A treasure

Today I found a box underneath my coal oven, it was almost hidden away, casually laying there, waiting to be spotted and taken out for examination.

when I opened the box I found dozens of tapes with various mixes and albums. some date back to 1998, maybe even earlier.

The only unintentional gift I found before of the previous inhibitor of my room was a Rolling Stones cassette in the purple stereo on the shelf. but this? this is astonishing!

She must have left in a hurry, leaving all that behind, never claiming it back.
All that history, her personal history!

I read the labels on the tapes, only a few were familiar, Tori Amos' "Little Earthquakes", Tom Waits' "Blue valentines" and "Mule variations" (the only indication of the last years in the entire collection).
she had lots of random Jazz and Punk compilations, some Hip Hop and Electronics, European 80's pop music and a very random David Bowie compilation.

"If they mated" galore : the unplugged series

and just like that the quality of the writing goes to hell.
so be it. it was a hell lotta fun making them up!

(Gaby S. Moses and I discussed them together, thanks mate).

Bad taste masses

this is what i consider to be sincere. it speaks somehow very clearly in all of its theatrical, melodramatic expression. but i believe it, I really do.



and I absolutely do not understand who allows this to happen.
popular television or culture or socio-anthropological phenomenas cause the common man to somehow accept or believe in the fake, the empty and absolutely tasteless imitation of a once existing emotion that is now long gone. I am afraid they're no longer able to tell the difference.
I wonder if they ever did.

Song for a future generation.

a part from The Strokes' - "The other side":

"I hate them all, I hate them all
I hate myself
For hating them
so I'll drink some more
I'll love them all
I'll drink even more
I'll hate them even more than I did before"

A friend of mine mentioned today this piece, which he considers to be great song writing, with top-notch lyrics, which he feels are superior to his.
it got me thinking.

The Strokes have "classic" written all over them.
in twenty years these songs will be for someone who was born yesterday what Iggy Pop is for me.
something from another dimension, untouchable, frozen in time, an eternal mystery.
how ridiculous this all is, generated by hype and wide, blank expressions. oouh!

How come the future sounds so much like the past?

In Kill you idols one of the no wave idols' complaints was the influence of the past on the present generation of bands.
but it isn't necessarily bad.

The kids of today are exposed to so much more than in the past.
they can listen to records that are out of print, they can watch virtually non existing videos on YouTube. it is a never ending world of possibilities, of course, if you know how to pick them, but for that obviously you need to have good taste and it is no mystery that the masses never did.


industry VS. art

Well, they were right about the distressing longing of the present generation to "do or die" - become the band of the moment, earn a lot of money and well, that's it. there is no intention to make anything more valuable, no pretension to make art, God forbid to express themselves somehow differently! nope, they only reflect the zeitgeist, as it is portrayed in the fashionable magazines.
And just like the "current fashion" on most street fashion blogs, the pictures only promote last season's trends, the assembly line is always one step behind.
our assembly line is called the NME.

A strange coincidence? The similarity between a Rolling Stones song and another by Roger Whittaker. good God!

yep. another case of plagiarism. a funny one.

it's (Goodbye) Indian lady and (Goodbye) Ruby Tuesday.

goodness! even the "goodbye" is there!

(and it's the German version! which adds up to the bad after taste, as the chorus is still sung in English)

I'm horrified.

"Ruby Tuesday" came out as early as 1967.
"Indian lady" waited another 4 years.

i rest my case.

Oh no! it's the Gary Numan syndrom!

The distorted synthesizers slowly emerge as shinny black guitars,
and ties turn black vinyl. mid life crisis? oh, it doesn't matter why,
here are the facts.




->





->



others?
new-wavers-turned-metal-dummies?
can you spot them?

The surfing Nintendo

I like unexpected blends of subcultures that would seem meaningless to an outsider, but it would mean the world to the weirdo that lives upon that stuff (yeepie!)

You know the Psychobilly kids, they have lots of retro tattoos, wear leather jackets and put Grease in their savage Pompadours or their notorious Beehives.

it's a tradition and you don't mess with tradition.
unless you're a real rebel and you don't follow archaic rules.

like Johnny, Jive Johnny.
who kills folks on the street and puts them in his refrigerator.
or that's what Jemek Jemowit told me, since most of the song is in German.



it's a fascinating mash of 80's hardcore electronic sounds. a quick reminder of all the Super Marios and Sonic the Hedgehogs of my and my friend's childhood. the same sounds that the Nu-rave kids like to abuse on MTV.

