prince, an old-time admirer of joni dares to tackle one of her greatest songs, a case of you. with mixed results. his falsetto reaches record-breaking highs but it even irritated the bernese mountain dog next door who couldn't but respond with a drawn-out bark. the piano improvisations in the middle of the song are quite charming though. if it was prince himself, he should definitely play more piano.

and on it goes with blue. sarah mclachlan, a fellow canadian who must have been compared to joni a lot does an excellent version of it. it's very close to the original, some synths here and there but the most amazing is her voice. if i wouldn't have known that it was hers i might have taken it for joni's before the smoking took its toll on her vocal cords. very expressive and pure.

annie lennox sings ladies of the canyon. the instrumentation sounds false like coming from a musical box, probaly a laptop. an unnecessary version.

magdalene laundries is next. country chanteuse emmylou harris delivers a soporific performance for completists.

elvis costello and edith and the kingpin. an extremely slow, solemn version with classical instrumentation sucking out all the life and beauty from the original. unbearable crap, elvis, please shut up you bore.

k.d. lang covers help me. okayish but too slow again as this song lives from the speed in which the words are delivered.

finally james taylor finishes off this dispensable tribute album with river. the last yawn is the best.

sufjan stevens cooks an opulent meal from free man in paris. no connection to her song whatever. he must be a self-obsessed asshole, yeah i am in a bad mood, as usual.

björk is beurk. see sufjan. shut up, fairy from the land of ice.

caetano veloso does dreamland from the hissing of summer lawns or was it don juan's reckless daughter? another proof that if anyone else than joni sings her songs they lose all their charm.

brad mehldau and don't interrupt the sorrow. his main advantage: he doesn't sing. and he knows how to play the piano.

cassandra wilson and for the roses. a weird coupling. phantastic bass, nice deep feminine voice, welcome new interpretation.

(will be finished)

When Radiohead released the 160 KB/s mp3 version of their new album In Rainbows a couple of days ago it was like a pre-emptive strike against the downloaders. An official leak for which they could even charge money. I didn't hear of any versions which leaked before. They took control of the digital duplication process which prevents new cds to sell well these days. Additionally they announced a second cd (can it be as good as Amnesiac, their only great album, the leftover of Kid A?) to whet the appetite of the fans. A very clever marketing strategy as many people paid real money for the mp3s of rather low quality. The quality of the music wasn't great neither (see post below) but they have definitely proven that they are the band with the most realistic evaluation of the market situation. Kudos for that.

Da hat jemand gestern und wohl auch vorgestern nach alexdreiundsechzig (in Zahlen) gesucht und ist auf diese Seite gestoßen. Kann sich diese Person bitte bei mir melden? Entweder hier oder anderswo. Danke.

Schon seltsam, dass die ersten neun Übersetzungen von Schärfe ins Englische alle mit A anfangen (sharpness ist unter ferner liefen, ist wohl alphabetisch geordnet, aber dass es so viele Worte mit A gibt hierfür):

• acerbity
• acidity
• acridity
• acridness
• acrimony
• acuity
• acuteness
• asperity
• astuteness

 
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October 15, 2007 at 9:30:00 PM CEST

[films] October 15, 2007 at 9:30:00 PM CEST


Festen




gesehen und geliebt. Vinterberg und von Trier. Der eine verfilmt die Durchgeknalltheit der Gesellschaft. Der andere seine eigene.


 
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[meta] October 15, 2007 at 8:17:00 PM CEST


Der nächste Kommentar muss aber jetzt wirklich gut sein.


 
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October 14, 2007 at 7:06:00 PM CEST

[music, albums] October 14, 2007 at 7:06:00 PM CEST


Radiohead - In Rainbows Q&A



• Fave song? 15 Step
• Why? The electronic beats, the bass, the children shouting "Yeah", the dynamics.
• Worst song? Nude (Videotape may be even lamer)
• Why? It sounds like Radiohead mimicking Coldplay who are by default mimicking Radiohead.
• Most hypnotic track? Weird Fishes/Arpeggi with its repetitive guitar theme. Sounding like a woven texture.
• Song you haven't made up your mind about? Faust Arp as it seems like a beauty aging by 20 years within 2 minutes.
• How are the vocals? Mostly whiny, classical 90s Thom Yorke but on Reckoner his falsetto sounds like Bono's and it is a good thing.
• Most annoying instrument? The strings.
• Mini-review? A lot of songs start promisingly but run out of steam soon.
• Overall rating? Mainly for fans.

 
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October 11, 2007 at 10:24:00 PM CEST

[music, songs] October 11, 2007 at 10:24:00 PM CEST


Stephen Morris drumming on the Licht und Blindheit version of Dead Souls. I can hear the wings of butterflies rubbing the air. Huge wings but so tender and tickling.


 
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[music, lists] October 11, 2007 at 10:18:00 PM CEST


Joy Division performing their own songs on my hard disk (# of versions)



• Transmission (9)
• Shadowplay (8)
• She's Lost Control (8)
• Insight (7)
• Disorder (6)
• Love Will Tear Us Apart (6)
• Colony (5)
• Interzone (5)
• Dead Souls (4)
• New Dawn Fades (4)
• Novelty (4)
• Passover (4)
• The Eternal (4)
• These Days (4)
• Twenty Four Hours (4)
• Warsaw (4) ...

Control kommt in Deutschland im Januar in die Kinos. Nicht die schlechteste Zeit, um mal wieder dieser phantastischen Band zu gedenken. Gab es je eine bessere? Wenn ja, dann hab ich sie verpennt, wie ich Joy Division 1980 verträumt habe.


 
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