miXpost

miXpost and reMixpost merge into Mick's Transmission

2011-12-29T18:22:00.001+01:00

Mick's Transmission is not exactly a new blog, but more like a merging between my two previous blogs, miXpost and reMixpost.
miXpost was more like a proper blog with posts and wasn't updated really often.
reMixpost was an archive of content taken from the web, from Facebook events to YouTube videos, and posted through Amplify.
Amplify has recently become increasingly unreliable, posts often fail or take a very long time, and I realised I can copy and paste basically everything from a site in the same way I did with Amplify straight on a Blogger post.
I also wanted to get rid of the name "mixpost" which looked like a clever idea at the time, but I just need something simpler and representative of the new attitude in posting stuff, which is more like sharing stuff often than writing proper posts once in a while.
So I simply imported the posts of both blogs, removing duplicates, and will keep on posting everything on Mick's Transmission.
Transmission is a good name, it gives the idea of sharing the information.
It's also one of Joy Division's most beautiful songs.
And Joy Division, AKA New Order, are my favourite band.

Free Gabrielles Wish EP

2011-12-28T14:27:00.000+01:00

What a better way to celebrate Christmas than drinking gallons of beer with your friends after downloading a free Gabrielles Wish EP?

Here it is, the free Jam EP!
Click the link above to download it fromMegaUpload!

The Jam EP features four tracks, titled in Roman numerals, where you can hear the band jamming in the studio and finding some of their best sounds and tunes ever.

The artwork is an actual painting made by artist Linda Cunningham especially for the EP.

The Best Of 2011 (and Merry Christmas)

2011-12-24T19:38:00.001+01:00

01 NEW ORDER
Live at The London Troxy, 10th December 2011

02 WARSAW
The Leaders Of Men

03 MASSIMO VOLUME E BACHI DA PIETRA
split EP

04 Gabrielles Wish - Jam EP

05 Peter Hook and The Light - 1102 / 2011

06 Sade - The Ultimate Collection

07 Soupaczar - Ordinary Quite Contrary

08 Verdena - Wow

09 Cesare Malfatti - Cesare Malfatti

10 Umberto Palazzo - Canzoni Della Notte E Della Controra

11 Fabryka - 5 Days
12 Section 25 - Invicta EP
13 Bjork - Biophilia

This chart is obviously missing some records for the simple reasons I have yet to hear them. Anyway this year saw the launch of Deezer in Italy, which will allow me to listen to much more music since with 10 Euros I have full access to more than 10 millions of songs and can even download them on my Android phone for offline access, so expect a richer chart for 2012.
Meanwhile, 2011 saw the impossible happening: New Order came back, and without Peter Hook! A half of the two founding members of Warsaw (then Joy Division, then New Order), you would have never thought the rest of the band could have carried on without him since he left the band four years ago. But they recruited Tom Chapman at the bass who's doing a pretty decent job, and along with Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, Phil Cunningham who has been a member for 10 years now, and the return, after a decade, of Gillian Gilbert at the keyboards, embarked in a successful tour, releasing the London concert.
Because when you don't release something, someone else will do, as the mighty Warsaw bootleg proves. Featuring unreleased punk titles Reaction and Tension, it's an essential record for any Joy Division fan.
Peter Hook carried on with The Light, touring Joy Division albums and releasing a pretty decent EP of covers with Rowetta which includes yet another unreleased Warsaw song, Pictures In My Mind, and you can download the original Warsaw track from the site of his own Hacienda Records.
Massimo Volume released a wonderful untitled split EP with underground heroes Bachi Da Pietra, and Gabrielles Wish gave away an excellent free EP of jam sessions where they create some marvellous soundscapes. Other Manchester heroes Section 25 released their first new songs since the death of leader Larry Cassidy, her daughter Beth has proved she can carry on with the help of uncle Vince.
Compilation of the year must be Sade's, who has often be able to deliver delicious sophisticated pop.
Soupaczar are a very talented band from Parma and have released their first official album, Fabryka are another really promising Italian band singing in English and are selling their fantastic EP for a free offer on BandCamp.
Verdena have released their most ambitious album, an inventive double effort which is intelligent and emotional.
Cesare Malfatti from La Crus and Umberto Palazzo from Santo Niente released two amazing songwriting solo albums featuring some of their best songs ever.
And Bjork went further out there, maybe too distant from what we want to actually hear more than a couple of times. All she's doing is really interesting and, like, innovative, but can we really enjoy it or we rather dust off that Stockhausen LP our grandpa keeps somewhere in his living room?
The answer is Merry Christmas and a happy 2012, enjoy your armageddon!

New Order release new live album

2011-12-22T16:22:00.001+01:00

Amplify’d from www.newordernow.net

Live at the London Troxy 10th December '11 CD & Download

New Order release "Live at The London Troxy - 10th December 2011" on Wednesday 21st December through Abbey Road - Live Here Now Recordings. The entire 90 minutes set is available as a limited edition double CD (£17.99) or High Quality 320k MP3 download (£10.99).

Buy: New Order "Live at The London Troxy - 10th December 2011"

The download is available NOW. The physical CDs will ship Week 1 - 2012. Anyone who pre-orders the CD will receive an immediate mp3 download of the album.

See more at www.newordernow.net

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1l4m9

Deezer in Italia!

2011-12-20T19:44:00.001+01:00

Da oggi c'è Deezer, ancora meglio di Music Unlimited perchè permette pure di scaricare la musica su Android per sentirla quando la connessione è lenta o assente. Inoltre si integra con Facebook e ha un catalogo più vasto.

Massimo Volume al Rivolta, tutto il concerto!

2011-12-16T16:09:00.001+01:00

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

Massimo Volume - Live @ La Tempesta al Rivolta

Sabato 3 dicembre 2011 Massimo Volume si sono esibiti dal vivo al festival La Tempesta al Rivolta, ovvero la festa delLa Tempesta Dischi al CS Rivolta PVC di Marghera, Venezia.

Quello che potete vedere in questi 42'25'' è la documentazione audio e video dell'intero travolgente set, ripreso da Sherwood Web Tv e trasmesso in diretta streaming proprio sul portale di Radio Sherwood.

Nell'Hangar dalle 22:45 alle 23:30, Massimo Volume hanno eseguito i seguenti brani:

Robert Lowell
Coney Island
Senza un posto dove dormire
La belleza violata
Le nostre ore contate
Litio
Il primo dio
Meglio di uno specchio
Tra la sabbia dell'oceano
Fuoco fatuo

www.sherwood.it
www.latempesta.org

Read more at www.youtube.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1kppc

Music Unlimited

2011-12-13T11:09:00.001+01:00

Accesso al catalogo, accesso alla propria raccolta musicale, canali tematici di ogni sorta e canali personalizzati. Meglio di così è impossibile, l'importante è avere una buona connessione, sia ADSL che UMTS. Io con Telecom Italia a casa e con Wind su Motorola MB525 non ho problemi.

Amplify’d from www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com

7 milioni* di brani disponibili globalmente, senza pubblicità

Canali multipli più la tua raccolta personale

Aggiunta di oltre 7 milioni* di brani alla raccolta personale mediante un solo abbonamento.
Accessibile da telefono Android™, TV, PS3™ e PC.

Ascolta ora

Read more at www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1k78c

New Order live in Brazil (pro shot)

2011-12-12T17:42:00.001+01:00

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

New Order - 5-8-6 (Live @ Ultra Music Festival, Brazil - 2011)

New Order ao vivo no UMF (Anhembi, São Paulo).
O show foi transmitido online ao vivo pelo portal Terra, no dia 03/12/2011.

Read more at www.youtube.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1k325

20 minutes from New Order's gig in Buenos Aires

2011-12-07T13:56:00.001+01:00

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

New Order - Estadio Obras - Buenos Aitres (01/12/2011) en 20mins

Highlights del recital de New Order en el Estadio Obras, Buenos Aires, Argentina, el 1 de Diciembre de 2011.

Read more at www.youtube.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1jio4

Gabrielles Wish - The Son Of The Sun (full vid)

2011-11-28T18:12:00.001+01:00

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

The Son Of The Sun

Promo Video for the new Gabrielles Wish Single
'The Son Of The Sun'
Available now from
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/GabriellesWish

and Itunes at

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/circa/id415007087

Video by Jason Vaughn 2011
Eromenos Music 2011

Read more at www.youtube.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1j3id

Nuove date dei Massimo Volume. Cattive Abitudini miglior album al PIMI.

2011-11-18T18:14:00.001+01:00

Amplify’d from www.massimovolume.it

Nuove date dei Massimo Volume. Cattive Abitudini miglior album al PIMI.

ATTENZIONE! Nuove date il 27 novembre, il 16 e il 25 dicembre!

27 nov 2011 (dom), ore 21: BARI - Teatro Kismet, Premio PIMI

03 dic 2011 (sab) MARGHERA (VE) - Rivolta, Festival La Tempesta Al Rivolta

16 dic 2011 (ven) CASTEL MAGGIORE (BO) - Teatro Biagi D’Antona

(Sonorizzazione de La Caduta Della Casa Degli Usher)

25 dic 2011 (dom) RAVENNA - Bronson, Festival Passatelli In Bronson

Maggiori informazioni sulla pagina ufficiale di Facebook dei Massimo Volume

Il 27 novembre al Premio Italiano Musica Indipendente del MEI Cattive Abitudini dei Massimo Volume verrà premiato come miglior album.

Natale coi Massimo Volume, Pasqua con chi vuoi.

Read more at www.massimovolume.it

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1iiz7

New Order's Lost Sirens, coming soon

2011-11-13T15:16:00.001+01:00

The outtakes from Waiting For The Sirens' Call, out December 14th!

Amplify’d from www.recordshopx.com

New Order : Lost sirens -LP+CD

See more at www.recordshopx.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1huba

Gabrielles Wish – The Son Of The Sun promo

2011-10-29T17:46:00.002+02:00

Promo video for the new Gabrielles Wish single ‘The Son Of The Sun’,
being released on Itunes on the 28/11/11.

To visit the Gabrielles Wish itunes store go to ;
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/gabrielles-wish/id415007088

All images by Transhumanizer
Eromenos Music 2011

New Order - True Faith live at the Brussels Ancienne Belgique, 17 Oct 2011

2011-10-21T16:18:00.001+02:00

Fantastic comeback, even without Hooky, but with Gillian back, and 586 back in the set list. Tom Chapman replaces Hooky pretty decently. And this is an amazing new version of their classic.

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

New Order - True Faith - live @ AB Brussels on October 17th 2011

Cult band New Order performing 'True Faith' live @ Ancienne Belgique Brussels on October 17th 2011 during a sold benefit gig.

This clip is not intended for commercial use ! All copyrights and ownership remains with the band and it's label

Read more at www.youtube.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1f87l

New Order return with Gillian but not Hooky

2011-09-05T16:24:00.001+02:00

Amplify’d from www.gigwise.com

New Order Reform For Two Benefit Gigs

New Order have announced details of two benefit gigs, which are set to take place in Europe later this year.

The band will perform in Brussels on October 17 and Paris on October 18 in aid of their friend Michael Shamberg.

Shamberg - who produced several of New Order’s music videos, including the Brit Award winning 'True Faith' and 'Regret' - has been struggling with a debilitating illness since 2005.

New Order's line-up will feature Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner, but no Peter Hook, who left in 2007. Gillian Gilbert and Tom Chapman complete the line-up.

See more at www.gigwise.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1cgm5

New Order to release 7 songs from ‘Waiting for the Sirens’ Call’ sessions

2011-08-31T12:11:00.001+02:00

Amplify’d from www.slicingupeyeballs.com

Peter Hook: New Order to release 7 songs from ‘Waiting for the Sirens’ Call’ sessions

The members of New Order have agreed to release the seven songs left over from the sessions for the band’s 2005 swan song Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, bassist Peter Hook tells Slicing Up Eyeballs, saying the move should help make the group’s acrimonious split “a little cleaner” and finally “draw the line” under the break-up.

See more at www.slicingupeyeballs.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1c75v

Unreleased Joy Division tracks surfacing...

2011-08-08T19:34:00.003+02:00

Well it wouldn't be legal to post the link, but if you search "warsaw, rock garden, middlesbrough" on Google you'll get there! ;-)

Video of Hook performing unreleased Joy Division song

2011-05-03T18:12:00.002+02:00

There's also the video of Rowetta singing Atmosphere:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiG1cUVVLGg&NR=1

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

Peter Hook And The Light - Pictures In My MInd - 1102 / 2011 EP

Peter Hook's The Light feat. Rowetta - "1102 / 2011" 4 Track EP
Released digitally Monday 9th May 2011 on Haçienda Records.
1 "Atmosphere" (vocals by Rowetta)
2"Insight", (vocals by Rowetta)
3."New Dawn Fades" (vocals by Rowetta)
4. "Pictures In My Mind" (vocals by Peter Hook)
www.fac51thehacienda.com / www.peterhook.co.uk

Video Directed by John Surdevan & Mark Bristol, Surdevan Creative, www.surdevancreative.com

Peter Hook And The Light play Closer for the first ever time Weds 18th May and Thurs 19th May at The Factory, Manchester.

For booking enquiries - fletch@fac51thehacienda.com

Press enquiries - press@fac51thehacienda.com

Read more at www.youtube.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a119x1

Gabrielles Wish on iTunes and Amazon

2011-04-22T19:47:00.002+02:00

Amplify’d from gabrielleswish.blogspot.com

Circa on iTunes and Amazon

21 Apr 2011
The most recent studio album by Gabrielles Wish, Circa, is finally available on iTunes, for $7.92 only. This M4A purchase is the best for your iPod, but the files are DRM-free and you can easily convert them to MP3 and burn the album on CD.

Circa is also on Amazon as MP3 at the same price.

Following the links you can preview each track.

Check the videos of A To Z and New York Girl.

Hear the full Into The City on the free sampler EP.

Read more at gabrielleswish.blogspot.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/b100pr

Massimo Volume - Un Altro Domani

2011-04-21T12:37:00.002+02:00

Tratto dallo split EP con i Bachi Da Pietra uscito su La Tempesta

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

Massimo Volume: il video di "Un altro domani"

In esclusiva per Rollingstonemagazine.it il video di 'Un altro domani'. Info: http://www.rollingstonemagazine.it/musica/video/Esclusive-Massimo-Volume-il-v...

Read more at www.youtube.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bzvrg

Unreleased Joy Division on The Light EP

2011-04-12T11:49:00.002+02:00

Peter Hook's band, with covers of Insight, Atmosphere and New Dawn Fades and the previously unreleased Joy Division song, Pictures In My Mind

The Light "1102 / 2011" Debut Ep Out 9/05/11

Amplify’d from www.fac51thehacienda.com

See more at www.fac51thehacienda.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/byuwj

ReMiXpost

2011-04-11T17:46:00.004+02:00

Amplify’d from remixpost.wordpress.com

reMiXpost

This is just an archive of everything I post on my main blog, miXpost, on Facebook, YouTube, of news and links I share, and other sites I’m doing, like those for Gabrielles Wish, Massimo Volume and Skarnemurta.
Read more at remixpost.wordpress.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bytgg

PS: The main reason I'm doing this on Wordpress and not Blogger, which remains my favourite platform, is I can use the excellent Firefox extension Amplify to share contents on both blogs.

In arrivo lo split dei Massimo Volume con i Bachi Da Pietra

2011-03-09T21:01:00.001+01:00

I Massimo Volume pubblicheranno uno split EP con i Bachi Da Pietra, il mese prossimo su La Tempesta.
L’EP uscirà su vinile 7″, la confezione includerà un codice per il download degli MP3.
Questa è la track list, in attesa di ulteriori dettagli:

A1 Massimo Volume – Un Altro Domani (inedito)
A2 Massimo Volume – Morse (cover dei Bachi Da Pietra)
B1 Bachi Da Pietra – Stige (inedito)
B2 Bachi Da Pietra – Litio (cover dei Massimo Volume)

via massimovolume.it

Posted via email from AllMix

Mama Marjas - B-Lady

2011-01-31T00:13:00.003+01:00

via youtube.com

Una serata strepitosa che rimarrà a lungo nella memoria dei parmigiani, Mama Marjas ha conquistato l'Onirica con uno show strepitoso di reggae contemporaneo, accompagnata da due vocalist d'eccezione come Miss Mykela e Sistah Kinky. Qui trovate il suo ottimo album di debutto in MP3 di massima qualità, senza DRM, a meno di 10 Euro: http://it.7digital.com/artists/mama-marjas/b-lady/

Posted via email from AllMix

Twin Shadow - Forget

2011-01-22T18:40:00.002+01:00

This is a wonderful song off an excellent album of contemporary new wave (at times sounds like Morrissey fronting New Order), released by Twin Shadow on 4AD. On 7digital you can preview each track and purchase it, 320 Kbps DRM-free MP3, for €9.99
http://it.7digital.com/artists/twin-shadow/forget/

Former Japan bassist Mick Karn dies aged 52

2011-01-10T18:13:00.003+01:00

One of the artists I admired who made me proud to be called Mick

Mick Karn, the former bass player of pop band Japan, has died at the age of 52 after suffering from cancer.
A statement on Karn's website said the musician "passed away peacefully" on Tuesday at his London home in Chelsea, "surrounded by his family and friends".
Japan came to prominence in the early 1980s with hit albums that included Tin Drum and Gentlemen Take Polaroids.
John Taylor of Duran Duran said he was "one of the great visual and sound stylists of the late-70s/early-80s."

