Like a pilgrim who does not see the horizon, Tropicalia Wold music, the marvelous program, born in 2003 on the airwaves of Radio Judaica, continues its long walk, and stops from time to time to make you discover, or to put back in memory, some music pages never choosed carefully. For this ninth edition, I let myself be guided by chance, and look at how well it does things right with: 

THE CARS, THE FOO FIGHTERS, TWENTY ONE PILOTS, ANGEL OLSEN, NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS, CHARLI XCX, SOFT CELL, THE SQUEEZE, L’EPEE, THE CURE, GONG, LOST GIRLS, METRONOMY, WHISPERING SONS, LES TUEURS DE LA LUNE DE MIEL, U2, CHAZ JANKEL, PRINCE, FAT WHITE FAMILY

«Bohemian Rhapsody» and «Rocket man», biopics that give birth to others

 The biography of Freddy Mercury brought to the screen on the very reasonable film «Bohemian Rhapsody» was it a trigger, still it is that the musical biopics are in vogue these last months: Judie Garland, David Bowie (in negotiation), Elvis Presley, and others being shot at this moment. Having attended “Bohemian Rhapsody” a few months ago, I waited to attend “Rocket Man”, the fictional biography of Elton John, supervised by him, to compare two angles of view of the cinematographic genre. And in fact, we are dealing with two approaches to life stories, diametrically opposed. In both biographies, for purists, mistakes are legion, but that is the least of the worries. After all, for both, these are mainstream films for which it does not matter whether the songs are performed at the right time. 

 Rami Melek in a stage scene of the film

Another important fact is that «Rocket man» was realized during the lifetime of Elton John, moreover under his direction, while «Bohemian Rhapsody» was conceived 17 years after the death of Mercury, under the intransigent eye of Brian May and Roger Taylor, Queen’s guitarist and drummer, respectively. 

 Melek with the real Brian May and Roger Tayler

 So far, nothing can affect the quality of the film I admit that the performance of actor Rami Malek in the role of Freddy Mercury has the merit of being of some restraint, and even if the character does not possess the charisma of the mythical singer of Queen, the performance resides in his gestures on stage, impressive during the famous «Live Aid», which imposes itself as the highlight of a film that does not seek to exceed a rather realistic style, focused mainly on the important relationships that the composer maintained throughout his life with characters that will matter to him. 

scene from the charity show "Live aid", the 20 minutes of show remains in the movie

The musicians actors also followed to the letter the advice of May and Taylor, while the bass player John Deacon had not participated in the development of the film. In short, for an audience that is not supposed to know the band’s life, Bryan Singer managed to make a human biography, without going too far. If «Bohemian Rhapsody» ends in 1985, before Mercury’s disease, the director avoids the inevitable pathos scenes that would have caused the last straight line of the singer touched by AIDS. He preferred to finish the biopic during these 20 minutes at Wembley, which were of crucial importance for the group that was starting to disintegrate. It took these 5 songs (visible on Youtube) to cement the relationships of the musicians, and prolong the life of the band until the death of the singer in 1992. 

«Rocket man», Elton John’s biopic by director Dexter Fletcher falls into another category. While “Bohemian Rhapsody” focused more on Mercury’s human connection in his private life, Elton’s biography insists (Taron Egerton on the screen) on the difficulty of relationships with his family, from his youth, but relates above all the decade in which the singer had lost control of his life, lost in solitude, and drowned in all sorts of destructive substances from which he managed to escape. 

 The young and shy Elton (Tagerton), lived his glam period between 1972-1975

A victory that is symbolized by the parody of the clip of «I’m still standing», the composer’s period of rebirth. In fact, the musical part of Elton’s life takes a back seat, and the songs that make up the soundtrack are based on the period 1972-1975, when 5% of the record market worked thanks to the composer of «Your song». In his autobiography Elton chose the format of the musical, with his voluntary dose of surrealism, mixing hallucination and reality, according to the wish of the singer. 

 Elton John and his love, David  Furnish, went to Cannes to present "Rocket Man" (2019)

The actors can start singing at any moment, making a side more cinematic, more glamorous but without concessions, with the risk of getting tired after 90 minutes. And in fact, this is what the spectator feels, following a lack of reference in time, of repetitive scenes or the artist gets lost in his excesses, and, succeded a «happy end» (real, that said). At the key, he regains the awareness of his talent and the path of his life thanks to an abstinence still followed today. This ten-year struggle, which Elton John finally defeated, appears as his true victory in his life, as he likes to recall during each concert as the one I saw in Lille (France), a few months ago.

Tropicalia World Music 8: Beauty!

Like a pilgrim who does not see the horizon, Tropicalia Wold music, the marvelous program, born in 2003 on the airwaves of Radio Judaica, continues its long walk, and stops from time to time to make you discover, or to put back in memory, some music pages never choosed carefully. For this eighth edition, I let myself be guided by chance, and look at how well it does things right with: WILKO JOHNSON, FATS DOMINO, THE THE, THE FIREMAN, FRED MARTINS, GABRIEL O PENSADOR, LULU SANTOS, GEORGE MICHAEL, ASTRUD GILBERTO, GARY NUMAN, GRACE JONES, IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS, JERRY HARRYSSON, HEAVEN 17, THE JAM, IGGY POP, SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, JOE JACKSON, JOAO DONATO, ISABELA TAVIANI, GORILLAZ c/ GEORGE BENSON, JACKSON DO PANDEIRO

A little reflection following the previous post…

 The box set "The Cure, 40 Live"

To compete with oldest vintage vinyl, and to try to increase the percentage of sales of the former medium and to follow up on the current popularity of the LP, a product that was not widespread in the past, the box set, luxurious object that can pay homage to a record that has marked the history of popular music (augmented by various and unknown versions), or simply the complete discography of a group or an artist, has multiplied considerably. The vinyl box set has a different – I mean glamorous- look than the CD set. And then, it sometimes makes it possible to find these 12 inches, that we sold for almost nothing to the benefit of CD’s, in the early 80s, convinced that the technical evolution was irreversible. It was to forget that man is not always in search of the latest innovation, but that there can be an affective bond of another kind, imbued in us. 

 Twins sofas, by Philippe Starck, in the 80's

An example comes to mind, even if it removes us from the musical world. In Europe, around 1985, there was a wave of very techno apartment design and decoration, the “Philippe Starck” way (famous swiss designer). The decoration was rather minimalist, dominated by the black and white which furniture with little sensual forms, with a cold aspect, marked or sharp corners. The walls  of the flat gave way to abstract paintings, most of the time. A dehumanization, from which your humble journalist succumbed, out of taste, but quickly feeling a kind of lack, and limits. 

 A flat as we saw a lot in the european  cities, around 1985

 A few years later, in a world where human warmth was also experiencing continuous climatic cooling, we witnessed a revival of rustic wooden furniture, sometimes decorated with false patinas created at the time. And the light and the colour returned to the top. We also need objects to give us comfort, because after all, we live in these settings, and life is not a film that takes place in 3025. This minimalism and coldness, synonymous with "branchitude" and the taste to show “I’m in!” (the main reason), touched fashion and other domains as well. Having worked in the gallery at this time, conceptualism, minimalism, and other cerebral arts were the works to possess. But around 1989, the great world art auction rooms witnessed the collector’s return to traditional painting, impressionism, fauvism, expressionism, giving back to the human, a place he had only wanted to leave during an experience. 

In this way, to go back to the previous post, it was almost by chance, in reenacting the 12 albums of Siouxsie and the Banshees, that I realized that each album was adorned with a cover sleeve full of life, with a careful design, often of bright colors, almost a paradox for a dark music, often tonal, which would have combined with covers as gloomy as that of another great Gothic group, Bauhaus. Siouxsie and the Banshees had succeeded in uniting the frigid atmosphere with the warmth of its beautiful covers, without anyone commenting on this paradox. Finally, still compared to the previous post, the superb cover of «Claypool Lennon Delirium», on double pink vinyl, does not make it a superior disc by its beautiful iconographic design. Even if unconsciously, packaging influences us whether we like it or not. 

 "The Sky's gone out", Bauhaus

 The tribal design of "Juju", masterpiece of Siouxsie

Let us not deceive ourselves, the music will always have the last word. And who says that the ritual that surrounds the vinyl, will not run out of breath. I don’t think he’ll disappear, but to think that MP3 will give him his place is a sweet illusion. Digital will still far surpass it for economic reasons, even if the sale of music decreases as a whole. As for the CD, it is not said that it disappears, even if its sale collapses. There is no reason why it should not have its place, and each tribute its own. And who knows, we are far from imagining the landscape of musical listening within 5 years. 

Listening: Joe Strummer, Claypool-Lennon, Siouxsie

Joe Strummer: "Box 001" .
Released in 2018, Joe Strummer’s «001» vinyl box set (1952-2002) could promise some pleasant surprises. The 3 records (and the seventh side including an unpublished title with Mick Jones, «U.S. North», written with his companion of the Clash), takes up what the angry rhythmist of the four Londoners, recorded before the first album "The Clash" (1977). Other unknown recordings were put in the box with his first band, The 101ers, others in solo, between 1975 and the date of his disappearance. We find Joe's songs accompanied by members of The Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros, and other contributions to various projects, all chosen from Strummer’s personal archives. Unfortunatly, it does not take two tunes to disappoint itself of the platitude of the tracks, which range from a rather quiet rock, some more exotic rhythms, or even an incursion in the country american style exhilarating. A fan box that makes me say that the other social freeshooter of the Thatcher era, Paul Weller (The Jam), was much more prolix and regular (and continues to be), and that if Strummer was a brilliant stage frontman, rather sympathetic and rational in interviews, his glory stories are summed up in the first album of 1977, the only one that can be described as "punk", and the untouchable «London Calling» (1979), between ska and rockabilly. The triple «Sandinista» was full of useless titles, drowned in dub reggae and rap, missing the opportunity to make a single excellent volume, and that «Combat Rock», was saved by his two hits «Rock the Casbah» and “Should I Stay or should I Go”. A little short for a rocker who worth better than that.
 

