Music Thursday - Piece Full Coexistence

I have already written in a previous Musical Thursday here about my nomadic position in a society of musical tribes and now I would like to talk a little bit more in this direction. I'd like to describe and maybe think aloud about sharing life space with another person with her own set of preferences.

Source: http://www.atctower.net

Until now, during my lifetime, I had a few changes of living conditions.

First I lived with my parents as their child, along with my brother. They had their preferences and I had mine and we functioned under rules on non-engagement. We could all object to music somebody else chose to listen and we could try to agree on a record or a radio station we could all tolerate. If no agreement was achieved there would be no listening for any of the involved parties. This worked better with my parents than my brother whose tolerance for diversity is tiny and we would be hard pressed to achieve any agreement except "we agree to disagree". Good thing is that he never listened to any kind of music to enjoy it but his choices fulfilled other, mostly social, agendas. That is good because when there were no agendas to meet he did not request for any radio/TV use time.

After that I shared a flat with a flatmate during college. This did not pose a problem since each of us had a separate room and enough common decency not to play music too loud. Beside him being the best flatmate ever fate would have it so we shared musical tastes (post-rock) and we often attend same gigs today and exchange opinions on new music.

Next step was (short lived) marriage: Mr. Ex had narrower musical preference (mostly metal) than mine so I could listen to almost all of his music  and he could listen to a small portion of mine but we rarely got into conflict over it since we did not spend much listening time together. When we went out together he would often complain on music at  clubs/bars and said I was too lenient, but the matter of the fact was that I was not complaining because I liked other choices, not that I was too hesitant to complain as he perceived it.

Today I live with my daughter and she is almost nine and she is great to live with and to listen to music with.

How is it like?

Ever since she was just a bundle of cells in my insides we listened to music together. First it was Linkin Park. We listened to a lot of Linkin park before she was born and when she arrived she loved listening to it as it soothed her. As she grew we had our share of differences - worst time is when they adore repetitive TV tunes - but we time-shared if we could not compromise. She is very strong-willed and she likes to form her own opinions and I love that we can work with that.

We listen to radio a lot and when she notices a song she likes she always asks what it is so she can write it down and we can get/play it again. At school they sometimes listen to music and she comes home with scribbled notes of songs and performers she liked - latest being Impossible by James Arthur (Shontelle song) - and then we browse through YouTube (she types and I cook dinner) and listen to different versions. This was the best one - AND in the process we found a performer we did not know of and is great (Runaground):

She's not afraid to roam through genre - emulating my listening habits at this point in time - liking diverse styles of Pasi and Pink and Drowning Pool and PSY and Yip Deceiver - and at this time it looks like this is fully internalized desire, but we will see. I like how, even now, she gets into situations at school and among friends or adults when she defends her opinion and she defends it rationally and firmly. She fell in love with Yip Deceiver "Sadie Hawkins Day" last year and even though I rarely remember to play it nowadays she frequently plays it and requests we listen to it.

At one point we made a mix-tape of our favorite Japanese songs and she knows lyrics of many of them by heart. Like this one: Sid "Ranbu no Melody":

She is also not afraid to criticize. Few nights ago I browsed through YouTube and there was an add linking to Vampire Weekend clip directed by Steve Buscemi and I played it to see what the hype is all about and she asked, listening from her room: "What is that crap you're listening to?"

To be able to share and mix and piece together the puzzle of our music cohabitation gives me great joy, even if we have to work on appropriate language some more.

Life of "Why?"

It is almost midnight on a Monday night, I had awfully busy day and I'm tired and beat and having a hard time to keep my eyes open but I was so moved by a small encounter/experience with a distant friend over social network and that lifted my spirit and I remembered I had a story to tell you... more of a short sketch really, but a funny story nevertheless.

I'm still very depressed and a lot of my daily expenditure of effort goes straight into mood management. I read a lot and try to keep myself appraised on many social things I don't usually bother to do and to follow and some nights ago I read a tweet pointing to the article on different kinds of tears. Later on I noticed that asapSCIENCE had made a video on this and you can check it out here. Among other things, it says that even though more research is needed it seems that one of the functions of emotional (psychic) tears is release of tension, discarding of excessive amount of stress hormones and a way of ad hoc image management.

