Jag glömde ju nämna igår att vi såg en livs levande igelkott när var på stan och promenerade mitt i natten. Den var så söt! Men den gjorde ifrånsig ett knorrande ljud, vilket jag gissar på tyder på irritation/rädsla. Så vi gick försiktigt därifrån. Det var jag, Yi, Hanna och Anna som var ute i det kalla, medan Lovisa och Linnéa var kvar i lägenheten och sov.

Inatt drömde jag att jag fick en söt liten ödla. Och så drömde jag något mer, om att jag och flera människor blev jagade av något tror jag.
Jag gick och lade mig vid 23-tiden igår kväll. Jag hade planerat att sova tidigare, med tanke på min sömnbrist. Men var för upptagen med att greja med mobilen, bland annat att lägga in musik i den. U2-låtar blev det såklart, samt Jeff Buckley och Death Cab. Det är stora grejer det.
Jag funderar på att somna om igen, med en U2-skiva spelandes i datorn. Som jag alltid har sagt: U2 + Sömn = de bästa av kombinationer. Det kallar jag för skönhetssömn i alla fall. Igår lyssnade jag igenom The Unforgettable Fire samt The Joshua Tree medan jag sov vid 16-tiden frm till 17-18-tiden. Jag kanske ska ta och lyssna på Achtung Baby nu då. Men först: Pancakes. Klockan är ju tjugo över tio. Han behöver ny mat och vatten och ren toalett och ren bur. Buren måste storstädas idag... så vädret måste vara någorlunda bra idag i alla fall. Fast det är regnigt just nu...

Seingat saya, waktu itu saya masih ke sekolah dengan bercelana pendek biru, yang lumayan ketat, alias masih SMP. Saya baru senang-senangnya membaca majalah Hai yang jaman itu artikel-artikel musiknya masih layak baca. Karena majalah itulah, pada suatu sore saya naik bus kota ke sebuah toko kaset --saya masih ingat nama toko itu Leopard-- untuk membeli kaset U2.

Di kota saya, susah mencari album U2. Apalagi saat itu kelompok itu belum terlalu terkenal. Satu-satunya tempat yang menjual kaset yang agak update dengan Jakarta dan majalah Hai, ya toko itu. Hari itu saya membawa pulang kaset U2. Saya lupa apakah saya beli dua kaset atau satu kaset tapi isinya dua album --waktu itu isi kaset bisa campur aduk, terserah perusahaan rekamannya. Tapi yang jelas, isinya lagu-lagu dari album Boy dan War --dan untuk dua minggu ke depannya saya tidak bisa lagi jajan.

Sore itu saya resmi menjadi fans U2.

Fast forward.

Kemarin sepulang dari kampus saya mampir ke toko setan ini. Mungkin karena bulan puasa, di rak di bawah abjad U, tergeletak dengan pasrah October, Joshua Tree, dan The Unforgettable Fire. Godaan vinyl yang terkutuk. Akibatnya, saya juga dengan pasrah menggesek kartu untuk ketiga album tersebut. Seharian sambil menunggu buka puasa, saya putar lagi lagu-lagu U2, terutama dari album October, sambil berkata dalam hati: coba ada War dan Boy untuk menggenapi October menjadi trilogi album paling awal U2 yang telah membuat saya menjadi penganut U2 sejak usia amat muda.

Rupanya bulan puasa memang bulan penuh berkah. Tadi siang saya perlu membeli kentang di toko sebelah. Repotnya, lokasi toko setan itu tepat di sebelah toko sebelah yang jual kentang itu. Setelah kentang dan beberapa keperluan bahan makanan diperoleh, saya (terpaksa) mampir ke toko itu. Dan simsalabim terlihatlah sampul album War. Di belakangnya, album Boy. Di belakangnya lagi, Under A Blood Red Sky. Walhasil sekali membeli kentang, tiga vinyl itu terbeli juga.

Joshua Tree sudah diulas oleh Ari Perdana di blog ini beberapa waktu lalu, jadi saya akan membahas soal album War saja, sementara album-album U2 lainnya menyusul --kalau bayarannya pas. Album ini masuk peringkat 221 dalam RS500.

