I learned what a Bloc is...

In England it's what they call a case of beer! I won't be going into details about what a bloc party is then. Last monday the band with that name delivered a great performance! It was a f'in great gig!

The joys of attending concerts are just unique. Everyone is there for the same reason, beer can fall on us but we won't really mind, there's a lot of pushing, pulling, jumping, grabbing, eyes-closed head banging, sweat, yelling... and all thos can be obtained fora a fair price at a Bloc Party concert. Just listening to the albums can give a glimpse of what it can be like to be in that crowd. I did get some nasty evil looks fromtrying to stay in the front (as in the 3rd row), but it's part of the game.

Oh, the video is here. The sound is much better than the film, it was a bit hard to keep steady in the crowd.

The upcoming gigs I am attending are totally different though, The Romeros, Bat for Lashes and The Dø. Everybody's welcome to join, you just have to be in Munich at the right date and time.



n.-

the good old times

Whatever happens, the past will always be the good old times.

I had a Lisbon flashback recently. Monday morning at work, I checked a personal mailbox and spotted a mail from the 59:1 indie club, a concert was coming up and they were giving some tickets away.

Alright, let’s reply and hope to win tickets for the concert of a totally unknown band from Canada, Attack in Black. The next day, the day of the concert, bing… “you got mail”… and 2 tickets for the gig. Next step, find someone to go with. That sorted itself out pretty fast and I ended up having a real cool evening with Manu.

Back when I was living in Lisbon, we used to win heaps of free tickets for ballet, theatre, movies and concerts – I could have won even more if I’d really put myself into it.

I so missed this. The occasional happy oportunity to go to a concert for free with a friend. I wish there were more such opportunities for that in Munich, I’ll keep my ears and eyes open.

Oh, the concert? It was fun. The band ran out of songs and started doing some covers. They were funny and entertaining. The bass player so reminded me of Jeanne, a fab CSer I had the pleasure to meet this year, which by itself is another situation I will add to my next “good old times”.

cheers,

n.-

two new loves in one shot

Terry Richardson is nuuuuts but his pictures are so honest, raw, simple and sexual. Plus, the TASCHEN Book Terryworld is available for 15€.

While searching for a very good-looking Charlotte Kemp Muhl, I stumbled on a video directed by Terry... link

This kept me entertained for 3 minutes and happy for the rest of the evening. The song is OK too.


n.-

I just dumped some unknown songs onto my ZenStone and walked down the street

I never thought that as an adult, I would actually like this song...

They're called The Social Services, they're a 2/3 Scottish and 1/3 Swedish cocktail and before releasing their album, the label just let a couple of songs out, one of them being - The Final Countdown by Europe. It's very Nouvelle Vague-ish but they did a good job here - download.

The other pre-released single The Baltic Sea is a funny ode to Sweden - download.

source: http://coast-is-clear.blogspot.com/2008/09/social-services-baltic-sea.html

I feel I just made peace with this 1986' song. I still remember when I heard it in a club, it was in Switzerland during one of our school ski trips.


n.-

PS: I made sure these downloads are legal, the links are from the Record Label's site.

nothing much to report?

... well, not quite.

Jonny 5's sneakers... yeah, Lacoste for the insurgents, now!!!

Flobots...

The Flobots concert last Sunday (the 14th) was absolutely great. There are several reasons for this.
Munich is quite a conservative/classical city, hence any small gig turns into a family/friends event. We (me and some CSers) ended up hanging out with the band after the concert. Among the HUGE amount of pictures I took, a good bunch were taken by me as the official photographer for a group of 3 Germans and some other folks - we just walked from one member to the next to take group pics. The members were really cool, too bad for them that it was a small crowd, but as an attendant, I loved it!

The concert videos are online.


Wies'n...

Oktoberfest has started and so did all the crazyness. The city changes its face during this period, year after year after year... I'll make an effort to go there the least possible though:)


The summer...

Is coming to its end, the cold is here to convince us. I am happy about the home parties I am organizing and attending until we all close ourselves in our comfortable homes and hibernate socially.


Job...

I'll soon be starting at my new job, it's time to refresh that precious IT knowledge. Nothing like starting with networking, messaging and security. It sounds like fun, it is fun, but only if there are some breaks in between - after I get myself a decent guitar, I'll keep the one I have at home in the office. Let's see how it goes.


Upcoming...

Gotye will soon be in town.
Camille too, but the tickets are way too expensive.
Femi Kuti (Fela Kuti's son) would be a good oportunity to dance to afro-beat for the first time. I heard his son (Fela's grand-son) would play on stage too.
CSS is cheaper and promises to be a party.
Tindersticks, could be something to check out too!


Munich, as a toytown (or Little Big City), still has something going on, even with the narrow sight I have at the moment.


n.-

Guitars, guitars and some more guitars...