And as I already noticed that immersing myself in particular narratives gives me chance to attain some stability through crying my eyes out I peruse this knowledge with fierce intent.

I watched Life of Pi movie yesterday.


I was reluctant to see it because I read the book and I loved it and the book is so tightly packed with visions and meaning and information I had a hard time convincing myself that movie will be anything like the book. So I waited until an opportunity to bring this before myself when I'm not paying attention presented itself.

Strangely enough, I loved the movie. It swerves a bit but it mainly stays true to the story and it is bared down a bit but they managed to streamline rather than cannibalize it.

I watched the movie and cried and stared and was touched by heavenly cast and wonderful viscosity of the scenes and illuminations of the true (integral) story delicate warp.

In a few places I was mesmerized with what director chose to showcase as a synecdoche and one of that places was Pi saying how Richard Parker leaving him unceremoniously broke his heart. They have been building on that foundation stone of goodbyes and letting go and leaving behind for quite some time in that moment of the movie and it was clear they're going to make a point with it. Moments later, alternate story is revealed and the Writer says to Pi:" ...and you... are the Tiger." and everything just falls into place. What Pi says when he says that Richard Parker leaving him so unceremoniously broke his heart and that:

"You know, my father was right. Richard Parker never saw me as his friend. After all we had been through, he didn't even look back. But I have to believe that there was more in his eyes than my own reflection staring back at me. I know it, I felt it, even if I can't prove it."

... what he really is saying (since he - i.e. his predatory, survivalist, murderous side - is the tiger) is that he had to do what he had to do and he found another side/person inside himself that was not his friend and one he had to lose completely if he ever wanted to be human again - AND he just tells us he misses it. The hotblooded happiness, the lust for life it had, the power of predatory, animalistic simplicity of life. Still, even now, sorely misses it.

If I wanted to be human again the tiger would have had to go. Unceremoniously. And that broke my heart. - is exactly what he says. And that speaks in a sentence what all that religion talk from the story could not in volumes.

Later on, I climbed on my bicycle and went for a ride and I thought about that heartache and that schism and society and of fairness and introversion and functionality and some 8 km into my route I noticed a small girl and her father flying a kite in the fierce breeze by Sava and as I approached they smiled and waved and I smiled and swished by them and I looked up and their kite


was a tiger.

MIMO 6 - Irena Žilić and Radost! @MSU 10May2013

Yesterday night it was again time for MIMO (Media Inventory of Music Originals)  at Gorgona hall of MSU Zagreb and it this time it featured Irena Žilić and Radost!. As you already know (but I feel it should be endlessly pointed out and repeated) organization was impeccable, and there was online streaming for international audiences as well as broadcasting on Radio Sljeme. I was looking forward to this MIMO incarnation the most (compared to past events) because I'm a fan of Radost! for quite some time now and I know every performance they give packs a powerful punch to the stomach of routine and pervasive Babbitt lifestyle so it gives me greatest pleasure to see them displayed for wider audiences.

As for Irena Žilić, I had to meet her for the first time live last night and I was not at all dissapointed.

 

Irena Žilić is a singer-songwriter active for about a year and you can check her official page here and download great EP Days of Innocence (2012) from her bandcamp page. I first heard about her around New Year's eve and shortly after that Pavlov wrote on Potlista lovely and engaging article on her work and EP. She has had quite a bit of gigs this year but somehow I never got to see them and I was not happy with this as I really enjoyed her recorded music. Finally MIMO brought her to me, just as it should be with best Croatian contemporary independent performers.

Attractive and kind, with an uncanny feel of someone who genuinely enjoys making music and making it so it conforms with her internal auditory standard of excellence, she is quite a sight to take in and enjoy. It was both beautifully endearing to see and hear her perform for us as it was exquisitely interesting; "fresh" performers always look so cute and genuinely human going through new experiences right before the audience eyes - they play for the crowd that is right in front of them (seemingly forgetting radio audience), they ask things like one human being asks another (not like a star would ask his target group/fan base), they are vulnerable and wonderful in their trust - and Irena was magnifficent at all this.