 The Claypool Lennon Delirium: “South of reality” And since we didn’t talk much about the Beatles, let’s talk about this strange but interesting second album released this year, which will surely go unnoticed by most amateurs in general, but which deserves a special mention. Released as a double album, in the format of the «Half Speed Mastering», produced by Les Clayton and Sean Lennon, «South and reality» hides behind this cover worthy of Alice in Wonderland, a set of 9 tracks that mix progressive rock, and alternative rock, without predefined rules. Celtic harmonic lines, supported by Clayton’s one bass. One finds there the defects of the genre that reigned during a part of the 70s: musical passages that draw their sources in extreme orients. Some songs recall Tears for fears, themselves, avowed sons of the Beatles, who bring the seductive pop part that saves this double album. «South of reality» deserves to be looked at, because more digestible than the productions of the same genre, and which will be able to please without effort the fans of Pink Floyd, who would like to throw themselves in a contemporary psychedelic bath. 

Siouxsie and the Banshees, vinyl reissue, above average design And since iconography is back with the return of vinyl, let’s celebrate the reissue of the 12 records of the Siouxsie and the Banshees catalogue which has always cared for its covers, always in good taste, in various styles. The minimalism «Join hands» (1979), with beautiful shades of blues on silver tones of «Peep shows» (1988); the most expressionist and enigmatic «The Scream» (1978) and «Kaleidoscope» (1980, the mannerism of Gustav Klimt of the double live «Nocturne» and “A Kiss in the dreamhouse", in "Hyaena"’s cubist memory, from the tribal «Juju», until finally, the very elegant and feminine «Superstition» and «the Rapture», the band never followed the harshness of most of its records; Each of them is a painting, and of course the priestess of the post-punk Gothic, an indispensable artist, despite an irregular discography.

Tropicalia World Music 7: No More Heroes

Going around the world begins at a certain point. In that case, it was Belgium, my birthplace, which surprised me in this «Tropicalia Worldmusic 7: No More Heroes», with the second part of the Belgian contemporary scene. But there will be many other things for curious music lovers. In this podcast, you will find:  

 The Stranglers: No more Heroes

Hugh Cornwell & The Stranglers, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Hall & Oates, Blondie, Ed Motta, Ed Motta & Marisa Monte, Trixie Whithley, Romeo Elvis, The Soul Sisters, Vaya con Dios, Wallace Collection, Machiavel, Jo Lemaire, Won Ton Ton, Stromae, Nacht und nebels, Arno, TC Matic

The art of sewing songs

There are some rare composers, particularly gifted in the "couture song". Or the «puzzle song», a technique that allows to gather little bits of songs too short to be exploited as an entity. Unfinished drafts, left in a drawer, and which they pick up one day, to join them with other parts written later, and which with a «bridge», manage to make of three drafts, a single piece completed.

Mercury, 6 pieces for one "rhapsody"

Freddy Mercury (Queen), was very good at this little game, and it suffices to quote «Bohemian Rhapsody» to illustrate this technique of assembly which can in some cases be brilliant. The musicologists distinguish 6 parts in the «Rhapsody» in question. 
Mercury had already made his mark on «Liar» of the first album (1973), before reaching a certain perfection with «The March of the Black Queen», a prowess of the album «Queen II» (1974). The same disc features another «fragmented» composition with «The Fairy Feller’s Masterstroke/ Nevermore», another small masterpiece of the genre. The exercise can be dangerous (in other words, unconvincing), when the combined work is made of drafts of different composers. On their third Queen album, “Sheer heart attack” (1974), a succession of three parts: one written by Roger Taylor (“Tenement funster”), followed by two by Mercury (“Flick of the Wrist” and “Lily of the valley”), are well connected, but their succession was not indispensable. There will still be “The Millionaire waltz” on “A Day at the race” (1976), and perhaps other works that are unknown to us behind the scenes.

The Beatles in studio, 1968

This topic came to mind as the augmented version of «Abbey road» (1969) is released these days, which Gilles Martins (the son of the genius Georges) received (as for «Sgt Peppers» and the double «White album»), the responsibility to release an anniversary version that is not indigestible. The son’s talent seems to follow that of the father and these missions were successful so far. It will end with the album.

“Let it be” (1970), which I would have exchanged with an augmented version of “Revolver” (1966), which is not planned.

«Abbey Road», the real latest Beatles album is known to contain on its B-side, the most amazing «patchworks» of the rock history that are «You never give me your money» by Paul Mc Cartney, built on 3 parts; the suite «Sun King»/ “Mean Mr Musterd”/ “Polythene Pam”/ “She came in through the bathroom window” co-authored by Paul and John; and “Golden Slumbers”/ “Carry that weight” / “The end”, which bears the mark of Mc Cartney. These three virtuoso assemblies may make «Abbey Road», the best album of the four musicians, that only the presence of «Octopus’s garden» and «Maxwell’s Silver Hammer» on the A side weakens the level of the repertoire. Replace these last two with "Old brown shoe," the underrated masterpiece by George Harrisson, and "The Ballad of John and Yoko," two songs included in this revisited version, released as single at the same time, and we had the perfect album.

