The Bourgeoisie and The Rebel

While at Dan's blog, I came across this meme and thought about doing it, since it's about music I think it would be fun to do. No tagging here. So I hope you like.

1. What is the first music album you remember owning?

I think it was The Sound of Music. As a child, I really liked the songs and I remember my father giving me a tape of the album which I remember listening to a lot.

2. If not the same, what is the first music album you purchased for yourself?


Definitely Blondie's Parallel Lines. I think I was 12 years old at the time and it was right around the time their Eat To The Beat album was coming out. This was the beginning of my obsession with all things Deborah. Ever since the first time I saw her on Solid Gold 79. And it wasn't a live appearance or anything. It was the video to Heart of Glass. I was transfixed on her beauty and voice. I think Blondie was at No. 10 with HOG and Rod Stewart winning the No. 1 song with Do Ya Think I'm Sexy.

3. What artist currently occupies the most space either in terms of shelf space or megabytes on your hard drive?

I think maybe there are three artists fighting for the top one in this category. It's either Depeche Mode, The Smiths/Morrissey or Soft Cell/Marc Almond. I can't say which but all three take quite a bit of space.

4. How many different types of music media (vinyl, cassette, CD, etc) have you owned in your lifetime?

I had quite a collection of vinyl during my time. During the time of the walkman, I even would purchase tapes of vinyls I already had so that I would have a perfect copy for my walkman instead of a second generation recording of the vinyl. Even when CDs were beginning to dominate, I still purchased vinyls. Way into the mid 90s - until I had no choice but to switch all to CDs. But now, not a lot of the precious vinyl recordings have made it into CD land so thanks to the interweb and those wonderful bloggers who take the time to convert some of their vinyls to mp3s so that we can enjoy them again. If I had all my vinyl with me, I'd be doing the same.

5. Who or what has had the biggest effect on your music taste?

What I heard growing up at home is exactly the opposite of what my taste in music was/is. I mean, I grew up with the sounds of Pink Floyd, The Doors, heavy metal music, southern and classic rock. AC DC, Led Zeppelin, The Who and the like. Sometimes there would be a little something like The Clash or The Ramones and David Bowie but not much to completely effect my taste in music. I had no influence from anyone over the music I chose to listen to. It was completely mine. And I didn't have any friends either so there weren't any to effect me. I started out with Blondie and then went into New Wave, New Romantic, mostly Brit Pop. I think I became more open minded this way and to this day my music taste varies so widely. To the point that some people are rather surprised that I would listen to some type of artist and another so completely different from the other.


6. How do you currently prefer to listen to music?

I am most comfortable listening to my music by headphones alone. When I lived at home, I couldn't listen to my music through loudspeakers because of the prejudice over the music I listened to. It was almost shameful in a way! Like I was listening to forbidden music. So I had to keep it to myself and wear my headphones throughout. I usually had to make tapes of the vinyls and listen to my music through the walkman or tape player through headphones. I really wasn't allowed to use the stereo system for a long time! So these days, it's just my headphones either connected to my iPod or computer.

7. In terms of music memorabilia, what is your most prized possession?

I have quite a few vinyls that I think are collectible. Some special 7" releases like Marc Almond's Tears Run Rings single which came in a box with two post cards and a badge.

Once after an Erasure concert I ran to meet Vince Clarke who autographed my Circus record. And I have an autographed Siouxsie & The Banshees album. And just recently, my friend over at Middle Eight sent my a 7" vinyl promotional single of Siouxsie's Into A Swan which I will consider a collectible! Thanks, XO!

8. Have you ever “swapped headsets” with a complete stranger (meaning have you ever unplugged the earphones from your listening device and plugged them into someone else’s player and had them do the same)? If yes, what did they play for you?

No.

9. Have you ever been completely obsessed with a particular artist? Who and to what level did your fandom go?

As I wrote before I was completely obsessed with all things Debbie Harry. So I would get my hands on any magazine or any article that had Debbie in it. By the time I got around to writing a letter and joining a fan club, the letter was sent back because the club was no longer in operation. Oh well. But during my second wave, I was obsessed with anything Depeche Mode. I always impatiently waited for the next single or album to come out by them. And I think at 18, spending $40 on a bootleg of one of their concerts on vinyl is something only an obsessed fan would do.