Hal menarik pertama adalah sampul albumnya. Menurut saya gambar sampul tersebut layak masuk jajaran sampul album terbaik secara artistik. Gambar hitam putih anak laki-laki tanggung (mungkin seusia saya sewaktu pergi ke toko kaset itu) dengan pandangan mata yang menusuk dan marah, plus tulisan U2 WAR merah mencolok, menegaskan tema album itu: kemuakan terhadap perang dan konflik bersenjata.

Album itu memang muncul perang menjadi kosa kata sehari-hari. Latar belakang besarnya, tentu saja Perang Dingin. Sebagian dari kita mungkin ingat dalam siaran berita waktu itu, terlalu sering terdengar kata-kata Pakta Warsawa dan Pakta Pertahanan Atlantik Utara, atau rudal Pershing dan SS. Saya ingat, sewaktu kanak-kanak, sebelum tidur kadang saya berpikir dengan sedikit cemas, apa jadinya kalau peluru kendali itu nyasar ke belakang rumah saya waktu saya tidur.

Ternyata kecemasan itu bukan monopoli kanak-kanak saja. Lagu kedua di album ini, Seconds, liriknya dengan gamang berkata:

Do they know where the dance comes from?

Yes, they’re doing the atomic bomb

They want you to sing along

Say goodbye, say goodbye

Kecemasan soal perang nuklir barangkali sekarang terdengar seperti science fiction, tapi pernah pada suatu masa, tak terlalu lama dari hari ini, ketakutan itu sangat relevan.

Dua lagu lain yang sangat terkenal adalah Sunday Bloody Sunday dan New Year’s Day Yang pertama bercerita soal insiden demonstran sipil Irlandia yang menghendaki pemisahan dari Inggris Raya yang terbunuh oleh tentara Inggris pada tahun 1972. Sebuah insiden politik yang terus menghantui Britania Raya sampai sekarang.

Sementara New Year’s Day adalah lagu tentang gerakan solidaritas buruh di Polandia yang berawal dari galangan kapal di Gdansk pimpinan Lech Walesa. Saya masih ingat dengan bangga menempelkan stiker Solidarnosc berwarna merah bonus majalah Hai di pintu kamar saya.

Salah satu bait lirik New Year’s Day berbunyi:

And so we are told this is the golden age

And gold is the reason for the wars we wage

Though I want to be with you

to be with you night and day

Nothing changes on New Year’s Day.

Kalau kata ‘golden’ diganti ‘oil’, rasanya memang tidak banyak yang berubah dari tahun ke tahun. Dunia masih saja berkutat dengan soal-soal perang dan konflik separatisme, dua puluh lima tahun setelah album itu diluncurkan.

Walaupun secara politis, lirik-lirik album itu amat kuat, waktu itu, --dan kelihatannya sampai sekarang juga--, Bahasa Inggris saya jauh dari bagus. Jadi lirik belum menjadi faktor penting dalam memilih musik. Kalau terdengar enak, ya enak saja. Album U2, terutama yang awal-awal, enak didengar terutama karena permainan gitar atau riff-riff gitar The Edge yang unik. Permainan gitar The Edge amat kontras dengan kecenderungan sebagian besar band rock waktu itu yang menurut saya terlalu genit dengan berlama-lama memainkan nada-nada tinggi dengan kecepatan tinggi.

Saya tidak tahu soal teknik bermain gitar, tapi saya rasa cara bermain The Edge, terutama di album-album awal U2 itu memberi warna yang dalam bagi kelompok itu: tidak pernah terlalu tinggi dan cepat, sederhana tetapi garang sekaligus dalam dan terkontrol. Ketika U2 bereksperimen dengan album Pop, kelihatan sekali bahwa roh dari U2 hilang seiring dengan perubahan cara bermain The Edge.

Untung mereka segera insyaf kembali ke ciri semula di album-album selanjutnya. Walaupun buat saya, tetap saja Boy, October, dan War adalah album-album U2 paling membekas dalam ingatan saya.