An appeal was launched last year when news of Karn's illness was announced.
Porcupine Tree - a band featuring former Japan keyboardist Richard Barbieri - were among those who donated profits from auctions and album sales.
Punk alternative
Born Adonis Michaelides in Cyprus in 1958, Karn emigrated to London when he was three years old.
His official biography tells how he bought his first bass guitar for £5 after a bassoon he played in an orchestra was stolen.
He formed Japan in 1974 with David Sylvian and the latter's younger brother Steve Jansen, performing for the first time when Karn was 15.
The band's albums include Quiet Life and Adolescent Sex
Having been joined by Richard Barbieri, another school friend, Japan landed their first record contract in 1977.
With their dyed hair and make-up, Japan offered a "glam" alternative to punk and later became associated with the New Romantic movement.
After Japan split in 1982, Karn continued to work on solo projects and recorded with Kate Bush, Gary Numan, Midge Ure and Joan Armatrading.
Karn briefly reunited with other members of Japan in 1991 for the one-off project Rain Tree Crow.
Tributes have been left on Karn's website, with one fan saluting his dexterity with the bass.
"No one will ever touch him on the fretless," wrote 'ngriff' on Wednesday. "He shaped the way that instrument is played like no other."
BBC presenter Jeremy Vine has also remembered the musician's "sensual and stylish" playing.

via bbc.co.uk

Some great videos featuring this genius:

JAPAN - Gentlemen Take Polaroids

Dalis Car - Create and Melt

David Sylvian & Mick Karn - "When Love Walks In"

Rain Tree Crow - Blackwater

Posted via email from AllMix

Gabrielles Wish - Processed sampler

2010-12-29T18:48:00.000+01:00

Processed, the legendary "lost" debut album by Gabrielles Wish, has been finally released on CD (with four bonus live tracks, including the totally unreleased Never Know Why) by Plastic Frog Records.
The album was recorded with Joy Division's sound engineer Chris Nagle (Martin Hannett's assistant) at Peter Hook's studio Suite 16 in 1997, when the band was, after two highly acclaimed EPs, the best promise on Manchester Records, the label of New Order's manager Rob Gretton, and shelved when Gretton died just before its planned release.
Processed sees at last its first official release on CD, enhanced with a new cover designed by the band's keyboardist, Karen Leatham, and some bonus tracks such as a live recording coming from their support performance at New Order's reunion gig at the Manchester Apollo in 1998.
Get Processed from Plastic Frog Records,
http://www.plasticfrogrecords.com/

More info here: http://tinyurl.com/39xerus
http://gabrielleswish.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/gabrielleswish

The Best Of 2010 (and Merry Christmas)

2010-12-25T17:24:00.001+01:00

01 MASSIMO VOLUME
Cattive Abitudini

02 GABRIELLES WISH
Processed

03 MARLENE KUNTZ
Ricoveri Virtuali E Sexy Solitudini

04 Skarnemurta - Traffic

05 Freebass - It's A Beautiful Life

06 Beautiful - Beautiful

07 Kalevala - Musicanti Di Brema

08 Exit Calm - Exit Calm

09 Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle

10 Jungle Radio - Live Session

11 Serena-Maneesh - S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor
12 Culpable - Culpable
13 Section 25 - Retrofit
14 Pet Shop Boys - Ultimate
15 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - History Of Modern

This year has been a weird mix of different trends for me. I've been discovering artists I've been guilty of overlooking in the past which haven't released albums this year, like the years of Brian Wilson as a genius in The Beach Boys (second half of the 60s) and Maxwell, a genius of contemporary black music. I've also been hearing a lot of singles released in the past few years in the Fidget house scene, especially Brooklyn artists like AC Slater and Udachi, who are doing the most inventive music heard (and danced) in this century so far.
I've also discovered 4AD (which was a cult label in the 80s with bands like Cocteau Twins and Pixies) is still releasing great albums, this year with bands like Blonde Redhead (who are progressing further in refining their sophisticated and melancholic synth pop) and Serena-Maneesh (who try too often to sound like My Bloody Valentine but still show a lot of talent, especially when doing something more personal).
Then we've had great comebacks, reissues or compilations of bands which have been around for ages. Massimo Volume came back with a studio album after 11 years. They had been playing half of the new songs in concert so we expected the new album would have been great, but nobody was really ready to hear their best album ever. Gabrielles Wish released for the first time on CD their excellent lost debut album, recorded 13 years ago, adding some bonus tracks. Marlene Kuntz involved production genius Howie B (he did Bjork's most inventive albums in the 90s) and he produced their less commercial album ever, a record full of ideas daring to take many different directions, mostly unconventional, with some wonderful sounds enhancing the formula. The collaboration went further in the project Beautiful (which sounds even more experimental), where Howie B plays keyboards and bass legend Gianni Maroccolo (formerly in Litfiba and CSI) comes back to complete the line-up and release the album on his own label Al-Kemi. Peter Hook finally released, after an EP with guest vocalists like Tim Burgess from The Charlatans) the Freebass debut album which is great, pity the band have already split. Another long awaited debut came from Exit Calm and, even if they haven't included all their best songs in the tracklists, the album is good enough to say they're the best new band in this century so far.
Section 25 survived the death of singer Larry Cassidy, his daughter Beth sings now, and have released an album with re-recordings of their classics. Pet Shop Boys released a compilation of hits missing some important singles but including their excellent new single Together, which also has a really beautiful video.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark came back with a new studio album after 14 years and it's alright but unfortunately, just like their last album before this long time off, shows their best inspiration is long gone, though it tries a return to the sound of their former glories.
2010 has also been a great year in my local scene in Parma. There are other great bands who haven't released records playing fantastic gigs, there are cool DJs in the dance scene, and we've had also some excellent releases. Skarnemurta had another triumphant tour in Ukraine and repackaged their last album and EP with a bonus track on one CD while recording a new album which should follow in a couple of months. Kalevala are selling promo copies of their astonishing and truly inspired new album while waiting for a wider release next year. Jungle Radio emerged with their inventive blend of DJ set and live performance and Culpable finally made available on iTunes the studio recordings of the wonderful songs they've been playing live for years.
Merry Christmas and Happy 2011, hoping to hear more great new music!

Zune in Italia, una scelta in più

2010-11-17T21:19:00.002+01:00

Ho provato Zune, il negozio online di Microsoft, con molto scetticismo.
Il software serve anche per la vendita di applicazioni per smartphone con il nuovo sistema operativo Windows Phone 7 e per i film (anche a noleggio), ma in questo momento ero interessato alle possibilità che offriva come negozio di musica, incuriosito dallo Zune Pass, un abbonamento (in pratica, l'unica cosa che manca ad iTunes), che a prima vista sembra che imponga troppe restrizioni.
In realtà la prova gratuita, concessa per 14 giorni dopo che si è installato il software (che sembra ben fatto e piacevole come grafica e utilizzo) ed effettuato l'accesso con il proprio account Windows Live (lo stesso di Messenger, per intenderci, vanno solo aggiunte le informazioni sulla carta di credito, che ovviamente può anche essere una prepagata come PostePay), ha evidenziato un nuovo tipo di esperienza su più livelli che è forse il miglior equilibrio possibile tra basso costo e quantità e qualità dei brani ascoltabili e scaricabili.

Lo Zune Pass può essere acquistato in abbonamento mensile a 9,99 Euro, oppure annuale a 99,99 Euro, usufruendo di due mesi gratis.
Con questo pass puoi ascoltare un numero illimitato di brani in streaming.
Puoi anche scaricare un numero illimitato di brani in WMA con DRM, il che significa che li potrai solo ascoltare sul computer, sulla X Box e su uno smartphone con Windows Phone 7, ma non li potrai masterizzare su CD, né convertire in altro formato o trasferire ad un altro lettore. Inoltre, se non rinnoverai l'abbonamento, non potrai più ascoltare alcun brano di quelli scaricati con il pass, né ovviamente quelli in streaming.
Però puoi anche acquistare i brani ad un prezzo simile a quello di iTunes, solo che in questo caso il formato è MP3 di massima qualità senza DRM, in pratica dal momento dell'acquisto puoi fare coi brani ciò che vuoi: non ti occorre più un lettore specifico (mentre quelli di iTunes non convertiti possono essere riprodotti solo su iPod e pochi smartphone) e puoi masterizzare CD.
Gli acquisti si effettuano con i Microsoft Points, che vengono venduti in pacchetti diversi, ma il costo non cambia, un punto costa sempre 1,2 centesimi. Per esempio un album di 12 brani può costare 835 punti, ovvero 10,02 Euro.
Quando acquisti gli MP3 ti viene automaticamente cancellata la cartella dove avevi i file WMA con DRM, il che ti risparmia anche questo passaggio.
Se poi cambi la posizione della cartella dove hai scaricato gli MP3 (o di qualsiasi MP3 della libreria), Zune (al contrario di iTunes) li ritrova subito e non te li fa cercare.
Puoi acquistare gli MP3 anche senza pass, ma forse 10 Euro al mese (anche meno con l'abbonamento annuale) sono ben spesi per ascoltare in streaming, sul PC o su un cellulare compatibile un numero illimitato di brani...
Il giudizio su Zune è quindi sostanzialmente positivo, anche se al momento non dispone di un catalogo vasto come quello di iTunes. Chi ascolta solo musica commerciale forse non se ne accorge neanche, ma se cerchi roba un po' più alternativa, soprattutto se dei decenni scorsi, ti accorgi subito della differenza...
In ogni caso un'opportunità che offre più libertà rispetto ad iTunes e magari spingerà Apple a rendere più libera anche la sua offerta...

Nuovi brani nel Massimo Volume sampler

2010-10-17T16:41:00.001+02:00

Aggiunti la splendida In Un Mondo Dopo Il Mondo e Fausto a Litio, dal nuovo album Cattive AbitudiniMassimo Volume sampler by massimovolume

Massimo Volume - Fausto

2010-10-14T15:30:00.001+02:00

via youtube.com

Stupendo video ufficiale del miglior brano di sempre dei Massimo Volume!

Posted via email from Mick's posterous

Tutto Qui – La Storia Dei Massimo Volume

2010-10-13T17:00:00.002+02:00

La biografia di Andrea Pomini (Arcana edizioni)
Il 31 ottobre, alle ore 19, prima del concerto di anteprima del tour di Cattive Abitudini a Ferrara (nella Sala Estense), si terrà presso il circolo ARCI Zuni, in Via Ragno 15, la presentazione della prima biografia dedicata ai Massimo Volume, “Tutto Qui – La Storia Dei Massimo Volume” di Andrea Pomini (Arcana editrice) con la partecipazione dell’autore e della band.
Sul blog di Pomini, SoulFood, sono presenti vari post con alcune anteprime della biografia.

via massimovolume.it

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Litio in anteprima dal nuovo album dei Massimo Volume

2010-10-05T09:06:00.001+02:00

A 10 giorni dall'uscita di Cattive Abitudini, il nuovo album dei Massimo Volume, è finalmente possibile ascoltare in anteprima Litio sui profili ufficiali di SoundCloud (il cui player è incorporato in questo post) e MySpace.

Cattive Abitudini, nuovo album dei Massimo Volume il 15 ottobre!

2010-09-09T14:13:00.002+02:00

Il 15 ottobre esce il nuovo, attesissimo album dei Massimo Volume, Cattive Abitudini.
Verrà pubblicato dalla prestigiosa etichetta indipendente La Tempesta, di cui fanno già parte band e artisti del calibro di Frigidaire Tango, Giorgio Canali E Rossofuoco, Moltheni, Sick Tamburo, Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti, The Zen Circus, Uochi Toki, Le Luci Della Centrale Elettrica e Il Teatro Degli Orrori.
La tracklist di Cattive Abitudini include alcuni brani che hanno già suscitato l’entusiasmo del pubblico durante i concerti dei tour più recenti:

01 Robert Lowell
02 Coney Island
03 Le Nostre Ore Contate
04 Litio
05 Tra La Sabbia Dell’ Oceano
06 Avevi Fretta Di Andartene
07 La Bellezza Violata
08 Invito Al Massacro
09 Mi Piacerebbe Ogni Tanto Averti Qui
10 Fausto
11 Via Vasco De Gama
12 In Un Mondo Dopo Il Mondo

Shoegazing playlist on YouTube

2010-08-01T16:59:00.002+02:00

Shoegazing playlist page on YouTube

Someone asked about a shoegazing playlist and I've been more than happy to assemble this on YouTube.

When punk and new wave happened, I was still a kid and while I remember the TV showing something of those scenes, I had to discover everything when their most glorious moments had gone.
Still, when I got into music in the second half of the 80s, many bands like New Order, Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins and The Smiths were still on great form and releasing some of their best albums.
When I was about to turn 18 I liked baggy bands like Happy Mondays or Northside, but something else was keeping me busy: alternative radio and TV programs were showing the videos of these new bands coming from a label called Creation, I had started reading the NME and apparently this new fantastic sound they were doing was called Shoegazing, and you should know why, if not check Wikipedia.
This was the first and last great scene I really saw happening in England (I remember how it was exciting to buy My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Swevedriver albums in the same week) before the media attention turned to mediocre and derivative Britpop bands ruining forever the English music scene, which basically never recovered since then. There have been other great bands, like Radiohead, and other great scenes in America and especially in Italy, where the second half of the 90s has been amazingly more exciting than in England, but we had got used to labels like Factory, 4AD and Creation introducing us to great new bands and that wasn't happening anymore and nobody took their place. Actually Factory had to shut down, 4AD turned to boring indie folk and Creation was a key label in the same Britpop scene which destroyed Shoegazing. It was appalling to see the same label who released the last My Bloody Valentine album, in 1991, releasing the Oasis debut album three years later, mostly because it sounded like recorded 25 years before the MBV album.

This playlist opens with Slowdive, simply because Shine (though the embedded player in this post doesn't show it, but you can find it on the playlist page) is not only the most beautiful shoegazing song ever, but has also possibly the most beautiful video ever. Slow is my favourite My Bloody Valentine song, Swervedriver look incredibly cool in the Sandblasted video, Moose's Boy just proves what they could have done had they not turned to Britpop in a vain attempt to survive. The same must be said for Ride, Lush and The Boo Radleys. Autosleeper by Chapterhouse is a truly emotional song. There are songs by Pale Saints which sound more shoegazing than Two Sick Sisters, but I chose it simply because I've always found it wonderfully frightening.
Then we have the shoegazing one hit wonder department, with Revolver, Drop Nineteens (from USA) and Adorable, three great songs, especially the amazing Venice, but basically their only truly great songs, followed by disappointing albums and even more disappointing sales.
Bands like The Swirlies and Curve would have deserved more though, but by the mid 90s even excellent albums by Slowdive and Swervedriver were getting ignored, or worse, unfairly derided, in favour of silly Britpop bands, the very most of which today don't have a cult following of people of different age like those shoegazing bands do.
But this playlist has a positive feeling: shoegazing as we knew it ended back then, except for contemporary nu gaze revivalism bands like Airiel, but its influence has been strong on very different music genres: you heard it in the mid-90s in Flying Saucer Attack's lo-fi noise, or in Seefeel's and Bowery Electric ethereal vision of dub, you heard it in the 2000s in bands like Mew, described as "My Bloody Valentine meet Prefab Sprout", only from a prog persepective, and today you can hear M83 singing a synth pop tune with vocals recalling Slowdive and being remixed by dubstep-fidget genius Udachi, or if you prefer guitar indie there's the best debut album of this century so far by Exit Calm.
The spirit and heritage of shoegazing is stronger than 20 years ago.

Slowdive - Shine
My Bloody Valentine - Slow
Swervedriver - Sandblasted
MOOSE - Boy
Chapterhouse - Autosleeper
Ride- Dreams burn down
Lush | De Luxe
Pale Saints - Two Sick Sisters
The Boo Radleys "kaleidoscope"
Revolver - "Venice" live at ULU May 1992
Drop Nineteens - Winona
Adorable - Sunshine Smile
The Swirlies - Sounds of sebring
Curve - Horror Head
Flying Saucer Attack - Always
Seefeel - Charlotte`s mouth
Bowery Electric - Fear of Flying
Mew - Apocalypso
Airiel - Peoria
M83 - We Own The Sky (Udachi Remix)
Exit Calm - You've Got It All Wrong - FAC251 - 11/06/2010

Exit Calm, debut album of the century so far

2010-07-01T20:51:00.001+02:00

These are tough times. The Zero decade hasn't been able to bring anything new on the scene, a terrible contrast when you think what each of the previous decades has sparked since the birth of rock'n'roll.
Not everything's lost. Bands like Mew have emerged, they still believe music doesn't need to be safe and can be brave end emotional. In the electronic field, the Fidget house explosion of the last couple of years brought us artists like AC Slater, Costello and Udachi, which I still regard as the biggest genius of this century so far.
The first truly great debut album in guitar music comes from Barnsley, halfway between Leeds and Sheffield.
Lyca Sleep were a band with a fantastic guitarist called Rob Marshall.

Perfectly balanced between post-shoegazing soundscapes and actual tunes, he's much more than a disciple of The Verve's early Nick McCabe, counting only that inspiration doesn't do justice to his immense talent. That band didn't go beyond a couple of singles, Dan Cutts wasn't a bad singer, as he proved in his following releases both solo and with new band Two Skies.
But when Lyca Sleep became Exit Calm with new singer Nicky Smith they found the most amazing voice since Kurt Cobain. His voice can be rough and delicate and is the perfect match for Marshall's guitar.
With two enormous talents like these, Exit Calm built a feverish and loyal fanbase. Recordings of both demos and live performances started circulating increasing the interest on the web.
So it comes as a disappointment at least three of their best songs aren't actually included on the album, and one of them is the first single, Higher Learning. God knows what went through their heads when compiling the track list for the album... and yet this album, even with those songs missing, is easily miles above any other debut album released in the last decade. Extremely emotional songs like You've Got It All Wrong (a call to arms opening the album with a long guitar intro), When You Realise (starting all delicate just to explode halfway into a noise hurricane), Forgiveness, With Angels and Recovery (all featuring wonderful melodies and sounds from the guitar and the best vocals you've heard in a long time), plus much loved second and third singles We're On Our Own and Hearts And Minds and the touching acoustic beauty of closing track Serenity... well, these songs are more than enough to define this as an absolute masterpiece and the best debut album of this century (if you count Gabrielles Wish as debuting in the 90s with two EPs and a delayed album).
A band to follow, they make you believe in todays music, again.

Nuovo sito ufficiale dei Massimo Volume

2010-06-07T18:25:00.000+02:00

Finalmente è online il nuovo sito ufficiale dei Massimo Volume!
E' ancora in fase di completamento, ma ha già un ottimo aspetto.
C'è qualcosa del sito Stanze nel sito ufficiale, e continuerà ad esserci: il sito ufficiale, Stanze e MySpace continueranno i loro percorsi autonomi ma integrati.

Stanze Live dei Massimo Volume su YouTube

2010-04-28T19:07:00.000+02:00

E' ora disponibile su YouTube la playlist con tutti i video dello storico concerto al Covo di Bologna il 27 marzo scorso (ormai conosciuto come "Stanze Live"), sempre scaricabile da MegaUpload.
Ogni video può essere votato, commentato e condiviso.

Freebass - It's A Beautiful Life, great album finally out!

2010-04-26T17:19:00.004+02:00

After five years and in line with Hooky's release schedule we are all delighted to announce that the Freebass Album: Its a beautiful life is ready for download.
www.fac51thehacienda.com/product/music/audio/freebass-its-beautiful-life

via fac51thehacienda.com

Absolutely excellent! Every song sounds great.

Posted via web from Mick's posterous

Scarica gratis il video di Stanze Live 2010 dei Massimo Volume!

2010-04-19T18:38:00.001+02:00

Era inevitabile che un evento storico come il concerto del 27 marzo al Covo di Bologna, nel corso del quale i Massimo Volume hanno eseguito integralmente Stanze dal vivo, venisse registrato da un fan.
Fortunatamente Marco Leone ha registrato sia audio che video, Enrico Galli ha sincronizzato l'audio col video e il risultato è piaciuto tanto ai Massimo Volume che ne autorizzano la condivisione.
Scarica il file! (604 MB, e ne vale la pena per ogni secondo).

Malcolm McLaren dies aged 64

2010-04-08T23:38:00.002+02:00

Malcolm McLaren, the former manager of the Sex Pistols and impresario, has died. He was 64.

Despite early reports that he had died in New York, McLaren’s girlfriend of many years, Young Kim, 37, confirmed the impresario died of mesothelioma at a hospital in Switzerland
It is a rare form of cancer that develops from the protective lining that covers many of the body's internal organs, the mesothelium and is usually caused by exposure to asbestos. His body is expected to be brought home to be buried in Highgate cemetery, north London.
Related articles
Malcolm McLaren: 'I'm most probably a missing link'
Search the news archive for more stories
His spokesman Les Molloy told The Independent: “He had been suffering from cancer for some time, but recently had been full of health, which then rapidly deteroriated. He died in New York this morning. We are expecting his body to be brought back to London and buried in Highgate Cemetery.”
McLaren was best known as manager of the iconic UK punk band The Sex Pistols. He achieved the notoriety that never left him in 1977 when The Sex Pistols’ anti-establishment single God Save The Queen, released during the Queen's silver jubilee was banned from the airwaves by both the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority. It still managed to reach the number 2 spot.
Born in 1946 in north London, the son of war deserter Pete McLaren, who left home when Malcolm was was two, he was raised by his grandmother in Stoke Newington. He left home in his teens, attending and being expelled from several art colleges before leaving education altogether in 1971.
That year he opened a clothes shop on the King’s Road , Let It Rock, with Vivienne Westwood.
The boutique sold primarily Teddy Boy-style clothes, before McLaren became disillusioned by the actions of the shop’s patrons. The couple’s son, Joseph Corre, went on to found the lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.
By 1975 McLaren had renamed the store SEX. It was now selling S&M clothes.
Also in 1975 he began to manage the fledgling punk band The Strand. After his assistant Bernie Rhodes had brought in John Lydon, whom he had encountered hanging around outside sporting green hair and a Pink Floyd T-shirt with the words “I Hate” daubed across it, Lydon became Johnny Rotten and the band The Sex Pistols.
Controversy was always high on the band’s agenda, and it was McLaren, primarily, who ensured they achieved it. In May 1977, during the week of the Queen’s silver jubilee, McLaren booked a boat trip down the Thames where the band were to perform their single “God Save The Queen” outside the Houses of Parliament. The boat was raided by police. McLaren was arrested.
Whatever resentment the establishment had for him after this, it was soon to be magnified by the band themselves. The following year The Sex Pistols embarked on a tour of the US. They would return on separate flights. The band split up after a series of arguments, with members accusing McLaren of mismanaging them and withholding money.
A solo career, with mixed success, followed. His 1983 album Duck Rock scored two top 10 hits, and is regularly cited as being a significant influences in bringing hip-hop to a wider audience in the UK. More recently, Mariah Carey and Eminem have sampled his work.
More recently he stood for the then newly created London mayoralty in 2000. Amongst his policies was the serving of alcohol in libraries.
In 2007 he was slated to take part in the ITV show I’m A Celebrity Get ME Out of Here, as Lydon had before him. In the end he never took part, arriving in Australia, dismissing the show as “fake” and promptly flying home again.
via independent.co.uk
Godfather of punk and hip hop

Posted via web from Mick's posterous

Nuova mailing list per i Marlene Kuntz

2010-04-05T19:03:00.002+02:00

Sparita misteriosamente la storica mailing list dopo più di 10 anni di onoratissima attività, si ricomincia da qui: http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/marlenekuntz2

Man Ray - Summer 88

2010-03-29T02:38:00.003+02:00

Haçienda Records
is proud to make available its debut release, the “Summer 88 EP” by Man Ray which sees Hooky (New Order) and production partner Phil Murphy indulge their passions for acid house, paying homage to the sound of the early days of Acid.

Originally produced as the opening tracks to 2009’s “Haçienda Acid House Classics” album, both tracks have been extended and reworked from these versions for the new EP.
Using analogue technology to recreate precisely the sounds of summer of ’88, a mixture of classic Roland synths and drum machines were employed to simulate the early acid house vibes with samples only being used for sound effects.
Opening track, “We’re On It” presents itself as a twisting, laid back groove, permeated with references to early Detroit and Chicago, Larry Heard, Mr Fingers and the classic exponents of the lighter side of acid. With Hooky chatting over the vocal version.
Second track, “Ways Of Making Music” continues with Hooky’s voice over mixing classic breakbeats, sirens and a dancefloor shaking electro bass.

via fac51thehacienda.com

Deliciously vintage house from this Hooky spin off.

Posted via web from Mick's posterous

Freebass supergroup releases EP, Two Worlds Collide

2010-03-29T02:06:00.004+02:00

In took some five years, but Freebass, the Mancunian bass supergroup comprising of three of music’s most notable strummers, Peter Hook (Joy Division), Gary “Mani” Mounfield (The Stone Roses/Primal Fear), and Andy Rourke (The Smiths), finally has a record to its name. In fact, this time next month, they’ll have two.
This week, Freebass released its debut EP, Two Worlds Collide. Coming some five years after its initial formation, the four-song effort hears the all-star bassists teamed up with the likes of The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess, The Mighty Wah’s Pete Wylie, and Howard Marks, all of three of who lent their vocals. The band had planned for even higher levels of supporting star power, such as Liam Gallagher and Billy Corgan, but scheduling conflicts prevented them from making an appearance. After all, they only had five years to make it work!

“We asked them but we’re all jobbing musicians so it’s impossible to fit it in,” explained Hook in an interview with the BBC. “I get asked, and Mani gets asked, to do a lot of sessions and stuff. Literally you have the best intentions of doing it. We had Liam at one point but you really just can’t fit it in.”
Two Worlds Collide serves as precursor to the band’s forthcoming full-length, which is due out next month. On that particular release, former Haven singer Gary Briggs will make his debut as the band’s full-time vocalist.
“We had a sort of indie Pop Idol,” Hook went on to explain. “It took us about a year and a half to find a singer and we came up with Gary Briggs.”
“In the mean time we’d asked a few friends of ours – Tim Burgess, Howard Marks, Pete Wylie – to help us out and we submitted some vocals. So we ended up with four guest vocalists and a proper vocalist… We thought we’d split it in two. So the EP with the guest vocalists is coming out first, and the LP will be coming out in four weeks with Gary.” Make sense?
Hook also jokingly called the band’s lightning fast gestation a “living hell.” “The problem with it was that when it started, we had a lot of time on our hands – Mani, Rourkey and I. And then as soon as we started it, our respective band leaders, in their wisdom, decided to work. So it’s had a lot of false starts.”
The EP can now be purchased from Hook’s Hacienda website. You can preview a few tracks here.
In support of the releases, Freebass has also announced its first two gigs: June 1st at 100 Club in London and June 3rd at FAC251 The Factory in Manchester.
TAGGED AS: Andy Rourke, Freebass, Mani Rourke, Peter Hook
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via consequenceofsound.net

You Don't Know This About Me is a great song with fantastic vocals by The Charlatans' Tim Burgess, Pete Wylie also sings wonderfully on The Milky Way Is Our Playground, Dark Starr with Howard Marks sounds like a great Velvet Underground track and Hooky sings the best song, Live Tomorrow You Go Down which recalls early electro New Order... don't miss this EP!

Posted via web from Mick's posterous

Exit Calm - Hearts And Minds

2010-03-19T01:22:00.001+01:00

via youtube.com

Guitar pop sounds good again, after many, too many years... best British new band of the 00s, must conquer all in the 10s!

The official video for Exit Calm's Hearts And Minds, released on Club AC30 May 3rd, followed by self titled debut album May 17th.

www.myspace.com/exitcalm
www.exit-calm.com
www.progressfilm.co.uk

Posted via web from Mick's posterous

Gabrielles Wish - Pirate Of Mens Pants (sampler) (2 tracks)

2010-03-06T19:03:00.001+01:00

via mixpod.com

Streaming clips from the new Gabrielles Wish single.
New single out March 8, available here:
http://www.arkade.com/default.aspx?a=Gabrielles_Wish
More details here:
http://www.gabrielleswish.com/gw/news.html#pomp

Posted via web from Mick's posterous

Section 25 - Be Brave with Nifty Natalie, a tribute to Larry Cassidy

2010-03-02T09:08:00.003+01:00

This video has been assembled by a fan with a great early Section 25 song and clips from the Pollock and Pollock show, apparently a surreal broadcast which happened in the second half of the 80s on some TV station in Winnipeg, Canada, which featured this Nifty Natalie trying to dance in a funny expressive way. I think it looks like a really cool match somehow and can be a nice tribute to Larry Cassisdy (1953 - 2010) from this blog.

Section 25 leader dies

2010-03-01T01:29:00.000+01:00

Very bad news, their last two albums were honestly excellent.
Here's Cerysmatic Factory's obituary (pic taken from this live review) :

Larry Cassidy (1953-2010)
We report with great sadness the death of Larry Cassidy, singer and bassist with cult Factory Records post-punk group Section 25. Larry was found at his home in Blackpool on Saturday 27 February, and though the cause of death has not yet been confirmed there appear to be no suspicious circumstances.

Born in Blackpool in April 1953, Lawrence John Cassidy decided against joining his father’s family business (Casdon Toys) and opted instead to study art in London, gaining a first class degree in 1977. Inspired by psychedelia and Krautrock, and by exposure to punk at the Roxy club, Larry decided to form a band back home, recruiting younger brother Vin on drums, and guitarist Paul Wiggin. The name Section 25 referred to a clause in the Mental Health Act allowing for involuntary detention. Thanks to early mentors Joy Division the group joined Factory Records in 1979, recording their first single (Fac 18) with Ian Curtis and Rob Gretton producing.

Their debut album Always Now (1981) was recorded with producer Martin Hannett, and came packaged in a costly and elaborate pochette sleeve designed by Peter Saville. "I did get a fascinating brief from Larry," explains Saville on one of his finest works, "I seem to remember he wanted something quite European, but psychedelic - and with some Oriental influences. After that, I was on my own!"

Saville also designed the cover of From the Hip, their third album from 1984. Co-produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order, From the Hip saw a successful transition from abrasive post-punk to smooth electronics, best heard on the proto-techno club single Looking From a Hilltop. By now Larry’s glamorous young wife Jenny had joined the band, Tony Wilson having failed to interest a pre-Smiths Johnny Marr from taking over on guitar following the departure of Wiggin.

Both Wilson and Gretton found Section 25 frustrating at times, not least their lack of orthodox management. Indeed Gretton joked that the band were unmanageable, and that their sole gimmick was that they had no gimmick. A charismatic curmudgeon, and slightly older than most other musicians on the label, Larry sometimes found it hard to balance the aesthetic satisfaction of being a Factory band with the scant financial rewards. ‘You have to stand there out in the desert, holding on to your own little truth, waiting for the boat to come in.’

Section 25 effectively split in 1986, Larry afterwards running a light industrial unit, and retraining as a schoolteacher. Plans to reform the group were upset by the tragic loss of Jenny Cassidy to cancer in November 2004, naturally also a devastating personal event for Larry, but three years later Section 25 released a new album, Part-Primitiv, followed by Nature + Degree in 2009. The Guardian also listed From the Hip as one of ‘1000 albums to hear before you die’. As appreciation of Section 25 and Factory continued to increase, the group again found themselves in demand as a live attraction, visiting Germany, Italy and the United States in 2009, and joined by Larry and Jenny’s daughter Beth Cassidy on vocals and keyboards. Larry played what proved to be his last show with Section 25 at the historic Plan K venue in Brussels on 12 December 2009, along with fellow Factory pioneers A Certain Ratio, Biting Tongues, The Names and The Wake. At the time of his death a remix album, Retrofit, was almost complete.

Larry leaves a partner, Lesley, and two children, Nathaniel and Bethany.

Peter Hook, the Joy Division/New Order bassist who joined Section 25 for several shared dates in 2008, said: "I am so deeply shocked to hear about Larry, and very upset."

Says Vin Cassidy: "My brother Larry wasn’t always the easiest person to be in a band with, but he was the best."

John Robb, writer, musician and fellow Blackpool native, writes in his blog: "Section 25 were leagues ahead of everyone else in Blackpool. They were organized and had invented their own sound – a deceptively doomy, powerful, stripped-down, bass driven, dissonant, postpunk that combined the nihilism of the times with Larry’s art school cool. Another great lost genius. Maybe Larry’s death will wake everyone up to how great his band was."

