Swen has got a link to a Google Video of a two part documentary (35 minutes) on Nick Drake called A Stranger Among Us - Searching For Nick Drake from 1998. Where his parents, his sister, Robert Kirby, Linda Thompson and other people who knew him talk about his life. It should be interesting for anyone slightly interested in the songwriter which has touched me most in my life. Whenever I hear any of his songs now I get goose bumps inside. It is more than 25 years ago now that I listened to his music for the first time and it hasn't lost any of its magic at all. It has become even more intense for me now as I have the feeling that I know each note in advance. His harmonies are so beautiful that they hurt. And his whispering soothing voice together with the romantic, forlorn lyrics he sings creates an intimate mood like no other music I have ever listened to.

Die schönste der zwölf Reisegeschichten von Prominenten hat Die Zeit natürlich nicht online gestellt. Sie spielt in Äthiopien. Der Autor und seine zwei Begleiter fahren mit ihrem Geländewagen gegen einen Felsen, der Wagen überschlägt sich, ist Totalschrott. Doch die drei sind völlig unverletzt. Der Autor findet sogar noch seine unversehrte Kamera im Sand. Anschließend kommen einige Leute von den einheimischen, sonst eher reservierten Stämmen - die Männer tragen meist Kalaschnikows und zwar nicht zur Zierde - mit einem Freudengeschrei herangelaufen. Sie können es nicht glauben, dass die drei Fahrzeuginsassen noch am Leben sind, umarmen sie, fassen sie am Körper an. Der Jubel kennt keine Grenzen. In solchen Gegenden, wo Menschen ihrer Freude noch ihren freien Lauf lassen können, möchte ich auch mal wieder reisen.

Die Geschichte von Joop über Hiddensee ist auch ganz nett. Da muss ich auch unbedingt mal mehr als einen Tag verbringen. Vorletztes Jahr war der Tagesausflug der Höhepunkt unseres Rügenurlaubs. Passend schien da auch mal die Sonne. Hiddensee ist eine eigene Welt. Ohne Autos. Sehr übersichtlich. Wir haben da außer den Rehen sogar einen Fuchs gesehen, der auf einer Wiese unweit der Kühe friedlich herumschlich. Unglaublich bei den Menschenmassen, die sich auf den paar Quadratkilometern im Sommer tagsüber ballen. Fast alle auf Fahrrädern. Da gibt es gelegentlich Fahrradstaus. Und dann natürlich die tolle Westküste mit Nacktbadestrand. Muss ich wieder hin.

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.

sie waren ein glückliches paar. sie erzählten sich immer dieselbe geschichte, ohne dass es einer von beiden merkte. der redner schilderte seine story jedes mal wie als wäre sie neu, der zuhörer ließ sich von der handlung mitreißen und wartete immer sehnsüchtig auf die nie an überraschung verlierende schlußpointe. sie hatten beide alzheimer.

wenig schlaf ist das beste antidepressivum. die wachheit an einem tag nach etwas schlafmangel vertreibt die tiefsten wolken der schwermut. man sprüht vor energie, man ist so gespannt, die sinne sind so aufnahmedurstig nach etwas schlafentzug. man möchte nie mehr ausgeschlafen sein. 5 stunden scheinen ein gutes schlafmaß zu sein.

I forced myself to watch this until five minutes before the end. Why did I wait so long before turning it off? Was I expecting something to happen? Was I thinking that there must be some hidden meaning of it all? I don't know. And I am not even sure if this film is a realistic portrait of a woman losing the connection to the world. Maybe the stupid, trivial dialogues put me off most. As a silent movie the whole thing would have made more sense to me. The images are stark. The ugly, polluted landscape corresponds very well to the traumatic state of mind of the main person who is falling into a hole from where she cannot come back. Maybe the film was too much for me. And I somehow liked Zabriskie Point. But that was probably because of the road movie scenes in the desert and John Fahey's dreamy guitar finger-picking which I discovered there. I have had my dose of Antonioni in this life, I guess.

1 star.

IMDB User Rating: 7.5/10 (1,001 votes)

My Bloody Valentine treasure trove

gras, velouté, souple viscous, velvet-smooth, supple dickflüssig, samtweich, geschmeidig

Another song from my winterswap mix cd. It was supposed to start side two after a side one which was getting darker with each track. With a second movement overlaying the first from soft & slow to super slow as in your heartbeat stops to almost fast & rocking out. Peaking in Joy Division's Transmission from the Peel sessions. But then I realised that cds unlike records or tapes do not have two sides. And more or less gave up on the concept of having two different sides.

Anyways this is a lullaby with a mighty ethereal bassline I'd like to play to a baby if I had one. It is totally out of this world. More dream than reality. More in the womb than outside. More heaven than earth. More floating than sinking. More above the clouds than under the rain. More intuitive than logical. More light than darkness. Happy are those who have eyes they can close.

The lyrics don't make a lot of sense to me. But Liz sang gibberish before so that was quite a big step. According to them she starts the song with

A shadow without someone/something casting it, I can understand that. But the first line? Never listened to it before but it is amazing how it totally does not fit with the song. I don't hear that line at all by the way. It must have been made out.