Porto ... If you make it there you make it anywhere!

André: hello
:)
me: hello
how is it going
?
André: great
e o teu dia que tal?
me: mais ou menos
e o teu?
André: Está tudo bem?
me: arghh
mas uns dias são piores
não és só tu mon petit
André: fodasse
mas podes dizer
"foi uma merda"
podia se ter combinado a noite de cinema...
me: não foi uma merda
se fosse tinha dito
foi neutro
que ainda é pior
André: yaaa
ouve, vinha agora de carro a pensar nisso
o porto seria o lounge da musica
vinha a pensar nestas metáforas
musica e a vida aqui...
me: lololololololololol
André: é ou não é?
está se bem, o tempo é porreiro, temos tranquilidade, comidinha na mesa
não falta nada excepto algo inesperado
me: sim é verdade
falta um pouco de fake culture
é demasiado roots
real
praia
areia
copos
fuck it, quando é que queers se misturam?
André: lol
me: Vou por esta conversa no blogue
André: que perigo
não digo mais nada.

The dance of desire . Berlin 1987

I love this crowd.

Letting Up Despite Great Faults: "Our Younger Noise"

"Who am I? This is a question that many have died trying to answer... I can only be identified on a slab, by the scars of pain." Moz 2k9

"If ever a venue was made for a gong, was the Bowery Ballroom".

My fav room, or should I say Ballroom. One of my fav artists. What was to became one of my fav backstage scenarios. It was a peacefull night in 2k9, March 21st in NY. Peacefull until the fans start showing up trying to find last minute tickets, peacefull until the man crossed the stage. On that peacefull night, we were "like a jealously guarded can of sardines". Well, afterall, we just didn´t care about peace anymore.

Lizzy Mercier Descloux II

Lizzy Mercier Descloux

She´s dead but who isn´t? After Saramago died, death is not the same anymore. Her name is Lizzy Mercier Descloux and she was a French musician. She was Patti Smith´s BBF in New York, they even shared a loft in Manhattan. The picture above is her and Patti at what seems to be a party. It could have been Yesterday. But it was around 1976.

She looks like a 14 y. old boy, and she sing like a 13 y.old girl. Her music is very cool and you can almost hear all the travelling she did through it. If I could I would upload all the photos I have of her but then I had to rename the blog. I leave it to your curiosity.

Interpreta.

O texto que se segue é um excerto de uma conversa entre amigos. Menos pragmática do que a discussão Like a virgin do Reservoir dogs, mas não menos interessante. Sempre devorei letras e interpretei-as à minha maneira. Continuo a achar que essa é a magia da música. Ela foi feita para ser partida em sentidos e só depois encaixada a cada pessoa.

208, Beco dos Nobres, Ribatejo, 7.14 p.m.

“É claro que a música não é nada mais do que uma triste constatação da efemeridade dos sentimentos. Ouve: More than this, you know there´s nothing . Qualquer coisa como um amor explosivo. Algo surpreendentemente transcendente que ao longo do tempo se tornou algo terrivelmente trivial.”

O Carlos interrompe a Sara.

“Não queres por o amor num patamar ainda mais triste do que esse? Tás a’xagerar. Tás sempre com essa puta de visão pessimista. Irritas-me.”

Sara mando-o calar.

“E é o processo de descida que compreende toda a mestria do amor. Sem este processo não existe amor e nunca poderá existir . Construímos castelos para depois nos prendermos dentro deles… E tem que ser assim senão nada é real. Tem de haver mudança e o que fica é essa metamorfose de sentimentos.”

O Carlos passa-se.

“Estas completamente enganada não percebes que a música do brilhante Mr Ferry é a constatação entre duas pessoas que se amam que não existe mais nada além do amor que sentem uma pela outra? Que aquilo que sentem é pura e simplesmente TUDO.”

A Sara enerva-se.

“Carlos, o amor não pode ser tão imaterial como o queres celebrar. Lamento. Os sentimentos existem como existem pessoas, envelhecem como as pessoas e modificam-se como as pessoas. O principal aliado do amor nesta canção esgotou-se, envelheceu e modificou-se. Por outras palavras o interesse partiu para dar lugar ao outra coisa, amizade, segurança (?)…”

O Diogo interrompe.

“Vocês estão completamente enganados! Vê-se mesmo que são Portugueses. Bufff. Leiam a letra com atenção, traduzam-na se for preciso, e vejam que não é nenhum hino de amor eterno ou uma tese sobre a controvérsia dos sentimentos. A música é clara. É apenas a mais conhecida recusa amorosa. A relação terminou. Não há cá amizades ou amor para sempre. Não há NADA, fodasse.”

