Ah, Lori Hayman Helms.  So beautiful she was.  And probably still is.

Lori was Chet Helm's wife, but he got all the glory.  Chet was the outgoing, easygoing impresario with the Texas accent who founded Big Brother and the Holding Company, then went on to pioneer the weekly rock dances at the Avalon Ballroom.  Without Chet and the Family Dog, the Haight-Ashbury as we remember it never would have happened.  So Chet got all the press, all the glory.  Lori got nothing but grief.

I remember their big wedding bash in December, 1965.  Chet rented a hall in the Mission somewhere and everybody was there in their finest thrift store finery.  What a scene! My date Linda Lovely wore the black beaded flapper dress I'd scored for her at a thrift shop in Virginia City.   I knew only my belted maroon velvet smoking jacket, my striped bell bottoms - wool, very classy - my high collared, mod navy blue shirt with its tiny white flowers scattered in every direction, my long flowing Pondering Pig locks and, of course, my shiny black Beatle boots, de rigueur in the era, only these could match the splendor of the occasion.

The hippies' own rock band, The Charlatans, were on form that night, playing the most danceable rock 'n roll in the City That Knows How, and all the hippies were sweatin' it out on the dance floor.  I ran into my pal Peter Kramer and he introduced me to his new guitar-playing friend Terry MacNeil. They were writing songs together and getting ready to start a band called the Sopwith Camel.   Peter had never sang a note in his life as far as I remember  - he was an aspiring filmmaker - but why should that stop him?  He was clever, he wrote funny lyrics and, hey, George Hunter, leader of The Charlatans, couldn't even play an instrument.  He'd taken up autoharp so he could hold something onstage.  This was 1965, man.  Possibility was rife!

What a party! Chet was floating, pot was smoking, pigs were dancing, punch was drinking - where was Lori?

I hope she was smiling.

Lori was a sweetheart and as beautiful as Jean Shrimpton (for those who came in late, The Shrimp was the most famous English Supermodel of the era) but watching Lori was like watching a living Antonioni film -  quiet, with big lost eyes. She was hurting inside, even I could see that - but what it was I never knew. She kept her heart hidden. Lori wasn't unique - it's funny how many gorgeous bohemians I knew with hearts like that  - the Valium generation.

Oh, one more little memory - about eight months earlier I moved into a two-story flat on Page Street. Chet and Lori were living in the attic, the nicest room in the house, and Chet was running the place.   What I particularly remember was their cat - a fat tortoiseshell named Hecate. Hecate - the goddess of witchcraft, right? Appropriate for a cat. And you could also pronounce it, "Heah, kitty."

I've heard vaguely that today Lori is a Shakespearean scholar of some renown. I wouldn't know, I haven't seen the kid in forty years. God bless her - and that goes for all you Haight-Ashbury girls.

Photo by Marilyn Jones McGrew

I removed the back seats in the van and put in some mattrasses, which actually made for a comfortable bed (at least much more comfortable than any tent would be. And drier). We got water and food that won't turn bad without a fridge and arrived in Salzburg in the afternoon. We parked the car in a nice meadow and then the fun could begin.

Surprisingly, it was sunny and hot and as we walked (about a mile, I'd say) to the actual festival area on the Salzburg Ring (Formula 1 car race thingy), I thought about all the warm clothes I brought and if they were really necessary.

Anyway, we arrived just in time for The Dresden Dolls. I have to admit that I was one of those people who didn't really know any song by them (except Coin-Operated Boy, which was featured in a commercial in Austria) and I wasn't the only one by far.
Their show was great, very itense and funny and the music is really worth looking into more closely. And I loved their Eisbär version:

Extra: Amanda Palmer performing Neil Gaiman's song "I Google You":

Next stop was José González. Again, someone I "met" through an ad, this time a more international one, for the Sony Bravia LCD TV, the spot where the rubber balls jump through San Francisco [The Knife's Heartbeats].

He sat alone with his guitar on the stage and seemed a bit lost, too small. But only until he started singing, because with his voice and his playing, he immediately filled all the space. He even enticed some teenages girls to scream "ROSE! [sic] WE LOVE YOU!" [which had me laughing to no end... and reminded me of last year, when I was at the Frequency with my sis and we saw The Good, the Bad and the Queen and I explained to her that it was Damon Albarn singing. And she fought her way to the first row and then screamed: "DAMIEN!!!"].
Anyway, José finished with Teardrop. How cool can a person be? Covering Massive Attack and actually being good at it is definitely amazing.  Here's the video:

During Flogging Molly, we didn't really listen, but did some shopping and went to the ATM, which took up most of our time [1 ATM, 50.000 or so people], so I can't really tell you about their performance. But people seemed to enjoy it.

