Land - Patti Smith

Land - Patti Smith

These three days of boredom at work have come to an end, we presented our prototypes (my colleagues did, actually) and tomorrow we're gonna have separate sessions divided by business functions, so that we will interact a little bit more hopefully, and then... heading home! The last part of today's meeting was a videoconference with the big boss in Japan on the one side and all the people in Thailand (local consultants, business and global consultants, a.k.a. us) on the other. At one point towards the end I started singing this song in my head, don't know why but I did. And so here I am posting it, right before going to the company party (i.e. a dinner with the local consultants, IT users and key users of other functions, all the people we have been interacting with in these past months). I guess that the project has finally kicked-off, but what about my future? In 40 years will I still be glorious as this album has been during its long history? Time will tell..!!

Send his love to me - PJ Harvey

Send his love to me - PJ Harvey

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!!

#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!

#sundayrevival Season change - Anastacia

Season change - Anastacia

I've been waiting for the right moment to post this one for more than a week now, actually since my last Anastacia post. This is a real revival, as I've been listening to (and loving) this song for more than 10 years (the album has actually just celebrated its 10th birthday yesterday!). Anastacia has been one of the first albums I've ever bought and one of the few I have really worn out in my teenage years. Season change is probably the song I still love the most, but a great part of this album is like tattooed at the basis of my music tastes. It just seems fair to give it a tribute in this sunny and warm day of spring, exactly now when Anastacia has fought against and won against breast cancer again, like she did at the time this album came out! This is to spring and to being strong! Happy sunday!

Yes, Anastasia - Tori Amos

Recently one of the best albums by one of my favourite singer/songwriters (i.e. Under the pink by Tori Amos) has turned 20 years old, so I thought I'd be nice to celebrate its birthday with a post up here! This is one of the less radio-friendly songs of Tori, but one of the most beautiful in my opinion: its more than 9 minutes of length blend up perfectly some classical music-like melody with clever lyrics, creating an outstanding atmosphere that brings you back in the Russia of the first 20th century. The song is about Anastasia Romanov, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia and here is a quote from Tori about it:

"And that night came, as she softly sings the line “‘We’ll see how brave you are,’ and that was really about the whole record. That came just about before everything. And whenever I sing that chorus, ‘we’ll see how brave you are,’ it means so many different things to me. It’s part of my self, my spirit self saying to the rest of myself, ‘if you really want a challenge, just deal with yourself. The funny thing is that Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Anastasia, died very close to where I was playing, an hour or so from there in the 80s. The feeling I got that Anna Anderson was Anastasia Romanov."

#100 Running out - Scissor sisters

It seems like yesterday when I started this blog. It seems like a life ago that I started this blog.
The contradiction within these two thoughts that come to mind together explains perfectly well the fucked-up-conception of time passing by that I have in this moment of my life. Well, be it yesterday or a life ago that I started, I have already (/finally?) reached the first important milestone, this is the 100th post of the blog! You'll say: well... and so? Your comment is legitimate. I tend to agree.
Yet I wanted to do something special to celebrate to this moment. This song is not at all what I had in mind, but it is very special to me in its own way. It comes out of my favourite album of the Scissor Sisters (Scissters for friends), the one that got me very close to their music. And it has been with me ever since. I mean, if I'm driving you somewhere with my car, just don't put this record on if you care for your life: the dancing comes unstoppable. "Hands on the wheel!" is just something that doesn't apply, especially with this song!!

Sooo, happy 100th post to you, I hope you had fun up to now and will keep on having more and more fun in the future! Have a good night!! (or day, or whatever time of the day it's where you are!) Cheers!

Jackie's strenght - Tori Amos

22.11.1963: 50 years ago US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated while parading through the ways of Dallas. His wife Jacqueline was next to him in the moment he was shot and stayed close to him in the moments right after. Jacqueline Kennedy has always been acknowledged not only for her style and elegance, but also for her strength, for how she "held the country together after she watched her husband get cut down in front of her", to say it in the words of Tori Amos. The American singer-songwriter dedicated her song Jackie's Strength to the famous First Lady. The choice of Jackie as the theme of the song, which also refers to the assassination ("shots rung out, the police came"), is about Tori's personal doubts around the idea of marriage. She says: "I saw Jackie as a bride - and I used to think I would never be a bride." Tori portrays a cynical and pessimistic view on marriage, implicitly referring to how JFK has been unfaithful to Jackie and how she still maintained her dignity and grace, but also singing about how she was keeping herself for a boyfriend who promised to marry her and who was sleeping with the bridesmaids in the meanwhile. There are also references to anorexia
("you're only popular with anorexia"), to virginity ("virgins always get backstage, no matter what they've got to say") and to dark times in life in general. Tori hopes she will be as strong as Jackie in enduring the burdens of life and I think this lesson is a great takeaway from this moment of recollection.