10. What is the farthest you’ve ever traveled for a concert?

During the 90s a friend of mine who had moved to Georgia once called to tell me that Depeche Mode was coming to play there and that if he bought a ticket, would I come to see it with him? Hell yes! I went and saw them there in Atlanta during the Violator tour. They were playing in a new venue, I forget what it was called but it was a great show. And I remember it was a double whammy cause Nitzer Ebb was opening the show. I had a pretty good time in Atlanta that time and seeing DM there with my friend topped it big time.

11. Who have you seen in concert the most?

Hands down, it would have to be Depeche Mode. I have seen all their shows since they began touring the States. Since 1985 and still going!

If you happen to do this meme, please let me know. I'd love to check it out.

My So Called Scarf

So I'm making a scarf.
More like Your So Called Scarf.
It's *not* for me. So I'm hoping the recipient will like it. It's very soft and fluffy. Will definitely keep you warm and has a generous width. The yarn is from Paton's called SWS. Which stands for Soy Wool Stripes. Very cushy, fuzzy and soft. Knit on size 11 needles.

the title is actually the name of a free pattern which can be found on this blog.

The Wonder of You

Just thought I'd share this with you.

Take care.

Post-it Doodles No. 8

Randomy thingies

You know, I really had such high hopes in Dave's new album "Hourglass." After hearing Kingdom, I was all hyped-up for a nice pseudo Depeche Mode album. But I think I'm in the majority when I say that the album has only 3 good tracks that deserve mention. Saw Something, Kingdom and maybe for some Deeper & Deeper.


I can't believe it's already November. May the gods of the universe stop the time so I can just catch up. I'm just a country mile behind the rest of the world.


Can things get any more dramatic? I'm keeping quiet so as not to disturb the flow of Positive Thinking that so many are fond of (but in reality doesn't really work). Oh what a horrible thing to say on such a day as Friday. And it's only noon.


It's kind of insane at the moment. But no complaints or anything. The holidays are fast approaching and there's much to complain then.


I've been wanting to do some art work and some music, but no muse whatsoever. And I had bought so many supplies during summer convinced that I was going make it flow. But I just can't force it. As for the music, well my keyboard isn't working properly. I have to find a place that can repair Roland synths. Some of the keys are not making sounds and the button for changing patches is not working. Like I have to press it many times to get to the next patch. So I'm getting pretty discouraged. I like the Roland sounds, but I may just get one of those 25 key controllers by M-Audio or something. They've got some nice ones

Like this one:


The good thing with this one as with many keyboard controllers is that you can assign drum samples to the pads (or any sample actually). This sells for under $200. What do you think? It's perfect if you don't want to use a lot of space. You can have your laptop (containing your favorite DAW, like Live or Logic) on your desk and sit the controller either in front or next to it and voila! a Studio.
Well, that's all I got for now. Time for lunch.

Live from the Frankenstein Ballroom - Morrissey 10/23/07

Actually, more like Hammerstein Ballroom. But you know Morrissey. And why am I using the famous "Salford Lads" picture instead of something more current from Moz? Because if you had bought the "Queen is Dead" album which had a gatefold sleeve, and opened it up, you would see this same picture. The same album containing the picture which contained the single "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" which he performed last night to the delight of many an old Smiths fans. One song in particular "Stretch Out And Wait" had transformed me back to those days in the mid 80s. A young V not going to school, but dreaming on the streets of New York City, walking in the rain listening to said songs.

As one commenter (Macker) stated taken from the Brooklyn Vegan Site:

"Being at a Morrissey concert is like playing 'this is your life' - each song brings me back to a specific time in my life and last night it was fun to go back to being 16... "

Other Smiths songs included:

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
Death Of A Disco Dancer
How Soon Is Now?


Early Moz solo fans would have enjoyed:

The Loop
Sister, I'm a Poet
Disappointed
Billy Budd
Jack The Ripper
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
Tomorrow

And most recent ones:

Iris Blood, English Heart
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
First Of The Gang To Die

And the only song he sang from Ringleader: Dear God, Please Help Me

New York Dolls Cover: Human Being

New Songs: All You Need Is Me, I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris, That's How People Grow Up, One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell.

It would have been ideal for me to just give you the one setlist, but this isn't an ideal world.

