The harmonica is typically associated with blues and folk music as a key instrument alongside the acoustic guitar. This makes it all the more surprising when musicians from the indie and electronic scenes use it.The harmonica is typically associated with blues and folk music as a key instrument alongside the acoustic guitar. This makes it all the more surprising when musicians from the indie and electronic scenes use it.
Matt Johnson released what is perhaps his best album, Dusk, as The The in 1993. Its success is largely due to Johnny Marr, who, in addition to playing tasteful guitar parts, also plays the harmonica, which carries nearly the entire album.
The French electronic duo Air has regularly expanded their sound by collaborating with guest musicians. This was also the case in 2001, when they worked with Beck on their album 10,000 Hz Legend in addition to vocals, Beck also contributed harmonica.
Camper Van Beethoven, who helped pioneer indie rock in California in the early 1980s alongside bands like Black Flag and Sonic Youth, released their final album in 1989 before disbanding. As on their earlier albums, they remained true to their surrealistic, humorous folk rock.
Last year Polish duo Jazxing released their debut album Pearls of the Baltic Sea, a homage to 80s electronic classic with massive influences by Saint Etienne and Air but also fragments of New Wave and Dub. I liked what I heard and put it on my list. And to be honest I can't tell they reason why I didn't bought this little beauty and forgot them until I got the news that they released a remix album. Formed by musicians, producers and DJs Jakub Sautycz and Mateusz Filipiuk in their hometown Gdansk they were able to combine all the influences into a full concept that still works. On Vijnana Nottinghams Coyote adds some acoustic instruments to the song and the result is a laid back construct.
It was 25 years ago these days when an album was released that stamped the soundtrack of 1998. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel formed Air, a French electronic duo something between ambient pop and downtempo. Both created a sound that was the legacy of the 60's yéyé-sound from the late 60's. Moon Safari was the album that was far away from anything else that was released in this year. A sound that was played on analog synthesizers with rakish arrangements and cuddly hooklines. An album that is still a trademark in electronic music filled with timeless songs.
Manchester's indie-pop band released their new album Tableau the recent days. I have to admit that I have big fondness to them because they interpret rock/pop in their very own way. On this album they add more different styles to their sound before. Now you can hear a bassline remembering French band Air, a dance track like The Room that morphs into a guitar lead indie song or a the eight minute long Beam/s that starts as a dark shoegaze song and turns into distorted house. Seldom listened this year to an album that had so much different facets.
Sometimes it makes you smile when you listen to a song in the radio that you have almost forgotten. This happened during Christmas time when we took a trip in the car to visit my former wife's mother. All I Need was released in 1998 by Air on their first and rightly high recommended album Moon Safari. I have to admit that I didn't listen to this record for ages but did it with joy after we arrived back home.
In 1998 was one year which had a basic incision in my life. As I have already indicated in the last post of this series, a final decision has liked. Me and Kerstin decided to go separate ways.We didn't made it easy to decide but I didn't want to move away from my native country to follow my wife to hers. She got more and more homesick to her family and the way of living. It isn't that Cologne was more attractive but she missed the Rhenish way of life so much. It was decisive also that our daughter should be sent to school and we both agreed that it better to make a cut right now than to deliver it on the back of our children. I remember when we sat together for evenings talking about all our options, drinking and having tears in each other eyes. And finally we have separated in friendship and love to allow it to everybody to start a new happy and contented life. The hardest thing was to explain it to the kids because in their age they cannot understand the reasons for separating. Although I have mourned about the loss of the children of the deepest heart, we both had to tell them about a new nice world in which they will live in future. So we packed the things together and moved them to their parents house in spring. I started to sell the house and found me a nice apartment in my hometown and contacted people I haven't seen for long years. Suddenly I recognized that I was back in my older life as a free man with less responsibility, however, also more desire in the life.
In this time I spent a lot of time listening to my old records and looking for the new ones that was released this year.
Air - Moon Safari: Superb record made in France
The Notwist - Shrink: German arty new rock music
Massive Attack - Mezzanine: Another fantastic record
Tortoise - TNT: Even their second record is great
Two Lone Swordsmen - Stay Down: First time I recognized the great Andrew Weatherall
Madonna - Ray Of Light: Maybe her last good record
Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children: New great sounds from Scotland
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Carry On: A compilation of great songs and voices
Robbie Williams - I've Been Expecting You: Perfect pop - nothing more or less
A few well known songs that I listen to this year:
Here are some movies that are worth to remember:
Saving Private Ryan: Steven Spielberg shows us the real World War II
Life Is Beautiful: It is hard to explain a KZ as a playground to your son
American History X: Shocking that this could happen in the United States
The Big Lebowski: One of my favorite movies. No one is cooler than The Dude
The Celebration: Wonderful Drama about lifelong lies
Run Lola Run: Every Story has three sides. Fantastic!
The Truman Show: Are we real or are we in a show?
Somethings that happened in the world:
More massacres in Algeria // Suharto resigns after 32 years as President of Indonesia // India and Pakistan testing nuclear weapons // The second Congo war begins - 3.900.000 people are killed until it ends in 2003 // Hugo Chavez is elected as President of Venezuela // Pol Pot dies in Cambodia // Marc Dutroux a Belgian child abuser and child murder escapes from prison // The era Kohl ends in Germany after 16 year; Gerhard Schröder is elected to the new chancellor // France is the new FIFA World Cup champion // Kaiserslautern becomes as the first promoted team this years champion in the German Bundesliga
"Make my nipples hard, let's go"! This input sentence of Danielle Brisebois directly with the entrance in the CD describes what happens while hearing this CD: Creeps! And if we are honest: When did we have the last time creeps while hearing music?? That's what I thought when I first listened to this record. Gregg Alexander was the leading figure behind The New Radicals.Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too is one of these records walking on the narrow burr between perfect pop music and pure kitsch. What it makes it worth to listen are his screaming song, the crashing guitars, these catchy, almost in a kitschy way mainstream to seeming ones. This album contains cool good mood wrecks directly beside soulful ballads of this decade. I think it was the right record at the right time this year. After all I have to say that this record is a very underrated diamond in this genre.
