The tunnel of Gold

‘Regarde, il gèle  – Là sous mes yeux
Des stalactites de rêves – Trop vieux
Toutes ces promesses qui s’évaporent
Vers d’autres ciels, vers d’autres ports
Et mes rêves s’accrochent à tes phalanges
Je t’aime trop fort, ça te dérange
Et mes rêves se brisent sur tes phalanges
Je t’aime trop fort Mon ange, mon ange
De mille saveurs , une seule me touche
Lorsque tes lèvres effleurent ma bouche
De tous ces vents,  un seul me porte
Lorsque ton ombre  passe ma porte..’

Aaron.

Fernweh

Tell me about it, Björk.

‘I am leaving this harbour
Giving urban a farewell
Its habitants seem to keen on God
I cannot stomach their rights and wrongs

I have lost my origin
And I don’t want to find it again
Whether sailing into nature’s laws
And be held by ocean’s paws

Wanderlust! relentlessly craving
Wanderlust! peel off the layers
Until we get to the core

Did I imagine it would be like this?
Was it something like this I wished for?
Or will I want more?

Lust for comfort
Suffocates the soul
Relentless restlessness
Liberates me (sets me free)

I feel at home
Whenever the unknown surrounds me
I receive its embrace
Aboard my floating house

Wanderlust! relentlessly craving
Wanderlust! peel off the layers
Until we get to the core

Did I imagine it would be like this?
Was it something like this I wished for?
Or will I want more?

Wanderlust! from island to island
Wanderlust! united in movement
Wonderful! I’m joined with you

Wanderlust!

Can you spot a pattern?

(relentlessly restless)

Young bride

Astonishing

Pure Wonderfulness.

Sigh no more

Oh no – my first thought when hearing of ‘Mumford and Sons’. No – not another banjo-flipping pretentious folky band wearing black-rimmed glasses. How wrong was I? Their debut album ‘Sigh No More’ is a welcomed alternative to the boring sounds of stereotypical Indie fashionistas. From the quiet sounds of ‘Sign No More’ to the more powerful tunes of ‘White Blank Page’, I think this album is a success. Obviously their most famous song ‘Little Lion Man’ also features on this album. All in all, a wonderful soundtrack for driving in the dark when it’s snowing, or sitting inside with a nice cup of tea and a book. Marcus Mumford’s folky voice will accompany you, whatever you do. (Oh, the cheese.) Another bonus are their lyrics – witty, poetic and quite simply put, honest. They mostly deal with love, death and the casualities of life. See for yourself:

‘Rip the earth in two with your mind
Seal the urge which ensues with brass wires
I never meant you any harm
But your tears feel warm as they fall on my forearm

But close my eyes for a while
Force from the world a patient smile

How can you say that your truth is better than ours?
Shoulder to shoulder, now brother, we carry no arms
The blind man sleeps in the doorway, his home
If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won

But I gave you all‘

(Mumford and Sons – I gave you all)

Yes.. Mumford and Sons are not trying too hard – and that is what makes them stand out. Thumbs up!

60s Exposed/From Beatles to Bowie

Robert Whitaker, The Beatles in Scotland, 1964.

When I heard about the current exhibition entitled ‘From Beatles to Bowie’ at the National Portrait Gallery, I knew I wanted to see it. Photographers such as Robert Whitaker and David Bailey contributed portraits to this exhibition. While wandering through the corridors, looking at old album covers and hearing sixties music in the background, one did feel as if put in a time machine and flown back to swinging London of the 60s.

Portraits ranged from bands such as The Kinks, the John Barry Seven, the Shadows – admittedly pretty obscure names for someone who has never really listened to any 6os music. (That is including me.) The exhibition however progressed towards famous bands such as The Who, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd and artists such as Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie. The portraits were absolutely astonishing – music photography at its best. The fact that the photographers often toured with these bands added to the diversity of the images: the Beatles hanging out at Paul McCartney’s house in St John’s Wood with an Indian Guru after a lecture about meditation is just one example. This added a feeling of intimacy to the exhibition.

Not only bands are featured in the exhibition, but also their muses: a giant portrait of naked Jane Birkin for instance graces one of the walls. One of my favourite photo series was a love-drunken John Lennon with his wife Yoko Ono.

All-in-all, an interesting exhibition – very pricy though, with a 9 pounds entrance fee for students. This might be okay for London standards, but considering this was the price for one single exhibition, it was expensive. If you can spare these and you like the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, I would recommend it- if not, you might be better off buying a couple of photo-postcards.

Avant-dernière pensée

 

 

Work and Rain lead to one realisation:

Erik Satie makes EVERYTHING more bearable.

Bat for Lashes

Having played Glastonbury and Latitude, the 29 year old Natasha Khan, better known under her stage name ‘Bat for Lashes’ is a rising star. On the 8th of October this amazing artist found her way to the O2 Academy in Oxford. She won over the audience with her 50-minute set, balanced with the powerful sounds of ‘Glass’ and ‘Sleep alone’, and the softer resonating songs like Tahiti.’ She also picked an interesting mix of songs from her two albums, the older ‘Fur and Gold’ and the more recent one ‘Two Suns’. Powerful tribal drums combined with tambourines, shakers and her extraordinary voice made it an unforgettable evening. Compared to her big show at Latitude, this time she exposed her true colours – more shy and introverted, rather than an her unusual persona. The gig was intimate, and it seemed as if she needed time to warm up and get comfortable with the O2 audience. But when she got comfortable, she really let herself go with the support of her talented band. Her haunting power-house songs and piano-ballades created an equilibrium that showed her multi-facetted character. Bat for Lashes is one of the only contemporary artists who manages to merge electro beats with violins, lyrics about nature, wolves and the moon, with Bjork-like outfits and turquoise eye-shadow without appearing ridiculous. It is just her.

One of her most powerful songs, Glass.

Just leave me your stardust to remember you by

Just rediscovered the most beautiful song. It’s by Gregory and the Hawk.

Never mind the bit where she forgets the lyrics.

The wonderful Camille

Latitude Festival Day 1. Pouring rain, thunderstorms. Film & Music Tent. Camille O’Sullivan. I had already seen a few videos of her shows, so I was aware of her sultry ways and provocative performances.

This French-Irish chanteuse is one of a kind. Born in London, she moved to Ireland when she was a child. After studying Art for a year, and moving on to do an Architecture degree at the University College of Dublin (graduating with a first and achieving the best results at the university in years), she started to perform. Having lived in Berlin for a year, she got acquainted with the Cabaret. Inspired by the world of Cabaret, by the works of David Bowie, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf and Nina Simone, she grew as a singer and has since then been touring the UK, the US and Australia, covering songs of the mentioned artists but also writing some herself.

I personally think covering songs is not an easy thing to do, but she certainly knows how to perform these songs and give them a new feel – without destroying the original. I mean, being able to sing a Tom Waits song and still sounding absolutely brilliant, is definetely hard. But hey, it’s Camille. She also had a nearly fatal car accident, which made her finally pursue her real dream of singing. It had taken her a while to realise that this was her real dream, and to find the courage to do it. Apparently nothing can bring this woman down. She is a self-taught singer, artist, actress and architect. If I dare say so, the woman is stunning, too. She might be sultry, and provocative, but she is never cheap. Long live Burlesque corsets!

At Latitude, her performance was mindblowing. It was so intimate, so honest. From the sultriness of ‘These Shoes’ to the magic interpretation of Nick Cave’s ‘Ship Song’, everything was perfect. The cover of Nine Inch Nail’s ‘Hurt’ at the end, was just a bit hard to take. It was so beautiful, it made me cry incessantly. Have a look: