The Almighty Oracle

Pretty Girls Make Graves is one of these bands that will always have a special status for me. The first song I ever heard was Speakers Push The Air on their Good Health album and it was right on what I needed.

The fact that they split up back in 2007 made me sad but I was lucky enough to catch them live on their last Europe festival tour in June 2006 and meet them all. Lovely people.

So here’s the song that got me hooked and means more to me than you can imagine :

Speakers Push The Air (XFM 104.9 Session) [as it appears on the This Is Our Emergency EP] :

Lyrics :  Continue Reading »

mel :: Sep.30.2008 :: Pretty Girls Make Graves, Song of the Day, Speakers Push The Air :: No Comments »

People now actually google “the almighty oracle” and dare clicking on the link that leads them to this blog. It’s weird, scary but also pretty cool.

I just want to turn this into a tribute to my little Dutch sister who once called me the almighty oracle and it stuck through the years. And even though we lost contact a couple years ago, the link is still there.

So this one is for you, Martine. I hope all is well with you in the land of cheese and tulips! :]

mel :: Sep.26.2008 :: Random :: No Comments »

Alright, let’s face the fact that I have no fun goals lately. Or none involving music and that makes me sad. So I’m inviting you to help me fix that.

If you ended up on this blog, you must have a certain interest in music and the good taste that should always go with it. The offer is : a mix CD for whoever wants one! (if suddenly 50 people show up here, it may take me a while to get back to everyone, but I take the risk.)

All you have to do is contact me and give me 2/3 of your fav bands/artists and 2/3 examples of what you don’t like so that everything isn’t a complete waste of energy.

mel :: Sep.25.2008 :: Mix CDs, Random :: 2 Comments »

Follow this link and you’ll find 4 songs specially recorded for the Daytrotter session. Two are from the new album Red Letter Year while the other two are “oldies” : Subdivision (off Revelling/Reckoning – 2001) and Coming Up (off Imperfectly – 1992).

Ani live back in November 2007, Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

Those live recordings remind me how much I love Ani DiFranco’s music. For the wonderfulness of her live work. Of course her studio albums are necessary and each has a different personality that will fit a certain mood. There have been some of these albums I couldn’t listen to entirely because they were too intense somehow but they grew on me as I grew up too and when I met these albums again down the path, I couldn’t believe I had missed out on them for so long.

Present/Infant [Daytrotter Session] : 

Right now I feel disappointed by Red Letter Year. Mostly because Knuckle Down and Reprieve were two simple albums of guitars, upright bass and drums accompanying Ani’s lyrics. But the 2008 release is known as Ani’s most collaborative to date and that doesn’t work too well for me. The sound on the more produced songs appears as muffled, with too many layers – and while I do like layers in songs, here they almost annihilate one another.

I guess it’ll grow on me like the rest. But the only thing I can’t really get is why have Allison Miller (who’s one of my favourite drummers) on drums and make it sounds like she was playing 400 miles away from where the songs were recorded? It takes away the whole point. All I want to do now is buy my ticket to see Ani, Allison, Todd and Mike live in Frankfurt, Germany on October 25th and get reconciliated with how music is at its best : live!

Allison Miller live back in November 2007, Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

If you live on the Lille, France – Mons/Bergen, Belgium – Liège/Luik, Belgium – Aachen, Germany – Köln, Germany – Frankfurt, Germany imaginary line, I’ll be driving by so if you want to join, you’re welcome!

mel :: Sep.24.2008 :: Allison Miller, Ani DiFranco, DayTrotter Session, Mike Dillon, Todd Sickafoose :: 5 Comments »

I’m happy HIMYM is back on!

Episode 1 of season 4 was nice. The Star Wars part made me laugh because I’m part of the few people who haven’t seen any of the movies! -which surprises/shocks people everytime, don’t know why. Almost like this :

Also, I really enjoyed the whole Barney/Robin story line. I don’t know where this will lead, but it’s cute somehow.

