Moi j'aurais bien aimé un peu plus de tendresse
I haven't much to report from this weekend really. Went shopping and picked up a few more CDs to add to the 2005 list:
The Ramones 'The Chysalis Years' - a triple CD and an absolute bargain at £5. Inspired by this post and the fact that I have a Ramones t-shirt and know the words to Psycho Therapy thanks to Skid Row.
Embrace 'Fireworks (singles 1997-2002)' - this will no doubt make Lord Bargain chuckle, as I have held forth long and loud many times about how I think Danny MacNamara honks like a sealion. I blame Chris Martin. Also £5.
Next Brel - a compilation of various cover versions of Jacques Brel songs, by people like Dusty Springfield, The Divine Comedy and Scott Walker (and a brilliant, completely mental version of "Next" by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band). Brel is kind of hard to describe - he was a a sort of Gallic Bob Dylan, I suppose - but the passion and humour with which he sang his songs is spectacular, and from what I can make out of them, the lyrics are cutting, sad, funny and always splendidly evocative. Superb. You should give him a try. Brel's rough-hewn voice sounds a million miles away from Scott Walker's honeyed bass baritone, to be honest, but that's how I first found him. Scott Walker did a number of covers of Brel songs - most famously "Jackie" (which was later covered by Marc Almond) . It's hard to imagine someone, Brian McFadden say, walking out of a boyband and stepping straight into songs about existentialism and death, via a period of hiding in a monastery. That's what Scott Walker did though in 1967 when he left the Walker Brothers. He's hardly been prolific, and his last album was 'Tilt' in 1995, although I hear he has a record contract and might put something out later this year, which would be amazing. Anyway, I'm rambling. That one was also £5 (god bless you FOPP)
Rufus Wainwright 'Want One' - very highly rated and I've been meaning to pick this up for a while now. On first listen I had 2 thoughts: firstly that he reminds me a little bit of Billy Joel (which is a good thing) and secondly that I didn't know that it was him who sang "I Don't Know What It Is". This one cost me £10.
All in all £25 reasonably well spent, I thought. Not exactly thrifty, but not too extravagant.
What else happened in my not-very-eventful weekend?
hm.
Oh yes. We had a dinner party for some friends, during which C. managed to nearly slice her finger off in a food blender (we patched it up as best we could and carried on cooking - possibly to the mild consternation of our guests, as her apron was now covered with blood....)
Anything else?
hmmm.
Ah. We bought a kitchen, but I can't really bring myself to tell you about that tonight. Or possibly ever. It's not a very interesting story.
Nah. Nothing to see here. Move along.
The Ramones 'The Chysalis Years' - a triple CD and an absolute bargain at £5. Inspired by this post and the fact that I have a Ramones t-shirt and know the words to Psycho Therapy thanks to Skid Row.
Embrace 'Fireworks (singles 1997-2002)' - this will no doubt make Lord Bargain chuckle, as I have held forth long and loud many times about how I think Danny MacNamara honks like a sealion. I blame Chris Martin. Also £5.
Next Brel - a compilation of various cover versions of Jacques Brel songs, by people like Dusty Springfield, The Divine Comedy and Scott Walker (and a brilliant, completely mental version of "Next" by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band). Brel is kind of hard to describe - he was a a sort of Gallic Bob Dylan, I suppose - but the passion and humour with which he sang his songs is spectacular, and from what I can make out of them, the lyrics are cutting, sad, funny and always splendidly evocative. Superb. You should give him a try. Brel's rough-hewn voice sounds a million miles away from Scott Walker's honeyed bass baritone, to be honest, but that's how I first found him. Scott Walker did a number of covers of Brel songs - most famously "Jackie" (which was later covered by Marc Almond) . It's hard to imagine someone, Brian McFadden say, walking out of a boyband and stepping straight into songs about existentialism and death, via a period of hiding in a monastery. That's what Scott Walker did though in 1967 when he left the Walker Brothers. He's hardly been prolific, and his last album was 'Tilt' in 1995, although I hear he has a record contract and might put something out later this year, which would be amazing. Anyway, I'm rambling. That one was also £5 (god bless you FOPP)
Rufus Wainwright 'Want One' - very highly rated and I've been meaning to pick this up for a while now. On first listen I had 2 thoughts: firstly that he reminds me a little bit of Billy Joel (which is a good thing) and secondly that I didn't know that it was him who sang "I Don't Know What It Is". This one cost me £10.
All in all £25 reasonably well spent, I thought. Not exactly thrifty, but not too extravagant.
What else happened in my not-very-eventful weekend?
hm.
Oh yes. We had a dinner party for some friends, during which C. managed to nearly slice her finger off in a food blender (we patched it up as best we could and carried on cooking - possibly to the mild consternation of our guests, as her apron was now covered with blood....)
Anything else?
hmmm.
Ah. We bought a kitchen, but I can't really bring myself to tell you about that tonight. Or possibly ever. It's not a very interesting story.
Nah. Nothing to see here. Move along.
posted by swisslet @ 23:09
6 Comments:
At 8:23 am,
Anonymous said…
hmm....what did you get?
gas/ electric?
hobs/grill pans?
single/double door fridge (ice maker)?
ovens with bells/ whistles/ clocks?
...obviously i am in the middle of this hell that is kichen shopping...what the hell was wrong with my idea of getting a massive coffe machine, a great big cupboard for jaffa cakes..and maybe a spit roast for the donner?
I had a great weekend...what with my stag do and everything..ask nicely and i shall tell all
two more days to go....
Des
At 10:22 am,
Graham said…
oh god. someone actually reads my blog. And then they made a purchasing decision based on something i wrote! Woah. Still the Ramones thingy is a bargain, I was listening to it at 7AM today.
wun-two-free-foor!
Yes, I too have a love of the Ramones because of Skid Row, and hair metal has a lot to answer for, believe me.....
At 10:21 pm,
Erika said…
I find Rufus Wainwright to generally be a short-lived love affair. At first you're all "oh my god, he's so unique and interesting and soulful" and then, slowly, surely, all the ego starts to crowd out the soul until all you can hear is Rufus screaming "look at me! I'm brilliant! I'm brilliant!"
But, in the meantime, Want One is a solid album. Canada's got our own Rufus Wainwright, if you're interested in more unique, interesting and masturbatory music, in a fellow named Hawksley Workman.
At 10:59 pm,
swisslet said…
Masturbatory music?
At 12:51 am,
Erika said…
It's my less than polite way to describe art that is aware of its own brilliance. It started as "ego masturbation" but then shortened itself down to an adjective. I work in theatre. I see a lot of it. You know.
At 9:24 am,
swisslet said…
I think I know what you mean - it's the way I feel about Salman Rushdie's books: he's a fantastically talented author, but he is also very aware of his own talent, and is unable to resist making the voice of the author louder than the voices of his characters.
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