Most of my girlfriends have had pretty good taste—or should I say, tastes compatible with mine. Although my last GF had a little too much Depeche Mode downloaded onto her computer for my tastes. J, was big into the hip hop, and turned me on to some underground stuff that I quite like--MF Doom, for example, although I may only be into him because he uses lots of samples from old Fantastic Four cartoons, which appeals to the geek in me. 

J. was also a fan of my all-time favourite band*, and I remember the note she left after our first night together: along with her name and number, she'd written "[band's name]'s fan." Not grammatically spectacular, but it did the trick—I took her to the see them when they came through town the next month, and things developed from there. 

Now with the Texas Twister--Trickster--it was this same band (now broken up) that somehow became part of her arsenal. See, she likes to use songs from her laptop playlist as wake-up calls. There was a whole week where we woke up to Dolly Parton's "9 to 5"; lately it's been Goldfrapp's "Carnival Girl". But not long after we started seeing each other, maybe a couple of weeks, the song we woke up to was, indeed, a song by my all-time favourite band. I looked at her and thought, "Ah, the one!" 

I would tell friends this and they'd say, "And she didn't know how big a fan you were of the band?" To which I'd say, "No!"

Well, let's just say, some people never learn. Yes, once again I underestimated the wiles of the fairer sex. Maybe I brought the band's name up in conversation, or maybe she discovered a tell-tale sign around my pad--the autographed posters, extensive collection of memorabilia, the life-size cardboard cut-out of the members. Anyway, I learned tonight that she set the song  on purpose, because she knew I liked them! It was all part of her ploy!!

I know, many of you are shaking your heads, going, "Shawnster, Shawnster, Shawnster--how naive can you be?" And you're absolutely right. And now I'm wondering: should I also believe that she was also a virgin?

*Guided by Voices. In fact, upon reading this, she said she should tell her friend Jeff about this blog entry. When I asked why, the Twister said she'd once told Jeff about me: "I finally got him to like me." "How did you do that?" asked Jeff. "Oh, it was simple," she said. "All it took was a Guided by Voices song."

After this album, Goldfrapp took a whole new direction in music, probably because it's lack of success. After this album's "failure," Goldfrapp too the direction of electronic dance-pop, and that seemed to work for her for several albums following her second, but this, her first album, I personally think is her best. It's absolutely amazing. Just don't expect electro-dance-pop.

Download.

Tracklist:

1. Lovely Head
2. Paper bag
3. Human
4. Pilots
5. Deer Stop
6. Felt Mountain
7. Oompa Radar
8. Utopia
9. Horse Tears

Caravan Girl - Goldfrapp

What is her name
That caravan girl
What is her name

You like the sun
A hazy day
What is her name

We're just talking
Like there's something
Like you know
Don't you know
Don't you know

We run away, we run away you and me
You get away and bring on back
We run away, we run away you and me
You get away and bring it on back

The food and game
That stranger on the hill
What is her name

You like the sun
A lazy day
Have you no name

Don't stop talking
There's just something
Like you know
I'd like to know

Should I stay
Or should I go
It's a long, long way to go
But I want to know
Yeah I won't be shy

We run away, we run away you and me
You get away and bring it on back

We run away, we run away you and me
You get away and bring it on back

Wanna runaway
Wanna runaway
Don't bring it on back

Wanna runaway
Wanna runaway
Don't bring it on back

Wanna runaway
Wanna runaway
Don't bring it on back

Goldfrapp - Ride a White Horse

Although... Sunday didn't start too well for me- with what I have regarded as the worst hang over I have ever had. Now I remember why vodka is my demon. Sat night shenanigans entailed a stopover at Waterside, which was extremely overcrowded (and had a lack of cute boys which was odd, as the Deck always delivers), me losing my drivers license and bank card and then a few messy hours at Bang. Have to say Trial Kennedy was not great, but good.

I was going to write a nice long essay.. but now that I'm here, I think dot points will suffice...

• Birrarung Marr was a good location for the festival. And this year with the increase focus in patronage enjoyment- less tickets sold, more space to chill; the vibe from the crowd was electric. The only issue that I can think of was toilets.They need to definitely increase the amounts of toilets available next year- however there can never be enough.
• We saw as many acts as we could fit in. This meant that we saw a lot of half acts-which wasn't an issue.
• Goldfrapp was completely fantastic- Easily, by far my personal favourite act for the day. She was a true performer/entertainer. OMG- thank you so much for the really tall guy standing next to me who was kind enough to offer me your shoulders!! The view up there was unbelievable. lol Damn being short. And my friends were able to find me as well while I was up there! haha Sooo frustrating that I didn't even think to get your number after you had left. And you were so nice. And cute. And said goodbye when you left too. I am an IDIOT.
• The weather was perfect.
• Dizzee Rascal was great fun too! We fought hard to make sure we were right at the front- which was great as we could almost touch the guy, but, it definitely was not fun being pushed against the barrier! And the rain started straight after Dizzee's set as well which added to the experience.  Oh, the bloody girl next to me who could not have been more in love with your self, all I can say is.. pppuhhhllleeaaaaseeeee. Get. Over. Yourself.
• Deciding to not drink throughout the day was the best decision that I have ever made! Hang over was  gone by the time I got there as well.. And I saved sooo much money.

