The difference - The Wallflowers

The difference - The Wallflowers

I am doing my best but I really can't seem to pick up the rhythm again and start posting daily with a decent constancy... anyway, I'll give you my best when I do remember to come here and carry out my duty! It's been a while since The Wallflowers have gone out of my get-to-know playlist, and it's been a while too since this song got featured in one of my playlists, but you know me...! I liked it quite a bit and wanted to share it with you though, so I hope you'll forgive my delay!

6th avenue heartache - The Wallflowers

6th avenue heartache - The Wallflowers

Going on with American music, I have already posted a few Wallflowers songs lately, this is another one of their most famous and also another one of my favourites off their second album, which I've really enjoyed listening to. Today has been a weird day in its "standardness": things that were supposed to happen and didn't, things that did, things that made me feel busy and gave me a kind of urgency that was totally meaningless, just because they all piled up together. All in all it's not a day I will remember (maybe), but one of those days that I think have an impact on the kind of people we are without us realising it. As all of them are, in a way. "The same black line that was drawn on you, was drawn on me..."

One headlight - The wallflowers

One headlight - The wallflowers

So far the last month has been the toughest for me and my usual commitments: I neglected the blog for a whole 10 days while I was travelling to Japan and have been posting irregularly since I came back, I practically kind of abandoned my daily Japanese studying time, I haven't been going swimming for almost a month, no exercise... between travelling, fever and other (mostly pleasant) errands, I have completely overturned my daily and weekly schedules, moving from a totally idle life made of telefilms, music and plans to a full life packed with travel, events and social gatherings. Don't mistake me, I like them both, and both of them can be consuming in the long run, so I think life is all about balancing the two lifestyles off, I hope I'll be able to do it in the next few months! In the meanwhile I have a bunch of songs calling for their spot here, I start with one of The wallflowers' best hits!!

Josephine - The wallflowers

Josephine - The wallflowers

New music on the way: I approached the band headed by Bob Dylan's son soon after I got to know them at an extracurricular course in "History of pop/rock music" I attended in university in late 2012. I approached their second album in the last few days and I have already bonded with this lovely song! For those among you who don't know their music, it's classic american rock. At least, that's what it feels to me. I started listening to 'Counting crows' in the same period as 'The wallflowers' and their music is quite similar in terms of genre in my opinion. It's not my favourite genre, as these usually long rock ballads tend to bore me a little, but nonetheless there are particular times when (and songs that) I enjoy quite a bit. It's also funny as I remember linking one of my favourite 'Counting crows' songs (Anna begins) to Lisbon, as I heard a musician playing it live in the streets of the city when I first visited it in 2013. Funny thing: I'm leaving for Lisbon again tomorrow (well, today to be precise). American rock, ladies songs, similar bands, Lisbon... the circle is closed!

#sundayrevival Woman - Neneh Cherry

Woman - Neneh Cherry

Hey guys, this sunday I'm sharing with you one of the anthems of 1990s pop/soul music, which has also went on to become an anthem for women throughout the world! I really love this song by Neneh Cherry (whom I just found out is Swedish!) and it always brings me back instantly to the times when I was a little child (I was 6 when it came out) and it's a sweet and nostalgic feeling. I really like to go back and listen to songs that I remember from the old 90s, it is a listening experience that always has this special, magic aura of seeing again the world with a child's eyes for a few moments...! Do you also have any songs from your past that you love to go back and listen to from time to time?

Professional widow - Tori Amos

Professional widow - Tori Amos

It's been a while since I felt this shitty... unfortunately I haven't learned yet how to keep my expectations from rising up to ceiling whenever something good happens to me. This time though I don't think I have a big fault, it's just that realising that a person doesn't care about you nearly as much as you wished and hoped is never a happy thing to find out.
It's been a while since I felt the need to go and listen to 'Boys for Pele' as 'Boys for Pele', as the strongest and deepest and darkest album I know, the one I go to when I need to exacerbate my bad feelings so that I can get them out of myself. "Can't forget the things you never said" sings Tori in 'Blood roses', the most powerful song for me, the one that most vividly represents what this album means to me. Thanks goodness there's Tori to go to in times like this!

"Give me Peace

Love

Peace

Love

Gimme Peace

Love

And a hard

Cock"

Not enough love in the world - Cher

Not enough love in the world - Cher

Linking back to last weekend's posts, here is another song I can totally relate to in these days. I'm really sick of people preventing other people from spreading their love, loving each other and making the world a better place. How can they do so? Especially when they mostly follow christian teachings, which, for what I know, were all about love and tolerance and respect. Anyways, what we can do is to stop being afraid of what is different, what we might not understand and try to understand it instead of taking it out of our lives, or even sticking our noses into other people lives and telling them how they should behave and that their rights cannot be safeguarded by the state. This whole really makes me sick and I really think that there's not enough love in the world!

Talula - Tori Amos

Talula - Tori Amos

Today is the 22nd of January, not a particularly special day for many of us, but a very particular day for one of what I believe is one of the best albums of the 1990s, i.e. Tori Amos's 'Boys for Pele' who turns 20 today! I personally wouldn't say it's my favourite album of hers, but I think it's the most powerful one, the one that goes deepest and darkest, the one I immediately go back to when I'm feeling down and depressed. Don't mistake me, many of the songs are enjoyable even when you're not feeling that bad and it still is a great album, but personally I have been able to feel it most strongly during the darkest times of my life. Talula has always been one of my favourite songs off it and is one of those you can enjoy even if you're feeling happy, as I am now!

#sundayrevival E-bow the letter - R.E.M. (feat. Patti Smith)

E-bow the letter - R.E.M.
(feat. Patti Smith)

I promised a special post today to celebrate the 700th entry on the blog, and here it is! A sundayrevival that is not a real sundayrevival (as I got to listen to this song for the first time a little over 2 years ago), but it feels like one, as soon after I approached R.E.M.'s 'E-bow the letter' album, I've been feeling like I've known this song forever. As if it was an inheritance from my childhood, even if I don't remember ever listening to it before. I wanted to post it a couple of days ago, as I went on to listen to some of my personal 2013 best after a pure XX moment, but then I decided to post 'Intro' and kept this other gem for today! I don't need to introduce R.E.M. nor Patti Smith to any of you, I just note that I remember reading something about how Michael Stipe was excited about this song, as it's the first collaboration his band made with Patti, who he mentioned as the reason he started making music. I guess that's enough introduction, just get to the music asap!

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!

#sundayrevival Free to decide - The Cranberries

Free to decide - The Cranberries

I didn't have much inspiration for this sundayrevival, because I've been mainly listening to new stuff and new playlists in the last few days, but I went back and checked what I could do and, well... I realised that when you have a music blog and in one and a half years you have posted less than half a dozen songs by your favourite band, there are things that need to be done, such as posting one of your favourite songs by your favourite bands! This song had a great great meaning for me, back in my teenage years: I was 17 when I started discovering "real" music, it's been a year of passage for me: thanks to iTunes, torrents, streaming and so, the world of music turned wide open in front of me and the Cranberries have been my first discovery, especially thanks to their songs that I knew from when I was little, which opened the gates to the rest of their discography, this masterpiece being one of them. Seems like yesterday, it' been... wow, almost 10 years!

#sundayrevival Caught a lite sneeze - Tori Amos

Caught a lite sneeze - Tori Amos

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!

Sisters of Avalon - Cyndi Lauper feat. Ani DiFranco & Vivian Green

Sisters of Avalon - Cyndi Lauper

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!

#sundayrevival Hedonism (just because you feel good) - Skunk Anansie

Hedonism (just because you feel good)
Skunk Anansie

It's time for a new sundayrevival, after a long long time since the last one, I'll try to keep it up in the coming weeks. This time I chose a song by Skunk Anansie: I am listening to their debut album in these days, even though I still find it a little bit too rocky for my current taste, but I'm enjoying some songs on it nonetheless. Yet none of their songs are even close in terms of my liking to the one I'm posting today, out of their sophomore album, their biggest hit and one of the most famous and best hits of the 90s decade. We've been listening to this song a lot in Sicily, as one of the friends who was on the trip with me liked it a lot too and kept on putting it on repeat! It is also in my Best 20 playlist, and that's just how much I am in love with it. I don't think any further words are needed to talk about it, so just listen and enjoy!

Wing (live) - Patti Smith

Wing (live) - Patti Smith

I started listening (again) to Patti last night as while getting through Regina Spektor's album I'm listening to now I found a song whose piano incipit sounded a bit like Patti's Gloria. And building on that I kept on listening to her all afternoon today as when I begin I can't get a hold of myself and stop, so it is natural for me to post a song of hers here today. The one I chose is the one that caught my attention the most this time and, well, it's a song I have a special relationship with. It's not one that struck me strong as soon as I listened to it, actually while listening to Gone Again it passed through quite unnoticed. I started feeling strongly for it while listening to a live version of it on Patti's collection Land and well, this is the version I feel like posting, as it's the one I feel the most.

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)!

Goodnight - PJ Harvey

Goodnight - PJ Harvey

Hello there! Weekend's over, I'm yet again late with my post but I am really really tired and need to go take some sleep, tomorrow I'm back to work (I have to hang on, just about 10 days and I'll be done with my internship)! I'll leave you quickly again and promise tomorrow I'll be back for real and tell you all about my London easter break! Have a good night with one of my favourite PJ songs!