Aquesta recomanació és molt possible que no agradi ja que la veritat… són escocesos i són una mica seus. Música indie, de caràcter més personal i no tan comercial com les últimes. Es tracta dels Belle and Sebastian, una banda escocesa, considerada pels mateixos escocesos com la millor de tots els temps. Tenen grans cançons i les van movent per tot el món des del 1996, quan van començar arran d’un curs de negoci musical. El nom del grup prové, segons explica la Viquipèdia, de Belle et Sébastien, un llibre infantil escrit per la francesa Cécile Aubry.

Dues cançons.
Primer la que vaig descobrir abans no sé pas com, fa un temps ja. Es diu “The blues are still blue”. Simplement m’encanta. Aquí teniu la lletra i la cançó:

I la segona es diu “Get me away from here, I’m dying” i l’he descoberta a partir d’anar reproduint les cançons al Lastfm, que és un gran invent! Aquí teniu la lletra i la cançó:

Què us semblen?

Muitos álbuns novos para ouvir! =D

Day and Age, do Killers. A hundred million suns, do Snow Patrol. Only by the night, do Kings of Leon. The BBC sessions, do Belle and Sebastian. Daqui a 2 semanas sai Dark end of the street, o novo da Chan Marshall. Em janeiro, Tonight, do Franz.

Agora, o mais impressionante é que, depois de tantos anos, estou, neste exato momento, ouvindo Chinese Democracy. Sim, ele existe! Axl vive! E não é mais a mesma coisa…

*Chinese democracy, Guns N’ Roses

“On our way from Stockholm
Started to snow
And you said it was like Christmas
But you were wrong
It wasn’t like Christmas at all”

From “Just Like Christmas” by Low

I always pity those folks who have to work in shops and be exposed to cheesy, cheery, Christmas music from the middle of October onwards…The decorations go up so early and we are buoyed into a sense of compulsive festive spending at what seems like an ever alarmingly early point in our calendar.

That said, there is something I love in amongst all of that.  Dark mornings and nights, steam exhaling from nostrils, warm drinks, cozy fires and a time to revert to childhood and the anticipation of Christmas.  It is one of the times in the year when lots of folks who never darken church doors find themselves in a church singing songs they have learned as kids when life often seemed less complicated and full of possibilities. 

I’ve come to love re-workings of some of those old Christmas songs.  Belle & Sebastian’s reading of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, Sufjan Stevens’ “O Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing” or most of the “XFM: It’s A Cool, Cool Christmas” album.  No Christmas Day in our home is likely to be complete without the Christmas albums of Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra getting an airing.

My all-time favourite seasonal album though has to be “Christmas” by Low.  Last night we had the delight of seeing them play over in Glasgow (a treat I have enjoyed more times than I can be sure of).  After a typically sparse and beautifully melodic opening setlist, the minimalism was interrupted by a cluttered stage comprising an ensemble of Low and Ida together with Eric from The Retribution Gospel Choir and Sun Kil Moon and Jean on violin.  They ran through most of the songs from the “Christmas” album and a few other festive favourites.  They threw themselves into it and it was a sight to behold Mimi really hitting those drums and all sorts of percussive instruments in a seasonal ho-down.

It didn’t really feel like Christmas, as I have a mental list of a million things to do between now and then.  Yet, it was a pleasure to behold in the presence of my true love.  It was so nice of a good friend to offer to babysit.  It was a rare treat to munch crepes in the car afterwards as we watched band and fans spill out of the venue.  Yet in the midst of it all, there was a contrast of seasonal silliness and a deeper sincerity.  Alan Sparhawk exited the stage saying “God is a forgiver, God is a forgiver”.

The latest release from Scottish band Belle and Sebastian collects live tracks recorded for the BBC and Mark Radcliffe, Steve Lamacq and John Peel, respectively, from 1996, when the band first emerged, through 2001, shortly before Isobel Campbell left the band to pursue a solo career. (Co-founder Stuart David had left in 2000.) Their oft imitated mix of acoustic folk, 60’s inspired orchestral pop and a decidedly sardonic and sometimes deeply cynical worldview that often belied the sunny feel of the music has been so deeply influential that it’s hard to appreciate just how groundbreaking their music sounded in 1996. To say this collection is going to be essential for Belle and Sebastian fans is almost an understatement, as almost all of the tracks featured in these sessions differ from their studio counterparts, and offer a rare opportunity to hear a band perform in a live setting at a time when these instances were rare and during a period in their career that many listeners think represents the band at their artistic peak. (The CD version of this collection includes a second disc that contains a complete live show from 2001 broadcast on BBC Evening Session.) Standout cuts: “The Stars Of Track And Field,” “Sleep The Clock Around,” “The Magic Of A Kind Word” and “Nothing In The Silence.”

