my twisted words, released a year and half before the now available The King of Limbs, where a fast/uneven drumming is haloed by guitar arpeggios/riffs and phantasmagoric singing and synths.

The new album is, as usual, extremely well produced. It's also more dubstep oriented (a genre that is becoming very popular nowadays) but keeping some similarities with old Radiohead recordings. I had to listen to it several times until It grew on me, and now I think it's a wonderful record. It lacks of a guitar-based song like on previous albums (like Bodysnatchers, Myxomatosis...) but, well, If I want that I listen to the old recordings and that's all. This gives me something new, and I like it!

In Bloom, the first track from The King of Limbs, a ghostly piano gives start to some quite shamanic loops and drumming. A great bass track keeps us in trance, until the 'shaman' finally ask us to "Open our mouths wide". A brass section is then introduced, in what seems a call for us to follow the ritual and 'bloom' with it.

Follows up Morning Mr. Magpie, an old track that was first introduced in a Radiohead TV webcast in december 2002. Here a heavy pressed up guitar riff gives the song both rhythm pattern and melody. This, added to Thom's rasping vocals, gives the needed background to the fierce lyrics despising Mr. Magpie for doing something really bad and then getting what he deserves (note the guitar and bass sections around minute 2 and the screaming, clearly showing his agony).

Little by little seems a song coming out of a mix of the Hail to the Thief's "Where I end and you begin" with In Rainbow's "Reckoner". The predominance of bass and guitar with a reverberated and saturated kind of tambourine, gives a feeling of déjà vu. It was definitely the first track of the album I could easily relate with some old Radiohead's music, with an easy to follow melody and well played arpeggios.

A notable dubstep influence can be heard in Feral, with its snare drums beat pattern and bassline drops. The name of the song might come from the kind of aerial synth that gives the melodic line. The intangible cut out words (possibly created with the Kaoss Pad) fly around giving the feeling of a magical creature asking for you to dance.

The first promotional track, Lotus Flower (with a video that shows Thom dancing with more style than what he does live), keeps the dubstep dancing mood, but this time with lyrics and a chorus. Thom's falsetto voice seems fragile, love demanding, giving a 'cozy' like feeling to the track. That's maybe why at the end he tell us "Listen to your heart".

After all this up beat tracks, Radiohead ask us to sit down and dwell upon our lives with Codex. This slow piano driven track is simple and beautifully sung. The intimate feeling is powered up when a brass arrangement comes in. It makes us remember Amnesiac's "Pyramid Song" and Com Lag's "Fog (again) (live)". The guys have experience in what they created here, and one can feel it.

The feeling of intimacy is kept for Give Up The Ghost, built up of voice loops ("Don't haunt me/In your arms") and an acoustic guitar. A beautiful warm melody that is slowly developed, surrounded by bird noises. Jonny's e-guitar picks come in, making it complete and getting us into the garden of Eden.

Last track, Separator, brings the dubstep back in with a repeated drum pattern and great bassline. Thom's ethereal voice seems like "falling out of bed from a long weary dream". In the middle of the song some amazing guitar arpeggios appear and invite us to keep on dreaming, even if all we want is to "wake up". The song is almost over and it seems we finally got into paradise.

Spring

Blue skies and the warmth of the sun are coming our way, spring seems not so far away now. This gives a feeling of renewal, and sets the mood for a comfy kind of playlist. A friend asked me some time ago to bring some 'new joyful music' to his café, so I gave him a cd with the following songs on it. My idea was to set the mood for this transition from winter to spring...

1) Vinur Minn - Ólöf Arnalds
2) Catch The Light - Sin Fang Bous 
3) Revival - Deerhunter
4) Foolin' - Devendra Banhart
5) Gone baby won't be long - Erykah Badu
6) Stay (just a little bit more) - The Do
7) Carnies - Martina Topley Bird
8) Lotus Flower - Radiohead
9) Not in love (feat. Robert Smith) - Crystal Castles
10) Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire 
11) What else is there? - Röyksopp 
12) Lovertits!!! rmx - Feist 
13) On and Ever Onward - Dirty Projectors + Björk
14) The Words - Psapp
15) Hopscotch - CocoRosie
16) Know-How - Kings Of Convenience
17) Seashell - Seabear 
18) Turn Into - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
19) Eisbaer - Nouvelle Vague 

I enjoy making playlists, but I don't find it to be an easy task. You have to take good care of the transitions between the songs, not to be too 'violent' so to say (i.e., that's something that the 'genius' iTunes feature needs to take more care of).

You can find most of these songs on youtube I think if you just want to give a first listen to them.

Enjoy! ;)

About my relationship to music

People I've met know how passionate I am about music in general. I actually spend most of my time with the music on, thinking, reading or even dreaming about it. Why? Music that I enjoy listening to gives me energy and inspiration to keep on doing whatever I'm doing. I believe what Nietzsche once wrote: "Without music, life would be a mistake" (or "just an error").  Music nurtures my self. Sometimes I feel like a jukebox, to which every word or situation immediately relates to a song...

Many friends never have the time (or passion) to look for new music, and they don't know where to start. My idea is to easily bring this 'new' music to them. And also, perhaps, to somehow "set my spirit free" ...

Just enjoy!