Then came Travis. [Btw: New Album coming out in a month: Ode to J. Smith] After I got over my initial shock of "FUCK! Fran's going grey!", I really, really enjoyed them. They just got everything. They seem nice, they know how to rock, they have good music and they definitely know how to work a crowd. And they must have some contract with the weather goddess, because right around singing "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?", it started to rain [Well, at least some drops...]. [And I was happy that I had some clothes for the cold with me.]
I love those guys. Seriously, if you ever get the chance to see them live, do so. They're great!

After Travis, there came R.E.M., arguably the biggest band at the whole festival. They started with "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", which obviously is a great choice for the Frequency festival. Unfortunately, all the light show and video installments couldn't change my feeling that it all was such a routine for them. They even introduced the song "Imitation of Life" with the exact same sentence they said 3 years ago at their concert in Vienna ("It's always a special pleasure to introduce our next song, the first number one hit we ever had in Japan."). And they played only 70 minutes.
I mean, okay, they gave us a 5 song encore after that, which was good and left me feeling not completely disappointed, but still. The headliners in the last years usually played like 2 hours...

Anyway, we made our way back to the car and arranged ourselves and fell asleep, just as it started to rain. For real this time. It still rained, when we woke up the next morning. S., who only stayed for the first show, tried to wait till it rained less to get to the shuttle bus to Salzburg city, but unfortunately, it wouldn't stop.

Deadra and me waited. Therefore, we missed The Roots, for which I am very sorry. Finally, it stopped raining at about 4.30 and we made our way back down, through more mud than I thought possible to exist (boy, was I glad that I bought gum boots) and arrived basically as the Dirty Pretty Things played the last notes. 

We got some coffee and I got a new piercing (not a new hole, just a new ball thingy). See: 

(sorry for the crappy quality, it's pretty hard to take a photo of something in your face yourself)

Afterwards we headed to IAMX and that was a great show. I love the Sneaker Pimps and though IAMX is different, there's still this undertone that Chris Corner carries along.
And who doesn't love a guy, who wears a Two-Face style black and white jacket (no shirt) and hat, suspenders and black and white striped socks?
Anyway, I danced till I felt like my feet would fall off and then I danced some more. Really cool stuff.

Next, we caught some of The Charlatans, who probably would be a good band, if it wasn't for their lead singer. Tim Burgess has the charisma of a dead frog, the energy of a stoned, dead frog and the haircut of The Beatles meet Anton Chigurh. Not a good thing if you want to perform life.

Anyway, as it started to rain again, we headed for the UK Weekender stage, which was inside a tent. (And probably one of the few places, where we wouldn't have to listen to The Hives' self-admiration.) Only young and relatively unknown bands played there. We saw Kingsize, who have potential, but not their own sound yet and a bit of The Indelicates, who sounded really nice and have really cool fan shirts, but unfortunately, we didn't really have the time to listen to them, because we needed to go out into the rain and see Iron and Wine.

It was raining pretty hard, this drizzly kind of rain that you hardly see but which drenches you within minutes. And it was fucking freezing. I really envied Iron and Wine, standing underneath all those spotlights.
Their performance was really nice. Unfortunately, it was much too cold and their music is not really dance-y, so we stood an hour basically motionless in the rain. Every once in a while, Samuel Beam would be astonished that there were still people listening to him. ("You really must love music", is what he said.)
But we do love music and I especially love his music. I rather listened to him than the Manic Street Preachers, anyway.

But after this show, we called it a day. The Rain would get into deadra's sleeves everytime she clapped and I didn't have a hood on my jacket. So, we let the Fantastischen Vier (Fantastic Four) be the Fantastischen Vier. They are cool, but not worth getting seriously sick.

Again, we had to fight our way through the mud, which had become even more. When we arrived at the car, we let the heater run for half an hour before we went to sleep. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to get our clothes dry. But both of us were prepared for that case.

Again, it rained the night through and by morning, the idyllic meadow we parked on looked like this:

A lot of people were leaving. So many, in fact, that we were afraid that they cancelled the festival. (which thankfully, they didn't). We decided to wait if the rain stopped until five and if it didn't, we would drive home. Fortunately, we only had to wait till 3.15, then it really stopped raining and we were on our way again. This time, the mud had increased so much that the gum boots were hardly enough (I swear, if they had been 2 cm shorter, the mud would have spilled inside). At times, we sank so much, that I was afraid that I'd lose the boots if I pulled too hard.

First thing we saw was Julia (link's in German), an Austrian (punk) rock band. Their music's good, better than the average Austrian band, but not my style. They also sang a song with Itchy Poopzkid (link's in German, again), a German punk rock band with probably the stupidest name I've ever heard.

