Bang the drum, sound the trumpets and rosin up the bow, because MUSIC, both sacred and profane, is our topic this month. It's the universal language, the one we all speak. And no, don't give us that jive about some people not being 'musical'. Here at THORNY ISSUES, we believe that as long as our hearts are beating, we all got rhythm.

 

 

Point Blank

Point Blank: You’re born dying. 

We build our life from our dreams. We throw ourselves into life with the hope that everything will be magic, special, that our life will be great, full of gorgeous things.

“Do you still say your prayers little darlin', do you go to bed at night
Prayin' that tomorrow, everything will be alright”

In this way we begin to live. But days, months, years  go by, and the horizon moves away at the same speed  we do.

“But tomorrow's fall in number in number one by one”
 
And, without noticing it, imperceptibly, our sight is fading, filling up slowly with an inexplicable sadness.

 “You wake up and you're dying you don't even know what from”

It’s a slow process, but it occurs quickly. Suddenly, the past shows itself as something very far. Too far.

“You grew up where young girls they grow up fast”

 And our dreams, our projects, are replaced by the longing. Where is our first love?

“I was gonna be your Romeo you were gonna be my Juliet

These days you don't wait on Romeo's you wait on that welfare check

and on all the pretty things that you can't ever have and on all the promises

That always end up”

And a pain emerges in the middle of our affection, and we try to hide, to justify, to ease this pain, with  a tangle of little lies.

“point blank, shot between the eyes

Point blank like little white lies you tell to ease the pain” 

And life is a good shot. Life never misses 

“Point blank they must have shot you in the head

Cause point blank, bang bang baby you're dead.”

*          *          *

Point Blank is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on Springsteen's 1980 album The River.

     

 

Silly Sally

From love to hate through lyrics

or something that I would have liked to be the first one to say to you but a fucking songwriter told you first.

There is always a song for each moment of love, hate and rest. There is a song for each instant of life. Small soundtracks for encounters and misunderstandings, luck and misfortune, illusions of hope and disillusion, les petites morts and la grande mort. There are songs like cobblestones under my used steps that resound in my memories. Songs that I would have liked to write them for you with my own hands but someone did it before and better. I am eternally grateful to them for that. Looking back I see my life wrapped in music. It could be presumptuous, but considerer this list below as a quick soundtrack of me myself.

My life started at the edge of the Mediterranean. So that I find Serrat’s lyrics as my amniotic fluid, quizás porque mi niñez sigue jugando en tu playa y escondido tras las cañas duerme mi primer amor, llevo tu luz y tu olor por dondequiera que vaya, y amontonado en tu arena guardo amor, juegos y penas. Yo, que en la piel tengo el sabor amargo del llanto eterno … ¹

Youth, wondering times, great questions asked, no answers, how many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?, Bob asked; hopeful times, we shall overcome, Joan said; and above all, fun times. Garage parties, beaches, friends, paellas, wine and spirits, suffering from heat and from being hot. And music, music everywhere, music on every side, in every direction, at every moment. At that time, everything seemed a fantasy. Earth, Wind and Fire reminded us that every man has a place. In his heart there's a space. And the world can't erase his fantasies. Take a ride in the sky. On our ship fantasise. All your dreams will come true right away. And we will live together until the twelfth of never. Our voices will ring forever as one.

Madrid, the end of the 70s. I just have got to the city. I am going to start my first year at university. Grises everywhere, violence and hopes, demonstrations and blood. We are all standing in the centre of a whirlwind, trying to tear down a post. At our backs, pushing us on, sounded Raimon’s song Al vent. I remember the lyrics clearly: Al vent, la cara al vent, el cor al vent, les mans al vent, els ulls al vent, al vent del món. I tots, tots plens de nit, buscant la llum, buscant la pau, buscant a Déu, al vent del món. On our backs the wind of freedom; in our hearts the same proposal: to tear down the post as Lluis Llach was suggesting us when sung Siset, que no veus l'estaca on estem tots lligats? Si no podem desfer-nos-en mai no podrem caminar! Si estirem tots, ella caurà i molt de temps no pot durar, segur que tomba, tomba, tomba ben corcada deu ser ja. Si jo l'estiro fort per aquí i tu l'estires fort per allà, segur que tomba, tomba, tomba, i ens podrem alliberar.

