2014 in songs #9 - Neneh Cherry - "Blank Projet"

Neneh Cherry and a raw album - stripped down and powerful: one of the best of this year that is going to die soon.

2014 in Songs #8 - My Brightest Diamond - "Pressure"

From "This Is My Hand", the 2014 album of My Brightest Diamond, aka Shara Worden.

Put in the same folder as Sufjan Stevens and Owen Pallett - inteligent and vibrant music

Great Gigs in the Cloud: Episode 4

One of my all time favorites, the mighty and magical Annie Haslam in Renaissance.

Brings great memories from my childhood, and I have to thank my family for that. They're the one's to blame.. I had it easy, really!

SET-LIST:

CARPET OF THE SUN
MOTHER RUSSIA
CAN YOU HEAR ME
OCEAN GYPSY
RUNNING HARD
TOUCHING ONCE
PROLOGUE

ORIGINALLY BROADCAST ON
8 JANUARY 1977, ENGLAND

ANNIE HASLAM - LEAD & BACKING VOCALS
JON CAMP - BASS, BACKING VOCALS
MICHAEL DUNFORD - ACOUSTIC GUITARS, BACKING VOCALS
LOHN TOUT - KEYBOARDS, BACKING VOCALS
TERENCE SULLIVAN - DRUMS, PERCUSSION, BACKING VOCALS


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Spiritualized - "Do it all over again"

Há algo de natalício neste tema...

Keith Emerson / Greg Lake - Live from Manticore Hall- 2014

Keith Emerson and Greg Lake released this year ‘Live From Manticore Hall,’ a 10-track live album recorded during the duo’s 2010 world tour. 


The record contains some of ELP’s best-loved songs including Lucky Man, From the Beginning, Tarkus and also "I Talk to the Wind" from King Crimson's first album.

Don't expect the full-bodied  sound of Emerson Lake & Palmer or the truculence of Mr. Palmer. This is an intimate set of songs, guitar and keyboards. 

Palmer decided not to continue to play live with them after  a 2010 performance by the trio at the High Voltage Festival. In his own words: “We rehearsed for five weeks, which I could never understand why we needed to rehearse that long,” “Upon hearing the recordings, maybe five weeks was not long enough. It wasn’t to the standard that I liked and I didn’t think it sounded that good.”

So, we are left with two thirds of the band, that do a good job of making us want to listen to the originals again...


Track Listing
‘From The Beginning’
‘Introduction’
‘I Talk To The Wind’
“Bitches Crystal’
‘The Barbarian’
“Take A Pebble’
‘Tarkus’
‘C’est Le Vie’
‘Pirates’
‘Moog Solo’ / ‘Lucky Man’

2014 in songs #7 - Blues Pills - "High Class Woman"

Blues Pills fabricate a form of powerful blues rock that finally ended up in a form of an album this year.  This young American-Swedish-French quartet create a very unique, intense and extraordinary rock atmosphere.

Their wesbsite cite as referrences Aretha Franklin, THE ORIGINAL FLEETWOOD MAC, LED ZEPPELIN, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and CREAM. 

One natural highlight is the voice of Elin Larsson, strong and full of soul. 

Listen to one of the best songs of their album "Blues Pills"




http://www.bluespills.com/index.php/en/

2014 in songs #6 - Messenger - "Somniloquist"

Messenger is an new UK band and "Illusory Blues" is their exquisite debut album. It is one of the best this I head this year. Beautifully crafted, elusive, nicely built, with grandeur and mystic.

 Listen to "Somniloquist"  ont his list, as an example.

2014 in Songs #5: The Eels - Lockdown Hurricane

The real Hombre Lobo has come back with another very good album in 2014, "The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett"


And a very good video too for "Lockdown Hurricane"

For Crimson Heads

King Crimson's "The Elements of King Crimson" is a two-disc set that collects recordings largely unreleased on CD of alternate takes, live recordings, rehearsals and completed tracks culled from 1969-2014

Created to promote the band's 2014 tour of the same name, it's sold exclusively through the band's merchandise booth on the tour and from the Discipline Global Mobile online stores. The box's content is less focused on actual songs and more on song "elements"; extracts of studio recordings, alternate takes, mixes with one or two instruments isolated, live recordings and rehearsals; the tour box is the first CD release for most of the tracks included. Some of them have already been released for digital download through the DGM Live website while some others are set to be included in future DGM releases; it also comes with a 24 page booklet. The box marks the first time both studio and live recorded material with Gavin Harrison is released on CD, the first time material with Jakko Jakszyk is released under the King Crimson name, and the first time material with Bill Rieflin is released overall.