My 7/8 guitar is only quiet when she waits... until someone picks it up and jams (even if only strumming in a random fashion).

I try to differentiate the time I spend online (which is a LOT) and the one doing practical stuff, like playing the guitar - it's the ever ongoing plan to get a life and learn something that doesn't require the use of a computer.

But then, more and more online resources are made available to help get better at this so called "practical life"... and I just can't resist them all...

Let's see:

• A free alternative to Guitar Pro - the best music tabs software around - TuxGuitar
• An online guitar tabs stuffed with lots of cool songs (heck, even Dave Brubeck's Take Five is there) - Songsterr
• An online alternative to Guitar Hero - it's cooperative, it has lots of songs and it's FREE - JamLegend
• Guitar tuition videos (Karma Police is brilliant) - Video-Tabs

I got some invitations for JamLegend left, let me know if you want to coop or challenge me! One of the gains from this GuitarHero-alike is the left-hand finger practice - on a guitar, just try to switch from an Amin to an F chord (the latter is a barre) and let me know if it's that easy!

** UPDATE **
Well, I just stumbled on a VERY GOOD tuition site, it's free for those with no money to pay. The author loves contributions though... - www.justinguitar.com


n.-

Today is a Bat Macumba day

Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba oh
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macum
Bat Macumba ê ê, Batman
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat
Bat Macumba ê ê, Ba
Bat Macumba ê ê
Bat Macumba ê
Bat Macumba
Bat Macum
Batman
Bat
Ba
Bat
Bat Ma
Bat Macum
Bat Macumba
Bat Macumba ê
Bat Macumba ê ê
Bat Macumba ê ê, Ba
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat
Bat Macumba ê ê, Batman
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macum
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba oh
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá
Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat Macumba obá!


n.-

it's so bad and porno-corny that it just sticks

"oooohh... you touch my tralala...
my ding ding dong..."

Nobody like the swedes to create such a gem - Gunther, a guy everybody believes to be German, but who's in fact... swedish...

I have to shave, I'll leave the moustache on, get myself a pair of cool sunnies, a mullet and here I go, ready for Ibiza!!!

Kudos to Hagen for this... summer music revival:)


n.-

I don't get sick of all the possible ways to play the music I have

Oooohhhh... this is so cool!
Some guy developed a little server-side media player - My NAS just yelled Gimme, gimme!!!.

I got it from here - http://musicbrowser.sourceforge.net/.
Unpacked it to my NAS' WWW home folder.
Edited index.php and had it point to the music files root folder.
Now, anyone accessing my network, just needs to browse to http://server/musicbrowser and voilà, directly play in the browser any available song.

I'm celebrating it with a dance to Vampire Weekend - A-Punk

keep on dancing and jumping

n.-

Pure silent delight

People talk too much sometimes. I frequently talk too much.

This evening, a moment of silence, of pure delight was witnessed with no sound.
The five of us, after a delicious onions and ginger quiche, were almost done with the dessert.
The bowl of melted chocolate was arriving to its end. All the fruit had already been dipped into its chocolate dream and mouths had gladly tasted those simple duets.
Ice cream was the last victim to fall before this devilishly tasty, dark, hot, gooey and sweet liquid.
Jazz in the kind of this great "Take Five" was playing from my bulky and trustworthy music player.
At some point, nobody said anything, we all just gazed somewhere, probably nowhere at all, while the spoon slowly but surely went back up, carrying some chocolated ice to one's patiently open mouth.

I wish I had more moments like those. Being somewhere and not really anywhere. Being with other people and enjoying it with all of them, but still able to appreciate that singular moment independent and selfishly.


n.-

Bret and Germaine

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the Flight of the Conchords. I've been watching their show but Theres just gave me a refresh with this clip - illustrates their humor pretty much!

Each episode has a couple of their songs but this one is just brilliant.

...
you're so beautiful
you could be a waitress
you're so beautiful
you could be a air hostess in the sixties...

Surely one of New Zealand's most brilliant exports

Again, kudos to Theres for her tip on this live gig video.


n.-

the dancing nerds

This tune has been in my head for a little while and it just doesn't want to leave.
I could have discovered it earlier if only I had listened to the little amount of songs obtained from (the very busy) The Hype Machine.
I could have discovered it even earlier, had I known it was Converse's 100th Birthday theme - which reminds me I need some new shoes...

The video is ab-fab, no doubt about it!


n.-

Curry is not their only export

This video soooo deserves its own post!
Its version with english lyrics is available here.


n.-

My loony bun is fine Benny Lava!