http://www.myspace.com/thebandbelleandsebastian

Still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets and
Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
Changes, David Bowie

Hoje eu tive a certeza de que não vou conseguir dormir mais que 6 horas por dia, por mais que eu queira. Também descobri que caminhar pela manhã é maravilhoso *-* foram 2km. Estudei um pouco de português XD, vestibular domingo.

Estou completamente excitada com a declaração que JKR deu sobre Harry e Hermione: “O fato é que Hermione teve momentos com Harry que Rony nunca poderá ter.”

FACTO!

E descobri que Belle and Sebastian são extasiantes. Like drug.

Mais lirismo barato da minha parte

Eu pareço desdenhosa, indiferente?
Porque sempre fui toda riso, frescura, graça.
Muitos caminhos, alguns perdidos.
Tão sutilmente em breve hora, ares de desgraça.
Hoje, tão eu, vasta e inflexível, ser como sempre quis.
Essa cor fingida, essa tinta jogada no mundo.
Quem me viu, descontente, dilacerada, destruída.
Nem me reconhece, nem entende.
Conforta.
No momento, coberta de luz.
Do alto desses 1,70, ofusca.
Cheia de luz, de escarlate nos lábios.
Nariz arrebitado, orbes verdes.
E aquele outro não viu, não quis, fugiu.
Complexidade magnífica de morrer após a última conquista.

Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
Bell and Sebastian

Ooh! Get me away from here I’m dying
Play me a song to set me free
Nobody writes them like they used to
So it may as well be me

Here on my own now after hours
Here on my own now on a bus
Think of it this way
You could either be successful or be us

With our winning smiles, and us
With our catchy tunes, and us
Now we’re photogenic
You know, we don’t stand a chance

Oh, I’ll settle down with some old story
About a boy who’s just like me
Thought there was love in everything and everyone
You’re so naive!

After a while they always get it
They always reach a sorry end
Still it was worth it as I turned the pages solemnly, and then

With a winning smile, the boy
With naivety succeeds
At the final moment, I cried
I always cry at endings

Oh, that wasn’t what I meant to say at all
From where I’m sitting, rain
Washing against the lonely tenement
Has set my mind to wander

Into the windows of my lovers
They never know unless I write
“This is no declaration, I just thought I’d let you know goodbye”

Said the hero in the story
“It is mightier than swords
I could kill you sure
But I could only make you cry with these words”

Great songs are hard to find these days. One song that tells us about life in the simplest notion, where things are so mundane, so very upbeat these days that people will just not look at quality stuff anymore. Only looks and the in-thing.

Then, I would just go back to reading novels about helpless heroes who somehow come up victorious in the end. Sometimes, old medieval stories feel like they have more value than those of the modern-day world.

My mind is jut wandering around with this thoughts, and as I look back on all those simple things that I have been through, I realise I can only make people cry with words, not actions.

[Fonte: Well Medicated]

N.A.S.A. no Nokia Trends

Em semana turbulenta, vamos de post longo cheio de notinhas desconexas. Dessa vez, tem nova do Franz, preview do “Day & Age” do Killers, Belle And Sebastian finalizando disco novo e a programação do último (?) festival do ano, o Nokia Trends e mais.

- O último festival de 2008

O Nokia Trends, que acontece em São Paulo no dia 29 de novembro, finalmente soltou sua programação desse ano, mais voltada para o hip hop e para eletrônica.

Bomb the Bass
N.A.S.A.
Kid Sister
Z-Trip
Roots Rock Revolution
Dubstrong
Mauricio Fleury

O festival acontece no Cine Marrocos, casa localizada no centro de São Paulo. Os ingresso já estão a venda pelo Ticketmaster (confira os pontos de venda) por R$ 80 a inteira.