After them, it was The Subways' turn. I didn't really know much of them before, but I like them. Nice, catchy songs and definitely one of the best shows this Frequency. And Charlotte Cooper speaks really good German (Billy Lunn not so much).

In the break between The Subways and Kaizers Orchestra, deadra got herself a Henna tattoo (real one is out of the question, needle phobia. And, in my opinion, a festival's not the right place for that anyway). It looks really cool, don't you think? Unfortunately, it's fading already.

Also, it was announced that the Babyshambles cancelled. Not surpising (surprising was that, at least that's the official story, the reason was not that Pete Doherty was too high to perform, but that he missed the flight. And the rescheduled flight as well), but a shame nonetheless. I would have liked to see them. The Babyshambles (and also the Libertines) are a good band, and Pete Doherty would be a great singer/songwriter, if he'd manage to perform every once in a while.

Kaizers Orchestra were pretty cool. Norwegian singing and still internationally successful should say it all. There show's extravagant: They use crowbars and dust bins and their piano/accordion player, Helge Omen Kaizer,  wears a gas mask. Their tunes are catchy, they use gypsy and arabic melodies and it's all very danceable. Plus, their lead singer, Janove Ottesen/Sjakalen Kaizer is hot. 
And they gave us a almost twice as long show to make up for the missing Babyshambles.

By now, deadra and me were fighting the cold. It didn't rain anymore, but the temperature had dropped to around 10°C, which is frickin' freezing.

deadra: "Tea?"
me: "Yeah. I'll go and buy the cool over knees we saw the other day. Want a pair?"
deadra: "Yes."
me: "Who's the next band anyway?"
deadra: "The Dropkick Murphys. Where are they from?"
me: "Don't know. Ireland? At least, they really work with the Irish imagery."
deadra: "Then they could be from Boston as well."

So, I went and bought the over knees, which were the third pair of socks I was wearing. And deadra got the tea and then the Dropkick Murphys started to play and turns out, they really are from Boston.

They were good, but it's not really my style of music. I prefer the Irish folk songs without the rock. They played a little longer as well, thanks to the Babyshambles.

Finally, it was time for The Killers. They started with Somebody Told Me, which was the right choice to get us warm again, at least a little bit. Unfortunately they slacked off a bit. But by then, deadra and me were too busy wondering about the video wall director. We were standing in the back, we depended on the screen to see more than fingersized man shaped shadows and a lot of stage lighting (very cool lighting, btw). And the director refused to show Brandon Flowers, instead showed almost exclusively Dave Keuning. I don't insist on the main focus being on the lead singer, which is the usual thing at such events, but they never showed him, which is not normal. I mean, Flowers would move about the stage and the camera would move the other way. Flowers played one song on the piano, alone, and the camera showed the lighting.
I have some theories as to why they did this (the director has a grudge against Flowers, Flowers has a special kind of contract, it was a doppelganger singing playback, ...), but when they came back for the encore, Flowers couldn't talk, he only slurred and altogether, the show was really short. So either, Flowers was tired and jet lagged and dead on his feet or he was high and either way, he/his management didn't want people to know.
[If you have any other theories, you're very welcome to share.]

Well, after that, we went to see if Tricky would be as cool as he promised to be. But we didn't stay long, because the music was so loud that you hardly could hear it, it seemed more like noise. [I'm not saying that it's his music in general that sounds like noise. More that the sound guy at the Frequency was tired already.] And we were tired. And very, very cold.

So, we went back to the car and there, the horror struck us: we would stay another night, but so many people wouldn't, that there was hardly any grass left and the whole place was a mud field. And there were tractors moving about, pulling people and their cars out of it because they couldn't manage alone anymore.

We hoped, against reason, that the next day it would be better and that a VW van is probably better equipped to handle this situation than a VW Lupo. And went to sleep.

We awoke again at 4.30 in the morning, because it was too cold. Much too cold. I lay in my sleeping bag and had the choice to cover my face and start hyperventilating [I can't stand it, if my face's covered. Panic ensues] or probably lose my nose to frostbite. But I also couldn't bring myself to leave the sleeping bag and start the car and wait for the heating. Fortunately, deadra could and she saved my nose.

When we woke up again, reasonably warm and ready to depart, we saw that the tractors were still at it, pulling cars out of the mud. We gathered our things and I started the car to try to see how far we would get.

Well, the answer was "not far". I manage to turn the car around and then got stuck and ended up farther from the street than we had been parked. And then we had to wait for almost two hours until the tractor came to our rescue...

The drive home was uneventful, but my arrival home and subsequently in the bath tub was great. I don't think I ever enjoyed warm water as much.