Sanremo 2010

2010-02-23T02:30:00.000+01:00

L'anno scorso era stata l'edizione delle Nuove Proposte, da cui erano emerse voci così interessanti da impedirmi di notare subito Malika Ayane. Mea Culpa: Come Foglie meritava (soprattutto la voce), e infatti alla distanza è emersa, ed è anche maturata. Quest'anno porta Ricomincio Da Qui (tratto dall'album Grovigli, di cui vedete qui la copertina), un brano molto più sofisticato, meno immediato, ma più emozionante. I palati fini lo riconoscono, e per il premio della Critica, giustamente, non c'è storia.
Quest'anno la categoria si chiama Nuova Generazione, ed era impossibile che ci fosse un exploit come quello dell'anno scorso. Infatti il vincitore Tony Maiello andrà bene a chi apprezza i cantanti sentimentali napoletani, ma ben difficilmente ripeterà il successo di Sincerità di Arisa, che quest'anno è tornata con un brano un po' confuso: ritornello orecchiabile ma troppo veloce, e completamente staccato dalla strofa, un potenziale successo viene pasticciato e alla fine si può solo sorridere per le simpatiche coriste, le Sorelle Marinetti, un trio di travestiti... degna di nota l'esibizione con il jazzista Lino Patruno, che ha dato un po' più di coesione e significato alla canzone.

Dalla mediocrità degli appartenenti a questa categoria (con episodi davvero irritanti come quello dei teen idol Broken Heart College) possiamo salvare appena Romeus per quel pizzico di inventiva in più, La Fame Di Camilla, una band che almeno ci prova, a fare rock, e Nina Zilli che ha una canzone zeppa di stereotipi soul ma una voce molto valida che merita di essere riascoltata in una migliore occasione.
L'unica ad emergere davvero è una quindicenne, Jessica Brando, anche se forse pochi si accorgono di lei, se non per il fatto che la prima serata non può cantare perchè è troppo giovane per esibirsi dopo mezzanotte. Valeria Rossi, sì, quella del tormentone Sole-Cuore-Amore di quasi un decennio fa, le fa cantare Dove Non Ci Sono Ore, una canzone molto sofisticata (in particolare il ritornello è di una raffinatezza incredibile) e con un testo meraviglioso ma forse troppo complicato per lei, che però se la cava e la interpreta bene, anche grazie alla sua bellissima voce.
Come il vincitore della Nuova Generazione, anche il vincitore dei Big, Valerio Scanu, proviene da Amici. Anche il suo brano è del tutto insignificante, e mi pare che non abbia neppure una gran voce o qualità interpretative, ma evidentemente il personaggio televisivo è sufficiente a ribaltare, col televoto, l'eliminazione da parte della giuria demoscopica della prima serata. La sua vittoria è, incredibilmente, un sollievo, se si tiene conto che l'atroce trio Pupo, Emanuele Filiberto e Canonici è arrivato secondo (sempre ribaltando l'eliminazione della giuria, tra moti di sdegno e ribellione nel pubblico, in sala stampa e tra gli orchestrali).
Un altro personaggio televisivo arriva terzo, Marco Mengoni proviene da X Factor e non si capisce bene se può essere qualcosa di più di un alter ego più irritante di Giuliano Sangiorgi dei Negramaro... forse sì forse no, come canta lui stesso... dallo stesso talent show proviene Noemi che, come Karima l'anno scorso, dimostra che, sebbene raramente, da questi programmi inguardabili può anche emergere una voce interessante: Per Tutta La Vita ha strofa e ritornello che sono una cucitura di due canzoni già sentite, ma lei sembra un incrocio tra Nada e Loredana Bertè, perciò merita attenzione, e infatti al momento domina la classifica dei singoli di iTunes.
Toto Cutugno e Nino D'Angelo sono parodie di loro stessi, e meritano la conferma della loro eliminazione, i Sonohra sono più giovani ma sono ancora peggio, anche di chi ha portato sul palco una Nilla Pizzi novantunenne in evidente difficoltà, mancandole completamente di rispetto.
Povia sfrutta, come al solito, argomenti delicati e porta un brano su Eluana Englaro che un cardinale definisce "inno all'eutanasia". In realtà non si può far meno di ammettere che la melodia è piacevole e il testo emozionante ma rispettoso, alla fine nessuno ha niente da ridire...
Simone Cristicchi sembra Caparezza con la sua canzoncina divertente e polemica, Fabrizio Moro sembra un cantante reggae, due brani piacevoli, ma in quest'edizione di Sanremo tra alti e bassi c'è di meglio: Irene Grandi richiama Bianconi dei Baustelle che, dopo la mega hit Bruci La Città, le scrive un'altra canzone che funziona, La Cometa Di Halley, e poi c'è un Enrico Ruggeri sorprendente: di solito mi dice poco, ma La Notte Delle Fate è una canzone ambiziosa e molto emozionante.
Irene Fornaciari ha imparato un paio di trucchi dal padre (ovviamente Zucchero) e li utilizza con la sua splendida voce per un'interpretazione sbalorditiva di una bella canzone, accompagnata dai Nomadi.
Questo è Sanremo, un carrozzone di cui si vorrebbe fare a meno, ma ciò significherebbe rinunciare a quella manciata di belle canzoni che puntualmente emergono nel marasma trash, e che nell'esecuzione con l'orchestra sono sempre impreziosite rispetto alla versione in studio.
Per ogni Pupo che si porta dietro un Savoia per uno squallido inno populista c'è una Fornaciari che incanta, per ogni Scanu che vince immeritatamente c'è una Malika Ayane vincitrice morale.

Udachi, brightest talent in ages

2010-02-03T00:31:00.009+01:00

We were getting used to music not being able to spark an exciting scene anymore.
With notable exceptions like Mew, rock music has become more and more derivative and predictable, but even dance music has been suffering from an abuse of samples and has sounded just safe in the recent years.
But now, from New York, comes a new scene kicking the ass of dance music and waking up music in general.
It just sounds as innovative as acid house, and as exciting as punk. It's dance music you can pogo at, it's just that powerful and fresh. They call it Fidget house, but it's being called many other names, like "dirty house", or "electro house". I prefer Fidget because it's just a new term which doesn't just mix two other terms.
At first it sounds like the DJs have been inspired by Mr Oizo and his 90s ad hit Flat Beat, you know, that video with Flat Eric, the yellow puppet in the office, but of course it's just more than that. Drawing from the fringes of rave, gabba, techno, hip hop, breakbeat, electro and dubstep, Fidget house looks forward and creates a new world of heavy bass, fast rhythm, sharp sounds and simple but not stupid tunes.
Apparently the first true hit came from Italian duo Crookers, when they remixed Kid Cudi's Day N Nite.
But the best label right now pushing the best Fidget is based in Brooklyn and it's called Party Like Us, which is owned by AC Slater, one of the best DJs of the scene.
But there's an artist really standing out, miles above everyone else. It's an Ukranian immigrant called Greg Pesochin, best known as Udachi.
Be it his own music, or remixes for other artists and bands (which are always far better than the original versions), he always makes innovative, powerful, funny, inventive and emotional stuff, the biggest genius to emerge in this century by far.
The best track to start with is his club hit Smoke Rings (released with Jubilee), which is the video I've embedded, because it's really accessible and exciting, since featuring dubstep elements and female vocals.
I've discovered this music thanks to Faulty Kru's DJ sets in my town and just noticed the best stuff they're playing is all made by Udachi.
There are other talents around the world, like the mighty Jokers Of The Scene from Canada or Rico Tubbs from Finland, but let's get back to Brooklyn and let's learn more about Udachi's story reading this interview.
He also has another project called Boltan, which does even heavier stuff, like Braindead.
Udachi has a profile on SoundCloud where you can download loads of free MP3 files, I especially recommend his remix for Body Part(y) by Paragraph or for the nu gaze hit We Own The Sky by M83 (there are just no barriers for a Fidget DJ), or his whole DJ set at the Infatuation in San Francisco.
Other great tracks you must hear are Paypur (again released with Jubilee and more purely Fidget than Smoke Rings) or his storming remix of Hype, joint effort by Dre Skull and JuiceBoxx.
After releasing on labels like Trouble And Bass (Jellyroll) and Nightshifters (Smoke Rings), Udachi has just released a single on Party Like Us, my favourite version of P-Funk Skank is the remix by French DJ Costello, who returns the favour to Udachi for his excellent remix of Bitchy Skills (don't click on the 123music.net link on the page, it's spam).
Some of Udachi's music is available on iTunes, but you find more tracks on the specialized Beatport.
Definitely a scene to rave about!

The Best Of 2009 (and Merry Christmas)

2009-12-25T16:52:00.003+01:00

01 BAD LIEUTENANT
Never Cry Another Tear

02 MASSIMO VOLUME
Bologna Nov. 2008

03 PREFAB SPROUT
Let's Change The World With Music

04 Marlene Kuntz - Best Of

05 Elio E Le Storie Tese - Gattini (deluxe edition)

06 Diaframma - Difficile Da Trovare

07 Pet Shop Boys - Yes

08 Section 25 - Nature + Degree

09 Mew - No More Stories Are Told Today

10 Egle Sommacal - Tanto Non Arriva

11 Morrissey - Years Of Refusal
12 Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe
13 Coldplay - LeftRightLeftRightLeft
14 Grand Duchy - Petit Fours
15 Mimes Of Wine - Apocalypse Sets In

This has been a pretty good year in music, well at least by the standards of the decade we're wrapping up, which has been frankly pretty useless. We must be happy that the artists from the 80s and 90s are still carrying on, those who have emerged in the 00s have been a pale comparison. Bands who would have deserved more have been underrated (see Gabrielles Wish), bands who deserve a bright future are still struggling to emerge (see Exit Calm).
New Order have split up, but we find three fourths of their latter line up in Bad Lieutenant. Hooky is missing in action, still trying to do something with his supergroup Freebass (formed with Rourke from The Smiths and Mani from Primal Scream), but the other three have recruited Jake Evans from Rambo And Leroy to form a band with three guitarist and release an excellent album of guitar pop which retains some of what we like about New Order but it's different enough to that legendary band to sound refreshing and escape embarassing comparisons.
Massimo Volume have released a live album from a triumphant concert of last year's comeback tour while we wait for the new studio recording, Paddy McAloon has resurrected the name of his band Prefab Sprout to release an amazing demo recorded in his kitchen in 1992. Marlene Kuntz and Elio E Le Storie Tese released two compilations, the first band addes some covers to their hits, the second re-recorded all their hits with an orchestra, and the result is obviously sublime.
Back to proper new studio albums, Diaframma have made their best album in ages, astonishingly inspired music and lyrics. The same can be said for Pet Shop Boys, nobody was expecting such a masterpiece like Yes. Section 25 followed Part Primitiv, their great comeback of two years ago, with another excellent album.
Mew confirmed themselves as the best new band of this decade with an eclectic and emotional release, if all the new bands were half as inventive as Mew, music would be a lot more interesting.
Massimo Volume guitarist Egle Sommacal made his wonderful second instrumental solo album, this time with an electric guitar and a brass band.
Morrissey and Depeche Mode have released two albums which are quite good, but only just, once again far from their former glories.
Coldplay's live album is pretty good too, especially since it's free.
When back home from rocking the world with the Pixies, Black Francis has formed Grand Duchy, a project with his wife, which sounds a bit like messing with indie for fun, but it's still fun for the listener as well...
Mimes Of Wine have left their mark on the same label of Egle Sommacal with an album of acoustic indie which sounds classic, emotional and disturbing at the same time.
Merry Christams and Happy 2010, hoping that new bands like Exit Calm will start a more exciting decade than this, which won't be remembered with much nostalgia...

Snow storm in Parma, 18 Dec 09

2009-12-23T04:44:00.003+01:00

Full gallery on Facebook (66 pics)

4AD sampler streaming here and for free download.

2009-12-22T07:34:00.005+01:00

This is a really interesting compilation, it's amazing given that British label 4AD went through the most of this decade almost unnoticed, pushing the wrong emerging bands (with the notable exception of Blonde Redhead) and getting mentioned only for the odd Pixies compilation.
If there's still some irritating stuff, like the kitch retro of Camera Obscura, the most of the bands (some Americans, some English) bring a refreshing sound and are worth investigating: Atlas Sound is the solo project of Deerhunter's Alex Cox, both play a unique take on psychedelic noise, Tune-Yards's fragmented mix of melody and rhythm sounds really original, M Ward's ethereal ballad seems inspired by Bowie's Low and Future Of The Left play an excellent revision of At The Drive In.
Best of the bunch are The Big Pink, which blend perfectly baggy and shoegazing, and St. Vincent which confirms Annie Clark as a genius as inventive as Bjork with an eclectic and emotional song.
The rest of the playlist is pretty average contemporary indie folk, or post folk, but discovering six interesting bands out of 12 is good enough.

Sunset mist

2009-11-30T00:14:00.000+01:00

Exit Calm - Always A Way (live)

2009-10-23T03:06:00.009+02:00

I've made this video for this astonishingly intense live performance of a truly emotional song.
Exit Calm are an English emerging band, all four members are extremely talented and I think this is the best showcase for their talent. They are the best band to emerge from England in this decade.
The first single, the wonderful Higher Learning, is sold out but you can still find the video here on YouTube, and you may want to check the video of the second single, the brilliant We're On Our Own, before purchasing it on iTunes.
Check http://www.exitcalm.net for links to their (really active and interesting) forum and their MySpace, which links itself to other MySpace profiles created by Spanish, American and Japanese fans, featuring many streaming tracks.

New Blogger editor

2009-10-17T17:28:00.008+02:00

Some might not be aware that Blogger has a new, much improved post editor which is not yet active by default.
Better link and image handling, vertical editor resizing and a button for expandable post summaries (no need to code anymore) are reasons good enough to switch to the new editor.
Enabling the new editor is easy, read An Overview Of The New Post Editor on the Blogger Guide to learn how to switch and all the new features, but after you have enabled it you must also read the article Creating 'After The Jump' Summaries because you have to adjust a couple of settings, as customizing the Read More link text, especially if you write in another language, and updating the code of your template once to make the summary feature work if you're using a customized third-party template or if you changed the code anyway.

Bad Lieutenant - Never Cry Another Tear

2009-10-14T23:47:00.007+02:00

The best way to purchase this album is to order the limited edition digipack CD with two bonus tracks from Townsend Records, and then download yet another bonus track from iTunes.
Bad Lieutenant are not, as it first seemed, New Order minus Hook, but Bernard Sumner with Phil Cunningham (who replaced Gillian Gilbert in New Order in this century) and Jake Evans from Rambo And Leroy.
Steve Morris appears on just a few tracks. He's even in the Sink Or Swim video, though the drums were apparently played by Jack Mitchell.

One may wonder why Johnny Marr hasn't been involved into the project, since his style is more present here than on many Electronic tracks. He has clearly returned on Bernard Sumner the influence he received from Bernard when he was a Joy Division fan.

One may also wonder why Jimi Goodwin from Doves hasn't been involved, given that Evans' vocals sound exactly like him.
We may wonder what we want, but after all Never Cry Another Tear remains a very good, almost excellent album, much above what we could expect from Bernard Sumner at his age (53).
There are some fantastic tunes and some wonderful guitars, whether they sound like Marr or not.

I've read very good reviews of the single Sink Or Swim, but I think it just repeats a very good idea a bit too long. Towards the end you've just had enough of the chorus.
There are far worse songs on the album, namely the closing Head Into Tomorrow, an extremely boring post-Britpop acoustic ballad, and maybe the only really ugly track of the album.
But there are far better songs too, the highlight for me is Running Out Of Luck which sounds like a great New Order song, at some point you could believe it's Hooky with his bass there in the middle, and not a guitar, the tune is really emotional and inspired, Bernard Sumner on top form again.
Walk On Silver Water (co-written by Blur's Alex James who also plays bass) sounds like Electronic at their best, pure melancholic beauty.
Summer Days is the most Smiths-ish song but you can't help enjoying it, it's just a good tune.
Poisonous Intent is the one sounding more like New Order, as coming from somewhere between Get Ready and Waiting For The Sirens' Call, it's fun with some really good keyboard and programming.

These are definitely the best tracks for me, but don't even think the others aren't good at least.
Twist Of Fate sounds like Krafty but there's a guitar which at times seem to come straight from Joy Division, This Is Home and These Changes are the songs the Doves have always tried to make, they're just huge and beautiful tunes.
Dynamo is a kind of over ambitious pastiche throwing The Beatles, The Who and New Order into a unholy affair, still it's not irritating at all, you just enjoy its strong energy and smile.
Talking about pastiche, Bad Lieutenant venture even into Age Of Consent 2, here titled Shine Like The Sun, well, the start at least just recalls that New Order classic, the rest veers towards the Doves again. And again you have to admit it's just a nice pop song though you wouldn't be supposed to like it because it's kinda uncool.
Runaway lets you hope Bad Lieutenant have made their own Everyday Is Like Sunday, the beginning is that epic, well it's not at the heighth of Morrissey's classic, but it's not way below either.

