Archive for February 2012
With/out
“I want to be like the black Tom Waits – I don’t want to make one kind of sound.” Willis Earl Beal
OK, OK… I know. Hipster alert and all that jazz: This guy played it low profile. No blogosphere buzz but actual flyers etc…And now he’s signed to XL Recordings?! Pitchfork called him “An eclectic lo-fi artist struggling to find a space between outsider and insider”.
His album Acousmatic Sorcery is due in a few weeks, but he recorded it between 2007 and 2009.
Have a look at a couple of links I found online: 2011 and even 2010. Or just listen to the music.
In remission of a mind, watch and listen to find
The position behind this illusion of time
Got me counting my dimes so on the bus I can write
I’m even doubting the rhyme, I’m in no rush I can hide
Because I know that I tried, no longer taking a side
Tears don’t flow from my eyes, no longer go for the lies
I don’t protest or resist, I’m not invested in this
I’m backing out of the fight to give my spirit tonight
Gazing at the face of an overcast day
Watching rain fall from a dim cafe
Can’t see the wind but I see the trees sway
Now the evening’s kiss got me fading away
Just fading away
Just fading away
Fading away
Drip-drop, window pane hypnotic
Clip-clop, concrete heels on it
I’m still disillusioned and cool catatonic
Always in a daze without smoking that chronic
And the doors still open at the end of the day
And I’m still hoping without much to say
Ask me how I’m feeling; well I’m full of shit n doubt
Ask me who I’m with and I’ll tell you I’m without
These phantasm women got me swimming through the sea
Apprehension steady creeping, whirlpool is pulling me
So I might as well relax, go down with the flood
‘Cause my hearts been attacked and the sharks smell my blood
If I lose consciousness and awaken a-shore
I will never complain I will never get cold
Gazing at the face of an overcast day
Watching rain fall from a dim cafe
Can’t see the wind but I see the trees sway
Now the evening’s kiss got me fading away
There’s also an older very different version that popped up on the web a few days the whole media frenzy started.
PS: Found Magazine seems like a fantastic concept. Check out their website / there’s some really great random stuff.
Disco Therapy
While I was researching this post I discovered these 2 links: a mobile Disco / DJ hire service and a post about Disco Therapy for autism.
But, this isn’t our topic: I went to the Studio 54 revisited event at Estral yesterday. It was so much fun!
I managed to burn the disco out depsite my sprained ankle. I was wearing a white suit and sporting a moustache!
Deca-disco-dancing is therapeutic! Plus you get to discover disco versions of the most depressing/heartbreaking songs:
http://youtu.be/oD8h9xFud2U
Viola Wills‘s cover is pretty catchy but the original was written after Gordon Lightfoot‘s divorce…
But the most depressing version is the one Johnny Cash recorded on his last album.
If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong,
With chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
As long as I’m a ghost that you can’t see.
If I could read your mind, love,
What a tale your thoughts could tell.
Just like a paperback novel,
The kind the drugstores sell.
When you reached the part where the heartaches come,
The hero would be me.
But heroes often fail,
And you won’t read that book again
Because the ending’s just too hard to take!
I’d walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two:
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me.
But for now, love, let’s be real;
I never thought I could act this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it.
I don’t know where we went wrong,
But the feeling’s gone
And I just can’t get it back.
If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong.
With chains upon my feet.
But stories always end,
And if you read between the lines,
You’ll know that I’m just tryin’ to understand
The feelin’s that you lack.
I never thought I could feel this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it.
I don’t know where we went wrong,
But the feelin’s gone
And I just can’t get it back!
But usually covers work the other way around. It’s the fast songs that get the slow treatment.
Did you know David Byrne has a live “sincere version” of Whitney Houston‘s biggest hit?
http://youtu.be/K-liFDbtt5w
And here’s her gorgeously 80s video, just in case you needed to delete the Bodyguard memory you’ve probably kept of her since the 90s.