Nokia Trends - Serviço
29 de novembro de 2008
Cine Marrocos - Rua Conselheiro Crispiniano, 344 - República (mapa)
A partir das 21h (abertura dos portões às 21h)
Censura: 18 anos

- Franz ‘Ulysses’ Ferdinand

O Franz Ferdinand lançou essa semana um concurso de remixes (mais aqui) para primeiro single e música de abertura de “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand”, “Ulysses”. Acontece que um dos fãs que comprou as várias partes da faixa, juntou e voi lá,  temos “Ulysses” completa. Ainda não é a versão final, mas já dá para sentir a vibe disco-setentista-com-Bowie-berlinesco que vem por aí.

A NME postou hoje sua primeira impressão sobre o disco, que foi enviado para revista numa capinha marcada por uma caveira negra. A Domino, selo responsável pelo lançamento do álbum e do “Merriweather Post Pavilion” do Animal Collective, parece estar bem ciente de como esses discos podem mudar as coisas em 2009 e por isso está tentando prevenir toda e qualquer possibilidade deles vazarem muito antes de chegarem às lojas. Ou seja, não espere que esses vazamento cheguem como presente de Natal.

- Muitas novas do Kanye West

Outro álbum ansiosamente aguardado vive situação completamente diferente. Com o lançamento marcado para o próximo dia 24, “808’s & Heartbreak”, o novo do Kanye, já tem 9 das suas 12 músicas vazadas e grande parte delas pelo próprio artista. Clique nos hyperlinks para ouvir.

1. “Say You Will”
2. “Welcome to Heartbreak”
3. “Heartless”
4. “Amazing” (feat. Young Jeezy)
5. “Love Lockdown”
6. “Paranoid” (feat. Kid Cudi)
7. “Robocop”
8. “Street Lights”
9. “Bad News”
10. “See You in My Nightmares” (feat. Lil Wayne)
11. “Coldest Winter”
12. “Pinocchio Story”
 

- The Killers: preview do “Day & Age”

ARE WE HUMAN OR ARE WE DANCER?????

Se você ainda não consegue responder essa pergunta, o Killers te dá um pouco de inspiração nesse preview com 30 segundos de cada faixa do “Day & Age”.

Os anos oitenta não foram embora. Mesmo.

- Novo do Belle And Sebastian a caminho

Quando o pessoal do Belle And Sebastian não está viajando a países tropicais ajudando bandas clássicas nas suas turnês de reunião, eles também fazem discos como “God Help The Girl”, que deve ser lançado no começo de 2009.

Quem deu a dica foi o vocalista Stuart Murdoch em seu blog, que pretende masterizar as 18 faixas gravadas até o fim de novembro. Ou seja, ele não vem acompanhar o Vaselines nos shows do Goiânia e do SP Noise.

- Os 100 maiores cantores de todos os tempos para Rolling Stone americana

"Sou pior que Mariah?"

É um pouco difícil acreditar numa lista de cantores que coloque John Lennon na frente do Paul McCartney, mas até que ficou boa essa que a Rolling Stone gringa lansoltou esse mês. De qualquer forma, a Mariah Carey (79) está na frente o Morrissey (92), o que é vergonhoso.

01 Aretha Franklin
02 Ray Charles
03 Elvis Presley
04 Sam Cooke
05 John Lennon
Mais…

***************************************

Amanhã, a história do Marcelo Camelo estar pegando a Mallu e por que o Bloody Pop apóia o romance.

BILL’S PICK OF THE WEEK

Safe Trip Home
Disc: 1
1. don’t believe in love
2. quiet times
3. never want to say it’s love
4. grafton street
5. it comes and it goes
6. look no further
7. us 2 little gods
8. the day before the day
9. let’s do the things we normally do
10. burnin love
See all 11 tracks on this disc

(Available w/Deluxe Edition) Disc: 2
1. for one day (bonus track)
2. summer (bonus track)
3. northern skies (rollo mix) (bonus track)
4. Making of ‘Safe Trip Home’ (CD enhancement)

* i posted this as my pick of the week on 11.04, apparently i had the release date incorrect.

