Magnus

Strike a Pose.

Big beats. Slogans. 'Encore'. 'Get on the stage'. Fat basslines. Electronic engineering. Dancemasters. Pose.

Too young to rock 'n roll. French Movies. Côte d'Azur Feeling Good. Positive Party Vibe. Loved it very much.

04 pm. VOGUE.

The Body Gave You Everything.

Smack My Bitch Up.

'Débarquant voici trois ans avec The Body Gave You Everything, le binôme derrière Magnus fera son grand retour derrière les platines pour un dj set endiablé. Tout d’abord, nous avons Tom Barman, leader du groupe rock dEUS, dont on connaît le goût pour l’électronique, le jazz (une compilation à son actif sur Blue Note) mais aussi pour la drum and bass. A l’inverse, CJ Bolland est, quant à lui, un DJ reconnu sur les scènes dance et house, ce qui ne l’empêche pas d’avoir un background musical hors du commun. Alliant à nouveau leur force le temps d’une soirée, les deux hommes vous feront passer un pur moment d’hédonisme musical sans pour autant quitter le dancefloor !'

The Moon Rocks.

The Tube, London_2002

Black & Blue

Of course, it’s the Stones Album from 1976, the first without Mick Taylor and introducing Ron Wood. Keith & Mick tried Rory Gallagher, Jeff Beck, Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins and Ron Wood who was a free agent after the split of The Faces in 1975. And Ronnie got it! Not his guitar but the influence of black music gives the album it’s name and it’s the talent of the late great Billie Preston that adds an enormous extra to the familiar Stones recipe. Black and Blue might be an underrated album but nobody can overlook Melody because of Billie’s piano. And because of an anecdote that you can find in a lot of Violence Against Women studies. In June 1976, Atlantic Records put up a billboard on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles to promote the new record. It showed a bruised and bound woman saying, "I'm 'Black and Blue' from the Rolling Stones —and I love it!" A new organization, called Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW), protested to Atlantic. And… the company took down the billboard.

Now this entry is not entirely about the Stones. It’s about yesterday’s election in Belgium. The government got beaten. They are liberals (blue) and socialists (red) and they are known as Paars (purple). Since 1999 this is the coalition that governs the country. Today, I’m sure, they are analyzing in depth but in a few quotes I’ll try to synthesize what they told yesterday in a first reply to defeat.
- There is no progression by left side parties anywhere in Europe.
- We lacked enthusiasm.
- There is a lot we did the wrong way.
- We were too modest about everything this government did in the past.
- There’s nothing wrong with the way we tried to explain things.
- There’s nothing wrong with our program…
Most votes in the Flemish part of Belgium went to the centre party (CD&V) and to everyone else right of centre. ‘Good management’ and ‘Credibility’ were CD&V’s slogans to take more than 30%. They made a profit out of the failures of Verhofstadt’s government. Like Purple did 8 years ago when CD&V and it’s partners made the same mistakes. The majority of the voters went for it and so now it’s time for something else. But it will not be something completely different.
And what about Black and Blue? It was the old left wing crocodile, Louis Tobback, who predicted years ago that Purple was going to be Black and Blue in the end. That's what I call vision.

Smart crocodile!
Mind you: this is not about what happened in Wallonia. We are two countries. I knew it and yesterday’s result proved it to be right. The majority in Flanders wants to change the foundation of the country, that’s what CD&V’s 30% is telling us. But on the other side of the language border nobody is interested.
Good luck, Mister Prime Minister, Belgium is yours.
What do I think? I’m shocked. People cannot stop nagging. They keep on going. Even when there is almost nothing left to nag about. There is no new government yet but, come on, let’s start complaining right here, right now.

World's End 'by the river,' London_2007

Baby it's You

"Death Proof is bloody, stupid and buoyant in a kind of infantile way, celebrating mayhem and flesh and gore…” (Stephen Hunter in The Washington Post). No offense taken by the director, I can imagine. This one is supposed to be silly and stupid. In the theatre where I saw it, people were wetting themselves laughing out too loud. In my head I heard Tarantino giggle non stop and I saw him in the movie enjoying himself to death surrounded by ugly girls. Death Proof is a tribute to Road-, Carchase-, Slasher-, Exploitation- and Sexploitation-movies from the sixties and seventies. It’s a tribute to B-movies and that B might stand for bad. There’s a lot of conversation. Girltalk. Yeah, boring. But it's the kind of conversation you’re not familiar with as a man so you keep listening with an embarassed grin on your face. Be always aware that it’s girltalk written by a man. So, double fun.

