Thanks to Tom Breihan for reminding us that today is a very special day in terms of music anniversaries, i.e. one of PJ Harvey's most acclaimed and loved albums (my personal favourite!) turns 20 years old! To bring you my love is... well, as the very good article by Tom (read it here on Stereogum) points out, the album is unique in its genre, I couldn't think of anything to compare it with neither could I easily find adjectives to describe it. Well, I'll try. The first one that comes to my mind is 'intense', as the feelings it generates are... well, intense! The music is also intense, both when it is fast-paced, more "rocky" and when it is more subtle, "floated and sighed" to quote the article. This song, 'Send his love to me', which is probably my favourite (another point I share with Tom) together with the title track, is the perfect example of this, I can't do without dancing every time it plays when I'm alone in the house. Well, another word that could be used is 'alone', let me explain: personally I mostly enjoy listening to this album when I'm alone, both because none of the people close to me seem to like PJ and because... it's very personal to me, it's music that looks inside, that aims within. The third thing that I associate with TBYML, and it might not make any sense but that's how it is, is 'yoga', as this is the album I always, always listen to when I'm practicing yoga with the Wii Fit. Don't ask me why, but I seem to find my own balance better when I listen to it.
Well, I could go on forever praising this album; unfortunately I haven't been doing a very good job so far, as I haven't converted anyone to 'PJism' yet, but I'm not losing hope!! Anyway, happy birthday to one of the best and most underrated albums of the 90s decade!!
What a long and intense day today has been! As I told you, against my previous program I stopped in Marghera (well, not exactly... but whatever!) for one more night, actually in the southern province of Padua, and had a very fun night with some of the people I have been doing the training with! We ate together and played a few alcoholic card games, nothing complex but much fun, it reminded me of my times in Exeter and... yeah I really enjoyed it, I'm so glad I stayed one more night! Today we attended the last lecture of the course and then I drove to Treviso to speak with some people about my professional future, so I'm quite sure I'll be starting to work in Veneto in about a week in preparation of my moving... I'll let you know where in due time! After the talk I drove (to a fuel pump and) back home and on the (long) way I've had time to listen to some good music! After my current playlist, an old playlist from 2007 started, I remember I was compiling it with my little cousin taking songs from previous years summer hits... it brings back memories, even if most of the songs are pretty trashy-pop!! Among them I chose for tonite one of the most representative songs of our generation, one that always gives me the late90s/early00s nostalgia feeling and that I unavoidably start singing out loud with passion every single time! I mean, if you were born in the late 80s/early 90s I dare you not to!!
I have come to end of my training here in Marghera, today is the last full day and tomorrow morning there's gonna be the last lesson. I was planning to go back home tonite but a new work-related appointment has emerged for tomorrow at lunch break, so here I am, staying here one more night! One of the friends I made during the training kindly offered to host me for the night, so I'll save myself the fuss or looking for an accommodation last minute. As usual, the more things they tell me, the less I know... I wish people would be a little more interested in my case, but I'll be enjoying the ride (or at least try to) even with all the current uncertainties! What matters the most is that I am a bit sad to put an end to this piece of life (too), I started getting on my daily routine and bonding with the nice people I've been doing the training with, but... life goes on, and maybe we'll have the chance to meet again soon!
Last night I was scrolling through my playlist and... well maybe I'm telling a lie. I actually don't remember if KT's album Tiger suit (my favourite of hers) came to my mind by itself or only after I stumbled on it on iTunes, well, fact is that a strong willingness to listen to it pervaded me and, voilà! I haven't been listening to it since last summer and, shame on me, I realised that I only posted one song out of it! It's really a pity because it's probably KT's least successful album in terms of popularity, at least here in Italy, but it is also my personal favourite, one of my favs overall! And to honour this undervalued masterpiece!