Now, the two bonus tracks: Falling Trees is nothing special, just a pleasant positive pop song, Split The Atom is far better, a really inspired verse leads to a radio-friendly chorus and some really good guitar, could have been a hit single.
How Long is not a cover of the Electronic track from Raise The Pressure, but yet another song with the same title and it's the iTunes-only track. It's basically Jimi Goodwin singing a wonderful Smiths song, it should be wrong and nasty, but it's beautiful.

Just like the whole album: hopelessly uncool, but honestly lovely, and ultimately better than most bands which have emerged in this void decade have been capable of doing.
It's like Bernard Sumner showing to the kids that if they really want to do music drawing heavy inspiration from the past, this is how it should be made, still inventive and emotional, at the risk of sounding ridiculous.

Bad Lieutenant's debut with two bonus tracks for pre-order. Streaming video and single

2009-09-28T20:49:00.006+02:00

The forthcoming debut album by Bad Lieutenant (the new band founded by former New Order leader Bernard Sumner), Never Cry Another Tear (released on the band's own Triple Echo label), is available for pre-order on Townsend Records in a variety of editions.
The limited edition digipack features two bonus tracks and when you order it you can immediately download Dynamo, the wonderful B side to the single Sink Or Swim, which is already available on iTunes in England.
Here we have the streaming video, single and B side:

YouTube - aneworderfan new channel design

2009-07-22T01:00:00.002+02:00

http://htxt.it/ZNop YouTube - aneworderfan I love the new channel design, much better user experience...

Bad Lieutenant on MySpace Music

2009-07-15T20:23:00.004+02:00

http://htxt.it/NqiE Bad Lieutenant on MySpace Music. It's the new project of Bernard Sumner from New Order! I love the logo! :)

From Joy Division to New Order to Bad Lieutenant

2009-06-15T23:41:00.005+02:00

Once again the remaining members of this band are carrying on with another name.
Just like when Ian Curtis killed himself Joy Division became New Order, now that Peter Hook has left New Order they're becoming Bad Lieutenant.

Here you can see an acoustic performance of one of their songs, the wonderful Sink Or Swim.
Bernard Sumner (now aged 53) and Steve Morris were against the split of New Order, but couldn't carry on with that name without founding member Peter Hook. They're keeping Phil Cunningham, who replaced Gillian Gilbert in New Order when she left for family commitments at the start of this decade.
Still, more like Electronic than New Order, they're bringing some guests. Alex James from Blur is playing bass and Jake Evans from Rambo And Leroy is an additional guitarist, as in the video above.
There will be live dates in the summer and an album is expected for release in October.
Check NewOrderOnline.com.
It's funny to note that while Peter Hook is working on Freebass, a supergroup with two other legendary bassists, Andy Rourke from The Smiths and Mani from The Stone Roses and Primal Scream, Bad Lieutenant will often feature three guitarists.
Here's some interesting news articles:
New Order members form new band – without Peter Hook (NME.com)
New Order and Blur members announce supergroup (The Guardian)
Joy Division stars form new band (BBC)
BERNARD SUMNER SEETHING WITH HOOK (ContactMusic.com)

Blumchen Cafe - Notturno

2009-05-26T18:05:00.003+02:00

Video mooolto artigianale creato per una delle canzoni più belle mai ascoltate a Parma e non solo... se volete saperne di più su questo gruppo cercate "Blumchen Cafe" su Facebook

New album by Section 25 coming on June 16th!

2009-05-25T02:46:00.006+02:00

The new album by legendary former Factory band Section 25 will be released on June 16th on LTM.
Titled Nature + Degree, it features the vocals of Beth Cassidy, which are as beautiful as her late mother Jennifer, who was also a member of the band.
While the excellent previous album Part Primitiv recalled the best of their post punk days, Nature + Degree seems to be more oriented to their electro period, but seems very well promising as well.
On this page on their official site you can hear a sample of Remembrance, taken from the forthcoming album, and preview the tracklist.
The artwork looks really beautiful as well, very Factory style.

Mick's Agenda (from Google Calendar)

2009-05-24T01:23:00.000+02:00

full calendar

Geocities closes, please move your site

2009-04-23T02:22:00.007+02:00

Surrounded by unbelievable silence and apathy, Geocities is being closed by Yahoo!
Geocities is not accepting new accounts anymore.
The true problem seems to be the sites will be deleted along with the accounts, throwing in a black hole a lot of obsolete but precious sites from the past.
Actually Geocities (which started as an indipindent company and was later purchased by Yahoo) was becoming obsolete and the most of the webmasters had already abandoned it, but until the first half of this decade it was the most popular free service to publish a site, especially in the pre-blog Web 1.0 age.
Many sites which have not been updated, but include knowledge you wouldn't like to completely disappear from the web, are still on Geocities. I'm mostly thinking to fan sites of underground bands, sometimes they are the only sites at all dedicated to some bands.
Sure, you can move your existing site, but the webmasters who haven't updated their sites in the last 5 years won't probably even care to move them to another host. If you're one of them, plase take some time to move your site, you might not care anymore about it, but someone else might do.
Some of you will remember that all my sites started on Geocities, the first being A New Order Fan, nine years ago, which is amazingly still getting visits. It gradually evolved into this blog, and I'm slowly importing older posts backwards (I'm doing the 2005 posts now) and will eventually get to the old site, which is still on my hard disk anyway.
The Gabrielles Wish official site also started on Geocities.
So it's just sad for me to see such an important place for me to disappear.

Apparently, Bravenet is still carrying on its free host service, which is preferred from webmasters uploading sites completely made by themselves through coding or computer software.
Also, many free services emerged giving you the ability to create and host a site with modern online publishing tools, such as Google Sites, Weebly and Jimdo. You can't completely customize the sites and you can't import traditional HTML pages (though you can insert HTML as a page element), but there are many layout options.
Finally, Blogger and Wordpress have evolved so much you can almost organize a blog as a site, with more archiving power than a traditional site.
When social networks were yet to emerge in the pre-MySpace age, pages on Geocities were also the most popular tool for people to do a personal page about their interests, thanks to a page wizard and an online visual editor, today both looking really obsolete when compared to what people is doing on Facebook and MySpace, though on the other side people can also be content with posting short messages on an even simpler service like Twitter.

Terremoto Abruzzo: Donazioni facili e veloci alla Croce Rossa con PostePay, SMS e telefonate

2009-04-06T20:07:00.008+02:00

http://www.cri.it/donazioni/

1 Clicca "Dona on line"
2 Scegli tramite il menu a tendina "Sisma Abruzzo - Aprile 2009"
3 Compila tutto il resto, metti il segno di spunta su "Accetto" e clicca "Invia"
4 Compila i dati relativi alla tua carta (va bene anche PostePay)
Se vuoi puoi stampare la ricevuta, se non sbaglio è deducibile.

Donate quel che potete, ma vi ricordo che un album su iTunes costa 10 Euro.... un aiuto all'Aquila in ginocchio vale almeno come un album su iTunes, vero?

Aggiornamento: è stato attivato il numero 48580
E' possibile inviare SMS dai cellulari di tutti i gestori per donare 1 Euro.
E' possibile inoltre, dalle ore 09.00 del 7 aprile, chiamare dai telefoni fissi di Telecom Italia e donare 2 Euro.

Domani sera Emidio Clementi al Bartleby occupato di Bologna

2009-03-26T20:56:00.007+01:00

Ieri mattina il movimento studentesco dell'Onda ha occupato uno stabile in disuso dell'Università. Lo spazio occupato si chiama Bartleby e domani sera ospiterà un reading di Emidio Clementi dei Massimo Volume per presentare Matilde E I Suoi Tre Padri, con Stefano Pilia alla chitarra.
Ecco il nuovo calendario completo:

27 marzo, venerdì: EMIDIO CLEMENTI
Bologna: Bartleby
Via Capo Di Lucca 30

30 marzo, lunedì: EMIDIO CLEMENTI
Milano: B Art
Alzaia Naviglio Grande 54 - Tel: 02 45474640

31 marzo, martedì: EMIDIO CLEMENTI
Bologna: Otto Gallery
Via D'Azeglio 55 - Tel: 051 6449845 - E Mail: info@otto-gallery.it

04 aprile, sabato: EMIDIO CLEMENTI
San Benedetto Del Tronto (Ascoli Piceno): Auditorium Comunale
Viale De Gasperi 124

08 aprile, mercoledì, ore 21.00: EMIDIO CLEMENTI
Stranger Music, Tributo a Leonard Cohen
Carpi (Modena): Auditorium San Rocco
Via San Rocco 1 - Tel: 059 649271 - E Mail: spaziog@carpidiem.it

17 aprile, venerdì, ore 21.30: GLI AGNELLI CLEMENTI
Settimo Torinese (Torino): La Suoneria (La Casa Della Musica)
Via Partigiani 4 - Tel: 011 8028451 - E Mail: info@suoneriasettimo.it

19 aprile, domenica: EGLE SOMMACAL
Bologna: circolo ARCI Locomotiv
Via Sebastiano Serlio 25/2 - E Mail: info@locomotivclub.it

22 aprile, mecoledì: EMIDIO CLEMENTI
Rimini: Libreria Indipendentemente Interno 4
Via Di Duccio 26 - Tel: 0541 784948 - E Mail: indipendentemente@interno4.com

24 aprile, venerdì: MASSIMO VOLUME
Sonorizzazione de 'La Caduta Della Casa Degli Usher'
Cavriago (Reggio Emilia): circolo ARCI Calamita
Via Guardanavona 11 - Tel: 3381222640 - E Mail: info@calamita.net

16 maggio, sabato: MASSIMO VOLUME
Lugano (Svizzera): Living Room
Via Trevano 89/a - Tel: 0041 091 970 15 17 - E Mail: info@livingroomclub.ch

12 giugno (june), venerdì: MASSIMO VOLUME
Luxembourg (Luxembourg): D:qliq
17, Rue du St Esprit - Tel: +352 26 73 62 - E Mail: info@dqliq.com

How to make an avatar like mine

2009-03-16T20:00:00.006+01:00

Many people are asking me how I have created my Facebook avatar.
Many other people already found out. This kind of avatar is getting pretty popular.
The site is Face Your Manga, it's really easy and fast, it has some pretty effective options that will allow you to create an avatar which looks quite similar to you, I think it's the best site of this kind.

Sanremo 2009

2009-02-25T22:55:00.007+01:00

Diversamente dal solito, quest'anno la categoria delle Proposte ci ha presentato cantanti degni di un certo interesse: la vincitrice Arisa sembra la Marchesini "cecata" (quando è scesa dalle scale la prima volta pensavo che fosse una comica) ma la sua canzoncina a metà tra lo swing e il country funziona alla grande (di questi tempi in America sarebbe una vera hit) e c'è davvero poco da ridire sulla sua interpretazione vocale. Anche il look e il modo di porsi mi sembrano più intenzionali per creare un personaggio originale che non autenticamente naif.
Anche Simona Molinari canta con la sua bella voce limpida un brano piacevole (di cui è pure autrice), fortemente influenzato da jazz e swing, il duetto con Ornella Vanoni è stato uno dei migliori...

Un'altra bella voce è quella di Irene, figlia di Zucchero. Spiove Il Sole non era la canzone più bella, ma il talento paterno l'ha ereditato e merita di emergere.
Karima Ammar proviene da Amici di Maria De Filippi (per pura coincidenza co-presentatrice della serata finale). Un programma atroce. Eppure si vede che qualcosa, a quei ragazzini, glie lo insegnano, o forse è semplicemente lei che ha una voce splendida. Come In Ogni Ora è una bella canzone soul (prodotta nientemeno che da Burt Bacharach e cantata anche con Mario Biondi), e la sua interpretazione fa impallidire star celebri a livello planetario.
Eppure c'è stata una voce ancora più emozionante, quella di Iskra (nella foto), 62 anni (per lei le Proposte non si chiamano più Giovani... forse era meglio metterla direttamente nei Big). Vocalist di Lucio Dalla da una vita, componente della prima ora degli Stadio, ha una sua scuola di canto e se la si cerca su YouTube la si vede impartire lezioni, guarda caso, ad Amici. E' difficile comprendere come artisti così interessanti siano in qualche modo collegati a quel fenomeno trash, comunque la sua performance ricorda la miglior Mina; Quasi Amore è, inoltre, forse la canzone più bella di Dalla degli ultimi 20 anni.
L'unico maschio delle Proposte, Filippo Perbellini, è un clone di Riccardo Cocciante, che si esibisce in un patetico duetto con lui. E' un po' come vedere Teocoli con Celentano, ma l'effetto tragicomico è ben diverso. Delle altre cantanti non conservo, sinceramente, memoria.
Passando ai Big dobbiamo registrare un livello qualitativo molto più debole rispetto agli ultimi anni.
Nelle edizioni più recenti mi avevano bene impressionato le esibizioni dei Velvet e di Mario Venuti, erano emersi successi meritati come quello di Max Gazzè... stavolta tutte le speranze erano affidate agli Afterhours (chiamati direttamente da Bonolis, che è loro fan), alfieri del rock alternativo, e loro ci tengono talmente tanto che, dopo aver lanciato il loro ultimo album con singoli estremamente commerciali, portano a Sanremo la loro canzone più difficile degli ultimi 10 anni. Bella melodia, magnifico arrangiamento, ma eliminazione scontata. Avrei da ridire sul testo, un po' qualunquista. Tipo smetti di lamentarti, rimboccati le maniche, ma non si dice per fare cosa.
Tematica pericolosamente simile a quella di Marco Masini, riesumato per l'ennesima volta.
Bonolis ci tiene alla varietà, e allora ecco rappresentato anche l'hip hop coi Gemelli Diversi... peccato che sia quello più tamarro...
Tricarico non riesce a ripetere l'exploit di Vita Tranquilla. Jovanotti e Stefano Di Battista cercano di alleggerire il personaggio di Nicky Nicolai con una canzone facile, in stile Dirotta Su Cuba, ma il finale del ritornello venato di samba la fa arrivare in fondo col fiatone.
Roberto Benigni rende comprensibile anche ai più bacchettoni cosa sia l'amore omosessuale leggendo il De Profundis di Oscar Wilde e diverte prendendo in giro, giustamente, Iva Zanicchi che a 70 anni vuole sesso senza amore.
Un'eliminazione immeritata è invece quella di Dolcenera, niente di speciale ma era sicuramente più piacevole, per esempio, di Fausto Leali con la sua patetica canzonetta che ricalca tutti gli stereotipi melodici sanremesi degli anni 80, sembra scritta da Cutugno....
Eppure al peggio non c'è limite, come ci dimostra il trio Pupo, Paolo Belli e Youssou N'Dour. Buonismo sempliciotto che non è di nessun aiuto alla causa dell'integrazione e melodia che fa somigliare Leali agli Afterhours.
E che dire di Sal Da Vinci, che è più Gigi D'Alessio di Gigi D'Alessio e canta una canzone di Gigi D'Alessio in coppia con Gigi D'Alessio? Rende quasi sopportabile Perbellini.
Ogni tanto Mario Lavezzi decide di salire sul palco, stavolta lo fa con Alexia per una canzone piuttosto piacevole, anche se lui è meglio che torni a scrivere e basta...
Francesco Renga tenta di ripetere il colpaccio di Angelo, ma Uomo Senza Età sembra più una canzone di Al Bano e nel ritornello copia troppo vistosamente Nessun Dorma di Puccini, che avevamo già riascoltato nella sigla di Mina.
A proposito di Al Bano, sarebbe bello poter ascoltare L'Amore E' Sempre Amore interpretata da qualcun'altro, perchè il modo in cui la canta è, come sempre, orribilmente patetico, ma la canzone (di Morra e Fabrizio) è sorprendentemente bella, soprattutto la melodia del ritornello che riprende Puccini in modo ben più originale e lo miscela con Morricone.
Patty Pravo è ormai lontana dalle ambizioni d'avanguardia di canzoni come Pigramente Signora o I Giorni Dell'Armonia, il brano di quest'anno è piuttosto scialbo, così come l'interpretazione.
Ci si lamenta che a Sanremo le canzoni parlano sempre degli stessi argomenti con lo stesso linguaggio, e poi si protesta se Povia porta una canzone che affronta un tema davvero originale in modo personale, peraltro con una melodia più che decente. Intravedo i pericoli di cui parlano le associazioni omosessuali, cioè che il testo di Luca Era Gay venga strumentalizzato per dire che l'omosessualità è una deviazione da cui dover guarire. E' un pericolo grave e per questo Povia avrebbe dovuto rivedere alcuni aspetti del testo, a cominciare dal titolo, che poteva essere, magari, Luca Pensava Di Essere Gay. Essenzialmente la storia racconta di un caso particolare da cui non devono discendere generalizzazioni. Le attenzioni ossessive della madre e il rapporto pessimo col padre spingono Luca all'omosessualità, ma poi conosce una ragazza e se la sposa... a mio parere questo non significa neppure che in realtà Luca è semplicemente eterosessuale, probabilmente è bisessuale... nel finale della canzone Povia sottolinea che si tratta solo della sua storia e che non sta parlando di nessuna malattia o guarigione, e del resto nessuno con un minimo di intelligenza pensa che gli omossesuali debbano provenire da famiglie travagliate o possano cambiare orientamento conoscendo la ragazza giusta. E' una canzone controversa, soprattutto per gli effetti polemici, ma almeno siamo lontani dal Povia edulcorato che conoscevamo e si può apprezzare, al di là degli errori che può aver commesso nel testo e nel titolo, l'intenzione di parlare di un aspetto così delicato del suo passato.
Il fatto che se avesse vinto le polemiche si sarebbero ingigantite è un motivo di sollievo (oltre che perchè l'altro sul podio è Da Vinci) per la vittoria di Marco Carta, che canta benino una canzoncina non troppo brutta, solo che in questo caso la provenienza da Amici comincia a farsi irritante per il suo modo di porsi da bravo ragazzo in pieno stile boy band.
La canzone che rimarrà nella memoria nazionalpopolare sarà, comunque, Sincerità di Arisa, già divenuta, non a torto, tormentone radiofonico fischiettato per strada...