After few songs she asked us, the audience in Gorgona, to help her greet her international audience:

"Can I ask you something?" she said. "Don't worry - you won't have to sing or clap or anything like that." she laughed and paused...: "Since I know some people outside Croatia are watching this streaming on the Internet I would like you to help me say hello to them. I will say 1,2,3 and we'll all say "Hola!" OK? Will you help me do this?"

... and we laughed and we were endeared and we helped...

1, 2, 3,... Hola!

... and it was engaging and beautiful.

 She played her songs in slow succession, adjusting the sound of her guitar before each new song and it felt lovely and organic and just as it should be for someone who enjoys her craft. In some songs Luce (her friend who we should thank for getting Irena to step up and perform publicly) came to the stage and sang back vocals and they were both marvellous.

 And after a short break in which our lovely MIMO hostess Jelena Balent talked with Maja from U pol 9 kod Sabe and Aleksandar Dragaš...

... stage was re-set and musicians assembled so Radost! could overtake the party. Just like every single time I've listened to them live, and I have seen them 10 or so times live, they have again met my expectations and effortlessly exceeded them. Seriously, until you've seen flamboyant and expressionistic peformance Branko and the gang give you cannot appreciate their music in the real light nor give credit to ridiculously over-the-top obscenities used in their poetics.

Since I feel my enthusiasm with last night's performance is such I would likely describe and tell verbatim everything that happened in chronological order and that would be just too much information I will limit myself to few short sketches:

Most of the songs they played are quite new and most from their latest selfreleased album Radost! jede svoju djecu (Joy! eats its young) that you can download here from their bandcamp page but there were few oldies but goldies from their previous albums.

I loved how their sound is now full, vivacious and interwoven with jazzy and orchestral arrangements - the transition from almost bare spoken word, firm rock guitar and rare real funkiness of funky style from their begginings in 2006 is ginormous - bearing true mark of maturity, both musical and personal for band members and it is a wonderful, comforting sight and acoustic picture.

They performed my absolutely favorite song Kako je divan, oh, taj Gorski Kotar with changed lyrics. Since the song is full of obscenities and it was now being played live on Radio Sljeme they have, in honor of their hosts and of Museum of Contemporary Art, changed all obscene and doubious words to names of Croatian contemporary atrists, including Gorgona group (since gig is held in Gorgona hall) and some more artists because Gorgona group was too small to cover all of their... needs.

They had help from U pol 9 kod Sabe girls on coulple of songs (including Raslinje and U biti, nisam izašao iz jajeta) and it was a great sight. It was even more scenically and emotionally appealing then Bogunovic brothers and band doing it alone since girls bring wonderful chemistry to stage and also seem to genuinely enjoy Radost! music.

This time, I had foresight of expectations so I arranged everything in my favor meaning I found myself a cozy dancing spot so I can enjoy this to the maximum while enjoying perfect sound of this theatrical space with immaculate acoustics.

And lastly, I cannot believe that they managed to go through their whole set, including encore, and that noone from the audience yelled "Mišo!" (their wildly popular drummer).

I can hardly wait to see what alse MIMO has prepared for us so join me Friday May 24th in wonderful Gorgona hall at MSU and see how Bamwise and Surka will fare. See you there!

Music Thursday - Ship in a Bottle

I was recently scolded for not watching enough music videos so I thought to give few of them a go and in the process I seem to have stumbled upon a curious, heartwarming puzzle.

It was like this:

I have been down lately. I am so depressed I dream in rich, over-saturated, overwhelming color and action sequences are so poignant I can hardly function at all when I wake up. I stare at my hands on the keyboard in silence for minutes on end and I let thoughts drown before my mind's eye rather than putting them to life by writing them down. I lie awake in the middle of the night as the Moon slowly drifts by my window, I lie frozen in sadness because where I knew something important and dear to me once was there is just silent and awkward emptiness. And it feels like a barren void where pulled tooth once was feels when you probe it with the tip of your tongue.