And would you believe I was not about to go to this show? I got up yesterday morning and felt the beginning of headaches and figured it was going to last me the whole day. The mood shifted to me not wanting to take part in this show. I reasoned that I had seen Morrissey in Atlantic City only a few months ago. But an exchange of E-mails from one Celibate to another convinced me that I should indeed go. I'm so glad I did. The setlist was entirely different from the one in Atlantic City so it felt like a completely new show. The audience was better and so was the venue. As always, Moz shows get so much more exciting towards the end of the show as die-hard fans try to outmanoeuvre the security guards and try to make it on stage. I always want to cheer them on. You can't beat all this entertainment for just under $25.

Here are pictures of the show from some Flckr site.

Devenir gris

Midge Ure singing his version of Fade to Grey live in 2002.
Interesting to note that this tune was written by Billie Curie at a time when he was with the Gary Numan band. I wonder how it would have sounded like if Gary sang it. But it ended up on the debut Visage album sung by Steve Strange. I think it's one of those timeless classics that screams London of the early 80s.



I don't know whatever happened to the new Visage that was supposed to starting making some new music. But there is a page at MySpace of Visage MarkII (badly put together). There you can hear the new version of Fade to Grey which is nicely done.

Original video:

Before nightfall

"we should be drenched in wonders, but still we should have wonder left for the thing my companion, with his scientific training, would no doubt be the first to see. He would glance up, with that proprietary eye of the man who knows his constellations down to the little Greek letters. I imagine his exclamation. He would at first doubt his eyes. I should inquire the cause of his consternation, and it would be hard to explain. He would ask me with a certain singularity of manner for "Orion," and I should not find him; for the Great Bear, and it would have vanished. "Where?" I should ask, and "where?" seeking among that scattered starriness, and slowly I should acquire the wonder that possessed him.

Then, for the first time, perhaps, we should realise from this unfamiliar heaven that not the world had changed, but ourselves - that we had come into the uttermost deeps of space."

HG Wells - "A Modern Utopia"

A Day at the MET - Warning lots of pictures

It's been a while since I've been at the MET. So I took some time off to catch up and see some art. Here are some pictures. Seems like the pictures taken at higher resolution do not seem to come out well. So here are some that I think came out OK. The Rembrandt galleries were excellent! But they didn't allow any picture taking at those galleries. Most of these are Greek, Roman, Medieval and Pop.

GREEK & ROMAN

MEDIEVAL

EGYPT

ROMAN

POP

WARHOL

Who remembers? We do!

"Who after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

This statement was made by Adolf Hitler murderer of 6 million Jews.

The vote by the House committee on Wednesday, condemning the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey as an act of genocide made the cover of The New York Times today.

"Mr. Bush appeared on the South Lawn of the White House before the vote and implored the House not to take up the issue, only to have the majority of the committee disregard his warning at the end of the day, by a vote of 27 to 21"

and

"Despite President George Bush twisting arms and making deals, justice prevailed," said Representative Brad Sherman, Democrat of California and a sponsor of the resolution.


Read the full article here.

From the resolution itself:

(21) President Ronald Reagan in proclamation number 4838, dated April 22, 1981, stated in part 'like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which followed it--and like too many other persecutions of too many other people--the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten'.

Reagan was the first president to ever mention the mass killings of the Armenians as genocide. No president after him ever used the term. Since then, there have been more genocides, most recently what has been going on in Darfur.

And just recently I had seen the movie "Screamers" on cable:

Directed by the award-winning, humanitarian activist Carla Garapedian, "Screamers" is an internationally produced documentary that covers the history of modern-day genocide and genocide denial, beginning with the Armenian Genocide in 1915, and how the world's inaction lead to other massacres.

The movie is supported by the metal band System of a Down so for all you metal-heads out there, you won't be disappointed with the music. I'm glad they decided to do this since SOD has a pretty big fan base.

A neo nebula from under the sun

Debbie's new album "Necessary Evil" comes out tomorrow. I will pick it up probably during lunch time at Border's and listen to it that night.

In the meantime, just got an e-mail from Live Nation that Ms. Harry will be performing at Irving Plaza on November 8. It will a nice place to see her as it's not such a big place.

