33° Of Sound

Sunday, 16 January 2011

Taken By Trees - East of Eden

Taken by Trees is the nom de plume of Victoria Bergsman, previously best known for her work with The Concretes and Peter Bjorn & John’s worldwide smash hit single "Young Folks". The album 'East Of Eden'(2009) followed Taken By Trees' debut album Open Field (2007), also recommended.

Victoria Bergsman wanted to travel to record in a mysterious, relatively uncharted area avoiding the usual clinical studio experience, which she has always disliked and found to be an uncreative environment. She chose Pakistan. The rhythm, drums and flutes of Pakistani music had long captivated Victoria and this, coupled with a deep admiration for her favorite singers Abida Parveen and the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, helped her choose Pakistan as the place to record her new album. Another attractive factor was her interest in Sufi musicians who play in order to enter a trance like state, using music to transport themselves to another time and place.

Taken By Trees - Watch the Waves

Taken By Trees - Anna (Live svt.se/psl)

Taken By Trees - Watch the Waves (Memory Tapes Remix)

Taken By Trees - Anna (Starring Anna Karina)

Video: National Geographic Mini-Documentary on Taken By Trees

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

Music and Snow

Wandering around this city, this city of London, during the snow, headphones on (layers, scarf and gloves too!), it has become clear to me that certain songs just seem to work better when set against the backdrop of these snowy conditions than others. Snow can be bleak, serene, cold, pure, sad, nostalgic, dark and lonely. Through mood and feeling, music can be too. I guess some songs just seem to sound a bit more "chilled" than others, and in more senses than one. Here are but a few...

Galaxie 500 - Listen The Snow is Falling
Luscious Jackson - Water Your Garden
Fever Ray - Keep The Streets Empty For Me
Whale - I'm Cold
Nick Drake - Northern Sky
Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo - Nostalgia
The Verve - Weeping Willow
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Sweetheart Come
Blonde Redhead - Oslo
David Bowie - Wild is the Wind
Bjork - Hyperballad
Blur - Caramel
Au Revoir Simone - The Last One
The Clientele - Winter on Victoria Street
Elysian Fields - Diamonds All Day
John Lennon - Scared
Air - You Make It Easy
Cocteau Twins - Road, River and Rail
Minus 8 - Winter Blues
Jeff Buckley - Forget Her
Joni Mitchell - Blue
RZA - Flying Birds
Elliott Smith - I Ddidn't Understand
The Smiths - Meat is Murder
Spiritualized - The Ballad Of Richie Lee
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane - In a Sentimental Mood
Pale Saints - Hunted
David Bowie - Sound and Vision
Supergrass - Run
U2 - If You Wear That Velvet Dress
Kaki King - ...Until We Felt Red
Grizzly Bear - Ready, Able
King Creosote - Nothing Rings True
Modest Mouse - Willful Suspension of Disbelief
Thea Gilmore - Listen The Snow is Falling

Please note: Whilst compiling the above list, a non-christmas song approach was self-imposed!
~

Thursday, 14 October 2010

Julee Cruise - Summer Kisses, Winter Tears

Summer Kisses, Winter Tears

Summer kisses, Winter tears
That was what she gave to me
Never thought that I'd travel all alone
The trail of memories

Happy hours, lonely years
But I guess I can't complain
For I still recall the Summer sun
Through all the Winter rain

The fire of love, the fire of love
Can burn from afar
And nothing can light the dark of the night
Like a falling star
Summer kisses, Winter tears
Like the stars they fade away
Leaving me to spend my lonely nights
With dreams of yesterday

The fire of love, the fire of love
Can burn from afar
And nothing can light the dark of the night
Like a falling star
Summer kisses, Winter tears
Like the stars they fade away
Leaving me to spend my lonely nights
With dreams of yesterday

Leaving me to spend my lonely nights
With dreams of yesterday
Summer kisses, Winter tears

(Words & music by Wise - Weisman - Lloyd)

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Solomon Burke (March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010)

Solomon Burke (Philadelphia (USA) March 21, 1940 – Schiphol (Netherlands) October 10, 2010)

John Wilde of The Guardian Writes...
"Some things we can all agree on. The greatest footballer of all time? Pele. The greatest movie actor? Brando. The greatest boxer? Ali. When it comes to the question of the greatest soul singer, we will forever be arguing deep into the night. Sam Cooke or Clyde McPhatter? Marvin Gaye or Aretha Franklin? James Carr, Bobby Bland, Etta James, Percy Sledge, Levi Stubbs, OV Wright, James Brown, Bettye LaVette, Smokey Robinson, Dusty Springfield, Ray Charles, Don Covay, Tammi Terrell, Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, David Ruffin, Irma Thomas, Jackie Wilson, Roberta Flack … Whichever names are proposed, every last one of them has to reckon with the mighty, mighty Solomon Burke".

RIP