nuzzaci - an online journal

It’s in the teens that it normally happens: we develop spots, we hate our parents, we try to fit in by being special and unique and, among all the other things, some of us shape and form a love and passion for music.

Being born in 1978, I hit the teens and this era at the beginning of the 90’s.

I think most of us have a few albums we like to call “my” album. Since last year I decided to let go of my analog music collection (I gave away roughly 400 CDs to Marcus Burman), and maintain only a digital music library, I actually don’t have any albums I theoretically can call “my” album, but I mean “my” as in personal and spiritual terms, not as in “ownership” or “written by”.

Here below I have pasted together a montage of my first albums. Not my absolute favorite albums - my first. These are the ones that made me passionate about music… the ones that made me sit in my room playing guitar 6 hours straight. The albums I sometimes call “my” albums even if I don’t get any royalties.

In alphabetical order (by artist):

1. Against the Grain, by Bad Religion
2. Danzig II: Lucifuge, by Danzig
3. Spectral Sorrows, by Edge of Sanity
4. Angel Dust, by Faith No More
5. Kerplunk!, by Green Day
6. Use Your Illusion 1, by Guns n Roses
7. Keeper of the Seven Keys part 2, by Helloween
8. Fear of the Dark, by Iron Maiden
9. Countdown to Extinction, by Megadeth
10. Mental Hippie Blood, by Mental Hippie Blood
11. Metallica, by Metallica
12. Nevermind, by Nirvana
13. Daily Grind, by No Use for a Name
14. White Trash Two Heebs and a Bean, by NOFX
15. Ten, by Pearl Jam
16. Smash, by Offspring
17. How to Clean Everything, by Propagandhi
18. Rage Against the Machine, by Rage Against the Machine
19. No Carrots for the Rehabilitated, by Randy
20. Art of Rebellion, by Suicidal Tendencies

So, we are now a few weeks into 2007 and it’s about time to look back at 2006 and see what actually happened. Since I have had this digital online journal for almost a year (1st of May), 80% of what I’m mentioning here have already been documented earlier.

2006 for me started with coming back from San Francisco (where I had celebrated Christmas (in Lake Tahoe) and New Years (San Francisco) with my girlfriend Willow and her family) and began moving in with Willow to her flat.

During 2006 we had done quite a few improvements to this flat. First we extended the loft so the bedroom got a bit bigger, then we changed the flooring and built a loft bed in one of the bedrooms. But 2006 has just been the beginning… If everything goes as planed, during 2007 I will tell you all about the new kitchen, the new bathroom and the new staircase up to the loft.

 

Work

I don’t talk much about work on this journal. And that’s not because I don’t do any work or that nothing exiting happens at work. No, the main reasons is when i’m not working, and sitting by the computer, I prefer not to talk, reflect or spend time on work related stuff.

I have been at POKE for over three years now, and during these three years a lot has happened e.g. we have grown 462.5% in size, changed offices twice, rolled out a lot of really nice work and won more awards than I can remember. So, as a big reward for our great achievements, about a month ago, we moved into 10000 sq. ft. of dedicated private space.

So 2007 surely kicks off big.
It’s a bit of a fresh start.
A new start.

Two of the bigger pieces of work I been involved in during 2006 was the new topshop.com and the GoodFood magazine website. Thanks to a brilliant team and exceptionally brilliant client, I can look at them both and be extremely satisfied.

 

Sport (F1 basically)

2006 brought me back to Formula One, and the 2006 season was amazing and it definitely made way for an exciting 2007!! The biggest news was of cause the creation of the new 10th of September tradition of German beer and spaghetti tomato sauce, a new tradition to salute and remember the announcement by Scuteria Ferrari of Micheal Schumacher’s retirement as a race driver.

 

Music

So what’s the best album 2006… well it turns out being quite hard… all the ones I’d thought of, turned out being released in 2005! Such as With Teeth by Nine Inch Nails, Go Down! by David Sandstrom and Potemkin City Limits by Propagandhi.

Don’t know, was 2006 a dry year for people with my kind of music taste? What have I missed…

Born In The U.K. by Badly Drawn Boy, 9 by Damien Rice and Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of The Mountain by Sparklehorse are OK, wouldn’t go so far and give them the title ‘Best Album of 2006. (they have done better).

The one album that took me by surprise was Comfort Of Strangers by Beth Orton. So, until further notice Comfort of Strangers can wear the crown of Album of the Year 2006.

 
During the end of 2005 i decided to ‘grab myself in the collar’ and take care of the concert opportunities that comes with living in London. So I ended 2005 strongly with seeing Anthony and the Johnsons, Eels, Unseen, Randy, Flogging Molly, Millencolin and Jeff Tweedy, and have followed through into 2006. Some concert reviews pre this blog can be found on my last.fm journal.

2005 I also left The Above. Which means that during 2006 I have been ‘bandless’. Think that’s one of the main reasons I have managed to get up to so much stuff. I do miss playing though, and might just pick it up again in 2007…

Below is a list of the gig’s I went to during 2006. The absolute highlights was the acoustic Foo Fighters concert and the Tindersticks concert.

1. Jason Mraz, warm up by Raul Midon

   The Mraz gig was probably this years biggest disappointment. Saw him preform an ‘absolute masterpiece’ two years prior, and this time he just managed to reach ‘average commercial ass-selling and record label selling shite’. He didn’t even get close to his potential and wasn’t even near to meet my expectations.

2. Nizlopi

   Willow almost passed out on this gig.

3. Iron & Wine and Calexico

   Saw Calexico back in 1998 in a small pub in Stockholm, Sweden. Calexico 2006 is definitely another band on stage (in a good way). For Iron & Wine the venue was a bit to big.

4. The Shins

   Read more here.

5. Foo Fighters

   One of the best concerts I’ve been to. Read more here.

6. Foo Fighters, warm up by Juliette & the Licks, Angels & Airwaves, Queens of the Stone Age, Motörhead

   The biggest concert I have ever been to. 85.000 people in Hyde Park. It was HUGE. Read more here.

7. Death Cab for Cutie

   Saw DCFC twice in 2006, first in March and then in June. Tom Hostler took me along to the March gig, and since they were so damn good, we booked tickets for June gig as well. Read more about the June concert here.

8. The Cult

   As Billy Duffy changed guitar a few songs into the set, I told Willow, “That’s probably the nicest guitar in the world”. Then, on my 28th birthday, Miss W gave me Miss G.

9. The Rolling Stones

   Read more here

10. The Veils

    Another suggestion by The Hoss, and again, another band I saw twice in 2006. Read more on Willows blog.

11. Tindersticks

    Tindersticks preforming their album Tindersticks II. Totally amazing. Read more here.

12. Hello Saferide

    The most common ’search keyword’ that brings traffic to this site is ‘songs about ocd‘. The search brings me on place nr 8 on Google and points to the post I wrote about this concert. Read the post here.

13. Tom Mcrae, Joe Purdy, Steve Reynolds, Jim Bianco

    Read more here.

14. Robyn

    A weird 5 song mini gig at a small bar in Shoreditch.

15. David & the Citizens

    See photos from this gig on Willow’s flickr

 

Travels

I have never travelled as much during a year as I have done during 2006. The weird bit is that even if I have been around a bit, I manage to have 6 holidays left towards the end of the year, which leed to an extra week off in London. To prevent this from happaning in 2007 I have already booked off 15 days of my holidays, all 15 to be spend before the second week in March.

1. San Francisco, United States of America

   Even though the year stared in San Francisco: The Lake Tahoe and San Francisco trip belongs in an non-existing 2005 review and not in this. But it [the trip] was very very nice.

2. Paris, France

   We spent Easter in Paris. Which was a bit of a disappointment. Paris was not even close to what I expected it to be…

3. Rome, Italy

   In May we went down to Rome, Italy, to celebrate my dad and his 60th birthday. It was lovely. Think the Paris trip made me realise how much i like Rome. You can read more about the Rome trip here and here.

4. Rosili Bay, Whales

   In June we went to Rhossili Bay, Swansea, Wales, with David Marks. Read more here.

5. Skelleftea, Sweden

   As a tradition done every year since I moved to London, Middsummer was spent in Skelleftea. Read more about the trip here and here.

