Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Quem é a Joni Mitchell brasileira?
Ontem eu tava ouvindo o disco Blue, da Joni Mitchell pela milésima vez e comecei a me perguntar: quem é a Joni Mitchell brasileira? Pra quem não conhece Joni Mitchell é provavelmente a mais importante cantora/compositora dos últimos tempos (onde os últimos tempos voltam até os anos 60), a mais citada como influência por tudo quanto é cantora internacional, bla, bla, bla. Eu fiquei pensando em quem seria um equivalente brasileiro. Nós temos várias intérpretes fenomenais, e temos vários cantores/compositores fodas, mas não consegui pensar em nenhuma cantora/compositora mulher que fosse unanimidade. De quem eu tou esquecendo?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Cerveja mágica (ou congelador vagabundo)
Não tem nada mais lindo que cerveja véu de noiva...
Sunday, November 8, 2009
How can the record companies get it so wrong?
I love music. I used to subscribe to eMusic, and I've actually written about it before here in this blog (but I'm too lazy to go find the post). I got hundreds of really good songs during my 1+ year with them, and discovered a few good bands I wouldn't have otherwise. I had to cancel my subscription though, when they, all of a sudden, started deciding all my favorite artists (from their catalog) should be US-only. Now, the bands that actually made eMusic worthwhile (Spoon, The White Stripes, The Clientele, etc.) were out of my reach, and they were adding a ton of more "mainstream" stuff that I would love to download (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, etc.), but couldn't. So, even though for a series of reasons I was actually willing to pay for that music, they literally wouldn't let me. Torrents, their "worst enemy" have no country boundaries, though.
Fast forward a few months to this week. I read about "She and Him", a duo that looks really interesting, and I'm trying to find out more about them. I find their pretty nice website and MySpace page, listen to some of their stuff and decide I'm interested. I then notice there's a link to their record company's site, where they sell FLACs, mp3s, CDs and Vinyls. Since I imagine shipping their vinyl to Brasil isn't the sanest of ideas, I go for the mp3s of their first album: $8.99. Just as a sanity check, I go to iTunes and Amazon to see the prices: they cost $9.99 on iTunes and Amazon, so I naturally say "let's buy it from the source, and cut the middle man". So I create an account at the Merge Records website and start the process, only to then realize that they won't sell me the damn mp3s because I'm outside the freakin' USA. What the hell is the matter with these guys?!?! This is not a huge band with a 20-year-old contract signed in the '80s that they still have to honor. This is a tiny "independent" band that released their first album only last year, so I can only assume their contract is fresh. With an supposed-to-be-modern record company, so why the hell can't they get this right?? Do they really expect me to say "Oh, this isn't available for me yet. I'll wait to buy from these nice people in a few months when they decide to let me give them my money"?? What is so hard about understanding that the only thing not letting me buy the mp3s accomplishes is pushing me towards getting them from some other source?? Are they just plain stupid?!
