The Nymphs "The Nymphs" 1991***

Some talk about one hit wonders, well here's a no hit wonder: The Nymphs built a solid reputation on the basis of their wild live shows during the late 80's and seemed to be destined for greatness. A major label, Geffen, signed them ahead of Nirvana in a bid to bring alternative rock to the masses -or, in other words, to reach a hitherto unexploited audience. Both bands' albums were released simultaneously, but The Nymphs' flopped. One may argue the reason was that it was a relative disappointment, at least compared to their incendiary live performances. Certainly the band's attitude did not help. Female singer Inger Lorre shared Cobain's sense of angst but not his ambition, and her erratic behavior didn't win her many friends. On the other hand, while the company did offer them a big fat contract (in the neighborhood of $1 million) they were otherwise quite unsupportive. In the end, Lorre took her revenge on them by (symbolically but also very literally) pissing all over the record executive's desk, at which point her career was forfeit. I'll bet it felt good, though! The Nymphs' music was a heavy mix of grunge, goth and glam, while the guitars were as loud and distorted (though not as fast) as any in metal. Lorre's voice isn't much of instrument: it's raspy and tortured and she shouts more than she sings - actually not too different from her best frienemy Courtney Love. Opener "Just One Happy Day" sounds like a glam-rock take on Sonic Youth while "2 Cats" has something of X's punkabilly sound. Of the two singles, "Imitating Angels" is a great slice of gothic grunge and "Sad and Damned" is a rousing Patti Smith/Guns n Roses pastiche. "Supersonic" is a nice heavy garage rocker featuring Iggy Pop on backing vocals and "Revolt" is fast paced garage punk. "The River" is sludge blues (complete with harmonica) while "Cold" and "Wasting My Days" are, like most of the rest, a mix of grunge and Sabbath-y sludge. After the band's breakup, Alex Kirst drummed for Iggy Pop and other artists but sadly died in a traffic accident, thus putting an end to the efforts of reforming the original band. Guitarist Geoff Siegel went on to become a record company executive (after experiencing the stinky desk episode? He must have been really desperate) and 2nd guitarist Sam Merrick plays in an alt.rock band in Idaho. I didn't find any info on bassist Cliff D's whereabouts, but Lorre spent some time working with Jeff Buckley and is still out and about. After all the wild antics and debauchery (eating live maggots on videos, stripping and performing oral sex onstage) she's cleaned her act and is supposedly drug-free and sober now. She mostly flies under the radar, but there have been records and gigs, sometimes under The Nymphs moniker. I hear good things about those, so if she happens your way, give her a chance...

**** for Just One Happy Day, Imitating Angels, Supersonic, Sad and Damned, Revolt

*** for 2 Cats, Wasting My Days, Heaven, The River, The Highway

** for Cold, Death of a Scenester

The Cavemen "Il Buio E' Tra Di Noi" 2006***

During a recent visit to Rome, I kept searching for some examples of the Italian Garage Beat sound, and one record shop clerk pointed me towards this band. Later, all I could find about them is that they come from Ravenna, a city that features prominently in medieval history and which I had never heard of in modern context. Well, from now on the word Ravenna will not only conjure in my head images of Byzantine mosaics but also the garage rock sounds of The Cavemen. The band seems to be influenced by the original 60's US garage and Italian Beat sound, as well as 80's neo-garage of the Chesterfield Kings, Miracle Workers, Sick Rose etc. Interestingly, both covers here hail from that 2nd garage age: The punky "Vigliacco" is a Gruesomes song with Italian lyrics, while the fantastic Yardbirds-sounding opener "Il Buio E' Tra di Noi" is  attributed to a certain Alberto Donati. It took some detective work to find out the original, but it seems that mr. Donati was a member of Moonraker, who recently played a reunion concert in a Ravenna club (17 years after the initial band disbanded). Some live clips of the band are posted on youtube, although I couldn't find any discography. Possibly they belong to the local legend category and never released any records. Back to The Cavemen and their debut "Il Buio E' Tra Di Noi": Although my copy is a CD, I think of it as mini-LP (only 8 short songs) having a Side A and a Side B. "Side A" is sung in Italian and consists of the two covers and two rough 60's sounding band originals. "Side B" opens with slow surf instrumental "Bugia" and continues with 3 wild English-language ravers: The Bo Diddley/Pretty Things-like "All Is Wrong", punky "Pigs In The Sky" and closer "Just To See You" whose chorus is reminiscent of the old R&B evergreen "Fortune Teller". The Cavemen have released a follow up called "Fiore Nero", also on the Italian Teen Sound Records and are as far as I can tell still active, though information on them is rather scarce. The way I see it, the band's strength and weakness is their faithful revival of the 60's/80's garage sound. As a fan of that style, I enjoyed listening to them but couldn't help thinking I've heard it all before. 