Sidney Tamiia Poitier & Brigitte Bardot: barefooted

This is what makes this one different and unforgettable to some of us:
Lapdance (Vanessa Ferlito from CSI: New York); baby it’s you by Smith (from A Group Called Smith, 1969); Zoe Bell (Uma Thurman’s stunt double in Kill Bill) as herself; Lebanon, Tennessee; could Pete Townshend have been a member of Dave, Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich?; jump cuts; Kurt Russell crying and drinking Four Roses Bourbon in his wrecked car; Sidney Poitier’s daughter in her thong style bodyshorts; Willy Deville’s it’s so easy (from the soundtrack of Cruising, 1980) on the radio; the Soldier Blue-filmposter; the yellow Mustang; laisse tomber les filles by Serge Gainsbourg=chick habbit by April March …
I Had a good time!

Tip: Enjoy baby it’s you by Smith on YouTube.

Smith is/was a one hit-wonder from Saint Louis, Missouri. The singer is Gayle McCormick.

Gayle McCormick from Smith

Smith performs the weight (original by The Band) on the soundtrack of Easy Rider. It’s also from the A Group Called Smith album.

V & A & Kylie & WWII, London_2007

Idols (I)

Discover. Get excited. Milestones & landmarks. Never to forget Idols that inspire. Adoration. Admiration. Respect. Positive vibrations.

O N E

Prince and The Revolution, live Parade Tour in Brussels (Vorst) August, 1986

T W O
Prince, live Sign O' The Times Tour in Antwerp (Sportpaleis) June, 1987

http://users.skynet.be/newpowersoul/belgium/prince_in_belgium_index.htm

So what is there to say about an artist who himself lost faith in the recording industry and in show business? He performs 21 nights in London this summer. Prince will kick off with 7 concerts in the doomed dome that's now officially called the O2 Arena.

I would never miss such an occasion, but... Something happened to my connection with the imp of the perverse. I feel that he is a brilliant has been. He used to do something to me with every record or song, word or note, his guitar, his piano, his drumming and his dirty dancing with Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Sheila E, Cat and even Candy Dulfer.

I will never forget the opening of the 1987 concert in Antwerp. It's June and too hot inside a sold out Sportpaleis. Now, here is one of the true great music-moments in my live.

It's at the very beginning of the concert. It's dark. Oh Yeah. Imagine the rhythm-track of Sign O' The Times. It's an anthem in itself, it knocks you out, a beat and sound you can pick from a million. Prince & Cat, extremely high up on the stage, wind blowing through their clothes, yellow and orange lights, Cat turns like a dancing dervish, Prince gives a Hendrix-inspired guitar performance, licking and bending and beating the six strings and he ruins his throat singing In France a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name. High on his heels he pushes and rides against Cat's ass. But if a night falls and a bomb falls Will anybody see the dawn? I'm all goosebumps, start to cry and cannot stand the thought that in a few moments this is going to be all over. It's the sign... of the Times. Than there's the drumming of a live band and it's coming from behind. The band marching in. Sheila E is leading the pack and they are all banging a drum. Eric Leeds, Dr. Fink, Levi Jr., Atlanta Bliss, you name them. There's tears all over my face and I don't want to hide them. This is a magical mystery moment. And all of a sudden it's Play in the Sunshine. Still a genius performing but the magic is gone.

I'm 100% sure the genius will be in the O2 Arena but it cannot beat that perfect momentum in the summer of 1987. If I'm in London in the summer of 2007 I'll visit HOW WE ARE, Photographing Britain in Tate Modern. If you pay 31,21 £ you can see Prince. 3121 is the title of his new album. I did not get it. My Prince was here for the last time 20 years ago.