I would highly recommend that everyone who loves their music to get off their arses and go to Parklife next year.. or miss out. Definitely worth the high price.

*Again... PUMPED for Falls- which is going to be like 3 full days of Parklife. Can't wait!

I use two separate loops from this track to construct a new backing for the acapella for "Perfect" by Princess Superstar. In the UK everyone seems to think of her as some sort of novelty rapper because "Bad Babysitter" was the biggest single out over here, but actually she's a very talented MC, DJ and producer, not to mention being probably the most filthy-minded person ever to put words to a song:

Shenanigans 09 - Cut & Paste Volume II - Part 3:

Format: mp3

Size: 38.3Mb

Time: 20:51

Tracklisting:

Bunny And The Wolf Sisters - Big Bad Wolf
Princess Superstar - Perfect (Acapella)
Jimmy Bo Horne - Gimme Some
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
Spankox - To The Club
Azzido Da Bass - Doom's Night
Britney Spears - Toxic
Kylie Minogue - Love At First Sight
Depeche Mode - I Feel Loved
Infernal - Self Control
The Gossip - Listen Up!
Alcatraz - Giv Me Luv
The Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb
Beth Orton - Central Reservation
Goldfrapp - Ride A White Horse
Duran Duran - Burning The Ground

Click here to download Shenanigans 09 - Cut & Paste Volume II - Part 3

Well, that's the final part of my most recent mix CD, I hope you like! The first two parts are available by scrolling down the blog; as are the first few parts of two other mixes (including my eighties mix CD), plus some standalone 5-minute mixes.

        Ya es otoño... brrr... ya hace frío... brrr... y se caen las hojas, y llueve, y pasan todas esas cosas que suelen pasar en otoño... brrr...

        Y ya pega poner el vídeo de A&E de Goldfrapp, single de su último álbum Seventh Tree.

Last night I was fortunate to see one of my favorite groups of all time, GOLDFRAPP.  Listening to the angelic Alison Goldfrapp, there was no other place I wanted to be than simply in the prescence of this voice.  Her yodels actually brought me to tears.

Her ensemble did not disappoint, nor does it ever, and for that reason I wanted to post an image of the jester inspired Alison.  This is not a comment on a trend nor a shout out to Miu Miu Spring 08, as Alison has been sporting circus inspired sounds and looks since 1999.  Do yourself a favor and buy Felt Mountain today!

We got to the festival by about 10am without much sleep. Kevin had been practicing the night before and we got locked out of the house at 5am. Fortunately Kevin jumped some gates and got us back in, though this pissed off Tracy's roommate. The plush couches in the tent at the festival were much appreciated when we arrived at the festival you can imagine.

The Frail played at 12:30 and did an excellent job. The sound was well orchestrated and the view of San Francisco from behind the stage made for beautiful photographs. I was impressed with the performance, and the turnout was pretty good considering it was the first act.

After that we drank. As it turns out beer was free in certain parts of the VIP lounge. Other than that the drinks were horribly expensive. Later in the afternoon, I ended up meeting this guy who is friend's with Kevin's band and really hitting it off with him. I was very drunk and started flirting and went off with him for a little bit. I was having a good time, but it was a rather inconsiderate thing to do since I went there with Kevin.

I have never been to a music festival before, so I didn't know what to expect but having the VIP pass and being able to access the artist quarters made the experience way better than I could have ever imagined. I was worried about crowds and not being able to see the performances. I was imagining sitting on the grass all day. Not so. Later we went to go see The Frail play again at the DNA lounge at an event called Superego. There was a fashion show and a number of popular local bands playing. It was a nightmare as I was really worn out and didn't have time to change from the night before. I was also drunk and well...hmm... In any case, I didn't want to be around people, that's for sure. Everyone there was very dressed to the max. Sometimes San Francisco can be so image obsessed. I couldn't care that much about how I looked even if I tried.

Kevin and I later went home and stayed up late. Tomorrow we are flying into North Jersey to spend a week in the east coast, where I'll be checking out film schools, going to the beach, being creative, and eating a hell of a lot of pizza.