Sometimes I lose faith in the ability and willingness of our generation to commit to long term relationships. Well, oftentimes. Almost all the time. At least as far as the (very limited amount of) experience I've had goes. Lately something has been moving, but I still couldn't find any person with the desire to get to know each other first and then think about other things. It really feels like we are a generation who only thinks about the present, about whatever "urgent needs" we feel we have. And that's where a long-term thinker like me gets fucked and has to compromise. But I did it once, I don't wanna do it again. I mean, it's not like I'm really opposed to it, it's just that it leaves me nothing, I need something more, I wanna have something more. I will endure. But there is a thing I'd like to know. Where did all the love go? I don't know. Neither do Kasabian.
Given the lack of time I've had lately as far as listening to new music is concerned, I've really savaged my second playlist of the year for inspiration for blog posting. And well... this is one of the very few songs that are in it that I hadn't posted already. And yes, I have already compiled a new playlist after it, and posted songs out of it, but I needed to give the Tings at least this one post out of their new album. You might remember how I previously underlined that I didn't really get to love their latest work as much as the previous, but it successfully passed the proof of time and I actually got to like most of the songs on it way better than I did. Like transitioning from "that's ok but I'll forget about it in a couple of weeks" to "Wow, I really do like this! I'm going to listen to it again soon!". Because there is all the difference in between wanting to hear a song again and just happening to hear it by chance!
Another week has come to an end, so it time for a sundayrevival again! Tonite I took a hot bath (+ hydro) and, as you know, baths are a great source of musical inspiration, especially because in the bathroom where the tank is I have a CD-playing radio and in the next room my CD-collection, so that I almost always end up listening to old favourites! This time I actually decided to play the last physical CD I bought, that is OMAM's debut album. Their sophomore album is scheduled to be out this year and I didn't even know that until I found out that they are headlining a Milan festival, which unfortunately I won't most likely be able to attend...! As the record was playing, I remembered when I went to their concert with my friend B. almost two years ago and how she was trying to teach me how to sing on the way back in the car, with pretty poor success (not because of her)! Well... it was also the time when I started being schooled in singing and... ok, I won't go as far as saying that I can kinda sing now because it's not true, but sure I did improve since then, also thanks to my playing the harmonica! But that night in the car, singing la la la la las endlessly... I'll never forget about it!
This weekend I'm back home, with a little more light shed on my future! Next week is gonna be the last of my training near Venice, and after that... I have some plans for what is waiting for my ahead, just need to finalize things and I will hopefully update you soon enough! In the meanwhile... yesterday afternoon I picked up two girls with blablacar to share the trip back to Milan with me, and given that they were not very talkative, at one point I turned on the radio to keep myself awake and to make the journey more pleasant. After Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, I opted for Alt-J, who also got appreciation by my crew! This morning I was driving around town with my father and when the playlist finished, the next one in alphabetical order started... wow, it's been a long long time since I've listened to Amy MacDonald, and noticing how old her debut album is... almost 10 years ago! It brought me back instantly to the last years of high school when she boomed with 'This is the life' and I got to know her and love her. Realizing that I knew many songs by heart made me feel good and really did bring back memories form those times, that seem like yesterday... but in fact so much time has passed and so many things have happened in the meantime! The feeling have not changed though, thanks goodness!
"I will run until my feet no longer run no more
And I will kiss until my lips no longer feel no more
And I will laugh until my heart it aches
And I will love until my heart it breaks
And I will love until there's nothing more to live for"
You might remember that a few days ago, on Valentine's day, I posted the original version of this song by Kasabian. While I was looking for the official video of it (which I didn't find), I found out that Lana had recorded a cover of it in 2012. Curious about it, I went on to listen to it and have immediately been captured by its magic. The voice and style of Lana fit perfectly the lyrics and melody of the song, up to the point that one might think that it's a song of her own, should they not know the original version! I thus wanted to share this pearl with you to start the weekend in the best way possible!
People have been referring to this as "keyboard farts", stating that "the end of Thunderbolt sounds like a fart machine". I don't feel like easily dismissing these comments as worthless, because there is some truth in them. I mean, the end of this song and the idea of a fart machine are not the most different things in this universe. But not even the closest. Because, notwithstanding the result that can be more or less enjoyable, with more or less "artistic" value and gaining more or less the favour of listeners, the research behind is commendable. Taking new roads (and the risks that come with them), making use of the latest tools and even creating new tools to produce sounds is a great way to progress. And, come on, how cool is it to make music with a Tesla coil (a.k.a. as fart machine)?!
You might well be sick and tired at this point, so I promise: this is going to be the last Hozier post, at least for a while! I counted them all, this is the tenth song I'm posting out of his debut album (which is quite rich, at least the version I have is made up of 17 songs!), so well more than half of them are up here, all my favourites! It's been quite a blessing to get so much (genuine) inspiration from a single artist, who just debuted with his mainstream career! I'm really eager and curious to get to see how it will develop in the next few years, plus I'd love to get the chance to see him live (he's coming to Milan this summer, bummer!), even though I highly doubt that my concert life is gonna be particularly active in the next year or so...! In the meantime let's just enjoy what we've got and hope for a bright musical future (in the woods somewhere)!
I have just come back from Venice, and today was the last day of Carnival, mardì gras! Being based so close to Venice it would've been a pity to miss it, and I'm happy I got the chance to go, even if just for a quick dinner and a couple drinks, as tomorrow we have to be at the training at 8.30 as usual! Thanks goodness a few friends from the training were planning stuff with friends of theirs and I happily joined them for a few hours! Even got a last-minute (quite nice) cat mask today during lunch-break (the perks of having a mall close by!), which is even more appropriate, today being the World Cat Day (or something like that)...! Anyway, I hope I'll get the chance to go to Venice again during daytime in the next few days, for now I'll just think about celebrating carnival, probably for the first time in my life!
I've been needing a mood boost after the weekend to start the week in the best way, and I got the total opposite: inability to focus, boring lectures and tiredness... today it's been hard, but I did my best to turn it into a productive day, both concerning my training and some side activities (mainly studying Japanese). Thanks goodness I'm having a good time with the people in the class, otherwise it'd be the death of me! Anyway, I gave myself a boost to try and start the week well: the little town I'm located in for the beginning of this week is cute a lively (for being a small town), so I'm enjoying it, even if the hotel ain't the best (last night there was no hot water and at one point the woman in the room next to mine, where ironically I am now, was screaming so hard I thought I was on the set of a porn movie)!! Tonite, after a quick look at Tripadvisor, I decided to aim for a place that cooked paellas and kebabs and that had great ratings. After a 15 mins walk I get there and... I find a nice sign telling me that in winter they're closed on monday... it's the second time already that I get hissed in this way since I started this training, dammit! Well, this time I had a plan B and I aimed for a pub I saw on the internet, which offered me an enjoyable chicken skewers with fries and a spirtz! But the best mood booster was Cyndi Lauper's music in my ears while walking! So, get a boost for the beginning of your week too!!
Just to remain within the framework of my friend's playlist, here is a perfect pick for this week's sundayrevival! When 'We are young' came out in 2012, it's been a massive hit and I kinda liked it. But my love and interest for Fun. as a band evolved and became complete only after their next single reached success: I've always been in love with 'Some nights', it's probably my favourite song of theirs and it's the one that made me listen to their whole album, which I liked! I actually almost never go back to listen their 2012 album, but it's always pleasing when I hear one of their songs! Especially this one!
Today I've been wandering around Vicenza with my friend G, a romantic S. Valentine day sightseeing and window shopping at the mall (now we're facing the big big problem of finding a place where to eat, couples has taken all the room everywhere!). She compiled a playlist of... well let's say trash-pop (and also alternative/rock) songs that remind us of the moments we spent together, so it felt right to post something out of that playlist. This song works perfectly for today I'd say! It's pretty much the only Kasabian song she knows and probably my most favourite, we got it playing in the car sooner and so... I hope you can enjoy it too, even if it's about the saddest side of love!
I've been waiting for Imagine Dragons to release the official video of this song before posting it, as I have done with other songs in the past. It's been a while of a wait, especially because this is the song I liked the most out the materials released out of their sophomore album before it came out (yesterday actually). I quite like I bet my life now (I didn't at first) and I still don't like Gold, but this one... is a yes for me! I quite like the concept of the video too, pictures inside pictures inside pictures...!
