The last farewell .... to 2014

It has been such an eventful year and that is including 3 aviation disaster for Malaysian, a disappointing balloting result, a very successful world cup for Germany except for one particular player, a flood that is worst in the history .........

For all the good and bad, let's bit the last farewell to 2014. May 2015 bring us happy moments and blessings.

Love will destroy you ?

Some things, once you've loved them, become yours forever. 

And if you try to let them go, they only circle back and return to you.

They become part of who you are... 



Or they destroy you.

          -- quote from Kill Your Darlings 

         

Sunday Nights with Mr Acker Bilk

Dedicated to the man whose song illuminated so many of my Sunday Nights.

Alan Zechariah and Reezal Abdullah spun many excellent songs in their radio show "Memories are Made of This" on Sunday nights. I loved that show and made it a point to tune in whenever I could. Not only were the songs lovely, but they managed to find so many really obscure songs that I used it like a Discovery Channel for old time music. It was a brilliant show and there was great regret on my part when the station decided to end the show.

But always ..... always, the highlight of the show was Acker Bilk's "Stranger on the Shore". The song bookended the show and, be it in my room or in the car, the first strains of that clarinet invariably drew me into the song. There are many songs that I like, fewer that are favourites, even less if you were to ask me for the first few to pop into my mind. This is one of those 'lesser than few' songs.



Rest In Peace, Mr Acker Bilk.

the Inside story on Llewyn Davis

The Coen Brothers, for me, have been a consistent source in introducing new (read 'old') musicians. The latest coming from their recent movie Inside Llweyn Davis.

And while the star character, Llewyn Davis, doesn't incorporate everything - you can clearly see that a major part of the role is based on Dave Van Ronk.The Coen Brothers have used Van Ronk's character, his story, his songs, even his album cover - or maybe that was their tribute to him.

As for the movie itself - it was good. I'd recommend it. It's just a week in the life of one particular folk singer in New York in the 60's. Before Bob Dylan emerged, after Elvis Presley did. As always with the Coen Brothers, the music is outstanding.



There is a brief scene, at the end of the movie where you can see the silhouette of Bob Dylan playing at the Gaslight Cafe. Apparently Dylan was a friend of Dave Van Ronk and had been musically influenced by him.

BTW, what a great name for a cafe ! I'm just waiting for somebody around here to open up a cafe in that name. The concept and the story is already there. Damn, even the music is ready made. What are they waiting for ?

The take away from all this is that it's time to explore the music of Dave Van Ronk. It's off to a promising start.

Finding the unexpected ....

Many, many things could count as unexpected pleasures. In this case, I heard this particular Carpenters song for the first time tonight -  it was a Pleasure.

Booty Swing

Currently listening to Electro Swing. Brilliant music in small doses - unless you're seriously into dance ...



It's surprising how versatile swing music has turned out to be. The last post I had saw it incorporated into Western Swing, which was really more of a Middle America, Republican sort of thingy. And pretty much the opposite swing of the pendulum to the European club scene.

And just because I love this ad ... http://vimeo.com/34937456

The song is "Booty Swing" from Parov Stelar. The ad is for a Las Vegas casino with a fabulous tagline .. "Just the Right amount of Wrong"
Doesn't it just make you want to go out and do something ..... wrong ?

The Hot Club of Cowtown ...... no, I'm serious .....

The first time I heard 'After You've Gone' I was in a semi-deserted shopping center in the middle of Kuala Lumpur city. On the way to a job interview. Walking into the shopping center, I could hear the strains of the song wafting around the complex. It wasn't piped in. It came from one particular shop selling music CDs. The complex wasn't noisy as it was relatively empty and the shop owner was playing the song LOUD. Even on the escalator up to the 2nd floor I could still hear the song playing. It was sensational.

I remember walking into her shop after the interview and buying the album. Cynthia M. Jazz album. 10 songs - 2 in English and the rest in French. Lost the CD when my car got stolen.

So even though I've been out of circulation for such a long time, I couldn't resist when I heard this.

The Hot Club of Cowtown. Western Swing, they call it ...

The Waterboys and Brill Stuff ...

Brilliant stuff, this ...



I'd been listening to one of their other songs "Strange Boat" for years and really liked it but had never explored the rest of their catalogue - guess it's time to check them out.

Thieves and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Lately I've been listening to the current Queen of Quirk, Zooey Deschanel. She hasn't got a remarkable voice but most of her tunes are okay. Some have turned out really rather well. Like this.



Considering that she writes most of her original material and that she's known primarily as an actress, I'd say that she's one pretty talented lady.

66 Years Old ... and David Bowie still Kicks Ass

Released on his 66th birthday on January 8th this year. Without fanfare. It'll grow on you, it did on me.

Beautiful Mistake

It's a lovely title for a song, isn't it ?

I've admired Faye Wong for a long time. For the beautiful music she makes and for striking out on her own musical direction at a time when the Cantopop scene was filled with rather generic sounding music all around.

This is the one that's on my playlist now :

Yesterday .. Paul McCartney said ....

Paul McCartney's "Yesterday" is the most covered song in the world. I've heard a few versions, none as good as the original but this one by En Vogue comes pretty close.

Grimes

I'd file this under "Good shit" .....



Don't think much of the video, but the music grows on you.

Life is what Happens .....

There is this line from John Lennon which I've remembered since I first read it.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

It is at once insightful, and has a certain wittiness about it. More importantly, it perfectly describes Life - Not as it always is, but as it could be at any time. Life changing possibilities abound at any moment in time, both good and bad. And all the while, people make plans and execute plans and procrastinate on plans and sleep on plans and give up on plans and make new plans ...



Life happened.

Literally.

Winterlong

After a long hiatus which owed in part to, of all things, not being able to figure out how to log in when the Blogger settings were changed, I'm back with an introduction to yet another Neil Young song. This time, covered by The Pixies :

If a Hard Rain's gonna Fall ..... it might be Time for the Cocteau Twins

Driving home at night in the rain with traffic. The sound of raindrops on the car. The flash of tail lights as cars whizz by, the glare of headlights as cars approach and disappear - all filtered through the rainwater on my windscreen. Glancing in the mirror at the lights behind.

The Cocteau Twins on the stereo.

I drove an extra hour just for this visual soundscape.

Melody's Echo Chamber - lovely music, this ...

I haven't gone walkabout in looking for new music for the past few years, so what little falls into my lap is greatly appreciated. I'm not big on what passes for music with teenagers and the young-ish set nowadays but there is a motherlode of great music which exist on the fringes of the musical landscape - in the back lanes and the street corners - and most notably, on YouTube.

So the latest group to catch my ear is Melody's Echo Chamber with a slice of psychdelic soundscape.



Also, check out another one of their songs which immediately made me think of the Cocteau Twins - Endless Shore (here).

Thanks Andy for Moon River

That song Moon River has many points of reference for me.

That it first showed up in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. What a title for a movie !

That Audrey Hepburn was the first to sing it (here). Moon River has a romantic, romantic melody.

That it references Huckleberry Finn travelling down the Mississippi River. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were two of the books I read and remembered when young. There was quite a lot of Mark Twain when I was young.

And later, when I found out that Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini were the composers. Henry Mancini - the composer of the 'Pink Panther' theme !

But mostly, it was because I really liked the song. I've heard a few versions (including Morrisey's !) but the version that I've remembered is by Andy Williams. It's been there and thereabouts for a large part of my life.

For that, I thank you Andy. RIP.

The Walk Men's Rat

Listen long enough and this song will grow on you.

the Perfect Guy

He's got a truck load of women despite having a wife (but then again, so did she...), but the man's got a point with this here quote of his.