Yeh, forgot to write anything. So here's a few photos and bands that were good, m'kay?

Goldfrapp were brilliant!

Josh Ritter in the Hot Press tent = yay! Especially since I missed his proper set :(

The Breeders!

Never EVER miss an opportunity to see Ham Sandwich!

Florence and the Machine, crazy, but in a good way.

Gemma Hayes did a really nice set :)

And CSS were tons of fun!

:)

Artist: Goldfrapp

Album: Black Cherry

Year: 2003

Genre: Electronic

Official Web Site | Goldfrapp.co.uk

And Wikipedia...  I think something and I can find information.  How great is that?  I hear a reference, I can check it out!  What did I do before? Head to the 'stacks' and spend a night looking up every little reference I could? Nah! In under five minutes I am like six links in to a whole range of information I would have forgotten to even think about again.  Thanks 21st century!

Thanks cheapish Sambuca for another day of trivial blog inspiration.  I must follow up with a video BECAUSE I CAN.

and in other randomness-

I ran into a person who I thought totally HATED me.  A long time ago, we used to be friends (not like the Dandy Warhols song...that one does remind me of my husband though... excuse me- the state of the world has lead me to an extra cocktail like three nights a week  Its a solid excuse).  Anwyay- she was so nice to me.  I pledge to be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less paranoid and more optimistic.  I can do it.  I can live without fear of running into people at the supermarket.... I can invite people over for tea... I can do it!

AND- I just checked my blog stats... I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MANY PEOPLE GET HERE LOOKING FOR BARNYARD PORN.  Barnyard porn?  C'mon.  That's just ICK.

I had the chance to go and see Goldfrapp at one of my favorite places - The Commodore Ballroom on Granville.  It was a good show and Goldfrapp sounded great.  I have to say that I am not a huge Goldfrapp fan, but I do enjoy them from time to time. I will say that she sounded as good live as she does on record which is often times a rarity.  The opener for the night was a woman by the name of Jaymay who is actually pretty good.  She reminded me a bit of KT Tunstall when she slows it down. Overall not a bad show.

in today's trouser press:

- new Ane Brun video, Alphaville cover and CD release for Sketches
- inside scoop on the new Peaches album
- Goldfrapp to reissue Seventh Tree with a host of extras
- Nouvelle Vague founder gets all-woman cast to reinterpret '80s film themes
- Low announce new single and festive shows
- White Hinterland go retro French for new EP
- more details about the new Pretenders album
- Amiina and others cover 'Nightmare Before Christmas' songs
- KT Tunstall and others on new charity compilation
- Lioness announce debut EP
- fifth album on the way from Priya Thomas
- Amy Winehouse and Madonna immortalised in LEGO 

* * *

Following huge demand from her fans, Ane Brun will release a CD version of her new demos album Sketches, released as a digital-only treat a couple of weeks ago. You'll only be able to buy it from her website, mind you. Get a copy from October 1st onwards.

In other Ane Brun news, the Norwegian singer-songwriter has released a cover of Alphaville's ‘Big In Japan', recorded for the soundtrack of Swedish TV documentary ‘Stor I Japan'. She says it's on iTunes. We can't find it. But it is on her website, as is her latest video collaboration with Magnus Renfors, this time for the sad, stunning ‘Don't Leave', the third single to be taken from the brilliant Changing Of The Seasons. Watch it here:

* * *

The next Peaches album will unveil a new Italo disco-influenced direction for the raunchy Canadian, with production from Simian Mobile Disco, Chilly Gonzales and others we don't know about yet. Voodoo-faced electro person Drums Of Death told The Lipster: "Peaches is singing, like, proper vocals. It's beautiful, just great...this album should blow away her old fans and bring her 10 times more, I really hope it does that for her."

The as-yet-untitled album is currently penciled in for March 2009.

* * *

Goldfrapp have announced plans to release a special edition of latest album Seventh Tree, with new album artwork, new photos and an expanded bonus DVD featuring videos for the three singles (‘A&E', ‘Happiness' and ‘Caravan Girl') and various live performances. The package hits the shops on October 27th.

Read the full announcement here. And listen to the clips of the new live takes of ‘Happiness' and ‘Monster Love', y'know, if you want to and all.

* * *

Nouvelle Vague mastermind Marc Collin has put together a new covers project, this time with the ambition "to change the way we feel about 1980s film soundtracks." Hollywood, Mon Amour is its name - the project and the album, out October 6th - and it even features famous Tinseltown veteran turned rock star Juliette Lewis, who sings on a cover of Davie Bowie's ‘This Is Not America' from the 1985 film ‘The Falcon & The Snowman'.