Millenium Dome aka O2 Dome, London_2007

Angels can be Little Devils

Taste This :

• Fairport Convention/Sandy Denny who knows where the time goes (from Unhalfbricking, 1969). Died when she was only 31. Here drinking partners included John Bonham and Keith Moon.
• Nancy Sinatra bang bang (from How does that grab you, 1966). It's Sinatra does Cher. It's the hazy twang that gets on your nerves and gives you the headache.
• Jolie Holland mexican blue (from Springtime Can Kill You, 2006). She is a Be Good Tanya. Spooky voice, ghostly song. Texas born but sounds as if she is Canadian.
• Julee Cruise falling (from Floating into the night, 1989). The roadmap to Twin Peaks. Now you can be sure to get lost.
• Maria McKee if love is a red dress (from I'm gonna soothe you, 1993). She is an excellent singer and dito songwriter but this one is on the list because it's an uppercut of a song.
• Mazzy Star/Hope Sandoval fade into you (from So Tonight That I Might See, 1993). So much of that ultimate craving and still you keep yearning for more.
• Abba/Agnetha Fältskog & Anni-Frid Lyngstad s.o.s. (from Abba, 1975). The Blond and The Red. In S.O.S. the haunting mix of their voices reaches a climax.
• The Chemical Brothers/Beth Orton where do i begin (from Dig Your Own Hole, 1997). Always melancholic and she gives something of the seventies to every song she touches. The Chemicals and William Orbit's muse.
• Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris love hurts (from Grievous Angel, 1974). Every song needs stardust. Without a little Emmylou there is not enough of the hurting kind.
• Air/Beth Hirsch all i need (from Moon Safari, 1998). She is able to pump a soul and some magnetic poetry into French kitsch.
• This Mortal Coil/Elizabeth Frazer song to the siren (from It'll End In Tears, 1998). Landmark. Example. The song is a cathedral and who needs a choir when she is in the neighbourhood?
• Isobel Campbell bird in the wood (from Milkwhite Sheets, 2006). Let's forget about Belle & Sebastian. Delicate and lush. Plays a cello.
• Aimee Mann going through the motions (from The Forgotten Arm, 2005). You forget her left arm and than you get punched by the right. She's got a large anchor tattooed on that one.
• Ane Brun laid in earth (from A Temporary Dive, 2005). Born in Molde, lives in Stockholm. Det er ikke grensesprengende å la seg inspirere av Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, Sandy Denny og Fairport Convention og mer samtidige navn som nevnte DiFranco, Kristin Hersh og Beth Orton.
• Ani DiFranco fuck you (from Dilate, 1996). "I do it for the joy it brings, cause I'm a joyful girl. 'Cause the world owes us nothing, we owe each other the world."
• Astrud Gilberto agua de beber (from Nova Bossa: Red Hot on Verve, 1965). All you need is drinking water and someone to sing about it in Portuguese.
• Iggy Pop & Kate Pierson candy (from Brick by Brick, 1990). The name of the other bombergirl is Cindy Wilson. Check out http://www.lazymeadow.com/. Kate runs a motel in Woodstock, New York.
• Cowboy Junkies/Margo Timmins i'm so lonely i could cry (from The Trinity Session, 1988). The second album of the Junkies was recorded at Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity. Except for one song it was recorded in a 14-hour session. Softly, softly, what a whisper.
• Vanessa Paradis the future song (from Vanessa Paradis, 1992). 'Depuis 1998 elle vit avec l'acteur américain Johnny Depp. Ils ont deux enfants: Lily-Rose Melody, né le 27 mai 1999 et Jack John Christopher III, né le 9 avril 2002.' (Wikipedia)
• The Velvet Underground with Nico femme fatale (from The Velvet Underground, 1967). At 15 she was sent to Ibiza for a photoshoot and met this photographer who named her Nico as a tribute to his departed Greek lover. High cheekbones, heavy make-up, heavy accent.
• Cat Power love & communiation (from The Greatest, 2006). Alias Chan Marshall. Chan is pronounced Shawn. Raw intimacy with a gruff, chalky confidence. Huh?
• Martha Wainwright bloody mother fucking asshole (from Martha Wainwright, 2005). Her father is famous. Her mother is famous. Her brother is Rufus. Martha is the youngest. Born in 1976 in Westchester, New York.
• Marianne Faithfull as tears go by (from 1964). She is living het fifth decade as a recording artist. In 1973 she performed at an NBC TV-show with David Bowie. They sang Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe. Marianne was dressed as a nun.
• CocoRosie/Bianca & Sierra Casady armageddon (from Noah's Ark, 2005). They are sisters, born in separate states and raised all over the map. Since their first album they became inseparable.
• Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins somebody else's clothes (from Rabbit Fur Coat, 2006). Had small roles in Baywatch, Golden Girls and Roseanne. In her own words, Rabbit Fur Coat is a "sort of soul record."

I stopped at 25. Kept 47 to myself. I'm sparing my Little Devils. I'll post a black list in the near future.


Ave Maria Lane, London_2007