Long & lost - Florence + the Machine

"Oh the queen of peace always does her best to please, is it any use? Somebody's gotta lose..."

Queen of peace / Long & lost - Florence + the Machine

I meant to post 'Long & lost' a few days ago, as I was falling deeply in love with it, but for one reason or another I had other songs to give precedence to. And it couldn't have been better!! Dear Flo just released her first video since the album came out, she posted a couple of teasers about 'Queen of peace' (which is the other song I'm utterly in love with nowadays), and well... to my (and I guess anyone else's) surprise, she just released a double video for QoP and L&L and.... oh my goodness, it's probably one her best videos to date, if not the best! Notwithstanding how much I am in love with her music, I've not been a huge fan of most of her videos to date, but this one is just amazing... you just have to watch it. It's beautiful. And amazing. I'm still trying to close my mouth as I'm still totally in awe. Do watch it, and you won't regret it! (If you're interested, there might even be some naked Flo body on top, just so...)!!!

"Without your love I'll be so long & lost, are you missing me?"

"It's been so long between the words we spoke..."

#sundayrevival Millennium - Robbie Williams

Millennium - Robbie Williams

Well, I suppose I'm scheduled to write a sundayrevival post now... I've been keeping the right song for weeks waiting to be on a Thai spot on the sea and I thought that this weekend the time would come, but it did not, so I'll have to keep keeping it! I'll need to think about something else... but first I have to recover after one of the best F1 races of the last few years, so much fun and entertaining, finally after a collection of boredom in the past few months...! Well, the sport needed a boost, and after a relaxing day spent wandering through a couple of malls close by and on the poolside, I needed one too. And maybe you also could use one! That's why I'm sharing one of my favourite Robbie songs with you (I haven't been posting anything of his since 2013!! 2013!!! That's a long time!). I don't know why, but when I chose him, this is the first song of his that came to my mind, and given that it  has always been among my favourites of his, it makes a perfect sundayrevival post! Also, don't forget to follow the blog's July playlist on Spotify!!

Someone said goodbye - Enya

Someone said goodbye - Enya

Yes yes, it's kind of an Enya period, I'm listening to her more than I usually have done, and that means more blog posts of hers! But it doesn't seem you guys are unhappy about it, rather...! This is a 10-year old song I included in my current playlist, and I hope you're gonna enjoy it as much as I enjoyed my trip to Ayutthaya today: many temples and ruins, golden and stone buddhas, elephant-riding, feet-eating fish, floating markets, food, heat, people, fun, burning sun... did I mention the heat? Well, yeah, we had it all!! I'm starting to get more and more used to Thailand!

Underneath the streetlight - Joni Mitchell

Underneath the streetlight - Joni Mitchell

This hard week of work has come to an end, but the journey is far from over yet: tomorrow another early-morning rise-up for a trip to Ayutthaya with my colleagues, and then three more weeks of visit next week... let's hope that at least on Sunday I'll be able to get some rest!! You all have a good night underneath the streetlights!

Mr. Zebra - Tori Amos

Mr. Zebra - Tori Amos

I was about to bring to the end the short cycle of the wild animals songs with the dear Joni Mitchell and the title song out of the 'Wild things run fast' album, but I just realized that I already posted this song a few days ago… this is just to let you know how poor is my understanding of what is happening around me and of what I'm doing these days… Anyway, I couldn't just bring to a close the (already) short cycle in advance, so I came up with this well-worthy substitute! Now that you know what wild things do (well, you knew that already!), I can share with you one of my favourite live videos of Tori Amos on YouTube. Mr. Zebra is a very short song, kind of like an Interlude, but it's so great that we fans love it very very much! I love this performance in particular, I think that it is the perfect example of just what a great performer Tori is! Thanks, Tori, for coming in and saving me!

Wolves without teeth - Of Monsters and Men

Wolves without teeth -
Of Monsters and Men

While creating my current playlist I have noticed that the (wild) animals theme was pretty recurring, so I thought that it would have been nice to recreate it on the blog too! In the end, you have to take your chances when they come! But today, given that it's not so late already, I wanna tell you a bit about Bangkok, some facts in random order: be careful when you go get a Thai massage, as I did for the first time today and I had muscles moved that I didn't even know were in my body, quite tough an experience but hopefully rewarding in terms of wellbeing!; Japanese manga in Thailand cost very little in Thai (about 1.5/2€ on average), about double of that in Japanese and more than 5/6 times so in English, learn the languages or pay the price!; today I got scolded by the ladies we are working with because I made the air conditioning not cold enough (there were 25°C in the room, and outside it wasn't even that hot); you can eat countless varieties of (food in general, in particular) curry and rank them clearly in order of preference!

