Ned Raggett on his island disc which is of course Loveless by My Bloody Valentine. I cannot refrain from wondering about the journalism of USA Today though. A couple of sentences on the book (Marooned) and then a complete chapter from it. That is a copy and paste job no blogger in the world would dare. And if he had the permission he would be too ashamed to do it. May it boost the sales at least.

Wisst ihr eigentlich wie geil Tago Mago ist? Bin gerade in soner Krautrockphase. Und habe endlich Can entdeckt. Gott, fand ich sie früher langweilig, aber inzwischen kann ich über den Gesang hinwegsehen und die Musik so richtig genießen. Ja, das interessiert keine Sau, schon klar, aber ich muss es trotzdem loswerden. Jaki Liebezeit ist gerade für fünf Minuten der Drummergott. Halleluhwah!

I listened to my favourite song on Loveless and wrote some words (scroll down for more) about it.

Listening to The Queen Is Dead still makes me happy.

Annette Peacock. Now I know. That was the voice I wanted to listen to the last couple of months. Warm, mature, soothing, caressing, yearning, dreamy, sensual, everything you could ask from for in the voice of a woman. Why did nobody tell me she had a new cd out for over a year (ILM did eventually)? It's called 31:31, contains five songs with a relaxed jazzy vibe without concealing a strong songwriting component, is limited, numbered, hand-signed by her, has apparently very nice art work and is only available from here (check the two minute samples of each song). The kind of music I had hoped Joni Mitchell would evolve towards. For just 31(!) bucks plus 4 bucks postage that seems a fair deal. But still, the most expensive cd I have ever purchased in my life.

i listened to the burial album and it was a nice surprise. some new sounds. somehow i didn't expect that anymore. very british. dark. dominated by the bass, full of dub, some weird ominous noises. i didn't like the voice samples too much. they seem to wear off quite soon. like with massive attack or tricky who are obvious precursors. i was also thinking of godspeed's lift yr. skinny fists. especially for the oppressive, doomed atmosphere. no tunes really. but space especially whenever there is no rhythm. and a feeling of a place. not sure if i buy that story about a flooded south london from their label though. that sounds so contrived. can this really be a concept album? whatever. people say the genre is called dubstep which has developed from 2step and/or grime. no clue about all that. it passed me by. but i am happy this album didn't.

further reading:

• k-punk's profound review
• the wire has nothing online except a track in 40bit/s but they chose this as their album of 2006. they may be right.

as i said before 2006 was pretty much a musical disaster in my ears. so much music out there but hardly anything original and inventive. i miss the old days when there were movements (ok there is this tudor-folk rubbish now but it is so precocious and devoid of any energy). when music was of the moment. nowadays almost everyone is going in different directions and most of these roads have been travelled before more compellingly with less baggage. i hardly would think like that if i were 20 years old. maybe pop/rock music is for 20 year olds and i should slowly say good-bye. on the other hand there is the rejuvenating effect of pop/rock music. that's obviously very tempting for a 43 year old. there is nothing more pop than lying to yourself and believing it.

So who/what are A to E? If you know the album, i.e. C - and I guess you know it if you are still around here - it shouldn't be too hard. A phantastic succinct review.

Gute Übersetzung: