one year

gratulations to urbanology for its first birthday! thanks for the music and to another year! and he posted that really cool painting…

funny enough it is now also one year of blogging for yours truly, the sunbathinglizard. it has been interesting for me – this blog works as some kind of homework for me, pushing me to do work on different topics, to revisit, rediscover a lot of material. but i do discover a lot of new things along the way, too. yep, that all sounds terribly self-centered – but hey, that’s just the way i am.

this is also a good occassion to thank: many thanks to R in X, to N, to M&P, to M, to recordfinder mastah w, to N, to P, to J, to M, to dkb, everybody who left a comment (except two of them, yes, you too, dude) to the artists and writers that provide me with the soundtrack to my life and much needed food for brain, heart, and soul and especially to all of them who wrote me some really nice lines. yes, a pat on the shoulder is always nice. and of course many thanks to all the interesting music blogs and websites out there – well, have a look at my link list. you keep on inspiring me. and of course thanks to all the nice people at sfrp! huh – this is getting now rather cheesy – but it might be the closest i get to a thank you-speech anyway…

as for some statistics: quite a lot of posts, quite some visitors, nico is the most popular, metalheadz and talk talk still generate a lot of interest, electronic music is less popular, and i am still puzzled that quite some people downloaded boys town gang but only a handfull of people downloaded ten percent. hmmm…. then i might also mention that i do see the search strings that brings people here. one thing: so many people search “gianna nannini lesbian”. just that you know: yes, she is. in the eighties she kind of came out in a german music magazine. and no, i do not have any nude pics of hannah schygulla. and it still surprises me how many people type “high heels inserted” into a search engine… jeez… on the more interesting side: i am pleased that abdolvahab shahidi still interests some people. you are right! and i am also surprised how many people seem to know bessie von brühl.

so, to just have it said again: you can ask for re-ups and try a request. and yes, thank you’s are still welcome…

and what about the next year? of course more music. what exactly we will see. after all i had planned in the last months quite a different route – but that’s part of the fun for me. more text again. i feel it is time to get a little bit more…vocal. and yes, i have read quite a lot of interesting stuff lately. basically i will keep on with my focused drifting…

what else? yes, i do like presents. small and expensive, of course.

to finish this navel-gazing post i would like to propose some music. this blog started with jean genet – a year later i am still in the mood for sailors, for the dramatic. and i think jaques brel’s amsterdam fits here nicely for a couple of other reasons, too. this time in the version of david bowie. and yes, i have to admit i did not know this cover version until i stumbled across it a couple of months ago… on the flip side you’ll find sorrow from bowie’s lp pin-ups. the year? 1973. get it here. as always: enjoy!

data_streams

data streaming endlessly through the global networks, flowing into our brains. and before drowning, let me point you to some islands.

less lyrically put: following you’ll find my personal choice of interesting stuff. so let me be your selector.

murcof. something that i keep playing repeatedly – not least because the weather is cold and wet, but especially because it is beautiful and calm is murcof’s last record cosmos from last year. ovelaying textures and a slow deepness – drifting and evolving. and then it fits nicely in the sequence of the two preceeding posts – just more the bearish type. get an ear full of over at his myspace page. for more information, performance dates and a couple of videos please visit his website. and over at smuggled sounds you’ll find a recording of his, together with erik truffaz and talvin singh at the jazzfestival montreux (m even liked it hearing over the phone). and of course sound+ also features one of his performances from seattle in 2004.

convextion. somewhat elusive artist from texas. more textures, overlaying, but less ambient / classical / minimal then a special flavour of electro. it’s one of these sets i downloaded and it just played on my computer and i was doing something else and suddenly i realized that i’m listening to excellent music – yes, it slowly crept into my awareness. and yes, since then it is not leaving my playlist. convextion, live pa , manchester 25.04.2008 – get it here. yep, this also comes from sound+ (where you’ll also find some older live recordings of convextion – and it shows you that you should be on the mailing list – not everything is up on the website).

octave one. robert hood. claudio ponticelli. after all this rather slow electronica time for some techno: via the detroitinstitute comes a nice triple pack of elegant techno. at the moment i prefer the octave one-set. but this changes according to mood… a very nice robert hood mix you’ll also find here at the bodytonic music website.

baroquedub. leaving the electronic a little bit, but not totally – and hoping that summer will come eventually i would like to point to baroquedub (finally!) – mixtapes with many sounds around dub: from dubstep to laptop-dub to classic roots and some surprises. always quality, always interesting – and one can never have enough dubby sounds around, right? so stock up before summer is here!

urbanology. talking of dubby sounds: i mentioned this earlier, but i keep on listening to it, still. it is just so nice and manages to put me in a good mood even when it drizzles with rain. yep, you should finally get fat freddy’s drop. and while you’re there, have a listen at lou courtney – i’m in need of love. one of the great soulrecords. period.

leave your nine at home. and then there is a birthday to celebrate: leave your nine is two years old. that is pretty old in blog years, i suppose. so head over and sing a little birthday song…

the cookshop. and the cookshop celebrated a while ago his 500th post. respect. still bringing us all this wonderfully strange music… thanks!

audiofile. while we’re visiting favourites i would also like to point out a special segment over at the queermusicheritage: if you would like a regular update of new releases by lgbt artists, i recommend you listen to audiofile here. hidden there in the archive is a special show, containing the ten most influental songs for the lgbt community. of course my choice would have been rather different – but then that’s the fun of such lists, right? have a look and a listen here (just scroll down). one song that would have made it on my list as well, i think, is tom robinson’s glad to be gay. which brings us to the next stop in our little journey…

tom robinson. essential listening. zero g posted the first record of the tom robinson band: power in the darkness, which includes the above mentioned song glad to be gay. i repeat it again: ESSENTIAL LISTENING. what a record. and what lyrics. yeah! and he posted as well the live record tom robinson band: cabaret. and zero g is anyway very much worrth a visit. although it kind of bugs me that he posted that (another) record which i try to find since months. but that’s just the collector in me speaking right now. then i also urge you to visit tom robinson’s website: a lot more information, food for thoughts, other intersting stuf, and yes, some of his albums for free.

macho man randy savage. so – to end this post with something very virile…grrrrr….and…errr… rather different: the record of wrestling star macho man randy savage called, surprisingly: be a man. it can’t get much butcher then that. and then the cover! yes, i was just sold after seeing the cover. it’s perfect in its own way, somehow… you can get it over at burning down the dreams of forever.

so – i hope you enjoyed that little trip around and really hope you enjoy at least some of the sounds i pointed you to. as usual: be nice to all these friendly folks making such great stuff available.

did you miss me…

…when i was away? did you hang my picture on your nose?

yes, it has been a while. my absence has been due to some private stuff (let’s just say that i listened to way too much portishead) and because i have been in the wild – but also (although named martial) very tender – west.

in the meantime there have been a couple of comments – thank you very much! if you would like to discuss the history of electro, you might go here. then i have a lot of new music – i will just have to think how to integrate this into my plans for this blog (well, which change anyway all the time – we will see). and yes, there are still a couple of requests open – you have not been forgotten. some new / old music i came across (again – meaning i found the vinyls) is actually from the above mentioned wild west. two records i re-listened to lately and have been hit by their excellence are jaques brel‘s “brel” and léo ferré‘s “la solitude”. very strong stuff, and especially in the case of léo ferré lyrics that just hit you – but then i do not have to post them – for this stefan from paris is a highly reliable source. so you can get jaques brel here and léo ferré here.

then i would also like to point to margot’s coven – you might have already seen the link wheel of the year on the side bar. i highly recommend a visit – there is some strange music to be dicovered – well, and any music blog posting kimmo pohjonnen must be a quality blog, right?

then i would also like to point you over to urbanology: my request has been fullfilled, and you all can now grab a recording of the great otis redding – a recording of his famous monterey festival concert. great stuff. thank you, urbanology!

so – to finish this little “hey, i’m back”-post here some live otis redding from monterey, i’ve been loving you too long – it somehow fits between portishead and the bitter-sweet of the great french singers and the general mood of the weeks past… and well, it is otis redding, man!

pointers: d.k.b – and then some more great music

well – great music will also come up here – i am just listening thru some stuff to do some posts about. something…different. but then that’s to be expected, right? and then i got some more stuff from the duchess and then i guess i have to post some dirty guitars for all the visitors from the twilightzone!

in the meantime:

d.k.b. finally did it! time to pat me on the shoulder…eeerr, to pat him on the shoulder: he started his own blog, throwing up his art (music and images). very slick. so head over and have a look! very slick and of course in a good way…hmmm…strange.

(tearoom 4 B by dkb)

and then i would like to send you over to urbanology for some music: if you liked lord antics, then you most probably also like the kingstonians. and he posted booker t. & the m. g.’s – aaah, yes. and he promised to post some otis, too. but the best is still to come: fat freddy’s drop – live in amsterdam. mmmhhh – this is so smooth and gentle and nice – who needs springtime with music like this? i have to admit that they shone up on my radar, but i never took the time to listen to them. shame on me. one of the great discoveries of the last months for me.

so – that’s all for now. keep these comments flowing and – enjoy!

et hop! some pointers

time to point you in the direction of some music – since i haven’t posted that much hip hop to listen to (yet).

if you want some more oldschool hip hop:

rho-xs is posting quite some gems – as an introduction you might go here.

then music-hole, a, hm, eclectic music blog, posted not too long ago some grandmaster flash, public enemy (at the mazzo, amsterdam!) and the last show of a tribe called quest. get it here.

and now let’s go to the blogs that focus on hip hop. of course there must be zillions of hip hop sites on the net – i picked out the two i read regularly – these are the two music blogs i would like to recommend:

leave your nine at home: blog of a very knowledgeable hip hop-lover. all kinds of hip hop in many languages – american, english, french, spanish, swiss, and beyond. yeah, a lot to listen to and a lot to learn… very nice!

urbanbology: finally i can give you a pointer to this excellent blog (although it’s on my blogroll for quite a while). not a “pure” hip hop blog – as it states. open minded. this is also shown in the awareness that music does have social and political aspects. you guessed it right: it is this kind of mixture that attracts me very much. yeah, it’s a bit annoying because it is another one of these blogs where i have the feeling i have to listen to more or less everything that gets posted. well, i have to admit that i love it. yep, one of my favourites. much respect! and should you still not get it: highly recommended!