Never gonna love again (live on KEXP) - Lykke Li

Never gonna love again (live on KEXP) -
Lykke Li

Hello people, another shitty day here in Milan, damn rain! Yesterday has been a crazily intense day, filled with two big events in Milan: the gay pride and the One Direction concert! I have been hanging out with some friends at the beginning of the parade and, well, while I was going back to the center to meet my friend coming from England I was surrounded by teenagers with their headbands and posters and stuff... it didn't feel that good! Jokes apart, I have been going back and forth from one group of friends to the next, but I managed well I think, had a nice aperitivo, a not-so-peaceful quick nap and then went out clubbing until, well... the sky was turning light blue again! Now I'm ready to start another day in the city as a tourist, let's hope it's not gonna pour down water like on Noah's ark! The song I chose for today, another great one out of Lykke's latest album, fits well the weather of today methinks! I chose once again a KEXP live over the album version as I like it better.

Cruel world - Lana del Rey

Cruel world - Lana del Rey

Talking about the mega-playlist I mentioned to you yesterday, well... Lana's new album is a relevant part of it too, as I already picked some songs that have already been standing out in Ultraviolence for me. This is one of them, it's the opening track of the album and probably my favourite already. Makes sense to post it now, as I'm gonna have a few more to share with you, so the sooner I start, the more I'll be able to post here!! Wish you a good day, mine is going to start now with a sushi lunch after my drive to Milan and then... we'll see! Lots of people that I haven't been seeing for a while to meet again today! Cheers!

Atlantis - Ellie Goulding

Atlantis - Ellie Goulding

Hello there! Finally it looks like something is moving: I bought plane tickets for two weeks in Sicily with my dear wife (and a friend of hers is gonna join us too most probably) at the end of September, so now I can't wait for it! We had a taste of it by eating a snack at a Sicilian bar here in my hometown, a good one and I took (for the second time in a row) a 'granita al pistacchio' that was just the thing! I couldn't resist and brought home, with the approval of my parents, a few things for dinner tonite, so more piggy-ness is on the way! I am also having a bit of feedback from professors about my thesis and tomorrow I'm gonna be in Milan again, as my dear friend H. is coming from Exeter to visit us, I'm so happy! The cherry on the pie has been my tidying up my desk this morning and, had I had the afternoon free, I would've probably gone on with the tidying up of the whole room (I'm gonna do it soon anyway, it's needed, I really feel the need to close a time of my life). To celebrate this fruitful day, I'm posting another song by Ellie, one that went into my brand new (huge) work-in-progress playlist for July (and the summer in general).

Ain't no life - Pilot Speed

Ain't no life - Pilot Speed

This summer is starting to bore me stiff already (and it officially started 5 days ago)... I haven't been able to give a sparkle of interest to this time of my life, I am still feeling in a kind of self-imposed limbo, as I have the whole rest of the year to write down my thesis and, well... it's more than enough time. The problem is that I would more than gladly do something else in the meanwhile, but all of my friends are busy studying or interning or working and... I'm bored out. As Pilot Speed would say, "this ain't no life for us, my brother"... I really hope something amazing will happen in the next future (or at least that the weather will turn out fine, unlike now)...

Keep the car running - Arcade Fire

Keep the car running - Arcade Fire

I'm back home after a very intense last few hours! Lots of kilometers (or miles, if you'd rather) stacked up with my pretty little one (my beloved car), good company and an amazing destination. In the end all of my fears were (almost completely) unfounded: the weather has been quite good for the whole duration of the concert, actually the dark sky heavy with clouds and sliced through by lightning has been an amazing and scenographic frame for the concert! The irony lays in the fact that we got flooded by raindrops as big as apples in the 3 minutes when we were running back to the car after we left the venue...! In the end we got super wet anyway, but it happened at the best time possible.
About the concert, well, it's been a great experience and it was worth the trip to (near) Verona: beautiful venue (though with a not-as-good sound), beautiful setlist (with a couple of not-so-strong songs maybe) and a band in good shape (even though I felt less adrenaline rushes than I expected to). All in all a good to great concert, I'm happy I've been there and that's what matters! The highlight for me has been a super performance by We exist, their latest single, mainly thanks to a very powerful introduction by Win (something like "This song is about a gay guy not being accepted by his father, I'm sure you all have been in this situation in one way or another, but don't worry, you are perfect the way you are now!") and... well, I could've asked a little bit more from Neon Bible but we got a few and another one of the songs I enjoyed the most is the one I chose for this post, so keep your car running!