**** for Il Buio E' Tra di Noi

*** for Veleno, E' Sempre Uguale Tra di Noi, Vigliacco, Bugia, All Is Wrong, Pigs In The Sky, Just To See You

Gil Scott-Heron "Ghetto Style" 1970-1972(rec) 1998(comp)****

March 21 is End Racism Day (officially named International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination), did you think I'd let it pass without a lecture? Ha! An old leftie like me? No way! Commenting on society's evils has become second nature by now - you can bypass the red text and go straight to the record presentation if you like, but I'm gonna say my piece. This day was passed by the U.N. in commemoration of the murder of peaceful anti-apartheid protesters by South African police in 1960. These were the dark days of old. Nowadays not only does South Africa have a black president but the U.S. do too! Which means of course that discrimination on the basis of skin colour is forever a thing of the past. Unarmed black youths getting shot by the police in their own streets has nothing to do with their race. Salaries for black men in the U.S. are 25% lower than for whites, a fact that hasn't changed much in 40 years. Black women are worse off and Hispanics (whatever that means) earn even less - but I guess that's pure coincidence and has nothing to do with race. Coincidentally, in the UK, blacks and Pakistanis also earn 30% less than whites - as for the rest of Europe, take a stroll around Paris early in the morning: What colour are the street sweepers and garbage collectors? I'll give you a hint: It's a few shades darker than the average shopper in downtown boutiques. Not to mention The Netherlands, where I live. The Dutch manage to be incredibly racist and the picture of political correctness at the same time. Admittedly, they're nice to gays and their racism is mostly targeted at muslims and foreign workers at general rather than coloured people. They always have a very reasonable explanation why they don't like you i.e. you cost money to the state (even if it's not true, everyone will believe it), you didn't make the effort to speak their language sufficiently well, or your customs are supposedly incompatible with the Dutch samenleving. If you're a high earner who speaks perfect Dutch and generally adheres to the social norms, you still won't be an equal; you'll be an allochtoon, someone who may assimilate perfectly in Dutch society and hold a Dutch passport, even live in Holland since birth and yet is still an outsider, just like his children and grandchildren will always be. I guess now that the battle against discrimination for reasons of race and sexual orientation is won (we have, after all, a black president in the U.S. and -in Europe- gay prime ministers and cabinet members), racism mostly refers to immigrants and their status in host societies - and that promises to keep us very busy during this century. In any case, on a day like this, it makes sense to present an anti-racism activist and Black power advocate, Gil Scott-Heron.