Indeed, I last saw them play two Christmases ago when they toured to promote an album of their greatest hits. The songs were great, but the show felt too one-paced, as they simply went from one cracking tune to another. Now, that might sound like an odd thing to say, but a little bit of downtime during gigs is necessary if you are to enjoy the high points all the more. In other words, you can have so much of a good thing that you cease to appreciate it... At some stage, I started to drift a bit and the show passed me by.

Anyway, I would not like to think that this is my last memory of The Charlatans playing live. At the same time, I am lukewarm at best regarding the new album.

Does anyone care to try and persuade me either way? Has anyone seen them recently?

Happy Mondays, The Charlatans y Nada Surf encabezan la cuarta edición de B-SIDE FEST. Un trío de lujo para un festival de lujo que como cada año cierra la temporada de festivales. Y es que tras el caluroso verano nada mejor que disfrutar de B-Side Fest, un soplo de aire fresco ante los númerosos eventos masificados que han poblado el verano español.

Por primera vez el festival cuenta con ZONA DE ACAMPADA LIBRE en un paraje junto al recinto del festival. Al igual que año pasado se trata del Estadio de Fútbol Sánchez Cánovas, de cesped natural.

HAPPY MONDAYS, "los locos de Manchester" llegan hasta B-SIDE FEST como cabezas de cartel de esta cuarta edición. Con ellos llega ese punto mágico que tanto caracteriza al festival. Están en activo desde los primeros años 80 y llegan hasta aquí en plena forma y paseando su último trabajo “Uncle Dysfunktional” (2007) por los grandes escenarios de todo el mundo. Los chicos que un día descubrío Tony Wilson (Factory Records/Hacienda Club) son hoy unos veteranos de la escena que no han perdido un ápice de lo que les hacía y les sigue haciendo tan especiales. Son mucho más que una banda de pop. Sobre el escenario de B-Side podremos disfrutar de un verdadero show de música. Mucho más, sin duda. Happy Mondays son posiblemente el referente más importante de todas y cada una de las ban das de pop que han salido de Reino Unido en los últimos veinte años. Un ejemplo claro es la banda de los Gallagher, que reconocen a Happy Mondays como su principal influencia. Y es que hasta uno de sus temas puso título a la película sobre la vida de su descubridor: 24 Hour Party People.

THE CHARLATANS llegan también desde Reino Unido. Sin duda son una de las bandas más importantes de la afamada década de los noventa y que llegan hasta nuestros días con una salud musical envidiable y formando parte de los principales festivales europeos. La banda de Tim Burgess regresa con "You Cross My Path", un disco que hace unos meses se pudo descargar de forma gratuita a través de la web de la radio inglesa XFM, y que ahora se puede adquir sólo en tiendas de Internet. Una iniciativa parecida o al menos como forma de ir contra la ind ustria musical, al menos en España, llegó el nuevo disco de NADA SURF a nuestro país. Ellos estaran en B-Side Fest. Son el primer grupo que repite ya que estuvieron en la primera edición del festival. Este año tenian que estar y así lo harán. Publicaron "Lucky" en febrero y lo regalaron en la mini gira que hicieron en nuestro país con la entrada a sus conciertos. Esa mini gira y la siguiente en abril se cerró con llenos absolutos en ciudades como Madrid, Barcelona, Vigo, Bilbao, Valencia... Nada Surf goza en España de un cariño especial por parte del público. Sus conciertos son verdaderas explosiones de buenas vibraciones musicales. Lo demostrarán y lo veremos. Losde Nueva York están de vuelta tras triunfar en el Festival de Benicassim.

FACTO DELAFÉ Y LAS FLORES AZULES son el grupo revelación de la escena pop nacional. Aunque lo suyo es mucho más que pop. Es una deliciosa mezcla de hip hop y música pop, soul, electrónica... Oríginales como pocos, un soplo de aire fresco a la música nacional. Han conquistado a público y crítica por igual. NIÑOS MUTANTES será otra de las apuestas nacionales. Los de Granada se encuentran en su mejor momento con su disco "Todo es el momento" con producción de FINO OYONARTE.

::MENTES-INQUIETAS::

It flattered to deceive. ‘Spread Your Love’, their next foray into the UK Top 30, sounded like ‘Spirit In The Sky’ and tepid albums gave way to a grasp at serious cred with third long-player Howl, an nth-generation tilt at rootsy blues. Who needs it?

The tidal wave of gee-tar prompted Junior to sling on the plastic Strat and rumble along with BRMC. Finding the jarring piano button on her axe, she was then moved to delve into the toy box for the pink keyboard, and the ensuing cacophony had Junior 2 looking aghast. Pure-spun rock’n’roll. It sounded like some godawful mash-up – appropriate in 2001, when the world and his wife were at it.

