Thursday, 10 March 2011
Lucinda Williams - Blessed (2011 - Albumstream)
From its cover in, Lucinda Williams' Blessed stands out. It title is readily visible in color photographs of anonymous citizens holding handmade signs, yet her name appears nowhere but the spine. The songs on Blessed are equally jarring: they offer sophisticated changes in her lyric oeuvre, extending their reach beyond first-person narratives of unrequited love and loss. She adorns these new tomes with roots rock and blues melodies dynamically illustrated by Don Was' sure-handed production (with assistance from Eric Liljestrand and husband Tom Overby. Her voice is front and center, but Was pushes an edgy, tight backing band -- fueled by Greg Leisz's and Val McAllum's guitars and Rami Jaffee's B-3 -- to frame it in greasy, easy grooves. Some guests who appeared on 2008's Little Honey -- notably Matthew Sweet and Elvis Costello -- return here. Set opener "Buttercup" is a rollicking kiss-off to a former boyfriend in which Williams simply lays out the truth as she sees it amid a strident rock & roll cadence. The guitars swell and fade while the B-3 swirls around her voice and the low-end drums hammer her vocal accents home. On the overdriven "Seeing Black," written for the late Vic Chesnutt, Williams, buoyed by an uncharacteristically scorching guitar break from Costello, offers no judgment; she simply questions his spirit as she struggles to accept the loss. Acceptance is a key theme on Blessed; it's voiced in the languid country rock of "I Don't Know How You're Living," with its pledge of unconditional love and support, and in the rumbling, explosive "Awakening." (An extension of "Atonement" from World Without Tears). But there's a militancy that's insisted upon here: it testifies to the willingness and resilience of the human heart. "Soldier's Song," written from a serviceman's point of view in a war zone, juxtaposes home and the new place he finds himself standing. In the late-night blues of "Born to Be Loved" and in the garagey title track, Williams employs repetitive, poetic lyrics that could be chanted as well as sung; in her honeyed Louisiana drawl, however, they become as sensual as a sunset in late summer. The two love songs near the record's end alternately express raw need and abundance. The unabashed humility in pleading on "Convince Me" is signified by a Southern R&B groove. "Kiss Like Your Kiss" closes the set two cuts later -- in waltz time -- by expressing gratitude for the abundant romantic love her protagonist experiences. It's painted by washes of lilting guitars, strings, and vibes. Blessed is Williams' most focused recording since World Without Tears; it stands with it and her 1988 self-titled Rough Trade as one of her finest recordings to date. Its shift in lyric focus is amplified by the care and detail in the album's production and crackling energy. By deliberately shifting to a harder-edged roots rock sonic palette, Blessed moves Williams music down the road from the dead-end Americana ghetto without compromising her qualities as a songwriter or performer.
(Thom Jurek - allmusic; 4/5)
Albumstream
Why is vinyl special to you?
Interviews of people at a record fair in Eugene, Oregon. They discuss why vinyl records are important to them.
via
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Faust to play Melbourne
Melbourne International Jazz Festival
The Forum
Fri 10 June at 8.30pm
Arguably the most significant of all Krautrock groups, legendary German band Faust's influence continues to reverberate across the generations. 2011 is the fortieth anniversary of the band's formation and they continue to perform around the world, resisting easy categorisation and demonstrating the same curiosity and cacophony that so entranced audiences upon their debut.
As a founding member noted in 1973, "The idea was not to copy anything going on in the Anglo-Saxon rock scene – and it worked." They weren't just empty words – the band's '71 debut, Faust, was issued on clear vinyl in a transparent sleeve. It set the tone for their career of uncompromising innovation. They are unselfconsciously avant-garde, wrestling tone and rhythm to create astounding noise.
An enduring influence on countless artists from the British punk and new wave scene onward, don't miss this night of divine sensory overload. Faust make their Australian debut as guests of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Facebook a top cause of relationship trouble, say US lawyers gu.com/p/2njv6/tw ho hum, makes a change from spreading syphilis I suppose
For football fans in Grozny, it's just like watching Brazil. No, really
Kadyrov (centre), taking on Brazilians Ronaldao and Andre Cruz, enjoys a flourishing reputation in Chechnya. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
There were burly toughs in Russia tracksuits, elders in lambskin hats and thousands of young men in black jeans and coats shouting "Chechnya! Chechnya!"Grozny's Dynamo stadium was packed to bursting as Ramzan Kadyrov the 34-year-old strongman who is head of Chechnya, led his team on to the pitch for a bizarre match against an all-star team from Brazil.