The first time I saw Debbie live was in Phoenix in a place called After The Gold Rush. She was with Chris Stein so it wasn't all Debbie's songs. In fact the second number was Dreaming. The show was actually fantastic but that was ..gosh over 15 years ago. But I'm thinking this show might just be Debbie solo songs and I'm not holding my breath for any Blondie numbers. Should be interesting anyway. I know I've read a lot of bad reviews about her performance in True Colors and a lot of people even stated that because of that show, they will never see Debbie live. But I've seen her live in more than a few occasions, one being A&E's Live by Request where I was a lucky member of the audience and the performance was pretty good.

I'm posting the video for Sweet & Low. A song Debbie wrote about the late Andy Warhol and it's off the Def Dumb & Blonde record. Love how she looks in this video.

Post-It Doodles No. 7

A doodle post. Honestly, these aren't "planned" drawings rather just done mindlessly as the days drag on. They're not meant to be "thought out" art or anything. But still, I like to share. For whatever reason.

I'll be spending the weekend trying to straighten things out at my apartment. I have lived in this apartment for a year now and even after a year, I still need stuff. It will get there, but I need to make some room first and make good use of the space with some sense. So I have to rearrange things.

I know I'm going to need more than one desk and I saw one at the IKEA website that's just perfect for me. I hope to be getting it soon. It's big enough to do some art work and put my computer & music stuff on it.

What else? The weather sucks. I for one am into seasons and I wish the seasons to change immediately. You guys, you got all that summer time between June and September but I want my fall weather! It's hot and humid out there. It just shouldn't be.

All Supernova in a Big Bang fist

Siouxsie has joined the ranks of her old buddies like Marc Almond who has also turned 50 and Morrissey who has two more years to go. And She's done duets with both of them. No longer with the Banshees and no longer married to Budgie of Creatures fame, she is now just plain Siouxsie.

The album has gotten some really great reviews. I read on another review that this album is produced in part by the same producer as Goldfrapp's and there is hint of it in this release. Perhaps a duet with Alison in the future?

So Siouxsie burts all out all transformed in Into A Swan and then heads to the hard driving About To Happen. A clap along of sorts, you half expect Chrissy Hynde or Shirley Manson to join in on the choruses with Get up - Get out / Don't hang about / Get up - Get out.

Loveless is by far one of my favorite tracks next to Sea of Tranquility where she sings: There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand. Right!

They Follow You is a little Goldfrapp in the way she sings it like a starlet of the 40s (?) Agree?

Some choice lyrics.

I remember everything
I can still recall the pain
I was left there for dead
Can't play this game again
To and fro and back again
I'm senseless - I'm doubtless
Loveless

Dream of flight
In rocket ship
Piercing through
Lunar eclipse
If It Doesn't Kill you

Far up above - Up and away
Up in the ether of opal and grey
Biding out time at the end of a line
We're cast adrift on the doldrum shift
Drone Zone

At first I thought Drone Zone to be a little too screwy for me but it has grown on me.

Cool water
Washing over me
Wash away - Wash away
Clues of finger prints
Forensic traces
Footsteps on an ocean bed
Walk away
Sea of Tranquility

Sew up these eyes
Stitch up this smile
Embroidered tears
Drown the wishing well
They follow you - to sorrow you
They Follow You

I would catch a falling star
If you asked me to
But I can't seem to find one
To hold on to
Heaven and Alchemy

The first Banshees album I ever bought was Once Upon A Time - The Singles. It was around the same time Hyena (with Robert Smith) came out and while me and some friends were out shopping for records, I picked it up at the used bin section to buy it. My friend snatched it from my hands and put it back saying "I will not have you listen to this!" I had stupid friends like that. I obeyed. (why?) But you know I came back for it! After that, Tinderbox came out. And during that time I went out to Tower Records (RIP) and stood on a long line to get my Singles album autographed by Siouxsie and the band. My Singles record was a cut-out (those who know records know what I'm talking about) and I've often wondered if Ms. Sioux ever noticed it. But I was glad I now had an autographed copy of a Siouxsie record. The I went to see her perform for the first time at Radio City Music Hall. Before doing her first number (Cities in Dust), she came out on stage wearing this very elaborate Japanese cape of sorts. It was a great show. Got to see them again during the Seven Year Itch tour. I hope she tours the states with this album, I'd love to see her again.

Alf too blogs

In "Who Are You" she writes:

I don’t feel comfortable with happiness.
It is a strange bed fellow.
I must address this immediately.
My favourite hen has gone missing. I fear the fox has eaten her.