Reminds me - I must be the only man alive who doesn’t own 2 Many DJs’ As Heard On Radio Soulwax. Or, entirely unrelated, Röyksopp’s Melody A.M. Or Damien Rice’s O. Or Nevermind.

“You Cross My Path” é o novo trabalho deste sobrevivente da geração Madchester e ao contrário do que muitos pensam, ele não é saudosista. Mostra Tim Burgess e seus comparsas afinados e antenados com o rock moderno.

Esta é a segunda volta triunfal de 2008 (a primeira fica por conta do The Verve). A banda disponibilizou o álbum na X Fm antes de seu lançamento oficial e faixas como "Mis-takes", "The Misbegotten" e "Oh! Vanity "fazem valer a pena cada segundo de sua audição.

Nunca esqueço o show do Charlatans no Olympia (SP) durante a tour do ótimo Wonderland em 2001. Uma das melhores performances ao vivo que presenciei. E ao contrário de seus conterrâneos do Oasis (que lançam álbuns cada vez piores e repetitivos), eles ainda têm muito para contar.

Mis-takes 2008

Then 1991

BEZZI

]]> http://missliliphoto.wordpress.com/?p=1306 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:18:49 +0000 missliliphoto http://missliliphoto.wordpress.com/?p=1306 Tim is using my photee as his profile photee. This makes me happy :)

And got this earlier from the lovely Mr. Goulden - along with this comment:

"from sunday night when you were jumping about like a 15 year old"

it's me and Tim - WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

clic derecho :·: descargar :·: dj pericoapa : dos·ocho mix

(i* sestá tomando un descanso: haber zurcado los dolorosos ríos de la ciudad más de trescientas veces amerita que, al menos, un martes nublado como éste sea enteramente suyo. quién sabe, puede que de repente despierte como de una pesadilla y me busque para decirme que acabemos con todas las iglesas del centro no sin antes permitir que la lluvia nos bautice).

es ninha de perros ··no le gusta quescriba con nh en vez de enhe··, de té verde, de fleco y diadema, de jocho de primos y dos o tres copas de vino; de pésimos chistes; de pantorrillas que, carnívoro, agradezco para masturbarme; de besos en las clavículas y de sexo autodidacta. le gusta interrumpir los fines de semana de intensiva destrucción por drogas con un maratón de películas que ya nadie nadie nadie ve, como las peores de stanley donen o bad lieutenant de ferrara.

(i* tiene razón, jamás podría nadie arrebatarle esa íntima bolsita que es como un polvo brillante con el que salpica mis ojos antes de que despierte y, al despertar, todo es veinticuatro de diciembre, el año por fin termina, llegamos a casa y el único esfuerzo es imaginar qué chingados hay adentro desas cajas y envoltorios).

aquí, sobresta tierra, somos reina y rey. ten cuidado : los invasores se acercan. aquí, sobresta tierra, somos reina y rey, y nadie más puede serlo. nadiestará tan a salvo como nosotros dos. los invasores se acercan, pero nadie tiene dos caballos tan veloces como los nuestros.

clic derecho :·: descargar :·: dj pericoapa : dos·ocho mix

Setlist (Ride) :

Mouse Trap
Walk On Water
Taste
Like A Daydream
Birdman
Twisterella
Time Of Her Time
Crown Of Creation
Drive Blind
Vapour Trail
Since Then
Seagull
Leave Them All Behind
The Kids Are Alright

A la par que el Rock In Rio, en Bilbao también tienen su festival con sus grandes estrellas. El Bilbao BBK Live Festival 2008 se celebra en el monte Kobetas con un cartel de lujo y sin gente de relleno.

Los tres días que dura el festival las puertas se abriran a las 16:00 de la tarde para que la gente pueda ir acomodándose con tranquilidad. Constará de dos escenarios y una carpa. Aquí son menos rebuscados que en el Rock In Rio y no se complican la vida para ponerle nombrecitos "guays" a los escenarios. Con un Escenario 1, Escenario 2 y Carpa Vodafone van sobrados y nos entendemos todos igual.

Hoy empieza fuerte con The Raveonettes(18:15), The Dandy Warhols (20:25) y The Police(23:30) como traca final en el Escenario 1.

Como platos fuertes en el Escenario 2 tenemos a Morcheeba(19:15) y a The Charlatans(21:40).

A disfrutarlo.