Kadyrov's side, apparently a motley collection of overweight and greying Chechen bureaucrats spiced up by the presence of Terek Grozny's coach, Ruud Gullit, and a couple of Russian supersubs, took the field against altogether more formidable opponents: a collection of Brazilian World Cup winners from 1994 and 2002, including Romário, Bebeto, Cafu, Dunga and Denílson.
The match was a stunt organised by the attention-hungry Kadyrov, who enjoys a flourishing personality cult in this southern Russian republic, and an attempt to portray Chechnya as stable and safe from insurgent violence that plagues Russia's northern Caucasus region.
The former separatist rebel, who switched sides and became the Kremlin's stooge in the region, has transformed war-torn Grozny into a smart, modern capital, but he is accused of crushing all political dissent and targeting civilians in his fight to quell an Islamist insurgency. Last year, he praised people who fired paintballs at women not wearing Islamic headscarves and called human rights campaigners "enemies of the people".
He now wants Grozny added to Russia's list of 13 host cities for the 2018 World Cup.
Fears of a militant suicide bombing at the stadium were high, and an entire neighbourhood around the ground was cordoned off by military trucks. Spectators had to go through two metal detectors and three bag checks to get into the stadium.
In the stands, support for Kadyrov was predictably high. Ali Geldibayev, 26, who runs his own business selling window blinds, said: "It's only down to Ramzan that this we're seeing this amazing match.
"He is our everything. Take Ramzan away from the Chechens and there is nothing left. I would give my life for him right now, Allah be praised." His friend Khalid Khantemirov, 24, an oil worker, added: "With Ramzan we have unity and pride. He is our leader, our hero."
Brazil, in their traditional yellow and blue, started in style, stroking the ball around and scored within three minutes. However, Grozny, in blood red, struck back, and the game was level at 2-2 after the first-half of 25 minutes.
All attention was on Kadyrov, a well-built figure in tracksuit bottoms, who effected the role of a goal-hanging centre-forward. Both teammates and opponents seemed keen to give him the ball, but his early efforts bore little fruit. He had one penalty saved and put another spot-kick past the post, before scoring his first goal with a tap-in.
The second half started cautiously. Among the spectators was Khamzat Dzhabrailov, 54, a former Soviet middleweight boxing champion who used to spar with Kadyrov when the latter was a teenage pugilist, said: "The Brazilians are afraid to play strongly because Ramzan will break their necks if they win."
The second half progressed with a flurry of goals, one struck by Grozny's undisputed penalty-taker – Kadyrov – from 12 yards. Zetti, who played in goal for Brazil in the early 1990s, artfully dived under the shot. At the final whistle, though, it was 6-4 to the Brazilians who, despite valiant efforts, could not hide their superiority.
Tom Parfitt @'The Guardian'
Israeli TV Accuses New Egyptian PM and FM of Anti-Semitism
New Egyptian PM Essam Sharaf (PNN Archive)
On Wednesday Israeli media attacked Essam Sharaf, the new Egyptian Prime Minister, calling him “an enemy of Israel” and accused him and Nabil Arabi, the new Egyptian Foreign Minister, of anti-Semitism.
Israeli television channels 10 and 7 and the Israeli newspapers Ma’ariv, Yediot Ahronot, and “The Marker”—a subsidiary of the larger, left-leaning Ha’aretz newspaper—all carried stories about the new Egyptian government to be headed by Sharaf. The new PM’s position regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—that there should be no cooperation between Egypt and Israel until it is resolved—led Israeli commentators to describe him and Arabi as anti-Semites.
Commentators on Israeli TV said Sharaf and his government represented “a danger to Israel and reconciliation [with Egypt]” and were “no friend to Israel.” Sharaf was also described as a “revolutionary” man who gained his legitimacy from the Egyptian people.
Sharaf’s intentions toward Israel were certified, according to channels 10 and 7, by his choice of Foreign Minister Nabil Arabi—known for his “deep hatred of Israel and its policies” when he was a judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Arabi opposed Israel’s construction of the wall on Palestinian territory and described it as an “apartheid wall” and “a crime that needs to be punished.”
Israeli television recognized a “great degree of fear” in Tel Aviv regarding Sharaf and his new government, saying that Israelis would look anxiously on the next few weeks to see how Egypt would handle its economic agreements with Israel—including the practice of selling Israel cheap natural gas.
@'PNN'
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