]]> http://tealspace.wordpress.com/?p=231 Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:28:28 +0000 Teal http://tealspace.wordpress.com/?p=231 It was sometime in the early 2000's, when I had popped in a CD that belonged to a friend of my sister's into my stereo system. Starting from the tilting melody that starts the track to the melancholic end , U2's 'Electrical Storm' had me in complete rapture.  This track was probably released a whole lot earlier before the time I got to listen to it the first time, but wow, what a song!

I then happened to watch the video of the song on TV, [yes the one with a much younger Larry Mullen jr and a mermaid] and liked it too.  Following are the lyrics of the song. If you are a U2 fan, you will really like this one, trust me! :-D

U2 - Electrical storm

The sea it swells like a sore head
and the night it is aching
Two lovers lie with no sheets on their bed
And the day it is breaking

On rainy days we'd go swimming out
On rainy days swimming in the sound
On rainy days we'd go swimming out

You're in my mind all of the time
I know that's not enough
If the sky can crack there must be someway back
For love and only love

Electrical Storm
Electrical Storm
Baby don't cry

Car alarm won't let you back to sleep
You're kept awake dreaming someone elses dream
Coffee is cold but it'll get you through
Compromise that's nothing new to you.
Let's see colours that have never been seen
Let's go places no one else has been

You're in my mind all of the time
I know that's not enough
Well if the sky can crack there
must be someway back
To love and only love

Electrical storm [ x3 ]
Baby don't cry

It's hot as hell, honey in this room
Sure hope the weather will break soon
The air is heavy, heavy as a truck
We need the rain to wash away our bad luck

Well if the sky can crack there
must be some way back
To love and only love

Electrical storm [ x3 ]

Baby don't cry [ x3 ]

I cried - again!

The sacrifice made by the WWII generation is something those of us who reap the benefit of freedom today will never be able to comprehend.  I'm thankful to those who served then... I'm thankful for those who serve now!

There have been so many lives given so that our Nation may be free... so that many in other nations may live in freedom. 

That last scene in the movie is so moving... it stirs the soul.  "Tell me I've lived a good life."  Those men gave their lives to save this one Private. 

When it is all said and done the bottom line is... How did you live?  What have you done with what you have been given in this life.

We can work and work and work some more... we can gain all the stuff our houses can hold... but without love what's it worth?  Jesus said, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"(Mark 8:36, NIV).

I was listening to U2 this weekend.  "Walk On" always moves me.  I was driving down the road while it was playing.  I leaned over to my oldest daughter and said, "Look, this song does this to me every time." 

I love the first verse,

And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage that you can bring...
And love is not the easy thing...
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind (From, "Walk On", U2)

At times, I find it so hard to love.  To put aside all the "stuff" that goes on in and around my life.  I find it hard to put down the troubles and let love rule in my heart.  Jesus is the source of true love.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 13:15, NIV).

We all have something greater than ourselves to live for... to sacrifice our lives for.

En su página oficial Bono declaró: "Pensé que íbamos a tener el álbum listo ya, pero ¿para qué publicarlo ahora si hay material impagable aún por descubrir? (...) Sabemos que tenemos que emerger pronto, pero también sabemos que la gente no quiere otro disco de U2 a no ser que sea nuestro mejor trabajo hasta la fecha. (...) debe ser el más innovador, el más desafiante"

Por ello están trabajando con unas 50 o 60 canciones en el estudio para ver con cuáles se van a quedar, aunque probablemente sea un disco doble, según habían anunciado fuentes cercanas a la banda.
Los liderados por Bono han estado grabando en Francia, Marruecos e Irlanda, con su equipo de siempre: Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois y Steve Lillywhite.

U2 quiere que el 2009 sea el año de ellos. Habrá que esperar para ver si lo logran.

Todo sobre U2.