Bild: Peter Rieger Konzertagentur

Das 10. Studioalbum der Charlatans, “You Cross My Path” ist nichts weniger als ein Meisterwerk. Und es ist auch das Album, über das am meisten gesprochen wurde, bevor überhaupt jemand auch nur einen Ton davon gehört hatte! Es wurde im März 2008 als kostenloses mp3-Format zunächst nur auf der Internetseite des Alternativ-Radios Xfm veröffentlicht. „Ich weiß, es haben schon vorher einige Leute ihre Musik kostenlos zur Verfügung gestellt“, sagt Tim Burgess, Sänger der Band, stolz. „Aber wir waren die ersten, die ein ganzes, brandneues Album einfach so ins Netz gestellt haben. Die Idee war, die Musik eben auf die iPods der Leute zu bekommen. Wir kamen zu dem Entschluss, dass es uns egal war, wie die Leute zu unserer Musik kommen – solange sie sie eben bekommen.“ In diesem Sinne wurde das Ziel auf jeden Fall voll erreicht: Innerhalb von nur einer Woche wurde „You Cross My Path“ nicht weniger als 60.000 Mal heruntergeladen. Wenn diese Aktion über die „offiziellen“ Kanäle gelaufen wäre, wäre das genug gewesen, um das Album direkt mit einem Einstieg auf Platz 2 der UK-Charts zu katapultieren! In der darauffolgenden Woche wurde das Album auf der Bandwebsite www.thecharlatans.net platziert, ebenfalls kostenlos. Der letzte Zählerstand verzeichnet 90.000 mp3-Kopien des Albums weltweit im Umlauf!

Ende 2006 wühlte sich Tim Burgess zu Hause in Los Angeles durch seine riesige, stets expandierende Plattensammlung. Wie schon so oft lieferten die Stücke, die er in dieser Zeit hörte, den Initialstart für die Musik, die er und seine Band in den folgenden Monaten aufnahmen. Tim: „Ich hörte viel von Brian Eno, was mich zu Gedanken über Joy Division brachte, die, wie ich dann festgestellt habe, sehr von Eno und Bowie inspiriert wurden und das führte mich zu all den Platten, die ich 1981 bis 1986 gehört habe – Section 25, The Wake, Royal Family And The Poor und all diese obskuren Factory Bands.“ „You Cross My Path“ beinhaltet musikalisch betrachtet einige der euphorischsten Stücke, die The Charlatans je geschrieben haben. Aber auch einige der verstörensten. Wie auf einigen Klassikern von The Cure oder New Order steht im Vordergrund Martin Blunt’s treibender Bass und liefert tanzbaren Sound, der auf der einen Seite nostalgisch, auf der anderen Seite hochmodern daherkommt. Burgess’ Augenmerk lag dann besonders darauf, seine Texte genau entgegen diesen polierten Hochglanz zu setzen.

The Charlatans nähern sich ihrem 20-jährigem Jubiläum, aber ihre Musik ist nach wie vor inspirierend für Hunderttausende Fans. The Charlatans haben bewiesen, dass sie in jeder Hinsicht mindestens genau so beständig sind wie ihre authentischen Songs, gerade in Angesicht tragischer Schicksalsschläge. Ihre Geschichte umfasst Inhaftierungen, einen fatalen Verkehrsunfall, Hodenkrebs sowie die Unterschlagung einer halben Millionen Pfund durch ihren Buchhalter, nicht zu vergessen der Wandel unendlich vieler verschiedener Musik-Trends. Vielleicht liegt auch gerade darin, dass ein so unverbesserlicher Vinyl-Junkie, der so viel Inspiration aus seiner Plattensammlung zieht, plötzlich zu einem Sprecher der digitale Revolution wird, einiges an Ironie. „Als ich und mein Manager Alan McGee zuerst über diese Idee [des kostenlosen Downloads] sprachen“ lacht Tim, „wusste ich insgeheim, dass ich das Album letztendlich auch auf Vinyl haben will.“ Daher erschien das Album jetzt physisch in 33 Ländern als Deluxe Doppel-CD, Einfach-CD und auf gutem altem verlässlichem Vinyl, im Vertrieb von Cooking Vinyl. Im September werden The Charlatans, nach ihren zwei einzigen Clubkonzerten letzten Februar, auch wieder in Deutschland ihre Fans live begrüßen, und zwar bei drei exklusiven Clubshows in München, Berlin und Köln.

