Louisiella

Photo

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:23:46 +0000

I really like ballet. Normally if I “like” something I’m completely obsessed with...

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:23:00 +0000

I really like ballet. Normally if I “like” something I’m completely obsessed with it for a while, then get over it. My interest in ballet seems to have developed in a way that I can only assume is how normal people get interested in things, gradually, rationally and over a lifetime. I’ve had the good luck to see some of the most wonderful productions at the Royal Opera House in London and recently saw Giselle as part of their latest season. Giselle is the ballet I’ve been dying to see in recent years. Giselle herself is a female character with more than a little of the Ophelia about her. We probably guess it’s not going to end well when she enters in Act I; innocently plucking at flowers but also frequently stifling a swoon to show us that she’s of delicate health. She’s seduced by a stranger to the village, who soon turns out to be not simply an anonymous neighbour but in fact an undercover prince, and an engaged one at that. The dramatic revelation when it finally comes is too much for Giselle, who, after losing the plot and dancing with invisible partners and picking some invisible flowers, succumbs to her weak heart and dies. In Act II her grave is visited by a group of female spirits, eternal jilted brides who died before they were married and now haunt the nighttime woods to wreak sinister revenge on unsuspecting wanderers. The spirits raise Giselle from her grave to join them, only to chance upon Giselle’s double-crossing prince, who is visiting her grave site to make amens for his wrongdoings. The group surround him in their somber white veils and enchant him into a dance to the death. Giselle though, forgiving her prince and determined that he should avoid this fate, helps him dance until it’s time for sunrise when the spirits disappear, taking with them their newest arrival, Giselle.

Ballet is completely ordered, it might often seem spontaneous and impulsive if done well, but the rigid hierarchy, choreography and symbolism behind these most traditional of dances mean that there’s never a toe out of place. The storyline usually involves a relationship between a man and a woman but it usually also features a community which one or both of the characters belongs to. The ballet company works like tiers of a wedding cake, groups will perform dances, usually in decreasing numbers and with increasing technical feats until all previous performance is distilled into the final dance between the two principles. Their final dance can be seen as the essence of the ballet.

Ballet is at its most beautiful when at its most sorrowful and I suppose that’s what makes Giselle such a great ballet. The dance as a lament is hardest to do, both from a technical point of view since it is often set to slower music and requires greater physical control and balance and also from an emotional performance point of view because technical genius is nothing if you can’t move people.

I don’t know any ballet dancers, in fact I don’t know anyone who knows any ballet dancers. Are there not many of them? What are they like? I just can’t fathom the mindset you’d need to train like the hardestcore athlete 80% of the time then spend the remaining 20% on stage acting like your heart is breaking with centuries-old orchestration as your soundtrack and magical landscapes as your surroundings.

Sidenote: I loved the 1948 film The Red Shoes when I was little. Its the kind of film that I was encouraged to watch and yet secretly thought they clearly had no idea of the contents of the film because it was so disturbing and insane.

The Red Shoes.

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:22:00 +0000

The Red Shoes.

Of all the singing voices I’ve ever heard, without doubt...

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:20:00 +0000

Of all the singing voices I’ve ever heard, without doubt my favourite one is Harry Nilsson’s. I just think it’s the best.

Nilsson was ever-present on the peripheries of events that shaped popular musical history throughout the sixties and seventies. He was Lennon’s partner in crime during the eighteen-month-long Yoko-less period John called his “Lost Weekend”. Both Mamma Cass and Keith Moon died in his London flat. If I’m not selling it, just remember, it’s all about the voice.

Starting his career working night shifts in a bank while writing songs during the day, in 1967 he was propelled to recognition by The Beatles claiming him as their favourite performer. His seemed like a talent never quite fully realised, if only because he’d never stick to anything for long enough. Genre-hopping through each record; silken re-interpretation of arranged standards one minute and hard-rock gut-wrenchers littered with “fuck you” lyrics the next, fans often recoiled in bafflement from offerings that seemed like the result of too much time spent down the pub with Lennon. Which was probably the case. Nilsson obstinately kept a sense of humour throughout his work, which although admirable, was often half the problem (Nilsson once invited a coachload of senior citizens to his recording studios in London to sing backing vocals on a track dealing with the fear of aging entitled “I’d Rather be Dead” nice).

As a result of the critical confusion he so encouraged, many of his more unusual works have been dismissed as “oddities”, purposely forgotten in favour of his more middle of the road, commercial output. Which is a shame because I love that stuff. In 1971 Nilsson put out a record called The Point! which no one has ever heard of. To be fair, it is an acid-fuelled concept album telling the story of a small boy called Oblio and his trials and tribulations at being the only member of his town not to have a pointed head….. But the songs are actually brilliant and Nilsson’s three-octave voice soars like crazy. I even love the music that he wrote for Robert Altman’s much derided musical version of Popeye. I’ve been surprised at the amount of times I’ve had to rely on YouTube because people just think I’m making this shit up. Anyway. It’s the voice.

Harry Nilsson- One

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:19:47 +0000

Harry Nilsson- One

I think about Billy Liar a lot. It’s the kind of comedy...

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:28:18 +0000

I think about Billy Liar a lot. It’s the kind of comedy that you secretly know is a tragedy. Inventions of fantasy which slowly become just as imprisoning as the conventional monotony they were designed to distract from. Tom Courtenay is truly amazing in this film.

Photo

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:18:30 +0000

I have a serious weakness for French pop music. The fact is that I automatically think pretty much...

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:24:00 +0000

I have a serious weakness for French pop music. The fact is that I automatically think pretty much anything French is cool, coupled with the fact that French pop idols have this tendency towards the bizarre which I find impossible to resist.

I first saw a Mylène Farmer video on TV in Paris many years ago, and it totally blew my mind, I’m pretty sure it’s the only music video that attempts to present it’s star looking like she’s stepped out of the pages of a 90’s Vogue whilst participating in a riot in what appears to be a concentration camp. That song turned out to be Désenchantée, which in 1991 proved to be such a massive hit it propelled Farmer to insane levels of fame. But only in France. Specialising in Madonna-style pop with highly political and provocative lyrics my favourite video of hers is this one directed by Luc Besson for a song called Que Mon Cœur Lâche.

Video

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:21:30 +0000

Next is the pop-virtuoso Mathieu Chedid, super-talented performer, composer, producer and...

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:20:00 +0000

Next is the pop-virtuoso Mathieu Chedid, super-talented performer, composer, producer and collaborator. Mostly performing and releasing work under the pseudonym -M- his music is a curious mixture of disco beats, absurd guitar solos and trip hop psychedelia. Seeing his stage show a few years ago was the closest thing I’ve ever come to experiencing mass hysteria. People literally going nuts for a man flying through the air playing a pink guitar. The man is an all-out superstar. But only in France. I’m seeing him again this year in Paris and I can’t wait to see if that experience is equalled or surpassed. Here he is performing Je Dis Aime.

Video

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:19:00 +0000

I’d say I spend 70% of my time loving Depeche Mode and 30%...

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:14:00 +0000

I’d say I spend 70% of my time loving Depeche Mode and 30% wishing
someone had never encouraged Martin Gore to write anything down. Ever.
In a lot of ways Depeche Mode are an amazing band, songs like Enjoy
The Silence, Personal Jesus, and Just Can’t Get Enough will forever be
perfect examples of Martin Gore’s sonic-sex sound. Electronic music is
so interesting to me because it’s such an obsessive human/inhuman
creation that can simultaneously evoke a sci-fi reverie and hit you
right in the heartbeat. Depeche Mode exemplify this. Also, thanks in
part to their collaborations with photographer Anton Corbijn they’ve
managed to create a band mythology and style of a seedy kind of
darkness that’s mainstream enough to attract an impressive success.

Featuring my number one electronic hero Vince Clarke as a founding
member, when he left the band in ‘81 my number two electronic hero
Martin Gore took over as main songwriter. Turns out he could do it.
Genius compiler, he creates spiral staircases of songs that drive
fast. Just a shame that often the lyrical accompaniment to these works
of dark invention are enough to make you want to get out of the
fucking car as soon as possible.

The Sweetest Condition : “Getting off in the folds of your skirt”

A Question of Time : “Now you’re only fifteen…… and you look good”

Breathe : I heard it from Peter…… who heard it from Paul…….who heard it from someone…… I don’t know at all.”

