3 current household favourites...

The following 3 records probably got the most spins over here in the last couple of weeks:

THE GOLDWAX STORY Volume 1 (Ace Records 2001)

At The Golden Circle, Volume One - ORNETTE COLEMAN (Blue Note Records 1965 CD)

Aman Iman: Water Is Life - TINARIWEN (Independiente Records 2007 CD)

The latest & third CD by TINARIWEN is the first real masterpiece of 2007 and I am thrilled to bits that the band will be playing together with the amazing TARTIT ensemble & TOUMAST in Brussels on May 8th! A musical trip to the Sahara and without a doubt a night to cherish!!!

Jah Shaka in late 70s session

I will try to post great MP3's & YouTube videos in the future. Let's start with this damn cool Jamaican video...

At the movies

It looks like 2007 is going to be a great film year. Here are my favourites so far, as well as other movies I enjoyed recently...

1) Summer Palace
2) Climates
3) I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone
4) Inland Empire
5) Opera Jawa
6) Daratt
7) Syndromes and a Century
8) Khadak
9) The Host
10) Les Anges Exterminateurs

Hamaca Paraguaya, A Bittersweet Life, Time, Walking on the Wild Side, Prendre Femme, Koorogi, Exiled, The Journey, The Optimists, Jardins en automne, Ca brule, Bamako, Half Moon, Bes Vakit, Weed, Scream of the Ants, Still Life, Rain Dogs, Nue Propriété, Our Daily Bread, Letters from Iwo Jima

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Iklimler (Climates), the latest film by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Uzak) who plays the main character together with his wife Ebru Ceylan, is a cinematographic masterpiece. Ceylan tells the story of a university professor who breaks up with his lover, wanders between lethargy and hesitation, looks out for her again only to abandon her once more. Ceylan is very poised in what he does and tells his story in a brilliant slow narrative style. The breathtaking perfection of the image frame and the extraordinarily beautiful photography left me completely in awe. Definitely one of the year’s very best movies!

CINEMA NOVO FILM FESTIVAL

The CINEMA NOVO film festival made another terrific selection of the best movies in contemporary world cinema. I will try to write some more this week about the films seen in Bruges...

Lollipop Shoppe

Fuck! I finally bought myself a decent vinyl copy of The Lollipop Shoppe’s 1967 psych masterpiece “Just Colour” on some bootleg label, paid way too much cash only to find out NOW that the album has just been officialy reissued and authorized by Fred Cole and features 6 extra tracks to the original album! Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Black Keys

I went to check out The Black Keys yesterday to see what all the fuzz was about. Although I really do like the two-piece band’s first two albums I own, I always found it rather strange that they draw hundreds of people while similar bands (Deadly Snakes, Jack Oblivian, Reigning Sound, Digger & The Pussycats, etc.) play for a mere handful of people. The Black Keys however seem to have their hearts on the right place: the set was never less than exciting. The drummer kicked ass like a real wildman and the singer/guitar player fuckin’ ROCKED! Think Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The White Stripes, Junior Kimbrough & one raw white-ass soulful singer. A damn fine gig!