Other famous names include ex-Morcheeba vocalist Skye Edwards (Blondie's ‘Call Me', Duran Duran's ‘A View To A Kill'), Yael Naïm (Irene Cara's ‘Flashdance...What A Feeling'), Cibelle (Kenny Loggins' ‘Footloose'), with up-and-coming artists Katrine Ottosen, Nadeah, Dea Li, Nancy Danino and Leelou providing the rest of the nostalgia kicks. The premise that these songs now sound dated and unfashionable is a little shaky - the ‘80s have been back for how long now? - but otherwise we approve.

Hollywood, Mon Amour
01 Skye - Call Me [from ‘American Gigolo']
02 Katrine Ottosen - Eye Of The Tiger [from ‘Rocky III']
03 Nadeah - When Doves Cry [from ‘Purple Rain']
04 Dea Li - Cat People (Putting On Fire) [from ‘Cat People']
05 Skye - A View To A Kill [from ‘A View To A Kill']
06 Yael Naïm - Flashdance...What A Feeling [from ‘Flashdance']
07 Cibelle - Footloose [from ‘Footloose']
08 Juliette Lewis - This Is Not America [from ‘The Falcon & The Snowman']
09 Nadeah - Arthur's Theme [from ‘Arthur']
10 Dea Li - Reality [from ‘La Boum']
11 Nadeah - Forbidden Colours [from ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence']
12 Dea Li - For Your Eyes Only [from ‘For Your Eyes Only']
13 Leelou - Don't You (Forget About Me) [from ‘The Breakfast Club']

An expanded version of the album with three bonus tracks will be available as a limited edition digipak (1000 copies only) and a double LP.

Rumours continue to swirl around about a new Nouvelle Vague album (tentatively titled NV3), but there's been no official word about it yet. The band is on tour in November and December, with Nadeah and Marianne Elise providing the vocals. Katrine Ottosen releases her debut solo album, Fall Down, on November 10th under the name of CallmeKAT, following the lovely I'm In A Polaroid, Where Are You? EP, issued in June.

* * *

Famous for their festive offerings, if not their cheer, Low will release a new Christmas-themed single on November 3rd. ‘Santa's Coming Over' will be available on 7" vinyl and as a download, backed by a cover of reggae track ‘The Coming Of Jah'. The band play three ‘holiday concerts' in the UK a couple of weeks later, supported by the brilliant and all-too-rarely-in-this-country Ida:

17.11.08 Òran Mór, Glasgow
18.11.08 Club Academy, Manchester
19.11.08 Koko, London

Our advice: buy tickets! But don't stand at the front, just in case there's a repeat of the band's set at End Of The Road festival last weekend which culminated in frontman Alan Sparhawk forcefully slinging his guitar into the crowd. Dangerous, yes, but thankfully no one was hurt.

* * *

If, like us, you've played White Hinterland's Phylactery Factory to death over the last 6 months and are craving something new from Casey Dienel's magical kingdom, well, today's your lucky day. Or rather October 21st is, because that's when a new White Hinterland EP descends upon retailers everywhere like manna from the heavens.

Called Luniculaire, a neologism coined from the French words "lunaire" (lunar) and "funiculaire" (railway), the five-track EP features songs from or inspired by French avant-pop of the 1960s. Dienel and co. tackle Françoise Hardy's ‘Mon Amie Le Rose', Brigitte Fontaine's ‘J'ai 26 Ans' and Serge Gainsbourg's legendary ‘Requiem Por Un Con', as well as providing two French-sung originals of their own. Download ‘Chant de Grillon', courtesy of Gorilla vs. Bear, and salivate with anticipation. Don't forget, White Hinterland play at Bush Hall on October 17th.

Luniculaire EP
01 Requiem Pour Un Con
02 Chant de Grillon
03 Mon Ami La Rose
04 J'ai 26 Ans
05 Lunirascible

* * *

More details have emerged about the new Pretenders album, Break Up The Concrete, out on October 6th. Turns out it's actually Chrissie Hynde fronting a whole new line-up for the band, which is interesting and puts the whole ‘roots album' premise into a clearer light.

As we previously wrote, Chrissie and the boys have been giving the album away, track by track, in the weeks leading up to the release, but iTunes has three exclusive tracks for their faithful shoppers. Anyone who downloads the whole album from iTunes after its release will get the bonus tracks ‘Tequila' and ‘Can't Help Falling In Love', while those who preorder the album will get both of those and the extra extra exclusive ‘977'. There's your incentives people. Choose wisely.