Fast forward a few months to this week. I read about "She and Him", a duo that looks really interesting, and I'm trying to find out more about them. I find their pretty nice website and MySpace page, listen to some of their stuff and decide I'm interested. I then notice there's a link to their record company's site, where they sell FLACs, mp3s, CDs and Vinyls. Since I imagine shipping their vinyl to Brasil isn't the sanest of ideas, I go for the mp3s of their first album: $8.99. Just as a sanity check, I go to iTunes and Amazon to see the prices: they cost $9.99 on iTunes and Amazon, so I naturally say "let's buy it from the source, and cut the middle man". So I create an account at the Merge Records website and start the process, only to then realize that they won't sell me the damn mp3s because I'm outside the freakin' USA. What the hell is the matter with these guys?!?! This is not a huge band with a 20-year-old contract signed in the '80s that they still have to honor. This is a tiny "independent" band that released their first album only last year, so I can only assume their contract is fresh. With an supposed-to-be-modern record company, so why the hell can't they get this right?? Do they really expect me to say "Oh, this isn't available for me yet. I'll wait to buy from these nice people in a few months when they decide to let me give them my money"?? What is so hard about understanding that the only thing not letting me buy the mp3s accomplishes is pushing me towards getting them from some other source?? Are they just plain stupid?!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I miss my blog (and all Lonely Planet books are freely available online)
Weird title? Well, I miss my blog. I've been willing to get back on the horse and start posting again for a while now, but never get around to. So I decided to try a quickie: a couple of days I was browsing around the net, looking for info on traveling to India (because, duh!, I might be flying there soon). Then I remembered how useful Lonely Planet has been in the past, and I googled "lonely planet India", and boom, Google Books gives me the whole freakin' book!! Also, Lonely Planet's website is pretty cool as well, featuring the photo of the guy with some of the creepiest facial hair ever. Now after seeing that photo, I just have to go. So, on to the planning!! :-)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Alanis Morissette in Belo Horizonte
Tomorrow Alanis is playing in Belo... who would've thought? Of course I've had my tickets for a while now, and I'm pretty excited about seeing her live again. Specially because now she's got long hair again! I had to admit I was slightly pissed when she cut her trademark long hair like a week before coming to Brasil last time around.I saw the setlist form the São Paulo concert and it looks alright, not great...
SET LIST:
1.THE COUCH I
2.UNINVITED
3.VERSIONS OF VIOLENCE
4.ALL I REALLY WANT
5.THE COUCH II
6.NOT THE DOCTOR
7.NOT AS WE
8.HEAD OVER FEET
9.THE COUCH III
10.SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER
11.PERFECT
12.MORATORIUM
13.YOU OUGHTA KNOW
14.TAPES
15.HAND IN MY POKET
16.UNDERNEATH
17.EVERYTHING
18.YOU LEARN
19.IRONIC
20.THANK YOU
There's 5 songs out of 18 (The Couch is just one song split up 3 ways) from the new record; 8 (!!!!!) from Jagged Little Pill (which only had 13 songs, by the way); 3 from Supposed Former Infactuation Junkie; 2 from the rest. That's a little sad... I know there are 3 or 4 must-haves from JLP, but come on!!! It's been 14 years!!! She's done some really good stuff since then (ok, maybe not on this latest album, but still), I wish she would sing some of the better songs from the post-JLP era; where's 21 Things I Want In a Lover? Where's Can't Not? Where's King of Pain? Where's Fear of Bliss, Excuses, etc.? And specially, where's Purgatorying (am I the only one who really likes it)?!?!?!?!
Purgatorying I
Purgatorying II
Purgatorying III
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Watchmen, the movie
When Zach Snyder was announced as the director of Watchmen, I was a little afraid: I'm not a fan of 300 (the movie, the comic is cooler but still no masterpiece). But he's been slowly releasing production shots from the movie, and they look so cool I'm actually getting excited about it (even though I did think 300 looked incredible, I didn't like his changes to the story). Take a look at these:
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Who Can Guess The Country?
I was going through some of my photos, and I found this hilarious sign. Any guesses about which country it came from?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Top 10 Singing
Recently, Rolling Stone magazine continued their series of Top-Whatever lists with a Top 100 Greatest Singers of All Time special edition. I could literally spend hours discussing that list , but instead I'll write an alternate post: my Top 10 favorite singing moments. Keep in mind I don't have such broad knowledge about the subject, but I'll try to do my best. This is in "I remembered this guys first" order:
In 1995's Grace, Jeff Buckley is fantastic throughout the entire record. He has this unbelievably clear voice, that seems to be able to go as high as he wishes. It's funny 'cause I've heard a few live recordings of his, and I don't think he'd match up live to what he got on record. He was really cool live, don't get me wrong, but I just feel he was extra-inspired during the recording of Grace. And even though the entire record is amazing, my personal favorite is, without a shadow of a doubt, "Lover, You Should've Come Over" (Lilac Wine and Hallelujah are close seconds). I love how the intensity of the song grows and grows towards the end, and, well, the recording is perfect: his voice is amazing, the whole producing is just enough to not get in the way and suits the music really well. I've heard a few live version, but it's far from being the same.... maybe you had to be there to appreciate it, so it's real pity we can't be there anymore, since he drowned while swimming in a river in '97, with Grace being the only studio album he released before dying. Real pity.