I've recently read an article claiming that Imagine Dragons are not alternative, they are what passes for alternative nowadays and I tend to agree. It also criticized them for sometimes pushing it too far in terms of "alternativity", which I can't completely disagree with, as oftentimes their songs have a little too many layers of sounds that don't make them very accessible or even enjoyable at times. What the article also stated is that they have a big songwriting talent, and I can't disagree with that either! This is the proof of it!
I've been waiting for this moment for YEARS! It's been since 2011 that Florence + the Machine haven't released a new album, that's before I even went to Canada, before I started my Master of Science, long before I went to England and about three times the time that passed since I've started this blog!! Just to get an idea about it...
Yes, she did release new music, mainly movie soundtracks and yes, I did see her live twice in 2012, but... an album is still an album, it's a whole different kind of story. After giving us hints and tracks in the last few weeks and days, today they FINALLY premiered the first track out of the new album, that's gonna be called 'How big, how blue, how beautiful' and that's coming out in June. They also premiered the video of it, and I must say that, even if it usually takes me a while to appreciate F+tM music (and maybe also because I know that), I am absolutely in love and not at all disappointed with this first piece of art they released! It's not really like the "typical" F+tM song (us such thing even exists), I takes you by surprise, both musically and also visually, it's raw, much rawer than the poised Ceremonials, but it's her, it's them, it's Florence and it's the Machine, and I love them especially when they're raw! Soo, while anticipating the album, let's enjoy the first new Florence + the Machine music since 2013!!! I hope you'll love it too!
You guys know me, I am very bad at remembering things daily... you might wonder why I started a daily music blog, you are not alone in that, I wonder about that too... like Katie sings in this song I am a failure! Ok, not a complete failure, but a failure in respecting my daily commitment! Another kind of failure in my life that happened today is that concerning attention: the two sessions of training of today were so boring and/or impossible to follow that I almost paid no attention to the speakers... well, one good thing is that I did useful stuff in the meanwhile, more precisely freshen my Japanese (language) skills! Last night I spoke with the contact that is going to offer me a job and... well, big news are coming soon! I hope I won't be a failure concerning that part of my life too!
Hozier + Annie Lennox @ Grammys... I mean, wow! Did you watch their performance? I was amazed, had to watch it two times to recover from the emotional blow but... wow! Crazy intense! Unfortunately I haven't found a decent quality video recording of it available on the web yet, but... wow! Really, after a few hours I still haven't recovered! I'm more and more sad that Annie isn't touring anymore because of problems with stressing her voice, I would have loved to see her live!! And Hozier, so peaceful but resolute, almost eaten out by Annie's power but working as a perfect and complementary element... almost like a bass in a band! Wow... I can't stop being amazed by the power of this performance!
I've actually been willing to listen to Hozier's album since this morning, when my wake up call (his song Angel of small death and the Codeine scene) rang... I'm doing it just now, but with a more special feeling in my heart! It's so peculiar that I've been listening to his album and Annie's latest practically together and then they've performed together at the Grammys! And what a performance!! What I'm sharing with you is a song I put in my current playlist, actually one that I am greatly enjoying these days, it's called Jackie and Wilson, I hope you enjoy!
Recently Tori Amos has announced that her first two (solo) albums will be re-released in April with deluxe material (b-sides, live material and else), most of which I already own and know, so there's probably gonna be no need for me to buy them (again), unless they'll be out at a (significant) discount in a while! One nice surprise has been the new home page of her official website (here), where you can play a full studio version of Take to the sky, one of the extra materials out of her debut album and one of my favourite songs of hers and in general! But back to this week's sundayrevival: this morning I woke up "early" for my standards (around 10.30) and I've had time to take a good hot bath before getting ready to lunch at grandparents' and then to travel back to the Venice area for the next week of training course. While taking my relaxing bath (which was not hot enough though, what a shame!) I was playing Tori's third album, Boys for Pele, and I decided that one of the most popular songs out of it (it's been the first single if I remember correctly), but also one of my favourites on the album and a favourite of many ears-with-feet (aka Tori Amos fans), would have made an unforgettable sundayrevival post, so... here it is for you! Beware of lite breezes and try to catch your sneezes!