Never Let Me Down Again : “Promises me i’m as safe as houses….. as
long as I remember who’s wearing the trousers”

But Not Tonight : “Oh God it’s raining……. but I’m not complaining”

Traditionally Martin Gore will sing lead vocals on at least one song
from every album, and his songs are always my personal standout.
There’s something really tender about his vocals compared to Dave
Gahan’s black-leather baritone. Below is my favourite Depeche Mode
song A Question of Lust from my favourite album Black Celebration.
Don’t know how to describe it other than that it’s simultaneously the
best song and worst song ever. Literally incredible it includes such
lines as “I need to drink more than you seem to think before I’m
anyone’s” and “kiss me goodbye when I’m on my own” yet I honestly
consider it to be one of the best examples of electronic music ever
created. See if you can take it.

Depeche Mode- A Question Of Lust

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:11:44 +0000

Depeche Mode- A Question Of Lust

Sandie Shaw. What a princess.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:47:17 +0000

Sandie Shaw. What a princess.

Oh Mick Taylor. Best thing to ever happen to The Rolling Stones....

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Oh Mick Taylor. Best thing to ever happen to The Rolling Stones. I guess everyone has their favourite Stones line-up but for me that five and a half years were their greatest and it was pretty much all down to Taylor.

Some nostalgia: In June 1999 I went to see The Rolling Stones play Wembley Stadium. I walked in there a bored 16 year old and walked out feeling like my head had exploded. It was such a spectacle. I’d always thought Mick Jagger was kind of an idiot but suddenly I realised he actually had the ability to back up that arrogance. The songs were amazing, each one better than the last, I’d heard most of them before I guess, but they’d never sounded so exciting. And Keith Richards was just IT. Can’t explain. Pretty soon after that I got really ill and had to stay in bed for nearly a month, which I did, quite happily, listening to Rolling Stones records all day every day. Did you ever get that feeling that you missed this particular day at school where the teacher walked into the classroom and was like “Ok, enough of this bullshit, I’m going to tell you the only thing you’ll ever need to know and I’m only gonna say it once so listen up.” Well I definitely think that day happened and I definitely think it happened while I was in bed repeatedly listening to Sympathy For The Devil.

The thing about being obsessed with The Rolling Stones is that it’s like a fucking full time job, I literally didn’t have time for anything else. Not only do you need to listen to every record, there’s concert footage to watch, photos to trawl through, Andrew Loog Oldham and his bizarre liner-notes language to decipher, Mick Jagger’s film career (I love Performance don’t care what anyone says), the girls; Marianne and Anita etc. and don’t even get me started on the mysterious death of Brian Jones. (I have my theories.)

So it took me a while to even notice Mick Taylor through the carnival of Stones drama. It was only slowly that I began to realise that every track or record I valued highly was one that he featured on. Mick Taylor was brought in to replace the fired Brian Jones in 1969. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to replace a founding member of one of the best bands in the world at the age of 20, but Taylor seemed to manage it with quiet confidence. Perhaps only fascinating to me but there’s a track on this 70’s compilation Metamorphosis called I Don’t Know Why, the first half of which features Brian before he left the band, with Taylor continuing on the second half, his part unwittingly recorded on the night of Brian’s death. To me Mick Taylor’s influence on the band is beyond doubt, they just got so good. With records like Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main St. it was clear that they were benefiting from Taylor’s talent as a remarkable blues guitarist. Some words on Exile On Main St. Without doubt my favourite Stones record, it’s just amazing. The best way to listen to this record is while travelling home late at night. Did I mention it’s amazing? Depending on the day you ask me the question, I might tell you this is my favourite album ever. And my favourite song on it, Ventilator Blues, is funnily and criminally enough, the only song for which Mick Taylor ever got official song-writing credit.

In 1974 Mick Taylor just quit. A testament to his lack of ego that he’d so easily discard that kind of success to try something new. And also probably because his musical contributions were repeatedly overlooked by the good old Glimmer Twins. If you’ve never seen footage of the Hyde Park show in ‘69 you can see some here. Attended by a quarter of a million people, it was Mick Taylor’s first public appearance as the new member of the band two days after Brian died. And he seriously rocks it.