It feels like it shouldn't be empty but it is and that's the fact.

For weeks I could not listen to any music with vocals at home. I listened to radio at work and in my car and I've attended concerts where I see live people pouring their stories into songs but I could not manage to listen to lyrics at home. It just felt wrong to feel foreign story inside myself because mine was so persistently silent.

And then this talk about music videos came and I went and opened YouTube and sat there for ten minutes thinking what to search for. As I sat there I remembered driving home from work one day and hearing Brandon Flowers say:

Don't want your picture
On my cell phone
I want you here with me

...and it felt so familiar and so intimate.

It felt... it felt just like this passage from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium:

Mr. Edward Magorium: [to Molly, about dying] When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written "He dies." That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is "He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with "He dies." And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words "He dies." but because of the life we saw prior to the words.
[pause, walks over to Molly]
Mr. Edward Magorium: I've lived all five of my acts, Mahoney, and I am not asking you to be happy that I must go. I'm only asking that you turn the page, continue reading... and let the next story begin. And if anyone asks what became of me, you relate my life in all its wonder, and end it with a simple and modest "He died."
Molly Mahoney: [starting to sob] I love you.
Mr. Edward Magorium: I love you, too.
[picks Molly up, sighs heavily]
Mr. Edward Magorium: Your life is an occasion. Rise to it. 

It felt like: "He dies.". Like a perfectly non-ceremonious summation of a sadness bigger then life.

So I typed in the words and this video appeared. Take 4 minutes and 57 seconds to see it.

Tim Burton directed this one and it features two professional actors incarnating professionally a story that mostly, but not entirely, shows the story from song lyrics - and I love how Mr. Burton chose to interpret vague bits prone to poetic license.

It is made in rich, over-saturated, overwhelming color and action sequences are so poignant I sat there dumbfounded with tears the size of gooseberries rolling down my cheeks.

I love how it shows that a person falls in love with an unknown. With his own interpretation of a mystery inside a secret. With a thing that is not in the other person but in his own self.

I love how it shows that for some of  us love is not a matter of settling for but of a meticulous, vigilant search for something we already know is valuable even without us and we'd like to participate in and increase its value, not own it.

I love how it shows that unorthodox and painful choices must be made by our own selves, choices that cut into our own personalities to make us willingly more approachable and that the worth of a man is not appraised only by the knowledge he has but also the knowledge he has and chooses not to use.

Well I saw you in a restaurant
The other day
And instead of walking towards you
I ran away
And I'll keep on waiting for you
Till you'll come around
Come around and say

And then  I love - the most! - wondrous surprise at the end, where wicks are lit on both of the characters - the perceived active and passive (isn't it always that someone must lead for someone else to follow) of the story and only then the variable of TIME turns their existence into life.


Because without burning candle is just an awkward dead stick.

MIMO 5 - Ivan Vragolovich and The Bonebomb @MSU 26Apr2013

As you all already know MIMO or Media Inventory of Music Originals is a recent project in Zagreb that brings forth Croatian most original quality music through the (back) door of Croatian mainstream media. Every second Friday beginning 01Mar2013 they arrange concerts in MSU (Museum of Contemporary Art) Gorgona hall that are transmitted by online streaming on the Internet, broadcasted on Croatian Radio Sljeme and can be viewed and listened to live at Gorgona hall - and that's where I was this Friday, April 26th 2013.

MIMO concert concept is such that on every separate event there is one solo performer in the first part of the concert, then stage is re-set and a little talking intermezzo moderated by Jelena Balent, MIMO charming hostess, featuring two commenters is broadcasted from Gorgona hall. In second part, after commentaries, performs a band and that nicely rounds up this versatile event.

I had an honor to be asked to join in as one of the commenters and it was an immense pleasure both because I feel strongly about this project and also because other commenter was no other then Ravno Do Dna author and long time music authority Zoran Stajčić.

So how it went down?

Solo performer this time was Ivan Vragolovich, cute and funny looking youngster, walking around in an aura of effortless easygoing artfulness. As it happens he was the winner of first Croatian Blues Challenge in 2009. and subsequently has released wonderful blues album I am a Man, parts of which you can check out on his myspace page and if you like them you can buy the album here from his label Spona web page.

