The Vanishing of Richey Edwards

The tragic end of the troubled mind behind the Manics' best album.

Tesoro

1994

This is, in my humble opinion, the best rock record to come out the UK in the 1990's and, for many, a European, subtler and more cultured alternative to Nirvana.
Forget about Blur, Oasis, Radiohead et al. The Holy Bible contains 13 songs you will listen to compulsively, a mix of politics, anger and a sample of Richey Edwards' tortured mind.

The 90's revival

Other than a good Carter USM b-side, it's the new section I'm starting tonight ( I actually did it a few months ago with the Curve post). I'm going to write a bit about some records that I love and that were never hits (some of them were not even popular among my indie friends). All of them were released in the 1990's, which is perhaps my favourite decade in pop music.

The first one (the only one I actually have in mind now, but I promise to think about more entries) is Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine's amazing 1991 album, "30 Something".

Carter USM, described by the New Internationalist as "the UK’s first real post-Thatcher pop group", put together 11 musically simple songs (they were two anarcho-hippies playing guitars over pre-recorded techno-hardcore drums and samples). But the interest of their songs lay in the lyrics, which tell such popular stories as alcoholism, the first Iraq war, racism in the army, consumerism or home violence.They may sound bleak, (and they are), but this record is above all loaded with witty, black humour.

The way to a healthier me...

...or something.



Thanks to my girlfriend's connections, I could get hold of a VIP gym membership card (regular price 800 €) for just 240!!

With my new stressful lifestyle and tons of work at the office, I could do with some exercise. And I intend to get it!


UPDATE:

Two months after this post, I've been five times to the gym, which makes this incredible deal rather crappy value for money and me, a sad, lazy bastard

Life in The Office

Well, this is my first entry in 2 months and 10 days. It has been a combination of laziness, lack of strenght to communicate with the outside world and, oh yes,a new job.

For some time I used to see myself as some sort of skinny David Brent (right). Now that I'm older, I like to think of myself as a dark-haired Gareth Keenan. (pictured below)

Ok, my life if not like working in Slough. Madrid is way cooler. And I get to talk to important people in other cool cities, like er...Chatou or Fuenlabrada.

If after reading this you are not even mildly amused, please get the BBC's excellent series on DVD. There is not an Spanish version that I'm aware of, though I can provide you with my onw translation of the pilot episode. Just drop me a line.

Samorost

Welcome to the beautiful and weird world of Samorost.

On my iPod these days...

Well well well, the spring harvest is here and some things are good indeed!


Darren Hayman, "Table for One"
Thankfully, the ex-Hefner frontman has gone back to the style that we liked so much, and thrashed that stupid analog keyboard he used to much in tha latter Hefner days. It's no Fidelity Wars, but it's a fine collection of songs. You can also try "Cortinaland", a 5-track Ep released last summer. You can find out more about Darren on the old Hefner website.



Electrelane, "Axes"
These four girls' instrumental songs will thrill you if you appreciated My Bloody Valentine's soft, inscrutable vocals or Stereolab's beautiful loops. It’s loud and quiet, aggressive and calming, menacing and sweet, slow-paced and frenzied. Above all it’s a startlingly beautiful and unique record. You can meet the girls here.



Architecture in Helsinki, "in case we die"
This is the nicest surprise of al the records I've been listening to recently. The eight Australians accomplish without all the hype what a band like Clap your hands tries to (and fails), and deliver an album that is dangerously addictive. These guys may become the new Arcade Fire, and if you want to check them out, all you have to do is go to their website and listen to some clips.

¿Borrachina?, ¿Marchosa? Tal vez seas la monja perfecta.

¿Conoces bien el mundo y la vida? Pues mejor podrás ayudar a los hombres y mujeres de este mundo. Y no serás la primera: Santa María Magdalena, sin ir más lejos, también fue una cachonda como tú.

Piénsalo. Piensa en ser religiosa. Más que valor, hace falta mucho amor. (P.C.)

Wow, this order must be desperate to get new recruits...

Like Father, not Like Son

 "Trying to eliminate Sadam Hussein would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. ... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. ... There was no viable 'exit strategy' we could see, violating another one of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-conciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

- George H.W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft in their 1998 book "A World Transformed."