1.	"Wind Extract"	Michael Giles, Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake	In the Court of the Crimson King 1969, London	0:31
2.	"I Talk to the Wind"	McDonald, Peter Sinfield	In the Court of the Crimson King 23/07/1969, London	4:12
3.	"Cadence and Cascade" (Greg Lake vocal)	Fripp, Sinfield	In the Wake of Poseidon 03/02/1970, London	4:29
4.	"Cirkus" (guitar extract)	Fripp	Lizard 11/09/1970, London	0:15
5.	"Cirkus" (live)	Fripp, Sinfield	Live at the Marquee 1971 10/08/1971, Marquee Club	8:43
6.	"Hoodooo" (extract)	Fripp, Mel Collins, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison, Jakko Jakszyk, Bill Rieflin	Elstree band rehearsals May 2014	0:23
7.	"Sailor's Tale" (guitar solo - early take)	Fripp	Islands 08/09/1971, London	6:13
8.	"The Talking Drum" (Steven Wilson alt mix)	Fripp, Bill Bruford, John Wetton, David Cross, Jamie Muir	Larks' Tongues in Aspic October 1973, London	6:43
9.	"Larks' Tongues in Aspic" (extract)	Fripp, Bruford, Wetton, Cross, Muir	Elstree band rehearsals May 2014	2:36
10.	"Larks' Tongues in Aspic" (extract - David & Jamie)	Cross, Muir	Larks' Tongues in Aspic 16/01/1973, London	2:40
11.	"Fracture" (SW 2014 mix)	Fripp	Starless and Bible Black 23/11/1973, Concertgebouw	11:28
12.	"Fallen Angel" (extract - RF harmonics)	Fripp	Red 08/07/1974, London	1:14
13.	"Fallen Angel"	Fripp, Wetton, Richard Palmer-James	Red July 1974, London	6:22
14.	"21st Century Schizoid Man"	Giles, Fripp, McDonald, Sinfield, Lake	USA 30/06/1974, Palace Theater	8:27

Censorship in Art - Two Recent Examples

On a not so subtle level, censorship is working again and again. It is sad how we are going back in terms of art and exposure of the body in art works - to a level that not even catholic church assumed a century ago. We are going back to pre-Reaniassance times, and that is happening in the period of one generation. Censorship is becoming awful.

Let's be clear about this: you can access all the porn and nudity you might need or ever want for the rest of your life in the internet. But when it comes to show the butt of a small kid, it's indecent exposure - oh yeah, all those paedophiles out there lloking for record covers! And the body of a woman is indecent all the way, except if you are advertising for some famous brand or social media campaign.

Just look at two very recent examples:

Led Zeppelin - "Houses of the Holy" - the recent reedition features always a sticker or a band covering the childrens butt. In previous versions, there was always a stivker too, except in the original cover.

The Very Shy reedition

Previous Reedition

Original Version

Beady Eye -"BE" -If you google it,  it's increasingly more difficult to find the original version of the album cover since the US released the album, excludind the breast and the nipple.

US Cover

Original Cover

The Shy Cover, with Sticker

By the way, it is an extremely beautiful photograph on the cover. Yes, it´s a woman laying naked and you can see one of her breasts!

How bad is this when compared to the incredible amount of crap the US produces when it comes disgusting TV programs and the language and violence you find in todays' movies, games and children series? I can hear them saying: I am protecting the children!

And let's not forget it all started with that sort of human being that was President of the United States in the 80's, Mr. Ronald Reagan.

How perverse is the mind of these people...

2014 in songs #4 - Tony Allen with Damon Albarn

Tony Allen, the legendary veteran drummer teamed up with Damon Albarn in this song of his "Film of Life".

Great drumming, as usual, and a melting of elements, paired with an exploratory sense, make this one of the best albums of 2014.