Neighborhood #3 (Power out) - Arcade Fire

Neighborhood #3 (Power out) -
Arcade Fire

The time has come! Second concert of my summer, here I come! The circumstances of our trip are not forecasted to be the best ones (we're leaving around the traffic jam time and the storm that's supposed to rage out on the concert is more and more strongly confirmed by the weather forecast), but I'm still thrilled by the whole experience, I hope it's gonna be unforgettable. Actually, I hope that the storm won't cause a 'power out'!!

Eez-eh - Kasabian

Eez-eh - Kasabian

Quick quick post tonite, as I have to get out soon! This is the (almost) new single by Kasabian, the first single out of their new album 48:13. I must confess I still have to listen to the whole album, but after a few listens I got a quite nice feeling about this song!

#sundayrevival Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - Arcade Fire

I have been quite busy doing nothing lately and well, it's time to post! In this weird moment of tiring nothingness interspersed with super busy days I almost forgot that my second (and last for the time being) concert of this summer; almost, but not completely! I have started listening to Arcade Fire's whole discography to get ready for the gig and to get in the mood! It's just two days away and I still have to finalise the arrangements: the thing that is worrying me the most is that a storm is forecast to rage out on the place exactly before and during the gig... it's gonna be like being at a british festival I suppose! Well, we'll see how it goes, in the meanwhile let's enjoy the opening track of their debut album, Funeral, in this sundayrevival post!

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) -
Arcade Fire

My blood - Ellie Goulding

My blood - Ellie Goulding

Hello there people! I'm back from my Valencia trip, which has been very enjoyable (even though I still carry the signs of my excessive exposure to the spanish sunlight, deceptive clouds and wind be damned)! My post of today is related to the trip, as Ellie has probably been the one I've been listening to most often during my wandering through the streets of the spanish autonomous community. Besides Anything could happen, that I already posted, I think this has been one of the songs I've been listening to most often, so I think it's time to reserve some room on here for it! Enjoy!

Shades of cool - Lana del Rey

Shades of cool - Lana del Rey

The song for this post has been practically chosen by Lana for me: I have started listening to her new album, Ultraviolence, and after a couple of listens I must say it gave me a (slightly) better impression than the opening single West Coast. I can't say I'm fully satisfied and totally impressed with it, but given that I kind of hated her music the first few times I got to listen to it, I am positively optimistic for my future appraisal of the album!
I said that she chose the song for me because I was undecided about which song to post (2 listens have just given me the chance to spot a few possible first-line favourites but nothing more) and I must confess this was not running for the spot. Yet Lana posted a video for it just today (actually the today I am writing this post in, that means 3 days ago) and, well... that's it! It is possible that I have grown a stronger liking for this song (and album) in the time between the writing and the posting of this, so stay tuned for more!

Maria - Patti Smith

Maria - Patti Smith

I am writing something in advance for the blog given my forthcoming leaving for a short trip. What has inspired me for this post is likely the same source of inspiration of my last Patti Smith post, about a week ago. I just realized that on my iPod I was still currently playing Banga, her latest album. My love for this CD has never diminished, rather it keeps increasing and I feel compelled to post another song, probably the one with the strongest power in terms of feeling on the whole album, anyway the one that gives me the strongest chills.
Another reason why I've been thinking about this song is that I have lately updated my playlist 'Women characters', a playlist of songs where female characters play a central role. The not-so-very-English name is a kind of self-quote, as this playlist follow a precedent one called 'Women' that featured my (at-the-time) favourite female singers. I remember burning that one on a CD as a present for my mother a long time ago...!
Well, I leave you with Maria and Patti, make sure you enjoy this pearl!

Wild way - Tori Amos

Wild way - Tori Amos

Here we are! Half time of Russia-Korea Republic, nice match. But most importantly, I'm almost ready to go! I still don't know if I'll be able to get some sleep before leaving, but anyway it's not gonna be that much. Talking about music, I'm gonna post another song from Tori's latest album, as it's been a while since my last (I think it was around the time of her gig in Milan...)! My choice of today goes towards another song of the so-called (by me) "W-triad". You might remember a post about Wedding day a few weeks ago (and yes, that one is still my favourite), but here is one of the other two, the only one she played live at the last concert I've been to. Wild way is a kinda sad song about a woman (presumably the singer herself) complaining with her lover about the fact that it was him who loved her wild way when they were younger, while now it seems like he is somehow overruling her. She hates him (figuratively I suppose) for being the only one able to make her feel gorgeous with a glance, thus showing that their relationship still has meaning, but complaining a bit about the fact that her heart is now easier to invade than it used to be. I really like the concept of this song, as it shows the evolution of a true relationship, where the partners grow together and constantly have to try and find a balance as they evolve and mature together.