Broad-shouldered beasts - Mumford & Sons

Broad-shouldered beasts - Mumford & Sons

It's time for some M&S tonite! Broad-shouldered beasts on your way, and I hope some good sleep is on mine...! Bangkok is awesomely energetic, but it takes away all my (few, due to fatiguing plane travels and a consistent jet lag) energies! Can't wait to be here for a bit longer! In the meanwhile, let's enjoy the music!

#sundayrevival Happy and bleeding - PJ Harvey

Happy and bleeding - PJ Harvey

I am in Thailand once again, I'm happy! My sore throat came back stronger than ever today, after the flight and the in-&-out of malls and subways with super freezing A/C, I'm bleeding! I am excited to be in Bangkok (happy) but the traffic jam and the chaos sometimes are just too much (bleeding). I can't wait to come back here to stay (happy) but it seems like this moments never comes (bleeding). I'm, looking forward to going somewhere to the sea over the (next) weekend, I'm happy, but the idea of travelling more kills me somehow, I'm bleeding. I wouldn't want to come back so soon (bleeding) but I would love to see all my friends and enjoy the Italian summer at grandma's in the countryside (happy). People make you happy (h), but they also make you sad, angry, disappointed, longing... (b).
Life is not white or black. Life is white AND black. And you can't be happy without bleeding (even if you can bleed without being happy). ((So life can be black? Or is white? Anyway, whatever...!)

Porno - Arcade Fire

Porno - Arcade Fire

I had already started writing my post for another song, then I saw on my Fb wall that AF's Reflktor-soundtracked movie is about to be released in theatres and that they released a video out of it for Porno, and given that I hadn't posted the song yet and that Reflektor was one of my (if not the) favourite albums released in 2013, it seems like the timing for posting it is perfect!! Even more so thinking about the fact that I have been mentioning Montréal quite often lately and that a weird willingness to go back there in Canada after quite a few years already is getting stronger these days...! Who knows...?! Travelling is so easy these days! It just takes a song to start the journey already...

Which witch (demo) - Florence + the Machine

Which witch (demo) -
Florence + the Machine

Today two main things happened: first I finished reading Neon Genesis Evangelion (the manga). I had been reading it in parallel with the watching of the anime... well, it must be some 4 years ago or so, and given that now is the time it is set in, and most importantly given that now the manga has been finished (while when I was reading it there were still a couple of volumes due for release), it seemed like a good time to re-read it and take it to completion. And I'm glad I did that, it's a real work of art, very deep and philosophical, wondering about the meaning of life and the fate of humanity, with a dark and sad tone but very realistic and... I liked how it ended!
The second thing is that I bonded definitely with another song by the 'Queen of peace' (or shall I say 'Witch'? Which of the two?), that is this beautiful demo. I remember reading an article/interview where she was saying that while talking with her producer, she was very proud of this one epic song, which she had taken the vocals more than a hundred times for, etc. and then he said that he wanted to keep it simple on this album, keep her to the bare essential. And so this pearl (its demo actually) ended up (unrightfully imho) being a part of the deluxe edition, a bonus track...! Well... the song is very Florence + the Machine, very Florence Welch actually and I'm sure that all the hardcore fans can't not love it, even if (and even more because it has been left) in its rawer form.
A must listen!

Walk away - Elli de Mon

I introduced you to Elli on the blog last week, after I really enjoyed her opening act at a festival in Padua and after I bought her debut album on iTunes (the first time in I-don't-know-how-many-years) that I bought something on Apple's platform! I don't know what else to add about her, apart from again suggesting you give a try to her music (if you haven't already) to enjoy this very good mix of blues, rock, folk, punk and more!
Unfortunately I couldn't find any video with the song on YouTube, but if you click on the link below the picture hereunder, you'll be redirected to a page where you can stream it for free! It's just 2 minutes of your time, not such a big investment, is it?

Walk away - Elli de Mon 

Wild things run fast - Joni Mitchell

Wild things run fast - Joni Mitchell

The path through some artists' discography has been a blissful, continuous discovery, with me eager to get to the next album and never getting enough of the previous ones. I got quite a good strike of bands and songwriters that this happened with, but then things started to slow down and I found myself facing giants of the pop-rock music scene of the second half of last century and things have not been running so smoothly, rather... I found myself stumbling with people who were taking so many steps forward (or sidewise) and with people who have been releasing music some decades ago... be it the time lag and the fact that music and tastes have changed with time, be it that I can't connect so well with some kinds of music... anyway I am making a big effort to go on with some discographies and Joni Mitchell is a great example of that. I loved her first albums, but then her music starting getting really heavy for me, it was not a pleasure to go and listen to her albums, rather it was a pain. But I am determined to go on, because you never know, good things might be waiting for you on the way! And this 'Wild things run fast', who takes its name from the track I'm sharing with you, is one of them!! A lighter jazz, more enjoyable, like a perfect soundtrack for a sunset in front of the sea with a cocktail in your hand... it came at the right time!! So, given that it's summer and these kind of moments are not so far away from us, maybe you'll get the chance to play some lounge-fit music too and sip your Mohitos or Tequila Sunrises with more pleasure!!