EVERYBODY knows the "crazy indian video" from youtube.
I just had my laugh of the day with its subtitled version (at least, how the hindu sounds in english):

Thinking I've seen it all, I just clicked away to finally spot this video with 10,973,951 views (yup, 10 Million), called "Indian Thriller"(get a glass of water first, my throat dried up really fast from all the laughing...).
This one ranked pretty high in my Top 5 "Psychedelic-SynthPop-JaneFonda-onCrack" category.


n.-

Trent for free

The latest NIN album , The Skip, was released online for free.

The complete discography (with the Halo order) is on this cool site - 9inchnails.com.

A taste of Discipline:

am I still tough enough?
feels like I'm wearing down
is my visciousness
losing ground?
am I taking too much
did I cross a line
I need my role in this
very clearly defined

I need your discipline
I need your help
I need your discipline
you know once I start I cannot help myself

Trent rulez (there's really no other way to put it),

n.-

I saw you, it was incredible...

You, Lynard Skinnard-hat and
Me, little kitty
Sat across with a velvet jacket
Wild orange hair and dark, dark eyes
I gawked like a twelve-year-old - smitten
Carla the stripper,
straight from L.A.
You seem cool for a naked chick in a booth
Let's be pals some day
In other words,
Put some clothes on and call me

I saw you
It was incredible

Slim, relax,
Fine wine at the (QFC)
On a snowy Saturday night
Black pearls and I swear you were drinkin' beer
You were the redhead behind the counter there
I'm the one who fell off his chair there
You had your dry-cleaning and I think you're dreaming

I saw you
It was incredible
Mumbled these words at you
Unintelligible

My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my, my, my, my

My, my, my, my
My, my, yea hey-hey
Hey who had what time is it?


PS: This is all for the crescendo drum part, it's going to stay in my ear all night

the sky is gray...

... but the grass is still green.

Firefox 3 is out - Portable version recommended...

Opera 9.5 (portable too) came recently out too and it's FAST!!!! Hell-blazing fast, but looks like it has some issues with Blogger Post composing...

Google Reader is the best RSS aggregator/reader I had the chance to try...

The Heavy have the great dirty rock sound I so love...

Office Live is a great way to keep and share my Office Docs, it's Sharepoint based though :S...

The Kinks are now a permanent member of my 60's-70's artists...

July the 5th is another International Free Hugs day...

I so dislike the 80's-90's TV movies' acting and hairdos, just like the ones in The Bourne Identity (1988), the miniserie is great though...

... and The Hype Machine is the hardest music blog to keep up with, I just unsubscribed from that prick.


n.-

rejuvenating my MP3 player's playlist with random stuff

Stereogum can be an interesting blog to take some musical names from, but it's a bit like those fat daily newspapers (Expresso, Süddeutsche...) where I only read 5% from and put the rest aside. How many bands/singers can I digest in so little time?

Do I need to be an intense and speedy music lover?
I guess I'd need to stop wasting that precious listening time in useless activities like: going out, taking a shower, go get some groceries, work for a living.... In some of these situations, a portable (and waterproof) MP3 player could be "a" solution.

I love the fact that some previewed songs are available to download as an MP3 file - the Try-Before-You-Buy concept.

This year I discovered another blog, Largehearted Boy. It is also indie-oriented (like 90% of all music blogs) but it's worth spending 5-10mins downloading some new songs from the two main songlists, it supplies enough material to keep anyone entertained on his way to/from work/school:

• The Daily Downloads
• Try It Before You Buy It
  

These listings have enough good material to help me build my contribution for the CD exchange club I am part of.

A new folder just spawned in my Music Collection, it's called "Suggestions" and will host all those little tracks that can keep my ears fresh with new stuff.

Just for kicks, I googled for "mp3 blog"... and bang, heaps more places to legally (direct links from the artist's sites are provided) get some songs from.

This one for example sounds very promising, coast-is-clear, as it also provides songs from german/swiss/austrian artists. Let's see... downloaded 23 songs to the designated folder on my NAS, browse XBMC's Ajax web interface, four clicks and here I go for some further music discovery. I'll just crank up the volume while I take a shower (no, I have not gotten myself a pair of wireless waterproof speakers...)

The Hype Machine makes it all even easier (or harder, judging by the amount of daily additions) "The Hype Machine follows music blog discussions" they say:)
Just open the link, find a post and click the little "PLAY" button to stream it directly. To download the samples, the original post needs to be opened.


n.-

A park, beer, music and friendship

Augustiner Helles, the (almost) perfect companion to an early afternoon gettogether in the english garden.

The artist is Pierre, a fabulous guitar player. Pascal, the other Canadian, unfortunately couldn't fit his drums in his backpack:(

The instrument is a backpacker guitar, can be carried onboard a plane. I'm getting one of those the day I have some $$$, reckon I can play some guitar and start backpacking again.

n.-

Hold me closer tiny dancer...

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad

Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows, the tune she hums

But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can't hear me
When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
you had a busy day today

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand