Sunday at Bob's #27 - Sunday Out Bob’s

Hello back for another sunday, these times out Bob’s as you sure have noticed. I got stuck in a Norwegian village very close to be the most beautiful place I’ve ever been at, and since there is no WiFi in our house, I have asked a couple of good friends and Sunday at Bob’s comrades if they would be willing to contribute so that the blog doesn’t die. To my greatest amazement not only the blog didn’t die but I saw myself becoming a fan and getting excited for each next post. I have to thank a thousand times Lena for the beautiful tour she gave us around her repertoire, Maisa for the deep ten emotional stages of a broken heart and finally Nabila and Nadimov for their insight into other confinment moments and what role music can play in these moments. I must say I got hooked on George Qormuz. One last thing before we start, I still don’t have WiFi while I am writing this, I shall go down to the village later on to post it on the main square, stealing the waves of the now closed public library. I say this because I can’t double check the facts I’d usually write about the music featured, therefore there might be a lot less. Here we go.

There are a lot of great things about not having WiFi in your everyday life and I’m not gonna start writing about that because I would never stop. However it did not come handy when I tried to build up a new playlist going through my hard drive and forbidding myself to pick musicians that had already been played here. Hence I did not.  Hence also some choices have more to do with nostalgia of my first mp3 player (the ones that were USB stick with a jack entrance, 128mb if you may) than with the urge to share discoveries. When the time stops we have time to look behind, I guess that’s what I did. We heard Oscar Brown Jr. here before, who is forever in a special category with the greatest of the greatest for having written Rags and Old Irons, later on magnificently interpreted by Nina Simone. And this is typically a fact I would have googled to be sure before puting out there but let’s roll on. But I Was Cool appeared as a fun way to start a playlist yet most probably a bit itchy. An interesting song nonetheless that reminds me of Screaming Jay Hawkins’ Constipation Blues and movies like the one from Jim Jarmush with the word « train » in the title most likely. This post might become a demonstration of how I rely on the internet to write, especially if it turns out no Jim Jarmush movie title has the word « train » in it.

The second song is from one of my all times favourite albums and from an artist I really have trouble with. Abd Al Malik exploded in our faces with Gibraltar and, I mean, after an album like that what can you do? Well that’s the question teenage me was asking his self until Abd Al Malik answered. Everytime he released an album I was there, I listened to it from beggining to end but never felt the thrill and the sharpness of Gibraltar. I remember going through a lot of trouble with my friends to find everything he had made before with N.A.P for instance. Regardless, I will never run out of respect for him.

After that we have a masterpiece from a guitar master. I don’t think we need to introduce Paco de Lucía. A little story instead. Once at Bob’s great musicians were playing, guitar players, improvising. After a while they took a smoking break and as excited as I was by the sound of this magnificent instrument I played Entre Dos Aguas in the speakers, as an interlude you know like in the old days at the movies you could go pee or get some popcorn. Well one of the musicians came to me and told me he was afraid he’d sound like shit playing after Paco de Lucía. I won’t tell you what I played after that.

And the Maloya returns to Sunday at Bob’s once again! What a pleasure. I did not know Les Pythons de la Fournaise whose album I received from a good friend while in Norway and is probably the only new piece of music I listened to in two months. However I knew Maloya ton tisane which I hesitated many times to feature here. Their version of it is very cool, I recommend it, it’s probably on YouTube.

Then we have Paulo Diniz, I was sure we had heard him here before but apparently not. Or was it in the very first playlist? E Agore Jose is an album I played often at Bob’s one summer when we had a considerable amount of guests from Brazil. It is not the first time I mention my admiration for Brazil as a continent of music. These months at Bob’s were full of joy and I discovered quite a lot of Brazilian music thanks to wonderful people.

We go on with a song taken from a compilation called The Sound Of Siam Vol. 2 Molam & Luk Thung Isan From North-East Thailand 1970 - 1982. I got interested in music from this part of the world and this slice of the timeline when the movie Only God Forgives got out. You must start somewhere don’t you? Whithout any knowledge whatsoever of the language nor any acquaintance from there it was very difficult to find out more.  This compilation might be the only remainings of those attempts already rather old in my hard drive. However I can’t get over the beauty of the words sung. Nowadays I could probably be more efficient, maybe I will try when I get back to civilization.

I don’t believe we heard the fascinating voice of Gabi Lunca here before. What a voice. She reminds me somehow of the most recent albums of Elza Soares, I don’t know why. Very powerful.

Oh and then there is the great Ghalia Benali. We heard her here for sure before. No need to say too much but this time we have a longer song (and more time, no?) to enjoy.

I have been waiting to bring Mélanie de Biasio to Sunday at Bob’s for a long time and didn’t really know how. I thought it could be interesting to have her right after Ghalia Benali since they are both from Belgium and have somekind of common smoothness. Here we have a song which I think achieves brilliantly the prouesse of being at the same time very deep, somehow dark and very funny. It is about men after sex I believe.

I know for sure it’s not the first time we host Trifle either and I think we can be glad to have them back. I reckon it was New Religion we heard last time. It is followed by an album I’ve listened to a lot as well in my younger years. I don’t know anything about Protomartyr, I don’t even know why I have this album on my hard drive but I quite like it.

The last song is a special song that talks very sharply about being from the first generation of immigrants and going back to the country to visit the family. I think it is a very special song because it takes an angle I’ve never heard anywhere else in French rap. It mentions the difficulties of defending artistic life choices in front of relatives living a life of everyday struggle. The lyrics are filled with humility and clear view that contrast with the upset and almost aggressive tone of Ekoué. I believe it is the first song he ever recorded in a studio. I listened to a radio show recently about poetry and one of the guests mentioned a belief that originally, all the words existed. Everything had a word to be referred to. And slowly, words that were considered useless or harmful to society were removed and forgotten. I wonder if there was ever a word for what Ekoué describes here.

That’s it for this week! I wish you all a great confinment and hope you are doing well.

Enjoy and don’t ever forget that the check out time is 10h30, ever.

The receptionist

Playlist:

1. Oscar Brown Jr. - But I Was Cool

2. Abd Al Malik - Gibraltar

3. Paco de Lucía - Entre Dos Aguas

4. Les Pythons de la Fournaise - Ah Pauline

5. Paulo Diniz - Bahia Comigo

6. Thepporn Petchubon - Fang Jai Viangjan

7. Gabi Lunca - Sus in deal pe poienita

8. Ghalia Benali - Rubaiyat

9. Mélanie De Biasio - Les hommes endormis

10. Trifle - Devil Comin'

11. Protomartyr - Bad Advice

12. La Rumeur - Blessé dans mon égo

Sunday at Bob's #26 - Music in the time of corona (by N&N)

Dear fellow listeners,

As the circumstances have put our receptionist in the safest place possible for this lockdown (an isolated house in a small Norwegian village), Nadimov and I (Nabila) are taking over his blog for this Sunday’s post.

As we continue, since the last blogpost, this quarantine, Nadimov has selected a series of songs that were all written in lockdowns, by two different artists who both held on to music as a path towards a fairer world.

Georges Qormuz, Palestine

The first artist we feature today is a real mystery. During the uprising against the military occupation in Palestine between 1987 and 1990, a curfew was forced onto the Palestinians for most of the time. Schools and universities were forced to close their doors as well for about four years. During this extended lockdown period, an unknown singer going by the name George Qormuz was recording and producing beautiful songs from his room somewhere in Palestine. His cassettes were distributed in the night to the doors of people’s houses. Years have gone since then, and to this day, no one knows who George Qormuz was. As Nadimov says: "all I know is that George was a period of four winters that cleaned the pain of many hearts the way the rain of these winters cleaned the streets".

In our playlist; we feature four of his songs.

The first song is called “What would kill determination”. The song serves as a reminder that hard times will pass in front of determination – or as George says “our land no matter what, has witnessed a thousand killers. They all vanished, like melted snow”.

To a more joyful song, at first glance, the second track of our mysterious musician is called “our beautiful land”. The city of Jerusalem “a beautiful land, sad in a cage” is the symbol for the nostalgia of the missed old times - “my little garden, the lumberjack has destroyed”. But with high hope and optimism, George promises that “with struggle, lyrics and melodies, the cage will be broken”.

In the third track, George uses the lockdown to put a moral manifesto to oppose the oppressor. This song is titled “Against”. George declares “against smashing a little flower in the garden no matter the reason, against making a hero of a 10 year old child, against using the branches of my trees as a gallows” and goes on to promise that the melodies and poetry will outlive the oppressors.

Onto the fourth and last song by George Qormuz. He makes an implore of “Patience” to his people, a universal message –as well – to all of us in this confinement, once more with the promise that “the sharp teeth of the monster will not defeat the smile of our children”.

Sheikh Imam, Egypt

The next artists featured in today’s lockdown playlist have a clearer identity than George Qormuz. A blind musician called Imam (Sheikh Imam), and his poet friend (Ahmad Fouad Nijm) were too annoying for the authorities in Egypt, to the point that they became "permanent residents" at Alqala'a\"the citadel" - a famous prison for political prisoners. During their extended stays at "the citadel", the duo wrote songs about life, love, liberty, the poor and the oppressed - the very reason why they were locked up in the first place! During their short periods out of the prison, they would meet with friends (and crowds when possible) to sing and record their songs. These songs were - and still are - banned by most Arab authorities, yet generations have memorized them by heart and passed them from one to another, and the songs of Sheikh Imam & Ahmad Fouad Nijm keep inspiring dreamers all around the Arab world.

The first song by Sheikh Imam of this playlist is called “El bahr – why is the sea laughing”. This song was chanted so many times in bars in Palestine in the times when we were there; one person would start singing the first few notes and then the entire bar would join in and sing along. A song about a complex love relationship with the sea. Imam flatters, teases and complains about his love –and to think this cheerful anthem was composed in a jail cell!

“Bastanzarek - I wait for you” is the next song by Sheikh Imam. With the legendary entrance “aaah”, Imam sings for his freedom: “I wait for you - despite the rain, the cold, and the scary thunders - in the busy street. I’m the one who knows when our date is, and why you stay away from me, the one who knows who you are and waiting for you since years – keeping a space for you in my garden of hope”.

“Tel3 elsabah - the sun gas raised”, the third song by Sheik Imam, is a beautiful greeting to all the labors and the hardworking people. “The morning has come, all the beauty in its coming. And the bird sang beautiful melodies that heal the broken hearts, saying a beautiful morning to all of you labors”.

“Anatoub 3an hubbak - can I stop loving you” is one of my favorite. “Can I stop loving you? Can I have a joy in your distance? No, I can’t forget you, I’m poor without you, and I’ll never stop loving you” Imam is singing this very melodic tune to his love from his jail cell.

“Sabah elkheir - good morning to the roses” is our next track; one more song in the love of the “garden roses” – the prison comrades who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom, equality and justice.

Finally, we leave you with a playful melody that is named “shal elhawa - the wind/love played with us”. Let it play with you.

And so ends our trip through the music that was composed in situations similar to the one the entire world is living today.

We hope this was enjoyable and – who knows – has inspired you to write your own music/poetry during the lockdown 2020. At any rate, if you do so, keep in mind that the check-out time is 10:30 (but stay home).

Playlist:

1. George Qormuz - What would kill determination

2. George Qormuz - Our beautiful land

3. George Qormuz - Against

4. George Qormuz - Patience

5. Sheikh Imam- El bahr – why is the sea laughing

6. Sheikh Imam - Bastanzarek - I wait for you

7. Sheikh Imam - Tel3 elsabah - the sun gas raised

8. Sheikh Imam - Anatoub 3an hubbak - can I stop loving you

9. Sheikh Imam - Sabah elkheir - good morning to the roses

10. Sheikh Imam - Shal elhawa - the wind/love played with us

Sunday at Bob's #25 - Digital heartbreak (by Maisa)

Dear internet surfers,

Our receptionist is still on a temporary leave, and so I’m occupying this Sunday session, in this weird month of March.

Whether I’d usually create something from the perspective of a chosen alter ego (PPI, or sevdah spammer), my guts this time, are telling me to compile a playlist which fills up Corona’s void, and distracts the luxury of now having to work. If I listen to the silence deeply, I hear something cracking (#tear#tear); all there’s left to do is materialize the crushed reality through Sunday at Bob’s template. So, we are taking a break from informative music knowledge, in order to focus on the music of(for?) the broken heart. And my goodness, according to Youtube’s algorithm + the emotional extremes in which the heart beats, this playlist might come off as a weird mix of what nots.

They say there are 10 emotional stages of a broken heart; let the music in the background to start playing. (No idea who are ‘they’ and if that’s actually true)

Heartbreak Stage #1: Introduction

It was some time ago when I first watched the movie called The Square. Yes it was sad, great, and existential. The best (and maybe even the happiest) part of it was the music pick. I’m talking specifically about Improvisació 1 by Bobby McFerrin. Still to this day, it gives me chillz (and I must have listened to it for more than 39842 times). The reason why it has the introductory role in this playlist, is because of it’s chameleon-ability to belong to any ‘life’ mood, and somehow relate to the horrors of the situation. Consider this a very mild intro to the topic. P.S., sometimes the track sounds like a heartbeat, and there goes a very conceptual linkage, if I had to think of one.

Heartbreak Stage #2: Intimate-prison no more

While it takes some time for Bobby McFerrin to be done, let’s say that Elliott Smith(RIP) is preparing his Between The Bars in the digital backstage. The first time I heard this song was while watching the end of Rick and Morty’s season 3 (if my memory serves me well). It was just before Rick and Morty went into a T-shirt merchandise bizniss, as an add-on to their stardom. Back then, it was a perfect song to say goodbye to watching Rick and Morty’s seasons to follow, and not just because of the T-shirts really, but because the humor was beginning to dry out. I loved them dearly, but they had their expiry date, after which my focus shifted to the lyrics of Elliott’s song. My expectations (I blame it on Michel Foucault’s Moist Meme Maison) of what the song would be about were totally unmet, which made me like the song even more. Instead,  

         Drink up one more time and I'll make you mine

         Keep you apart, deep in my heart

         Separate from the rest, where I like you the best

         And keep the things you forgot

         People you've been before that you

         Don't want around anymore

         That push and shove and won't bend to your will

         I'll keep them still

are lines which talk of a romantic prison, rather than Foucault’s panopticum. However, romantically and conceptually, it’s not hard to compare the similarities between the two. First it’s all about wine and dine, next thing you know it’s about control, ownership and consumerism between the lovers. A bit sick, I’d say, but cute in a way.

Heartbreak Stage #3: You’re not who you used to be, but whatever maybe?

In contrary to the previous song, where love is contained in a vacuum and protected from the outside world(why?), the following song by Moloko called Over and Over, shows the consequences of remembering the best and the worst of romantic times. The song perfectly illustrates the duality in-between the two extremes, when the heart and brain are at fight over which memory to dwell in. It’s clearly not a fun activity, but somehow becomes light as we continue listening to the song. In the end it comes down to: no, there is not middle ground, we’re both off in another story of merry-go-round.

Heartbreak Stage #4: self-care contest

Thank you Moloko, for bridging us to the next step of recovery after loss. What used to be the complexity of a denial has now transformed into an acceptance of absence. Our guardian angel for that phase is Sevdaliza (who sings about angels all the time), specifically with the song called Marilyn Monroe (yes, too many great names at once). Anyhow, to me, the song is about one’s beginning to nourish one’s care of the self, caused by losing the extreme care of the other. It’s already pre-supposing that lovers merge fully when together, and it’s only a matter of time until we find out who gets to be the first one to rip off from the bond. Do you know what I mean? Maybe I don’t know myself what I mean, but read this:

 “And they told me to care when trying to fix your heart, it’s unfair, I’m trying to fix myself”.

There is also some anger we can pull out of this line, towards the others who apparently have a say in who gets to be over and done first. Chicken or egg is indeed what the situation is about, and that’s what happens with lovers: eventually they all become chickens and eggs.

Heartbreak Stage #5: a mini-break from self-care

…BUT, it’s not that easy to just go on and fix yourself; the process doesn’t grow exponentially from the moment one finally decides to, until the moment one starts to feel more or less like a god. The state fluctuates between forced positivity and anger. Deep anger. That’s why the next song by Trisomie 21 is a tribute to that anger, because anger is crucial and must be present. The song is very simply about

Breaking down, breaking down
Breaking down, breaking down
Breaking down, breaking

In the same simple nature, the song questions love’s modernity and simply wishes to destroy it J Why not.

Heartbreak Stage #6: welcoming randomness

When punk, coldwave, darkwave, and similar waves, I can’t can’t can’t avoid Cities in The Dust by Siouxie and the Banshees. Maybe not extremely relevant to our topic today, but why not have a break from the heartbreak? The song reminds me of my bartending shifts in De School, where sometimes the song would play, but not on the main stage. I never discovered why.

Heartbreak Stage #7: Feminist relief

We are returning back on the heartbreak’s track with the song by Soledad Bravo called Alla Viene un Corazon. Besides the song’s power to remind me of my non-existent Mexican roots, it triggers other flows of energies in me: that of a sleepy feminist, snoozing the alarm to wake up. For now I say: luckily, for all of us. I find it semi-funny that these memorial elements make me think of Zapatistas, Las Mujeres con la Dignidad Rebelde, and all that I learned about them down there in Mexico’s Chiapas. If anyone is interested, I found this song in the documentary called She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, and yes I do recommend it.

Heartbreak Stage #8: It’s okay

Speaking of real and adopted roots, to what extent is losing love similar to losing home? A friend told me she felt like an orphan of an orphan, when she was in this stage of a heartbreak. Of course, of course, of course, for the guidance of this stage, I return to my Balkan roots. If you not only listen, but also watch the official video of the song called Balada Disidenta (The Ballad of Dissidents) by Beogradski Sindikat, you will clearly understand the current stage of recovery I’m talking about. The song is about the dissidents leaving the city of Belgrade, because (to put it simply) the city’s regime has failed their dreams and happiness. However, in all that sadness, the chorus of the song throws spotlight on the good old times and maintaining them as the sweetest of memories.

**Note: it’s hard to empathise with this song without deep listening skills and rakija. Especially without rakija.**

Heartbreak Stage #9: The Mountains

When you think about it, love is sometimes a consequence of neoliberal harshness. Our bodies are pushed into maintaining the collective individualistic reality, in which we are mostly pre-occupied by work. In such a lame reality, love can erupt in unexpected places, or even be forced to erupt as love. And even if it really is love, sometimes its eruption might not always be the one worth holding onto forever. Instead, saying thank you and bye is a cute, final step before saying “fuck love, especially if it’s a consequence of this lame system”. After this mantra, it’s time to think about mountains. Mountains make everything seem absolutely absurd: this life in the city + this drama. When thinking of mountains, everything becomes so small and FINE, while breathing becomes the most crucial activity. Nicola Cruz is the guru of breathing with his song called Voz de las Montañas. Stay for the ride.

Heartbreak Stage #10: Check it out now

After we are back from the mountains, Black Eyed Peas are waiting for us with some hip-hop vibes, to welcome new loves (and not necessarily in the form of a person). Of course I found the song in the recent op-doc featuring Kim Hill, who dropped out of the band due to the band’s ‘commercialization’. Instead of focusing on whether she regrets the decision or not, I’d rather just listen to the song and enjoy its chill, hopeful, flirty, and sexy vibes.

To conclude this heart-healing session, I’d like to mention that there is two ways of looking at the loss of love:

1.Telenovela way – stabbing yourself with a knife that moment when your loved one decides to agree with your idea of leaving.

2. a Different way – stabbing yourself with a knife bought in Action’s toy department, and moving on.

And remember dears, ''it shouldn't hurt this much to be your angel.''

Not sure what to say about the check out time and if it's still at 10h30.

Yours truly, Maisa.


PLAYLIST:

1. Bobby McFerrin – Improvisació 1

2. Ellliott Smith – Between the Bars

3. Moloko – Over & Over

4. Sevdaliza – Marilyn Monroe

5. Trisomie 21 – Breaking down

6. Siouxsie And The Banshees - Cities in Dust

7. Soledad Bravo - Allá viene un corazón

8. Beogradski sindikat - Balada disidenta

9. Nicola Cruz - Voz de las Montañas

10. Black Eyed Peas The Way U Make me Feel

Sunday at Bob's #24 - Roaming onwards (by Lena)

 

Hello to you all,

As our receptionist is on temporary leave - to go and explore the volumes earth has to offer (yes, think about us when you see mountains) - I will take you for a walk on our flat land.

Lucky for us, music is here to make us feel more lively.

            My name is Lena and I am in charge of today’s playlist. I am not a receptionist, or a music connoisseur however, I’d be happy to take you on stroll, hopefully with music that’ll make you w(a-o)nder.

            Coming first on today’s selection, helping us to get over our receptionist’s departure, is “Carry On” from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Listen to it while your determined feet pull your legs forward. Even without knowing our destination, the unison of their voices will push your chest to flow ahead. Who needs mountains, when you can listen to them and imagine flying very close to the ground, on a magic carpet?

            Keeping the magic carpet's point of view, we will follow with “This masquerade” by The Carpenters. Our journey takes on a different rhythm as our carpet brings us further away from the concrete floor. As they say: “Are we really happy, with this lonely game we play?”. As we let them guide our minds, these ones keep on dwelling on the carpet, dreaming of flying higher as “We tried to talk it over, but the words got in the way”.

            Our walk now needs to take a different turn. The coming up junction is complicated, we don’t want to be daydreaming, our noses lost in the air, to cross that one. Stepping off of our carpet, we are happy to stand again and to run on the rhythm of “Ballad of Accounting” by Karan Casey. We are more determined. Our lonely stroll becomes a bounce.

            Stepping further, maintaining our straight stare, we have “Fat ass joint” by Cujo (Amon Tobin), which pushes our walk into a trample. No, we are not trying to crush anything but this song brings us substance and matter. I personally listen to it when any kind of challenge is coming up. It makes my ankles stand straighter. 

            Determination took a hold of us but now it’s time to exhale. It’s time for our journey’s intermission with Galt MacDermot and his song “Meard Street”. Let’s forget direction again, and find pleasure in our saunter.

            Coming next is “The beggar and the thief” by Piers Faccini, who carries our roaming beautifully with four great musicians, as Ibrahim Maalouf at the trumpet (the others are probably worth mentioning as well, but unfortunately he is the only one whose name is familiar to me).

            We’ve been out for quite some time now and it starts to rain again. Let’s get lost in these small streets, there. The pavement is slippery, maybe we’ll find shelter with “Between the bars” by Madeleine Peyroux.

            The rain calmed down. Come with me, let’s continue our journey! Coming out of the bar, we can smell the outside again. Spring is flirting with us, it’s stimulating our senses without giving in. For such a moment, I will share “Dandelion wine” with you, from the Clancy Brothers and Lou Killen. My favorite one of today’s playlist, probably more for having heard it in my family from so young, but here it is.

            The next one, whose discovery I can’t take credit for, is “Gold mine” from Take 6 (again, family influence). This American a cappella gospel group will change our pace again. We have been walking for too long now, our minds get goofy, our legs are hanging without feeling the floor anymore. This song is perfect for a flash of fantasy out of this gravitational world.

            And now the last song, as I bring you back to Bob’s. As you may have noticed, the Anglo-Saxon influence is very present in the songs I shared with you today. Strangely, this is one of the reasons why Sunday at Bob’s is a necessity for me. So to finish our slow ride, I tapped on my friend Maisa Imamović’s shoulder for a different tone. I was craving for her Bosnian emotion. That’s when you can trade your Jenever for a Rakja! I'm telling you, it’s worthwhile. Here is “Dva se draga” from Damir Imamović (na, they are not related).

Hope you enjoyed your walk, you’re now back and safe at the hostel.

Check out time is still 10h30.

Back to you receptionist !

 PS: The next playlist might only come to you in April, as our receptionist didn't yet find someone for the next playlist

Playlist :

1.     Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – Carry on

2.     The Carpenters – This masquerade

3.     Karan Casey – Ballad of accounting

4.     Fat ass joint – Cujo

5.     Galt Macdermot – Meard street

6.     Piers Faccini – The beggar and the thief

7.     Madeleine Peyroux – Between the bars

8.     Clancy Brothers and Lou Killen – Dandelion Wine

9.     Take 6 – Gold mine

10.  Damir Imamović - Dva se draga

Sunday at Bob's #23 - This Must Be Deep

Hello and welcome back for another sunday at Bob's! I hope you are all doing well. I shall start by telling you that I will be away for the whole month of March, I was invited to a painting residency in the Norwegian village of Høyanger and most likely won't have the time to keep up with the playlists. However, to our great pleasure, a good friend of mine and a Sunday at Bob's early afficionado will take over for one session. I don't know yet what will happen to the second one but I should figure something out by then, no worries. Now let's have a look at what we have this week.

Today we begin and end with piano. Here is a wonderful Hungarian dance composed by Schubert in 1824 and performed by Alfred Brendel, who is also a poet and a musicology writer. I heard this composition for the first time in Bertrand Blier's Préparez vos mouchoirs, which is really not his best work if you ask me, but presents this asset that it features really cool classical music, thanks to Georges Delerue I guess.

Now what follows Schubert is a bit taken from a live concert of the immense Gil Scott Heron and it is not randomly that I feature it right after a piece of classical music. The problematic expressed by this monument of music and poetry is one that has messed with my mind continuously during my art studies and still does on daily basis. He presents it from his point of vue, of course, to which I cannot relate. However I can say that: I have had many discussions since the first time I read The Society of Spectacle up until now about a fact that appeared to me, at the time, as contradictory. If the author was reaching to a working class audience, why was he using what appeared to me as a "bourgeois" vocabulary and mode of expression? To that contradiction at first sight I believe we can object that it is even more "bourgeois" to assume that the working class is unable to understand a sophisticated vocabulary. I heard in a conference a communist thinker saying on that matter that if a thing is complicated, it can only be described with as complicated words since these words are supposed to designate it.
The second (intertwined) problematic I hear is one that has been sharply expressed by a French rapper I don't particularly enjoy but who managed to slide a sentence in my head that will probably never get out:

C'est pas parce qu'on comprend pas ce que t'écris que tu fais de la poésie (It's not because we don't understand what you write, that you are doing poetry) source

How many times have I entered an exhibition with works so heavily encrypted that I felt I was being mocked? Add to that the unbearable doubt constantly in the back of one's head that maybe, just maybe, one simply isn't fit to understand? What a relief to hear such a great artist, in the smoothest voice telling you that you are not alone trapped in that artistic dilemma.

We go on with still Gil Scott Heron on an album that was recently released. It is Heron's last album skillfully revisited by Chicago drummer Mackaya McCraven. I really recommend it, even if like a friend confessed, we would love it to last (a lot) longer. But I don't think we can blame McCraven who did such a wonderful, and difficult job.

After that comes another recent release with a track from Michael Kiwanuka's impressive last album.

We then take a turn and meet again with the fantastic Erkin Koray, this time sampled by Gonjasufi, for a crazy song that opened to me the universe of Anatolian rock when Turkish tourists, while checking in, indicated to me the nature of the sample. I cannot thank them enough. We pursue with the very dancable Africaspaceprogram by Nacho Patrol, one of Legowelt's alias if I am not mistaken. It is followed by another track I have to thank Disco Arabesquo for. I don't know much about Simone, a close friend from Palestine told me she was probably from a Greek family of Egypt, and that she was very famous at some point, however I am having difficulties finding out more music from her and more informations about her. Don't hesitate to share if you do!

Mohamed Lamouri was introduced to me by a very skilled French sculptor who heard him play in the subway of Paris during his childhood way to school. I had one listen and purchased the album on bandcamp, I think there is a documentary about him, but I haven't taken the time to look more into it so far.

Then we have a pleasant surprise with a song that is using the same melody as Aris San's Boumpam which we heard last time I believe. I am really intrigued by that, and I am once again calling out to you for clues as to where does that melody come from. The two songs seem very different beside it, not the same language, not the same lyrics (actually what do I know?).  Anyway, this blog has precisely zero comments so far, if the first one could be a piece of that puzzle it would be wonderful.

We end with Keith Jarrett, introduced by a Greek tune relating to a local event.

What can I say about Keith Jarrett?

Enjoy,

Check out time is 10h30.

The receptionist

Playlist:

1. Alfred Brendel - Hungarian melody in B minor, D. 817

2. Gil Scott Heron - This Must Be Deep

3. Gil Scott-Heron & Makaya Mccraven - I’m New Here

4. Michael Kiwanuka - Piano Joint (This Kind Of Love)

5. Gonjasufi - I’ve Given

6. Nacho Patrol - Africaspaceprogram

7. Simone - Merci

8. Mohamed Lamouri & Groupe Mostla - Sbart Ou Tal Adabi

9. Schal Sick Brass Band - Anschab

10. Panajótis Brátzos, Stávros Ródhanos, Harílaos Ródhanos - Ta Tabánia (The Beams) A Tune Relating To A Local Event

11. Keith Jarrett - I Fall In Love Too Easily / The Fire Within