Kategoriarkiv: Blog

Scientist fiction

Dear Julia.
Unless chance finds us face to face again, this is the last you’ll hear from me. I spent this Sunday, a long afternoon, freezing at my friend’s house by the sea. We men of science…you know. I’ve returned to my research in magnetic fields. It’s funny how attractive indifference can be. My sense of failure, it’s not so important. Electricity means so much more to me. We men of science…you know. It’s snowing again, seems like it’s always snowing. Sit down to write and it’s so cold. Outside my window, there’s a tree so white I can hardly look at it. It’s quiet here. I look thru my glass at patterns all so well defined. Please send my winter coat soon as you can. I find I have no other lines. We men of science…you know. All the best. All the best, Julia.

© Tom Verlaine

When saturday comes

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Det går jo meget godt. Næstbedst i Premier League i starten af oktober, og pt seks points foran David Moyes’ Manchester United. Men nu kommer forslåede Crystal Palace på besøg lørdag eftermiddag. Så tal lige om et hold der vil parkere bussen! Masser af den slags kampe sidste sæson på Anfield, hvor Liverpool dominerede og trykkede på, men ofte ikke kunne få scoringen, der ville tvinge modstandernes defensiv til at åbne op. Skal denne til nu så løfterige sæson bringe mere end endnu en slutplacering i periferien af hvor livet er en dans på roser, kræves en helt anderledes skarphed. Eller med andre og mere konkrete ord: Det håbløse nederlag i seneste hjemmekamp mod iøvrigt slet ikke dårlige Southampton skal være en enlig svale. Crystal Palace må tages ned. Luis Suarez, will you rise to shine?

Liverpool – Crystal Palace, lørdag, kl. 16.00, 3+/Kanal 6/downthelocal

I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck…

Originalen af ‘Paint A Vulgar Picture’ på afskedsalbummet Strangeways Here We Come – der udkom i dag for 26 år siden – er IMO en af de allerstærkeste The Smiths-sange ever. Men den demo af sangen, der først så offentligt lys for et par år siden, fejler heller intet (bortset fra 1 stk. manglende Johnny Marr-solo), med sin mere muskuløst udspændte lyd og generelt mørkere stemning. Hør selv…

Night boat to Coventry

I sen-70’ernes England opstod Two Tone-kulturen, dels på et pladeselskab af samme navn, dels omkring en håndfuld bands, der gav deres take på en yderst britisk musik med udgangspunkt i oprindelig jamaicansk ska, rocksteady og bluebeat. Disse unge bands formåede både på scenen som blandt publikum at forene farvede og hvide unge i en ellers raceanspændt samtid i Margaret Thatcher’s benhårde engelske samfund. Her er koncertfilmen Dance Craze fra 1981, der viser sceneoptrædender med bla. The Specials, The Beat, Madness, The Selecter; bands der sammen i et par år tegnede et selvstændigt stærkt og livsbekræftende billede på de engelske hitlister…

Nite Klub — The Specials
The Prince — Madness
Ne-Ne-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nu-Nu — Bad Manners
007 (Shanty Town) — The Bodysnatchers
Three Minute Hero — The Selecter
Ranking Full Stop — The Beat
Big Shot — The Beat
Concrete Jungle — The Specials
Swan Lake — Madness
Razor Blade Alley — Madness
Missing Words — The Selecter
Let’s Do the Rock Steady — The Bodysnatchers
Lip Up Fatty — Bad Manners
Madness — Madness
Too Much Too Young — The Specials
On My Radio — The Selecter
Easy Life — The Bodysnatchers
Rough Rider — The Beat
Man at C&A — The Specials
Inner London Violence — Bad Manners
Night Boat to Cairo — Madness
Twist and Crawl — The Beat
Wooly Bully — Bad Manners
Too Much Pressure — The Selecter
Mirror in the Bathroom — The Beat
One Step Beyond — Madness
Nite Klub — The Specials

Så hvem er Milky Edwards?

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Efter at zillioner af blogs – deriblandt denne – forleden bragte YouTube-fænomenet Milky Edwards & The Chamberlings heftige soul-versioner ud i Ziggy Stardust-æra David Bowie-covers, graver The Guardian nu dybere ned og prøver at finde ud af hvem Milky Edwards er, eller – rettere sagt – måske kunne være. Læs her.

Hvad er rock and roll…?

Richard Hell And The Voidoids - Blank Generation [1977] cover

Rock and roll is about natural grace, about style and instinct. Also the inherent physical beauty of youth, You don’t have to play guitar well or, by any conventional standard, sing well to make great rock and roll; you just have to have it, have to be able to recognize it, have to get it. And half of that is simply being young, meaning full of crazed sex drive and sensitivity to the object of romantic and sexual desire, and full of anger about all the lies you’re being fed, and all the control you’ve been subjected to, by those complacent adults. And a deep desire for some fun. And though rock and roll is about being cool, you don’t have to be cool to make real rock and roll – sometimes the most innocuos and pathetic fumblers only become graced by the way they shine in songs. And this is half of what makes the music the art of adolescence – that i doesn’t require any verifiable skill. It’s all essence, and it’s available to those who, to all appearances, have nothing.

Richard Hell i I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp, 2013.