New Song On Sunday

 

To be honest, until last week I didn't know much about Tamino-Amir Moharam Fouad, a Belgian-Egyptian musician. He crossed my radar when he announced the release of his new album next week. A few listens to his pre-releases shows a very talented singer-songwriter with a high falsetto that reminds me to Tim Buckley. But I enjoyed his minimalistically recorded and emotional singing. Sanctuary is a collaboration with Mitski, an indie singer-songwriter with American-Japanese roots. The title tells of heartache, but radiates with hope. They affirm each other by listening to each other, ensnare each other and finally melt into each other in playful harmonies. Strings and gentle percussion are heard, emphasising the beat more with each verse. Sanctuary is one of the most beautiful singer-songwriter songs released so far this year.

Grace

 

It's been 30 years since Jeff Buckley released his only studio album and he hasn't lost any of his brilliance since then. In the broadest sense, it is alternative rock with long, quiet passages in which Buckley's voice spans several octaves and often ends in falsetto. What makes this record exceptional is the intensity with which he performs his songs, most of which are about loss. As he didn't have enough of his own songs for a complete album, the record also includes cover versions such as Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. His version is based on John Cale's interpretation, but the way he performs it with a reduced rhythm and his extraordinary voice gives us an idea of what other masterpieces we could have expected had he not died far too early.

Monday's Long Song

 

During the last days I listened a lot to Jeff Buckley's extended version of his early EP Live at Sin-é. It is a superb document about his abilities to write and especially how to reinterpret songs he grown up with. Only Jeff's voice reaching over several octaves and his electric guitar makes this two discs special. Seldom a live recording was intimate like this. And sadly he died much too early.

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (Live at Sin-é)

Grace

A few weeks ago some of Jeff Buckley's albums were released as a special edition with alternative versions and outtakes. As I was fascinated of the sadness in the songs of his father Tim I also liked what Jeff did. He always tried to make the perfect songs that never were compatible to many others in this time. They were hybrids of folk and rock and lived by the intensity Buckley played and sung them. Many of these songs were brought to us as stripped and raw versions and I have to admit that I still like to listen to them after ages. One of those re-releases that are worth to be released.

Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
Jeff Buckley - Dream Brother (Nag Champa Mix)

Gone But Not Forgotten # 8

Jeff Buckley is another artist that died too young. The bare facts are as well known as still staggering: Jeff Buckley drowned on 29 May 1997 at the age of 30 years immediately prior to the completion of his second album spirited singing in Mississippi in the waves of an oncoming ship. The question must, of course, still hot, if he even alive in 2000 would be a valued and famous artists, or whether only the myth of his death helped him to the veneration still received everywhere it is. We do not know, and Buckley will never know the answer. His music lives from his tender voice and his vocal range about several octaves and his ability of improvisation. When I listen to his songs I recognize vocal artists like Morrissey, Robert Plant and sometimes Freddy Mercury. He released with Grace only one studio album but his influence to bands like Radiohead, Coldplay and Muse is immense.

Jeff Buckley - Farewell Angelina
Jeff Buckley - Grace (Acoustic)
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Jeff Buckley - The Way Young Lovers Do (Live)