The Beatles had many incredible songs, and as much as I love Twist 'n Shout, it probably wouldn't make my Top 10. But I always feel it's Ferris Bueler's (oops, I meant John's) best vocal performance. The story goes that (hopefully it's a true story), after a long time recording Please Please Me, his throat was pretty much fucked up. He just decided to go for one last song, and went for the kill: he probably had a sore throat for quite some time, but it's his rough voice and his screaming that gave life to the song.
I had a hard time picking a Led Zeppelin song. I knew Plant had to be here, he is probably my favorite Rock singer of all time. That's why picking one song was so hard. A short list of the runner-ups would be: Immigrant Song, Gallows Pole, Dazed and Confused, I Can't Quit You Baby, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, and Rock and Roll. Those are all amazing tunes, but I had to go with my favorite Zeppelin song ever: Since I've Been Loving You, from III.
Joe Cocker probably has the title of best Beatles cover ever for this song. Also, I guess the fact that I grew up on Wonder Years, and can't help remembering it whenever I listen to his howls, didn't hurt his odds either :-). He carved With a Little Help From My Friends out of Sgt. Peppers, arguably one of the best songs in one of the best albums ever released, and made it his own, changing it around in so many ways it hardly sounds like a Beatles song anymore. He took a great song, and turned into an epic classic. It's just brilliant.
At first I intended to do this list only with rock songs. But then I gave up on that, as I decided to add this song: Elis Regina singing Chico Buarque's Atrás da Porta live. Elis is widely considered Brasil's greatest singer ever, and, in my humble opinion, watching her live performances should be enough to clear any lingering doubts of that...
Ok, I have to admit it: I like Whitney Houston. There, I said it. I like the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, as corny as it may be. But her voice is just otherworldly, I've never heard anything like it. And the other day I happened to catch the original version of I Will Always Love You (I didn't even know it wasn't an original, but I finally understood how it could not have gotten the Oscars), which is by Dolly Parton. It's weak, really, really weak. It's hard to imagine how they could get that song and change around so much that it became what we hear Whitney sing, it's amazing. And I know there's a lot of people involved in that (producers, musicians, etc.), but her voice makes most of the different. It's just beautiful. BTW, the original Dolly Parton is pretty easy to find on YouTube, like here.
Singing practically a capella, Janis delivered one of the best songs in this landmark album, Mercedes Benz. She sings like she is performing to a full stadium, but the bare sounds of something marking the beat and her deep, husky voice, keep in our mid that she is just singing alone in the studio.
Marvin Gaye is such a sad story... He was an amazing talent, certainly my favorite Motown performer, immensely successful in all kinds of genre: good ol' R&B/Soul, pop, politically inspired masterpieces (What's Going On), and the best cheating song ever released, I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Covered by loads of people, from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Marisa Monte, it's Marvin's version (which isn't the first, btw), that stands out. His clear, soulful voice is at its best and the song is just intoxicating.
There are two spots left and I can't decide who to give 'em to: on the one hand, there are too many candidates (Eddie Vedder, Freddie Mercury, Aretha, Ray Charles, the list goes on...); on the other hand, I think none has one song that stands out quite as much as the other eight that I mentioned here... so I'll stop my list here.
