nuzzaci - an online journal

Almost back to back to my post about a USB MixTape Stick, here’s a post on online mixtapes. Recently two websites have reached the echo chamber known as the blogosphere; Mixwit.com and Muxtape.com. I don’t like many things about Mixwit (if any), but the simplicity of Muxtape struck a chord.

My first compilation, titled, ‘nuzzaci’s small compilation of compelling cover songs’, is a set of 12 cover songs from various artists. Listen to it on nuzzaci.muxtape.com. The playlist is:

1. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - The World’s Greatest
2. Florence and the Machine (featuring Kid Harpoon) - I’m Goin’ Down
3. Mat Weddle - Hey Ya
4. Ben Gibbard - Complicated
5. Sinead O’Connor - All Apologies
6. Streets, The - Your Song
7. Sick Anchors, The - Whole Again
8. John Mayer - Kid A
9. Nick Cave - Disco 2000
10. Zwan - The Number of the Beast
11. Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights
12. Beck - True Love Will Find You in the End

A while back Willow bought me the USB MixTape Stick from suckuk. It’s a small cardboard box that looks like an old cassette tape, and inside it it’s a 64MB USB memory stick. Having been a mix-tape-creator in my young days, I love this crossover from old to new formats. The “new way” does eliminate some of the beauty and craft required in making a good mix-tape but, never the less, it’s at least a physical object to hand over to someone.

Anyway, as the title implies, I would love if this little USB device could pop-up and be managed through iTunes. I have given Google quite a few queries but can’t seem to find an answer. Maybe it’s not possible…

The closest I’ve got is trying to fool iTunes into believing that the removable device is a compact disc by create a file named ‘ContentsDB.xml’ and place it on the device. I could live with that — a ‘read only’ device. But unfortunately it doesn’t seem to work anymore.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Ten days ago i posted a link to my bookmarks that i got through Nathan Coppers blog, Rubbishcorp.com/rubbishblog.

Description:

What is the Sound of Color? We put that question to 5 musicians. Dntel, MariÈ Digby, Swizz Beatz, The Blakes and The Raveonettes. We assigned each musician a different color. They Wrote 5 tracks. We gave the tracks, and the colors that inspired them, to 5 producers. What began as a question has resulted in 5 original pieces of music and 5 original music videos. Here they are. Hear the Sound of Color.

What have surprised me, and got me to write this entry, is the superb quality of the five songs. Top work. Top compilation.

1. Black/white by Raveonettes
2. Candy Green by Swizz Beatz
3. Magic by Blakes
4. Paint Me in Your Sunshine by Marié Digby
5. Turning Red by Dntel

I leave up to you to decide whether the music videos are up to the same standards. Visit soundofcolor.com and have a look.

Photograph captured by Pix Gremlin

It’s not very often that I attend a concert where an artist and her/his/their work is basically undiscovered or unanalysed by my ears in advance. At least main acts; quite often the warm-up act is a new experience.

Willow bought the tickets for the Seasick Steve concert after a recommendation from a friend of her’s. If it wasn’t for the recommendation or for the fact that Willow bought the tickets, I would most probably never have attended this Seastick Steve concert. Seasick Steve is not something I would enjoy through the medium of a pair of headphones in an office environment (sadly, that’s the way I consume 90% of my music nowadays), and therefor most probably I wouldn’t have gone through the effort of buying a ticket.

But life works in mysteries ways.
I really enjoyed this concert.

It wasn’t down to the fact that his music sounded any better live than on recordings — i’m still no fan — but his charisma and stage presence lit up the whole of Astoria (which was completely rammed with people). Most of the set he was alone, just one old man, but from time to time he got accompanied on stage by his hippy friend or younger son behind the drums and for two of the songs KT Tunstall did a guest appearance.

Hats of to Seasick Steve.

