THURSTON MOORE (Sonic Youth) @ AB, this sunday…

Along with The Cure and The Pixies, Sonic Youth really forged my prime musical youth… My first live gig – I must have been 12 years old or something –  was one of Sonic Youth in Deinze, with another indie band with which the New York no-wavers are still collaborating on various levels, namely Pavement, as a support act. And what a fuken master gig it was !!!

Though they were more or less mainstream bands (except for their earlier LP’s) while being undergroundish at the same time, these bands were aired regularly on television, especially in dedicated programs such as MTV Europe’s legendary “120 minutes” with Paul King. This was a time where experimenting was still hip, where audiences weren’t considered as a bunch of walking Visa cards and where music was about sharing real emotions… That’s why I’m really pissed at the so-called modern Gaga-era, where everything is show-off, theatre and big doe !!!

Mind you : there are terrific new bands around, but they can’t rely on the mainstream media to be heard. Furthermore, I don’t have anything against the Gaga-creature in particular : in a few years, she’ll probably come to understand how she was used and misused as a cheap market thing… No, it’s the unanimity, the reverence, the cult of void and fake that I can’t stand, because it makes sharing music and feelings between people impossible !

Sonic Youth leaving Geffen could only have a positive impact on the “indie degree” of their music, as their latest LP, “The Eternal“, clearly shows, cuz I must confess I briefly hooked off after “Washing Machine“…

All the band’s members are plural artists (making collages, paintings, etc.) and also have their numerous side projects. Besides Thurston’s, check out his wife Kim Gordon’s resume, as well as Lee Ranaldo’s…

As far as the former is concerned, his solo project ( There are others, Dim Stars for instance…) started in 1995 with “Psychic Hearts“, an album that could have been written by and for SY. From then on, Turston’s been navigating between intimist songs (as in “Trees Outside The Academy“), highly experimental stuff that could almost be considered contemporary music (the genre !) (as in “My Cat Is An Alien“) and even pop rock / electronica fusion collabs with some masters of the genre, in “Root” : there seem to be no boundaries to his creativity…

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Sonic Youth : http://www.sonicyouth.com/

Thurston Moore’s own label : http://www.ecstaticpeace.com/

The Belgian musical goldmine : www.lamediatheque.be

Woef ! (Belgian Gay Pride 2011, addendum)

 

 

 

Belgian Gay Pride 2011, Brussels (yet another photographic coverage…)

First of all, let me say I remain puzzled at those “gents” who feel compelled to reaffirm their true heterosexuality at any given time, preferably by spitting their hate on them “vissius, pigheaded fags”. Have they tried it in the past and are they now ashamed of it ? Are they thinking about it each time they let themselves go inside their female partner’s dark and smooth cavern, and do they hate themselves for it, thereby projecting that hate onto an easily identifiable enemy, in order not to get eaten up by their hatred ? God only knows…

Huge crowd this year – the weather was sunny, after all… – no less than 45.000 people (according to the event organizers) marched proudly to affirm they gayness or, in the case of the gay-friendly, their total acceptance of sexual difference.

Well, hellow !

There was a particular focus on gay rights across the globe, mainly in the African countries, most of which remain fiercely opposed to depenalizing (!!!) homosexuality…

In this XXIst century, eight countries are still punishing sodomy between male partners by death !

Reggae (and rap) musicians, spiritual “leaders”, and even heads of States… in some countries and for some people (far too many of them, actually), hating homosexuals is still public policy ! Yet, once again : if one is feeling alright and serene with oneself and one’s own sexuality, how can one in any way feel the urge to express hate towards people who are doing it in a different way but at the same time not trying to impose anything on them ?… or is this too much of a straight forward explanation ?