In 1995's Grace, Jeff Buckley is fantastic throughout the entire record. He has this unbelievably clear voice, that seems to be able to go as high as he wishes. It's funny 'cause I've heard a few live recordings of his, and I don't think he'd match up live to what he got on record. He was really cool live, don't get me wrong, but I just feel he was extra-inspired during the recording of Grace. And even though the entire record is amazing, my personal favorite is, without a shadow of a doubt, "Lover, You Should've Come Over" (Lilac Wine and Hallelujah are close seconds). I love how the intensity of the song grows and grows towards the end, and, well, the recording is perfect: his voice is amazing, the whole producing is just enough to not get in the way and suits the music really well. I've heard a few live version, but it's far from being the same.... maybe you had to be there to appreciate it, so it's real pity we can't be there anymore, since he drowned while swimming in a river in '97, with Grace being the only studio album he released before dying. Real pity.
The Beatles had many incredible songs, and as much as I love Twist 'n Shout, it probably wouldn't make my Top 10. But I always feel it's Ferris Bueler's (oops, I meant John's) best vocal performance. The story goes that (hopefully it's a true story), after a long time recording Please Please Me, his throat was pretty much fucked up. He just decided to go for one last song, and went for the kill: he probably had a sore throat for quite some time, but it's his rough voice and his screaming that gave life to the song.
I had a hard time picking a Led Zeppelin song. I knew Plant had to be here, he is probably my favorite Rock singer of all time. That's why picking one song was so hard. A short list of the runner-ups would be: Immigrant Song, Gallows Pole, Dazed and Confused, I Can't Quit You Baby, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, and Rock and Roll. Those are all amazing tunes, but I had to go with my favorite Zeppelin song ever: Since I've Been Loving You, from III.
Joe Cocker probably has the title of best Beatles cover ever for this song. Also, I guess the fact that I grew up on Wonder Years, and can't help remembering it whenever I listen to his howls, didn't hurt his odds either :-). He carved With a Little Help From My Friends out of Sgt. Peppers, arguably one of the best songs in one of the best albums ever released, and made it his own, changing it around in so many ways it hardly sounds like a Beatles song anymore. He took a great song, and turned into an epic classic. It's just brilliant.
At first I intended to do this list only with rock songs. But then I gave up on that, as I decided to add this song: Elis Regina singing Chico Buarque's Atrás da Porta live. Elis is widely considered Brasil's greatest singer ever, and, in my humble opinion, watching her live performances should be enough to clear any lingering doubts of that...
Ok, I have to admit it: I like Whitney Houston. There, I said it. I like the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, as corny as it may be. But her voice is just otherworldly, I've never heard anything like it. And the other day I happened to catch the original version of I Will Always Love You (I didn't even know it wasn't an original, but I finally understood how it could not have gotten the Oscars), which is by Dolly Parton. It's weak, really, really weak. It's hard to imagine how they could get that song and change around so much that it became what we hear Whitney sing, it's amazing. And I know there's a lot of people involved in that (producers, musicians, etc.), but her voice makes most of the different. It's just beautiful. BTW, the original Dolly Parton is pretty easy to find on YouTube, like here.
Singing practically a capella, Janis delivered one of the best songs in this landmark album, Mercedes Benz. She sings like she is performing to a full stadium, but the bare sounds of something marking the beat and her deep, husky voice, keep in our mid that she is just singing alone in the studio.
Marvin Gaye is such a sad story... He was an amazing talent, certainly my favorite Motown performer, immensely successful in all kinds of genre: good ol' R&B/Soul, pop, politically inspired masterpieces (What's Going On), and the best cheating song ever released, I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Covered by loads of people, from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Marisa Monte, it's Marvin's version (which isn't the first, btw), that stands out. His clear, soulful voice is at its best and the song is just intoxicating.There are two spots left and I can't decide who to give 'em to: on the one hand, there are too many candidates (Eddie Vedder, Freddie Mercury, Aretha, Ray Charles, the list goes on...); on the other hand, I think none has one song that stands out quite as much as the other eight that I mentioned here... so I'll stop my list here.
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