I have recently compiled a playlist with my favourite U2 songs and every time I play it with shuffle mode on, this song pops up. It did now and it somehow seems to make a lot of sense.
"I'll be up with the sun, I'm not coming down."
Pop is a weird U2 album for me: it is not at all among my favourites, but there is a triplet of songs (Staring at the sun + Last night on earth + Gone) that I really really like, and that I've been liking since I approached the album.
"You wanted to get somewhere so badly you had to lose yourself along the way."
Gone in particular has always meant something special to me, I probably didn't understand what and why until now. Or maybe I still don't! It's weird how your relationship with a song changes and evolves with time, whenever you have this "illumination" moments and it seems like you're understanding each other better than before... one of the reasons why I love music!
" 'Cause I'm already gone, felt that way all along.
Closer to you every day, I didn't want it that much anyway."
I came in late with Björk's (not anymore) latest album, Biophilia. I actually started approaching it just a few days ago, as her new work came out. I think I needed a pause with her, as after her first three albums (that I loved), it's been pretty hard for me to get through her later discography, but you know that already, it's not the first time I'm telling about this difficult relationship! Fast forwarding to now, I felt ready to approach her new work and I must confess that I didn't devote much attention to Biophilia yet, but after a couple listens I didn't feel a block as I did with Vespertine or even somehow with parts of Medulla and Volta. It's not straight-forward, accessible music of course, but I think I can get it through with a few more listens. I'll keep you updated about that, for now enjoy the one song that got through to me already!
I'm drawing fully from my current playlists to create posts this week, and I'm glad when I do that, because it means I'm really liking the music I'm listening to! Mainly focused on Hozier, The Ting Tings and Cyndi Lauper (plus a few extra additions that I will share with you shortly), the playlist I've built for this beginning of February is one I'm really fond of. Its name is very telling: Sperendio, (literally "hoping-in-god") which is a word used in Italian when you do something without attention or not having data and information that lets you foresee the outcome of your actions with good predictability, and which is a word that describes my current stage of life perfectly! It seems like the inspired name of the playlist brought me to select inspiring music for it, and this is another piece of it that I am enjoying greatly!
Going on with the Hozier special of the week!! It feels like this has become an appointment, me posting a Hozier song every few days! Anyway, this is my current most-listened to, and for a reason that is unusual as far as my approach of approaching (sorry for the word play!) songs is concerned. I usually start focusing on the melody, while (I came to speculate) my subconscious is also assessing the lyrics. After I'm familiar with the musical side of a song, I get to read the lyrics and almost all the time the more I like the song, the more the lyrics mean to me! I've been explaining this with the supposition that I unconsciously assess the lyrics too and they influence my liking of a song without realising it. With this song it's different, the "chorus" line is repeated often and clearly in the song and it struck me quite a bit, I find it beautiful, moving and very to-the-point. It's the lyrics that brought me to appreciate the song (consciously), but in the end... the process doesn't matter much, what matters is the relationship with the song, ain't that true?
"Screaming the name of a foreigner's god: the purest expression of grief"
My training course is going on, it's very hard for me to be awake because I'm totally not used to waking up early in the morning, and before and after lunch it really kills me, I wish I had a bed to take a nap on... but I'm still getting the best I can out of it, and a few useful things are coming out of it for sure! In a moment of (fb) distraction I noticed a news reporting that Jimmy Fallon performed this song in his show dressed like Neil Young together with the real Neil Young, so I went to watch it as soon as I got to my hotel room and my computer and... it's just amazing! I'm linking you here the original version of the song and also this awesome performance, you have to check it out!!