The Charlatans
Live 2008

20.09.08 München
22.09.08 Berlin
23.09.08 Köln

Alle ausführlichen Termine (Venues) im:
All-Areas-Magazine [Kalender]

Tickets an allen bekannten Vorverkaufsstellen.
Bundesweite Tickethotline: 01805 – 57 00 00.
(0,14 € / Min. - Mobilfunkpreise können abweichen)
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Veranstalter:
Peter Rieger Konzertagentur GmbH & Co. KG

Sülzburgstr. 13
50937 Köln
Tel: +49(0)221 942002-0
Fax: +49(0)221 942002-2
Website: http://www.prknet.de

 
Offizielle Website:
http://www.thecharlatans.net

Płyta "You Cross My Path" to wspaniały powrót legendarnego zespołu nagrany w studiach Los Angeles i Cheshire (własne studio zespołu) a zmiksowany przez Alana Moulder'a.

Lista utworów:

1. Oh! Vanity
2. Bad Days
3. Mis-takes
4. The Misbegotten
5. A Day For Letting Go
6. You Cross My Path
7. Missing Beats (Of A Generation)
8. My Name Is Despair
9. Bird / Reprise
10. This Is The End

http://www.myspace.com/thecharlatans

Johan zwaaide druk met de nieuwe Mojo. "Ella, er staat een interview met Tim Burgess in Mojo en raad eens waar het over gaat?!"
"Zeg eens?"
"Hij zegt dat de twee belangrijkste bands voor hem als tiener The Prisoners en New Order waren. Daar is het hele interview aan opgehangen. Maar ik volg The Charlatans al sinds het begin en hij heeft The Prisoners nog nooit als invloed vermeld. De eerste keer was toen jij hem erachter vroeg, bij dat interview in februari."
Ik bloosde. "Denk je dat het er iets mee te maken heeft?"
"Hij was toch helemaal uit zijn lood geslagen toen jij hem naar The Prisoners vroeg? En hij kwam er telkens op terug. Ik denk van wel."

Die arme lieve Tim schrok zich inderdaad te pletter toen ik zei dat ik The Prisoners in zijn muziek hoorde. Hij begon mij meteen uit te vragen en kwam er na het interview nog op terug. Op een bepaald moment mompelde hij zelfs verlegen: "Now I come to think of it, when I listen to the music I made, maybe I've been copying them all of my life...". We hadden er een smashing titel van kunnen maken "Charlatans kopiëren Prisoners", maar dat zou niet eerlijk geweest zijn. Het moment was te onbewaakt, te mooi... En er is geen mens die The Prisoners nog kent.

Interviews worden meestal pas echt leuk als je bands naar hun eigen favoriete bands van vroeger vraagt. Dan voel je het enthousiasme en zie je hun ogen blinken. Muzikanten over hun favoriete muziek laten praten, simpel toch?

Toevallig kwamen we de laatste 2 keren telkens bij punk uit. Eerst met Tim Burgess die honderduit vertelde over Crass, Creation, New Order en de hele Manchester scene. Hij vroeg me helemaal uit over mijn platencollectie en over optredens van Iggy & The Stooges en Echo & The Bunnymen.

Ook Dave Boulter van Tindersticks vond zijn roots in diezelfde Manchester scene, hoewel ik het van hem zo op het eerste zicht niet verwacht had. Hij vertelde op een prachtige, emotionele manier over wat Joy Division voor hem betekende en over hoe punk vrijheid betekende voor hem. Je moet het maar eens lezen, hier. 

Dikwijls zijn de simpele, een beetje stomme, vragen nog de leukste. Niemand zit te wachten op een journalist die uitgebreid zijn kennis wil etaleren. Bij Dave Boulter luidde de laatste vraag "Why the donkey?" (met betrekking tot het artwork van Tindersticks) en het antwoord was ronduit vertederend. Hij begon over hoe traag, koppig en triest ezels zijn en dat de band zich daar wel mee kan identificeren.

En jullie? Welke groep veranderde jouw leven?
Vertel me over je eerste liefde.

Remember the band The Charlatans UK.  They had a big hit back in the 90's with "The Only One I Know". Mark Ronson covered it on his album Version which I highty recommend you get. They are back with their 10th studio album entitled "You Cross My Path".  I had an opportunity to catch them live back in my college days in DC at the original 9:30 Club.  They put on a great live show. Based off of this track, they still got it.

Grab the title track and let me know what you think

The Charlatans -  "You Cross My Path" (download)
[audio=http://radiomilwaukee.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/you_cross_my_path.mp3]
Buy the Album at iTunes

Safe and comforting alternative rock.

It's quite hard to listen to this album and not feel optimistic. If you're in the depths of autumn, you know that winter is coming but this album reminds you that spring is just getting it's wellies on. The only exception to this is the song 'My name is despair', which, as you can probably tell, is less about the optimism and more about despair but don't let this worry you, there's still a pinch of optimism in there.

It's a nice, safe album that wraps you up in a familiar blanket and puts you to bed with a drink of hot milk.