6. Hel, Poland

   Read more about the amazing week in Hel, Poland, here

7. Skelleftea, Sweden

   Went back to Skelleftea in the end of October to celebrate my sisters 30th birthday. Read more here.

8. Newcastle, United Kingdom

   Similar to the midsummer tradition in Skelleftea, Thanksgiving is a trip to Newcastle. This year I made something special.

9. Dover, United Kingdom

   This was just a one day trip down to the white rocks in Dover. I didn’t know that it was just an hours boat trip between Dover and Calais. The Freestyle song Dover-Calais make it seem like it is at least a few hours; since in the song they meet ’somewhere between’. Read misleading lyrics here.

10. Rome, Italy

    Anyone who ever meet or knew my uncle Antonio Nuzzaci will remember the end of 2006 as a very sad moment. During the early hours of Thursday 21st of December he passed away. This cast a shadow over the ending of 2006. Willow and I flew down to Rome to attend the funeral on the 22nd of December, and then we stayed in Rome over Christmas.

11. Taranto, Italy

    Last week of the year was spent in my parents house in the south of Italy. This might have been the last time we visited Viale Die Pini 18, since a few weeks back they sold the house and are planing to move up to Tuscany. Photos from the Italy trip can be found on Willow’s flickr.

I fuckin’ love that one rock video where that fucking jack-ass mohawked millionaire prances around by far the worst sausage party on earth, where by mere chance he’s caught on film shaking hands with an incredibly diverse collection of patriotic skins. I like the message it sends: With a Rebelâ„¢ yell, Just Do Exactly What You’re Told. One million douche bags can’t be wrong? “When did punk rock become so safe?” You’ll excuse me if I laugh in your face as I itemize your receipts and PowerPoint your balance sheets. I hear this year’s Vans Warped Tour is “going green!” I guess they heard that money grows on trees. Hope they ship all those shitty bands overseas like they did the factories. Music’s power to describe, compel, renew … It’s all a distant second to the offers you can’t refuse. Anyone remember when we used to believe that music was a sacred place and not some fucking bank machine? Not something you just bought and sold? How could we have been so naïve? Well, I think when all is said and done, just cuz we were young doesn’t mean we were wrong. And I’ll rock back and forth on this two-bit hobbyhorse ‘til she splinters and gives way. I’ll tend the flowers by her grave. And whisper her name. If anyone out there understands can I please see a show of hands just so I know I’m not insane? Ever get the feeling you been played? Well, that’s rock for sustainable capitalism and you know, we may face a scorched and lifeless earth, but they’re accountable to their shareholders first. That’s how the world works.

Rock For Sustainable Capitalism is avaliable on the album Potemkin City Limits.

From billboard.com

Beck’s new Interscope album, “The Information,” could sell a million copies next week and still not be considered for placement on the U.K. album chart. The U.K.’s Official Chart Company (OCC) has ruled that the album contains cover art and packaging that give it an “unfair advantage” and therefore will not be eligible to chart in the region.

I have thought about this quite a lot during the day. My first reaction was ‘WTF’ (What The Fuck), my second was: ‘aaaaa hmmmm’, and now I’m like ‘BF?’ (Big Fucking Question Mark).

The ‘WTF’ was:
So the OCC (the U.K.’s Official Chart Company) are saying that a bonus DVD with homemade videos for each song and stickers that fans can use to create customized CD covers, has more influence on record sales than, for instance, a big corporation like Pepsi has marketing britany spears albums?

The ‘aaaaa hmmmm’ was:
So the OCC (the U.K.’s Official Chart Company) are saying that if a big corporation like Pepsi would like to give away free vouchers etc on the next Britney Spears release, their artist will not make it to the charts?

The ‘BF?’ was:
The combination of “WTF” and “aaaaa hmmmm”, which leads to the thought and question: Isn’t it a bit too late for a music chart company to state an example that music is music, and, it is music that should sell the albums rather than the marketing around the music?

Once again, from Ani Difrancos song Fuel,

“People used to make records
As in a record of an event
The event of people playing music in a room
Now everything is cross-marketing
Its about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns and drugs
You choose”

And from Propagandhis song Rock For Sustainable Capitalism

Anyone remember when we used to believe that music was a sacred place and not some fucking bank machine?