Break Up The Concrete
01 Boots Of Chinese Plastic
02 The Nothing Maker
03 Don't Lose Faith In Me
04 Don't Cut Your Hair
05 Love's A Mystery
06 The Last Ride
07 Almost Perfect
08 You Don't Have To
09 Rosalee
10 Break Up The Concrete
11 One Thing Never Never Changed
12 Tequila
13 Can't Help Falling In Love
14 977

* * *

Back in 2006, when the 3-D version of Tim Burton's ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas' hit selected screens across the country, a slightly extended version of the soundtrack was released with Fiona Apple, Marilyn Manson, Fall Out Boy, She Wants Revenge and Panic! At The Disco all turning in covers of some of the films much-loved musical numbers.

Well, if you liked that, there's a treat in store for you as Walt Disney Records are releasing a new 20-track set of covers from the film at the end of the month. Nightmare Revisited ousts all but Manson from the 2006 release, adding in a truly baffling array of others. Fiona Apple has been supplanted by Amy Lee of Evanescence for ‘Sally's Song', which surely can't be a good sign? Fortunately there are also inclusions from amazing Icelanders Amiina and Brazilian wonders Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Listen to some of the new versions here.

Nightmare Revisited
01 DeVotchKa - Overture
02 Danny Elfman - Opening
03 Marilyn Manson - This Is Halloween
04 All-American Rejects - Jack's Lament
05 Amiina - Doctor Finkelstein / In The Forest
06 Flyleaf - What's This?
07 Polyphonic Spree - Town Meeting Song
08 The Vitamin String Quartet - Jack & Sally Montage
09 Sparklehorse - Jack's Obsession
10 KoRn - Kidnap The Sandy Claws
11 Rise Against - Making Christmas
12 Yoshida Brothers - Nabbed
13 Rodrigo y Gabriela - Oogie Boogie's Song
14 Amy Lee - Sally's Song
15 RJD2 - Christmas Eve Montage
16 Plain White T's - Poor Jack
17 Datarock - To The Rescue
18 Shiny Toy Guns - Finale / Reprise
19 Danny Elfman - Closing
20 The Album Leaf - End Title

* * *

KT Tunstall, The Go! Team and country singer Dawn Kinnard have all contributed new songs to a charity compilation featuring music inspired by BBC presenter Bruce Parry's popular BBC nature documentary series, ‘Amazon' and ‘Tribe'. Released as a 2CD set on October 6th (though available digitally now), sales of Amazon/Tribe: Songs For Survival will benefit Survival International, a human rights organisation for tribal peoples.

KT, who recently married her drummer Luke Bullen, talks about the project in this video:

Hear her song, ‘The Hidden Heart', in full here.

Amazon/Tribe: Songs For Survival
CD1
01 Apparatjik - Ferreting
02 Dawn Kinnard - Love Is My New Drug
03 will.i.am ft. the Babongo Tribe - One People
04 KT Tunstall - The Hidden Heart
05 Jason Mraz & Brett Dennen - Long Road To Forgiveness
06 Jeremy Warmsley ft. Mystery Jets & Adem - Grains Of Sand
07 Tom Baxter - Make a Stand
08 Johnny Borrell ft. the Suri Tribe - Carrikfergus
09 Skin & Robot Club ft. the Adi Tribe - Simmer Down
10 Yusuf Islam - Edge of Existence

CD2
01 Joe Goddard ft. the Babongo Tribe (Hot Chip remix) - Babongo Tribe Remix
02 Adam Freeland ft. the Suri Tribe - KIN
03 Hybrid ft. the Suri Tribe - Komuru
04 Roger Sanchez ft. the Adi Tribe - Noneya
05 The Egg ft. the Anuta & Babongo Tribes - Trails & Tribulations
06 The Go! Team ft. the Babongo Tribe - Templates From Home
07 The Ruby Suns ft. the Penan Tribe - Don't Touch The Dusty Fruit
08 Blue States ft. the Kombai Tribe - Hello Kombai
09 Way Out West ft. the Babongo Tribe - Evelina
10 Mike Oldfield ft. the Anuta Tribe - Song For Survival

* * *

Formed out of the ashes of Canadian electro-rock band Controller.Controller following the departure of singer Nirmala Basnayake, Lioness are a, er, Canadian electro-rock band featuring the impressive vocal talents of Vanessa Fischer, also of Canadian electro-rock band No Dynamics. Their debut EP, also called Lioness, is coming out on October 14th in advance of the band's tour with You Say Party! We Say Die!, both in Canada only it seems. Sorry. We just mentioned it because we quite like the song they have up on their Myspace.