Gil grew up in the Bronx ghetto but his writing ability soon won him a scholarship to a prestigious upper-class high school which led to a college education, publishing a couple of novels and earning a masters degree in creative writing. Even as a student he began putting his poetry to music, initially pioneering a spoken word style that would presage hip hop and later adding more jazz and soul influences. Ghetto Style offers an overview of his early years, including the greatest part of albums two (Pieces of A Man) and three (Free Will). From the spoken word debut Small Talk At 125th & Lenox we only get the same-named piece and an early version of his calling card and most famous song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" a tirade against television, pop culture, mass consumerism and the apathy of a lethargic black working class audience. Strong words, delivered with persuasion: "You will not be able to stay home, brother/You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out/You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip out for beer during commercials/Because the revolution will not be televised/The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox in 4 parts without commercial interruptions....The revolution will be no re-run brothers/The revolution will be live". On the early version he's only accompanied by a conga drum, while the version that opens the CD (from 1971's Pieces of a Man) is a fuller one, more musical with its flute and bass backing, without losing any of its punch. The rest of the songs from that album are also beautifully produced but mellower, with a soulful jazz backing so laid back it almost belies the urgency of its radical message. Scott-Heron proves that, besides a poet, he's also a great singer on tracks like the introspective "I Think I'll Call It Morning" and the celebration of jazz music "Lady Day & John Coltrane". "Home Is Where Hatred Is" is a jazz-funk masterpiece as well as a heartbreaking picture of a junkie: "A junkie walking through the twilight/I'm on my way home...Home is where I live inside my white powder dreams/ home was once an empty vacuum that's filled now with my silent screams/ home is where the needle marks try to heal my broken heart/ and it might not be such a bad idea if I never, if I never went home again". One of many anti-drugs songs by Scott-Heron, who unfortunately did not heed his own warnings: a great mind who spent his last decades lost in a drug haze, his crack addiction eventually leading him to prison and AIDS-related death. All of the songs from the 2nd album are fantastic, always with a jazz instrumental backing, sometimes funkier ("Or Down You Fall", "The Needle's Eye", "When You Are Who You Are") others slower and bluesier ("Sign of the Ages", "Pieces Of A Man", "Save The Children" and "Did You Hear What They Said?"). On 1972's Free Will, he alternates that style with the spoken word and percussion of his debut. Highlights include the funky "Free Will", mellow ballad "The Middle of Your Day", classic blues "The Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues" and rap "No Knock". The compilation rather unevenly stacks the spoken word pieces towards the end ("No Knock", "Sex Education Ghetto Style", "Small Talk", "King Alfred Plan", "Billy Green"), but otherwise makes for a great Scott-Heron primer. The man's decline was a shame (though he did make a well-received album shortly before he died, so his creativity wasn't completely dried up after all), but his music burns bright and words still ring true. This CD is a prime example of his art.

***** for The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, I Think I'll Call It Morning, Did You Hear What They Said?, Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues, Lady Day & John Coltrane, Home Is Where Hatred Is

**** for Or Down You Fall, The Needle's Eye, When You Are Who You Are, Free Will, Middle Of Our Day, Pieces Of A Man, No Knock, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised(Early Version), Small Talk At 125th & Lenox

*** for Save The Children, Speed Kills, A Sign Of The Ages, Sex Education: Ghetto Style, King Alfred Plan, Billy Green Is Dead

Athens Record Shops Part 1: Monastiraki to Syntagma

Entrance to Ifestou from Monastiraki Sq.

I'm back in Athens for a few days and doing the rounds of the city's record shops for the sake of this blog, trying hard not to buy anything. After the latest in a series of moves, I've found out I've ran out of space. The last available space on the wall is taken up by my 4 new IKEA CD towers and the space over the bookcase by boxes of CD's. I estimate I can squeeze in another hundred or so CD's, which normally takes me about 6 months. And as I don't feel like moving again so soon, I showed exemplary restraint this time. Now, I know that I recently said that Delft feels more like home now than Athens does, but I've walked up and down every street here in the Athens center so many times it's hard to deny I have an unbreakable bond to this city. Especially Monastiraki, where I've spent so many hours looking for records - every week for more than 20 years. I started collecting vinyl during the late 80's, when most of the action took place on Sunday morning on an alley. Sellers would unload boxes of records from their cars and line them up on the street. No matter how early they'd come, the most fervid collectors were already there, eager to snatch the rarest and best pieces. Now, for a normal first-year student, Sunday morning simply does not exist - You get to see the sun go up, but that just happens at the end of Saturday night. Sunday itself begins at the afternoon. But I would ignore that law, get up after 3 or 4 hours of sleep and go down to Monastiraki with a plastic cup of strong café frappé in one hand and try to flip through stacks of vinyl one-handed. Monastiraki square is at the heart of the old Athens neighborhood. Visitors can't miss it as it's an integral part of the tourist trail. It's at the beginning of the walk from the Monastiraki metro station (served by the blue and green line) to the Acropolis through the ancient agora and the pittoresque old Plaka neighborhood. Or you can choose to take the pedestrian road running parallel to the railroad tracks and walk to Thission, also a good choice. Third option, just stay on the square and try some souvlaki from one of the 3 most historic pitta and souvlaki establishments in Athens, all situated here: Bairaktaris may be the favorite of politicians who want to get close to the common folk, but it's also a simple tavern with typical Greek food. Thanassis is famous for a different reason: His award-winning kebab is served in a pitta with a just bit of tomato and onions, no tzatziki or fries so that you can taste the meat better. Be advised that takeaway is much, much cheaper than sitting at a table. It's also worth mentioning here that, while Turkish kebab may mean a number of different meats (including donner) in Greece it refers to a very specific long burger from minced lamb & beef meat which is pricked with a skewer and grilled on fire. Third option is Savvas, another kebab specialist who also offers gyros as well as pork and chicken souvlaki (skewered pieces of meat). Savvas has 2 shops on the square, the new one at Ermou street also sporting a terrace with a great view of the Acropolis. I don't know if you can tell, but it's well after midnight and I'm really hungry and thinking of food when I should be discussing records instead. Just rewind now for a moment: You were exiting the train station.

