Out to lunch

Today I used my lunch break to pop into town and buy a wedding gift for our friends in Tokyo. As I entered the department store I was forced to make my way through the lingerie department in order to reach my destination. I hate it when that happens:
 
Purchase made,  I scoffed a disgusting burger [...]

Theme tune

While suffering through the blaring emptiness of the Torchwood theme tune the other day (my wife watches it, while I find something more fun to do, like scrubbing the inside of the oven), and mentally comparing it to the haunting majesty of the Doctor Who theme tune, I started wondering - when did programme makers forget [...]

Kodò

On Friday night we saw Kodò in concert in Antwerp.
At first I wasn’t sure if two hours’ worth of drumming would hold my attention, and yet I found that whenever they broke up their set with something different like a dragon dance, or a geisha song accompanied by a shakuhachi, I found myself thinking “Well that’s all [...]

Mood music

A favourite song, a favourite video.
Favourite shot starts at 02:54.
Favourite line is the last one: “Immerse your soul in love”.
Then, 12 years later, this one.
Some “Making of” info here.

Bleep!

The acquisition of musical taste is a funny thing, particularly in its early stages. In my case it came from some of my other childhood interests, namely film and science fiction. The first records (yes, vinyl… I bought were film soundtracks, mostly to fantasy or science fiction movies like Star Wars, Superman, etc. I still [...]

I know what I like

An article I found this morning via Utne (which also reminded me of something posted a while back at Smattery) got me thinking about my comfort zone. I try to vary my media diet as much as possible, yet I still easily slip into a routine of checking only certain sites, reading only certain magazines, lurking [...]

Lyrical

What do songs mean? It’s not always obvious. Some songs are deliberately cryptic or ambiguous, perhaps because the writer wishes to tease or perplex, or encourage differing interpretations. And some songs have simply been misunderstood, for a variety of reasons.
Lack of background knowledge. An American review of Thom Yorke’s album The Eraser expressed some puzzlement over the meaning of [...]

Five favourite songs

Dark Therapy, Echobelly
Mysteries, Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man
Iceblink Luck, Cocteau Twins
True Faith, New Order
Blindfold, Morcheeba

Things that go hump in the night

As has been previously noted, I sometimes have to battle my inner Englishman who pleads “Don’t make a fuss, don’t cause a scene, don’t complain”. One situation in which I find it very easy to complain, fuss, and make a scene is when someone disturbs my sleep. If you’;re making a noise in the early [...]

I don’t wanna dance

I’ve never quite understood people’s desire to dance. I love music, (including, ironically, some of what is often loosely termed “dance music”), but at no point while listening to it do I feel the need to wiggle, gyrate, lunge or contort myself rhythmically. It just doesn’t do anything for me.I’ve had flirtations with dancing in [...]