The warm-up act was a Swedish band called Billie the Vision & the Dancers. Both Willow and I agreed that the lead singer must be long lost brother of our good friend Henrik Engdahl. Besides the fact that they are both ginger, they look incredibly similar and have a similar body-language. I’m even convinced that if Henrik took a few song lessons he would sound similar. The songs and lyrics are also something I can imagine Henrik writing. Yeah, if you know Henrik, have a look at a few movies on YouTube (heres a good start) and feel free to correct me if you think i’m wrong.

UPDATE: and i sound incredible good!! But we, Mr Nuzzaci and I, still need to spend many more hours together to achieve a pure symbiotic relationship (for instance I think Mr Nuzzaci need to get use to the fact that i have channel 2 on the left side and channel 1 on the right).

I didn’t really know what to expect on my first Marilyn Manson gig. I’ve seen a few live videos and heard about his amazing theatrical stage performances and stage set, for instance, the Hitler-esk podium act during Antichrist Superstar, but for the last few years I haven’t been tuned in to the world of Marilyn Manson.

I attended the concert with Richard Dee and Simon Waterfall. Richard was a Manson Virgin, as I, while Simon was an experienced manson-ite.

On our arrival to Wembley I was a bit disappointed. I thought the concert was in the new Wembley Stadium, built in 2007 and seating 90,000; not Wembley Arena, built in 1934 and seating 12,300. But since the Arena turned out to be about 1 third empty — the entire back section of the arena — I can see why they chose the Arena and not the Stadium. Obviously I thought an artist of Marilyn Manson’s caliber would attract a larger audience. So, even before I entered the venue, I had to re-adjust my expectations; turn the dial down a few levels. One positive outcome of the smaller venue was that our otherwise poor seating was closer to the stage.

Similar to a check-in queue in airports; it’s fairly easy to guess what has brought the gathering of people together. In an airport it’s the destination, at a concert it’s the artist. An audience is an artist’s reflection. So, on a Marilyn Manson concert… well, I can’t say it’s a pretty sight. Freakshow is not the right word but the first that comes to mind. Confused. Lost. No. One thing is certain — I didn’t blend in. So, to be honest, I was the freak.

Supporting Marilyn Manson was the Norwegian deathpunk band, Turbonegro. They are absolutely wicked. Unfortunately not that many people were there to see Turbonegro, and Turbojugend, their famous fan club, didn’t seem to have many representatives present. When Turbonegro tried to get the audience to sing along to the song “I got Erection”, hardly anyone joined in. So Hank Von Helvete, the lead singer, abandoned the attempt and tried get the audience to sing “I’m a Londoner, so I can’t get an erection” instead. Brilliant.

Photograph captured by Andrew Kendall

And then came Manson. From start to finish the performance just grew and and grew and got better and better and better and better. Looking back on it, I don’t think he could have failed even if he tried too. With songs like Disposable Teen, mOBSCENE, The Irresponsible Hate Anthem, Sweet Dreams, The Fight Song, Rock Is Dead, The Dope Show, Antichrist Superstar and The Beautiful People, I can’t see how a failure would have been possible.

One thing that I wouldn’t have minded more of is dialogue between the songs. I see dialogue between songs as bonus material that you don’t get on albums, and it’s something I treasure quite highly when I go to a concert. A front figure like Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine can get away with not uttering a single word during a concert, but he belongs to the exceptions and not the norm. An artist like Marilyn Manson is the kind of artist you’d expect and want to speak his mind between songs.

As the concert kept going, I began to get very jealous of the job of my fellow Swede and guitarist, Tim Sköld. I would have loved to be on that stage and play those tunes. So much energy. So easy and yet so damn good. However, I have learned that Tim’s role in the band extends way beyond just playing guitar live — he’s producing, editing, doing artwork, electronics, drum programming and beats, playing guitar, keyboards, accordion, synthesizer bass and backup vocals — which I can’t say I envy. But to stand on a stage and deliver the energy of those songs through a guitar — priceless.