Disco
I love exotic Disco hits, or new edits of old disco tracks. I find a lot of great stuff on the BCE’s blog. They recently posted some great vintage Lebanese Disco and as I was looking for similar links when I discovered Nazia Hassan
Disco Deewane is one of her biggest hits. She was Pakistani but sang in Urdu and Hindi. She started as a Playback singer when she was 15! Here’s the download link for Aap Jaisa Koi, however you have to watch the video below: it’s her voice but it’s not her on stage. The movie is Qurbani, Bollywood’s biggest movie of 1980!
http://youtu.be/5o5C1yUlx6w
Anyway, so this young girl and her brother Zoheb were launched by Biddu, a legendary Indian music producer. His biggest achievement was producing Kung-Fu Fighting, Carl Douglas’ only hit in 1974. Perhaps you know the Cee-Lo Green + Jack Black version from the Kung Fu Panda soundtrack?
This track surfed the chopsocky wave AND was the first mainstream disco hit. So when disco died in the West, Biddu returned to India and launched the whole 80s Bollywood Disco fever. If you go back up and listen to Disco Deewane, it sounds a lot like Kung Fu Fighting (especially the Uh-Huhs…). The album was a huge hit around the world with 60 million copies sold?! Check out some of the different covers for the latin american versions here and here.
In my opinion, her best track is Boom Boom. You could say it’s Bollywood’s take on Donna Summer’s I Feel Love
The only sad part of this post is that Nazia Hassan passed away in August 2000. She had stopped singing and had dedicated her life to charity organizations and to her family. She was only 35. Here’s the Guardian obituary and a beautiful tribute I found online.
What’s in a word (press)?
Just to inform you that this blog is going back to it’s origins starting tomorrow.
For some weird reason, WordPress won’t let me renew the ‘Domain Mapping’, the ‘Domain Registration’ and the ’10GB Space Upgrade’ for http://www.audiogrammes.com
It’s either an expiry date problem with my card, or a country issue…. All that expires on February 3, 2012 / tomorrow!!!
This means, most of the old podcasts won’t be available to download but more importantly you’ll have to type https://audiogrammes.wordpress.com to get here. I’m hoping to get an answer from their support team very soon. In the meantime the only thing I can say is “What’s up with that?” = What’s in a word + Word up
Dry the rain
© Fouad Elkoury
Ooooo-oo-oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo
All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watching the puddles gather rain
And all I can do is just pour some tea for two
And speak my point of view
But it’s not sane, it’s not sane
I just want someone to say to me no, oh, oh, oh
I’ll always be there when you wake, yea-ah
You know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry today
So stay with me and I’ll have it made
And I don’t understand why I sleep all day
And I start to complain that there’s no rain
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake
And it rips my life away, but it’s a great escape
Escape……escape……escape……
All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
You don’t like my point of view
You think that I’m insane
It’s not sane, It’s not sane
I just want someone to say to me no, oh, oh, oh
I’ll always be there when you wake, yea-ah
You know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry today
So stay with me and I’ll have it made
And I’ll have it made
And I’ll have it made, oh
Lord no no
You know I’m really gonna, really gonna have it made
You know I’ll have it made
Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh
Blind Melon were pretty much a on-hit wonder band. I also like another track: Change but their career ended with their lead singer’s death.
Download this track here and check out this really amazing Stripped away version
And if you ever wondered whatever happened to the bee girl from the video check this link
This is the definition of my life
Lying in bed in the sunrise
Choking on a vitamin tablet the doctor gave
In the hope of saving me
In the hope of saving me
Mott’s in the corner of the room
Junkyard fool with eyes of [glue/gloom/blue]
I asked him time again,
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain,
Take me in and dry the rain,
The rain, the rain, the rain, the rain, my rain now
Dusty brown boots in the corner by the ironing board
Spray-on dust is the greatest thing
Sure is the greatest thing
Since the [light/lie], since the [light/lie]
Mott’s in the corner of the room
Junkyard fool with eyes of [glue/gloom/blue]
I asked him time again
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain
The rain, the rain, the rain, the rain, my rain now
I asked him time again,
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain
The rain, the rain, the rain, the rain, my rain now
If there’s something inside that you wanna say
Say it alright it’ll be okay
I will be your light, I will be your light
I will be your light, I will be your light
If there’s something inside that you wanna say
You can say it alright it’ll be okay
I will be your light, I will be your light
I will be your light, I will be your light
I need love
I need love
I discovered this track in the movie High Fidelity. The Beta Band have produced a number of tracks since but this stays my favorite. I used to work at a record store and to me this scene is just epic… followed closely by Jack Black’s rant on Stevie Wonder.