Just sticking my head it to say allo and howdy-do.

Stumbled onto Alison's blog today and, you know, she's just like us. Blogging about happiness, chunky knit sweaters, her being labeled as an "80s singer", her holiday in France and apparently, a favorite pet hen. It's a good read as any blog and you can comment too. I must confess that beyond "Alf" in which a cassette tape release is my only possession of her solo material - I have not yet ventured onto anything more. And I should. I'm a grown-up now and the phases are over. Let's put them all in a pot and taste the brilliance. Music! Yum! And her voice has always been one of soulful and beautiful. By the way, don't try and google "Yaz", you will be disappointed.

Alison's blog.

Website Proper.

ATC for Inspire Me Thursday

OK, here's my try at Inspire Me Thursday's "Artist's Trading Cards." I had recently bought some Prismacolar fine line markers and wanted to try them out already. They're a little too fine, but I guess great for details. Trading cards make me think of super heroes so I drew one. The other is sort of a design much like the post-it doodles that I sometimes make. Hope you like.

Astrona

The Astrona blog is a great place to see some fantastic space art (if you're into that sort of thing.) I myself love it, like this picture painted by Andrew C. Stewart. There are some great works of art depicting scenes of space, planets, planetary landscapes, spaceships, alien civilizations, space colonies, robots and more. Some are old, some are new and most seem to be done digitally. But they're all fantastic and I'm glad someone is devoting a blog to this genre of art. Check it out. Thank you.

SC - Collector Personality

I used to collect Tarot cards. I don't anymore. But I still have all the decks that I have collected from over the years. I acquired them mostly by going to those metaphysics shops and looking at the large array of cards and picking out the ones that appealed to me. Some were gotten from book stores and some were even bought from the Internet.

I did use them. At first to read the future and then as a tool for understanding myself and solve problems I may be having at a given moment.

Now that I'm more of a skeptic, the mystical appeal of these cards have been lost to me. I still do treasure them and still think they are fascinating. So many artists have rendered their own imaginations and given them their own personal depictions of these cards. Which is why they were so collectible to me.

I had been so fascinated by the cards that I had also bought just about every book on the subject. Including a two volume set of - I would say - more than 500 pages each of its history. These were like bedtime stories for me.

It took quite a while to get it down and memorize the meaning behind all 78 cards and use them in readings. But through practice upon practice, I was able to do it without looking through the books for reference. I had even written my own small volume on its meanings and reading methods. Now lost to me. I've been out of practice and would have to pretty much start all over again if I was to do a reading.

It actually all began when we took a trip out to Salem Mass. It was one of those high school trips you take with your class and teacher. While hitting the many stores in the area, I saw a beginner's tarot pack of cards. It wasn't a full deck. It only contained the 22 major arcana cards. But that was my first purchase in the Tarot card world. I think I was 17 at the time. It was compulsory after that whenever I took a trip to a bookstore or visited one of those shops to purchase a deck.

I had written about this before on another blog sometime ago, but since I've never really collected any other thing with a passion before (well, maybe comics) I decided to revisit it for Sunday Scribblings.

Thanks to for reading.

Post-It Doodle No. 6

Just a little doodle to break the silence.

I call this "Anxiety"

My Kingdom for a Swan

I'm eagerly waiting for the new Siouxsie & The Banshee's release of Mantaray. You can hear snippets from the new album on the official Mantaray website. V V good!

Dave Gahan's new album Hourglass sounds promising, after hearing Kingdom. Could very easily fit into Mode's Playing The Angel. Hear a snippet of Kingdom at DG's myspace thingy. Surprisingly good.

Secession - Touch

80's Synth-Pop band Secession performing "Touch" on BBC's Oxford Road Show.

You could call them the one-hit wonder with this song. It became popular enough to be covered by another singer, which I can't recall at the moment. From what I remember it wasn't close to being good as the original. With a couple of 12" records released and only one album titled "A Dark Enchantment," they disappeared and went into 80s synth-pop heaven never to be heard from again.

I had been on the lookout for this album on CD for quite sometime and never found it. I gave up on it eventually until a thoughtful popster-blogger friend pointed me to the right direction and then I was in nostalgia heaven. So I looked to see if they had any videos out and this was the only thing out there.



You don't get to see the members much other than the vocalist. But this is more for the sound rather than the vision.