Gabrielles Wish in Rome with us, 23 Jan 2009

2009-02-09T00:55:00.008+01:00

I have time only now to write about the magic weekend my girlfriend and I had in Rome.
We met some Roman friends and then went to the Big Bang club in Rome where Gabrielles Wish were about to play, followed by The Vikings, a legendary gang of New Order fans.
The concert was fantastic and the audience really enjoyed it, even asking an encore for 15 minutes after the end of the set.
The day after has also been a day to remember, we had a nice lunch with the band and then guided them to visit the most important places of Rome.
In the pic here on the right you can see me (second from left) with the band (guitarist Bunny, bassist Daz, singer Rob, keyboardist Karen and drummer Bo) in front of the Italian Parliament.
There's a gallery on Facebook of our weekend.
Some of those pics have been added also to a gallery I've built on the Gabrielles Wish official site together with other photos taken by fans.

Snowy Parma

2009-01-07T13:58:00.006+01:00

Check the full 58 photos gallery on Photobucket

Records Of The Years (2001-2008): Finetune playlist

2008-12-29T02:55:00.007+01:00

I've listed only tracks from artists and albums which have appeared in my traditional chart at the end of the year, taking tracks from previous albums when the latest ones weren't available, and then did the autocomplete. Finetune added 23 tracks to those I've chosen.
Unfortunately many important bands, like A Certain Ratio, not to mention all the Italian artists, weren't available at all.
Artists featured in this playlist, which plays random:
Bjork
Coldplay
Depeche Mode and Dave Gahan
Steely Dan and Donald Fagen
Doves
Pixies, Black Francis (AKA Frank Black) and The Breeders
Happy Mondays
Interpol
Joy Division and New Order
Mew
Morrissey
Pet Shop Boys
Prefab Sprout
Radiohead
Blue Nile
Charlatans
Durutti Column
More details here

Mick on Blip.fm

2008-12-26T00:38:00.003+01:00

Blip.fm is a simple place where I can choose a track between the many that can be streamed from the web and add a short post completely similar to Twitter.
The difference to Jango and FineTune is much less complexity (no playlists, no genre stations), but a comment for a track, so I'm gonna use it to make you discover a song or an artist with a short intro.
There's also a widget here on the sidebar where you can directly view and hear my latest five posts.
There are other places on the web where you can search for streaming tracks: Songza is useful for embedding a track into a proper blog post, but Blip.fm lets you keep a simple chronology of streaming tracks with comments. Seeqpod is much more complete than all of these and is good for searching also other stuff like videos and webpages, but you can't embed the found content.

The Best Of 2008 (and Merry Christmas)

2008-12-25T02:38:00.009+01:00

01 NEW ORDER
Movement (Collector's Edition)

02 JOY DIVISION - The Best Of Joy Division

03 GABRIELLES WISH - Live

04 ELIO E LE STORIE TESE - Studentessi

05 A CERTAIN RATIO - Mind Made Up

06 GLI ANTONIO BENASSI - Parma Parallela

07 SECTION 25 - Are XXX

08 SKARNEMURTA - Dirty Swing: L'Aperitivo

09 BLAKE/E/E/E - Border Radio

10 THE BREEDERS - Mountain Battles
11 OFFLAGA DISCO PAX - Bachelite
12 VARIOUS ARTISTS - Il Dono
13 KALEVALA - Promo 2008
14 STEFANO PILIA - Action Silence Prayers
15 THE CHARLATANS - You Cross My Path

The best of 2007 saw New Order at number 1 and Joy Division at number 2. The best of 2008 is no different, those dear old bastards have made their way to the top once again with yet another useless, but ultimately precious reissue/best of. While Joy Division's collectors editions added concert recordings, New Order's add all the non-album singles and b-sides. Movement is of particular interest for those who haven't been avid completists so far because it finally rediscovers a gem which has remained hidden in their discography. The real Mesh (the track which has been titled Mesh until 2002 was actually a mis-labelled Cries And Whispers) which had appeared on CD so far only on the 1981-82 US compilation. One of their best songs ever. And there are all those versions of Ceremony, Temptation etc. you might have missed until now. Now you have no excuse. Yet another best of Joy Division, but better compiled than Permanent, and hey, it's been 13 years since that compilation, so they have an excuse for this release, after all.
Gabrielles Wish brought us their first Live album since Live And Bobbins, and hey, it's been 11 years, so they have an excuse for this release, after all.
Elio E Le Storie Tese came back after five years and it was well worth the wait. Yet another masterpiece from this Italian band making unique sophisticated pop matched by funny but extremely intelligent lyrics. An unlikely clash between Steely Dan and Monty Python if you wish, but it works, it really does.
A much needed comeback comes from A Certain Ratio, we had to wait 11 years for this great album which rediscovers Factory sounds lost ages ago and includes songs like Starlight, one of their best ever.
Antonio Benassi is a legend in Parma, leader of underground veterans Le Borchie, he has been around for decades and finally releases his first proper album with a great band carrying his name. Sort of local Elio E Le Storie Tese, slightly more trad rock oriented but also slightly funnier. The title track is already an anthem in the town.
Section 25 came back last year, and this year have celebrated their 30 years with a compilation of Peel sessions and demos available for free download for a limited time. Nice to have another Factory band in the Top 10.
Skarnemurta released a wonderful EP heading the fans to their new direction, evolving their trademark sound to a Dirty Swing. Listen and get what it means.
I think I'll remember 2008 as the year I saw Massimo Volume coming back, six years after their split, with a hugely successful tour. We can hope for a new album next year, meanwhile last year we had the debut album by guitarist Egle Sommacal and a welcome CD reissue of his first band, Detriti. This year we have the debut of the band of former guitarist Marcella Riccardi, Blake/e/e/e. If you think the name is weird, wait for the music, which is also really inventive and emotional. What? A debut album in my chart! I know the artist has been around for ages, but at least this band has made a debut and it's fresh music, so let's get content with this.
It's unlikely we can wait for a new album by the Pixies, but at least we've had the welcome comeback of The Breeders with a small gem of rough and psychedelic post-country.
People had high expectations for Offlaga Disco Pax after their acclaimed debut. It was impossible for the follow-up to match it, but it's still a great album.
Il Dono is a tribute to Diaframma made by some other important bands of the Italian alternative scene like Marlene Kuntz and Santo Niente, but also promising emerging bands like Magnolia and Oshinoko Bunker Orchestra.
Kalevala have warmed up their ever growing audience for their next album with an excellent EP of great celtic folk metal. I know it doesn't sound really credible, after all the crap released under that tag by other bands, but Kalevala are different, they are really talented and make you believe that great music can be done that way as well.
Speaking of talent, Stefano Pilia is the new second guitarist of Massimo Volume, he is a precious addition to their sound and has a solo career as well releasing guitar ambient soundscapes.
The Charlatans have released one of their best albums, if not their best at all (less retro, more groovy)... for free!
Finally a mention for a band which would have definitely made the Top 5 in 2007 if I hadn't discovered them only this year. We haven't heard shoegazing as good as Airiel's since the glorious days of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Swervedriver at Creation. Less ethereal than their British influences, and with a stronger rhythm section, but still extremely emotional, this band from Chicago floods an ocean of sound in your ears. And you want more and more. Many bands try do something like this, but get nowhere near.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009, time is short to save this decade from being the worst ever since rock'n'roll was invented, let's hope more new bands will do some effort, and that we'll be able to discover them in time... let's keep an ear for those youngsters struggling on MySpace... suggestions by streaming music sites like Last.FM might be useful as well... that's how I discovered Airiel...

Mick on Facebook

2008-12-03T19:37:00.006+01:00

I've always had doubts about joining Facebook.
I don't like that you have, unlike MySpace, to join before seeing profiles.
I don't like that if you don't know already one member at least, you can't know anyone else.
I've been on the web since the mid-nineties, and I've always liked how it's open and interactive, I don't like anything putting barriers between contents or people.
This said, since everyone is already there, I just had to try.
And you know what, once inside, I really like it.
I like how it integrates everything on the wall, all the things you write and do everywhere can be reached from the profile. And you can reply to everything as well. It's like the perfect hybrid between a microblog, a chat and a forum, and there are groups for every possible interest which can make you meet other like-minded people.
The paradox is Facebook puts barriers to the outside world, but once you're in, it's all open and interactive. So it's cool after all, you just have to do the effort to join.
You certainly know one person on Facebook.
It's of no use to resist, you will be caught!
My profile

Grandmaster Flash - The Message (free streaming on Jango)

Driving at sunset

2008-11-05T23:35:00.003+01:00

West

East

Jango: streaming favourite genres

2008-10-16T09:07:00.008+02:00

On the side bar of this blog you can now find a player with streaming music based on my profile on Jango.
If you move the mouse over the images you can directly choose the artist.
On my profile you'll find more stations based on artists, for example the Factory radio. More will be added.
Each artist has a page, for example check the New Order page. You can directly choose the track, view videos and pictures, find about influences and followers, check biography and discography.
You can find other users fans of the same artist and leave comments both on artists and users pages.
Basically, Jango does not offer playlists like FineTune, but lets you directly choose artists and even tracks, and starting from your choices makes you hear and discover similar artists, with social networking features similar to MySpace.
The options for each track are truly amazing: you can rate it, view the lyrics, share the link to the track and buy the download on iTunes or Amazon.

Jo Squillo - Roulette

2008-09-30T19:51:00.006+02:00

Ho visto questa "esibizione" (in playback, ma con una certa grazia) la sera stessa che fu trasmesso quel programma, nel 1984. Non ricordavo il titolo del programma, ovviamente. Guardando il video si evince che si chiamava "Sotto Le Stelle", ricordo che era un varietà estivo, perchè l'avevo visto sul vecchio televisore in bianco e nero nella casa di campagna dei miei nonni.
Ricordavo invece la canzone... per poco meno di 25 anni ho ricordato questa canzone...
Nel 1984 avevo 11 anni e sino ad allora il mio rapporto con i media si limitava grosso modo ai cartoni animati. Quella sera d'estate Roulette ha avuto un grosso impatto su di me. Mi era piaciuta, e parecchio, era qualcosa di nuovo per me, apprezzare la musica degli adulti...
I miei amici erano tutti paninari, e così si ascoltava la musica di quel momento: i Duran Duran, ovviamente, ma andavano matti anche per la colonna sonora di Ghostbusters. Loro, io no... a me invece era piaciuta questa canzone strana, commerciale ma raffinata...
Poi ho pensato ad altro, un paio d'anni dopo ho scoperto gli Smiths e tutto è cambiato.
Ho visto anche Jo Squillo sgambettare sul palco di Sanremo insieme a Sabrina Salerno, cantando Siamo Donn e... tutt'altra roba rispetto a Roulette, che continuavo a ricordare, anche quando ho comprato i CD dei Pixies e dei My Bloody Valentine.
Ho sempre ricordato questa sorta di canzone numero uno, che probabilmente, inconsciamente, ha influenzato i miei gusti musicali. E' un brano commerciale, basato su un arrangiamento sostanzialmente elettronico, deve avere contribuito a farmi apprezzare i New Order e i Pet Shop Boys dopo un iniziale periodo di rifiuto in cui aderivo ad una specie di stupida ortodossia rock che andava tanto di moda tra i cosiddetti alternativi.
Invece trovo questo brano fortemente alternativo oggi, è qualcosa di completamente estraneo alle logiche commerciali contemporanee o alle tendenze delle scene alternative. Un brandello di storia obliqua, una testimonianza di un momento ben preciso che oggi suona più valida che mai.
Grazie ad internet ho scoperto chi è davvero Jo Squillo.
Componente, a 17 anni, dell'avanguardia punk milanese con le Kandeggina Gang, è riuscita ad emergere solista con un personaggio che somigliava abbastanza alla prima Siouxsie (confrontare Skizzo Skizzo con Carcass).
Nello stesso periodo, a Torino, i Righeira stampavano le prime fanzine punk.
Quasi in parallelo questi artisti si avvicinano gradualmente al pop elettronico, ma senza rinnegare le origini e portando sempre un'indole anticonformista e strumentazioni innovative, che facevano tendenza piuttosto che seguirla.
Artisti come questi, considerati con faciloneria come trash, magari solo perchè semplificavano l'approccio ai testi o alla melodia, vanno completamente rivalutati.
Il problema con Jo Squillo è che in effetti poi si è davvero orientata al trash, anche se non è mai stata un'adesione ingenua, ma mediata, all'universo delle showgirl.
Anche oggi, quando si esibisce, non manca di completare il set con brani del periodo punk scatenando il pogo, anzi, si può dire che il suo pubblico va ai suoi show più per i brani punk che per le hit trash.
In Paranoia, Violentami, e Avventurieri possiamo individuare i brani salienti di un percorso di transizione dal punk all'elettronica che merita non meno rispetto di quello dei Gaznevada. Prima di abbandonare ogni velleità artistica, Jo Squillo pubblica Roulette, questo singolo incredibile, accompagnata dai Kaos del marito Gianni Muciaccia, anche loro ex punk.
Considero tuttora Roulette una bellissima canzone, splendida melodia, ottimo arrangiamento.
Se pensate alla musica commerciale che vedete oggi in TV, soprattutto nei programmi delle reti generaliste, sono sicuro che percepirete immediatamente la differenza qualitativa.

New Order - Everything's Gone Green, live in Brussels 1981

2008-09-01T03:16:00.011+02:00

Testing the blog post feature on YouTube.
What better video to post than my all-time favourite moment in music history?
New Order live at L'Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, 1981, back when this track was virtually being composed onstage and it was still a delirious trip fuelled by a merciless sequencer.
The band couldn't care less about the quality of the performance and this is what allows an improvisation with such a strong impact.
Bernard Sumner's on top form, check him screaming he loves Jesus, barking and banging his head with the mic.
Untouchable, nothing in the world before or after this has ever reached this level.
Available on the LTM DVD Umbrellas In The Sun.