New Music/CD Releases - November 18, 2008
Belle And Sebastian - The BBC Sessions
Beyonce Knowles - I Am… Sasha Fierce
Black Keys – Live (DVD)
Blake Shelton - Startin’ Fires
Bring Me the Horizon - Suicide Season
David Cook - David Cook
Dead Can Dance – Catalog Reissues
Dido – Safe Trip Home
Femi Kuti – Day By Day
Foo Fighters – Live At Wembly (DVD)
Il Divo – the Promise
Lee Brice - Picture of Me
Mudvayne – The New Game
Nickelback - Dark Horse
Ricardo Arjona - Quinto Piso
Shontelle - Shontelligence
Wu-Tang Clan – The History Of
Zac Brown Band - The Foundation

and remember, whenever possible buy your music directly from the artist(s) or your local independent record store. both could become endangered without your support.

click here for a list of exclusives available @ indie stores and for a listing of stores

It’s been quite some time since we have had any new material from Belle and Sebastian. Currently, they are working on a film soundtrack, which looks like it will be the first new offering from them since The Life Pursuit was released. The film project is called God Help the Girl, and the album is currently in the mastering phase and should be completed by the end of the month.

In more pressing Belle and  Sebastian news, next week the group is set to release a compilation of their BBC radio recordings from 1996-2001 on Matador Records. The record, simply titled The BBC sessions, will feature a slew of rare recording and will be a treat for their devoted following.

Available Nov 18th.

See the tracklisting for the album after the cut….

–Mikey

Disc One - Radio Sessions:
01 The State I Am In (Mark Radcliffe Session; 07/96)
02 Like Dylan in the Movies (Mark Radcliffe Session; 07/96)
03 Judy and the Dream of Horses (Mark Radcliffe Session; 07/96)
04 The Stars of Track and Field (Mark Radcliffe Session; 07/96)
05 I Could Be Dreaming (Mark Radcliffe session; 12/96; abbreviated version)
06 Seymour Stein (Evening Session; 07/97)
07 Lazy Line Painter Jane (Evening Session; 07/97)
08 Sleep the Clock Around (Evening Session; 07/97)
09 Slow Graffiti (Evening Session; 07/97)
10 Wrong Love (later recorded as “The Wrong Girl”) (Evening Session; 07/97)
11 Shoot the Sexual Athlete (John Peel session; 05/01)
12 The Magic of a Kind Word (John Peel session; 05/01)
13 Nothing in the Silence (John Peel session; 05/01)
14 (My Girl’s Got) Miraculous Technique (John Peel session; 05/01)
Disc Two - Live in Belfast (12/21/01):
01 Here Comes the Sun
02 There’s Too Much Love
03 The Magic of a Kind Word
04 Me and the Major
05 Wandering Alone
06 The Model
07 I’m Waiting for the Man
08 The Boy With the Arab Strap
09 The Wrong Girl
10 Dirty Dream #2
11 The Boys Are Back in Town
12 Legal Man

“I’m lucky, I can open the door and I can walk down the street
Unlucky, I’ve got now place to go and so I follow my feet
A choice is facing you, a healthy dose of pain
A choice is facing you as you stare through the rain
A choice is facing you but I choose to refrain for today
Tomorrow we’ll be back in trouble again”

So says Stuart Murdoch of B&S via his blog.  He goes on to say that he hopes to have all 18 of the tracks for God Help the Girl done by the end of November.  He also talks about how his life has evolved into more adulthood and missing his younger ideals.  18 tracks sound pretty ambitous and I’m kind of hoping he pares those down to the best 10 or 11, but that’s just my take.

Aan het eind van deze maand worden 18 liedjes gemasterd voor het nieuw album van de Schotse indie-band ‘Belle and Sebastian’. Hun nieuwe kindje zal de naam ‘God Help The Girl’ gaan dragen. Via de website laat Stuart Murdoch weten dat ze nog niet weten wanneer de nieuwe cd zal worden uitgebracht, maar er wordt in ieder geval keihard en serieus aan gewerkt. Thank God!

Op ‘God Help The Girl’ zullen onder andere Asy (Smoosh) en Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) te horen zijn. De nieuwe cd wordt de opvolger van het album ‘The Life Pursuit’ uit 2006. Maar eerst mogen we ons nog in de handjes wrijven omdat op 17 november hun dubbel-cd met BBC-sessies wordt uitgebracht. Op het eerste schijfje vinden we nummers die door de jaren heen zijn opgenomen tijdens de BBC-sessies. En op het tweede schijfje vinden we een registratie van een kerstoptreden uit 2001 in de Ierse stad Belfast.

Jammer genoeg staat Funny Little Frog niet op het dubbelexemplaar. Daarom hieronder mijn eigen geste.

