Life Is Just A Song And A DanceHi there
disco brothers and sisters. The weekend is comin’ to an end and what did it bring me?
Laundry Day, Opera, a damn cold and all 6 Episodes of Star Wars … A busy weekend so I didn’t catch much sleep.
Laundry Day on
Saturday was good, clean cut fun. A bit cold, so that’s probably where I got this sore throat and nasty cuff from or maybe I got it from
Conor Oberst himself :-) Luckily it didn’t rain. At least not when I was there. I left before 10 pm so I had an early night but I wasn’t sleepy yet.
Early that day I suddenly had the urge to watch a
Star Wars movie. I ended up looking all 6 of them on the same day, just until dawn. I never saw the 3 new episodes so this was a good occasion to finally do so. I still like the old ones best. Thank god for
Han Solo.
Harrison Ford really saves those movies but unfortunately there’s no equivalent of that character in the new episodes. I must say that the last episode of the prequel isn’t that bad. It’s pretty dark and fits well with the first episode from
1977.
But enough
nerdtalk. Some music now.
Cyber-Soul from a young lady called
Janelle Monáe. Is she the new
Grace Jones?
Grace Jones is still alive and kickin’ so probably not. Still, I like what she does. I posted some music a while ago but the links got lost so here we go again.
Janelle Monáe – Sincerely Jane this song just grows and grows on ya, a real favourite of mine and it addresses some real heavy issues. Check the lyrics
Janelle Monáe – Many MoonsJanelle Monáe – My Favorite NothingJanelle Monáe – Time Will RevealLeft the city, my momma she said don't come back homeThese kids round' killin each other, they lost they minds, they goneThey quittin' school, making babies and can barely readSome gone off to their fall, lord have mercy on themOne, two, three, four, your cousins is round' here sellin' dopeWhile they're daddies, your uncle is walking round' strung outBabies with babies, and their tears keep burning, while their dreams go down the drain nowAre we really living or just walking dead now?Or dreaming of a hope riding the wings of angelsThe way we liveThe way we dieWhat a tragedy, I'm so terrifiedDay dreamers please wake up, we can't sleep no moreLove don't make no sense, ask your neighborThe winds have changed; it seems they have abandoned usThe truth hurts, and so does yesterdayWhat good is love if it burns bright, and explodes in flames(I thought every little thing had love but uhh)Are we really living or just walking dead now?Or dreaming of a hope riding the wings of angelsThe way we liveThe way we dieWhat a tragedy, I'm so terrifiedDay dreamers please wake up, we can't sleep no moreI've seen them shootin' up funerals in they Sunday clothesSpending money on spinners but won't pay college loansAnd all you gangers and bangers rollin' dice and taking lives, in a smokey darkLord have mercy on youTeacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videosThe little girls just broken Queen, confusing bling for soulDanger, there's danger when you take off your clothes, all your dreams go down the drain girlAre we really living or just walking dead now?Or dreaming of a hope riding the wings of angelsThe way we liveThe way we dieWhat a tragedy, I'm so terrifiedDay dreamers please wake up, we can't sleep no moreWe live and then we die, and we never know the rightSo now, now were gone now, on your markWe live and then we die, and we never touch the skySo now, now were gone now, on your markFive, seven, eight, two, oneIt is now time, for you to come home my dearYou've been gone long enoughYou must come, you must go
What else have we got? Just random stuff I’m afraid. I didn’t have the time to worry about a mix or the flow of these tracks. Nevertheless great stuff.
The Pointer Sisters – Send Him Back (Pilooski edit)
Shortwave Set – Now 'Til 69 (Aeroplane remix)Planet Patrol – Play At Your Own RiskAfrika & The Zulu Kings – The Beach (Long Vocal Version) 1986Twilight 22 – Electric KingdomKey-Matic – Breakin' In SpaceRoyal Cash – Radioactivity - Let's Jam (1983)Cheryl Lynn – In The Night (1981)Espen – Wet sequence (original mix)¡Forward, Russia! – Nine (Napoleon IIIrd mix)
Mr Snu & Sir Matthew were playing
cosmic disco records this
Saturday at
Laundry Day together with
Aeroplane and other
usual suspects. On their
myspace they have a mix you can download that they made for the
'Disco not Disco' blog. Turned out that I had a couple of the featured songs myself. That’s why uploaded them here instead of the mix. If you have the missing ones feel free to share them…
Mr Snu & Sir Matthew no longer exclusive 'Disco not Disco' mixtapeMascara – Baja
Metro Area – AtmosphriqueBaricentro – Tittle Tattle (1983)
Richard the Third – Flux CapacitorMagazine 60 – Don Quichotte 1985
Magazine 60 – Don Quichotte (extended version) 1985
Edgar Winter – Above and Beyond (Instrumental)Nice & Wild – Diamond Girl 1986Plej – Borderline (Mock & Toof Remix)Gino Soccio – Remember (LSB edit)Master Dance and Boogie – Roll the Joint (Joey Negro re-edit)Hypnosis – Borhaz (1983)
Magnus International – Kosmetisk
Hot Chip - One Pure Thought
Hot Chip – One Pure Thought (Supermayer Remix)
On Sunday I had some free tickets for a tryout of a new production of Puccini’s Turandot. What better way to chill out on Sunday than a fancy opera, no? Puccini is classic opera but it’s also 20th century music. Turandot was written in the roaring twenties and it has some adventurous melodies and even modern sounds. I like it a lot because of the exotic chinose folks songs and off course for the famous aria Nessun Dorma. It was a pity though that they didn’t play that aria because they only played the first 2 acts as a way of rehearsal. I also don’t know which ending they’re going to use because there are more than one options. Puccini died before he finished it. That’s why they let somebody else write an ending for it based on sketches from Puccini but I don’t think there are a lot of people who find it satisfying. I know I don’t. Berio made another one but I still haven’t heard that one. Maybe I can find one at the library.
From what I’ve heard and can judge, the orchestration was splendid but the singers didn’t really go all the way. Who can blame them. It was a rehearsal but still a bit disappointing. That’s why listened again, afterwards at home, to this live recording I have from 1961.
Turandot, Giacomo PucciniLive recording, New York, March 4 1961. Orchestra and Choir of The New York Metropolita directed by Leopold StokowskiTurandot ........................... Birgit NillsonCalaf ............................... Franco CorelliLiù ....................................... Anna MoffoTimur ........................... Bonaldo GiaiottiPing ................................ Frank GuarreraPang .................................... Robert NagyPong ............................. Charles Anthony Altoum ...................... Alessio De PaolisUn mandarino ................... Calvin Marsh01 - ATTO I - Popolo di Pekino!02 - Padre! Mio padre!03 - Gira la cote! Gira!04 - O divina bellezza05 - Figlio, che fai¿06 - Fermo! Che fai ¿ T'arresta!07 - Silenzio, olà!08 - Non indugiare!09 - Signore, ascolta!10 - Non piangere, Liù!11 - Ah, per l'ultima volta!12 - ATTO II - Olà, Pang! Olà, Pong!13 - O Cina, o Cina14 - Ho una casa nell'Honan15 - O mondo, pieno di pazzi innamorati!16 - Gravi, enormi ed imponenti17 - Un giuramento atroce mi costringe18 - Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore!19 - In questa reggia20 - Staniero, ascolta!21 - Guizza al pari di fiamma22 - Gelo che ti dà foco23 - Tre enigmi m'hai proposto!24 - ATTO III - Così comanda Turandot25 - Nessun dorma!26 - Tu che guardi le stelle27 - Principessa divina!28 - Quel nome!29 - L'amore¿... Tanto amore30 - Tu che di gel sei cinta31 - Liù... bontà!32 - Principessa di morte¿33 - Che è mai di me¿34 - Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore!