Photograph captured by David Herranz

One thing that struck me during ‘The Fight Song’, while the words FIGHT were flashing up in big red letters behind the stage, and the main part of the standing audience were raising their fists and screaming along “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”, was how provocative Marilyn Manson really is. We liberal Europeans shouldn’t forget that Manson’s main audience is based in America, where about 80% of the population are christians. As Simon Price on the Independent said:

Context, of course, is everything. A recent USA Today /CNN /Gallup poll revealed that 88 per cent of the American population believe that God had at least some hand in the creation of life on Earth. And so, when Marilyn Manson ascends a lectern for a mock-Nazi rally during “Antichrist Superstar” and sets fire to a copy of the Bible, one has to remember where he comes from.

If Manson’s shock tactics appear a little blunt to us urbane Europeans, one has to remember that this – the land of the religious right, the Intelligent Designers and the pro-lifers – is the battleground where he fights.

Photograph captured by James Harber

As the lighters during a ballad have been replaced with the light of a camera-phone, youtube seems to be the replacement for photography, reviews and set lists. I had to spend quite a while online to locate the set list of the night, I finally managed to find it on lyingonthecovers.net, but way before I managed to do that, my search query had found basically the whole concert through the eyes of a camera-phone lens on youtube.

1. If I Was Your Vampire (See it on YouTube)
2. Disposable Teens (See it on YouTube)
3. mOBSCENE (See it on YouTube)
4. Tourniquet (See it on YouTube)
5. The Irresponsible Hate Anthem (See it on YouTube)
6. Are You The Rabbit? (See it on YouTube)
7. Sweet Dreams (See it on YouTube)
8. Lunchbox (See it on YouTube)
9. The Fight Song (See it on YouTube)
10. Putting Holes In Happiness (See it on YouTube)
11. Heart Shapped Glasses (See it on YouTube)
12. Rock Is Dead (See it on YouTube)
13. The Dope Show (See it on YouTube)
14. The Reflecting God (See it on YouTube)
15. Antichrist Superstar (See it on YouTube)
16. The Beautiful People (See it on YouTube)

Enjoy.

One two three four

Wakey wakey
rise and shine
it’s on again, off again, on again
watch me fall
like dominos
in pretty patterns
fingers in the blackbird pie
I’m tingling, tingling, tingling
it’s what you feel now
what you ought to, what you ought to
reasonable and sensible
dead from the neck up
because I’m stuffed, stuffed, stuffed
we thought you had it in you
but no, no, no
for no real reason

Squeeze the tubes and empty bottles
and take a bow, take a bow, take a bow
it’s what you feel now
what you ought to, what you ought to
an elephant that’s in the room is
tumbling, tumbling, tumbling
in duplicate and triplicate and
plastic bags and
duplicate and triplicate
dead from the neck up
I guess I’m stuffed, stuffed, stuffed
we thought you had it in you
but no, no, no
exactly where do you get off
is enough, is enough
I love you but enough is enough, enough
a last stop
there’s no real reason

You’ve got a head full of feathers
you got melted to butter

Faust ARP is avaliable on the album In Rainbows

Last time Ani Difranco visited the UK, Willow and I had tickets to the concert in Edinburgh but couldn’t go. So this time around i decided early on that only illness or death would be valid scenarios to prevent me from attending this concert. My character was put to the test when i realised that the F1 season finale in Brazil would collide with the concert. The question was never Ani DiFranco or the Formula One, the question was whether or not I would be able to watch the F1 first and then rush over to Shepherd’s Bush Empire for the concert. I decided it was too much of a gamble — even if it might be possible. I also decided that i didn’t want the outcome of the F1 to have an impact on how i would enjoy the concert.

Since i didn’t watch the race live, i knew i had to be careful with reading any text messages or answering any incoming calls to my mobile phone. So i only read text messages that arrived from people i knew weren’t interested in F1 or didn’t know i’m totally addicted to it. So when i got a text message from a Swedish mobile number that i hadn’t stored in my addressbook came through i thought it was safe. It read:

Vilken härlig tävling

Which means; What a wonderful competition

I didn’t know if i was being paranoid or not. A Formula One Grand Prix is not a competition — it’s a race. No, i thought, this must mean something else or it’s meant for someone else…. Then it hit me: Kari Kontro! I suspected (and later it turned out that i was right) that the text message from my ex girlfriend’s dad.