2014 in songs:Owen Pallett: "I am not Afraid"

The one-man orquestra and gifted composer Owen Pallet (aka Final Fantasy before he had to give up the name due to the copyright of the video game), did it again.

From concept albums to more open compositions, "In Conflict" is somehow different from his previous albums, but his inspired songwriting is good as ever. He is still one of the best musicians around, to our delight,

YES: "Songs From Tsongas"

New triple CD from veterans Yes, Recorded in  2004 and covering their entire career until that moment, it's the recording of their 35th Anniversary Tour in 2004, the last tour by the band to feature the classic line-up of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White. 

track list:

CD1:
01 – IntroFirebird Suite
02 – Going for the One
03 – Sweet Dreams
04 – I’ve Seen All Good People
05 – Mind Drive, Pts. 1 & 2
06 – South Side of the Sky
07 – Turn on the Century
08 – My Eyes
09 – Mind Drive, Pt. 3
10 – Yours is No Disgrace
CD2:
01 – The Meeting (Piano Solo)
02 – Long Distance Runaround
03 – Wonderous Stories
04 – Time is Time
05 – Roundabout
06 – Show Me
07 – Owner of a Lonely Heart
08 – Second Initial (Guitar Solo)
09 – Rhythm of Love
CD3:
01 – And You and I
02 – Ritual
03 – Every Little Thing
04 – Starship Trooper

New Peter Hammill album: "All that might have been"

The 2014 album of Peter Hammill is out
"All that might have been" on 3 cds and vinyl

2014 in songs #2: Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band: "I Ain't Waiting"

It was no words, but it could have.

One of the best albums of the year.

2014 in Songs #1- Ben Watt - "Forget"

I guess it doesn't make sense to do those lists of the best albums of the year. I'lI alwyas have lots of doubts of saying "these are the best ones", without listening with some intensity to a lot of albums. Nevertheless, and according to my last estimate, I listened more or less to 100 of them.

Early in the year, Ben Watts' album "Hendra" caught my attention. It is just his second solo album, after "North marine Drive he did with Rbert Wyatt, 17 years ago, and after Everything But the Girl split up.It is simple, heratfelt and true. It will endure, the kind of quality you don't find on people just looking for the spur of a (by-gone) moment.

I shared once "Hendra" here. Now it's time to "Forget".

Below you can also feel the fotage of "Levels", featuring David Gilmour.



Before I left there was a weekend when we walked
We barely saw a soul for two whole days
The Sussex downs after rainfall is as lovely as it gets
But really I should let
Let it all slide

How the light can fall in so many different ways
Some memories you deal with but some are tough
There are moments of joy that will go unmet
But really I should let
Let them all slide

But who am I fooling when I say I have no regrets
You can push things to the back of your mind
But you can never forget

I washed your hair in the darkness of the house
I saved a creature from the heat of the fire
And when you rose I saw your silhouette
But really I should let
Let that all slide

But who am I fooling when I say I have no regrets
You can push things to the back of your mind
But you can never forget

But who am I fooling when I say I wish we'd not met
You can push things to the back of your mind
You can push them there but still you will find
That you push them there to the back of your mind
But you can never forget

That you push them there to the back of your mind
But you can never forget

You push them there to the back of your mind
But you can never forget

The Best Songs In the world #45 - Declan O'Rourke - "Galileo"

Because I am in Ireland and this guy is Irish, this may be a good definition of love. That reality so invisible.

It is a very simple song, and the message is incredibly plain to understand...

(I am not the one to draw conclusions...)



Galileo fell in love as a Galilean boy,
And he wondered what in heaven who invented such a joy.
But the question got the better of his scientific mind,
And to his blind and dying gaze,
He looked up high and often sighed,
And sometimes cried,

Who puts the rainbow in the sky?
Who lights the stars at night?
Who dreamt up someone so divine?
Someone like you and made them mine?

Love can make you ask some funny questions now and then.
But just remember the alternatives for I remember when
I was lonely and unhappy,
And my lips were cold as ice.
But you kissed me, and good heavens,
Now I'm here in paradise,
So if ever I'm not kissing you or looking in your eyes.
I won't be blind, and I won't cry.
I'll look up high and gladly sigh,
And thank the guy,

Who puts the rainbow in the sky?
Who lights the stars at night?
Who dreamt up someone so divine?
Someone like you and made them mine?
Someone like you and made them mine?

