all of the stars and all of the guitars

Surely everyone knows the myth that is Star Guitar.

If you don't think you do, fear not; it is thankfully not as shown in this horrific picture. When you click on the video below, you will feel as though you have in fact known what it is for as long as you remember.
Every version or remix or edit or cover of this song is like that sentiment that accompanies me whenever I embark on a journey: be it the feeling I get when in the car being driven to the airport in the small and dark hours of the morning, or when a few minutes into my journey down from Aberdeen the train hits the coast and sun hits the waters and all you can see is shimmering, yes beautiful shimmering falsely inviting North Sea views.

As if the Chemical Brothers had gone and put the sensation we all feel when travelling, into some sort of machine which then spat it back out in audio form.

There is an equally wonderful version of Star Guitar by Japanese DJ Shinichi Osawa (a.k.a. Mondo Grosso) which features vocals by Au Revoire Simone. It is the first track of Osawa's 2007 album The One, and though a bit faster and more up-beat, this cover maintains the same steady easy-going, chilled theme. In 2008 he released The One+ which is basically a remixed compilation of the previous album and it includes three different Star Guitars, Armand Van Helden's remix, Alavi rerox, and Popular Computer remix.

An interesting fact is that apparently the song contains a four measure-long acoustic guitar sample from David Bowie's Starman.

I didn't recognize it at first, but once you do you can hear Ziggy's acoustic intro throughout the track; hence the name Star Guitar.

The original Star Guitar was the second single released from The Chemical Brothers' 2002 album Come With Us. The clip (which I've posted below) was directed by the same genius who gave us unforgettable music videos like Around The World by Daft Punk, Fell In Love With A Girl by The White Stripes, and Music Sounds Better With You by the short-lived Stardust . His name is Michel Gondry and as you can see, he too envisioned the whole travel concept.


In my opinion, it actually feels even more voyage-y than that other myth which is Voyager by Daft Punk... but actually no, I lied; I've put that on now and it feels equally voyage-y.
Still, if you were making a travel playlist, both these are quintessential electronic travel tunes!
I think this is the perfect word to describe Star Guitar, quintessential is:"the most perfect embodiment of something", in this case the feeling one gets when travelling. What more perfect embodiment is there of emotion than music?
Perhaps only a few perceive this song this way, but I doubt that greatly as even seven years since it was released, it really is a song that everyone should have. Not only in debt to the quality of music itself, but also...everyone deserves a song like this.
Bon audio appétit

Starman - David Bowie
Star Guitar - The Chemical Brothers
Star Guitar (Featuring Au Revoire Simone) - Shinichi Osawa
Star Guitar (Alavi rerox) - Shinichi Osawa

'sparkly'

Having scrapped the original overcomplicated playlist, I finally finished the CD.
It's now made up of new, old, odd, unknown, or obscure, or unappreciated and random songs; many of which I only possess thanks to the good taste of others.

Some of you should receive a copy of it in the post over the next two days, I hope you enjoy it...feel free to leave feedback.
As promised here's the tracklist:

1) Birthday - The Sugarcubes
2) About Face - Grizzly Bear
3) Commercial Break - Joakim
4) Heart It Races - Architecture in Helsinki
5) Alice - Pogo
6) Galanga (unknown remix) - MIA
7) Can't Seem To Make You Mine - The Seeds
8) Let's Go Away For A While - Bullion
9) Lisztomania (Classixx version) - Phoenix
10) We Danced Together (SebastiAn remix) - The Rakes
11) Miss Mars - 80Kidz
12) La Serenissima - Eine Kleine Nacht Musik
13) I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead
14) Come Into My Kitchen (I:Cube tribute to The Electric Kitchen) - Joakim
15) Wouldn't It Be Nice - Bullion
16) Saltwater - Beach House
17) Young Heartache - Bullion
18) Star Guitar (Chemical Brothers cover) - Shinichi Osawa
19) Transexual - Mr Oizo
20) When They Fight, They Fight - The Generationals
21) Tunnelvision - Here We Go Magic

What's different now is that it's not just made up of 'cool' new songs which may become popular. Instead I focused on what suits this time of year, of this particular year, where the weather is unpredictable and unreliable, where we all are or are wanting to be on holiday, where some just want to escape and others just want to stay put calm and relaxed right where they are.
I chose this René Magritte painting to represent the CD because I found listening to it all in a row is a bit confusing and surreal. They're the sort of songs which could trick you into feeling like it's a different time of the day.

