Monday, November 29, 2010

Actually, her name is Marina

Yesterday I've been to the Melkweg in Amsterdam to see Marina & the Diamonds. On very strong recommendation of my sister who's seen her before and adores her. I don't question her taste for one second, in fact, of all the people I know she has the best taste in music. I knew who Marina was, what she looked like and heard her album twice (so don't expect me to know all song titles), but in all fairness I had no idea what to expect. All I knew that she wasn't an airhead like some of the women out there from Britain, supposingly being strong women but only riding the hype. Marina however I noticed, wasn't half as popular than some of them. In all, I was looking forward to it.

Marina, let me tell you something. That was pure alternative pop. That was a woman who stood to her work. That was some good vibes from the stage. That was some good vibes from the audience. Marina, she can sing, she can move, she has the words and she definitely has the looks. She photographes beautifully, which I, by lack of knowing the songs, enjoyed tremendously. With 104 shots I might have overdone it but come on, she moves fantastically, she looks amazing and the joy she brought on stage comes across on the pictures.

And with that last bit I want to say something else. Something that really amazed me. She is real. Whe she says she's amazed by the responds from the audience and is moved by it, you know she means it. She means every word she says and sings. There is nothing fake. This is 100% pure Marina and I like Marina very much. Despite not knowing the songs so well, she got me moving (which is an accomplishment for any band), I enjoyed this and what I also enjoyed was how my sister was enjoying it too. It's always wonderful to see someone genuinely having a good time.

But not just her. Marina managed to get the entire audience involved (balcony included), they were quiet (!! in case you don't know, the Dutch are known for talking all through the gig, not because they are bored but just because that's what they do) where desired and she got the crowd jumping, something my sister correctly explained as 'the last time I saw this happening was with the Kaiser Chiefs, amazing!'. The last time she saw the Kaiser Chiefs was in 2007, when they were still good and enjoyable and fun to jump around to. She was right. It was so much fun to see everyone from front to all the way to the back jump up and down to 'Champaign' (I happen to know that one song title). 'She got me convinced' I told my sister truthfully half way and she welcomed me into the wonderful world of Marina & the Diamonds. Sometimes you need to see it for yourself, I know exactly what the appeal of Marina & the Diamonds is. There's a bit of Tori Amos to it (my sister said), a bit of Kate Bush (that's what I said). Clever lyrics, pure reality, she's humble and funny, she can sing and yes, oh yes, she is drop dead gorgeous.

Marina is not a fake diamond but I real gem and played a new song as well which I also liked a lot (yes yes, I liked her music too) and she got herself a brand new fan, me! Welcome Marina.

Friday, November 26, 2010

The Queen of Effing Everything and her new Throne

I have a new office chair. We used to have a boss who sat in the room next door, he had this boss-chair, but doesn't work here since about two years and no one ever sits there any longer so, long story short, after asking me four times and me answering with 'are you mad?' for four times if I wanted that chair, my colleague rolled in this boss-chair which flops back if you want to. It's of course a shame to leave this chair un-seated but most of all I got it because I'm the Queen of Fucking Everything. Coffee mugs don't lie. That's how my crap office chair was replaced by this quite fancy one. I moaned, of course, it was too low (you can't set it higher) but the truth is, it's comfy. And uhm, maybe a little too comfy.

I have suddenly gained full understanding why bosses and managers aren't doing so much. It's not their fault. It's the chair! The chair is built to flop back, feet on the table and 'think'. It's built to sink back and 'think' about what strategy is best used in the current situation. The chair is built to... lie back and close your eyes and to feel yourself softly slide away into a nice nap.

Lock the back of the chair! Eyes wide open and go! I'm not a manager! I'm not a boss. I'm the Queen Of Fucking Everything. And need to do a little. Coffee and other drinks however are still being brought, as always.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Top 3 gigs @ Paradiso Kleine Zaal Amsterdam

Am I one of these people who will moan when their favourite band gets this big they will be playing bigger venues? I have to admit I sort of am but not because I don't want the band to be successful and wouldn't want to share this with the rest of the world but simply because I love the smaller venues. Kaiser Chiefs in the 850 capacity Melkweg was much better than Kaiser Chiefs in the 5,000 capacity HMH (and this was not just because their songs had gone drastically down the drain ever since). These smaller venues are real. I just love them. Two of my top 3 gigs of this year have taken place in such a small venue, the little stage of the Paradiso in Amsterdam. And to honour just that, here's my top 3 of my favourite gigs from that very stage, Paradiso - kleine zaal.

3) Ernst Jansz (October 2010)
It was more the whole experience that made it. All seated with some honourable Dutch musicians in the audience, Jansz was playing Bob Dylan songs in Dutch, talked about Dylan songs, showed Dylan pictures. I don't even like Dylan! It was still amazing. Ernst Jansz means more to me than words can say. After the show, where we were all treated on cake and champagne, I tried to tell him anyway. The hug and kiss (on the cheek) I got in return are priceless. That combined with the great musician, singer and story teller he is made this unforgettable.

2) Quasi (May 2010)
Not knowing what to expect from this band they really blew me away. This is how God intended rock n roll to be. For me this show was also some kind of turning point. It was my definite goodbye from general frustration about 'nme-indie', isn't there anything else? Sure there is. And Quasi are the King and Queens of that. Ever since this gig I never felt too old for any show any longer. And let it be said that Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes are two of the most genuine and kindest musicians I've ever met.

1) The Cribs (September 2007)
If the microphone stand of Gary Jarman falls down straight into the plastic cup with beer of his brother Ryan you just know the stage is small. The Cribs (then still a 3-piece) are notoriously known for their raw and energy filled shows, this was no exception, far from it. Sweat literally dripped from them on us. And from us on them. The venue was boiling. Everyone was hyped. There was serious crowd surfing. It was amazing. One of the best gigs I've seen? Definitely. Best live band too.


All pictures on this post are made by me.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

(American) Gong!!!! Or, the best albums of 2010

The end of the year is near and without any further yadda yadda I'll present you (some) my favourite and absolute best albums on 2010 in no particular order (but the first). If you haven't heard them I'll suggest to update your current record collection, because 2010 was a good year for music.

Quasi - American Gong
When I heard leading single 'Repulsion' in January I classified it as the best single of 2010. This title it no longer holds (wait for it!). When I heard 'American Gong' for the first time early February I just knew it, this is the best album of 2010. This is rock n roll, this is rhythm, this is power. This is it! Best song of the album is without a doubt 'Bye bye blackbird' which is a long power rock song, it holds a lot of intelligent sound and noise in a box, rocking and pounding to roar out. Apperently this song is released as a single, or at least it appeared on a promo single which makes it the best single of 2010. And 'American Gong'? This album still holds the title of best album of 2010. Quality = quality no matter how old the record and how often you heard it. Congratulations Quasi!

Kate Nash - My Best Friend Is You
'Kate Nash V2.0' I read somewhere about this album. There's some truth about that. Nash got her inner riot grrrl out and it is sounding fabulous. She might or might not have borrowed a little Excuse 17 for teaser song 'I just love you more' but who cares. Kate Nash got out and delivered the sound to her beliefs. Her music and lyrics makes you not want to mess with this young woman but she also shows her soft and loving side which kinda makes you actually jealous of her boyfriend who she probably wrote these for. Rock on Kate!

The Thermals - Personal Life
Their 2009 album was only so-so. Not bad but not mindboggling great either. 'Personal Life' however is not just honest, it's raw to the bone. The bombastic sound of 'Now we can see' has been stripped down and the guitar, bass and drums sound almost naked. This album is pure, it still rocks and is still very much Thermals. Only better.

Kent - En Plats I Solen
Kent is the biggest rock band in Sweden ever. After ten years of making classic rock albums they changed their music adventures and took a more synth approach. Probably not bad albums but definitely not my cup of tea. Until En Plats I solen which brings amazing songs and not to underestimate the ultimate soundtrack for this summer, 'Gamla Ullevi' being the best song of this past summer, it really made me overly happy.

The Corin Tucker Band - 1,000 Years
Former Sleater-Kinney rebel releases her first solo album. For an album that's been called 'cool mom rock' and contains songs originally written for 'Twilight' (but did not make the cut) this album is pretty awesome. I'm not a cool mom (but at least a cool rock aunty in training) and I know nothing about Twilight but I really enjoyed this album. It's cool rock with a touch of Kindred Spirit, which might sound incredibly uncool to many but it's cool for me. Great album.

