Deliveries: part II

My god, I can only update this at weekends! College is being quite time consuming, I barely have time for myself, so the blog doesn't really have a word in this. The sad thing is, during the week I have a lot of ideas and cool stuff I want to share here in this blog, but I always forget them...

Well, first things first. The band that's going to introduce the The Cure concert has been announced! They are 65daysofstatic, a nice post-rock band from England which has been raising a big legion of fans for the last couple of years. I only listened to a full album of them yesterday, and I enjoyed it. Yes, they seem somewhat of a Godspeed You! Black Emperor rip off, but still they sound pretty good. And post-rock bands are always wonderful to be seen live, so I'm looking forward to it.

As for new albums, I've been listening to "No Fighting In The War Room", from Harrisons... but it's disappointing. I'll probably even delete it soon. "Dying To Say This To You" from The Sounds has a few good songs, including the so much acclaimed single "Painted By Numbers", and it's recommended for the grrrlriot new-aged fans. I'm currently trying to get albums from Meat Puppets, Yes, and The Replacements, three bands I listened to some tracks during this week and loved them. Can't wait to get the full business!

As for the video industry, I discovered one marvellous piece of stop-motion art, which was even about to get into the Oscar Nonimees! Unfortunately, and I still don't know why, it was rejected. It's funny, bloody, both beautiful and ugly, and it's a somewhat different approach to this kind of art. Highly recommended, it plays for less that 10 minutes and you can watch it here:



As for cinema, I watched the new Planet Terror, which is... amazing! In a very stupid way. The movie managed to compile all of the greatest action movies clichés and punchlines, and mix them with a really rotten kind of horror. A pure bloodfeast, but quite hilarious at the same time. I had a great time watching it, but you really need to be open minded about the whole concept. The role Tarantino played is small but freaking delicious!
I also wached The Messengers... which is the worst horror (horror? where?) movie I've seen in a long time.
The Devil's Rejects is another Rob Zombie movie - and the guy really knows how to build some characters. The plot is weak, but it works well enough to get your attention through all of it.

And for the first time, technology news! My laptop is an authentic oven nowadays, I can almost fry an egg on the top of that thing. On a regular basis, my processor's temperature gets about 79ºC, sometimes almost 90ºC during intense use. So I decided to give a try to Cooler Master Infinite, a very light base support for the laptop... and guess what, 18ºC less! Talk about keeping the technology fresh, it really works. And it's so light, I can carry it around with my laptop as well. It's relatively cheap and it works greatly, not to mention it's really pretty.

I guess that's it for the week.
And I'm listening to Velvet Underground!

Deliveries

Ahhh, the music era is coming back up again. Unfortunately the money is not, so I spent the last three hours just drooling at a dozen cds I had in hand I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally wanted to buy... but I'm a good boy, and I didn't.

And speaking of music, the new album from She Wants Revenge finally came out! This Is Forever was released only a few days ago, and still already managed to capture my attention. Don't be fooled, this is no debut album like the first one, I don't really think anyone would disagree about that. But it does not mean that This Is Forever can't be a good album - it is, the erotic darkwave premiss can still be heard and felt at the tip of your tongue and raise your body hairs like a television full of electrical static. And that's basically the whole contract... because SWR won't get much further away from that. So it seems like a deja-vu, and you will find nothing really new and refreshing about this new release. The sound and the taste remain the same, which is good, if you didn't get tired of the 2005's debut album.
The track "She Will Always Be a Broken Girl" seems to me like they did some cheating; it resembles a lot like the 2005 track "These Things"... with different beat and lyrics. Maybe they were getting out of their traditional recipee.

Another sensation of the week is the new Babyshambles album, Shotter's Nation. And much like the previous Down In Albion, it's hard not to enjoy it, but it's somewhat difficult to love it. That just might be a general problem with this kind of danceable-post-punk-indie-rock hippie sensation of nowadays; it feels right anytime, anywhere. But you simply don't miss it very often, even though you know you'll shake your booty to it whenever it starts playing. Shotter's Nation presents itself as what you expect it to be, 100% free of complications and confusing feelings attached. It will make us content, tap our fingers in the table, and listen more than once in a day, just because it feels right.

But the true sensation of the week, and probably for the whole month, is In Rainbows, the new "album" from Radiohead. I called it "album" since it's not an official commercial release, at least not in the traditional way we are used to. (yes, you may get it for free online, after a few days of waiting in queue). The very first track from this new release just feels like Radiohead, one would recognize it anywhere, anytime. I must admit I'm somewhat tired of the Radiohead feeling, well, the Thom Yorke feeling actually, so I didn't take this as good news to me. But as I kept listening to the album I found myself enjoying it quite a lot, the same way I enjoy listening to [what I call] emotionally neutral albums which you know it's safe to listen to. And unlike Hail To The Thief, you can safely tag this as the old and delicious alternative rock they made us so afraid to use. Far from being a complicated album, it has a very natural feeling attached and you slowly start to get caught in the middle of the whole processing.
No, it's not an Ok Computer, especially because this is not the 90's anymore... so In Rainbows feels like a Chocolate Cornetto on a rather cold Autumn afternoon. Personally, I've had it with Cornetto's. But I must admit that if I had never tried one, I think I would start to eat them more often from now on. It's just not the right time.

And I already got my ticket to The Cure :)

A Cura

Fuck yeah! The Cure are coming to Portugal next year! And I'm gonna be one of those banging in the first row I assure you \m/. I haven't been this excited since the latest Depeche Mode concert, back in 2006. And The Cure are even returning with a new album - if it's ever so good as the latest, Bloodflowers, it should certainly be more than welcome.

These last few days have been great. Everything in place, everything in order. Nothing but good news and well spent days & nights. I only wished I had more time to listen to music though... but oh well, you can't have it all I guess.

"...raspam a tinta velha das paredes da igreja, como corujas esfomeadas num oásis de cascalho. São bandos singulares, grupos solitários, que tremem como varas verdes a cada rugir daquele telhado podre. Espreitam-se pelas janelas descortinadas, com inveja e nojo do que não puderam outrora ser. Contam as histórias, os velhos pedaços de tinta que lá morrem pela relva seca."

Patti Smith always inspired me. That's because she's also a "Smith", in her own way. And in "Twelve", she sings the most beautiful version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" I have ever heard. She's gone soft, and apparently that's the new tendency! Polly Jean Harvey amazed me with her latest release. It's just like watching a white tiger morphing into a house kitten.

Both are pretty enjoyable.

MIA

Call and I'll answer at home in the lost and found
You say that I'm much too proud
Someone who's taking pleasure in breaking down
Nevermind the mannequins, drunk in their hollow town
Drinking their spoils down, cheap imitations
The revelation is now
You wont find me I'm going MIA
Tonight I'm leaving going MIA
Cause Getting lost in you again is better than being numb
Counting every minute till the feeling comes crashing down
Run when it hits the ground
I'm good at escaping
But better at faking out
Call in unanswered the center becomes blown out
Stuck on the inside now
It's fear I'm embracing
I never could face you down

I had forgotten about how much I loved this old Foo Fighters song, from 1999. I'm currently listening to their new album... but the more I listen to it, the more I want to listen to their old songs instead. So I guess it will take some time until I -only- listen to the new record!

I can't wait for the new She Wants Revenge album, and for the whatever next release of Led Zeppelin will be. Oh, and I finally managed to get my hands on the second CD of "Sketches for my Sweetheart the Drunk" from Jeff Buckley - I only have had the first one for years. It's simply... wonderful. Without a doubt, the second "Grace". Marvellous!

Let's dance

What a night. I missed things that rocked my world... after going through all the shit I've lived with for the past three months, I was truly needing some good stuff. But that's not enough, I won't rest until I feel I got what I KNOW I deserve.

I decided to post three (rather old) photos I took this year, just another few backstage shots that don't deserve more than a quick snap.

Starting with my beautiful cat, Luna \m/




And a gorgeous midnight snap of a backyard flower:


And a curious eye shot, with a fisheye vision to the entire street.