MASSIMO VOLUME - Traffic Festival 2008, Torino

2008-07-27T23:56:00.006+02:00

Ho il tempo solo ora, a distanza di più di due settimane, di scrivere qui sul blog di questa meravigliosa esperienza, una di quelle esperienze musicali che ritengo fondamentali nella mia vita, come quando ho visto per la prima volta i New Order a Manchester, 10 anni fa, o i Pixies ad Imola... del resto i Massimo Volume stanno proprio lì, tra i primi tre, e per quanto mi riguarda sono paragonabili solo a questi due, tutti gli altri stanno sotto, e di parecchio...
Quello che mi stupisce maggiormente, accingendomi a scriverne, è che non si tratta neppure del concerto più bello in assoluto dei Massimo Volume, né del più emozionante.
Il più bello, insuperabile, fu un concerto intensissimo al Maffia di Reggio Emilia, durante il tour di Da Qui. La band all'apice, Emidio 'Mimì' Clementi quasi in stato di trance, il pubblico in estasi... in quel momento capii che stavo vedendo la cosa più simile all'intensità di un concerto dei Joy Division che abbiamo mai avuto in Italia. Al termine i fans e i componenti del gruppo erano perfettamente consapevoli che si era raggiunto un livello eccezionale...
Il più emozionante, pochi mesi prima, al Link di Bologna, Capodanno 1996-97, anteprima di Da Qui, mentre fuori nevicava ghiaccio, quel ghiaccio che forma sul cappotto una crosta alta due centimetri...
Eppure vi garantisco che al Traffic ci siamo andati vicino, davvero molto vicino, e questo vi dà un'idea di cosa è stato capace di comunicare questo gruppo oggi, così come nel decennio scorso. L'emozione, ovviamente, era davvero tanta. Dopo sei anni di scioglimento una reunion in cui nessuno ormai osava più sperare. Mixo li introduce come una leggenda ed ha ragione. Chi ha visto i Massimo Volume 10 anni fa non li ha dimenticati, e sa che nessuno è mai stato come loro, né prima né dopo. Poter rivivere un loro concerto era già un'emozione straordinaria, comunque fosse andata, anche se avessero suonato malissimo e Mimì si fosse dimenticato le parole, saremmo stati felici comunque, perchè un concerto balordo dei Massimo Volume sarà sempre più emozionante del miglior concerto di chiunque altro.
E invece i nostri eroi si sono preparati, eccome. Intanto si sono trovati anche per comporre musica nuova (e bellissima, se per caso ci fossero dubbi, vedasi questo video), eseguita tre serate prima come rimusicazione dal vivo de La Caduta Della Casa Degli Usher, classico del cinema muto di Epstein e Bunuel, tratto da racconti di Poe.
Non solo revival, quindi. Ed anche quello è stato preparato bene, comunque. Non c'è Metello, ma Stefano Pilia, altro talentuosissimo chitarrista amico di Egle Sommacal, non lo fa rimpiangere (anzi, impreziosice alcuni brani con un'interpretazione discreta ma personale). Il che è di per sé un bel complimento, come chiunque abbia visto Metello può testimoniare.
L'esecuzione dei classici è stupefacente. A parte un paio di errori perdonabilissimi, è chiaro subito sin dal primo brano, Atto Definitivo, che la performance è degna dei giorni migliori: Vittoria Burattini straordinaria come sempre, con la sua batteria suonata con la stessa creatività che si userebbe per uno strumento. Egle soprannaturale, forse il tempo ha addirittura contribuito ad affinare ulteriormente la sua tecnica e la sua sensibilità già sopraffine. L'interpretazione di Clementi è da brividi, la recitazione è al miglior livello di sempre, ed ha un nuovo modo di sottolineare le frasi-chiave (per esempio 'è nella pioggia oggi il vostro grido' ne Il Primo Dio), i momenti salienti di un testo, che rendono il tutto ancora più intenso.
Il pubblico è molto più numeroso di quanto ci si potesse aspettare, almeno 3000 persone sono davanti al palco solo per i Massimo Volume. Stupisce anche la fitta presenza di giovani e giovanissimi, ragazzi che 10 anni fa forse non facevano neppure le medie. A loro i Massimo Volume, in un qualche modo, sono arrivati... senza promozione, senza media, è bastata la leggenda. Molti sanno i testi a memoria. La reazione del pubblico è di autentico entusiasmo, applausi a scena aperta e ovazioni al termine di ogni brano rendono visibilmente emozionati e felici i Massimo Volume.
A una travolgente Seychelles 81 segue La Città Morta, da come l'accoglie il pubblico si capisce che è uno di quei brani che più sono rimasti nel cuore. Poi Mimì dedica un'intensissima Fuoco Fatuo alla figlia Nina, di pochi mesi.
Ronald, Tomas E Io, unica incursione nell'album di debutto, Stanze, è così devastante da scatenare le nuvole che sino ad allora avevano concesso una tregua dopo il temporale di un paio d'ore prima... non basta il più quieto finale di Manhattan Di Notte (armonici di Egle da brividi) a calmare il diluvio, che si scatena durante un comunque piacevole concerto di Patti Smith, per poi smettere poco prima di un ottimo live degli Afterhours.
Siccome sul web non era rimasto praticamente nulla, ho iniziato un sito amatoriale senza pretese sui Massimo Volume, che ora ha la fortuna di poter contare sugli aggiornamenti di Mimì. Su quel sito potete leggere le notizie sul prossimo concerto, il 10 agosto ad Urbino, da non perdere, soprattutto se vi siete persi Torino, e trovare presto link a gallerie fotografiche del Traffic.
Per ora ringrazio Noodles per la foto che accompagna questo post (unico cruccio: le mie sono venute davvero male, fortunatamente a qualcuno, così gentile da condividerle, sono venute decisamente meglio).
In questo video potete vedere alcuni spezzoni del concerto. In questo post ho cercato di parlare dei momenti più significativi, ma è davvero difficile, tutti i brani hanno suscitato una grandissima emozione.
Questa è la scaletta completa:

Atto Definitivo

Il Primo Dio

La Notte Dell' 11 Ottobre

Seychelles 81

La Città Morta

Fuoco Fauto

Dopo Che

Qualcosa Sulla Vita

Ronald Tomas E Io

Manhattan Di Notte

Telegiornali Online

2008-06-30T23:37:00.001+02:00

Questo è un widget permanente che potrete ritrovare nella side bar.

Televisione Online

2008-06-29T07:04:00.003+02:00

Questo è un widget permanente che potrete ritrovare nella side bar.

Wu Ming 2 - Pontiac

2008-06-22T17:54:00.008+02:00

Quest'opera viene modestamente presentata come un audiolibro che narra una vicenda parallela a quella di Manituana, il nuovo romanzo del collettivo narrativo Wu Ming.
I componenti del collettivo si sono numerati, e così quando questo artista pubblica da solista si chiama Wu Ming 2.
E'vero, Pontiac, è pure un libro, con le illustrazioni di Giuseppe Camuncoli e Stefano Landini.
Ma per quanto riguarda le tracce audio, ci troviamo di fronte a splendide composizioni complete, di impatto pari a quello del testo, non solo ad un accompagnamento di sottofondo come potrebbe essere quello di un audiolibro. Si tratta invece di qualcosa di più simile ad un concept album dei Massimo Volume basato su un romanzo, anche a livello qualitativo.
Il che non è affatto casuale, considerato che alla chitarra, in tutti i brani, c'è anche Egle Sommacal, che aveva già suonato nei reading di Guerra Agli Umani (di cui si possono scaricare gratis alcune tracce).
Il gruppo che accompagna Wu Ming 2 è composto anche dall'amico Stefano Pilia e da due componenti dei Settlefish. Musicisti di questo spessore hanno profuso un impegno tale in queste composizioni che il risultato è un album musicale vero e proprio.
Le atmosfere western, in un'opera che parla della ribellione agli inglesi di una parte della lega irochese dei nativi d'america, sono inevitabili, ma ben calibrate e il tutto non si esaurisce in una rievocazione dello scenario in stile colonna sonora.
Nanabush, che apre l'album, rivela subito sonorità contemporanee ed emozioni di intensità sbalorditiva.
In Parola Di Dio, poi, siamo davvero al livello dei migliori Massimo Volume e Tre Volte Pace ha un'atmosfera di grande suggestione, meraviglioso il finale Cosa Siamo.
Anche il testo risulta di efficacia immediata e di notevole impatto emotivo, il connubio con una musica così bella ci offre un album che non va assolutamente sottovalutato, senz'altro tra i migliori degli ultimi anni.
Pontiac si può scaricare secondo varie modalità: facendo un'offerta libera, pagando un prezzo chiesto da Wu Ming 2 (5 Euro, davvero poco), ma anche gratis e poi si può anche tornare sulla pagina, dopo il download, per spedire una meritatissima offerta, tramite PayPal.

A New Order Fan on Twitter

2008-06-19T02:15:00.003+02:00

I've created an account on Twitter, I'm interested in using it together with this blog and the TwittyTunes extension for Firefox (just downloaded version 3, it's great).
Basically I'm going to write very short, and quickly automated posts about sites I'm visiting, music I'm hearing, videos I'm watching etc.
You can browse the posts one by one on the baloon widget on the side bar of miXpost.
You'll find all the posts listed on my Twitter page, where you'll also be able to click directly the links. For example the "listening to" feature brings to a page on FoxyTunes (another excellent Firefox extension, related to TwittyTunes) where you'll find videos, lyrics, pics, links, records and sites related to the song.
The same happens with the "Now playling" post signature you may find at the bottom of the posts of this blog, like this.

----------------
Now playing: Sex Pistols - Problems
via FoxyTunes

Mick's MySpace redesigned

2008-06-12T17:30:00.003+02:00

I've redesigned my profile on MySpace with colours similar to those used on miXpost.
I've used the excellent Thomas MySpace Editor.
There may be more advanced editors around nowadays, but this is still the easier to use, it gives more choice for the colours, has an excellent preview in the Code tab which looks really the same of the final result and doesn't mess with the other MySpace menus at the top and bottom of the page like the most of the other editors do.
It doesn't have much extra stuff, but it does have just all the pros you need and no cons, this is why I recommend it.
The MySpace blog has been redesigned as well, using the same colours. It will just be used as a monthly index to reach the posts on this blog from my profile for its visitors.

Il Dono: artisti vari reinterpretano i Diaframma

2008-06-09T02:04:00.009+02:00

Cercare di parlare in poche righe dei Diaframma è un'impresa impossibile. Si tratta del gruppo storico per eccellenza della scena alternativa italiana. Dagli albori post punk gloriosamente grezzi come CFS ai primi successi new wave con Vannini alla voce, dai fasti con Sassolini cantante della Firenze che sogna insieme ai Litfiba (e non solo) al definitivo ritorno al microfono di Fiumani per l'avvicinamento alla canzone d'autore, e citare album - pietre miliari come Siberia o In Perfetta Solitudine, ogni tentativo di riassumere in breve la loro importanza si rivela inadeguato. Si spera che chi legge questo post li conosca già, in caso contrario ecco un'ottima occasione per scoprirli.
Del resto questo post, in realtà, parla di una compilation tributo, pubblicata dalla Self per la modica cifra di 15 Euro, in cui vari artisti, affermati ed emergenti, reinterpretano brani più o meno noti dei Diaframma.

Il livello complessivo è sorprendentemente buono, le cover migliori sono davvero eccellenti. La buona notizia è che, avendo voglia di approfondire, al contrario delle apparenze, l'underground italiano è ricco di talenti, che si muovono nelle direzioni più disparate, ma che hanno tutti qualcosa di interessante da proporre.
Volendo citare solo i brani più belli (il che non significa affatto che gli altri non siano almeno decenti) ecco la cover acustica del classico new wave Amsterdam, eseguita dalla scrittrice Elena Stancarelli con The Niro e lo stesso Federico Fiumani.
Al contrario i Magnolia rivelano magnificamente tutto il potenziale rock de L'Amore Segue I Passi Di Un Cane Vagabondo, in origine una canzone acustica dell'EP di Gennaio. Le variazioni sugli accordi sono pure molto emozionanti.
I Marlene Kuntz riescono a portare a termine nel migliore dei modi una missione non facile: Siberia, forse la canzone più bella degli anni 80 italiani. La rilettura è originale ed intensa, splendide voce e chitarra elettrica.
A proposito di originalità, come non citare il N.A.N.O. e la sua cover di Una Stagione Nel Cuore: elettrica, acustica, sonica, classica, melodica, rap, tutto quel che volete condito da un sample di un'intervista di Fiumani... davvero notevole!
Gli Oshinoko Bunker Orchestra (ex De Glaen, nonchè un chitarrista del passato e uno del presente dei Diaframma), fanno una cover di Pasqua come l'avrebbero fatta i primi Massimo Volume, almeno dal punto di vista strumentale, l'impatto sonoro ed emotivo è davvero forte.
Roberta Carrieri, invece, fa una cover di Labbra Blu come l'avrebbe voluta fare la migliore Cristina Donà. Bella voce, ottimo duetto di pianoforte e chitarra elettrica, promette bene.
Chi invece non ha bisogno di promettere nulla è il veterano Umberto Palazzo, che coi Santo Niente ci regala una bella cover di Lode Ai Tuoi Amici, dove imprime un groove al rock, annegato nel rumore del finale.
Palazzo forse si ricorda di un tributo ai Joy Division a cui parteciparono anche i suoi Allison Run, più di 15 anni fa. Quella compilation confermava che fare cover di bellissime canzoni non garantisce un risultato comunque buono. Questa volta la qualità dell'interpretazione non è mancata, Il Dono si può considerare uno tra i pochi tributi riusciti davvero bene.
Ecco la tracklist completa, quando il titolo di un brano è seguito dal link 'ascolta' significa che cliccando quel link sarete indirizzati alla pagina su MySpace dell'artista dove potrete ascoltare il brano in streaming:

01 Alessandro Grazian - Fiore Non Sentirti Sola [ascolta]
02 Altro - Altrove
03 Dente - Verde
04 Elena Stancarelli, The Niro e Federico Fiumani - Amsterdam
05 Il Genio - Il Telefono [ascolta]
06 Le Luci Della Centrale Elettrica - Un Giorno Balordo
07 Magnolia - L'Amore Segue I Passi Di Un Cane Vagabondo [ascolta]
08 Marlene Kuntz - Siberia
09 N.A.N.O. - Una Stagione Nel Cuore
10 Oshinoko Bunker Orchestra - Pasqua
11 Roberta Carrieri - Labbra Blu
12 Samuel Katarro - Diamante Grezzo [ascolta]
13 Santo Niente - Lode Ai Tuoi Amici [ascolta]
14 Superpartner - L'Odore Delle Rose [ascolta]
15 The Niro - Io Amo Lei
16 The Zen Circus, Brian Ritchie e Federico Fiumani - I Giorni Dell'Ira (live)
17 Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti - Gennaio [ascolta l'originale]
18 Bobo Rondelli - Grazie Davvero (ghost track)

Mick's We7

2008-05-29T19:04:00.001+02:00

This is a permanent widget. If you have a free account at We7, you can sign in and download all these tracks for free as DRM-free MP3 files with short ads. On the We7 site you can search and download for free the complete albums from which these tracks are taken.

The Return To miXpost!

2008-05-29T02:31:00.007+02:00

Well, what I've read somewhere it's true: people often return to Blogger.
I've used Wordpress for a site called Mew Order: more advanced and all, but more boring as well. It lasted just a few more than one month.
I also realised that many of the features I thought were missing on Blogger actually aren't missing, you just have to work a little harder to activate them (for example, permanent pages).
The main problem with Wordpress is the very limited use: wanna customize the layout? Pay. Yeah, right. Wanna embed media? Forget it, it's dangerouus! OK, gimme a break.
I actually had to do another blog, iMick, to post media, and yet another, miXwidgets, yeah, for the widgets. I might still use iMick to create cool collections of media I can embed here, but not to post.
miXpost is going to be, once again, the one and only place where I blog, using resources from other sites if necessary.

I'm also going to import all the posts from the previous other blogs.
I celebrated the return changing the layout. I couldn't do it on Wordpress, so I did it here.
I just needed something simpler. I actually realised, visiting my own blogs and others' blogs, that I much preferred simple layouts, one column for the post and one sidebar for archives, links, widgets, etc.
The so popular three columns templates tend to become a bit tiring, because you tend to jump between two sidebars and scrolling up and down to find sections. With one sidebar you know you just have to scroll that to find you're looking for, so you either read a post, or check the sidebar contents. Simpler use.
I also noticed that I found useful lists with bullets preceding items to immediately identify them.
So here it comes the Tic Tac blue theme, with just a couple of tweaks on fonts and colours for a warmer feel and better readability.
Home sweet home.
Welcome back to miXpost!

Mick's Google Reader

2008-04-28T07:24:00.003+02:00

Mick’s Google Reader is a page which is generated from the news feeds I read and share from various sources.
You'll also find a widget in the sidebar of miXpost with direct links to the latest five articles.

Il 12 luglio i Massimo Volume al Traffic Festival!

2008-04-24T18:23:00.004+02:00

A sei anni dal loro scioglimento i Massimo Volume tornano insieme per una data storica al Traffic Festival di Torino, sabato 12 luglio.

I Massimo Volume sono stati uno dei gruppi protagonisti di quella straordinaria scena alternativa degli anni 90, tra cui ricordiamo CSI, Marlene Kuntz, Afterhours e Bluvertigo, senza dubbio quello di maggiore impatto, capace di comunicare emozioni di intensità tale da rendere meritato l’accostamento solo con leggende come Joy Division e Pixies. Chi li ha visti dal vivo ha percepito di aver assistito ad eventi davvero straordinari.

L’irripetibile incontro tra i testi evocativi recitati da Emidio Clementi e l’eccezionale talento per chitarra e batteria di Egle Sommacal e Vittoria Burattini ha reso davvero unica questa vicenda. I suoni e le atmosfere, affinatesi dagli esordi più grezzi ma già artisticamente superbi alle ultime sonorità più ricercate, variavano dalla malinconia più delicata alla potenza più devastante. I testi di Clementi erano dei veri capolavori che rendevano poeticamente viva e visibile la scena, che fossero acquerelli, fotogrammi, sequenze, autobiografici o narrativi. I loro album, soprattutto Lungo I Bordi e Da Qui, sono rimasti pietre miliari.
Poter rivivere oggi emozioni che temevamo rimaste per sempre solo nella memoria di un tempo sempre più lontano è un evento eccezionale.
Per maggiori dettagli sull’evento e per sapere quello che hanno fatto i componenti del gruppo dallo scioglimento ad oggi visitate Stanze.