http://youtu.be/84bCWay7k3E
And here is the track that started the whole Rain trilogy (I’m thinking of having a small addendum, BTW…)
Rain, rain go away
Come back some other day
Rain, rain go away
Come back some other day
Well it’s been raining in my life
Everyday and night
I’m so confused with the blues
I couldn’t even eat a bite
But I met me a new little friend
Maybe my luck will change…
Bob Azzam is actually Lebanese (Wadih Georges Azzam!). He gave us timeless songs like Fais moi du Couscous Chérie and Mustapha. The last one was about a waiter called Mustapha Chehadeh that worked at Ajami restaurant in downtown Beirut in the 50s. Seems this guy was a legend. He used to give you the bill: Hommos 3 liras, Fattoush 4 liras, “In marrat” 10 liras… And if you asked what that item was, he’d say “Ma marret…” (“If it slips by” / “it didn’t slip by” for the non-Arabic speakers among you…)
And since we’ve been promised a lot of sunshine for the next week, I’m going to give you a CCR rain double bill
http://youtu.be/TS9_ipu9GKw
Long as I remember The rain been coming down.
Clouds of myst’ry pouring Confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages, Trying to find the sun;
And I wonder, Still I wonder, Who’ll stop the rain.
I went down Virginia, Seeking shelter from the storm.
Caught up in the fable, I watched the tower grow.
Five year plans and new deals, Wrapped in golden chains.
And I wonder, Still I wonder Who’ll stop the rain.
Heard the singers playing, How we cheered for more.
The crowd had rushed together, Trying to keep warm.
Still the rain kept pouring, Falling on my ears.
And I wonder, Still I wonder Who’ll stop the rain.
And more importantly
Someone told me long ago
There’s a calm before the storm
I know it’s been coming for some time
When it’s over so they say
It’ll rain on a sunny day
I know shinning down like water
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Coming down on a sunny day
Yesterday and days before
Sun is cold and rain is hard
I know, been that way for all my time
‘Til forever, on it goes
Through the circle of fast and slow
I know it can’t stop, I wonder
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Coming down on a sunny day
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Coming down on a sunny day
I think we’re going to stop the rain for a few posts / Expect another one whenever it starts pouring again
http://youtu.be/igLSs-qZF6Q
Just yesterday you slipped
away from me
without so much
as one word of good-bye
You packed the sunshine
in your big old suitcase
Now only the rain fills the sky
You were mine
but suddenly it’s changed
Wish that I… could find a way
to stop the rain
I thought that everything
was going fine
But I was blind
blind as a man could be
I took for granted
what you tried hard to give
And now the rain
is all I can see
You were mine –
but that was yesterday
Wish that I… could find a way
to stop the rain
Now tell me please
do you understand
what this feeling
is all about
‘Cos when you left me
you took my heart –
squeezed the sunshine out
But in time
this heart of mine will heal
the Sun will shine
and I can find a way to stop the rain
I can’t stand the rain
Photo © Karen Kalou. Check out her Rain Series. This has been Beirut for the last 2 weeks…
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories
Hey window pane
Do you remember
How sweet it used to be
When we was together
Everything was so grand
Now that we’ve parted
There’s just one sound
That I just can’t stand
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Cause he’s not here with me
Alone with the pillow
Where his head used to lay
I know you’ve got
Some sweet memories
But like the window
You ain’t got nothing to say
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories
Just keeps on haunting me
Hey rain,
Get off my window…
I think we’re gonna have a “rain post trilogy”. This is officially number 2, after I like Rain.
I love this song. It was Ann Peebles biggest (only hit?) but was also covered by Tina Turner and I originally discovered it in Alan Parker’s The Commitments (yet another northern blue eyed soul discovery…).
Download her whole album here.