Belle and Sebastian - Funny Little Frog (live recorded at BBC Schotland)

My desire to write lately has been somewhere in the lower ends of the gutter.

So this makes me wonder if maybe my subconscious isn’t saying, “oy, time to change writing styles!”

Or something.

I’ve changed my listening music*.  I’m changing majors . . . I think.  That’s still up in the air.

Last night I dreamed about the Joker (from The Dark Knight) having a conversation in a bar with Lucius Malfoy about his coin.  Anyone else get the problem(s) with that?  So Lucius hands it over, and Joker looks at it and realizes that something is different.  Batman’s face is carved into one side.

*facepalm*

The paper that I’m writing this year is on music and dementia, with especial attention directed towards sensory stimulation, frontotemporal dementia (4th most common type), and nursing home abuse/elder abuse.

And see, here’s the thing - the more I read up on older adults and their symptoms and comorbidities and social behaviors, the more I see comparisons to autism.  In fact, the late stages of dementia and autism in general have so many similarities that I’m surprised that there haven’t been more comparative studies done on the two areas.

In addition, I’ve figured out that no matter what I do with my life, I want to be involved in some fashion with people who are frequently treated with less respect/understanding that what should be warranted.  Or, rather, the people who are most frequently discounted as being less worthy.  Anyone got a thesaurus?  Undervalued.  Not the right word.

*kicks the imaginary cat in her room*

Thus, even though I greatly enjoy the act of inputting data into spreadsheets for hours on end and could probably happily do that for the rest of my life, I can’t allow myself to do that and be that stagnant.  I would be comfortable doing that.  It would not be challenging though; at least not on an interpersonal level.

That said, I feel that I have a certain quality about me that allows people who have been mistreated, or who have been undervalued, discounted, or generally treated like shite, to open up and talk to me.  I have a woman in my practicum setting who is officially labelled as non-verbal (according to her chart), due to age-related deafness.

The woman talks to me.  She speaks in full sentences even.  Me.  The girl who was at this site last year was told that this woman never spoke, minus a few times during that semester when she said a few things to this girl.  This girl has witnessed the interactions between this woman and me and has remarked that she has never seen her so involved with anyone.

Here’s a classic comment from another client:  “You might be kind of weird and odd, but I still think that you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever known.“

I can go with that.

*nods*

*Alfie, Belle and Sebastian, Clinic, Devotchka, Elf Power, Franz Ferdinand, Gomez, Jim Noir, Kula Shaker, Mercury Rev, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, Super Furry Animals, The Apples in Stereo, The Arcade Fire, The Beta Band, The Decemberists, and The GO! Team, just to name a few . . .

Here’s an interesting discovery…

Go to Amazon UK, select the “music” category and enter “BBC Sessions.”

I had no idea how many albums have been released under the “BBC Session” title. There actually appears to be no connection between all the albums you’ll find, but the list of artists who’ve released “Sessions” material is long and impressive.

For example, Belle and Sebastian have a BBC Sessions album coming out on November 17 in England. Paul Weller released a BBC Sessions disc a few weeks ago. But if you check out Amazon, you’ll see a list that includes:

• Jimi Hendrix
• Led Zepplin
• The Kinks
• The La’s
• Rory Gallagher
• The Who
• Motorhead
• New Order and Joy Division

…to name a few.

Some of these are available in the U.S. Amazon site, but the complete list can be seen on Amazon UK.

Happy shopping…

The (only) leak of the week was Belle and Sebastian’s compilation album of their BBC radio recordings, appropriately titled The BBC Sessions.  The compilation album covers recordings from 1996 to 2001, including some rare songs from their John Peel session.  Unfortunately, that means songs from more recent Belle and Sebastian albums, Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003) and The Life Pursuit (2006) won’t be on the compilation, but that’s okay.

Disc Two of the BBC Sessions, “Live from Belfast (12/21/01)” did not leak, but that’ll just give you more incentive to buy the actual release.

If you don’t know Belle and Sebastian, now is a good time to learn.  Here’s hoping they announce a new album soon, but as for now, the BBC Sessions will suffice.

The BBC Sessions is due legally through Matador Records on November 18, 2008.

- Tuan Le

Via Tonspion kommt heute dieser feine Sampler:

Album Cover anklicken und zip downloaden! Viel Spass damit!

