music: Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes (1992)

Neil Gaiman was right on when he created the character Delirium of the Endless, inspired by Tori Amos. 

Actually I think that if the Endless ever became a movie (God I hope not, it’s perfect as it is) Tori could also play Death, she has that calmness that comes with having seen it all. On a side note, Nick Cave would have done great as Dream, PJ Harvey as Desire/Despair, Bono’s McPhisto as a sexy version of Destruction, and maybe the great Johnny Cash as Destiny.

But back to Tori Amos. She belongs to a handful of artists that defy description. She was there long before the Alanis Morrissettes, and way before the Gagas. As singers go by, she’s pretty much perfect. 

Her lyrics deal with sometimes very personal subjects (such as rape, her relationship with her father, God, love) and the way she plays that piano is just insanely beautiful.

Tear in your hands  is one of my favourite songs ever and by itself a great reason to get Little Earthquakes.

Reminds me of: U2 (feat McPhisto) Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Car, Nick Cave Into my arms (and of pretty much everything he does), Johnny Cash hurt, The Endless, Mike Carey’s character  Lucifer.

9/10 this is an album to cherish

music: Lenny Kravitz . mamma said (1991)

As a 14 years old kid, living and studying in a city I did not want to be in, with not that many friends and extremely bored. I relied a lot on music to dream, to experience and to lift my spirits up. Music is capable of all these things. And of many more.

Mamma said is one of these albums that held me up in this difficult period.

From what I know this album was made right after or while Kavitz was separating from his wife. And knowing that, gives, obviously, another dimension to classics such as stand by my woman.

I personally think that this album is unique in Lenny Kravitz career, in the sense that musically it’s more diverse in his otherwise almost completely rock discography. It draws form a multitude of genres, from jazz, to funk, to rock.

Reminds me of: growing up, John Legend again, High fidelity the movie, Maxwell Drowndeep hula

Released in: 1991 

8/10 a Lenny Kravitz classic.

music: Bon Iver - For Emma

I fell in love with Bon Iver’s music from the moment I heard them on youtube.

This album feels like a warm blanket on a very cold night. And it figures, since it was apparently composed during a 3 month stay  at a winter cabin somewhere in northern USA (check the album's Wikipedia) by Justin Vernon.

In For Emma, Justin’s layered voice conveys an incredible sense of solitude and contemplation of things and of feelings.

The winter is omnipresent in this album, and it serves as a metaphor for something resembling melancholy. But from a point of view of someone who has lived, matured and who understands that the past is the past, and that all experiences are unique.

I recommend Blindsided and re: stacks as an introduction to this bands music.

Reminds me of: winter, Boards of Canada, Eric Serra The Big Blue (ouverture) (for the atmosphere, even though it's the sea)..

9/10 Highly recommended. It will warm you up.

music: Destroyer - Trouble in dreams

My interpretation of Dan bejar’s music is that of a series of cuts from different movies put together, in such a way that they seem like one huge scene. And he has a frikkin' wiki. 

His lyrics are poetry. Like Jacques Prevert, he seems to have the ability to pull you into his sometimes colorful world of words, even if you don’t always understand what it’s all about. Libby’s first sunrise, foam hands and specially shooting rockets (couldn't find worthy youtube links, so...) are pearls to be heard over and over again.

Reminds me of: Jacques Prevert Paroles (in French), the Nouvelle Vague movement, specially certain scenes from "À bout de souffle"... go figure... 

9/10 One of my favourites

reboot

ok let's try a reboot of the blog and see what happens. :)

see you there!