Kari and i had quite a few nice races together between the years 1999-2002. We were a bit like ying and yang when it came to Formula One; he being from Finland obviously liked McLaren with Mika Häkkinen from 1993 to 2001 and 2002 to 2006 with Kimi Räikkönen, me being half italian obviously loves Ferrari.

Anyone who knows people from Finland (or have seen press conferences with Mika or Kimi) now understand that the text message he sent to me has so much more weight and meaning than if it was sent from somebody with any other european cultural background. It could mean “YES!!!! KIMI WON!!!!“, it could mean, “It was really exiting. Kimi came close once again.“, it could mean, “Alonso and Hamilton were wheel to wheel during the end of the race.“. It’s now been a month and we all know what it meant (KIMI WON!!), but that’s now. A month ago i was sitting on the second balcony on Shepherd’s Bush Empire waiting for Ani Difranco to go on stage.

© Steve Asenjo 2007

Ani is special. A bit like special needs but without needs. Rather the opposite. She’s an extremely talented independent feminist solo artist measuring 157cm (5′ 2″) operating in a male dominated industry that focuses mainly on marketing female artists for their look and sex appeal; not their talent.

If you’ve read a few of my post (or know me in person) you might already know that i despise the modern music industry and am extremely pleased that they are down on their knees and covered in shit. Ani, to me, represents what music should be all about. I’m not tying it to the genre of music or that she has a political view or even that she is an extremely talented guitarist, lyricist and songwriter; she does what she does for the right reasons, and i adore her for it. Honesty before greed. Love and passion.

This was my first Ani concert, so i can’t compare it to any other Ani concert, but as far as concerts go — it was amazing. I went to the concert with Willow and Karl Ringman, and we all loved it.

I managed to capture a bit of footage with my mobile phone. It’s maybe not the best set up - a mobile phone on the second balcony - but small things can achieve great stuff. What i captured was Ani preforming a poem and a new song.

I’ve been a few places now, flown through vast empty spaces with stewardists who’s hands look much older than their faces.

My new mission is to write happy songs. Yeah i know — good luck — yeah i don’t know. Its like a fucking muscle i never used.

What doesn’t show in the footage (and that i haven’t mention yet) is how amazing the drummer was. Her name is Allison Miller and she was perfect.

Willow, wrote:

Leaving an Ani gig, you want to fill in the blanks of a conversation you started with her in your mind.

and i totally agree. I think Willow and I have to invite Ani over for bruschetta and a plate of freshly homemade spaghetti.

Is it worth it?
A new winter coat and shoes for the wife
And a bicycle on the boy’s birthday

It’s just a rumour that was spread around town
By the women and children, soon we’ll be shipbuilding

Well I ask you
The boy said ‘Dad, they’re going to take me to task
But I’ll be home by Christmas

It’s just a rumour that was spread around town
Somebody said that someone got filled in
For saying that people get killed in
The results of their shipbuilding

With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls

It’s just a rumour that was spread around town
A telegram for a picture postcard
Within weeks they’ll be reopening the shipyard
And notifying the next of kin
Once again

It’s all we’re skilled in
We will be shipbuilding

With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls

Shipbuilding is avaliable on the album His-Greatest-Misses and Ep’s.

The song Shipbuilding was written during the Falklands War of 1982 by music composer and producer Clive Langer for Robert Wyatt. The lyrics is written by Elvis Costello, who later recorded his own version of the song.

According to the Wikipedia entry, Costello’s lyrics discuss the contradiction of the war bringing back prosperity to traditional shipbuilding areas Liverpool, North East England (Cammell Laird) and Belfast (Harland and Wolff) to build new ships to replace those being sunk in the war, whilst also sending off the sons of these areas to fight and, potentially, lose their lives in those same ships.

Neon Bible by Arcade Fire