Paul Mc Cartney later demonstrated his interest in these small sets of compositions on several themes. On «Ram» (1971), he created «Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey» before issuing one of the most obvious examples with «Band on the Run» (1973). In these examples, he uses the method in order to bring a climax that the listener knows he will be entitled to at some point of the song. And until the last album «Egypt station» (2018), he cannot help but indulge in this game as on «Despite repeating warning», which clearly follows 4 themes on 7 minutes, one of which is reminiscent of «Live and let die» (1973),

another song ( of the first James Bond with Roger Moore), made of several parts, whose apocalyptic instrumental remains the climax of the song. At the same time Paul composed «Venus and Mars/ Rock show» which the musician increased from «Jet», in public version. With his interlaced vocal lines, Paul could have done it again with «Silly Love song» (1976), but it would have deprived us of a delicious cross-choir exercise.

Other titles of Paul were composed in several parts, but this was the consequence of titles that were not completed, and subsequently reworked. In conclusion, this technique allows me to pay tribute to the work of Gilles Martins, who in his remixes augmented by some interesting or unpublished versions, made an honorable work, without falling into the trap of making, or giving too much!

PS: This new version of «Abbey Road» comes out these days in vinyl box set, Cd’s, and for pleasure, remastered in picture disc. For those who don’t have this essential album already on their shelves.

"A Margem" closes one of the most sensitive and intelectual triptic

Adriana Calcanhatto approaches "A margem" without letting the listener take his breath and prepare with this bossa doing with modern sound effects of Rafael Rocha, and to the surprising melody. 

Arrived late in Sao Paulo, I learned that this album that sees the singer swimming, or drowning in the middle of can and trash would be a combination of new creations, and of titles not included on Maritmo (1998) and Maré (2008) , the two components of this maritime truce. A water soiled by man, eternal guilty of natural damage that Calcanhotto denounces. But I do not want to dwell on the texts, however important they may be, for already, Os Ilhéus (Wisnik/ Cicero) and Dessa vez reveal classical beauties, and I am tired of talking about the intellectual artist, but not the one that transmits emotions to the always splendid shockwaves. A splendour that reinforces the song Tua, given to Bethania, sung with a tone at the limit of sensitivity, which equals the superb interpretation of the Bahianese. We find a song surprisingly left out composed by Pericles Cavalcanti, Marés- o principe das marés. Era pra ser, another song given in Bethania in 2016, is said to be enhanced by the crystalline sound of Portuguese guitars. The surprise that reaches me more, beyond everything (and is it due to the differences of epochs of the songs), it is the melodies that sound like classics of the best Robero Carlos and the inevitable modernity that dresses Ogunté, and scansion, like a rap of a new kind (which might well give ideas to Fernanda Abreu), without the homogeneity of the disc being reached. Only Adriana was capable of such daring, imposing herself without modesty. 

So I stay or I leave. Or I settle in Coimbra among the black buildings of the students. The trilogy will remain engraved among the most touching works of the singer. Touching and, yes, okay, an intelligence that belongs only to her

Barbara Eugênia: "Tuda", an always seductive evolution

Always seductive in her interpretations, without a desire to distinguish herself at all costs from her Paulistana colleagues, my two years away from Brazil, (due to a certain weariness of the "always the same sound"), I would not have blamed Barbara Eugênia. On the contrary, his career remains unique, always close to the cultural agitator Tata Aeroplano. And I keep in memory a show at the Oi Futuro Ipanema (RJ) scoring, to which I must be one of my best photos. In fact, what would be in hindsight, a Super band, Dona Zica who saw a long time ago, get together three of the most talented female artists in Sao Paulo, with Barbara, Anélis Assumpçao and Iara Renno, was the beginning of this women’s junes would prove us. The beautiful 'Tuda' cover reveals a more electronic sound, supported by percussions that distinguish «Tuda» from the warmth of many productions of some kind («Querencia» with Iara Renno ), preceded by a funky duo with Zeca Baleiro («Bagunça»), and anticipating the delicious «Por la lua y por tierra», another duo with Onda Vaga. Never boring, the only reproach would be an abusive use of the reverberation that makes more robotic than Barbara’s voice (perhaps this is the desired goal), that we have known more «human» and feminine. But nothing that makes 'Tuda' out of current productions. Brilliant guitars walks on the whole album, by Tata Aeroplano, at least, I guess

Simple reflections on bossa nova and samba.

 Joao Gilberto (1931--2019)

The passing of a Brazilian musical symbol such as João Gilberto a few weeks ago did not have an impact, as one might expect. This leads us to reflect a little on these two styles, the Bossa Nova and the Samba, associated with Rio de Janeiro, and to wonder why one of the two styles keeps a healthy (and fortunately!), while the other, seems definitively to the Brazilian musical museum, under a layer of dust. And to wonder why, paradoxically, outside Brazil, the Bossa surpasses the samba, significantly. 