7+7, Ifestou Str.

Ignore the souvlaki, and spend a moment mentally seeing the city's history unfolding in front of your eyes: on your right hand, there's Hadrian's library (2nd Century A.D.) and the Ottoman period mosque (18th Century). Straight ahead, the small 10th Century church that gave the square its name ("little monastery") and, above it all, the ancient city Acropolis (5th Century B.C.). On your left, a banner reads "Athens Flea Market". This is the entrance to Ifestou street, where you can buy anything from clothes to antiques, musical instruments, army uniforms and -most importantly- records and CD's. The oldest of the surviving stores on the street is 7+7, known to older generations as "Vassilakas". I'd like to think its name is an Arthur Lee and Love reference, but I really don't know for sure. In any case, it's a historic record shop, sadly in decline for a decade but still worth a visit. Used LPs typically cost €7-15 and new ones €20 or more. CD's mostly between €5(used) and 10. There are also some LP's/CD's for €1, mostly junk. As with everywhere in Greece, collectors should carefully check the condition of vinyl records as some of them may be close to unplayable. Taking up most of the gallery on your right hand and the basement underneath, there's Zaharias. After playing with some local rock bands, the owner went into the vinyl trade, starting with a few boxes in the alley on Sundays, and now running one of the biggest second hand records and CD shop in the country. It's where the largest part of my record collection ended up during the great vinyl purge. Most LP's cost €7-20, although some are on discount (either €2,5 or 50% of the starting price). All kinds of music but especially good in 80's/90's alternative albums. CD's typically go for €3,5-10. There are also many LP's and CD's for €1, for those who don't mind sorting through the junk in the hope of finding something interesting. In any case, it's impossible not to find something you'll like for a good price.In the next alley on your right you'll find Mr.Vinylios, who -you may have guessed- focuses mostly on vinyl. He does have some cheap CD's (€1-8) in the shop on your left hand, but the alley and right hand shop are filled with vinyl. You'll find lots of classic rock, metal, psychedelia and Greek music in affordable prices (most cost €7-15) and many rare items (naturally above €20). 

The next alley is home to another historic record shop, now called Rockarolla but known for almost 25 years with the name of its founder, a memorable Monastiraki figure often sporting a cowboy hat, called Vangelis "o Tzambas" (The Cheap), who also started as a Sunday street seller. The current owner is, I believe, his nephew and he's also been in the business forever. His, already reasonably priced, items are currently on -20% discount (temporarily for a couple of years now). Starting prices for LP's are usually €9-22 and CD's €7-12. Here you'll find a lot of Classic Rock, Metal, Blues, Punk and Alternative, as well as CD (probably bootleg) reissues of ultra rare psych and prog. At Normanou Street, one of Ifaistou's small side streets, there's Crossroads, a small but packed record store selling new (€6-15) and used (€3-8) CD's and LP's (€1-25). Big variety in CD's, smaller in vinyl. Prices, even on new items, are usually below what you'd get in most bigger stores. At the end of Ifaistou there's a basement with cheap DVD's and Greek CD's ("Music Factory") and, of course, you can find records at the used book stores and antique shops strewn all over the neighborhood as well as the street sellers at the Sunday market (though not on the familiar alley where it all began). Don't expect much there, though. Buried in Agia Eleousis, one of the narrow streets in the labyrinthine Psyrri neighborhood, is to diskadiko (literally "The Record Shop"). You'll find it behind the Athinas str. exit of the Monastiraki station. Here you'll find mostly vinyl and a few CD's. Most CD's and many used LP's are on offer for €5, while most LP's cost €7-15. Rare items and new reissues cost above €20. 