1. A.C. Newman There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve (from Get Guilty, due out January 20)
2. Belle and Sebastian The State I Am In (BBC Version) (from The BBC Sessions, due out November 18)
3. Jennifer O’Connor Here With Me (from Here With Me, released August 19)
4. Shearwater The Snow Leopard (Remastered) from Rook, released June 3)
5. Lou Reed Caroline Says, Pt. II (Live) (from Berlin: Live At St. Ann’s Warehouse, due out November 4)
6. Mogwai The Sun Smells Too Loud (from The Hawk Is Howling, released September 23)
7. Fucked Up No Epiphany (from The Chemistry Of Common Life, released October 7)
8. Jay Reatard An Ugly Death (from Matador Singles ‘08, released October 7)
9. Jaguar Love Humans Evolve Into Skyscrapers (from Take Me To The Sea, released August 19)
10. Pavement Cataracts (from Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed., due out December 9)
11. Brightblack Morning Light Oppressions Each (from Motion To Rejoin, released September 23)
12. Times New Viking Call & Respond (from the Stay Awake EP, released October 14)
13. Condo Fucks What’cha Gonna Do About It? (from Fuckbook, due out March 2009)

DifferentStars

Da jeg tuslet søvndrukken ut i stua og med et sløvt blikk registrerte at det var hvite flak som falt fra himmelen ble jeg først barnslig begeistret, Snø! Et glitrende teppe som danderer seg lekkert over alt som høsten har gjort svart, og lyser opp mørke dager på senhøsten. Snø er aking, snøengler, snart jul og alt som er bra. Min begeistring varte helt til jeg skulle traske til jobb i litt for glatte støvler og med snøføyken rett i fjeset. Da jeg endelig var trygt omgitt av bibliotekets lune vegger, konstaterte jeg mens jeg børstet av mine gjennomvåte bukser og tørket mascara av kinnene at snø nytes best enten innenfra et hus eller innenfra en parkdress.

Nå har jeg tenkt til å få igjen pusten og varmen ved å ta en kopp te og høre litt om snø fra Belle and Sebastian.

…lyssnar hela tiden nu, och antagligen hela november på:

Belle and Sebastian - To be myself completely
Blondie - Call me
Broder Daniel - Shoreline (emokidsen i videon är typ världens vackraste)
Bruce Springsteen - Thunder road
Hästpojken - Caligula
Jens Lekman - A postcard to Nina
Jonathan Richman - When I dance
Kleerup - 3AM
Kristian Antilla - Hårt godis
Markus Krunegård - Jag är en vampyr

Hade jag varit hipp hade jag haft med Nordpolen och Glasvegas på listan, såg jag just i fredagens DN (håller på att läsa ikapp). Ja, kanske nästa månad…

So…We all have it. That inner soundtrack. The songs that you love most in life, and not just because they’re awesome, but also because they complete parts of your life that make you feel like you are a part of something. They allow you to create your own little narrative story for your life. So  here are the songs that would play in my story, as they currently do in my head.

Part I:

LISTEN HERE!

• 1. Mark Mothersbaugh - Look At That Old Grizzly Bear
• 2. The Rolling Stones - Play With Fire
• 3. Devendra Banhart & Jana Hunter - A Bright-ass Light
• 4. The Velvet Underground - Sister Ray
• 5. David Bowie - Changes
• 6. Nick Drake - Fly
• 7. Bob Dylan - Tombstone Blues
• 8. Grizzly Bear - Graceland
• 9. Shankar Jaikishan - Typewriter Tip, Tip Tip
• 10. Belle and Sebastian - Comment Te Dire Adieu
• 11. Pink Floyd - Celestial Voices
• 12. The Kinks - Strangers
• 13. Stars of the Lid - Even If You’re Never Awake
• 14. The Dodos - Horny Hippies
• 15. Grizzly Bear - Reprise
• 16. Pink Floyd - Fearless
• 17. Peter Thomas - The World Is Gone
• 18. Radiohead - Climbing Up the Walls
• 19. Patrick Watson - Luscious Life
• 20. Grizzly Bear - Particular To What?
• 21. Mozart - Requiem - Lacrymosa
• 22. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World
• 23. White Magic - Keeping the Wolves From the Do
• 24. Simon & Garfunkel - America
• 25. Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra - Der Hexer (The Evil Magician)
• 26. The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning
• 27. Nick Drake - Northern Sky
• 28. Peter Thomas Sound-Orchester - Katuschka-Mammuschka
• 29. Sufjan Stevens - Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
• 30. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
• 31. David Bowie - Moonage Daydream
• 32. Chakachas - Jungle Fever
• 33. The Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb
• 34. Bob Dylan - I Want You
• 35. Donovan - Colours
• 36. James Brown - Fever
• 37. Beethoven - 7th Symphony 2nd movement

LISTEN HERE!

