Tuesday, May 31, 2011

One week in Manchester

Last week was a good one. I've realised I haven't told you much about "my life in Manchester", but there are a couple of reasons for that, though. 1. This blog was never meant to be autobiographical; 2. This last semester (when I started my blog) has been remarkably uneventful, considering most of my time has been spent reading and working in university. However, last week I finished my last exam! This means I've finally got more time to look around and focus on other stuff that's going on. These are some of the things observed in Manchester last week, by yours truly.

Remember last Saturday when the world was supposed to end? Well, there's a group of (fundamentalists) Christians who have been preaching about this in Market Street for quite some time. I don't know whether they are part of Harold Camping's following or if they follow their own agenda, but it's clear that they have seen one 'end ' or another coming for a long time. They rarely catch anyone's attention, though. Everyone just seems to pass them by, probably taking them for some crazy group of doomsday Christians. Except for a little group of kids. A little group of teenage protesters who find entertainment in standing next to them and shouting retorts at everything these Christians shout. You may call it childish, but it is no more childish than those Christians are eccentric and aggressive. Last Saturday I noticed that the group of kids had started wearing Justin Bieber masks as well. Here's a picture of the doomsday Christians with a Justin Bieber-masked kid next to him. (You'll have to forgive the poor picture quality as I took the picture with my mobile phone as I was rushing past).

Justin Bieber on the left, Manic (Market) Street Preacher on the right.

Not a very good picture. Here's one with added red ring so you can spot the Biebz.

"...And I was like Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, ooooh..."

I think it's fair to assume that everyone took Harold Camping's doomsday prophecy with a pinch of salt. Still, the shelves in Marks&Spencer's on the Sunday (the day that was never meant to be!) seemed to indicate that a lot of people had taken a "better safe than sorry" stance and stocked up on food. You know, just in case... Either they must have thought "If I don't get chosen by Jesus, I'm still going to try to outlive this apocalypse! Better stock up!" or "If I get chosen I'm sure heaven's a long flight away. Better stock up!". Or perhaps the anticipation of doomsday or no doomsday make people hungry.

Get your doomsday ready meals now! Don't be hungry when you come to heaven or get left behind!

My beloved Manchester City finally won a trophy for the first time in 35 years (!) when they beat Stoke in the FA cup finals. Of course, this had to be celebrated! The streets of Manchester turned sky blue as fans gathered in the street to cheer on a parade with City players and City heroes. Good times.

What also happened this week is that I finally saw real Morris dancing!! This bizarre spectacle is an old English traditional dance. You might wonder why I've wanted to see this? The reason is I just find it hilarious because it's so fucking weird. Just look at it! 

According to wikipedia, they're not sure of the origins of this form of dance. I have my own theory, though. I believe that in the old days when societies were few and scattered, small villages would have designated 'guardsmen' or gate keepers who they would send out to scare away predators or unwelcome strangers. These guardsmen would wear bells on their legs for enhanced effect of loud noise, and also carry a stick for waving and potential mêlée battle. However, as societies grew it was inevitable that some villages would bump into each other. The conflicting villages would then send out their guardsmen with bells and sticks to chase each other away. However, these guardsmen were used to their opposition (usually just a wayward animal looking for food) turning around a fleeing just by the loud noise of the bells. Neither of the guardsmen had ever before experienced actual physical combat or an enemy that didn't flee. Hence, they clashed into each other in the middle of the field (or rather, a 'moor') and the men, not being used to direct confrontation, proceeded to jump and run around each other, bashing away with their sticks, rather incompetently and feebly. The spectacle of men with bells on their legs and sticks in their hands not hitting a single target rather than the other mens' sticks, must have been an entertaining one for the villagers watching. From that day on, the villages decided to join forces and relegate their inadequate guardsmen to entertainment dancers, or Morris dancers.


Friday, May 27, 2011

Scratch my eardrum!

When it comes to music I always used to be a 'rocker'. The more guitar, the better. Sounds were meant to be organic, pure, and "real". Even though all rock music uses distortion and overdrive effects to create their sounds, it didn't matter as long as the sound came from a guitar. That sound was unmistakable.

My intrigue for electronic music has always been lurking in the back of my minds, but my "rock'n'roll neurons" have fervently denied any acknowledgement of anything that isn't played by humans. But as I've mentioned before, that all changed drastically when I hit a musical drought and coincidentally went to see Tron: Legacy in the cinema, and had a spiritual awakening evoked by the Lords of electronica, Daft Punk. Hallelujah.

For me, there is something about the way those digital, synthetic noises seem to 'scratch your brain'. It's the best way I can describe it, a "brain scratch". It's like one of those itches or self-inflicted scratches that is ambiguously itching and therefore annoying, but at the same time nice and, for some reason, intriguingly pleasant. When I hear a sound like the one I'm trying to describe (I will give you examples) I imagine a 'sound' literally scratching my eardrums and consequently my brain. It is the weirdest and nicest and most fascinating feeling. A feeling to which my rock'n'roll-fibres have finally let me succumb, in a relieved sigh of musical bliss.

My "rock'n'roll-genes" and love for real music will never let go. Therefore, I love (and always have) electro artists/DJs who manage to take samples from other artists and create a brilliant electro track, or simply remix a pop tune (French electro artists are particularly known for their ability to use samples and create completely new and different sounding tracks) But at the same time I like listening to some electro that is very synthetic, distorted and 'raw'. So this weeks tracks are about that 'raw', hard electro sound.

First off is, rather fittingly, Daft Punk's hit track off the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. The sounds they created for the Tron universe fits perfectly with the dark, digital world of the Grid (the computer created world). What I love about this track is how all the sound are so synthetic and digital sounding. The 'hi-hat' sounds like someone is tapping on an electric wire! It all sounds very 'electric' if you ask me. What I also love about Daft Punk (except for EVERYTHING) is their exquisite 'solos'. The way the melody theme just goes mental during the song is so bloody brilliant.


This week's second track is from another famous French electro duo; Justice and their brilliant track Waters of Nazareth. This track starts out with what sounds like just annoying noise, but it quickly breaks into a hard-hitting rock/electronica extravaganza. Justice of course are known for their rock-influenced electronica and heavily distorted sounds. I particularly like how they keep a relatively clean and organic sound on their beats (drums) whereas the melody is spewed out by a distorted sound, so dirty that it makes you want to have a shower. Love it.


So yeah, you know how much I like Daft Punk. I don't mean to intentionally inundate every blogpost with how much I love them or force their music down your throats (or ears). But I need to share this track with you. It is actually a remix by SebastiAn (who I told you about last week) of Daft Punk's "Human After All". Daft Punk have actually called this remix the best remix they have ever heard of their music, and that's pretty special I think. Then again, SebastiAn is a bloody genius. He's got a very heavy sound with very 'raw' effects, some of them literally sounds like he's plugging his equipment in. I think it's brilliant how he manages to incorporate that into his music. Anyway, enjoy this expert remix of the track that named my blog.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Vendredi musique

"French do it better" is an expression that keeps popping up on the different music related websites that I browse, and with good reason: The French DO make a lot of insanely cool electro music. This week I want to share three tracks with you, all from French artists. The music videos are also some of the best/funniest I have ever seen.

First off is a track that's not so much electro as it is rock. I'm usually not a fan of electronic rock as I feel in most cases 'electro rock bands' will drown the pure organic sound of rock instruments in a mess of distorted synthesizer noises and electro beats. It almost feels like they're trying to hide the fact that they're not that good... But sometimes, very rarely (when the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars...?), electro and rock seem to come together in perfect symbiosis. This French band (at least I think it's a band) Poney Poney have got a rocking tune which is made even better with simple and subtle electro effects. You'll know what I mean when you hear it. Also, the music video for this track is really funny and original in its simplicity.