The Best Songs in the World #44 - The Moody Blues - "The Actor"

Back to the playlist of the Best Songs in the World, and back again to the 60's. This is from "In Search of a Lost Chord", 1968, the second album of the second life of Moody Blues.

Justin Hayward,singer and songwriter, and a lovely voice. A romantic tune for Sunday evening...

The curtain rises on the scene
With someone shouting to be free
The play unfolds before my eyes
There stands the actor who is me

The sleeping hours takes this part
Through traffic, telephones and fear
Put out your problems with the cat
Escape until a bell you hear

Our reasons are the same
But there's no-one we can blame
For there's nowhere we need go
And the only truth we know comes so easily

The sound I have heard in your hello
Oh, oh, darling, you're almost part of me
Oh, oh, darling, you're all I'll ever see
Ah, ah, ah

It's such a rainy afternoon
No point in going anywhere
The sounds just drift across my room
I wish this feeling I could share

It's such a rainy afternoon
She sits and gazes from her window
Her mind tries to recall his face
The feeling deep inside her grows

Our reasons are the same
But there's no-one we can blame
For there's nowhere we need go
And the only truth we know comes so easily

The sound I have heard in your hello
Oh, oh, darling, you're almost part of me
Oh, oh, darling, you're all I'll ever see
The sound I have heard in your hello
Oh, oh, darling, you're all I'll ever see
Oh, oh, darling, you're almost part of me
Ah, ah, ah

R.I.P. Jack Bruce

Este passou-me...

http://www.esotericrecordings.com/

Jack Bruce (14th May 1943 - 25th October 2014)
It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Jack Bruce, one of the greatest musicians in the history of music. We had the extreme honour of working with him on his most recent album, 'Silver Rails', and also on the 'Can You Follow' boxed set some years ago. He was a fabulous man and his passing is a huge loss. Our sincere condolences go to his wife Margrit and all his family. We are numb. RIP Jack, you will always remain in our hearts and will always be a true legend.


Graham Bond, Cream, Carla Bley, Frank Zappa,Robin Trower, Michael Mantler, John Mayall,  são algumas das bandas por onde passou e músicos com quem tocou. Era uma lenda viva e um musico reverenciado. 

Palavras de velho

Agora que o prog está na mó de cima outra vez, não faltam reedições, re-limpezas. re-mixagens. faixas acrescentadas, notas elogiosas e comentários superlativos. Fala-se dos discos dos Yes como do Santo Graal, os King Crimson são deuses intocáveis, os Led Zeppelin fartam-se de ganhar dinheiro outra vez, David Gilmour vai ser o próximo Papa, grupos que já tinham sido enterrados discretamente renascem e dão concertos para plateias cheias (Strawbs, Caravan, Fairport Convention, Camel, you name it...), enfim, o que está na moda é ter uma longa cabeleira de cabelos brancos e abaná-la, esperando que não salte a placa...


Hoje em dia há edições de discos que não foram editados há 40 anos atrás, tal era o ritmo e a qualidade dos trabalhos a sair, e que nos deixam de queixo caído. Outras obras, que venderam meia dúzia de exemplares e das quais praticamente ninguém ouviu falar, são editadas como obras-primas esquecidas. O passado é uma imensa mina de tesouros refulgentes, fechada todos estes anos e esperando estes Novos Salteadores da Arca Perdida

Mas eu pergunto: então e nós? Os que andámos a pregar no deserto este ano todos? Os que foram escarnecidos - sim, escarnecidos - por gostarmos de rock pomposo, difícil, alucinado, chatíssimo... Eu acho que merecemos uma estátua. Por resistirmos contra vagas sucessivas de assalto - do punk (aaargh!) , New Wave (socorro!), góticos (ar fresco, por favor!), Electro (desliguem a ficha), House (Por favor parem), Hip Hop (desentupam a fossa!) e o intragável R'n'B americano em geral...

Então, por favor, acendam um isqueiro por nós... não, não é uma selfie... e com esse isqueiro acendam alguma coisa... e ide, sede felizes e ouvide os Moody Blues (sim, esses ainda falta recuperar... será na próxima geração....)