I have just watched the video of the first single of Komminuet, a duo that got almost to the end of last year's Italian X-Factor and I was just realising how much they look like an Italian version of The Ting Tings: the Komminuet guy is "a rapper" and has a more central role in the singing part than Jules does in the Tings, but apart from that they are very similar, in particular they play a very similar genre, a kind of electro-hip hop and something else... quite peculiar! Anyway, back to the Tings, I have recently posted (I think) the first song out of their latest album a few days ago on the blog, now it's time for n°2, which is actually the first one that got my attention and one that I have just featured in my first February playlist! The other post didn't resonate much with you guys, so I hope that this one will have a little more success...! I know, this album is not (at all) my favourite work of them (for now), rather... yet it's very new, so it can only grow and a few songs are already showing potential in my opinion, so why don't you give it a try?!
Besides, I just found out that 'Do it again' has also been released as a single (well before the album came out)!! I like the video, it's pretty cool! And the song is really catchy, I'm sure you're gonna like it!
First day of training today, not bad not bad, I'm surrounded by people from around here, the Venetian vibe is all around me but I can't say I dislike it, I like the accent and I'm already getting it in me, like my (grandmother's) roots coming to the surface! Ok, so the training is ok, not super exciting (it's a training), but it seems bearable from what I've seen in this first day, some parts of it are more hands-on so chances are that I might pay a little attention and learn something useful!
About the music, I've been meaning to post this song for a while now, as it's my current favourite out of the pool of the new Cyndi Lauper songs I am discovering with her best hits. The title of the song is evocative, I like the melody... I won't lie, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the lyrics yet but I trust my subconscious, as usually when I grow to like a song musically, I tend to love the lyrics too! I'm sure it's true for the sisters of Avalon too!
Hello folks, I am finally on transfer near Venice, more exactly in Marghera, one of the two on-the-ground little towns just opposite of Venice! Tomorrow I'm gonna start my training and today, after a lunch at my grandparents', has been mainly devoted to getting there and setting up. I think I realised (rather, confirmed) that travelling is going to suck up a lot of time (and money) during my next few weekend, unless I decide not to go back home... well, we'll see what the least painful alternative will be! I am a bit excited to start the intensive training tomorrow, I'll meet new people, hope they're nice, and it's the beginning... of a new beginning! Even if I'm feeling a bit stranded, not having a kitchen, not knowing where I will stay in the next few weeks, not having a proof that I will get some kind of reimbursement (even if I strongly hope so, as this course is having me and my parents hemorrhage money worse tha university)... well, I'm trying to be positive! I've already paid a visit to a mall they recently built near here, and I really like it, I don't why but I always find malls comforting! Moreover, it's very close to where I will have lectures, so it's gonna be a favourite spot I guess!
Ok, sometimes I forget that this is a music blog and I get lost telling about other crap, so: today I've been listening to a U2 playlist I recently created with my favourite songs of them; Numb is one of the songs of theirs I absolutely love and I think greatly described my feelings while I was driving on the highway towards here... veeery boring! It feels a bit like cheating as I don't think I have been knowing this song for long, but it sounded familiar when I approached it and given that it's from the early 90s... it makes for a good sundayrevival!
Tonite I've seen ONE of my friends in my hometown for about an hour before she went to the movies with her "new" boyfriend, that I also met for the first time. Sometimes it feels that our fellowship is somehow breaking, we are all somehow spread around (but not that much actually) and it looks like we are never able to see each other these days... big changes ahead, as more or less we have all started working or will soon by now, and that will probably mean even more spreading around (me first). Tomorrow (well, actually today) I'll be moving near Venice for the beginning of my training: I'm not living this very well, as the town where the training is taking place is supposedly shitty, a Venice suburb where all the port and metalworkers are based, not exactly engaging for a hippie youngster like me, plus the course is supposed to be very technical (more than I need) and not-so-exciting, but I'm trying to look at the bigger picture, as I can't really wait to start a new adventure after that, getting a real job! Today I went to visit a couple of grandparents with my parents and while driving back home we got this song... I was about to say on the radio but that's not true, I got just the beginning of it while we were getting out of a textiles outlet we stopped in on the way! Well, anyway, it stuck in my head and it seemed a legit post, as I've been in love with it since it came out in the summer of 2006!
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