Lioness EP
01 You're My Heart
02 Harder They Fall
03 Dark Matter
04 Haunted Magick
05 What You Do (Will Come Back To You)

* * *

Another Canadian doing great stuff is the often overlooked Priya Thomas, who releases her fifth album of lo-fi experimental folk-rock on October 28th (in Canada). Priya Thomas Is Blood Heron was mostly written while on tour with Broken Social Scene's Jason Collett and later recorded at her home with "broken 2 string ukeleles, pots and pans, wooden spoons, a warped parlour guitar and an ebow," according to a blog post written earlier this year. Five of the 9 new songs are up on her Myspace, in case you're wondering what kind of unearthly clamour that kind of junk might make.

Priya Thomas Is Blood Heron
01 Your Guitar, My Undoing
02 Had I Known, I Would Have Declined
03 Dakota From The Hebrew
04 Vigilante
05 Gunpowder Heart Holy Texas
06 Lit Lightnint
07 Wine, Moonshine, Sugarbeams
08 Farewell Creek
09 St Lawrence Seaway, Gateway To The World

* * *

Finally, we've had the LEGO Bible. We've had the LEGO Olympics. We've had LEGO album covers. Now, the toy company themselves have created LEGO versions of pop stars Amy Winehouse, Madonna and, er, Cliff Richard to celebrate their 30th birthday. More than 4 billion LEGO figures have been ferried along the production line and into shops over the last 3 decades, and the little men and women have become increasingly sophisticated. Given the near-skeletal frames of Amy and Madonna lately, they might not be best pleased by the rather chunky renderings pictured on the Daily Mail's website today. Take a peek. Unfortunately they won't be going on sale.

* * *

Alan Pedder

Para os fãs de carteirinha  que gostaram da edição especial de Supernature...

Goldfrapp estão lançando uma edição especial do álbum Seventh Tree, CD com um DVD bônus.
Álbum original completo em CD plus novo álbum, ilustrações e fotos.

DVD:

Live at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea:
Clowns (Instrumental) ­ Behind The Scenes / Happiness / You Never Know / Caravan Girl / Monster Love / Little Bird

Videos
A&E / Happiness / Caravan Girl

TV performances
Clowns / Road To Somewhere

Você não conhece Goldfrapp? :(

Happiness

Caravan Girl

Bom Dia!!
:P

The only downside to this show was the one time when a girl in the crowd (absolutely sky-high on something) decided to smash into, I mean dance, next to Sarah and myself. I had asked the universe for some entertainment earlier while we were waiting an hour and a half for Goldfrapp to start (we had no idea that the opening act wouldn't even come on until 9:30-the doors opened at 8pm, and we got there ~8:45), and I had stated that a person sky-high on ecstasy flailing to the muzak that was playing on the PA system prior to the show would be suitable. So she arrived in our lives a little bit late. We were both distracted from the performance for about a song and a half (bad), until we both looked at each other and burst out in laughter (all good again). I should be more careful what I ask for.

Anyways, it was even more amusing because at one point she wanted us to help her and her boyfriend shove up to the front (I wasn't really cool with this-I had a decent spot), and in her attempt to push me forward she put her hand into my armpit for about a minute. I'm not going to lie, halfway through a show dancing, and in a hot crowd of people my armpits were a bit sweaty, and all I could think is "Your hand is in my sweaty armpit...why aren't you removing it? Does she realize where her hand is? Of course she does...Her hand is in my armpit. Why isn't she removing it?" So I guess in the end, I did find her suitably entertaining; I'm certainly laughing now. I wonder if she'll remember anything of the show...she tried to make out with Sarah, too (Side note: Sarah was accosted by about 3 straight women trying to kiss her last night; I guess it's all that animal magnetism she's got).

So verdict for the show minus one stoned chick: Absolutely brilliant show! Goldfrapp live is certainly an experience that any fan of her music would enjoy thoroughly (and probably an excellent introduction to it for those not yet blessed with the liking). Great vocals, solid performances from all of the back up band, and a lively performance style make for an excellent concert. The Commodore show sold out, and when it was all said and done the audience cheered for a good 5 minutes straight after the last encore of the night; and from the look of it from when they were onstage, I am pretty sure that Goldfrapp and her band had as much fun playing as we all did listening to them perform.

I would recommend without any hesitation that, if possible, you see Goldfrapp live. They are amazing, amazing, amazing.  Here is the set list for their Seventh Tree Tour:

Paper bag

A & E

Utopia (amazing live, ooh-de-lolly!)