The Vaselines - Sex with an X
Not many bands get away with releasing their second album 20 years after delivering their fine debut album. The Vaselines however can. And this album sounds like it might just as well have been released two years later rather than 20. This is a good thing, a very good thing. This album is epic. If only Kurt was here to hear it, he'd love it too.

Pavement - Quarantine The Past
No new music from Pavement, we all know that. It's just a compilation. But if the music on the compilation is so incredibly good and powerful and actually important, it's easily one of the best releases of any year.

Marina & the Diamonds - The Family Jewels
Strong intelligent words, clever music, a voice which needs getting used to. This was a very slow grower but definitely deserves it's place in this list, she's one to keep your eyes on. Especially live these songs get their true power.

Boston Spaceships - Our Cubehouse Still Rocks
Their fourth longplayer since 2008. And why is this good? It's Boston Spaceships. Boston Spaceships. And that's all you need for a bit of out of space punk rocking. Short crazy songs from the genuis mind of Robert Pollard.

Grass Widow - Past Time
One might start to believe I'm being sponsored by Kill Rock Stars (free t-shirt is accepted) but this is another fine release. I love guitars. I love punk. But beware, they sing in united harmony. They might want to learn a new chord or two. It might be the only thing that is kind of bothering on this release, it's still pretty much nice.

Best Coast - Crazy for you
It's not that important what my opinion on singer Bethany Cosentino is of course. But there's something about her I don't like and something I can't stand. But despite that even I can't deny that she made a really nice album which stands out between all those lo-fi surfing bands that suddenly emerged.

And what's to look forward to and hopefully will make the 2011 list:
2011 is awaiting releases by The Decemberists, The Boxer Rebellion, WILD FLAG, All Smiles, Boston Spaceships, Kaizers Orchestra and who knows who else. Yummie!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

And we party like it's 1983 (this is an Orwell reference indeed)

The gap between left and right hasn't been so big since the nazis invaded the former republic of Russia. It's a worrying climate the Netherlands are in and it is getting worse by the hour. Here's a recap in short about our government: largest party is VVD with Mark Rutte as our MP, together with CDA (4th largest party and biggest loser of our last elections). They are two mid-right parties. By no means they have the majority so after a four months (!!) coalition formation they decided to reign together with support of the PVV, the party of Geert Wilders who is notoriously known for his hatred against immigrants (I say it politically correct, he however does not) and the 3d largest party, 100% right-winged with no democracy whatsoever in the party structure. These three parties together have 76 seats, the opposition has 75.

You might wonder what happened to the second largest party, which is the workers party (left indeed) PvdA. They gained 32 seats during the last elections, against 33 of VVD. If this makes you scratch the back of your head right now, join the club.

Ever since the elections something happened, I didn't call it an attack at the time but I will call it that way now. Literally everything that is associated with left wing politics or even considered something only left wingers are interested in (culture (!!) being the top target) has been put into bad lighting. I had no idea where this suddenly came from, left is blamed for everything, the bad economy, the traffic jams, the immigrants, the lazy students, safety in trains, playing children, the weather, you name it, left did it. Question though: when did left reign this country? The former largest party was CDA, right, and they have been for 8 years with 4 different formations. Yes, you may scratch the back of your head again.

Left is blamed for helping the ill and the old and fragile, taking care for the asylum seekers, drinking tea with immigrants (this was one of the leading phrases during our last elections), wanting better care at elederly homes and hospitals, supporting useless goods such as music, theatre, performing arts and art. To compare, PVV is blamed for rasicm, spreading hate and having violent people in there party. Seems black and white and you might think this is left-propaganda. I wish it was. I would like to say something positive about the PVV because they do have some good points but so far all these points have been put aside and ignored. So much for sticking to their programm, it's all about power isn't it?

Let's get back to culture, which is suddenly called an unecessary good. Something you don't really need. People do not need to unwind. So, let's stop the allowance to the cultural section. We need to save right? Look, we all have to save up, and that you're cutting allowances, no big deal. But not as radically as they're planning to. As if culture relies on this allowance. As if we pay for the violist on the street corner. We don't. We do however pay collectively for the security of Wilders. But at least it saves a lot of money right? Well, it's enough to pave about 3 km of new highway... It comes down to an average cut of allowance of 8%, except for the cultural section, that depeartment will be cut with 20%. That's without taking the tax-raise on tickets in consideration.