Public at Syntagma Square

Lastly, although not on Monastiraki and not a record shop per se, one has to mention the multi-storied Public building on Syntagma Square (One of the two central squares of Athens, housing the Parliament/former Palace). It's a few minutes' walk from Monastiraki via the Ermou central shopping street, or just one station further on the metro blue line and forms part of a big chain built on the model of the French FNAC, offering tech stuff, books, CD's and DVD's. Prices are more or less average i.e. CD's mostly between €9-17, LP's €20+. The story of the Public chain is a typical modern Greek one: It was founded by Panos Germanos, a highly successful businessman who started with a battery shop to become a giant of the mobile telephone market. He opened Public after selling his mobile retail company for a staggering €1,6 billion to the state-owned telephony OTE/Cosmote which, as dictated by neo-liberal dogma, was immediately privatized (actually sold to another partly state-owned company, Germany's Deutsche Telecom) at a huge loss for the Greek State. The Cosmote/Germanos deal is one of many examples of the kind of mismanagement that brought Greece to the brink of bankruptcy. It was investigated for possible criminal implications but the question remains open on whether it was the result of bribery or extreme stupidity. Just another case of German companies making billions of their dealings with the Greek government, either by buying state assets in cut-rate prices or by selling overpriced and ultimately useless equipment, tanks or submarines. Mr. Germanos by the way is once again under investigation, this time for brokering a suspicious deal between the Ministry of Defence and Russian weapons companies. All of which, I realize, have nothing to do with our subject but is instructive nevertheless.
I'll return to Athens record shops in a future post discussing the relevant stores in the Exarchia and Omonoia area. Just take note that this info is current as of March 2016. Stores tend to open and close, prices are going up and down etc. Many of the record shops suggested online by other bloggers, magazines etc. are not mentioned here simply because they don't exist anymore - though I do not discount the possibility I've missed some myself...

Imantas Records, Psyrri

UPDATE 2019/2020: 
A shop that must have already been around in '16, but I missed during my then tour, is Imantas Records (Sarri 46, between Monastiraki & Psyrri area). One can find new and used records,CD's and DVD's. All kinds but, crucially, their own releases as Imantas also works as an independent record label. Also between Psirri and Monastiraki (Protogenous 13, very close to the Monastiraki station) you can find a new record store called Syd, a good choice for alternative rock and psychedelia (90% vinyl, new €20-30/used €5-15). Another option in the neighborhood is Mousikos Ianos. Ianos is a Greek bookstore chain, but the ground floor of their large shop at Aiolou (pedestrian street near Monastiraki) has recently been repurposed as a record store (60/40 vinyl/CD ratio). Big space, and variety in rock, soul, jazz & Greek music. New LPs €20+ CDs mostly €10-17. There are also 2nd hand LPs €9,99-18,99 and Japanese imports around €30.

Natacha Atlas "The Best Of" 2005(comp)***

Having lived in Brussels for the best part of last year, I got to appreciate that city's lively multicultural beat. Multiculturalism is nowadays definitely passé: following the Paris attacks (largely designed in and launched from a predominantly muslim Brussels neighborhood), it has been blamed for all kinds of social problems from unemployment to criminality, gender violence and terrorism. Obviously people (deliberately?) confuse tolerance with indifference, the only alternative to discrimination Western societies offer to immigrants with different cultural backgrounds. Many demand that immigrants either assimilate or leave. I personally think that all the various ethnic influences are what make big European cities so much more interesting. Music and food are prime examples of that - Can you imagine a strictly English London? How boring would that be? 