Alan Vega should be proud, his legacy lives on and morphs into something even stranger as it goes. that bloody monster never sleeps.



take a look at Charlie Megira's video as well, 1950's beach party in Jaffa, an Israeli underground myth.
"Rock'N'Roll in Hebrew is just Dynamite" goes the chorus. here's another tradition blown up to pieces.

21st century myths: MySpace as an enormous showroom.

MySpace is the notorious, most popular social network on earth.
dead folks, as well as alive folks, vegetables and pets exhibit their lives
on web pages at MySpace.com.

some have created a wonderful pastime, instead of sending your virtual
friends spam or cheesy wishes, some hundreds of them spend hours sending
vintage photographs, paintings and other goods, creating a never ending chain
of artwork, a virtual gallery, free and accessible for all.

some popular profiles of artists and art lovers may be found here:

http://www.myspace.com/terrysi
http://www.myspace.com/marinaib
http://www.myspace.com/lviia
http://www.myspace.com/laviniascreams
http://www.myspace.com/dressedundressed

In Israel we did not have to fight for each show.
People, no more than a few dozens, but still, an audience,
would show up every time. they were attraction-hunters,
they were looking for something to do on a Friday night,
and they found it.

In Berlin, as in other big cities I suppose, people do not need
to be fed manually by your graciousness, oh no.
They have so much to pick from! hundreds of simultaneous
events, every night, every day, 365 days a year.

Hence, not only you have to make music, of extremely high quality,
you must also wrap it up in a unique appearance, you must have a
"show": weird instruments will do, a multimedia performance, even
a ridiculous gimmick of sorts. The music itself just won't seem to do
these days.
They will not pay attention, overwhelmed by all the noise made by
other people, so much noise, it is impossible to focus any longer on
just one thing, they keep on searching for something else while you
are standing on a stage, like so many others, not worth of their
attention. you can be as alone on a stage as you are in your bedroom.


Mighty Sphincter - Helter Skelter (cover)

The.human.harp

The "Mouth harp", the "Jaw Harp" or even the "Jew harp" is considered very chic for some reason, very risky, that is, experimental musicians seem to dig it a lot.

Here are a few examples, I personally think that it could be used in more varied ways, after all, its metalic-springy tone is fairly recognizable and
couldn't possibly be mistaken for any other instrument.

Meredith Monk - "Jew's harp"
Old Time Relijun - "Khomuz"
Buffy Sainte-Marie - "Cripple Creek"

New bands that I'm really excited about: #1: Late of The Pier

These guys come from England, the NME liked them enough
but didn't wave them like another trophy act, one of those that
really make you sick like a random one-nighter... but then, who knows,
it might still happen, I hold every label responsible for over-the-top-
promotion.
anyway, back on topic, Late of The Pier have a certain Nu-Raveness
to them, very up to date fashion-wise, but their songwriting is much
Superior to say, the Klaxons', the Pioneers of the genre, that are in
my opinion, mere flash and glitter and a a hell of a great wardrobe.

So they took Gary Numan-ish synths and mixed them with 80's Atari
video games, poured some old fashioned Garage, and it's absolutely
delicious.

Here's a quick taste of their Demo, which was distributed free of charge
through MySpace:

(a great introduction to the demo compilation):
Late of The Pier - A thousand years ago

Late of The Pier - Space and the woods

Late of The Pier - Dose A

Late of The Pier - Random firl


oh, there's more, here's their video to
"Bathroom Gurgle":

Dear Berliners,

If you live in the Berlin area and love Nico (may she rest in peace) you are welcome to join the picnic in her memory,
here you may find details.


if you don't, you can still listen to her version of Bowie's "Heroes".

Nico - Heroes.

Le Marquis

Do you recon Donatien Alphonse Francios de Sade had any clue of his future legacy and historic significance?

Or could've predicted the inspiration of his tales of love and lust,
corruption and virtue on the centuries to come? as they live on in the modern era. side by side with marriage, elevators and aeroplanes?

Not all songs about violence celebrate it, some tell us about weakend characters in desperate search of a way out.
but here are a few tales of dominant-submissive, violent,
yet admirably passionate relationships, also, rather astonishing
songs.

Franz Ferdinand - Darts of Pleasure

The Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs (Outtake)

Antony and The Johnsons - Fistful of love (feat. Lou Reed)