Cologne Cerrone Houdini

You Never Know

Satin Chic

Eat Yourself

Clowns

Little Bird

Number 1

Happiness

Ooh La La

Caravan Girl

Train (awesome song, and its great live)

Strict Machine

Monster Love

Some People

That's right; it's a stream of thought entry today. I'm only putting you through this sheer misery evoking blog, well, because I happen to find my own thoughts somewhat amusing. Thank God for that, eh? I'm stuck with me 24/7, and I'm quite happy to oblige me. So to continue on, I had quite a few dreams last night, and silly goose that I am I didn't write them all down right away (my journal was on the kitchen table...so far away from my cosy nest). I doubt you would be able to understand let alone really follow the dream of someone you have never met before. I interpret dreams for my friends (and myself, although sometimes outside assistance like Lisette's is required), and the great part of knowing someone is also knowing how they feel about certain things. I mean, water represents emotions, but if I have a nightmare about being eaten by sharks it might just be my childhood phobia, not me being devoured by anger, you know? That's why I don't generally go full bore when relating dreams online; you have no relation to them, and in that way they would be rather boring.

Anyways, dreaming as it prefaces the topic. My last dream of the morning was me on my computer writing a music blog; I started with a review of "Annie Oakley Get Your Gun" or is that simply "Annie Get Your Gun?" Whichever. I was thinking about music that I would like to share with you, my readers, and actually trying to remember in my dream slowly woke me up. I woke up thinking I would write a blog on music, but then Annie Oakley reminded me of Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin because mudflats.wordpress.com wrote a blog about the two; I didn't read the entire blog just the excerpt, but it was a sort of compare and contrast thing (if only for a sentence).

Thinking of Sarah Palin made me think of the "Law of Attraction," as I am currently reading "Ask and It Is Given" by Esther and Jerry Hicks. It's a pretty good book, and in it they state that the universe has an inclusional not exclusional policy. Example: People freaking out about how horrible it would be to have Sarah Palin for a VP are actually creating a universal flow of energy to create that situation. If they were to think instead of how awesome they think the Obama/Biden ticket was, then that would occur. So by the "Law of Attraction," thinking of bad situations creates bad situations, and thinking of good creates good ones.

This line of thought was derailed suddenly, however, when my stomach growled. I thought then about my breakfast, which I knew was going to be a delicious bowl of Bircher muesli. I will admit I have a love hate relationship with oatmeal. I'll only eat oatmeal if I cook it, and I always use steel cut oat groats, because of the higher nutritional levels and less gooey texture. See, thinking of oatmeal reminds me of being forced to eat the "World's Worst Oatmeal" as championed/made by my lovely Grandma Vicki (Bless her departed soul, she could bake so well, and everything else was "Burnt, boiled, or buggered" as my father likes to say; you don't learn phrases like that in a home where delicious food is de rigueur.)

So, Bircher muesli is uncooked oats that are soaked in water overnight then drained and combined with a grated apple, lemon juice, cinnamon, a touch of honey, soy milk, and in my case, almonds. It solved the whole cooked oat issue for me, and it made me think that a typical North American child would never get a great tasting bowl of it. No, they get "Fruit Loops" instead of fruit, and if health is an issue they're forced to eat "Shredded Wheat" or something equally unpalatable to their young tastes (do you remember the ads for "Life" brand cereal with the tagline "Unless your kids are weird they'll eat it!" I used to hate that stuff, go figure). Moms! Try making real muesli, and then let me know if the kiddles like it. Not that sawdust muesli that you get in the grocery aisle, but some Bircher muesli. I'd like to know; I'm pretty sure that I would have eaten it as a child, and it's damn tasty now as an adult.

Are you still with me? Not screaming and trying to gouge your eyes out of their sockets yet? Excellent!

So after flipping from topic to topic like this (all within the first half hour of waking), I began to think of thinking, and how not many people can follow my tangential logic. For example, at the family reunion I recently attended, I had to describe step by step of how I got from one subject to the next twice to my older brother, and that was a rather short conversation.  He's known me since I was born, and even he can't figure me out? I didn't think they were rocket science leaps in the conversation either. He probably wasn't trying very hard. Regardless of what he thinks, I will continue to be unapologetic about my brain thinking imaginatively the way it does though, because you just can't buy it these days; maybe in the "Mad Scientist" future, but not for now, bwah-ha.

Any survivors out there? I promise that tomorrow's blog will be far more entertaining...actually it will probably be Wednesday's blog that's entertaining because I get to go see Goldfrapp live this Tuesday at the Commodore on Granville St. and I will require time to allow any possible alcohol consumed to wear off. That's right, don't drink and blog...or drive. Actually, people shouldn't really try to do anything when drunk except perhaps dancing and being drunk. Yes...

Hacía meses que se habían agotado las entradas (el precio de venta oficial rondaba los 50 euros, un incremento notable respecto a los concierto de la anterior gira, la de X&Y) pero una semana antes abrieron un par de gradas. Sin embargo, había reventa. Y algunos pagaban 100 euros por ver a Coldplay en Madrid.