Taken from Andrew's blog: http://ajpilgri.blogspot.com/

Valladolid's Godzilla

The Furries live in Madrid

Yessir! I was lucky enough to see them for the second time. As usual, it was a small crowd with the occasional drunk Welsh expatriate...

I read somewhere that SFU are the British answer to the Flaming Lips, only better. Well, one of their shows is guaranteed to make you laugh and think, all of this among references to UFO encounters and pictures of Tony and George W with the words "liar" and ''murderer" superimposed while they performed a 20-minute techno version of their classic "The man don't give a fuck".


They're also a technology-savvy team, deploying some amazing visuals to increase the impact of their sonic attack: the highlight of an already-excellent set is new track 'Zoom!', which explodes across their backdrops like a supernova on an alien mothership whilst the music swells around it. When the band departs from the stage after a distorsion-filled ''Receptacle for the Respectable'', I'm quite satisfied.

left: a shot from the "juxtapose with U" video

Now listen to this: it's guaranteed to give you 65% more intelligence, and it was recorded live&acoustic at the Minnesota Public Radio or something.

Ah! Brokeback...

More cartoons here

The birds, pt.II

On My iPod Today

We are Scientists, "With Love and Squalor"

With Love and Squalor is the debut LP from We Are Scientists. Here you’ll find lyrics about girls and drinking and little else, guitar-heavy verses, and more riffs than average. One of my favourite new records, you'll love them if you like Maxïmo Park or Franz Ferdinand. Check out "This Scene is Dead" or "The Great Escape" , two of the best songs in the album.

A few books

Pornochacha has been reading a lot lately. Well, a lot is relative – for some weird reason I only read in trains and in the metro, very rarely at home. Some books I’ve liked a lot recently are:



In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote.
A real story about the murder of a family in 1959 in Kansas. Capote went there as a journalist and this is the story of what happened. There are also two excellent movies about it, with the most recent one (Capote) about to be released in Europe.









Manhattan Transfer, by John Dos Passos.
If you have been, or thinking about going to NYC, this book is a must. Well, this book is a must anyway, definitely one of the masterpieces of 20th century literature. Lots of stories, some interconnected, some not, about life, love, death, success and failure in the Big Apple. It is set between early 1900 and the 20’s, but it could have happened today.





Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami.
This guy is the best well-known modern Japanese writer, and this novel, for some reason that escapes me, is what everyone is reading now in Spain. (in case someone thought it was a comedy, the publisher changed the title to Tokio Blues). Sad and beautiful, like the song.
If you like this, you'll love Sputnik Sweetheart by the same author.

Thank god it's over

Ho ho ho! Yes, it seemed like it would never end, but the festive season is finally over. We can now concentrate on getting depressed over unfulfilled resolutions of quitting smoking, losing weight, joining a gym or making babies. As we say over here: "did you spend a nice holiday, or did you spend it with your family?"

The good news is that this year we decided to spend a good holiday, and to flee to London, a place renowned for not celebrating Christmas.
You can see our sorry faces if you click here.

Moving is over!

After a looooong wait, the moving truck finally arrived (it must have been 22:30) and parked a block away from home. In an episode that could make it to an Almodovar movie, a local guy proposed we stopped the traffic at Gran Via so that the truck could reverse (my area is a maze of one-way narrow streets).
It eventually made to our door, completely blocking the street and almost hitting on the balconies...amazing.

A big, BIG thank-you to Pepo, Servan and Chema for their help in taking the bokes to our third-floor appartment, I think I whould have ended up in hospital without them. Guys, I owe you a beer (or ten!)

Underrated

If there was any justice in this world, this record would be considered one of the best of the 90's. Those of you who like My Bloody Valentine will appreciate it.
I got the vinyl in London in 1992, and my wages at the time (£2.17 an hour) ment that I had to pack t-shirts for more than four hours to buy it. Compare that to 2005, when we download music for free...
When lessons started again, I made a big colour copy of the sleeve and covered my portfolio with it. I loved the look on my classmates' faces when they saw it. :-)

Röyksopp : "The Understanding"

This record, my friends, is probably the best of 2005. The two norwegians have surpassed their excellent "Melody A.M." and proved that the second album should not be difficult when you've got genuine talent.
This is a much more electronic and dancey record than their debut, but remains quite eclectic, with tunes that will becume club anthems (Only this moment) and others that remind to Jean-Michel Jarre (Alpha Male) or Air (Someone like me).
A fucking masterpiece, man!