People frequently ask me why do I have to go and see live concert if I can listen to the music in the comfort of my own home and this is why:

If I were home, just listening to Ivan making music, I would not be curious and perplexed as to why does this musical picture feel so complete and intricate if there is only one guy with the guitar there singing live. I would not notice contraption holding harmonica around his neck and I would most definitely not notice bundles of wires and some strange tapping thing below his left foot that is really a kind of electric drum that completes the acoustic picture here. I just cannot see that listening from home and being here and seeing this I cannot help but admire his skill as a musician as well as his dexterity - and this admiration breeds respect.

He sang and played beautifully, he talked between songs and he growled at times toward the sound guys like any true musician would: "Mmhm, a little less monitor please, will you, there! It goes straight to my head." At times he was almost apologetic of his lyrics and he was just wonderful mixture of humility and taking pride in one's own work. All this AND he can make music!

After his act there we talked a bit - Jelena, Zoran and I - for the audience there in Gorgona Hall and Internet streamers and Radio Sljeme listeners. Zoran told some anecdotes about Vragolović and The Bonebomb and Ćato records and state of music scene in general from his unique position of  music expert and longtime member of the scene and people told me I had some interesting things to say too, but I have to take their word for it because I was so overwhelmed my mind just erased itself in the spur of the moment. Damn you, Cortisol! Damn your hindering of short-term to long-term memory consolidation process!

And then, there were The Bonebomb.

Their act is a celebration of grandeur and of splendid, immaculate, professional sound. They play and move around like only professional musicians can, with effortless dexterity and ease, flowing from place to place and from musical passage to musical passage like a river - powerful and undeterred.

As much as I was amazed and startled with the excellence of their music I also did not like listening to it there, in the dark, sitting down, not moving around or dancing. It was just... too much, somehow. Leaving MIMO I immediately bought their CD and I have already listened to it more than a few times and it is just great musical investment, acoustic picture evocative of old-school Hollywood and great big bands in contact shows from our childhood memories.

There are beautiful photos here on MIMO Facebook page and here on photographer Ivica Drusany web page (accompanied by his impressions of the concert, in Croatian) and please go browse through them and feel just how nice a project this is.

And, come! Come listen to music, mingle, see stuff and be a true music lover that can both enjoy the experiences and share and teach them to your children and your loved ones - next MIMO will be up soon, on May 10th 2013. in state-of-the-art Gorgona hall at Zagreb MSU. See you there!

Rens Argoa @Attack! 25Apr2013

Some 10 days ago there was announcement on Facebook that on April 25th there will be Night of Space Blue Beavers at Attack! and that Rens Argoa would be playing and I immediately begun with arrangements to attend.

As you all know - I love Rens Argoa - and I have published here an interview with them as one of earliest Music Thursday offerings. They play powerful and psychodelic instrumental post-rock and I have been amazed with their performance and their music ever since they opened for Maybeshewill on a sold-out long expected concert in Zagreb. I listen to their album (that can be downloaded free of charge from Bandcamp) over and over again every few days and I can sincerely say it is as wonderful and deeply satisfying piece of music that just keeps on giving. They also have new web page that you can check out and see what they're made of and what they've been up to lately.

So how was the show on Thursday?

It was absolutely stunning.

First thing I noticed, even before the gig started is that almost all of the Professor Gang were there and that is alwas a good sign as guys definitely support quality. Secondly, there was quite a bit of a crowd there, above average by size and definitely not an average Thursday crowd for Attack!

As Rens Argoa started to play there was just one overwhelming impression in my mind: "This is how you can differentiate between really great band and merely a very good one!" and Rens Argoa truly are a great band. What makes that difference is a thing bordering on magic, for performers and audience both. They went on stage and started to play and it sounded so well, so overwhelmingly great, so natural and with sound so prevasive and saturated it felt as if the music comes from every direction at once. They played so great that even when they were adjusting the wires and checking the sound it sounded as if they were playing a song. There was a bit of talking and a bit of communication fun and laughter and it was just a natural flow of feelgood. Crowd responded well and I saw people dancing and nodding and enjoying themselves, cantankerous people I never see enjoying anything, and I really am an avid observer.

