can you see me ...

or a new toy (canon 400d) ... some results will appear here ... first up, delft with a view ...

tellers & girls in hawaii - bibelot - 240508

two belgian bands opening on the final night of the urbanexplorers festival in dordrecht, a frequently passed but never visited city south of rotterdam, in the bibelot, a venue half church half spaceship, a bit uncrowded at this early stage, nevertheless a nice place ... lots of old tv-screens and lamps on stage, which were part of the hawaiian setting, and aired movies of nature, roads & houses, band members and other scenes during their gig ... but first the tellers, catchy music on record, and (first time i see them) live as well, where the soft-hoarse voice and acoustic guitar play of the singer and the loops and lines of the main guitarist suck you into the songs, and the rhythm guys make you start dancing ... the singer's enthusiasm and reaction on the audience's response put a smile upon our face ... only one record (and ep) with lots of short songs, from which they made a perfect setlist, with some harder work in the last part, divided by an acoustic intermezzo including inciting us to clap along, by clapping amongst us ... then the aloha girls, different style, six on stage, so at times four guitars, producing rich guitar woven songs ... which also means music to listen to and harder to catch at once live, so complementary to the first band, but in the frame of a festival a reversed order might have been better ... still an hour was too short for their music, where the songs with the sitting singer stood out, like the magnificent fields of gold ... concluding, two bands to see more often, and to be proud of ... where are you proud of ...

tellers - if i say / more / jacknife / hugo / bit of glue / want you back / he gets high / second cat / pavement / penny / girls of russia / another coin / prince charly / holiness / memory / confess / darkest door
girs - fields / the fog / bored / found / time / bees / road / coral / couples / colors / this farm / birthday / flavor

best live music on tv - later ... with jools holland

off course on the bbc, and thanks to youtube lots of performances are online, some teasers:

- glen hansard (the frames) & marketa irglova - falling slowly (once soundtrack) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcAWe4dUfW4 - apparently they won the oscar for best song this year, missed that ... watch their thank word there: keep on making art ... and let the girl also say something :) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8yLvb0gZM
- the last shadow puppets - the age of the understatement -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyK79PHTiKw - this song performed without strings attached: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgrRbYnVuvo
- portishead - machine gun - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsoZRBZvdOc
- kano & damon albarn - feel free - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU8vhxjkMIw
- manu chao - raining in paradize - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bSc8kGCaK4

fuck buttons - paard - 160508

experimental electro-rock in the small hall of het paard, can't be bad, except for the ears, which were challenged at some occasions, in stead of a no risk ticket, they better issued an including-earplugs ticket this time ... two guys on either side of a table, operating lots of small synths, samplers and a child mike, producing a justice sound with some moby feeling-so-real influences, often woven with repetitive and melodic patterns ... so not bad at all ... first song (also on myspace) was already heads on, with its splashing piano motive ... and the second already the best, with one of the guys dancing in front of the audience on tribal rhythms uttering random shouts, weird, and fun ...

cd of the moment

portishead's third ... superb ... too bad i missed their tour, hopefully they do pukkelpop or come back somewhere to the low lands ...

favorite track: magic doors (closely followed by the rip and we carry on), it reads like a dark & depressing song, but it sounds amazingly enchanting ...

I can't deny what I've become / I'm just emotionally undone / I can't deny, I can't be someone else
when I have tried to find the words / To describe this sense absurd / Try to resist my thoughts / But I can't lie
I've been losing myself / My desire I can't have / No reason am I for
I can't divide or hide from me / I don't know who I'm meant to be / I guess it's just the person that I am
Often I've dreamt that I don't wait / Enjoy the gift of my mistake / Like then again I'm wrong and I confess
I've been losing my self / My desire I can't have / No reason am I for

i have no dates, no plans, no appointments with anyone, so i leasurely explore souls and cities

< jack kerouac, mexico city blues

or my 3 week travels to vienna, bedford, nyc, big bend national park (tx), austin, sheffield, london ... from 130408 to 050508

* vienna - doneau techno, unrecognizable from the street level, roman lounge indoor ... electric soft parade @ chelsea, mix between beatles and mogwai ... wiesenstubler @ flex, with owl and lark people (guess what I am :) ... electro gönner, nice but empty
* bedford - hot goblin, closed too early & english breakfast, stopped serving too early ... deus live in the rehearsal studio, after some plug-in problems ... and trying to steal an old red peugeot 205 is a bad idea, people ...
* nyc - city of (belgian, or belgian style) beers, see the 'rare vos' (know at least one of those ;) ... jummy, an ice cream :) ... spamelot, kneel, it's nick !! and other fun stuff, small seats though ... delicious cream cheese ... trying to club, with a closing knitting factory, too expensive & posh marquee and the perfect lit lounge, with live gigs (ten minute turns were great) and good tunes, funk up- and indie downstairs, with the local a'punk passing by ... short elbow gig in the virgin store at union square, afterwards remembering guy, the singer, on the fabulastic werchter gig two years ago and congratulating him with the nice vocals on the vanishing of the new deus, and they play pukkelpop this year, hooray! ... walking on the jfk tarmac to the right small airplane, also an experience ....
* big bend - roadtripping, with the ideal crash an excellent soundtrack and the new elbow a close second ... altijd rechtdoor ... enough water to start a war ... star gazing and bear listening ... how to ruin a tent, and eureka, here's the plan ... getting blown away ... no mexican encounter, would've loved to give some water ... speed warning & drive in bar on the way back
* austin - nice city ... the beat generation (ginsberg, kerouac, burrough) and el salvador exhibition (before and after the civil war, some stunning photos) ... CL in the afternoon, no bad timing at all ... cool bars, with the gingerman on top, still lots of taps to go ... spin, great magazine ... and how to almost miss a flight when relying on public transport ...
* sheffield - friendly people, and nice accent ... corporation, were you can dance to joy division until 1984 ... sleeping wingman ... snooker semi-final session @ crucible, (even) cooler than on tv
* london - actually south londen ;) enjoying the compagnie ... banksy exhibition with some great works and passing the queu thanks to little jules ... and go ronnie!