There are a lot of songs about rain and tears. The most obvious being Aphrodite’s Child‘s track of the same name. Useless trivia: this psychedelic one hit wonder band launched the careers of 2 of Greece’s biggest musical exports: Demis Roussos and Vangelis!!!!
Rain and tears, are the same
But in the sun
You’ve got to play the game
When you cry
In winter time
You can pretend
It’s nothing but the rain
How many times i’ve seen
Tears coming from your blue eyes
Rain and tears, are the same
But in the sun
You’ve got to play the game
[interlude]
Give me an answer of love
(o—-ooohhh)
I need an answer of love
(o—-ooohhh)
Rain and tears in the sun
But in your heart
You feel the rainbow waves
Rain and tears
Both i shun
For in my heart there ‘ll never be a sun
Rain and tears, are the same
But in the sun
You’ve got to play the game
Game…
And so we go back to Motown and the Temptations who are actually wishing for rain.
Sunshine, blue skies, please go away.
My girl has found another and gone away.
With her went my future, my life is filled with gloom.
So day after day, I stay locked up in my room.
I know to you it might sound strange.
But I wish it would rain. (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
‘Cause so badly I wanna go outside. (Such a lovely day)
But everyone knows that a man ain’t supposed to cry, listen.
I gotta cry ‘cause cryin’ eases the pain, oh yeah.
People this hurt I feel inside, words could never explain.
I just wish it would rain (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh, let it rain.
Rain, rain, rain. (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh baby. Let it rain.
(Let it rain) Oh yeah, let it rain.
Day in, day out, my tear-stained face, pressed against the window pane.
My eyes search the skies, desperately for rain.
‘Cause raindrops will hide my teardrops.
And no one will ever know.
That I’m cryin’, (crying) cryin’ (crying) when I go outside.
To the world outside my tears, I refuse to explain.
Oh, I wish it would rain. (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh baby.
Let it rain (Let it rain), let it rain.
I need rain to disguise the tears in my eyes.
Oh, let it rain.
(Let it rain) Oh yeah, yeah listen.
I’m a man and I got my pride.
‘Til it rains I’m gonna stay inside.
Let it rain (Let it rain) …
The instrumental bit reminds me so much of their best know track My Girl. No?
Since we’re talking about the weather, The Velvet Underground are right to ask Who Loves The Sun?
http://youtu.be/JeGRNT_Sd24
Who loves the sun
Who cares that it makes plants grow
Who cares what it does
Since you broke my heart
Who loves the wind
Who cares that it makes breezes
Who cares what it does
Since you broke my heart
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Not everyone
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Who loves the rain
Who cares that it makes flowers
Who cares that it makes showers
Since you broke my heart
Who loves the sun
Who cares that it is shining
Who cares what it does
Since you broke my heart
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Not everyone
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Well it seems that Irma Thomas does.
http://youtu.be/1u3WpbFB0Cg
It’s raining so hard
Looks like it’s going
To rain all night
And this is the time
I’d love to be
Holding you tight
I guess I’ll have
To accept the fact
That you are not here
I wish tonight
Would hurry up and end
My dear
It’s raining so hard
It’s really coming down
Sittin’ by my window
Watchin’ the rain
Fall to the ground
This is the time
I’d love to be
Holding you tight
I guess I’ll just go
Crazy tonight
It’s raining so hard
Brings back memories
Of the times
When you were
Here with me
Counting every drop
About to blow my top
I wish this rain
Would hurry up
And stop
I’ve got the blues
So bad
I could hardly
Catch my breath
The harder it rains
The worst it get
This is the time
I’d love to be
Holding you tight
I guess
I’ll just go
Crazy tonight…
And I’m gonna end this post with Karen Dalton tearing you heart out.
(Expect another rain post very soon… it’s probably going to be longer than a trilogy if the weather stays as bad this year in Beirut)
If I should leave you
Try to remember all the good times
Warm days filled with sunshine
And just a little bit of rain
And if you should look back
Try to forget all the bad times
Lonely blue and sad times
And just a little bit of rain
If I should leave you
Try to remember all the good times
Long days filled with sunshine
Just a little bit of rain
Audiogrammes 