The tidy guitars and the soothing vocals surround you and give you a cuddle and a kiss on the forehead. The drums tuck you in at night and the bass keeps guard outside the door to protect you from anything scary and unfamiliar.

The album is very well presented and should be a good companion for you.

Listen to this album: Tucked up in bed.

Rating: 82%

Extracts from 'Mis-takes', 'A day for letting go', 'My name is despair' and 'This is the end'
[audio http://bumchops.googlepages.com/Charlatans.mp3]

'Oh Vanity'

Hace no mucho dejamos por aquí el nuevo single de The Fratellis. Ahora les dejo el video de dicha canción.

Misma situación con The Zutons, aunque esa ya tiene más tiempo que la pusimos por aquí. En el proceso de hacer este nuevo disco, el grupo perdió a su guitarrista principal (uno de pelo largo, bigote). Yo creo que Dave McCabe, el vocalista, lo extraña mucho y por eso adopto su look.

El disco de The Charlatans es el mejor disco gratis que ha habido. Creo que ninguna canción me disgusta y tienen opciones para singles por doquier. La tercera elegida es The Misbegotten.

Y para finalizar, la mejor canción de las cuatro (según yo). Fabuloso es el disco de los Mystery Jets y esta es mi favorita de ese disco. Si de por si la canción ya suena a algo de dos décadas pasadas, con el video ahora si parece que fue hecha en esa época. Me encanta cuando los grupos tienen sentido del humor.

Rating: * *

The Charlatans, along with the Manics and Oases of this world, are a band content to plough the same musical furrow ad infinitum. And while perseverance should be celebrated when it reaps consistently good produce - such as 2001's Wonderland - it's very easy to become indifferent to such Britpop survivors when the quality of the songwriting inevitably wanes. You Cross My Path, the tenth album from Tim Burgess and his West Midlander brethren, feels like the inevitable waning. At a juncture when they should be reminding us of their relevance, they have tossed off a tame and tired album that will soon collect dust on your shelf. Their '60s aping style remains in the constant, whirling organ, but the choruses are lacklustre and even the mix sounds mis-balanced, drowning out Burgess's vocals in places. The title track briefly evokes their former swagger, but what are they trying to tell us with an album closer called This Is The End?

You Cross My Path is out now via Cooking Vinyl

Now's a great time if you like to get music for free. Record Labels and artists finally seem to be waking up to changes in the music industry and realising that giving away albums for free will create far greater buzz (especially for smaller less established bands) than usual promotional channels ever could. This translates into more people coming to see these bands live, which is the only place where the band might actually turn a profit. There also seems to have been a slow realisation that DRM does not work! It only serves to criminalise the legitimate user and restrict the listening enjoyment of the very fans who gave the artists (and labels) any measure of success in the first place. I can only hope that through campaigns like the Free Software Foundation's "Defective By Design", all the CRAP (Content Renumeration And Protection) is removed from music.

So I'd like to personally thank the likes of The Charlatans (You Cross My Path), The Crimea (Secrets Of The Witching Hour) and Nine Inch Nails (The Slip) for allowing the world to enjoy their music in a less restricted way.

On a technical note, special kudos must go to Nine Inch Nails for releasing their latest album in both 16bit/44.1kHz lossless FLAC and 24bit/96kHz PCM Wave. My Bittorrent client is chugging away as I type and I can't wait to listen to NIN in all 24bits :D .

In attesa di aggiornamenti e nuovi spunti interessanti sospendo il filone a tema 'band in rosa'. Invariato resta invece il genere musicale protagonista anche del post di oggi, dato che parliamo degli inglesi Charlatans: rock allo stato puro. A pochi giorni dall'uscita dell'ultimo album (You cross my path, ufficialmente nei negozi dal 19 maggio ma online già dal 17 marzo: dieci tracce anticipate dal singolo Oh Vanity), ho voluto fare un tuffo nel passato della band con questo singolo del 1999, Forever.

Con Us and Us only e altri cinque album all'attivo, The Charlatans fronteggiano le accuse di chi li dipinge come semplici rivali degli Stone Roses o emuli di altri gruppi. Forse la colpa è anche delle sfumature psichedeliche che subito chiamano in causa i Pink Floyd. Come in Forever, leading track dell'album. Il riff di basso iniziale aggancia subito l'ascoltatore e lo accompagna in un crescendo musicale lungo più di sette minuti, dove via via si inseriscono gli altri strumenti (anche il piano e l'organo) e la voce lisergica di Tim Burgess, che all'epoca era diventato un cultore di (e quindi era influenzato da) Bob Dylan. Un brano melodicamente "pieno" e ben orchestrato.

Link: sito ufficiale; testo della canzone