Slowly, struggles were disappearing, peace and hopes were arriving. The movida madrileña took control in the streets and in our minds. Love bloomed, sometimes as plastic flowers. Since then, music has never left us alone. At that time, my first love appeared suddenly. She was so beautiful that Joe Cocker devoted a song to her. Her parents didn`t like me because they thought I was a joker. And they were right because my love`s teacher was Steve Miller; he once confessed to me that some people call me the space cowboy yeah, some call me the gangster of love, some people call me Maurice, cause' I speak of the pompetous of love. People talk about me baby, say I'm doin' you wrong, doin' you wrong. But don't you worry baby don't worry cause' I'm right here at home. Cause' I'm a picker, I'm a grinner, I'm a lover and I'm a sinner playin' my music in the sun. I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a mid-night toker. I get my lovin' on the run.

After that, a time for beginners in love began. The following first loves came with the moonlight and disappeared when the summer´s last wave faded on the sea. But once upon a time true love came to me. Or, at least, I thought so. Illusions. That time the summer took revenge on me. When she told me she was leaving me, at first I didn’t believe her, then I hated her just for a while and finally I asked her to stay with me the only way I thought she would understand it. So, I borrowed some words from Jaques Brel and said: Ne me quitte pas. Il faut oublier. Tout peut s´oublier. Qui s´enfuit déjà. Oublier le temps des malentendus et le temps perdu a savoir comment, oublier ces heures qui tuaient parfois a coups de pourquoi le cœur du Bonheur. Ne me quitte pas … And I added, ne me quitte pas, Je n´vais plus pleurer, Je n´vais plus parler, Je me cacherai là a te regarder danser et sourire et à t´écouter chanter et puis rire. Laisse-moi devenir l´ombre de ton ombre, l´ombre de ta main, l´ombre de ton chien.

But finally she flew through the bathroom window, as The Beatles sang. And I learned a lesson. True love doesn’t exist, or better, it only exists in your mind. You can enjoy as long as you recognize it is a fake. If not, it will cause you some hurt. So in order to protect myself from the damage of love I had to learn what another teacher of mine, Leonard Cohen, taught me. From that moment on I would be available to every woman who needs a man, as Leonard wanted me to. He encouraged me to offer myself to women by saying something like what he said: If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to, and if you want another kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you. If you want a partner, take my hand, or if you want to strike me down in anger, here I stand. I'm your man.

But, let´s stop talking about songs and lyrics. There are so many songs of love, hate and peace in my mind that it is impossible to summarise them. Lastly I wouldn’t like to say goodbye without recalling all the music without words that makes up my daily soundtrack from when I get up to when I go bed. So, thanks to Miles Davis, Philip Glass, Wim Mertens, Gavin Bryars, Herbie Hancock, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Marcus Miller, Ravi Shankar, Pat Metheny, Joe Zawinul and too many others to mention. They make me feel so good in a silent way, save me from the sinking of the Titanic day by day, take me to a Birdland each evening, scare me with our unbalanced life while listening to Koyaanisqatsi and tell me a secret story with a happy ending before I go to bed. All of them take turns to care for me every day; they are my musicians on call.

Bart Ptolomy

1 From Mediterraneo, by J. M. Serrat. Translation: perhaps because my childhood continues playing on your beach, and hidden behind the canes my first love sleeps, I wear your light and your smell wherever I go, and piled on your sand I keep love, plays and sorrows. I, that in my skin have the bitter flavour of the eternal crying …

The Cinemaniac Corner: Music and Cinema

Music in cinema is such a daunting topic, and these two branches of art have such a symbiotic relation that I can hardly find the way to pull one thread from the whole ball of yarn.

Haven´t you ever found yourself happily whistling in the shower popular and classic melodies like `Singin´ in the Rain´ (1952), `Supercalifragilisticespilalidocious´ (Mary Poppins, 1964) or any of the very many famous songs of the well-known musical movies we all enjoyed as kids or teenagers: `Saturday Night Fever´(1977), `The Sound of Music´(1965), `My Fair Lady´(1964), and so on?

Music is an important feature in almost every movie. The soundtrack of these creations is often as relevant as the plot, the photography, the wardrobe, the production or the performances of actors and actresses. Sometimes it’s even one of the strong points of a film – not to mention when we talk about musicals -, and it’s not infrequent to hear people that declare that they didn´t like this or that movie too much (sometimes because it’s too childish or conventional), but that they love its music. Do you remember, for instance, the song `Hakuna Matata´ from the film `The Lion King´ (1994)?

Personally, I can´t forget some of the songs from my own favourites:  Dooley Wilson’s `As Time Goes By´ from Casablanca (1942) with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, some of Liza Minnelli´s catchy songs in the film `Cabaret´ (1972), like `Money, Money´, or even the very mainstream pop romantic song `I Will Always Love You´, sung by Whitney Houston in the movie `The Bodyguard´ (1992).

But what about music specifically composed for the cinema? A lot of great musicians have dedicated themselves to making appealing soundtracks.

Famous composers like Leonard Bernstein have focused their classical backgrounds into great films such as `West Side Story´(1961), while other famous pop stars like the duo Simon and Garfunkel directly have taken part in prominent films such as `The Graduate´(1960), as have New Age performers like Vangelis in `Blade Runner´(1982). And how can one forget the music composed by Max Steiner for the film `Gone with the Wind´ (1939)?

To my taste, I would choose as one of my favourite movie composers, recognized worldwide for his mastery, that man of genius Ennio Morricone. It is enough to say that this octogenarian Italian orchestrator has already written music for more than five hundred motion pictures, of which forty of them have won awards. Two anecdotes from his long life are that he began his a musical career playing the trumpet as a very young man, and that he was a very close childhood friend of Sergio Leone, the great director of brilliant films like `Once Upon a Time in America´(1984) or `For a Few Dollars More´(1965).

But Morricone´s long list of works includes so many more fascinating movies: ‘Days of Heaven´(1978), `The Untouchables´(1987), `Cinema Paradiso´(1988), `Bugsy´(1991) and many others. One of his masterpieces, in my opinion, is his score for Roland Joffé´s British film `The Mission´ (1986) starring Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons: its music was inspired by a combination of Spanish classical liturgical pieces and Guaranian indigenous instruments, featuring some remarkable flute compositions and oboe solos.

Classic music has been present in many different kinds of movies: from Richard Strauss´s `Ode to the Sun´ of `Also Sprach Zarathustra´ in the Stanley Kubrick film `A Space Odyssey´(2001) to Richard Wagner´s `Ride of the Valkyries´ in Francis Coppola´s `Apocalypse Now´(1979); from the Mendelssohn pieces in Woody Allen’s `A Midsummer Night´s Sex Comedy´(1982) to Brahms´ `Hungarian Dance Number 5´ in Charles Chaplin’s `The Great Dictator´(1940), from the Donizetti arias in John Huston’s `Prizzi´s Honor´(1985) to the duet `La ci darem la mano´ from the Mozart opera `Don Giovanni´ in Gabriel Axel´s film `Babette’s  Feast´(1987).

But one film I really enjoyed both as a film fan and as a music taster was  `Amadeus´ (Milos Forman, 1984).

The plot of the film is not the usual biopic story. The point of view of the main character, who is obviously Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is perceived by the mind of one of his contemporaries: Antonio Salieri. This man, Salieri, suffers from one of the thorniest deadly sins: envy.

The film begins with Salieri confessing to a priest at an Austrian lunatic asylum in the early nineteenth century. There he remembers his suicide attempt and a life lived in the shadow of the genius Wolfgang Amadeus.

The story, apparently quite faithful to historical facts, extends a psychological analysis to both of them. It includes Mozart’s relationship with his father Leopold, with his wife Constanze, with the Emperor Joseph II and of course the troubled love/hate feelings of Antonio Salieri towards him. Mozart is drawn as quite a petulant, willful, proud but exceptionally gifted young man. Salieri is portrayed as a resentful, bitter, ordinary man that loves Amadeus´ music and would like to have been the author of all those wonderful gems.

  

As Mozart’s health and financial situation worsens, Salieri, who has apostatized from God for having abandoned him to his own mediocrity, hatches a complex plot to gain an ultimate victory and revenge. 

The story is a very suggestive and entertaining one, but the music is simply great and very enjoyable. All the events are flecked with a summarized itinerary of Mozart’s entire musical production: the first movement of the Twenty-fifth Symphony, the Concerto for Two Pianos K.365, the Concertante Symphony K.364, parts of the operas The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, the Mass in C minor K.427, and of course, the Requiem, at the most dramatic moments and the ending of the film.

In my opinion, it is difficult to really enjoy cinema if you don´t enjoy music, maybe if you only watch silent movies, and even in then I doubt it.

The Thanksgiving Turkey

 

My life's music

Every stage of life has its own music and, really, our musical tastes are changing at the same time as our life unfolds. What at one time moves you, makes you smile or cry and gives you goosebumps may seem ridiculous and old-fashioned at other times.

However, there comes a time in your life when all styles are mixed in your mind and in your heart. At that time, when you hear the music that marked the different stages of your life you sometimes feel happy or sad and others melancholy but always get excited and feel that music this music is yours.

My childhood has always been accompanied by the "SPANISH COPLA" that my mother sang with great feeling and a beautiful voice.

When I was in my teens I only listened to the wonderful music of the 70s and 80s that I think was really extraordinary, creative, and still sounds fresh today.

As I got older, my musical tastes changed to anothermore “serious” type of music. I started listening to classical music, especially baroque, although my favorite music at that time was the opera. When I heard "Di Provenza il mar" (La Traviata) a tear slid down my cheek.

And at this point I have probably started to suffer the evolution, or rather involution, that brings me closer to childhood. All the music is mixed in my head and in my heart and I have to confess that I love to hear, as much or more, a song sung by Doña Concha Piquer than a Schubert lied.

And now I’ll add a list of some of my favorite songs, with links, which shows this strange mixture of tastes:

First three examples of the musical treasure known as "Spanish Copla”:

LA BIEN PAGÁ: By Perello and Mostazo in a sublime interpretation of Miguel de Molina

LA FALSA MONEDA: By Perello and Mostazo and performed in this version by Imperio Argentina

OJOS VERDES: By Valverde, León and Quiroga. For me, the  crown jewel of Doña Concha Piquer.

I also leave you the link to this historical version of Miguel de Molina. Observe how it changes the lyric “el enlace a esta otra histórica versión de Miguel de Molina”.

Now several examples of songs from the 80 that I think were milestones in the history of pop music. During this time many great singers and fantastic songs were born.

U2 - With or Without You

Rolling Stones - Start Me Up

The Police - Every Breath You Take

Billy Idol - Dancing with Myself

Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer

Cindy Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

David Bowie – Let’s Dance

Read more on: http://www.sentadofrentealmundo.com/2009/08/las-mejores-canciones-de-los-80.html#ixzz2Tfq1ydMn.

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial

And now the best Spanish songs:

La Chica de Ayer, Nacha Pop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEIjZHPplG4

Lobo Hombre en París, La Unión

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bof8U7-F7M4

No Dudaría, Antonio Flores

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5zWfADKgGk

Escuela de Calor, Radio Futura

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYuwLyD2qJ4

Bailaré Sobre tu Tumba, Siniestro Total

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTsFtiyMIj8

El Calor del Amor en un Bar, Gabinete Caligari

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gidwPLGbPDY

A link to a fantastic selection of baroque music (Bach, Monteverdi ....):

Música barroca - Bach - YouTube

And here’s a link to a selection of the most famous arias

http://www.geocities.ws/guiaudicion/operasyarias.htm

¡¡¡¡¡Good music!!!!

Nines

Lígula: emerging music

 Would you like to know something about Lígula?

Lígula is a band that can be counted among the new generation of independent bands, with hardly one year on the road. Six madrileños plus one from Ponferrada (León), all around 22 years old, make up the group. Three guitars, bass, drums, sometimes a harmonica, and a singer (whose peculiar, low voice resembles that of the singer in Munford & Sons) determine the sound of the group. The style of their first EP has been defined between folk and indie.

Lígula’s live performances are extraordinary and powerful. “Missing Bird” (one of the most applauded songs in concerts), "Chanted Monologue"  and “Filter” are the highlights of the disc, with a rhythmic, enveloping atmosphere. Those who have decided to be part of this great family will enjoy with their experimental, fun and different sound.

They made it to the final round in the Suberock Festival contest in Extremadura (the first competition in which they have taken part) and reach Emergenza's semifinal. Some of their songs have been broadcast on Capitán Demo Radio 3 and they have played in many concert venues. They have also applied for the SOS 4.8 TalentoSOS competition.

But the most interesting thing about Lígula is that there’s no main leader. Each member has a specific, definite and essential role.

 As they say themselves: “Ligula is a story in permanent movement with no particular destination in mind”. Would you like to hear them?

 I leave you with some links and videos

Follow them in Facebook : Lígula
Follow them in Twitter : @ligulaband

You can listen to their eponymous first álbum and contact them here:

Web Site :	http://ligula.bandcamp.com/

ligulabandcontacto@gmail.com

                  Lígula in Liverpool

  Lígula Chanted Monologue

           Lígula Filter

I hope you enjoy their music and this invitation to be part of their great bunch of fans! And thanks a lot for supporting emerging music!

 Flamencodancer

Flower Power Party at Pacha Ibiza: fun music from the 60s And 70s

I lived in Ibiza for almost 3 years and every summer I did everything possible to go to this party. It was the best party I have ever been, to hippie ambience with people dressed from the period, the entire club decorated with flowers, attractive gogos inviting everybody to dance, amazing performances, the smell of incense permeating the entire room and above all, the great music.

Here is a list of the greatest hits that cannot be left out at a Flower Power Party at Pacha Ibiza:

• Simon & Garfunkel-Mrs. Robinson.
• The Byrds-Mr. Tambourine Man.
• The Mammas & The Papas-Califronia Dreaming.
• Scott Mckenzie-San Francisco.
• The Shirelles-Will you love me tomorrow?
• Del Shannon-Runaway.
• The Chiffons-He´s so Fine.
• Bob & Earl-Harlem Shuffle.
• The Beach Boys-Do it again.
• Dion & The Belmonts-The Wanderer.
• Bruce Channel-Hey! Baby.
• Dion DiMucci-Runaround Sue.
• Eddie Cohran-Come on Everybody.
• Chubby Checker-Let´s Twist Again.
• Jerry Lee Lewis-Great Balls of Fire.
• Los Lobos-La Bamba.
• Little Eva-The Locomotion.
• The Monkees-I´m a Believer.
• The Beach Boys-Wouldn´t it be Nice.
• Sonny and Cher-The Beat Goes on.
• Roy Orbison-Oh, Pretty Woman.
• Tommy James & The Shondells-Money Money.
• Manfred Man-Do Wah Diddy Diddy.
• Sly & The Family Stone-Dance To The Music.
• The Supremes-You can´t Hurry Love.
• Lulu an the Luvvers-Shout.
• The Troggs-Wild Thing.
• Free-All right now.
• T.Rex-Get it on.
• The Spencer Davis Group-Keep on Running.
• Steppenwolf-Born to be Wild.
• Deep Purple-Smoke on the Water.
• James Brown-I got you.
• The Four Tops-I can´t Help Myself.
• Jr. Walker & The All Stars-How Sweet it is.
• Arthur Conley-Sweet Soul Music.
• Edwin Starr-War.
• Wilson Pickett-Mustang Sally.
• The Animals-Don´t let me be misunderstood.
• The Temptations-Papa was a Rolling Stone.

Apart from the fact that the club is always crowded and you must go early in the night if you want to avoid huge lines, you cannot miss this party if you are on the island during one of the six Tuesdays that the party takes place during the summertime.

From the time you pass the gate, you get involved in this unique hippie ambience, as the gogos give you a bouquet of flowers and a "heart" lollipop, while some others paint hippie symbols on your body. The club is transformed into a 60s commune with places to buy bracelets, hippie clothing...as the mythical Dalias Hippie Market moves to Pacha with its bohemian sellers, so that the whole atmosphere breathes the 60s.

Inside the club you can find five different musical enviroments interlaced by stairs, doors and "secret" corridors of an historic country house from 1973, and even a great terrace with sea views!!

When you get into the main rooom (where the real show takes place) you feel surrounded by a variety of styles and generations, from the mythical hippies of the 60s, to the young residents of the island, to foreing tourist who are only passing through Ibiza. Suddenly a real Harley Davidson appears roaring into the room, John Lennon and Yoko Ono slip through the crowd in a love nest, a yellow submarine goes round the hall making people from a huge line behind it...a party full of surprises!!

The party ends very early in the morning with the sounds of John Lennon´s hit "Imagine" and everybody joins together with sparklers in their hands, a truly emotional ending...

http://youtu.be/XxeP2YibT6I 

Gajito