quadraphonic

sounds of the 70's


Back when i was a kid the word quadrophonic was the ultimate in cool, to have four speakers in your bedroom meant you knew your stuff. my friend spenser set it up only for his dad to bring him back down to earth with just how wrong it was unless you had the correct set up. I wont go into what that is but you can read all about it here on the forgotten sound of 70's
So this week i picked up these very cool micropod speakers from the conran store The speakers may make their way to the kitchen which is what they where intended for, but for now its the 70's and im quadraphonic! sorry brian i know its wrong...

100108

percussive sound of the volcano


Back to joe's pub last night to see carmen consoli. We decided to get tickets for both sets at 7:30 and then another at 9, and I'm glad we did as our seats for the 1st set where pretty bad, and saw most of the show through the back of a large head. As you can see from these pictures we had much better seats for the 2nd set!


I was a little apprehensive about seeing her without a band as acoustic sets can be rather dull, but she was electrifying! If you can be electrifying with an acoustic guitar? "Acoustifying" how she produces such energy - both vocal and physical, is amazing! Her second set was even more powerful than the first, and she did it all in 3" heels to. She played a couple of Sicilian songs that i had not heard before, one of them Cu ti lu dissi , was again "acoustifying!" i would have cried for sure if i hadnt had so much champagne...


Here she is playing maria cantena ( mary in chains ) at the delacorte theatre in central park last september, and here playing contessa miseria at the laguardia performing arts center in queens in march of this year.


I dont have any carmen vinyl - cd's are hard enough to find, so here's a nice poster from the show back in march, and you can watch and listen a lot more on this great site carmenconsoli
grazie!

jarre

Picking up where we left off on eighties electronica, i'm very proud of my collection of jean michele jarre records and thats not something i ever thought id say. even if you dont like his music, you can appreciate the recordings as they are simply immense ! Again these came from "second hand rose" and they helped me pick out the best recordings, comparing imports over US printings, how cool is that? merci.

2007

june et jim

keeping with live music, back in november of last year i was in paris and saw a poster for this band. I didn't think much of it other than i liked the name and thought they looked cool, also wondered how jim pronounced his name, ie was it like the book and film "in the english way?" later that week i went to a birthday party at "au chat noir " in belleville and they where playing downstairs. I didnt get to see them play as i had to leave but i did go and say hello and picked up a couple of their demo cd's, i think they where a little surprised in me buying something i havent heard ( if only they had read my blog ) and hoped that i liked them - which i do very much, and have been checking out their page often, and am as i write hoping they can send me their new ep's !
You can check them out here to have a look and listen

92008

only the strong surive
saturday night C and I went to see James at the stone pony, I've been waiting many years to go to see a band at this very famous venue, and James didn't disappoint - i cant remember the last time i was this squashed at a show. They played a great 2 hour set spanning their back catalogue and the new album.


this is the best i can do in regards to a photo, i really need to start bringing a camera.



For those not familiar with the New Jersey landscape, the Stone Pony is on the Jersey Shore in Asbury Park made famous by many things including this iconic album cover art by bruce springsteen.


Here's an older version of the the greetings postcard - i wonder if the boss thought about using this one ? probably not, looks more like something credence would do.

91908

oh my darling
Last night C and I went to see Basia Bulat at the Highline Ballroom, this is about the 5th time i think we've seen her in the past year and hopefully i"ll get to see her again soon as i could listen to her every night. She also played some new songs which was very cool.


as far as i know her debut album is not on vinyl but i did pick up this single a while back.

Dark and moody photo...I was sitting at stage left, level with the stage so the sound was odd in that i didnt really hear the amps just the band which i have to say was very cool. As a wannabe drummer i got to watch and listen to bobby bulat's every beat.

She wears her fringe like roger mcguinn
An extra treat last night as she played you "ain't going nowhere" Whoo-ee! Ride me high Tomorrow's the day My bride's gonna come Oh, oh, are we gonna fly Down in the easy chair!
Basia is another musician who's music could save the world!

२००७(१९८१)

musique originale du vie
I've been buying soundtracks as long as i've been buying records, and watching films. Just after C got me my new turntable for my birthday last year i was bargain box hunting at other music and picked up this beauty. I had not seen the film since my days of hanging out at the scala in kings cross london, but as a self confessed francophile i figured i couldnt go wrong. And i didn't - a great mix of eighties electronica, the beautiful
la wally aria "ebben", and all wrapped up in the amazing score by Vladimir Cosma. As fate would have it just the following week The Film Forum screened a new print. The movie has aged very well, and ever since i have been trying to find one of those cool blue wave lamps that Gorodish has in his appartment...



This album is now up there with my all time favorites, and i play it almost every week !