This tax raise on concert, theatre tickets will be the end of a lot of venues as they won't get more money as the only thing that's raised is the taxes. It will lead to less income because less people will be able to even pay for this tickets. Which will lead to venues contracting less artists will lead to less culture in this country.

Success for those who want to kill culture. Success for the right winged barbarians. Who exactly is responsible for this tax raise anyway? Our PM? No, PM Rutte has given up STOPPING the tax raise for one reason: Geert Wilders wants the tax raise. And to stop the tax raise on tickets, reasons Wilders, you'll need an agreement of all three parties.

Wilders is the supporting party. Rutte is the PM. But Rutte is bowing down to Wilders. Wilders is having the power. Wilders is able to control and direct everything our government is supposed to to. Wilders is NOT part of the cabinet. But he CONTROLS the cabinet. What the fuck man, just, what the fuck.

Wilders and the PVV, which contains members who have been charged for violence (knocking down someone at a news conference for instance) and sexual offences are not just creating hatred against immigrants in this country, they are effectively tearing this country apart in left and right and putting all the blame on left. Say what you want, that guy is highly effective in what he's doing.

Isn't left doing anything? I doubt what PvdA will do, but the smaller ones, GroenLinks and D66 are barking loud. Which the media often doesn't portrait too nicely. The only left-winged party that seems to address this big dangerous issue with intelligence is the SP. Ooooh, the SP, scary! SP stands for Socialist Party. But right now it just seems that the entire future of this country is in the hands of the SP and their new and capable leader Emile Roemer. He speaks clearly and is determined. Also, it may not seem important but it is, this man has wit. For instance, this party fights for the socially disadvantaged such as the disabled, the elderly but also for the mailmen and this for years, because they'll lose their jobs due to ridiculous restructuring of the company caused by the government allowing other mail-companies in this country. But all these things are 'linkse hobbies' now, left-winged hobbies.

I'm a concert go-er. I'm a photographer. A blogger. A woman. I'm a member of the SP. I'm an immigrant. Though, my parents are German and as MP Rutte will reason, Germany is not Turkey. So maybe I have the right to lead a normal, carefree and not-hunted life after all, protected by Rutte. But I doubt it. If everything develops the way it does now, I'm pretty much screwed and might have to, eventually, fear for my safety.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Live Recordings and Wild Flag go together like Brownies and Whipped Cream

I hate live recordings. Whether they are official releases or shaky youtube clips, I'm not a fan. There's always someone screaming or whooo-ing through the entire song, whether it's a youtube or an official release. They belong to every live gig and I wouldn't want anything else while being at a gig (though please, not directly into my ear, thank you) - but it should stay inside the venue. I won't deny either that these youtube clips are heaven if you can't see that band yourself. But would I listen to these? No.

Until now.

I'm absorbing anything WILD FLAG. Pictures, youtubes, messages. I bow down in gratitude to the people who filmed these current shows. WILD FLAG has not recorded anything just yet (but I among many with me would blindly and immediately pre-order the CD if Merge Records would make this available right now) but Janet Weiss, Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole says enough to make the mouth water and for many this band is their New Favourite Band. For me, it's long since I had such an obsession for a band. It might be because I lived on Mars without wifi when riot grrrl was rolling, it might be because My Favourite Band is on a 2-year-break (and we're on month 3). For heaven's sake, I'm almost 35 but when I hear Carrie Brownstein roar "Racehorse" I get giddy. I want to jump up and down and I want to see that band.

This morning three ripped songs past by on my walkman while on my way to work, I got a bright grin on my face and loved it so much. I loved a live recording. I was able to listen to a live recording with my high tech headphones on. The first ever band who managed that was My Favourite Band On A Two Year Break a few years back. Tells you something? Tell me a lot. Favourite Band, there's a new Runner Up!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Not so cool

I'm not sure what's worse: someone who openly tweets about his alcohol habits (it's not cool, it's really not cool) or the people who think they reply in a witty way thinking this is really cool (both the reply and the habit).