Light you up - Pilot Speed

Light you up - Pilot Speed

Here we are, almost ready to go! It's gonna be a hard "night", as most likely I won't even go to sleep (I have to leave home at 3 AM to drive to the airport), so hopefully I'll be able to take a nap later. I still have to get my bag ready, so no time to relax for me now! And I also have to take care of the blog, I will probably post something for tomorrow before leaving so you'll hear from me again later before I start my trip!
This post will be swift and I'm sorry, because I'd like to devote a rightful amount of attention to this band I grew a liking for and to this song in particular which is one of my current favourites (together with yesterday's tune by Ellie Goulding). They are Pilot Speed, a Canadian alt-rock band I always mistakingly consider of German origin. This song is one of the singles out of their last album, 2009's Wooden Bones. The band sadly disbanded (sorry for the pun) in 2010.

Unfortunately there is no decent recording on the song on YouTube, neither live nor the album version, so I will leave here a link to the album version on Grooveshark: Light you up

Anything could happen - Ellie Goulding

Anything could happen - Ellie Goulding

Late again, but it's getting a habit now! I am getting to the end of Da Vinci's Demons season 2 and thus I'll be super ready to start (and finish in a very short time) Game of Thrones 4!! Can't wait! I succeeded in avoiding spoilers up to now, so I hope I'll be able to enjoy it to the fullest. But not yet, there is a trip waiting for me first! Tomorrow's gonna be my last day at home and then I'll be ready to go! I'll try to keep the blog covered for the few days of my absence. But first I have to post for... well, yesterday. (Time is a relative concept and, as a friend of mine says, it isn't tomorrow until you go to sleep)!
Today I'm posting a song by a singer I've discovered in the last few months and, even though she will not get into the olympus of my super favourites anytime soon, I must say she is quite good and I enjoy her music quite well. This is my current favourite track on the first edition of her last work, Halcyon (which has been re-released last year as Halcyon days). She is of course Ellie Goulding.

Gunshot - Lykke Li

Gunshot - Lykke Li

Another late post, this world cup is really taking its toll on me! Today I woke up at 3 PM after going to bed at 5 AM to watch the last match and then it's been a (kind of) continuous sequence of matches since 6 PM interspersed only by a few readings of articles for my final paper. My days are passing by at an astonishing speed and... wow! I can't keep up! I will be forced to let this football fever cool down somehow in the next couple of days, as I'll soon leave for a(nother) short trip! But let's focus for now... don't worry, I haven't stopped listening to music (at all) even with all of these other activities that I have been involved with! Today I'll be giving you another one of the pearls contained in Lykke Li's last work, I never learn. The song is called Gunshot and you can also find an acoustic version on the album itself, an awesome H&M acoustic version (which the picture here above comes from) and a majestic KEXP performance; here though is the album version, likely the most powerful one!

Yayo - Lana del Ray

Yayo - Lana del Ray

I just realised I forgot to post yesterday, I feel ashamed about that! I'm sorry to notice that this will unfortunately happen often in summer, as I'm less concerned with spending time in front of the pc and my days are filled with lots of interesting stuff to do (sunbathing, sunbathing, bathing, the occasional ice-cream out or ice-cream in, more sunbathing, more bathing, swimming, even more sunbathing...). You see, I have plenty of things to do! But this is not a good excuse for neglecting my dear blog and I apologise with it and with you about that. I'll try to post something now in compensation for yesterday and hopefully something more later!
The song I'm posting now is one that it took a long while to fall for: Yayo is included in Born to die: the Paradise edition, Lana's re-release of her debut album under her current stage name Lana del Rey and the album that brought her to international success. The song was already included in her previous album, Kill Kill. I only started liking it after listening to the Kill Kill original version, and this is the one I'm posting here now.

Houdini - Foster the People

Houdini - Foster the People

It's time for another Foster the People song in this super hot and humid day! The situation is getting out of control: today I had to spend the day in town due to a couple of dentist appointments and I have been sweating like a pig! Tonite (or tomorrow at the latest) we should get the usual tropical storm and in the weekend we should go from more than 30° to around 15° (in medio stat virtus and we never get the medio of course...!), so let's hope at least to get some cool and to be able to enjoy grandma's swimming pool too! About the dentists, my wisdom teeth are bothering me yet again, luckily enough not with pain (for now) but with the pain of taking them out: a new day-hospital with general anesthesia is waiting for me, hoorray!