Natacha Atlas is a child of that great melting pot: born and bred in Brussels, she can hardly be identified as a Belgian. With parents born in England and Belgium, her roots stretch to Morocco, Egypt, and Palestine. In Brussels she made a living working intermittently as a bellydancer in Turkish and Moroccan clubs, and as a singer in a latin salsa band, while in London she fell in with world/techno crossover band Transglobal Underground. Her music incorporates elements of all those styles, and more besides: Though basically Middle Eastern with beats, she's also quite the jazz diva on Bond theme "You Only Live Twice" and James Brown cover "(It's a Man's Man's) Man's World", sounds like Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard on "Le Printemps" and is at her best when she colours blues standard "I Put a Spell on You" and '64 chanson "Mon Amie La Rose" with exotic Arabic touches. Opener "Leysh Nat' Arak" is an effortless mix of Bellydance, Bollywood and electronica. A new version of a previously released song, it appears here a total of 3 times, the other two versions (TJ Rehmi remix & 2005 dub mix) closer to techno/dance music. "Eye Of The Duck" brings together ragga, hip hop and Bollywood elements, while the rest of the tracks are an equally successful mix of bellydance and electronica, mostly sung in Arabic. Unfortunately, much as I enjoy Atlas' sensual delivery, I'm not partial to either of those styles and i found the repeated listens while writing this piece rather tiring. At least this compilation alternates these with the pop covers, making for a good introduction for the uninitiated as well as a boon for older fans who will probably appreciate the fact that many of the tracks appearing in this greatest hits compilation are remixes or alternate versions of older songs, rendering it simultaneously a retrospective and a new entrance to her discography.

**** for Leysh Nat' Arak, Mon Amie La Rose, I Put a Spell on You, (It's a Man's Man's) Man's World, Amulet

*** for Eye of the Duck, Ezzay, You Only Live Twice, Kidda, Le Printemps, Moustahil (live,hidden track)

** for Fakrenha, Mistaneek, Leysh Nat' Arak (TJ Rehmi remix), Yalla Chant, Fun Does Not Exist, Leysh Nat' Arak (2005 dub mix)

Cyndi Lauper "She's So Unusual" 1983***

Are you surprised to see this here? Well, I'm surprised at myself for having it, especially on CD. I could theoretically have had it on vinyl. I was 13 when it came out, you wouldn't hold it against me, would you? Truth be told, much as I have danced to these tunes at kids' parties at the time I wouldn't have bought such a girlie record back then. No, my first records were Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (a proper teen boy's record) and Music for Latin Jazz Lovers, something I'll bet no other 14-year old would ever have chosen except me and Manny from Modern Family - no pun on his Latin parentage, but can you imagine any other kid listening to Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie on the radio and rushing to the nearest record store to buy the record? I must have sensed it was weird and got Rainbow too, since older boys liked them and the album cover was absolutely awesome. Not that Cyndi's album cover isn't good, too - shot by Annie Leibovitz, no less! Love the colours, Lauper was nothing if not colourful. I've always like her goofy persona better than Madonna's (they surfaced around the same time and played the same style of music) and she had a bigger vocal range - though sometimes she could sound rather childish. Given her girlie image, I was surprised to learn (about an hour ago, actually) that not only she was the older of the two but she was actually 30 when she made her solo debut (she had already made an LP with new wave band Blue Angel). 30! that's seven years out of college and on her videos she prances about like a middle schooler who just got access to her mother's make-up box. As for the music, it's not all disco as I misremembered: Opener "Money Changes Everything" is a power pop anthem which curiously reminds me of Springsteen - she even sings with a throaty Boss-like voice at some point and adds some harmonica. The song itself is a cover from an unknown band called The Brains. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is, of course, the ultimate party anthem and "She Bop" is danceable new wave with fantastic synths (I especially love the spaghetti western section around the 2'30'' mark) and crazy vocal tricks (hiccuping, heavy breathing). Most of the rest is a cross between disco and new wave a la Cars/Talking Heads - the closing "Yeah Yeah" could easily have been a B52's song- but amongst it all lies a timeless classic: "Time After Time", one of the best ballads of the decade. You know you've written a great melody when a jazz legend like Miles Davis picks it up for his next record. Returning to the comparisons with Madonna, one may argue that Lauper had the bigger talent but lacked Madonna's commercial nous and work ethic. She kept recording, albeit with diminishing results, and has all but fallen off the radar. This album, though, never has and probably never will...