1. La Bossa nova abroad 

Chet Baker (1928--1988)

-Seen from abroad, Bossa is built on American hamonic foundations, jazz, although its basic rhythm is samba, of African origin, on a slower pace. In 1964, bossa gained international status in the United States, not only thanks to Stan Getz, but other big names like Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, singers like Ella Fitgerald, Chet Baker, and of course Frank Sinatra. With the help of great Brazilian names com Jobim, João Gilberto, or Sergio Mendes. The «song» format of the bossas - we will come back to it - will assimilate the style with more ease. 

 -The recovery of the bossa by the commercial world made it common to us, and it would be interesting to study the condition of each one, in a bossa atmosphere, cool, of little disturbing volume, which earned him the title of elevator music. A climate anything but stressful, in an America then in full economic boom. We are relaxed, therefore, we consume. Musically, however, the harmonies of the style are much more complex than those of the samba. 

-The Americans, still commercially imaginative, in the 1960s described everything and anything as “bossa nova”, from the fashionable fridge to creating a dance that even was non-existent in Brazil. 

-Since the late 1960s, many musical movements have assimilated bossa, and continue to do so. Even England was won by fever and groups such as The Style Council, Everything but the Girl, Sade or Matt Bianco adopted its musical aestheticism. 

 Sade Adu, bossa,  jazz, in glamorous style

 -Other trendy atmospheres, starting in the 80s, such as Lounge music, perfectly matched this search for climate (more than music) 

-The mystery remains, but the Japanese market is immense, and many Brazilian Bossanovist artists live a career there independent of their homeland. 

 -The English DJ’s, which are also the cause of the return of vinyl, have by their curiosity rediscovered artists like Marcos Valle, Joyce Moreno and others, giving them a second life. 

-The economy of medium (voice/ guitar), have facilitated the integration of style in bars, restaurants, but once again, more as a background musician. 

 -Still, some songs like “A Garota de Ipanema”, “Samba do verão”, Desafinado, “Maria Ninguém”, and a few others have been real classics musically. 

2-Bossa nova, on the other hand, born of the creativity of some inventive musicians, was created, as we know, in the Copacabana apartments, around 1958, and was interpreted intimately for this reason. 

 Bossa Jam scession, in  the  apartment of Menescal

-As stated above, bossa is song music. Good, middle-class, upper-class young people, meanwhile, the samba rodas were sung to the lungs, in the open air, with some quantity of beer, but, and they were often given an improvised “timing”. 

 -This does not mean that the samba player is a lesser musician, as evidenced by the choro, a rather instrumental style that requires great dexterity. Even if great sambistas (sometimes from the choro), like Cartola (photo), Nelson Cavaquinho or Paulinho da Viola have created some of the most beautiful pages of the samba, it is a variant not exported, and the vision of the «gringo» restricted to a frenetic hypnotic rhythm, which characterize the sambas-enredo, that is to say the sambas of carnival competition, perceived by foreigners as musically poor. São Paulo has also known great authors of sambas of classics little known outside Brazil. 


 -Once again, the mystery remains with the Japanese who have many samba schools. 

 -Consider the golden age of samba between 1920 and 1930, sometimes known as the marchinha, whose often humorous or even naughty texts had difficulty crossing the border because of language. The first samba schools were born at that time. 

 -To be popular and festive, everyone can improvise and participate in a “pagode”. 

 A tambourine, and it’s samba until past the hour... 

 A metal can will do the job, in short, we can hardly imagine a band of musicians proposing to celebrate by singing all night from bossas novas. 

-Following some singers of bossa nova, there is a desire to change the genre. First by mingling with the sambistas of the favelas (like Nara Leão); then by politicizing the texts at the beginning of the 1964 dictatorship. It was the end of love, of smiles and flowers, and of his indolence. 


 -Finally, while the pillars of the bossa do not follow, the waves of new generations of samba follow one another with talent. In addition, almost every state possesses its characteristics concerning the elements of the samba (rhythms, harmonies, instruments), while the bossa remains a fixed style. 

 Conclusion: these few remarks make sense, but why, unlike jazz, did the bossa remain chilly. There is no doubt that historians such as Cravo Albin, Nelson Motta, Rui Castro, Sergio Cabral and others have points of view to present, and here I am no longer posing as a journalist, but as a curious person about the history of music. The fact that Brazil is a country of celebration seems to me to be a very weak response in a country that has a number of virtuoso folk music beyond the average, and I am not satisfied with the eternal dichotomy of “erudite music” and “festive music”. What light, joy and rhythms are not found in Egberto Gismonti, Hamilton de Holanda or Hermeto Pascoal…. 

Tropicalia World Music 6: Banana Split!

As promised, part of the program «Tropicalia Worldmusic n°6: Banana Split», will be dedicated in part to the Belgian contemporary scene. And be prepared to be surprised. 30 minutes, of hits, followed for the next two broadcasts of two more alternative broadcasts. But there will be many other things for curious music lovers. In this podcast, you will find : Plastic Bertrand, Lio, Arno, The Kids, Telex, Stromae, Selah Sue, Axelle Red, Inner City, Fernanda Abreu, Zélia Duncan, Fernanda Takai, Garoto, Hunters & Collectors, AC/ DC, David Bowie, The Beatles, Thomas Dolby, Jacques Dutronc, The Specials

Looking for clues!

 at the time of the Modern Sound

Sunday 21th September! Decision to take a short walk to the Livraria Paulista, at the Conjunto Nacional de Sao Paulo. But first, “Rewind” over 30 years and a commented graphic on music purchases: LP, CD, DVD, Box Sets, Shows, Documentaries, Books, etc. Iremember of a story from 1995. The great jazz singer Leny Andrade, on her way to my hotel apartment, for an interview that almost had to be revived with a glass of whisky (which she was holding anyway!), at the sight of 6 cases of cds purchased. By this time, vinyl had already disappeared from the displays, but, the CD’s were at its peak, and the figure of one million copies was not uncommon. 

At 6 weeks per year of travel, I had to be kept up to date, and I prepared 4 suitcases, in addition to those allowed by an express freight system to Europe. I specify that the real/euro exchange was to the advantage of the gringo, and that, having little opportunity to see shows, the dvds, were precious to me. It was the time of the mega-store Modern Sound in Rio de Janeiro, who knew his customers and could guide them according to their tastes. A service that disappeared a long time ago in megastores. But it is a worldwide phenomenon, which seems to have come back with the return of vinyl. Later, around 2010, a visit to a specialized store consisted of 4 or 5 albums, a DVD, and a book. Today I was turned into a water seeker in the middle of the desert. At the Livraria, I found painfully 3 LP(that I don’t bought) not very interesting, but nothing at the level of Cds or dvds. I think I broke my record, in other words, zero cents spent getting it out of the store. Zero purchases— I was on the verge of depression! Same result regarding international products. And shelves like magazines had been deleted. That’s when the question arises. Can you work in a country where the very substance of the job is so difficult to get. Some weeks ago, the last Springsteen, was available the same week from his Rolling Stones USA column, in stores in Brussels. How the Brazilian can listen (apart from streaming), the excellent discs of The Raconteurs or The Nationals. We go back in time, and the best albums will be found in the small shops of the city center. A surreal situation. Megastores now only offer boxes that combine the complete work of an artist at prices that few people can afford. This is moreover the conclusion that personal marketing. After this wave of interest for the vyniles, we’ll come back to the MP3, and who knows even the CD’s. Other unnecessary products, memorablia boxes, such as the one launched during the Beatles’ Sgt Peppers…. They contained separately accessible products such as the double Cds albums, a book, a poster, a polo, in short, nothing enriching. The ultimate proof of this shortage is that journalists (with the possible exception of major press organizations), are increasingly rarely receiving new albums on the market. in MP3. And yet, if we bury the importance of the rock columnist, I remain confident. The multitude of internet exits is so abundant, that we will come to the “rescue”, to ears that have a knowledge over several decades… Otherwise, I’m not sure where we’re going… The passive auditor phenomenon could very well happen. Please be curious, and believe me, the joy of discovering a hidden talent is a happiness that has no price.

Tropicalia World music 5: Cars

Number 5 of the Tropicalia Worldmusic broadcast, a new format for Radio Judaica Belgium’s Tropicalia MPB radio show (90.2 fm), recorded and split into podcast.

This program illustrates in part the 4 articles posted on the blog «Art et Musique Populaire, comme excuse » : https://tropicaliaworlmusic.blogspot.com, blog in in French, English and Portuguese.

And there will be many other news to present to you. More details on the Tropicalia Woldmusic page on facebook

Gary Numan, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Stranglers, The Human League, Joe Jackson, Spandau Ballet, Heaven 17, AntônioCarlos Jobim, John Lennon, Paul Mc Cartney, Queen, Banda Eddie, Chico Buarque & Gal Costa, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Roxy Music

Record of the week-Arno/ "Santeboutique"

The only thing Arno has in common with this blog is the three languages. He does not sing in Portuguese, of course, but he delivers his songs in English, French, or Flemish sometimes. While I’m studying a compilation for a special Belgian show, here comes Arno’s new album, “Santeboutique”. And this column is for everyone. 

Arnold Charles Ernest Hintjens, of his real name is perhaps well among the 10 artists that symbolizes Belgium, since he sang with his band TC MATIC (from 1977 to 1986), «Oh lal la la», with his guitars in razor blades. For those of you who don’t know it. It’s simple. Arno’s definition is simply “a Belgian artist from the 1980s”. But you thought I wouldn’t stop there. Besides being Belgian, he’s from the coastal town of Ostend. Or better, Oostende, where he was born in 1949. This is where the blogger is stuck. Oostende is a city full of images, stories, artistic importance. Oostende, a great port whose ugliness is its beauty. It is the English Liverpool, German Hamburg, Le Havre français, or the Dutch Rotterdam. It was mainly the town of James Ensor (1860-1940), the world’s first expressionist painter (not Van Gogh), the son of Jérome Bosh and Breughel.

