According to the Blogger statistics, most of my readers are from...drum roll...Slovakia! Why, you may ask. Heck, I may ask that myself as well. Unfortunately I have no idea and since I don't know any people from the great country of Slovakia, there's nobody to consult. Anyways, I'm now considering of relocating to Slovakia since I seem to be more popular there than in my home country. It must be a nice place. Funnily enough, when I started this blog most of my readers were from the US which - of course - makes me wonder if they've relocated already! Maybe Slovakia's the world's best kept secret?
Anyways, there was something I was going to write about before I got sidetracked. Oh yes, the new Mark Lanegan song. Apparently Mr Lanegan has written a new song for some video game (or PC game or whatever - I don't know shit about any developments in that area since Pacman) and yes, you guessed it, it's a killer. It's got a haunting and somehow westernish kind of feel to it and really makes me wish I had a cowboy hat and a horse to ride to the sunset. And a desert and perhaps some Morricone in the background as well. Anyways, here's the song.
See what I mean with the westernish feel? If you liked the song you can download it for free here. I'm SO looking forward to the new album Lanegan's recording at the moment with Alain Johannes (if you don't know who he is, have a peek here).
And here's some Morricone too. I'll use any opportunity I get to post some Morricone.
Showing posts with label Alain Johannes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alain Johannes. Show all posts
3/18/11
12/9/10
Alain Johannes - a man and a cigarbox guitar
Multi-talent is a term often thrown around ungroundedly. But it's the only word that can be used to describe Alain Johannes. In addition to being able to play the guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, keyboard, flute, clarinet, saxophone, fiddle and several other instruments, Alain Johannes is also a gifted singer, songwriter, recording engineer and producer. You may not know him by his name but if you've listened to Queens Of The Stone Age, Chris Cornell, Them Crooked Vultures, Spinnerette, Desert Sessions or Mark Lanegan records, you probably know some of his work.
I was lucky enough to see Alain Johannes play as an opener for Gogol Bordello and DeVotchKa a couple of days ago - a somewhat odd slot for him, if you ask me, but of course nobody does and of course I was happy to see him even only for 30 minutes or so.
On stage Alain seemed exactly as one might expect - perhaps slightly unaccustomed to being alone in the limelight but obviously a very skillful and talented musician, equipped only with his cigarbox guitar (as in the photo). The set consisted mostly of songs from his first solo album "Spark", released this autumn.
So why did such a talented musician wait till his forties before going solo? I'm guessing Alain just never had any reason to work alone before. He found his perfect match both in life and in music in Natasha Shneider, his life partner for over 20 years, who unfortunately passed away due to cancer in 2008. The story about the two meeting, living and working together, completing each other every step of the way is pretty exceptional. In addition to having a band together (Eleven, with the drummer Jack Irons) they often worked together on many of the aforementioned collaborations.
In a way, Natasha helped Alain on "Spark" as well. In his recent interviews Alain's told about how he felt Natasha's presence so strongly while writing and recording the album that it was like she was there, guiding him. This "gentle ghost" of Natasha was the only one who's help he agreed to have on the album, which is written, played, recorded and produced solely by Alain himself.
The most staggering thing about "Spark" is how balanced and hopeful it sounds. Obviously, the album is dedicated to Natasha and it deals with the tremendous loss of a very close person. The end result however is not a dark requiem but a beautiful collage of intertwining moods and musical textures, a perfect mixture of light and shade. A highly recommendable and inspiring effort, and definitely one of the best albums of 2010. And next year Alain's set to collaborate with Mark Lanegan on his upcoming solo album. Somehow I've got a feeling it might turn out pretty fine as well.
Alain in a cigarbox battle:
 |
| Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times |
I was lucky enough to see Alain Johannes play as an opener for Gogol Bordello and DeVotchKa a couple of days ago - a somewhat odd slot for him, if you ask me, but of course nobody does and of course I was happy to see him even only for 30 minutes or so.
On stage Alain seemed exactly as one might expect - perhaps slightly unaccustomed to being alone in the limelight but obviously a very skillful and talented musician, equipped only with his cigarbox guitar (as in the photo). The set consisted mostly of songs from his first solo album "Spark", released this autumn.
So why did such a talented musician wait till his forties before going solo? I'm guessing Alain just never had any reason to work alone before. He found his perfect match both in life and in music in Natasha Shneider, his life partner for over 20 years, who unfortunately passed away due to cancer in 2008. The story about the two meeting, living and working together, completing each other every step of the way is pretty exceptional. In addition to having a band together (Eleven, with the drummer Jack Irons) they often worked together on many of the aforementioned collaborations.
In a way, Natasha helped Alain on "Spark" as well. In his recent interviews Alain's told about how he felt Natasha's presence so strongly while writing and recording the album that it was like she was there, guiding him. This "gentle ghost" of Natasha was the only one who's help he agreed to have on the album, which is written, played, recorded and produced solely by Alain himself.
The most staggering thing about "Spark" is how balanced and hopeful it sounds. Obviously, the album is dedicated to Natasha and it deals with the tremendous loss of a very close person. The end result however is not a dark requiem but a beautiful collage of intertwining moods and musical textures, a perfect mixture of light and shade. A highly recommendable and inspiring effort, and definitely one of the best albums of 2010. And next year Alain's set to collaborate with Mark Lanegan on his upcoming solo album. Somehow I've got a feeling it might turn out pretty fine as well.
Alain in a cigarbox battle:
12/7/10
An evening with the multi-instrumental, multi-national and multi-talented
Whoa, great shows yesterday by Gogol Bordello and DeVotchKa (and Alain Johannes too, but more about him later)! Truly inspiring to see how both bands manage to mix so many influences from around the world and do it in completely different ways. Whereas DeVotchKa's approach is subtle, dreamy and indie-ish, Gogol Bordello's gypsy punk kicks your butt and slaps you in the face. Both work like a charm, especially live.
Usually I try my hardest not to mix music with politics but during the shows last night it was hard to avoid certain trains of thoughts. This year the whole Europe's been discussing, arguing and debating the rights of Romani people to leave their home countries and try their luck somewhere else. A group of them actually set up a camp only a few miles from last night's venue but it was recently taken down by the city - which also gave the people money to go back home. So what's my point? I don't know. I guess some ways of expressing the gypsy way of life are just more acceptable than others.
Usually I try my hardest not to mix music with politics but during the shows last night it was hard to avoid certain trains of thoughts. This year the whole Europe's been discussing, arguing and debating the rights of Romani people to leave their home countries and try their luck somewhere else. A group of them actually set up a camp only a few miles from last night's venue but it was recently taken down by the city - which also gave the people money to go back home. So what's my point? I don't know. I guess some ways of expressing the gypsy way of life are just more acceptable than others.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)