***** for Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Time After Time

**** for Money Changes Everything, She Bop

*** for When You Were Mine, Witness, I'll Kiss You, Yeah Yeah

** for  All Through the Night, He's So Unusual

Misia "Paixões Diagonais" 1999*****

Misia is one of the greatest modern performers of fado, a Portuguese musical tradition of at least 200 years. It's sorrowful and passionate music, originally the musical expression of the society's urban outcasts. People have often compared it to American blues, Spanish flamenco and Greek rembetiko. Although each one is very distinctive of the country and society that gave birth to them, there are similarities in the way they express emotion, especially sadness and longing. In 1990 there had only been one recognisable fado star: Amália Rodrigues, who was already a septuagenarian. Her retirement from recording and performing seemed to foreshadow the genre's decline, but instead it signified its rebirth: Misia (and, later, others like Mariza and Cristina Branco) managed to renew and modernize it, making it even more popular internationally than in Rodriguez's heydey. The traditional setup of classical guitar and lute-like 12-string portuguese guitar is augmented here with piano, violin and accordion, adding an extra layer of sensuality and accentuating the subtle tango influences in Misia's music. Two of the album's stand-out tracks, "Paixões diagonais" and "Triste sina" have found unexpected audience in the U.S. through their use in the romantic Hollywood comedy Passionada, starring CSI:Miami star Sofia Milos. "Paixões diagonais" appears here in two versions, the sensual,tango-inflected opener and melancholic piano-led closer. The lush orchestration of the following tracks "Ainda que" and "Triste sina" manages to highlight rather than drown Misia's emotional and dramatic singing. "O corvo" is a rather rhythmic track that reminds me of Cabo Verdean music, while "Fado triste" is, as you may have guessed, a sad song introduced by mourning violin. At no point of the record does the quality level drop, but some further highlights include the sad portuguese guitar in "Minha alma de amor sedenta" and her excursions away from traditional fado territory (cabaret and chamber music on "Liberdades poéticas", Broadway balladry on "Nascimento de Vénus"). No doubt about it, "Paixões diagonais" is an exceptional record in its marriage of the traditional and modern, local and universal - probably my favorite of the fado albums we have at home (my girlfriend really loves this music). I'll present some of them in the future and hope to also make some interesting new discoveries during my planned trip to Lisbon in May. I know from experience that, beside the dozen or so artists that break through to the world music circuit and achieve international careers, there's always a vibrant scene with important artists that never achieve fame beyond their country's borders and I'm eager to tap into that source. Until then, I still have a lot of great Portuguese CD's to present in this blog: Madredeus, Cristina Branco, Mariza, Dulce Pontes, Amália and, of course, more Misia. Who knows if we'll ever get to them all? So much music, so little time...

***** for Paixões diagonais (1st version), Ainda que, Triste sina, Liberdades poéticas

**** for O corvo, Fado triste, Se soubesse o que sentias, Minha alma de amor sedenta sequiosa, Nascimento de Vénus  

*** for A palavra dos lugares, Par rêve, Paixões diagonais (2nd version)

Sleater-Kinney "Dig Me Out" 1997****

Seeing that, by happy coincidence, I've presented 3 female artists in a row, I decided to make a thing out of it and continue until the 8th of March, which is International Women's Day. The actual meaning of this day is foggy to most of us. Well-meaning men understand it as a plea to be nice to your female co-worker and bring her coffee, for a change. Women often seem to think that "it's our day today, so let's drink and behave like men!". At the very best, people believe it's about showing women our appreciation for everything they do for us by giving them flowers or gifts - Valentine's Day and Mother's Day rolled into one. Well, don't let that shock you but International Women's Day is actually part of a Communist Conspiracy to undermine our freedom by making us unwillingly celebrate an idea proposed by an American socialist, ratified by the Second Internationale who set the date on the 8th of March, and sponsored by the Bolsheviks. In time it lost its socialist connections and came to be identified with the feminist cause in general, and even that tends to be underplayed nowadays. Maybe because many of them apparently regard feminism as irrelevant in the modern world. I get the fact that they don't see themselves as victims of discrimination but, even discounting the fact that women have absolutely no rights in a large part of this world, one look at political and business summits raises the question of why there are so few women up there. The music world is a prime example of that. And yes, I know there are super-dynamic and successful women out there, but one Madonna does not make the difference - after all Queen Victoria used to rule half the world, what good did it do to the women in the British Empire? Even in progressive underground subcultures, gender equality was always shrugged off as irrelevant. Girls in the hippie communes were still expected to clean, cook, and fuck the men as a matter of obligation. Punk did produce a number of strong and independent female figures (Patti Smith, Siouxsie, Poly Styrene etc) but its tolerance of violent and brutish behaviour (especially in its American hardcore variety) has often shut women out.