And in the middle of their act there was an illustrative event:

there was a guy there who must have been intoxicated out of his wits, or maybe he just hasn't got any to begin with. Anyway, guy stirred in the front rows a bit - causing trouble, pushing people, dropping things, making a fool of himself - and in one moment he decides to climb on stage and remove his pants. A guy, Attack! native, surfaces from the crowd and yanks idiot from stage and escorts him out in an orderly fashion and all this happens without a slightest glitch in the power and continuance of music. It was just like an action movie appearing out of thin air in front of our eyes and the music was so perfect a soundtrack it felt not only appropriate, but deliberate.

Masterpiece.

As I had obligations Friday morning I did not stay to see secret surprise guests that were announced to play after Rens but this was more than enough to fill my cup of pleasure for the night. I'm already looking forward to see them play again, and not to miss concert announcements you can also make sure to like their page on Facebook so to get fresh information on gigs and projects.

And yes, their drummer still plays barefoot and his drumming was wonder inside a wonder, immaculate and sparkling with both skill and talent.

Music Thursday - Never Missing The Oportunity To Learn

I consider being inert kind of character flaw.

I cannot imagine anyone moaning:"There's nowhere to go out to!" or "I have nothing to wear!" without implicitly thinking that it is a value/opinion/priority thing and not a question of objective assessment. Every night there is something going on and everyone has too much to wear - but we rather choose to smirk at presented options, balking at the very idea, and completely ignore the option of creating our own possibilities. We conform with groups, we perpetuate status quo, we choose not to experience diversity on grounds of remaining in our own comfort zone.

But... just like travel to other countries, going to live gigs we don't usually choose to attend is a mind-broadening experience. There is whole new society to meet and experience in both of those instances.

As it so happened I recently went to see Streets United! - Perkele, .upset and Šank?! @ Pogon Jedinstvo 13Apr2013 and this was an example of mind-broadening experience.

I go to a lot of punk gigs. I go to all of them alone because none of the people I usually spend time with goes to punk gigs to listen to punk and I hate having them come just for the company. I listen to a lot of punk music at home and both me and my offspringess clearly have the affinity for punk harmonics and clarity of ideas presented through punk. But, as it happened, all of punk gigs I went to up until now were on the smallish side - and I suppose I kind of thought about that as the norm: 10-200 attendees per punk gig... and then I saw last.fm event saying there will be punk gig at Pogon Jedinstvo and I immediately thought:"What kind of punk musician can sell that much 80 kn tickets?!"

So I researched a bit and that left me equally confused. I read about Perkele a bit, listened to their discography, watched some videos. There was nothing there to explain the mystery to me. There was nothing left but to invest time and money and go and see it firsthand.

Tickets said that gig starts at 20:00 (what kind of punk gig starts at 8?!) so I timed my arrival around that time. Grounds around Močvara and Jedinstvo were overflowing (hundreds, surely!) with colorful people who did not spare any effort to make their subcultural affiliation obvious and it was one great and unusual sight to see. On the other hand it was Saturday night (and not week night like most of the punk gigs I usually frequent) so it could go both ways. I found it both silly and kinda entrepreneurially sound to find hamburger stand in front of Močvara and you couldn't throw a brick in any direction and not hit bottle of cheapest wine accompanied with stuff brown and fizzy. I went inside around nine to see what's going on....

.... and I found .upset already on stage, nearly finishing their set!

Sound was excellent and Jedinstvo hall virtually empty with only the band, bartenders, bouncers, me and two boys drunk out of their mind on the rail if front of the stage. .upset played two more songs, very enthusiastically and quite good and I was a bit disappointed I did not enter sooner to listen to more of their act.

I sniffed around a bit, bought myself a drink and observed some and about half an hour later was completely shocked to see Perkele climbing on stage and starting their act!!

 WTH? It wasn't even 10 pm and also I presumed there will be more local/support bands before the stars of the show but it went down this way. Surprised audience flowed into Jedinstvo and in no time at all packed hall was singing and enjoying Perkele act.

I stood there flabbergasted.

This was punk's catnip if I ever saw one.

There's no need to point out simplicity and intention of Oi! punk music but to see this in action was funny as hell. Inked, pierced, fierce and serious thugs - both male and female - were singing and dancing and taking their shirts off like at the early morning hour of a country wedding. If there were tables there there would be dancing on the tables, one-sentence-choruses were sung and chanted for long minutes and it was a celebration of gemeinschaft in its purest distilled form.

Pinnacle of the evening was some local football chant and angry guy behind me yelling to noone in particular in the chanting group on the other end of the hall: "Ma nabijem vas na Dinamo i na nogomet!"

Amused and in good spirits, geezers from Perkele played a bit more, returning for an encore ceremonially just like any pop performer would have and then they were gone. As well as 80 percent of the audience.

At 23:20 someone was up on stage and starting to play...

 ... but they did not seem to be Šank?! They were not bad in any way but I just cannot stomach ska so after some more mingling I set for home. I found out later this entertaining bunch were S-kapada.

So, what did I learn here?

That no matter how hard we press to be different there's just no escaping human condition. Whether jazzhead, punk or folkster - laughter is same, enjoyment is same, theatrics are same, need for belonging is the same.

We fill the same holes with fundamentally if not apparently same stuff.

Killed A Fox & Apey and the Pea @KSET 18Apr2013

On Thursday night I went to see what kind of remodeling shenanigans they did at KSET and when I'm already there to have a listen to some stoner rock. I did part of my homework before going there - listened to Apey and the Pea EP on their bandcamp page - but I also wanted to be surprised a bit so I steered clear from too many information on Killed a Fox, which proved to be excellent, excellent decision.

I came early, with company, and had a drink while catching up with friends. Met some interesting people. Mingled a bit with musicians. Caught quite a few interesting rumors and validated my concert roster for Spring season.

Before long we spotted a band climbing on stage so we went inside to listen.

After short introduction and presenting new addition to the band (bass) Killed a Fox started to play and it was one most pleasant surprise. As I understand they did not have any gigs for some time and this was their first gig both in a long time and with a new bass player and on top of all that they are currently in process of recording new songs. You can listen to their materials here on their Myspace page and they are great, but stuff sounded so much more lively and firm live, I'm not even sure that they performed any of these songs. In short, they were freaking great! Emotional, bouncy, filled with energy and kind of spiteful jest, they kicked ass and they absolutely steamed up the place.

Impressive, to say the least.

I was very pleased and utterly amused as it is but when they played cover of Cure's Lullaby my heart was totally lost. I cannot remember the last time heard something so fun. Keeping my ear out for their new release will be a must.

Apey and the Pea came after them as a bit of an anticlimax.

They were styled OK, followed the appropriate etiquette, their music was well rehearsed and technically valid - but it just lacked any life. It felt flat and frontman was leaving the impression of arrogance and playing just to get it over with. It was slow-paced and somehow forced. Whole thing was sad because it really sounds great on the album and it feels like this would have inner sexiness and power that even more famous bands do not have - listening from the album it feels like this would be great music to hear on a enormous stadium concert! - but it did not seem like that live.

But well, everybody's entitled to a bad day. I think I'm gonna give them another chance if they happen to come by again.

And one last thing, in case you were wondering: KSET remodeling shenanigans seem to be just tiny differences in toilet stall heights.

Go No Go @Prostor Do 19Apr2013

I meant to go see Go No Go for ages now but every time there was gig somewhere something came up; it was on school night, there were overlapping other gigs, sickness, "wrong weekend" (term familiar to all divorced parents anywhere). I came closest to going to see them play when Potlista had their birthday party at Attack! - and it was close, but no cigar!

So when a friend sent me invite for Žur featuring Go No Go that was to happen last Friday I fell over myself from happiness and after I picked myself up and dusted off some, I hatched a plan to overcome all difficulties...