Elio E Le Storie Tese il 25 Aprile a Parma

2008-04-22T03:49:00.003+02:00

Elio E Le Storie Tese suoneranno la sera del 25 Aprile a Parma in Piazza Garibaldi, ovviamente gratis.

Si tratta di un’occasione imperdibile per vedere una delle migliori band dal vivo in Italia (se non forse la migliore in assoluto).
E’ noto come ciascun componente del gruppo eccella nel proprio strumento, senza abbandonarsi a sterili virtuosismi ma anzi riuscendo sempre ad emozionare, ed ovviamente a divertire, considerando che l’humour rimane pur sempre il loro aspetto principale.
La mia recensione del loro ultimo capolavoro, Studentessi.

Free download of the new Charlatans album

2008-04-16T21:04:00.004+02:00

XFM is offering the new Charlatans‘ album, You Cross My Path, for free download.
I’ve never been a proper fan of the Charlatans, but they have made some pretty good tracks in their long career since the glory of the Madchester days.
Recently they’ve been tuning down their retro aspect (there’s still that Hammond, but it’s not a problem in the overall sound), which was the most annoying, and raising the groove, which is what they do best, hence this album is not only free, but really good as well, and is not too distant from New Order’s Get Ready, catchy but emotional post new wave tunes with guitar and a powerful bass… and is it Hooky on Bird? Other highlights include Mis-takes and Missing Beats (Of A Generation).

Ideas like this, which goes even beyond Radiohead’s, who asked an offer for their album, must absolutely be encouraged. You can decide to buy (on the record store) the CD with a bonus album of live and studio recordings, a poster and a concert ticket, all for £ 35.99, which is just 10 pounds more expensive than the gig ticket alone. They solve the piracy problem at the root, giving away the music as a promotional tool for concerts, current and future releases, which people are more willing to buy after having got for free such a good album.
So go and download!

Mew Order, my new site with blog

2008-04-14T22:04:00.002+02:00

I have started a new site with blog, Mew Order.
It'll be a proper site, with static pages, but at the same time its core will be an advanced blog.
I'll try to import the most of the contents from my previous projects, like miXpost, but of course they won't be updated.
Check http://meworder.wordpress.com

29 May update: I've returned to miXpost, Mew Order won't be updated, actually.

Tele System Jolie : guida non ufficiale

2008-03-24T01:52:00.002+01:00

Ho scritto una guida per quelli che hanno acquistato il lettore audio/video Jolie di Tele System e non vogliono faticare come me per trovare da soli il modo di farlo funzionare bene, a causa delle molteplici lacune della guida e del CD ROM allegati.
Jolie, in rapporto qualità/prezzo, è un ottimo lettore, con alcune caratteristiche pressochè uniche.
L'unico problema è che, per goderselo davvero, occorrerebbe una guida come questa, che nessuno ha ancora scritto... per questo l'ho scritta io! E' stata realizzata in poco tempo con Weebly, un sistema che permette di scrivere e modificare pagine web sul browser, direttamente sulle pagine stesse. Eccola:
http://www.guidajolie.weebly.com

Joy Division documentary trailer

2008-03-14T17:36:00.004+01:00

This is the trailer for the Joy Division Documentary which will be released in UK cinemas May 2nd. It shows rare images of the band members offstage.

Elio E Le Storie Tese: Studentessi

2008-03-06T00:58:00.005+01:00

Non era facile seguire un capolavoro come Cicciput, Elio E Le Storie Tese hanno rilanciato alzando ulteriormente, se possibile, il livello di ambizione. E così ci hanno messo cinque anni, finendo col fiatone all'ultimo minuto, giusto in tempo per il Dopofestival.
Si tratta sicuramente di un album meno immediato, molte canzoni richiedono più ascolti. Questo accadeva anche per alcuni brani degli album precedenti, ma la complessità di Studentessi, stavolta, richiede davvero una pazienza insolita nel panorama musicale, non solo italiano... Pazienza ampiamente ripagata: dopo due settimane di ascolto intensivo emerge in tutta la sua potenza la maestosità di questo ennesimo capolavoro.

La continua ricerca ha portato il gruppo molto lontano dalle parodie degli esordi e dei primi successi, ormai le canzoni, sebbene sempre farcite di citazioni, hanno una vita propria ed un valore musicale assoluto. Anche i testi, sempre divertenti, richiedono di essere assimilati e meditati, è rimasto ben poco dei successi istantanei che hanno fatto la fortuna di Elio e soci (per intenderci, niente Cara Ti Amo o Terra Dei Cachi).
La maggior parte del loro pubblico è cresciuta col gruppo, e anche se si è avvicinata con quei successi oggi apprezza gli innumerevoli stimoli e le emozioni intense offerte da brani come questi. Chi invece è abituato ad ascoltare musica 'seria' si deve per forza confrontare con la proposta di Elio E Le Storie Tese, per la sua qualità praticamente impossibile da riscontrare in chiunque altro.
La sontuosa intro progressive di Plafone chiarisce subito gli intenti. L'album si chiude realmente con Il Congresso Delle Parti Molli (la sigla del programma radiofonico Single, di Feiez, è in effetti una bonus track estranea al contesto, in omaggio all'amico scomparso, mentre l'ultima parte di Effetto Memoria è una reprise), che ha un finale davvero sbalorditivo, anche per gli standard di Elio, che è l'ideale chiusura dell'intro del primo brano.
Solo la qualità vertiginosa di questi due momenti vale l'acquisto dell'album, possibile anche in edicola a meno di 15 Euro, in collaborazione col gruppo L'Espresso.
Vediamo ora cosa c'è in mezzo: tornando a Plafone occorre citare (oltre alla stupenda tastiera) l'eccellente interpretazione di Antonella Ruggiero. La sua doccia spruzza tanto che c'è una macchia sul plafone di Elio, che sta al piano di sotto, la prossima assemblea di condominio si preannuncia molto tesa...
Ignudi Tra I Nudisti è un brano dall'ascolto più facile, un ottimo soul che vede la partecipazione di Giorgia (che però vuole andare ai monti, mentre Elio sogna il Sudoku sul bagnasciuga della spiaggia per nudisti). Si cominciano ad apprezzare gli arrangiamenti dei fiati a cura di Demo Morselli.
[Edit di un paio di giorni dopo:] Marok ci informa che Ignudi Tra I Nudisti è interamente composta su Suspicious Minds di Elvis Presley al contrario!
Tristezza è un incredibile boogie woogie in do minore: la tristezza si misura in litri di lacrime: per esempio puoi essere triste 13 litri. Ma non cercare di superarla perchè può essere molto redditizia, soprattutto se sei un cantautore.
Effetto Memoria è un brano con intelligenti giochi di parole sul tema del ricordo, diviso in quattro parti disseminate per l'album, due delle quali con Claudio Baglioni, che vede i componenti del gruppo scambiarsi ogni volta gli strumenti.
Carla Fracci introduce Heavy Samba, uno dei momenti migliori non solo dell'album, ma dell'intera carriera di Elio, che va a cena da Irene Grandi ma non ci può combinare nulla perchè in camera ci dorme il suo ragazzo, Cesareo, scatenato in versione Led Zeppelin. Ma il momento più bello è senz'altro il sofisticato finale in stile brasiliano con una splendida performance di basso, batteria e tastiera.
Spassosissimo l'intermezzo parodia delle polemiche di Amici di Maria De Filippi, che ci porta a Gargaroz, che sarà probabilmente il più grande successo di questo album, un azzeccatissimo funky che riprende il vocoder della pubblicità del Cynar. Nel testo ci sono alcune perle: Elio scopre che le tonsille asportate alimentano un traffico d'organi e si lamenta: 'Dannata Internet, col motore di ricerca puoi arrivare dappertutto, anche dove non volevi!'. Anche qui c'è un finale impressionante in cui il funky si trasforma in dub con una sezione ritmica insuperabile.
Suicidio A Sorpresa è diviso in più parti, tra musical e swing Elio e Paola Crotellesi ci spiegano che se ascolti all'incontrario il black metal i messaggi in realtà sono positivi: il portentoso momento autenticamente metal di Cesareo ci offre alcuni esempi come 'Chiamami quando arrivi, che se no sto in pensiero'.
La Lega Dell'Amore, ospite Claudio Bisio, è un brano divertente e ben costruito, ma è forse l'unico momento in cui l'album scende appena sotto gli standard elevatissimi mantenuti da tutte le altre canzoni, sembra appartenere più all'immediatezza dei primi album che alla ricerca sofisticata dei più recenti...
[Altro edit successivo:] infatti sempre Marok ci informa che è una canzone risalente al 1993!
Indiani è uno strepitoso country western magistralmente interpretato da Elio, cowboy disperato perchè vorrebbe consegnare regali alle tribù degli indiani, che però fuggono, vittime di sospetti e incomprensioni.
Supermassiccio è l'ideale compagno di Gargaroz, un funky portentoso, ma il testo è ancora più surreale. Con la radiocronaca di Guido Meda il pianeta viene risucchiato da un buco nero e si ritrova in una galassia dominata da pulci giganti. Ma Elio è felice perchè ha trovato lavoro, prostituendosi nei dancing degli insetti.
Mangoni propone su una magnifica base a cura di MC Costa la sua Risposta Dell'Architetto ai rapper come Mondo Marcio. Basta tenere i figli in strada, costruiamo case per loro e guardiamo ai dati che ci dimostrano come Bra sia un esempio da seguire.
Parco Sempione è il brano che lancia l'album, con un video geniale. Siamo lontanissimi dagli inni dei singoli che hanno fatto epoca, come anche il più recente Shpalman, si tratta di eccellente fusion molto raffinata, meravigliosi flauto, basso, chitarra e tastiera, a tratti sembra che alla produzione ci sia Donald Fagen degli Steely Dan. Il testo è un attacco bonario ai suonatori di bonghi che infestano i parchi e un attacco molto meno bonario alla giunta regionale della Lombardia che ha abbattutto un parco di Milano nonostante le proteste dei cittadini, affiancati dalla stessa band.
Abbiamo atteso cinque anni, ma i 78 minuti del CD ci offrono un doppio album di qualità elevatissima. L'unico rammarico è che nel frattempo non ci sia stato nessun altro che abbia tentato neppure lontanamente di fare qualcosa di simile. Anche per questo Studentessi è un album indispensabile di questo decennio.

PS: Imperdibili gli extra audio e video sul sito dedicato a Studentessi, tra cui i demo di molti brani dell'album, inediti, e i filmati girati in studio durante le registrazioni.

Elio E Le Storie Tese: Parco Sempione

2008-02-18T17:55:00.003+01:00

Questo è il video del brano che lancia Studentessi, il nuovo album di Elio E Le Storie Tese in uscita dopodomani. Oltre ogni aspettativa, testo, musica e video sono assolutamente geniali...

Nuovo album di Elio in vista!

2008-02-04T14:31:00.003+01:00

Dal sito ufficiale:

Il 20 febbraio 2008 verrà pubblicato Studentessi, il nuovo album di Elio e le Storie Tese.
Il disco sarà venduto in edicola (in allegato alLa Repubblica e l'Espresso), nei negozi dischi (Self Distribuzione), nei consueti canali di distribuzione digitale e sul sito della band (come sempre gli iscritti al Fave Club potranno anche scaricarlo in mp3).
A partire dall'8 febbraio, Parco Sempione, il primo singolo tratto dall'album, sarà in programmazione nelle emittenti radiofoniche.
XL, il mensile della Repubblica, dedica a Elio e le Storie Tese una splendida copertina e un'intervista di quattro pagine.

Finalmente una notizia che attendevo da tempo. Elio ci aveva abituati a pause lunghe tra un album e l'altro, ma cinque anni sono davvero tanti. Ovviamente c'è grande attesa per poter ascoltare il seguito di un capolavoro assoluto come Cicciput...

The Best Of 2007 (and Merry Christmas)

2007-12-25T15:52:00.006+01:00

01 NEW ORDER
iTunes Originals

02 JOY DIVISION
Still (Collector's Edition)

03 VARIOUS ARTISTS
Music From The Motion Picture CONTROL

04 GABRIELLES WISH
Circa

05 PREFAB SPROUT
Steve McQueen (Legacy 2CD edition)

06 MARLENE KUNTZ - Uno

07 DAVE GAHAN - Hourglass

08 SECTION 25 - Part-primitiv

09 HAPPY MONDAYS - Unkle Dysfunktional

10 BLACK FRANCIS - Bluefinger

11 BJORK - Volta
12 DIAFRAMMA - Camminando Sul Lato Selvaggio
13 EGLE SOMMACAL - Legno

New Order are dead, long live New Order! As expected, the band have split, or better, Hooky has left, but the other three (actually two, the other members are just really Bernard and Steve, Phil joined but has never become an equal to a founder) can't carry on with that name after 30 years of history. As they're all 50somethings now, we can even accept the most glorious chapter in music history has come to an end. They're not going to disappear, Hooky wants to rival Bernard's 90s supergroup Electronic, with Johnny Marr of The Smiths, with his own supergroup featuring not only another bassist, again from The Smiths (Andy Rourke), but yet another bassist, Mani (ex Stone Roses, now Primal Scream) as well! Bernard and Steve, unlike during the temporary split of the mid-90s, are going to keep in touch and are working with a project which could become a sort of another supergroup, including Alex James from Blur, apparently called Bad Lieutenant. In the year of their split, New Order triumph in my Top 3 of the year, with their iTunes compilation featuring classics both in original and new exclusive versions (recorded in 2005), all filled with excerpts from interviews.
Their earlier incarnation, Joy Division, immediately follows with the reissue of their classic compilation, Still, including a new winderful live CD of a concert in High Wycombe (February 1980). New Order had recorded three short instrumental tracks for the soundtrack of Control, a movie about Ian Curtis directed by Anton Corbijn, just before splitting. The music for the film includes classics by bands which have inspired Joy Division, there's fantastic stuff like a live version of Problems, by coincidence my favourite Sex Pistols song. And then you get Velvet Underground, Bowie, Kraftwerk, Roxy Music, Iggy Pop... with artists like these, a frankly bad cover of Shadowplay by today's media darlings The Killers (how can you play silly Britpop and pretend to look post-punk?) can't ruin an almost perfect soundtrack.
Gabrielles Wish have fully embraced the digital revolution releasing their new excellent album exclusive on TuneTribe, 5 pounds for an album of high quality DRM-free MP3 files. While it was impossible for them to top last year's Reformer (probably the best year of the decade), they've made a record which is great enough to remain the best band around, even more now New Order are gone, leaving the throne to them.
As Still proves, a good reissue is better than a bad new album, Prefab Sprout confirmed this, adding to Steve McQueen a CD with the most of the songs in new acoustic versions recorded by the band's genius, Paddy McAloon, in 2006. Acoustic versions of sophisticated masterpieces might sound wrong, but you have to hear how sophisticated can be an acoustic guitar played by McAloon, it's not your average half arsed 'unplugged' effort...
Marlene Kuntz came back with an amazing album, the best of their career.
Another surprising comeback was made by Dave Gahan, who released an album which is better than any Depeche Mode (band or solo) since Ultra, 10 years ago. Martin Gore has written all the band's masterpieces, but Gahan has proved he can write stuff which can be, at times, even better.
Section 25 made a long awaited return (content with beating even Steely Dan for the longest), all this time hasn't diminished their talent, Part-Primitv could have been a worthy follow-up to Always Now, it's that good.
We had to wait slightly less for Happy Mondays, after all their troubles they can sound almost as fresh as twenty years ago. It's a shame Tony Wilson couldn't enjoy such an exciting year for Factory fans, without him half the bands of this chart wouldn't have even existed.
Frank Black came back as Black Francis, and the sound and attitude are the closest to the Pixies' since Trompe Le Monde.
After the conceptually nice but actually almost unlistenable Medulla, Bjork tried to return closer to an accessible sound, but she has taken her own weird path to the avant-garde now, and it's difficult for her to pretend these years haven't changed her. Still a wonderful album, though.
Diaframma's album is, as ever, a mixed compilation of truly great songs and fillers.
In the year of the comebacks we've even had the solo debut from Egle Sommacal, the genius formerly behind the sonic wonders of Massimo Volume made an all instrumental album of acoustic guitar only, would be perfect for a soundtrack.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2008, this chart didn't include any artist who has released their debut in the last 12 years, but I hope the new year which will give a chance to the many talents which can be found on MySpace (check my profile to discover some).

My Bloody Valentine reform!

2007-11-16T02:46:00.003+01:00

The Daily Swarm - My Bloody Valentine: the reunion confirmed

Aaah, this is best news since the Pixies reunion!
My Bloody Valentine made some of the most innovative and emotional music ever (which sparked the shoegazing scene, with other great bands like Slowdive, Swervedriver, early Ride and Chapterhouse), 16 years after their last recordings they're still legends, and a huge influence on some of the few great bands which have emerged in this decade, like Mew.
Three UK dates are confirmed for next year, but more might come and even a new album is expected soon!