Toda la música gratis :)

1. Hearing Money for Nothing by the original or a cover band on a sunny weekend with my mother at a picnic. Age 2

2. Front row "pit" area watching my dad shred a strat with his waist-length hair flying and women all around me screaming (seriously). Age: 3

3. Memorizing the Muppet Show song played exactly at bedtime. It was the special nights when I was allowed to stay up long enough to watch the actual show! So the opening, "It's time to get things started..." was a musical memory filled with joy, hope, and disappointment! Age 4

4. Singing "I Gotta Crow" for an audition for Peter Pan in front of much older kids because I got the audition dates mixed up. Wow was that scarey. I wanted to be Wendy, of course. I was cast as a little lost boy, but cut my shorts too short and looked more like a wanna-be Daisy Duke. Age 6

5. Dancing around in my aunt's living room with my little cousin Sarah to Bob Seager. Age 7

6. Listening to my sister's copy of Joshua Tree in her room decorated floor-to-ceiling with Loverboy paraphernalia, all black and red. Age 7

7. Assembling a small lipsynch rock band called the Rock Cabbages (the Cabbage Patch Dolls were causing riots that year). Age 8

8. Watching the Potterville High School marching band play in my elementary school cafeteria and knowing I wanted to be a flag girl (which I indeed, later became!). Age 10

9. Falling in love with the music of They Might Be Giants via my father's long-time friend, Ray. My younger brothers and I would go through the house singing Particle Man over and over. Age 12

10. Listening to my mother's copies of old-school Tracy Chapman after she left my father... and us. Age 13

Come si vocifera già da alcuni giorni ed anche da alcune affermazioni rilasciate da Bono e pubblicate su U2.com, sembra che per il nuovo album degli U2 che dovrebbe intitolarsi 'No Line On The Horizon', si dovrà aspettare il nuovo anno.
Hotpress ha ieri pubblicato la notizia secondo la quale una fonte molto vicina alla band avrebbe detto che i 'quattro' dopo gli incontri avvenuti nelle ultime ore abbiano provvisoriamente posticipato la data di uscita dell'album al mese di febbraio 2009, ma non c'è ancora una piena conferma.
Con gli U2 si sfa che bisogna avere pazienza....l'importante è che poi venga premiata :?

Ecco la news da Hotpress New U2's album provisionally slated for February 2009

The new U2's album will be maybe released in February 2009.
It need to be patient with the U2, we know... :?

This is the news from Hotpress New U2's album provisionally slated for February 2009

Small steps, big steps, giant steps, moving stopping..

Roaming aimless, wandering headless, thinking no less

   waiting for you, waiting, don’t go breaking my heart!! - madonna

   don’t go breaking my heart, i couldn’t if i tried!! - elton john

- and on on and on and on and on on and the beat goes on !! - madonna

Seeing nothing, trying not to hear anything, I am confused

Smelling something, feeling everything, this is adventure.

Remembering, emphatizing this is getting obscure.

    and I feel like I just got home and I feel - madonna

    I want to love you pretty young thing - michael jackson

I was only wishing you would notice me, instead you said goodbye - orchestral manuevers in the dark

  Don’t you wish you wrote them and sang it bastardly?

  Don’t you think the words were yours when your wounded badly?

  Don’t you want to strangle them and kill madly?

   See the storm set in your eyes, see the thorn twist in your side - U2

   Shaved heads raved heads  on the pill got too much time to kill - suede

   No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
   No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it’s dark - the vapors

Everywhere in Life, it is stillness and darkness.

Anywhere in Life, there is madness and restlessness

Somewhere in Life, you think you found happiness

Scholars, teachers, students, journalists, clergy, musicians and intellectually curious U2 fans: for more than 30 years, U2 has asked us to look at the world, wrestle with ourselves and then dream out loud. From “I Will Follow” and “Running to Stand Still,” to “The Wanderer,” “Walk On,” and “One Step Closer,” U2 has charted the human heart and the ways of the world, calling out some of their more dynamic points of intersection. While doing so, they have created what Bruce Springsteen described as "some of the most beautiful sonic architecture in rock and roll."

O grupo já gravou na França, no Marrocos e na Irlanda – seu país natal. Bono afirmou que essa mudança na agenda veio para o bem, e que o CD "deve ser o mais inovador e desafiante" da banda. "Atualmente, buscamos uma transição similar àquela que ocorreu entre The Joshua Tree e Achtung Baby", acrescenta Bono. Isso deixou os fãs muito curiosos. "Queremos que 2009 seja nosso ano". Algum não foi? :)

Vamos aguardar.

O novo cd do U2 teve previsão de lançamento para o dia 14 de novembro, e todo mundo já esperava pra baixar o cd No Line on the Horizon.

“Nós sabemos que temos que aparecer em breve, mas também sabemos que as pessoas não querem outro álbum do U2 que não seja o melhor que já tenhamos feito”, comentou o vocalista Bono Vox em mensagem no site da banda.

O U2 está trabalhando nas novas composições junto com Brian Eno, Daniel Lenois e Steve Lillywhite, que já produziram outros álbuns do grupo. Algumas gravações já foram feitas na França e na Irlanda. Bono comentou que o grupo já tem 50 ou 60 canções prontas que podem ser incluídas no novo álbum.

Alguns dos títulos de novas composições são “Get on Your Boots”, “For Your Love”, “Breathe”, “No Line on the Horizon” e “Moment of Surrender”, que tem oito minutos de duração.

Pra nao lançar um CD duplo, a banda vai escolher melhor as músicas e lançar só as melhores, num cd só. Enfim... deixaram os fãs com água na boca, mas com um bom motivo.

Fique atento que logo vem o U2 - No Line on the Horizon

Perry Farrell, 2001

The White Stripes, 2007

Bono (U2), 2007

Tom Waits, 2002

Kurt Cobain, 1995

Bill Murray, 2007

Drew Barrymore, 1995

Vin Diesel, 2002

Gisele Bündchen, 2000

Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), 2002

Marilyn Manson, 1998

Fiona Apple, 1997

Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1992

Beastie Boys, 1998

it also occured to me that elvis got his start singing gospel. while this is not surprising, he was from the deep south, he actually won awards for bringing this style into the mainstream pop music scene. this is ironic for several reasons.

1) a white person singing black music was socially acceptable. at the civil rights museum was a display of songs activists used to sing during demonstrations, marches and sit-ins. minorities, especially african-americans fought for respect for so long and in swoops mr presley, who actually won award after award for their long-established style.

2) elvis grew up singing in the choir at his parents' church back in mississippi. once he rose to face, the church at large condemned his music style. many churches across the country staged album burnings in protest of what they deemed, "the devil's music." what would have happened if the church had embraced this new style that was actually centered around the very values it was trying to promote?

what is one of the most amazing things, despite whether or not you are an elvis fan, is the legacy he left behind. thought he died some time ago, fans mourn as if it just happened. he left his mark on the world like few others have. just the right factors came into play: first, elvis was an incredibly talented singer and musician. second, he was incredibly good looking. (i heard a recent radio interview that a local dj did with paul mccartney. paul said he and his fellow beatles were awed by how handsome elvis was.) third, he was as charasmatic in person as he was onstage. (in fact, his daughter recalls how she loved to watch him perform. even though she had just spent time with him, as soon as he got onstage she would scream and call out requests.) fourth, he was rose to fame at a time when the country was changing and the youth were looking for something new. truly a recipe for fame and fortune!

Así, un poco saliendo de la nada, Kanye West ha anunciado que su cuarto disco llegará a las tiendas en diciembre. Sin título confirmado todavía, lo que sí se sabe es que el single se llamará 'Love LockDown', y dicen por ahí que puede que hasta salga el lunes que viene, aunque no pongan la mano en el fuego por ello. En el otro lado del ring, los mesiánicos U2 y su duodécimo disco de estudio tendrán que esperar hasta principios de 2009 para ver la luz. Parece que Bono y los suyos no llegarán a tiempo para que No Line On The Horizon salga en noviembre, como estaba previsto. O, al menos, eso es lo que dice la BBC. Ya que estaba, Bono ha aprovechado para decir que es su mejor disco, que es un nuevo capítulo, y que se retrasa porque "si todavía podemos descubrir más cosas, ¿por qué salir a la superficie?" Pues, amigo Bono, por lo que dice Bowie: porque un disco nunca se acaba, sino que se abandona. Indiespot, dando lecciones a estrellas del rock desde 1985.

Electrical storm. U2.

Va recomand anything U2.

Hey. Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Also Wet sand, 21st century, ... cam tot albumul.

Layla. Clapton cu Knopfler. (cam de la 0.30 incolo)

Save me. Aimee Mann. Din Magnolia (which I also recommend). Foarte bun live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbFQa4SeY48

Nu-s melancolica, nu-s trista, nu am nimic :) Imi plac foarte mult melodiile. Atat.