By Tracy

"I'm highschool lover"

I don´t listen to AIR anymore, but when I did it was rather in my room or alone in my car. Being at the concert last Sunday, at Coliseu do Porto, and having to share them with the audience was not that fun. Apart from the people (that are not erasable, anyway) that was something that I felt they could definitely erase : The screen! Too much visual noise for such a clean sound.

They didn´t play my virgin suicides fav track but I was happy to listen to Cherry blossom girl again, but now with the extra-special French akçant. It felt like early 2000 again.

Yes, he was waving at me :P

Who the Fuck are The Black Lips?

It’s 1999, the world is about to burst into flames and have monkey demons flying and stuff. Amália Rodrigues dies (maybe the world was really about to end) and in the US two apparently normal high school kids leave home and go to algebra class, with them there’s more firepower then the whole Portuguese country and they kill/injured more people than the Portuguese army in all their history. I’m not kidding, we got ridden of dictatorship without firing a gun. So, it’s 1999, Amália dies and two young boys give rise to the Columbine Massacre. As moral majority as US rednecks can be, instead of restricting fire arms, schools began to kick out students that were the so called, “subculture danger”. Two of these students were Cole and Jared, guitarist and bassist of The Black Lips. So 1999 wasn’t the end of the world as some might though but was it the beginning of the end? For the Black Lips it seemed so, as the original lineup had one death before they even got a record! Later substituted by Ian St Pé, the booze seller for them in young age and with Joe in drums they never changed the lineup again. Well at least when they’re not touring with King Khan (of the infamous King Khan and BBQ Show) who often joins them throughout their rock celebration. The Black Lips have already a small career, spanning through six albums. In 2007 we can find “Good Bad not Evil”, their cornerstone. Equivalent to London Calling for The Clash or Let it Bleed for The Rolling Stones, tracks like “Bad Kids”, “Cold Hands” or the infamous “Katrina” excelled to perfection in the raw garage sound that they had until then, thus creating a new kind of garage-psichodelic-country-punk anthems. Also, they got a little smell of success, appearing in some important covers of magazines and featuring in Conan O’Brien when he, well, still had a TV show. So, it’s 1999. And guess who also died? Kubrick. Guess whose concerts are like watching Clockwork Orange? Ok, they don’t really call themselves droogs, wear white and drink milk, but the malice, the explicit content is all there… they vomit, they kiss, they play guitar with their dicks, they spit, they bleed, they sweat and then… everybody’s doing it, like their song suggestive song, "Everybody's Doing It"! They got even kicked out from India after a few shows in a land, well let’s put it this way, not so used to foreigners playing naked. Outrageous and as real as rock’ n’ roll should be, you get involved with the music, with the antics and most likely you start singing “do you really wanna hold my dirty hands?” and next minute you’re in a stage invasion pumped up with whatever you drink or took from the crazy naked guy jumping up and down in a complete freakshow, seeing chariots of hell driven by amps and sweats! Whoa! And this is not in 1999, this was last week in a Black Lips concert!

By Ranho Ácido

“Foram mil epopéias, vidas tão cheias, foram oceanos de amor”

O primeiro ano que me lembro de ver, escrever, pensar foi o de 1989. Recordo a minha professora primária escreve-lo no quadro a giz branco, nesses tempos em que as tardes eram arrastadas com os trabalhos de casa e as noites encurtadas com o Vitinho. Lembro isso e mais, lembro o anual festival da Eurovisão, do peguei trinquei da Dina e do em playback do Cid. Mas lembro melhor uma das minhas primeiras referencias musicais, os Da Vinci e da encantadora vocalista, a Jerry Hall Portuguesa : lei Or. Naquela altura e agora adorei-a. Cabelo frisado encostado a um lado, chapéu à Carmen San Diego de abas largas e luvas de renda à like a virgin Madonna. Um som (em português) inovador aliado ao look super dark-o-cool da altura. Foi fantástico, e continua a ser revê-los no you tube.

Like Banjee said: “ I was there in 1989.
I was there at the first Da Vinci show in Lisbon.
I'm losing my edge.”

Swimming music pool

I accidentally (?) came across with the Neverever and saw this set of pictures on their myspace page that represented their influences. I immediately knew this post was gonna be about them.For the respect I have for architecture & Liberati. If their music sounds like this swimming pool I am in.

About the band it seems that, according to Patrick Taylor, “They combine sixties pop, seventies punk, and nineties pop punk into a mix that is catchy and melodic while retaining a rough edge.” They are from LA and one of the members is French. Both things always helps a lot. I hope the swimming pool doesn´t disappoint me so I am going to listen to their music now.

P.s. In the article PT compared their lyrics with Morrissey´s (in case it helps more than the picture)

Strike a pose AKA Every revolution need a strong position

Preciso de modelos para as minhas aspirações em formas de posições político musicais. Os meus avós recusaram-se. A minha irmã (desde que não tem mais resumos de Filosofia para eu lhe fazer) já não aguenta a pressão de ter de ser fotografada a fazer "figurinhas".