Don’t you just want to hug the guy?

Is it next week yet? :]

mel :: Sep.23.2008 :: How I Met Your Mother, TV Series :: 1 Comment »

Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be a Bad Person? is the title of a song off Kaki King’s latest release, Dreaming Of Revenge but judging from the atmosphere and crowd reactions during her Cologne concert last night the answer may just be a flat no.

Dan Brantigan and Kaki King

The show started on Bone Chaos In The Castle and kept on for about an hour and a half with, in no particular order, Playing With Pink Noise, Jazz ["this was called Jazz. Jazz is dead so this was Jazz"], Life Being What It Is, Sad American ["I wrote this thinking about how it sucks to be an American and now that it sucks even more, I’m glad I’m playing it in the land of the strong Euro"], So Much For So Little, Saving Days In A Frozen Head, Carmine St., Doing The Wrong Thing, Lies, First Brain [with Dan making the oddest sounds with his trumpet] and, of course, Gay Sons Of Lesbian Mothers which is probably my favourite song. There was also a creative section for the “side project” having Kaki first play the beat on a square thing [if anyone knows the name for it, do tell!] Stomp Box then while looping said beat she adds guitar and Dan adds sounds from his electronic trumpet. This results in “crap that gay people dance to” as Kaki said.

It was interesting to see the music being built from scratch for all the songs and Kaki’s amazing talent being so simply displayed. And her in-between songs little funny sentences helps keep the connection with an audience that was attentive to every note. It was nice of her to stand up when she “was too short for the people standing all the way back” and then sorry she had to sit down again because she “only had one strap“.
The night was very enjoyable, the crowd was fantastic and Kaki King put on a captivating show with good little help from Dan Brantigan. If they come close to you, go see them! I drove 3 hours+ to have the opportunity to do so and I don’t regret it at all!

Here’s the video for Gay Sons Of Lesbian Mothers :

And my photos of the night:

On a personal note : A big thank you goes to Jules for playing guide in Cologne and not hating me by the end of day because I don’t talk or can’t make a decision. Also, props to Vicky, trilingual extraodinaire. It was very nice meeting you!

mel :: Sep.22.2008 :: Cologne, Concert Review, Germany, Kaki King, Studio 672 :: 4 Comments »

To celebrate the coolest Canadian twins’ birthday, here’s their latest video for Call It Off.

A simple video for a good song.
Favourite second of the video : 1:40.

“Maybe I would’ve been something you’d be good at.
Maybe you would’ve been something I’d be good at.”

mel :: Sep.19.2008 :: Call It Off, Tegan And Sara, Video :: No Comments »

Sometimes, I’ll find a new artist that I’ll instantly adore but keep it all for myself in some selfish move. But today I decided to open the treasure box and write about the wonderful Laura Marling and her debut album Alas I Cannot Swim.

Ghosts opens with a shy acoustic guitar and Laura’s voice, fragile yet with the best intentions to carry the song along as the band gradually walks in. The rest of the album then flows in as a flawless pop-folk gem. Continue Reading »

mel :: Sep.18.2008 :: Alas I Cannot Swim, CD Review, Laura Marling :: No Comments »

Last night’s episode of House was good.

Continue Reading »

mel :: Sep.17.2008 :: House MD, TV :: No Comments »

Today is the day! Uh Huh Her’s Common Reaction -finally- made it to my mailbox [via New Zealand and with a completely crashed jewel box but the CD is in a surprisingly good shape].

Camilla Grey and Leisha Hailey aren’t beginners when it comes to music and it shows, Common Reaction is 38 minutes of addictive pop.

Tracklist :

1. Not A Love Song
2. Explode
3. Wait Another Day
4. Common Reaction
5. Say So
6. Covered
7. Everyone
8. Away From Here
9. So Long
10. Dance With Me
11. Dreamer

The theme of Continue Reading »

mel :: Sep.15.2008 :: CD Review, Common Reaction, Uh Huh Her :: 3 Comments »