... and I was there before the band plugged in.

 

I like Prostor Do. 

It is clean, ventilation is excellent, waiters are attentive and bright and toilet equipped with necessities at all times of night. Taking all that into consideration I do not mind much that sound there is usually less than perfect. Actually I think that most of my objections could be resolved by just turning the volume down a notch or two - but, alas - with that much people who only come there to talk to each other and the notion that with ingestion of alcohol din tolerance goes up there remains nothing to be done except be understanding. So I do my best (what seldom proves simple) and exercise understanding.

After some greeting nods and a bit of waiting spent in gazing at pleasant interpersonal scenes I was glad to see the band going on stage.

"Hello, we are Go No Go and this is our first independent concert. It is great to greet you all here because this place, actually the place next door - Spunk - is the place where we first, over some drinks, decided we're gonna have a band. And here we are. So, we're going to play all of the songs we have for you." - said the lead singer and then they kicked ass of that aforementioned songs.

It was excellent!

Energetic, well played in, relaxed and with beautiful effortless communication both among band members and with the crowd. There was some talking, some jokes, some presenting new songs and it went on for about 50 minutes with one encore and it was so great it felt like a mere moment. They played all the songs from their album First, that you can hear/download from their bandcamp page and couple of new songs I can hardly wait to see released.

This was an experience that I'm going to repeat as soon the opportunity arises.

Music Thursday - Growling For Love

Last week Device debut album was released and I've been perusing it on a daily/nightly basis so I thought to tell you a little story.

It is funny how we choose people we love. Even funnier if people in question are celebrities.

Consider this:

One of my favorite male vocals of all time is David Draiman.

In November 2006. he was even voted number 42 on the Hit Parader’s "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time" but I knew nothing about this when I started listening to his music with Disturbed in 2007., I just loved his voice. In 2008., when they played at Boogaloo in Zagreb, ticket for this concert was peace-offering from my then estranged husband,  with which he hoped to get back into my good graces. It did not work. It could not work, not that it was apparent at that time, but in retrospect it most definitely could not work.

What differs Draiman from others is load of small, seemingly trivial stuff:

We share birthday, even if he is exactly five years my senior.

We have a difficult time letting go of our preconceptions, even if we possess ample knowledge on the subject and rational choice making logistics. Just see how cute he is in replying why doesn't he have any tattoos:

We choose our words carefully and enjoy being surprised. One of the loveliest examples for this was recorded during that same 2008. Disturbed concert in Boogaloo - see here:

... what happened here?

During the gig Draiman talks a lot and he was very pleased he can speak English and be understood here and how Croatian audience is very attentive and enjoys his jokes and instructions. At the end of shows Draiman usually shouts "We are..." and audience should reply: "Disturbed" (as a lovely pun, since the band is called Disturbed and also "We are disturbed" is a cute emotionally intelligent way to build connection and to acknowledge belonging to same subculture) but this did not happen here.

He shouted: "We are..." and the crowd repeated: "We are" and even when he changed the wording into "We all are..." to psychologically point out that we're in the same boat and that it is not derogatory to say "disturbed" crowd did not budge. It was exhilarating moment of sheer pleasure of surprise and existential wonder!!

So he finished his act laughing and saying: "Much respect to you Croatia. We will most certainly have to come back here to see you U crazy motherfuckers again!"

And then, there is his music: as a lyricist he is really dear to me because he is so unpretentious in his theatrics. Even if there is inherent silliness and exaggeration he so effortlessly pulls it off it is an honor and a privilege to take part in that magic.

Like Stricken:

"That I am stricken and can't let you go
When the heart is cold there's no hope
And we know
That I am crippled by all that you've done
Into the abyss will I run"

But wait, there's one tiny thing more - why exactly would he be my favorite male vocal of all time?

Well, Draiman is known for his distorted voice and percussive singing style with occasional growl.

Long time ago I went out with a guy who used to produce this quiet, low pitched, guttural, ultra-virile growl accompanied by a particular smile as a sex proposition. If there ever was information package packed densely than a black hole that was it.

Its gravitational field was absolutely impossible to ignore.