Ed Banger Records is a French record company that is home to many famous electronic acts such as Cassius, SebastiAn, Justice, DJ Mehdi, Uffie, etc. It is run by Pedro Winter, who until 2008 was Daft Punk's manager. Needless to say, this record company is suffused with electronic awesomeness. Therefore, I must share with you some tracks that have been concocted in the magical cauldrons of this electro factory extraordinaire. First off, a DJ called SebastiAn and this lovely lovely music video for his track Embody.


Finally, a track by DJ Mehdi called Signatune. This version is has been given the Midas Touch of the electro deity that is Thomas Bangalter - one half of Daft Punk. The song is quite dramatic and almost a bit sombre, which is conveyed brilliantly by the exquisite accompanying music video. However, this does not take away the awesomeness and power from the track, which is made even 'rawer' (and more awesome in my biased opinion) by Thomas Bangalter's remix. I recommend you turn the volume up a little bit more and enjoy the track.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Music. It's Friday.

For this week's blogpost I tried to find some profound quote about music to use as a headline. They were all too cliché, so I typed 'music' into youtube to see what came up as the first results: Fucking Rebecca Black is one of the first videos...??? Doesn't bode well for the industry, does it? (I'm 26 and already I hear a voice in the back of my head going "Bloody kids and their music...")

So I've got three new gems of GOOD music that I want to share with you this week. First off is a new song by Grum, a DJ from England. It says on his wiki-page that he is known for "liking crackers and snacks"... Weird. Can't remember whether I've blogged about him before. No harm in repeating his name or music, though, because he's good. He debuted last year with his album Heartbeats (check it out) and is not shy to admit his admiration for the Gods of electro, Daft Punk. A source of inspiration which is quite apparent (Daft Punk's Television Rules The Nation) in his new remix of Urchins' "Xylophobe":

Urchins - Xylophobe (Grum Remix) by GRUM

The second track is by a DJ collaboration between The Magician and a guy called Yuksek. Together , they call themselves Peter and The Magician and their first track is "Twist", which I heard in a DJ set by U-Tern. I really like this track. Makes you want to do the Robot - 80s style. Haha.



The last track I'm going to share with you this week is a track my good friend Chris told me about. He stumbled across it in a Halo gameplay montage on youtube!?! Usually gameplay montages are set to some nu metal or hardcore trance or some other angry genre of music. Never GOOD music (or very rarely). This track, though, is an absolute gem. The band is called Vacationer, which is damn fitting because this song makes me want to leave everything behind and just go to a desert island and just lie on the beach and do fucking nothing. The song is even called "Trip"!! I think you'll get what I mean when you hear the song. Enjoy.
(PS! You can download the song for FREE on their website)

Friday, May 6, 2011

Friday Friday...

...Gotta get down on Friday!
Sorry about that. I'm not going to torment you with washed-up internet phenomena Rebecca Black. It's not even funny. And besides, this blog post is all about GOOD music.
Like I do every Friday, I'm going to introduce you to music I'm listening to at the moment. Hopefully it's something you haven't heard before (even though I've blogged about all the artists this week earlier) and that you might even enjoy listening to!

First off this week, the Australian duo of which I posted a song last week: Bag Raiders. They're awesome! They're fairly new on "the scene" (why am I trying to make myself sound like a veteran? I'm even newer on "the scene"! Jeeez...) and have only released one eponymous album so far, last year. I recommend you check them out. Here's one of my favourite tracks of their album:


Second song is also from an artist which I have posted before. Robotaki, the 19 year old kid (am I old?) from Canada. He is truly genius when it comes to remixing tunes. This was the first song I heard of his and I immediately fell in love. Hah! How pertinent considering the title of the song...


Last song this week is from the iconic deities of electro music: Daft Punk. The track is called "Teachers" and for a good reason. The lyrics simply consist of a list of all their idols who inspired them to start making music. I can think of no cooler way to honour your sources of inspiration. I know I discovered a lot of DJ's simply from listening to the lyrics on this track. And such an awesome track it is as well. Enjoy and have a good weekend!