The Rolling Stones- Ventilator Blues

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:47:52 +0000

The Rolling Stones- Ventilator Blues

Why do I feel so surprised that I’m really into the new...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Why do I feel so surprised that I’m really into the new Julian Casablancas record Phrazes For The Young? Was I looking forward to it? Am I like a massive Julian Casablancas fan but in denial? Let’s examine the evidence. 2001 I was spending most of my time wearing too much eye make-up hanging round Leicester Square just waiting for something to happen, which it never did. I can clearly remember the feeling of coming to the end of maybe two years solidly listening to The Rolling Stones, having been unquestioningly devoted to Keith Richards, I could feel a disappointing boredom creeping in. I needed something new to listen to but literally had nothing, having discarded all other music once I’d discovered what I thought was the holy grail. I’d thought it would be me and Keith for life. Wrong. Z had the album Is This It and copied it onto a cassette for me. I miss listening to records on cassette, they acquire such a definite landscape. There’s the song that is half on Side A and half on Side B, usually the best song on the record, or you probably just think that because its severing lends it some frustrated mystery. Then there’s the song you always fast forward, and if you’ve listened to the tape enough you get to the point where you can exactly estimate just how long you need to hold the FF button down to start it the split second before the next song. Nice. I could go on, but is this boring? Oh well, speed it up. So in 2002 Z and I went to see The Strokes play at Brixton Academy. We were on the balcony. Everyone was smoking Marlborough Lights. Band weren’t that great. Everyone in the crowd seemed to be experiencing some relevance that I wasn’t getting. More time passed. The Strokes put out more records. I’d never buy them but I’d often listen to then at Z’s house while we waited for something to happen. Thing is though, as much as I didn’t really love The Strokes, I always loved Julian’s voice. No one else sounds like him. Over the past few years there have been occasional Casablancas offerings, all of which, despite for the most part not thinking much of them musically, have required my repeated listening just because they feature his voice. The song Little Girl from Sparklehorse/Dangermouse compilation Dark Night Of The Soul is really good, but I’ve also spent time on a collaboration he did with with Pharell Williams and even Boombox, the Andy Samberg comedy(?) record.

Anyway, despite this, had hardly any intention of getting Phrazes For The Young. Do you see him in that picture above? He looks kind of embarrassed. I don’t know why I always assume things are going to be rubbish….see Morrissey entry below. I also did this with the White Album. Yeah I love The Beatles but the White Album is shit right?? Er what? Anyway I may never have got the record had it not been for this trailer (sort of love the concept of album trailers) made by super-duper talented director Warren Fu. Love it. And the record is just as good. This is the record I always wanted Julian Casablancas to make. The Strokes, Vengalis and Wendy Carlos combined. Total unashamed 80’s synths. Electric drums. New York drawl. Oh and the boy can dress.

Julian Casablancas- Tourist

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:02:22 +0000

Julian Casablancas- Tourist

Annie Clark and Ed Droste My Halloween eve this year was spent...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:56:06 +0000

Annie Clark and Ed Droste

My Halloween eve this year was spent at the Barbican for a show I’ve been patiently awaiting for months; Grizzly Bear performing with the London Symphony Orchestra. Arrangements were by Nico Muhly, who got it so right, the orchestra wasn’t just accompanying the band but adding new layers of melody and register. Do you reckon arranging for an orchestra is as mind-bendingly difficult as it seems? Probably, well Nico is good at it. Grizzly Bear work so well in a grand setting, all four of them perform in a way that reminds me of classical musicians, with this sweeping boldness. And their songs are just dazzling. Lit by lights in hanging jam jars everything shivered and swelled and it was incredible. Jaws. Floors. As expected. And I love Ed Droste. I just love him. Not just because his voice sounds like a violin on vinyl but because he seems like such a genuinely lovely man.

I was also seriously taken by the support, St Vincent a.k.a. Annie Clark. Black dress, black guitar, black box of drumbeats and hand claps. Over these components she sang about panic, confidence and marrying men called John, (three areas of personal interest to me). I’ve since got hold of her records Marry Me and Actor and they are both splendid. But what i really liked about her performance was that she displayed an excellent example of my own preferred method of dancing. The keep-one-foot-flat-on-the-floor-and-slide-around dance move. I love seeing other people dance like that. I’ve had to ignore many a what the fuck dance floor glance because of this personal predilection. Some notes on this dance move:

1. It’s very easy to fall over while doing it. This is because it’s basically the process of falling over, then saving yourself at the last minute.

2. The most deliciously satisfying way to savour this dance is on a varnished wooden parquet floor wearing tights or socks, no shoes.

3. A good example is this video of Morrissey and Marr dancing together. Yes, I’ve watched it many times. Yes, I just want them to get it on.

4. Never smile when you dance like this. You have to commit.

St Vincent- Marrow

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:30:51 +0000

St Vincent- Marrow