Porém, a polêmica não gira em torno do disco a ser lançado, mas de um suposto single que já teria caído nas graças dos internautas por conta de um episódio no mínimo estranho.

Bono Vox, o vocalista da banda, estaria ouvindo em alto e bom som o seu single, quando um fã passava pela rua perto de sua casa e teria captado e gravado tal música. Eis que a música já estaria na internet mobilizando o boca-a-boca online típico das exclusividades.

O single, denominado Sexy Boots, já está no YouTube e arrebanha diversos fãs para o disco que nem lançado foi.

A banda nega que a estratégia tenha sido usada para gerar buzz em torno do single e do novo álbum, de nome “No line on the Horizon”.

Para ouvir as versões da música no YouTube, acesse: http://www.undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=6015.

Será essa uma estratégia de guerrilha usada pela banda com finalidade de aumentar o boca-a-boca? Onde fica a inteligência subestimada dos reais fãs da banda neste caso?

Veja mais na web

U2 Sexy Boots Riff Is All Over YouTube (Fonte Site Undercover)

Un alivio para los fans, sin duda, que el próximo disco tire más hacia la época dorada que fue finales de los 80 y principios de los 90, con un sonido más oscuro y experimental.

Fuente: Periodista digital.

U2.com zeigt neue Aufnahmen aus Studio

Auf U2.com sind drei neue Videoclips von den Aufnahmen zum kommenden
U2-Album zu sehen. Der erste Clip zeigt Larry an den Drums und wurde
von Adam gefilmt. Der zweite Clip (nur für U2.com-Mitglieder) wurde
von Larry gefilmt und zeigt Aufnahmen des Studios, während im
Hintergrund erstmals Ansätze eines kompletten Songs zu hören sind.
http://www.u2tour.de/news/article3648.html

Der lezte Clip gewährt Einblicke in den Studio-Alltag und den Sound
des neuen Albums. Mit dabei dieses mal Bono (bzw. Edge) und Daniel
Lanois. Das Ganze wurde wieder von Adam gefilmt. Man sollte dieses
Video aber nicht zu ernst nehmen ;-)
http://www.u2tour.de/news/article3637.html

El álbum número 12 de U2 se publicará definitivamente a principios de 2009. Un trabajo que Bono ha comparado con el que para mí es el mejor disco de U2, Achtung Baby, por cuanto abrirá una nueva etapa.

Bono ha comparado este momento con la transición de The Joshua Tree al Achtung Baby, con un cambio sonoro radical, que ya han escuchado quienes han accedido al material que alguien grabó en los alrededores de la casa de Bono en Francia cuando éste escuchaba algunos cortes.

Bono también ha revelado que U2 espera iniciar una nueva gira mundial en verano de 2009.

Tienes más información en la web de U2.

Musique

Sorties de disques :

9 septembre : Band de garage
16 septembre : Tryo
23 septembre : Les Cowboys Fringants, TV on the Radio
7 octobre : Oasis, Of Montreal
14 octobre : The Cure
21 octobre : The Dears
28 octobre : Jean Leloup, Jane's Addiction
11 novembre : Daniel Boucher
18 septembre : U2, Mononc' Serge et Anonymus

Spectacles, galas, remises de prix, festivals :

6 septembre : Karkwa, Alfa Rococo, Radio Radio, Socalled et autres en spectacle dans le vieux-port
11 au 14 septembre : Salon de la musique indépendante de Montréal
14 septembre : Dandy Warhols au Club Soda
17 septembre : Bloc Party
20 septembre : Sigur Ros au Quai Jacques-Cartier
21 septembre : Gala GAMIQ
26 septembre : Black Mountain au National
9 octobre : Karkwa au Club Soda
5 novembre : Feist au Centre Bell
12 novembre : Nine Inch Nails au Centre Bell
1er décembre : Neil Young au Centre Bell

Cinéma

W., de Oliver Stone
The Road, de John Hillcoat
Miracle at St. Anna, de Spike Lee
Valkyrie, de Bryan Singer

En plus, des élections surement le 14 octobre. Ça promet.