So it's steady sounding, like every hot and stuffy or rainy boring day that goes past, where either way, your mind needs something refreshing. Tracks like 18 sound a bit like the excitement creeping up on you when you're on a train travelling somewhere in the morning and the sun is just heating up. Then there are the likes of 4, 8 or 20 which just sound fun and sunny and happy, or dazed even.
Track 1 because it is always someone's birthday, someone from the 80s for that matter too, and 21 is there because it makes me think of good nice things happening.
I think my favourite music moments these days would be described as those evenings where the air smells nice and it's not cold at all for a change. You've perhaps had a beer or two and 'sparkly' is the key-word to anything you wanna hear...though different (the first good before going out, and the second to settle down before going to bed) 14 and 16 share that same property.

bang head here

Been trying to make a mixed CD but choosing the playlist is proving itself more difficult than usual. I am realizing that the making of such a thing must be thoughtless and spontaneous; otherwise it transforms the simple gesture into a long and unnecessarily stressful mission. Right now it feels like it’s muted into Mount Everest. Perhaps (as it has been suggested), I should not bother completing it, give up just this once....

In my effort’s defence, I will feel better once it is done than I would stopping right now.
When stressed I listen to pretty music. Unfortunately in this case that cure would probably only make my CD too pretty.

My name is Mano

I confess that this is a truly irrelivant post, but it really feels like these sunglasses

are singing this song to me:

because I look at them and see stars....

Have always had a thing for sunglasses, (almost as much as trainers) and it would be nice to have some which are not Ray Bans for a change, seeing as I already possess three pairs of them...
BUT, having said that, I should probably wait for at least one of those three to break or disappear before even thinking about new ones.
It's just so difficult......
On a positive note it may inspire me to save up this time.

But still...tortoise shell or black and pearl?
On the AM Eyewear website they politely introduced themselves to me as Mano

come into my kitchen

I think it was at the beginning of 2007 when Joakim played at TRAMP! because the gig took place once the club night had moved from beloved venue Bierkeller (77 Piccadilly), to not so loved North Nightclub.
Here’s a link to the TRAMP! Flickr photo set of that night
I remember having just heard the track ‘I Wish You Were Gone’, becoming slightly obsessed with the repetitive beat and lyrics, and then finding out that Joakim & His Ectoplasmic Band would be playing in Manchester very soon.
It was an interesting, but exciting performance, and very much worth it, though I had had to drag a friend along with me.

Since then, the Frenchman’s songs have made intermittent appearances on my itunes; via blogs or compilations such as, Kitsune X with Teenage Kiss, and Simian Mobile Disco's Suck My Deck which in fact kicks off with Drumtrax.

It appears that throughout his life, Joakim has moved back and forth between different genres of music, beginning with classical (as he was taught piano by Lebanese pianist and composer Abdel Rahman El Bacha), followed by discovering bands like The Pixies and Sonic Youth, and then developing a love and interest for jazz which spurred the creation of his first album Tigersushi. Only once his second album, Fantômes, was released in 2003 were we shown a side of his musical interests which reminisced perhaps a slightly more 80s punk, electro pop, or even funk background.

So here we are, I resisted two posts before unveiling my clearly extremely electronic tendencies when it comes to music.

Deciding to use this entry to pay tribute to Joakim is mainly due to the fact that, though I've always really liked his music, I always seem to forget it's there, which is a shame because some of it is very good indeed!
It is hard to try and box him into a certain category or genre, because as far as we know his versatile history may lead to more musical surprises. Maybe it is just safest to say Joakim is a very experimental type of musician.

Here are some of the tracks which have caught my attention over the years. They're very different from eachother, so if you listen to one and dislike it, you won't necessarily also dislike the next.
Last one is my new favourite. Bon audio appétit

I wish You Were Gone
Teenage Kiss
Commercial Break
Spiders
Come Into My Kitchen (I:Cube tribute to The Electric Kitchen remix)

Bird Poo

English Summer Rain

A bird shat on my roof window just now. Then it began to rain so hard that the huge poo has almost entirely been washed away.

In the picture here it appears in a heaven of tempestuous clouds.

I've never really liked Sundays. In Italy they meant a usually boring, hot day where all shops were closed, which preceded the begining of the school week, and to my household in particular, the day I was supposed to tidy my room.

Today however (first Sunday of the month) has been rather good, having began with eggs and bacon, a new job, followed by noon toasted cinnamon bagels and a nice cup of tea.

Also, the sun has come out :]

The Small Faces - Lazy Sunday Afternoon

If by any chance you like The Kinks, chances are you'll probably
enjoy The Small Faces too. Though appropriate for today, the
above song by them isn't actually my favourite; I'd probably
recommend those tunes entitled 'Here Come The Nice' and
'Itchycoo Park' instead. The latter especially because I associate
it with The Kinks' Waterloo Sunset for some reason.