BRUTAL KNIGHTS / ALEMAYEHU ESHETE

Last Saturday turned out to be another memorable night at the Pit's club! I simply cannot imagine a more powerful live band than Toronto's BRUTAL KNIGHTS. During the gig, I was thinking to myself that this must've been how BLACK FLAG sounded on stage during their heyday. With two guitar players, one bass player, one drummer and one singer, Canada's hardcore kings almost blew the roof off the fuckin' Pit's! With blasting intensity, the band's earth-shattering punk rock turned the place into a ruthless moshpit once again. What a band! Concert of the year? You bet!

Yesterday, I went to see ALEMAYEHU ESHETE aka the Ethiopian James Brown! Before the show, I talked to Francis Falceto whom I once interviewed about his fabulous Ethiopiques reissue program and he told me that Mr. Eshete's backing band consisted of young Bretons. I don't know if he saw the disappointment on my face in the vein of “What? No Ethiopians but a bunch of French conservatory musicians??”, but as soon as the band hit the stage, I knew that my prejudiced point of view was totally misplaced since the band played a terrific set. Alemayehu was in top form too and he really enjoyed himself on stage. Many classic Ethiopian songs were being played and when Alemayehu Eshete came back for an encore, the band played “Addis Ababa” and everybody was dancing! A mighty fine gig indeed!! After the show, I went to congratulate Alemayehu for his wonderful performance and he said "thank you brother" and gave me a hug! What a wonderful human being!!


I promise to bring my camera next time so I can shoot some pics for this blog.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

If you like your cinema pure & honest, you really need to check out this year's winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival. It's a delight to see how Romanian director Cristian Mungiu discreetly observes his main character Otilia while the real action is taking place off screen. In long takes, he reveals her inner struggles in silence, creating a maelstrom of emotions. This tale about an illegal abortion during the Ceausescu years can be spoken of with the same regard as 'The Death of Mr. Lazarescu'. I cannot imagine a higher recommendation.

CONTROL

Yesterday, I really enjoyed Anton Corbijn's compelling film about Ian Curtis (1956-1980), the tormented singer of Joy Division who hanged himself in 1980 at the age of 23. Sam Riley is really brilliant as the depressive lead singer and the live fragments are very convincing. The black-and-white film is visually arresting while the formal mise-en-scene is perfectly appropriate and fits the subject perfectly. A heartfelt film you cannot afford to miss!

reflection

perception:

i found most people extremely boring

question:

should i seek for more interesting people or has my mind been troubled by watching too many movies?

solution:

a combination of domestic happiness and joyful escapism through the arts (movies, books, music)

Alemayehu Eshete

Trappist Westvleteren

Hooray!!! Last Tuesday, I bought my first 2 crates of Westvleteren Trappist beer!! Although stocks have always been low and supplies have always been limited and uncertain, even for Belgians it has become very hard these days to obtain a crate of the world-renowned Trappist beer. Ever since the Westvleteren 12 was chosen best beer in the world on RateBeer.com in June 2005, each car is rationed to two 24-bottle crates and the beer has to be reserved through a beer phone beforehand. This means that the monks will not sell you any beer if you just drive up to the abbey hoping to get some. Aside from the brewery itself, the only other official sale point for the beer is the abbey-owned meeting center 'In de Vrede', just in front of the abbey. All beers can still be bought there for immediate consumption only. The monks themselves are charmingly stubborn: they have repeatedly stated that they only brew enough beer to run the monastery, and will make no more than they need to sell, regardless of demand.

Before I went to collect my two wooden crates of Trappist Westvleteren 8, I tasted the Westvleteren 12 and I must admit that it is truly an exceptional beer! I won't try to describe its flavour as I terribly suck at describing beer, but believe me - its reputation as the world's greatest beer is totally justified! A profound beer drinking experience!

At the end of the month, the Westvleteren 12 will be available too. I can hardly wait... again.

African pearls on sale at Mélodie !!!