#sundayrevival Smells like teen spirit - Tori Amos

Smells like teen spirit - Tori Amos

I mentioned Tori yesterday, as after listening to her I got to Dido, but this is a fresher listen, as it happened yesterday itself. Some random playing of all Tori songs (I have, which is more than 200 tunes and counting) brought me to listen to this gem, the "most viewed Tori Amos video on YouTube", a cover not loved by many not-hardcore-fans maybe because, as usual, the red-head completely overturned the original and made it a song of her own, a completely new song. Making comparisons is useless, and the very fact that an artist covers a song of someone else means that they respect their music. What doesn't happen very often is that the original songwriter himself embraces a cover in the way Kurt Cobain did, dancing at it with Courtney Love and playing it as an intro to Nirvana gigs. Well, that should be a good enough reason not to throw Tori's teen spirit on the side...! Hope you can enjoy it too!

My lover's gone - Dido

My lover's gone - Dido

I know I know, it's late, I'm late and it's sunday already, and the ironic thing is that I planned to post Dido for this week's sundayrevival, but tonite I changed my mind as I stumbled on another pearl to share with you! So here we are, saturday is gone by and maybe the fate of this post wanted it to actually be posted on sunday! Anyway, I fell victim to the alphabetical order once again... while driving here I decided to play a Tori Amos playlist in the car and when it ended, the radio moved to the next playlist, i.e. 'TuttoDido' (that would be AllDido in English). That's why and how I ended up listening to Dido these past few days, and when a singer is your favourite in your teenage years, you're never gonna forget her, nor the lyrics of her songs, nor the feelings they create in you each and every time...! My relationship with this song has been moving like a pendulum: at first it was the one I liked the least on Dido's debut album (which I adore), then I fell in love with it and it moved almost to my favs of the album, then it fell out of grace again and now... it is here, taking its rightful place on the blog! These swings took years to complete, but all in all the affection I feel for the song didn't change much over this period of time, especially as the images created by the song are pretty powerful! Try it yourselves!

Human - Of Monsters and Men

Human - Of Monsters and Men

Today I maybe hopefully had the first breakthrough with OMAM's new album, 'Beneath the skin' (the title coming from this song's lyrics), and I had it with this song actually. After the end of this (short) working week (2-day working weeks should be the rule, not the exception!) I got back to my B&B and took a walk around, as the sun was up high in the sky and there are a few green areas around here. Eating an ice-cream and then reading manga, while walking I was listening to the album and it feels like it started to get into me after a few listens...! Apart from 'Empire', I hadn't really felt a particularly strong connection with any of the songs, but now it feels like they're starting to pierce through! And usually the album I take a while to like, are the ones that I end up loving the most... let's see what's gonna happen with this one!

From eden - Hozier

From eden - Hozier

Hello my dear people, I am back to you at the end of a very tough day for me, with the alarm clock set at 6.30, a 3-hour drive and a full day at work after a night out (with my aunt and a friend of hers) at Hozier's concert in Milan!! But I'm glad I planned this as I did, the concert has been quite enjoyable, if not memorable, and of course I couldn't do without sharing a song by him today, one of the few I haven't shared with you already. The peculiar thing is that 'From eden' has been probably the one I enjoyed the least live: it was at the beginning of the concert, right after my favourite 'Angel of small death...' and it's neither an up-beat rock song nor a romantic ballad... yet I found it playing in my mind right after the gig, so I think that in some way it did leave an impression on me! Anyway, if you get a chance, go see Hozier, it's well worth it!

Ditmas - Mumford & Sons

Ditmas - Mumford & Sons

Ok, I have been strolling away from my playlists and my posts haven't collected much support lately, so let's get back on track! This is one of the few songs I liked quite soon out of M&S third album, not an unforgettable one (and not very dissimilar to the standard M&S song actually), but still pleasant to listen to. Can't write anymore as the heat is getting on me and my brain isn't working straight, so I'll be back tomorrow (or, more likely, the day after, as tomorrow it's time for another concert!!!)