And yes, that's me in my winter jammies ;D

Moving Units

So everyone is starting to get a bit tired of the classic indie-rock. That's understandable, I am too. Not only because almost everything new nowadays is sistematically tagged as indie-rock, but mostly because new bands are simply reusing old recipees which, they think, is quite tasty for the majority of people.

That's what I feel whenever I'm listening to the new tendencies of this gender. I keep the old sparks alive, but in order to develop new ones, they have to burn and crave their names in fire, in my musical heart. And I believe that's what happening with "Hexes for Exes", the new album of "Moving Units".

I was test-driving new bands, and all of them were somewhat dissapointing. I already had a bad taste of insatisfaction in my mouth, especially after listening to the new album of "1990's". But as soon as my player got to Moving Units, a nice sweet flavor of ice cream invaded my mouth immediately. They are not just indie-rock-period, there's more to it. Hexes for Exes shares an aftertaste of a post-punk theme, reminding us what would be a softcore version of White Rose Movement. The opening track "Pink Thoughts" has an Interpol feeling, which subsequently directs us straight to Joy Division. But far away from being nearly similar, the sound is polished like some diamond waiting to be sold in a disco, straight from the dance floor.
Simple, yet straight, like some old 80's revival effort.

I must confess that a big part of all the atractiveness comes from the Pulp-similar singing. This is what a neo-Pulp band would feel like I'm sure, bathed in some kind of synthetic pop which makes you want both to shake your booty and appreciate the small pleasures of slowcore punk. The album will be officially released in October 9th, and I certainly hope it gets the attention it deserves.

I'm more than happy to rate it as a 7 out of 10.

Movie update!

My cinema sessions have decreased lately, mostly because of the money and time shortage. Time and Money, actually two of my favorite songs from Pink Floyd. I bet they didn't go to the movies a lot too. They couldn't, must have been quite sad.

The last movie I saw was Goya's Ghosts. I got really curious about this movie ever since I found out Francisco Goya's paintings, which are the most both bizarre and horrific... a third classifier would be "magnificent". A truly remarkable and surrealistic vision about the Spanish Inquisition, quite surprising especially for it's own time.

The movie features Stellan Skarsgård as Goya, Javier Bardem as an odd brother (Lorenzo), and the beautiful Natalie Portman as Inês / Alicia (she plays two roles). The main plot begins in a very simple way. Inês becomes an inspirational Muse to Goya, who keeps relating her to an Angel. She represents the state of the art of pureness to Goya. But, the inquisition soon declares Inês to be a heretic, against the wishes and fights of both Goya and her family. But the film is not a story of love... in fact, the sequences are as real as they can get. The plot develops mainly around these three main characters, and Goya does not get a major part of the plot here, like one would think.
Goya's Ghosts is not meant to be told, but to be seen. There is much beauty in all the scenes, as they're easily pictured as paintings. It's harsh like life sometimes is, so justice doesn't play a particular role here. You can find more information about the movie here.

We're going through changeeeeeeeeees!

Nevermind the lame title.

I finally moved today! New home! New bed! New shower! Same carpet tough, it's too fluffy to discard.

There's just something about moving. If there's a thing I hate, is looking for an apartment. Seriously, I would rather having some 12 year old kid kicking my ass all afternoon, than to spend it looking for a new home. By the previous July I was forced to find a new place, and found a neat little apartment about a mile away from where I was living before. It's a really small apartment... I'm used to the big ones, with a large living room to do whatever I want there. Now I dont even have a living room, but the room kicks butts. It's awesome!

I don't like the actual moving, but I feel pretty damn excited about it... today, when all the moving business was over, I didn't want to come home. I wanted to stay there already, try out the new place like some little girl plays with her Barbie house all day long. I know I'll be a little miserable there... I'll be mostly alone, with no one to talk to and discuss the day after the day it's over. I will miss that, and still don't know how it will affect me from now on.

Well, I guess I'll try to find excuses NOT to come home...! But until those days come, there's still a lot of work to be done. You better start wishing me luck now, because I'll be needing it badly for the next weeks.