Se quiserem fazer parte deste movimento sem movimento de posições politicas invisíveis mandem-me as vossas fotos. Depois da posição ideal será certamente mais fácil lutar pelos nossos ideais, com ou sem pólo Ralph Lauren.

I’m in Brooklyn baby, with a premonition

Dance-rock, a genre made popular by The Rapture and Radio 4, was one of the movements that exploded in the 9/11 aftermath. Both bands have in common the fact that their early works were produced by James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy, co-founders of DFA records. At the time, besides running DFA, James Murphy was busy throwing parties in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and working on “Losing My Edge”, which would be the first single released by LCD Soundsystem, his own musical project.

The first time I saw LCD playing live was at a DFA records showcase at a summer festival. To the best of my knowledge, this was the sickest thing ever organized in Portugal. The LCD concert was a total blast, but not least memorable were the performances by other acts signed by DFA, like The Juan Maclean and Hot Chip. Discovering their music and listening to it had a familiar feeling: it was like getting to know someone and suddenly realizing how much you can relate to that person. Their music wasn’t a summer affair; it wasn’t a seasonal trend like new-rave or blog-house. LCD, and more generally DFA, is about music with longevity.

Later I was fortunate enough to see them playing live many times. The build-ups, the repetitions, the effortlessly chill vocals, the tense guitars, the over-layered synths, everything done with such a slick production. James Murphy’s dj sets are never to be missed and offer true inroads towards the influences behind his music. Particularly memorable were the Special Disco Version parties, where he often dj’d, and a warm up party at P.S. 1 where he graced a beautiful afternoon with out of this world disco, finishing his set with the track “Comanchero”. “Damn, this redefines icing on the cake”, I remember thinking to myself.

“This is Happening” is out and the word on the street is that this might be LCD’s last album. Sad. But their legacy is of that kind that stays indifferent to time and forgetfulness. “Losing my edge” set the tone for the last decade. Let’s just hope it sets the tone for this one. And for the next. Because “with someone new I couldn’t start it. Too late for beginnings.”

By Banjee

O desespero soa a "Wild is the wind" aka "Who made this rules anyway"

Sou fã de Kates e a Kate Winslet é uma das. Achei-a brilhante (e os americanos também- finalmente) no Revolucionary Road. O filme é lindo de morrer. Ela esta soberba. E como não podia deixar de ser a música é perfeita. Nunca tinha ouvido a versão original do “Wild is the wind” da Nina Simone e fiquei surpreendida. A versão do David Bowie é linda e esta não lhe fica nem 5 cms atrás. Atrevia-me a dizer que fica 5 cms à frente. E quando se supera algo que por si só já era tido como genial é gratificante.

Incrivelmente as ondulação do vento e deste amor cantado são quase palpáveis, inserido no filme da à música um tom de desespero que caí como uma luva em todo o enredo e personagens. “Love me, Love me, Love me, say you do”.

Strike a pose

You have read it somewhere, something like: style comes from the inside, or style is attitude, or even, personality is last and first apparel. One thing is undeniable, style you have it or you don´t. Don´t even try if you don´t feel it.
All to say that, the kid on the picture has it. He was the coolest kid I met lately. There were like 30 primary school kids hanging on that pinkish fence but this one stole the picture.
If I had a band I will try to make an album cover with this attitude. I think the pose is genius. It reminds me of something, I don´t know if it was from the 80´s or if it was a part of an African dance... I think is definitely something to remember and something to share.

I shot the sheriff but "Who shot rock ‘n’ roll" ?

A exposição “Quem fotografou o rock ‘n’ roll” esteve durante os primeiros meses deste ano no museu de Brooklyn e acabei por só ter oportunidade de a visitar no penúltimo dia.

Para começar, a própria exposição seria um óptimo cenário a ser fotografado. A aderência e a competitividade entre os visitantes era tal que parecia o inicio de um concerto de rock. No que respeita o conteúdo, ou melhor, as fotografias propriamente ditas posso afirmar sem receios maiores que eram todas (sem excepção) magnificas. Polémicas, icónicas, histéricas, momentâneas mas eternamente memoráveis! Facilmente conhecidas mas mesmo assim apresentadas com um novo ar - dando um bom espaço ao re-conhecimento. Houve uma em particular que me chamou a atenção. Acho-a engraçada, tola e pitoresca. Percebe-se sem enunciado o fanatismo, o país onde foi tirada, a época que retrata e para os super atentos a banda pela qual as fãs estão a gritar.

O livro está a venda na fnac, tem uma suada Tina Turner na capa, e custa o mesmo que custava na loja do museu. Se tiverem oportunidade desfolhem-no ou comprem-no.