...which bring us to the Riot Grrl story. A politico-musical movement combining punk music with feminist consciousness, it started -like grunge, with which it's closely related- from the American Northwest and consisted of a bunch of loud-but-literate girl bands eager to create a place for themselves in a macho rock scene and touch on issues not commonly addressed in rock music, like violence against women and gender equality. Sleater-Kinney may not have been the most radical or outspoken of these bands, but they were by far the most popular and artistically successful. All of their albums are critically acclaimed, but Dig Me Out is the one that regularly makes the Greatest Albums of All Time lists. At that point (1997) the band consisted of singer/guitarists Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss. As expected by the trio form, the music is lean and stripped-down. The vocals are loud and guitars are angular and aggressive while musical influences seem to include Nirvana, The Ramones and Sonic Youth. The latter band's Kim Gordon served as a role model for many women in the indie rock scene, being an outspoken and dynamic woman in a rock band as well as the protagonist of many indie guys' fantasies. Incidentally her recently released memoir Girl in a Band is considered one of last years' must-reads. I haven't read it myself yet though, as I'm slowly working my way through an overlong reading list. Anyway, back to Dig Me Out and the same-named track that opens the record: it's as an in-your-face affair as you're ever going to find in the grunge scene, shouty vocals reminiscent of Courtney Love and Hole but abrasive guitar work rising above that level. "One More Hour", which was released as the lead single, is less aggressive and closer to the Throwing Muses' new wave style. The interplay between the singers is also a particular highlight while it's interesting to note that it's ostensibly based on the dissolution of a brief romantic affair they had (with each other). "Turn It On" is a rousing rocker and "The Drama You've Been Craving" sports angular guitars a la Gang Of Four and lyrics that could well have been sung by those striking female workers on the original 8th of March: "The clock I'm punching in (I'm a monster) Work till I can't give (I'm a machine)". "Heart Factory" alternates quiet and loud passages while "Words and Guitar" would be typical '77 style punk if not for the twin lead vocals. These are also evident on the punk'n'roll of "Little Babies", the album's poppier number and second single."Not What You Want" and the sax-blowing "It's Enough" are loud and fast, while "Buy Her Candy" and "Jenny" slower. None of them is particularly impressive. The new wavey "Things You Say" and "Dance Song '97" thankfully raise the quality level again, the latter introducing 80's-sounding keyboards. Definitely a classic record, with quality songwriting, great performances and crisp production, it has deservedly gained a position in the relative lists. The band broke up in 2006, while Carrie deployed her writing and acting talents as co-writer and star of the successful comedy TV series "Portlandia", a show satirizing hipsters, pretentious art types, political correctness and, yes, dogmatic feminists. For those who enjoyed last week's piece on Joanna Newsom here you can catch her guest starring on a sketch from Portlandia's second season, together with Carrie and co-star Fred Armisen:

Last year, and while the TV show is running its 6th season, they reformed to release a well-received new album and a triumphant comeback tour - hey: feminist female rockers (and former lovers, for extra spice!) hit forty and, in response, re-unite their 90's punk band to re-live their wild youth. Sound like an episode of Portlandia or what? Oh, the comedic potential...

***** for Dig Me Out, Turn It On, Little Babies, Dance Song '97

**** for One More Hour, The Drama You've Been Craving, Words and Guitar, Things You Say

*** for Heart Factory, It's Enough, Not What You Want, Buy Her Candy

** for Jenny