Everywhere - Michelle Branch

Everywhere - Michelle Branch

Today I woke up, opened my Facebook and got a perfect inspiration for a song. And then, I kept on scrolling down my wall, listened to a song on YouTube and then... paf, I forgot about the song and notwithstanding all the efforts coming back and re-reading the stuff I didn't come back... well whatever, fate says it wasn't its time! Luckily enough, when I was in a supermarket buying some ice-creams with my parents, as soon as we were able to get out of it this song started playing and I started singing it by myself in the parking lot. And here it is, new inspiration for the blog! And it's a perfect one for this hot summer day too! Couldn't ask for anything better!

Interlude 1 (Ripe & ruin) - Alt-J

Interlude 1 (Ripe & ruin) - Alt-J

Hello guys! Here we are, back from my sea trip! Actually I've been back for a while now, today I spent the whole day at grandma's in the countryside, sunbathing and initiating my swimming pool new season! I think it's the first time in like 15 something years that I had my first bath of the season in the sea and not in the pool and also that my first one in the pool has been with such warm water and such a perfectly hot day! Weather changed so fast this year, the heat wave has been quick and abrupt! But I'm not complaining, I'm not particularly bothered by my weird tan theme nor by the hot and humid air (for now). I'm just a bit puzzled by my blog-post dates, as I've posted through the mobile app in the last couple of days but it looks like the posts are older than that... well, whatever! From now on I'll be going on with live posting, at least until my next absence!
Finally about music: today (and in the last week actually) I've been listening a lot (again) to Alt-J's debut album and, after an unequalled bellyful of Italian music (my friend who was driving is a fan of it), I'm back to my older habits! Enjoy and have a wonderful night!

Pompeii - Bastille

Pompeii - Bastille

09/07/2014

And so here we are again, a new week is starting, even if I have been writing this last week! If everything's going fine I should be on my way back from the trip at the sea I've been doing this past few days with some friends and hopefully everything's been going great! Tomorrow I'm gonna start posting live again, I promise, but for today I have (had) to write in advance still. I am actually writing this post together with the Get lucky one, as these two songs has been going together for me since last year: I fell in love with both of them more or less at the same time, they were in the same playlist and they have been the two hits of last summer for me and for the whole world in general I think! And given that summer has come again and I am celebrating it at the sea (it's gonna be ironic if in the next few days, that means when this is published, it's gonna be rainy and windy and chilly!), it makes sense to revive back some of past year's successes!

Sights - London Grammar

Sights - London Grammar

08/07/2014

Hello guys, if everything is going alright I should be at the sea at the time this is getting posted! Now I'm writing it at the beginning of the week for the coming weekend, when I'm planning to go to the sea for a couple of days with a couple of friends! I've been just checking the weather forecast right now and there should be something like 34-37°C with full sun! Can't wait! I really hope it's gonna be like this!
Back to music: I'm writing this on the eve of the Tori Amos concert, which I'm hoping it's gonna be great! Yet I'm posting this other song, as I've been waking up with it on my mind and, let's face it, it's a great one! This is one of my favourite out of London Grammar's debut album If you wait. I have just been watching the video for the first time and I liked it a lot too, it conveys a powerful message for what I can read in it: the scene moving from London Grammar playing a gig to Hannah (the singer) portraying an ordinary girl singing in the audience in my opinion means that we should all try to follow our dreams and face and fight our fears, we can all be living our dreams as
"What you’re feeling, It’s what I’m feeling too. What you’re made of, It’s what I’m made of too."
I know you're gonna love it too if you give it a chance, so enjoy (and happy sea trips to you all)!

Seneca - Patti Smith

Run, run, my little one. Run out to see.

Run, run, my little one. What do you seek?

Seneca - Patti Smith

My sea trip is approaching and this (early) morning I woke up with this song in mind. I was convinced that the lyrics said "Run out to sea", which made perfect sense for me. I see now that my lyrics are the ones I quoted here above, but other versions online have the reference to "sea" and not to "see" (which has never made much sense to me anyway). I'll just keep both possibilities open, the poetry of the song isn't diminished with any of the two, rather, the "mystery" increases its beauty and power. This is one of the most beautiful songs contained in Patti Smith's latest album, the 2012 Banga. I hope you will like it!


If you were his eyes, If you were his dreams
The whole of the sky could not contain you...

Get lucky - Daft Punk

Get lucky - Daft Punk

Hellooo guys! Summer has finally come, the heat wave is here and after complaining for a full month that the weather was not good, now I'm really glad I'm gonna be leaving Milan very soon! But that doesn't mean I'm not happy the heat has finally come, rather... it's finally time to start summer officially! And to celebrate this fact I'm gonna post one of the summer hits of last year, right from one of my favourite playlists of 2013 (I believe it was around August when I created it). I wish you all a very lucky summer (and, well, I could use a little luck too...!)

