The Almighty Oracle

Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Fröhliche Weihnachten! God Jul! Chestita Koleda!

mel :: Dec.24.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

2008 12 05, 5pm : I decided to buy a ticket for the Sarah Bettens show of that same night. The girl at the counter asked me to spell the name but somehow I got used to this by now (I had to spell out Feist back in May – I still can’t understand how someone selling music happens not to even know Feist, oh well).

By 6pm, I was in Lille, in front of the Aéronef, waiting in a line of 6 people, trying not to catch a cold, soon getting some company as members of the street team I know arrive. Of course we scored front row seats. Side note, it was interesting to see l’Aéronef in a seated configuration.

The ticket said the concert was supposed to start at 8pm, which everyone knows is a lie, so Sarah appeared a little after 08:30pm. The concert mainly consists of covers stripped down to pure acoustic bliss : piano and/or guitar + voice.

The setlist was something like that : Continue Reading »

mel :: Dec.15.2008 :: Concert Review, Never Say Goodbye, Sarah Bettens, Tom Kestens :: No Comments »

“I wanted to make music that could put a smile on people’s faces and give them a feeling of nostalgia even though they may be hearing my songs for the first time.
I love how music evokes memories of a certain time, I wanted to see if I could find a method of songwriting that would evoke those feelings from me on writing the song and then on the individual when listening to it for the first time.” – from the Biog section of Ladyhawke’s official website.

Ladyhawke (aka Phillipa “Pip” Brown)’s debut album is one of the nicest surprises of 2008. Her electro-pop sound is efficient, catchy and has huge repeated plays potential. The influences range from the 60’s and 70’s with a touch of the 80’s and a modernity that makes the music an interesting mix.

Ladyhawke started as a drummer at age 11, it shows. The drums, even when quite simple have their own important place in all the songs. [Or maybe I'm too obsessed with rhythm and drums to be objective here] There’s also a fair share of rhythm guitar with some solos punctuating here and there. Add some vintage keyboards and some sweet bass lines and the music builds up very nicely. Phillipa Brown’s quite shy but always right on voice works perfectly with all the overall catchy feeling. What could top that? Handclaps! [another thing I'm obsessed with, it seems] There’s some good use of those throughout the album and honestly it only makes you want to dance around and clap in time.

“I only ever wanted to create something that evoked feelings.
I hope that Ladyhawke does.
We were all once teenagers, listening to music at full volume, jumping on the bed with the door shut.” - from the Biog section of Ladyhawke’s official website.

My conclusion : Ladyhawke definitely does evoke feelings! And I’m no teenager anymore but I still listen to music rather loud and I have to admit this album woke up the secret dancer in me despite the happy-sad feeling of the songs. Will it work on you? Let’s try :

Dusk Till Dawn : 

Magic : 

Liked it? Get the album! Now.

mel :: Dec.02.2008 :: CD Review, Dusk Till Dawn, Ladyhawke, Magic :: No Comments »

Moriarty play what could be called circus folk. Read : folk with a twist. They have their own imaginary world and paint it around the listener a little more with each song. Their debut album, Gee Whiz But This Is A Lonesome Town, was first released in October 2007 but November 2008 witnessed the release of a second edition that comes with a bonus CD, The Drifting Letter Office Archive, filled with live versions, demos, covers and new songs plus the videos for Jimmy and Private Lily. And the fact that it’s shaped as a lovely little hardback book is a nice touch.

The first thing you notice about Moriarty is the voice. Rosemary has a unique tone, a voice that you could recognize among a million. Then come the cleverly imaginative orchestrations that almost come from another time. From the first measures of Jimmy, it’s like you just teleported into some western movie. The lyrics are right on, telling stories you somehow never get tired of.

Gee Whiz But This Is A Lonesome Town tracklist :

1. Jimmy
2. Lovelinesse
3. Private Lily
4. Motel
5. Animals Can’T Laugh
6. (…)
7. Cottonflower
8. Whiteman’s Ballad
9. Tagono-Ura
10. Fireday
11. Oshkosh Bend
12. Jaywalker (Song For Beryl)

The Drifting Letter Office Archive tracklist :

1. Enjoy The Silence
2. Hanoi (Live)
3. Oshkosh Bend (Alt.Version Demo)
4. Bacon (Live)
5. (…) N°2
6. Private Lily (Alt. Version Demo)
7. The Crimson Singer (Live)
8. Jimmy (Live)
9. Jimmy [video]
10. Private Lily [video]

The new versions on the second CD are actually interesting. First off, they finally released the studio version for their cover of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence [which is fun, live], the alt. version for Private Lily may just be even better than the original on, Bacon has become my favourite song, the live version of Jimmy has kazoo in it and The Crimson Singer is epic.

Cottonflower :

Bacon (Live) : 

They’re touring almost non stop so if they come close enough to you, go! They’re talented, funny and simply mindblowing. Dates are here [including France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and even a date in New York, NY!]. Visit Moriarty on myspace.

“some have chocolate
others have jesus
some have buddhas
and we have buffaloes”

mel :: Dec.01.2008 :: Bacon, CD Review, Cottonflower, Drifting Letter Office Archive, Gee Whiz But This Is A Lonesome Town, Moriarty :: No Comments »