El telonero, Albert Hammond Jr (The Strokes) estuvo correcto. Pero no sé quién les pilla los teloneros a Coldplay. La vez anterio vinieron con Goldfrapp (que poco tienen que ver con Chris y los suyos). Y Hammond, un poco de lo mismo, aunque es el más meloso y poppie de The Strokes (sólo hay que ver cómo agarraba la guitarra...).

Coldplay abrió con potencia, como suele hacer, con la primera canción del disco nuevo, Life in Technicolor. Combinó canciones del nuevo disco con otras. Pero se echaron de menos temas antiguos, más intimas. Porque la intimidad se limitó a los solos de piano de Chris y a algún momento sin alardes instrumentales al pie del escenario o en la grada.

Chris salta, baila, se ríe, hace chistes, se tambalea con aire desgarbado, se mueve como un contorsionista sobre su piano, balbucea español... menos mal que en el resto de la banda hay pocos egos, porque si no iban a durar así lo que canta un gallo.

En el nuevo disco, que es bastante flojillo, han querido hacer más rotundo el sonido Coldplay (echando mano de coritos a los Arcade Fire que parecen haber triunfado en el público, que coraba en Viva la Vida! hasta la extenuación). Y quizá dejar atrás la introspección para buscar algo de alegría o nervio. En el LP les ha salido regular, la verdad. Pero las canciones mejoran enteros en directo. A excepción, quizás, de Lost!, que sonaba de pena.

Me gustó el replanteamiento techno de God put a smile y de Talk, porque estamos hartos de escuchar esas canciones en su forma original y cualquier replanteamiento sutil se agradece. Además, la primera es una de mis favoritas de la banda.

Muchos guiñitos a Madrid, ñoñerío con mariposas de papel que caen y que Chris recoge para lanzar sobre su cabeza, pero muy buen concierto. Puede que Viva la Vida! no haya sido un acierto, pero han crecido como grupo y tienen tanta confianza en lo que te venden que te lo crees.

Cuando subieron a la grada, los tuve a escasos 10 metros de mí. Ahí va una foto.

Cerca, eh? Guy Berryman mandolina en mano, ojo. The Scientist.

Al final, son tan resultones que sólo puede adorarlos (aunque me odie a sí misma por ello). Ooooooh, ooooooh!

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway (from the album "Breakaway")

[audio http://j0uktw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1psZ8BNIbwROkq_FiW4MI_ITGr675j4KCJD5l6arfOwLyrzeuUz59vToMxM3SiUv8P9IpEb2fzMFSYw06WCIO0cA/04%20Breakaway.m4a]

_______________________

Taio Cruz - Fly Away (from the album "Departure")

[audio http://j0uktw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pEwyj_AIweDp3k92qJr5NlM9rGBdQplLJSUO9RynYcR_UQuPCqID1n0F38VAQpYxeHm4OOQQye1FX1XooT2of1w/06_Taio%20Cruz%20-%20Fly%20away.mp3]

________________________

Nicole Kidman - One Day I'll Fly Away [Tony Phillips Remix] (from the album "Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, Vol. 2")

[audio http://j0uktw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pDTstiIP0nuLFE1qXxyRpqbI-u19lN3YuZYXjzV0iUHlX84A7I5deUkIeW2NCpNZQv0ecyoaD4YAxrk68hdXmNQ/2-03%20One%20Day%20I'll%20Fly%20Away%20(Tony%20Phi.m4a]

_________________________

Madonna - Miles Away (from the album "Hard Candy")

[audio http://j0uktw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pqsgMZAmUJkXugwEeyQdC9xhd-mX3v9ehM2HGjAoXoem69YqhLq-xuHMd1k-LtuvEStaSn5agn079VschVyYcTw/05-madonna-miles_away.mp3]

_________________________

Goldfrapp - Fly Me Away (from the album "Supernature")

[audio http://j0uktw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pEwyj_AIweDp7D1zPeumUOlHWEpRYp5YO5bvru29lCvrsBgl70vyuk8UsH9OCNGmp_y05TyZ6bo9Id5rjVKSERw/06%20Fly%20Me%20Away.mp3]

___________________________

Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away (from the album "5")

[audio http://j0uktw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pDTstiIP0nuL-jwdurW2fm8DVbn-xd7d5tKob9EL7dtoJLKyN8DiomjsFudpYbcjxINB38x4XrIC0cbhUQsYOrw/02%20Fly%20Away.m4a]

___________________

I'm leaving for Granada at 7:30am on Tuesday. It still hasn't fully registered. Once I start packing though... which I really should get around to starting.