In (broad) Europe, not every gay or lesbian can claim to “voir la vie en rose” either… The mayor of Moscow (a city where such a parade is still forbidden…), for instance, is particularly verbally agressive towards the homosexuals. The (not so) funny thing is that, all throughout history, the homosexuals have always been depicted as the enemy, the infiltrator from the other side, but even today, in some EU-countries, there are a lot of things preventing from putting an equal sign between gay and rights, despite the fact the latter are supposed to be guaranteed by the European Union !!! Other priorities, I guess…

If there’s a reason to be proud about Belgium (Yes, yes !…), it’s our leadership on ethical issues (not only in this matter) : Belgian gay people are not only allowed to marry, they can adopt a child, too ! To my knowledge, no one has yet reported any case of “fridge frozen babies” in any such families…

By the way, green (French and Dutch-speaking together !) and red were the only represented political colours in the pride… Oh yeah, and a tiny lil’ toucha blue, at the end as well… SO YOU BE A GOOD DOG COME ELECTION DAY !

Not everything is accomplished, though, as the transgender and transexual subcommunity could tell you… But, seriously, what could you refuse such beautiful creatures, I ask ya ?…

Don’t I know you from somewhere ?

You think (s)he’s looking ridiculous, do you ? I don’t… but I do ask myself the following question, though : why the fuck do you care ?

Not as you had imagined, guyz… LOL

Well, mellow !

AFROCUBISM @ BOZAR (16/11/10)

Whereas the country of “perpetual revolution” seems at a crossroads, one of its best ambassadors, the Buena Vista Social Club, is livelier than ever, still managing to arouse unanimity around its bedazzling music.

At an age where most people think about retirement, if they aren’t retired already, the Cuban grandpa’s keep innovating ! One of them, Eliades Ochoa, even has a new project, “Afrocubism“, which is a subtle alliance of his Cuban musical roots and music from Mali, a North-Western African country that has launched so many world class artists in the past decades (Ali Farka Toure and Amadou & Mariam, to name but a few) it’d deserve some sort of international award.

Did the first human being originate from what is  now the African continent ? Hard to say and, actually, it doesn’t really matter. There’s a high probability, however, that the very first structured sound ever conceived was created in the Southern hemisphere, from where it “conquered” the world…

It may sound cliché, but rhythm and melody are undoubtedly among the undeniable gifts from “God” to the African people, gifts the white man has always been so jealous of he has been trying to take his revenge in every possible way…

Next tuesday, though, it’ll be the “black music” that will shine @ BOZAR, for everyone’s pleasure…

3 GIGS NOT TO MISS !

Ozric Tentacles @ VK  —> 29/10/10

post-concert appreciation : humble & smiling as always, yet extremely pro, mix of ancient (e.i. a few “Erpland” tracks) & new stuff (e.i. “Mooncalf”, from their latest album, “The Yum Yum Tree”), perhaps a lil too many “fast-paced guitar wall of sound” tunes @ the end, but that’s apparently what the VK crowd wanted that night. The Ozrics “apologized” for not coming to Brussels during the past five years and promised they’d be here more often from now on. We’ll hold them to that promise, especially the long haired, super-cute and smart looking guy in charge of the electro sound effects…

Burning Spear @ Théâtre national (Festival des Libertés)  —> 30/10/10

post concert appreciation : “Jah” Winston did it again (though he’d probably refuse to be called that way) ! When he first came on stage, he looked shaky and high as heaven – the Belgian weed perhaps… – but, man, did he and his musicians give us what we were expecting !!! Two hours and a half of “big band reggae” with his trademark deep voice, his philosophical and political message, an energy like no other, outstanding percussions by Mr. Rodney himself and simply divine melodies that sent you straight into the cosmos. Kool crowd too… the band even stayed 15 minutes after their exhausting performance to shake hands and sign autographs… MASTER CLASS !!!

Mad Professor @ Magasin 4  —> 06/11/10

“[LA] NEGRITUDE N’EST NI UNE TOUR, NI UNE CATHEDRALE; ELLE PLONGE [SES RACINES] DANS LA CHAIR ROUGE DU SOL…………………………………..”

(Léopold Sédar Senghor, Femme noire –

also sampled by King Britt in their “Conviction” track / album : “The Cosmic Lounge“, 2007 –

once again, check out : www.lamediatheque.be, unrelated to this site)

Brussels is blessed, people !!!