Leave this town - Elli de Mon

Leave this town - Elli de Mon

While waiting for the main act (i.e. Carmen Consoli) at the festival in Padova last week, I really enjoyed the opening act, this onegirlband from Vicenza, Elli de Mon! She plays a strange mix of blues, rock, folk and something else I can't define, but all in all she reminded me a lot of PJ Harvey and also somehow of KT Tunstall. After listening to her two records on Spotify now, I can tell she reminds me A LOT of PJ Harvey and also a little bit of Patti Smith in a couple songs of her new album. Well, it's been a very pleasant discovery! Since I didn't get the chance to buy her music at the festival, I'm about to buy her first album on iTunes methinks!

#sundayrevival Fascination - Alphabeat

Fascination - Alphabeat

I have been listening to a lot of Carmen Consoli today, but I don't want to bore you with a sequence of mono-singer posts, so I'm coming up with a good #sundayrevival-summeredition song from my summer playlist (named 'Eté', the French speakers out there will understand...!) because today (and yesterday too) the temperature has been challenging (and I love, finally HOT!) and also humidity has taken its toll on us! So, this song I'm posting is from the summer of 2008, I hold it particularly dear as, besides being one of the hits of that summer, is the one that was playing in the car just before I took my driving license! It already was a favourite of mine and after that, it got a place in my heart forever! WE LIVE ON FASCINATION!! Happy summer to y'all!!

Oceani deserti - Carmen Consoli

Oceani deserti - Carmen Consoli

Sorry if I disregarded my blog for a few dozens of hours, but I did forgo most of my daily activities too in these past couple of days! Yesterday has been the usually "checking-out" day, so baggage and stuff in hand as usual (they called me "tortoise" because it's like as if I live carrying around my house!), went to work and then to the main office of my firm to hand over some papers and then ran through to Padova to attend Carmen's concert as part of a festival next to the football stadium of the city! I got there at about 7.30 and the opening act (very enjoyable, maybe you'll see her here soon) didn't start until 9, meaning the real concert kicked-off around 10 and ended around midnight; then just the time to find a couple of Blablacar travel partners and on our way to home (via Milan). All in all, got home at around 3 in the morning (which, I know, I'm also staying up to today too), left my stuff and went to (read and) sleep. And today eating lunch at grandparents' and then moving out to the other grandparents' in the countryside... well, it's been a full couple of days! And now home alone, I have just been watching some telefilms and reading some manga, and then went on to colouring if the rest was not enough, without realizing that I had to take care of my blog and of my Japanese studies too... so here I am! The concert last night has been pretty good, lots of niche songs I wasn't really ready for, but I enjoyed it anyway, Carmen is a great songwriter and performer, very inspiring! She played almost all of my favs out of the latest album, this one being one of them. The song is about a woman complaining because her man is not satisfied with just being with her, he goes on "like a pioneer looking for new frontiers of infidelity", she loves him but realises this is too much for her, she wonders why he doesn't feel the natural pulse of being just with her, what he wants and who he is... and finally says goodbye and goes. Very deep and inspiring lyrics (as usual), with a beautiful touch of irony!

Tompkins square park - Mumford & Sons

Tompkins square park - Mumford & Sons

A couple days ago Mumford & Sons played one of the most prestigious venues in Italy, the Arena di Verona, and I was not there even if it would have been great to! I imagine the concert has been great, with such an astounding venue and such a great band. Ok, I know I gave mixed ratings to their new songs featured on their just-released album, and I stand by my opinion. Nonetheless, even if they lost some of their peculiarity and musical strength, their composition keep being energetic and moving, if sometimes a little repetitive (not that I bother so much, when the underlying idea is good). This is the opening song of their new album 'Wilder mind' and one of the first songs that struck me, so hoping to get the chance to see them live soon, I share it with you!

Mother - Florence + the Machine

Mother - Florence + the Machine

In one way or another, we are all affected by the relationship we have with our mothers, oftentimes even more than we realise. I find myself quoting my own mother more often than not and I recently realised how many ways of saying and opinions I took from her.

"Mother, make me, Make me a big tall tree so I can shed my leaves and let it blow through me.

Mother, make me, Make me a big grey cloud so I can rain on you things I can't say out loud."

Mothers shape us, their influence on our character and our development is in many cases the strongest one for better or for worse, be it with their presence or absence (both physical and psychological).

"Mother, make me, Make me a bird of prey so I can rise above this, let it fall away.

Mother, make me, Make me a song so sweet, heaven trembles, fallen at our feet."

All in all mothers (and their parent-partner, whenever there is one) are the ones who make us big tall trees, big grey clouds, birds of prey and songs so sweet... and our link with them doesn't cease to be easily (even if sometimes we wish it would)! Mothers are the refuge, the pillar, the unwanted attention, the teacher, the educator, the lover, the carriers. They are big, blue and beautiful.