There’s a very interesting sale going on at Mélodie until September 16th (hurry up!). The 6 CD series SENEGAL FLASH for example, is a wonderful collection of Senegalese and Gambian bands from the seventies. Other collections from the Syliphone catalog, like the DISCOTHEQUE series, are no less essential. The 2CD collections MUSIQUE DU MALI VOL.1 & 2 have recently been upgraded by Syllart as African Pearls 3: One Day On Radio Mali but the current price of the original collection is really ridiculously low. You can find a link to the overstock offer by clicking here. I have marked the recommended items in yellow. Ask your local retailer NOW because there’s some truly unique music to be heard! This majestic track by Super Diamono for example, can be found on Sénégal Flash: Banjul.

You can find more info on the original releases by clicking here

Silversun Pickups

At work, I am surrounded by women who are keen on radio stations with slogans like “The Fun! The Hits!” or “Q-Music Is Good For You!”. Because I treat my female colleagues very kindly most of the time (serving coffee, telling them they look terrific today etc.) every now and then they allow me to listen to some national college radio station that plays a lot of ‘guitar-oriented’ songs. Sure, they play All Saints or The Spin Doctors too, but it’s always nice to hear Iggy Pop or Violent Femmes while tapping the keyboard. Now there’s this one song that they constantly play by a band called Silversun Pickups that I really started to like a lot. It is called “Lazy Eye” and it reminds me a lot of The Breeders although I never bought a Breeders record in my life so I might be wrong at that point. Anyway, I searched some info about this L.A. quartet and it seems like they’re rather famous since they play big festivals and sell a lot of records. Wait! You MUST have heard of this band?! They’re probably one of those dreadful indie bands that want to become the next Foo Fighters and do have their own PR-manager! But whatever, I really like this song and although there’s a fat chance that I will probably hate it next month, I simply have to admit that – RIGHT NOW – I am very fond of it. The fascinating thing is that this shameless personal revelation gives me a good feeling. It feels great to admit that I really like a song that is cherished by thousands of teenagers worldwide although after reading this, you will probably never ever trust me again music wise.

Play or download Lazy Eye

Brötzmann & Hitchens

It's good to have several sources for buying books & music so you can compare prices and save money. I have just ordered the following 2 items at Proxis, both very reasonably priced:

The Complete Machine Gun Sessions - The Peter Brötzmann Octet (Atavistic 2CD)



The original BRO Records LP restored to its 1968 format, with two alternate takes, new liner notes by Brötzmann and John Corbett, plus the only live version of MACHINE GUN ever recorded- in a deluxe package! This is a 2 CD edition and even cheaper than the former FMP edition. I am renovating the house and pretty sure that this will be the perfect companion while removing wall paper. Here's what the others say: "mind-blasting... a smashing, clanging wonderland of noise." - Thurston Moore, "Jaw-dropping, face-peeling, DNA-changing music." - Mats Gustafsson.


God is Not Great (How religion poisens everything) - Christopher Hitchens



The dutch translation is scheduled for november but I've read a couple of interesting things about this book so I ordered the American hardcover edition. Although I wouldn't describe myself as a hardcore atheist (I highly regard people like the 13th century sufi poet and mystic Rumi or Tarkovsky's religious consciousness), I do agree with Karl Marx' famous statement that religion is the opium of the people. I don't think that this book will drastically change my thinking about religion but I am anxious to read it.

The Scene of the Crime - BETTYE LAVETTE

Whoah!!! Look at this one! Soul goddess BETTYE LAVETTE teaming up with the fabulous DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS!!! A couple of years ago, I saw a devastatingly powerful performance by soul goddess Lavette at the Blues Estafette in Utrecht. During “Let Me Down Easy”, you could hear a pin drop even though the hall was packed with some 3,000 blues/soul music lovers! Drive-by Truckers on the other hand is one of the most exciting roots rock bands today. Once you’ve seen them on stage, you become a lifelong fan! “The Scene of the Crime” will be released on September 24 on Anti- records. Man, I really can’t wait to hear this record!!!