Love runs out - OneRepublic

Love runs out - OneRepublic

And so here we are! Finally! As I told you yesterday this is a song I've been willing to post for ages, actually since I started my playlist last month. I've been waiting for the video of the song to come out before posting it and it has been released yesterday. Ryan Tedder has said about it that they took it to a whole new level, that they had done nothing like this before... well, I don't know if this is 100% true, but the video is quite good and it makes a good scene! I must say I didn't love the song since the beginning, but it has been growing quickly in me and I really like it now. It's probably gonna be one of the hits of this summer and the video is good enough for that, this is sure! I think I understand that their latest album, the 2013 Native, will be re-released with some new material, I hope not only this one but something more!

In the springtime of his voodoo - Tori Amos

In the springtime of his voodoo -
Tori Amos

There is a song I've been waiting to post for ages and the video has come out today, so it would have been a great time BUT... I have to post something else today! I have to talk a little bit about last night's concert, because Tori, the 50 year-old Tori that seemed to have exhausted her artistic energy in the last few years ROCKED IT! It's been my best concert of her so far, I've been super happy to finally get Cornflake Girl at my 3rd attempt (it's been an unforgettable moment) and, even if the rest of the setlist has been mixed to my taste, she was in such a great shape that she rocked it all! When I got to the theatre I found out that my place was as crappy as it gets (way up to the end, with an iron structure impeding part of my vision, kind of an eagle-seat) and I spent the time just before the concert standing and I got to one of the empty seats in the area just below, at least I've been able to enjoy the concert from a decent position! And it was totally worth it!
What I'm posting now is one song I've never been strongly attached to (that is in an album I AM very much into) and that I didn't expect her to play at all and, well... it's been amazing, the whole surprise effect, the performance, the whole thing... great, just great! I wanted to share with you a quite good recording of last night's performance but I can't seem to put the video here, so you can find it here and down here you find the album version.

Little Amsterdam (live) - Tori Amos

Here we are! The day has finally come, I couldn't wait any longer! In a few hours I'm gonna be enjoying a (hopefully) great gig with my dear Tori and I must say I'm very excited about it (if ever you haven't noticed yet)!! She's been singing some of my favourites in the past dates and the new album is quite interesting too, so let's hope for a charming setlist!! Whoever has seen her live at least once or twice will know that her setlist is always very much different from one night to the next and this tour hasn't been different as of now, so fingers crossed! I am really at a loss now, wouldn't know exactly what to post... or maybe I do. Hoping that this will be a kind of lucky charm, I'm gonna post a song out of my favourite concert ever (too bad I was too young to experience it for real, but the videos are so powerful themselves!), that is the redhead's performance in New York for RAINN in early 1997. My suggestion for you is to go watch the whole thing), it's worth it! Happy concert (to me tonight and to you for whenever you're gonna go to your next one)!

I never learn (live on KEXP) - Lykke Li

I never learn (live on KEXP) - Lykke Li

Yesterday I was finally able to create a new playlist (I wanted to wait for the new month to come) and, even if the songs are coming mostly from the same singers and albums as last month's, it's still something new! One of the news in here is a couple of acoustic songs by Lykke Li she performed on KEXP: one of them is No rest for the wicked, which I already posted and love very much. The other one is this one, a song I'm quickly falling in love with too. It is the title track of her new album that came out a few days ago and it's a heart-rending ode to never learning from the past and always making the same mistakes. Which makes us human, in a way.
Moreover in the last nights I've been watching Nymphomaniac, the movie by Lars von Trier and the mal de vivre atmosphere created in the movie fits very well Lykke Li's music, so what better than that? A happy depressing new week to you all!

#sundayrevival One - Alanis Morissette

One - Alanis Morissette

Welcome to June! It's time for another #sundayrevival post (also as last sunday I skipped it). My headache has been dragging its way to the one-week anniversary, with ups and downs. My wisdom tooth also started aching (again), I wonder if the two phenomena are linked... Anyway, I'm here to celebrate something happier than my illnesses! Today is Alanis's 40th birthday, so happy birthday Alanis! To celebrate this new goal reached and the new website she released a couple of days ago about vegan way of life and mommy advice and stuff like that (say goodbye to her career as a musician: bye byee!), I'm picking one of her older tunes that I really do love. Worst case scenario about the future, we still have some great stuff from the past to lean on! Happy birthday!