It is also the city of Spilliaert that the singer cites in the icy and superb «Oostende goodevening». Spilliaert (1960-1946), and his painter watercolour and symbolist, made this anguish of loneliness with a coldness that would drive to suicide. And this coldness still exists, as soon as the month of October arrives, these days. Frustration gains me when talking about Oostende. Arno, that’s it. The grotesque of Ensor, regional festivals such as the «Bal du rat mort». And the blacks and whites of Spilliaert in the musical colours of the strident guitars Paul Decoutere and Frans Van Aerts of TC MATIC. As I pointed out during a program, Oostende was also the city chosen by Marvin Gaye, to flee show business in 1980. Arno became a comrade and even the cook of the soul legend. The comercial successes of Arno, post Tc Matic are limited to Belgium with some cult titles Putain putain (these are really good, we are all Europeans! ), Bathroom singer, She loves black, Eyes of my mother, I want to swim, Chic and cheap. He developed a specialty of original covers and offset by French standards, which opened up a wider audience for him (Les Filles du bord de mer d'Adamo, Le Bon Dieu de Jacques Brel, Comme à Ostende de Jean-Roger Caussimon et Léo Ferré, Elisa de Serge Gainsbourg, Sarah de Georges Moustaki, Pauvres diables (Vous femmes) de Julio Iglesias, Knowing me, knowing you by ABBA, Get up, stand up by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh), and even both, the medley Jean Baltazaarr, La fille du Père Noël/Jean Genie by Jacques Dutronc/David Bowie, with Beverly Jo Scott. Abandoning English somewhat over time, his music remains a vast mix, the accordion alongside the electric guitar. It is on stage that he takes on his true dimension as evidenced by his live albums En Concert (French style) released in 1997 and Live in Brussels in 2005 where one finds performances of Les Yeux de ma mère. Loved by a trendy French audience, Arno was too Belgian for the English, I find a lot of Charlelie Couture in the work of Arno or Tom Waits. And Brel of course. This daily life of the people, but also a lot of what concerns his own life. Yes, you have to be Belgian to understand Arno 100%. But not to understand his music. I was afraid that at the beginning, his stuttering, his difficulty in searching for words, would discredit him in the eyes of the French public. But his music, very post punk and his texts, as well as his charisma on stage reassured me. And then there was always this image of the Parisians of the Belgian close to the innocent in the village. That’s when I like to have ridiculous prejudices because if France is not strictly speaking a country of rock, its amateurs know what they are talking about. It was not difficult to meet Arno one evening in the centre of Brussels. Even with his curved appearance, his stature of a meter 95, his santiags, dressed in black, pepper and salt hair, and the evenings spent in the Halles Saint-Géry district, he was rather endowed with a sense of humour that even his diction did not disturb. Among his 15 solo albums, sometimes irregular, «Santeboutique» will be part of his beautiful pages, where one can find the rock of his beginnings that dominates (Ca chante», «Lady Alcohol») or the funk («Flashback blues»), some texts «non sense» («Les saucisses de Maurice»), about the pathetic couple («Naturel», «Santeboutique»), and in the end an album without weak point, rock but produced for broadcast, and a little pearl for this year. 

ARNO/ “Santeboutique” (Excellent!) 

Tropicalia World wide 4: Going Underground

Another inter-globalist programme, recorded two weeks ago in Brussels, of the new formula of the former Tropicalia MPB, born on Radio Judaica in 2003, and which turns to French, Portuguese and English-language music. We’ll just have to listen to another delicious program, the fifth, and we’ll get right into it. The new concept! Always a program essentially musical, but more interactive, little by little. I invite you to listen to 90 minutes of music with:

The Jam, Lenine, The Smiths, Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates, Fleetwood Mac, Los Hermanos, Lobao, The Beatles (2), Queen, Van Halen, Véronique Sanson, Michel Jonasz, Djavan (2), Egberto Gismonti, Belô Velloso, Bernard Lavillier, Talk Talk

After the Sex Pistols, six musical years that go in all directions (4)

 Donna Summer, et "I Feel love", recorded in Germany, only with synthesizers by Giorgio Moroder. She was in a good mood that day...

The groups of the New Wave that followed 1977 already had a past, but they found in this period an exciting maturity. We will not dwell on the history or their path, but some cities were the place of their development like Sheffield, Manchester, Coventry, and obviously London. The New Wave, or post punk, is a chapter too important and diversified to be developed in a single post, but just to remember, here are some trends that have entered the English decade of the 80’s (we will not include the American stage, even if it forged ties with the British, mainly following the «groove» of the disco which, from 1977 to 1979, invented a music and a lifestyle inherited from the German Giogio Moroder, and its hypnotic rhythms entirely designed by its synthesizers, on which Dona Summer («I Feel love») seemed to be in a special sensual mood!). And while the Kraftwerk synthesizers, which made the sound of many English bands, stay far from American sounds, the post punk found in the american black scene, links that it did not cultivate with the US «white» scene. Add to that a strong influence from Jamaica, and we have three ingredients that made the days of the best New Wave English names.

Before citing some trends, it is rather surprising to note, as was said in the preceding text, that once the late 1980s and the exhaustion of most of the groups that delighted England and Europe, there was an abandonment of the «look», which characterized this decade, and we saw the appearance of artists who could be described as «punk», musically! 
This seemingly anachronistic fact is due to the fact that they did not focus on any attitude, but that they were real musicians who played a rock without concession. These ensembles exist until today and are known as part of the «Oi! » scene. Do not ask me why this name, which found its American correspondent in the hardcore. That late punk music was quickly associated with musicians from the popular class, close to hooliganism. 

                     Ex-ultravox, John Foxx was one of the most inventive with his unlikely machines

To get back to “post punk”, starting in 1978, synthesizers became democratic, polyphonic and dominated John Foxx’s cold wave, The Human League (in his first two non-commercial albums), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the dark, more melodic, Soft Cell (sado maso gay electro trend!) or Gary Numan, who behind a cold look lined up a series of irresistible hits. And there were many others. 

 "No Stop Erotic Cabaret", first album of Soft Cell, with Marc Almond and Dave Ball, and the famous "tainted love"

But the guitar kept its place with a gothic scene led by The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees or Bauhaus. Quite close to them, a dark and depressive scene with Joy division, Sister of Mercy or Cockteau Twins appear at the same time. 

Hard to be more Gothic, Siouxsie Sioux...

                                         .... or suicidal with Joy Division, and its leader Ian Curtis (left)

On the other hand, the New Romantics targeted the charts with their pop glam dancing, like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, or others who had a single hit career like Visage, all children of David Bowie, at a time when the clips, and therefore the visual, equaled the music (for the best of them). 

 the success of Duran Duran was not far from the Beatlemania, at least the time of three albums

 Adam & the Ant integrated tribal rhythms into their first two excellent records, which brought them an originality that the others did not have

The time was full of marquis clothes, jabots, high boots and pirate costumes as worn by Adam and the Ants, a band whose first two albums will be remembered. Soon after, a light «sylvestre» pop was born, whose best representatives were China Crisis, Aztec Camera, Haircut 100, or Tears for Fears. In the midst of these dozens of bands, a few free electrons, sometimes electronic, sometimes more organic like Echo and the Bunnymen, Depeche mode, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, XTC, Paul Haig, the Scots of Big Country and Simple Minds, The Pretenders, Thomas Dolby, The The, The Irish preachers of U2, and of course The Police. 

 Like many of these bands, Simple Minds, released 4 great unknown records, and lost its originality from its first success, "Don’t you".

                   Japan was considered like a New Romantic band, but their music was much more sofisticated

The New Wave became really mainstream, and the bands became more pop and commercial, like Culture Club, Yazoo, Kajagoogoo, or Bananarama. It was the beginning to feel exploitation at the expense of creation. Sometimes it was also the limit of the good taste. Even if bands like ABC, Swing out Sister, The Style Council, Ian Dury and the Blockheads or Wham!, drinking at the source of the «black funk», came with irresistible “skuds” that gave them access to the first places of the English and European charts. 

Plastic funk? ABC was one of the English bands to confess his love for the black funk US

Finally, in a more art-rock niche, along the lines of Eno and Roxy Music, Japan was unparalleled, and Talk Talk would distinguish itself in 1986 with “The Colour of Spring”.

And to finish on a very skilful and childish note, a series of groups were going to shock the young people on the dance floors: Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, or The Specials, were making the ska reborn, 1950’s frenzied style in Jamaica, then under English tutelage, through the 2-tone label. The ska, long before reggae, which dates back to the late 1960s, was meant to be multiracial, hence the record covers dominated by black and white checkers.

The Specials, and the checkered design of the 2-tone label

Around 1985, however, the drop in quality still saw the appearance of some cult groups, I mean “one” group, The Smiths, one of the greatest English quartet (very English!), which proved that with a classical formation: guitar (Johnny Marr), bass, drums and vocals (Morrissey), we could still invent a poetry that took to the guts, and this, in only 4 albums and about twenty singles. 

 The Smiths, led by Morrissey (text) and Johnny Marr, four albums that were indispensable between 1984 and 1987

It is on purpose that I will not quote major American groups, to avoid an indigestible enumeration, but we will come back to that. The purpose of these 4 (long) posts was to evoke initially the overestimation of the punk movement, which was not a real one, but which had the merit to show to all these artists, some of whom will become immense. It is however surprising that musical literature has long denigrated this first half of the 1980s, calling it artificial, but we must go back to the time and imagine (I remember very well!), that synthesizers were not unanimous. Even a non-musician, succeded to create the sound of a orchestra with three fingers! But the balance of time restored things to their importance, and it will be left to Malcolm Mc Laren’s protégés (and other less important groups), that it will accelerate the outbreak of the New Wave under its various expressions…or maybe not!!  Whatever... If it was the case, that is not a lesser credit!