Ja, just det. Vad är syftet med den här bloggen, då?

Förutom för att hylla Rory, som inte finns, så var det såhär: vi började mikroblogga på mitt jobb. Det låter kanske som ett oskyldigt tidsfördriv, och det var det, till en början. Men redan efter ett par veckor började mina inlägg att bli, ja.. hmm, mindre och mindre mikro. Om man så säger.

Där kom visst en sjukt lång recension av Vicky Cristina Barcelona, toppat med lite kändisskvaller som verkligen ingen kan tänkas vara intresserad av, och där publicerade jag visst en länk till Thunder Road, oj, Belle and Sebastian, och “Västra Frölunda” med Kristian Antilla.

Så fortsatte det: länkar till konstiga artiklar om den engelska drottningens besök på Googles londonkontor varvat med foton på mina barn vid sjön Trekanten med loppisfynd i händerna. Mycket underhållande material, tyckte jag. Vad mina arbetskamrater tyckte, vet jag inte. De är mycket artiga på mitt jobb. Men frågan är hur intresserade de är av sina arbetskamraters avkommor, det brittiska kungahuset och musik de inte valt själva. Många av dem är intresserade av typ de senaste produkterna från Apple.

I längden blev situationen ohållbar. Det skavde liksom. Ska jag verkligen mikroblogga… nu igen? Och hur mikro är egentligen det här?  Vill Martin verkligen läsa detta? Kanske han ville det.  Kanske inte.

Därav: Rory.

I have been a fan of Belle and Sebastian for many years now. They are a really solid band that is basically perfect to make out to. Their sound is very sweet and melodic with whispery voices singing poetic narratives that really work. When I was a little kid, my mom would sometimes hang out and video us kids as we played, to get more authentic footage. While that sounds creepy when said aloud, it actually provided some really awesome videos that I still cherish. For some reason, Belle and Sebastian and their story-songs remind me of those moving images–deceptively simple yet intensely emotional and gut-wrenching for the children playing. They’re also a band I wish I had gotten into earlier than 5 years ago, because then I would have caught them when they’d be touring the stuff that I like the most.

OK, with this being said, I have conclusively decided that as cool as it might seem, I would not want to be friends with the band. Honestly, this isn’t anything personal against them as people. I’m not some crazy stalker that has gone and frequently updated their wikipedia page, I don’t know any of them by name (in fact, is there a Belle or a Sebastian actually in the band? I could find out by actually reading the link I just posted, but I won’t), etc etc. It’s nothing against them, per se. The reason I wouldn’t want to be friends with them is simple.

Look at their songs. They’re all great, but they’re all pretty tragic stories about humans who more or less struggle in life, and generally are unhappy, medicated, and, to repeat myself, tragic. Judy and the Dream of Horses is a great example. If you listen, the girl was basically a slutty rebel in high school who was deeply unsatisfied with where she stood in life. Those people exist for sure, but I don’t think I’d want my lasting footprint on popular culture to be the inspiration of a Belle and Sebastian song that immortalizes me in such a hauntingly sad way. In other words, the real Judy, the one that someone from the band actually knows, is still running around out there somewhere with this song hanging over her head. There are tons of other examples of this. There’s Lord Anthony who was bullied at school and becomes a cross dresser, the inconsolable Boy Done Wrong Again, and the dominatrix of a boss featured in Step Into My Office, Baby. I wouldn’t want to be remembered as any of these people. Would the song be “Mark With The Patchy Beard” and about my inability to grow up? Or maybe “Smelly-Footed Mark,” which I just thought of now since I definitely need to wash the Sanuk Sandle/Shoes that I’m currently wearing.

So in conclusion, Belle and Sebastian is a great band. Check them out one of their albums if you haven’t already, and start with either “If You’re Feeling Sinister” or “The Boy With The Arab Strap.” However, stay far far away from getting to close to any of those people in the band. Otherwise you might end up with a song written about you that laments your disappointments as a person.