Lo mejor de 2009 # 16 - Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light

Heather, Annie, y Erika grabaron una cadena de secuencias tras secuencias tras secuencias y que al final se logra un sonido sencillo y puro, acompañado de voces tiernas y dulces. Es como The Postal Service pero más contemplativo y profundo además de estar acompañado de minifaldas y look vintage. Me parece que es el gesto de modestia y su ingenua honestidad lo hace que su propuesta sea original y llena de frescura.

Descarga: Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light (Moshi Moshi Records)

Au Revoir Simone - Shadows


Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story

Lo mejor de 2009 # 17 - Fever Ray

Cuando Karin Dreijer Andersson abre la boca un rayo de luz plata metálica sale disparado en todas direcciones y te hace entrecerrar un poco los ojos y apretar los dientes (quien por cierto es la maravillosa voz de The Knife). Lo único que se me ocurre como referencia es a Björk en el Homogenic, que te deja esa extraña sensación de anormalidad alienígena e inhumana. Con la diferencia que en Fever Ray Karin suena demente, perturbadora, torcida, obscura, obsesiva y maniática. Es una bofetada de sentimientos crudos y desilusionados que encajan perfecto en el deteriorado y derrumbado mundo que nos rodea.

Descargar: Fever Ray (Rabid Records)

Fever Ray 'When I Grow Up'


When I grow up, I want to be a forester
Run through the moss on high heels
That’s what I’ll do, throwing out boomerang
Waiting for it to come back to me

When I grow up, I want to live near the sea
Crab claws and bottles of rum
That’s what i’ll have staring at the seashell
Waiting for it to embrace me

I put my soul in what I do
Last night I drew a funny man
with dark eyes and a hanging tongue
It goes way bad, I never liked a sad look
From someone who wants to be loved by you

I’m very good with plants
When my friends are away
they let me keep the soil moist
On the seventh day I rest
for a minute or two
then back on my feet and cry for you oooh oh

You’ve got cucumbers on your eyes
Too much time spent on nothing
waiting for a moment to arise
The face in the ceiling and arms too long
I wait for him to catch me

Waiting for you to embrace me

Fever Ray - Seven


I've got a friend who I've known since I was seven
We use to talk on the phone, if we have time, if it's the right time

Accompany me by the kitchen sink
We talk about love, we talk about dishwasher tablets, illness
And we dream about heaven

I know it, I think I know it from a hymn
They've said so, it doesn't need more explanation
A box to open up with light and sound
Making you cold
Very cold

I leave home at seven
Under a heavy sky, I ride my bike up, I ride my bike down

November smoke and your toes go numb
A new colour on the Globe
It goes from white to red, a little voice in my head says oh, oh, oh

I know it, I think I know it from a hymn
They've said so, it doesn't need more explanation
A box to open up with light and sound
And if you don't
You're on your own

Fever Ray - Triangle Walks


an apple and a berry plant
comes with a house
on the grass
who is that
to come by my house

stands outside my window
sucking on the berries and
eats us out of house and home
keeping us awake
keeping us awake

can i come over, i need to rest
lay down for a while
disconnect
the night was so long
the day even longer
lay down for a while
recollect

five AM
out again
triangle walks
magpies, i throw sticks at them
they laugh behind my back

getting a feeling
maybe i will dream again
having that feeling
when there's no one awake
no no one awake

can i come over, i need to rest
lay down for a while
disconnect
the night was so long
the day even longer
lay down for a while
recollect

Fever Ray 'If I Had A Heart'


this will never end
cause i want more
more, give me more, give me more

this will never end
cause i want more
more, give me more, give me more

if i had a heart i could love you
if i had a voice i would sing
after the night when i wake up
i'll see what tomorrow brings

if i had a voice i would sing

dangling feet from window frame
will i ever ever reach the floor?
more, give me more, give me more

crushed and filled with all i found underneath and inside
just to come around
more, give me more, give me more

if i had a voice i would sing

Fever Ray 'Keep The Streets Empty For Me'


memory comes when memory's old
i am never the first to know
following this stream up north
where do people like us float?

there is room in my lap
for bruises, asses, handclaps
i will never disappear
for forever, i'll be here

whispering
morning keep the streets empty for me
morning keep the streets empty for me

i learned to not eat the snow
my fur is hot, my tongue is cold
on a bed of spider web
i think about to change myself

a lot of hope in one man tent
there's no room for innocence
so take me home before the storm
velvet mites will keep us warm

whispering
morning keep the streets empty for me
morning keep the streets empty for me

whispering
morning keep the streets empty for me
morning keep the streets empty for me

uncover our heads and reveal our souls
we were hungry before we were born
uncover our heads and reveal our souls
we were hungry before we were born
uncover our heads and reveal our souls
we were hungry before we were born
uncover our heads and reveal our souls
we were hungry before we were born

Lo mejor de 2009 # 19 -The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead

El segundo disco de esta banda escocesa es simplemente poderoso y electrificante. El sonido sin forma y sin limites es una alusión entre una tormenta y un poema romántico. La mezcla del álbum fue hecha por Paul Savage, quien fuera el baterista de The Delgados, también escoceses, y que además es el responsable del sonido de los discos de Franz Ferdinand, Mogwai y Camera Obscura, se encargo de hacer un balance perfecto entre las distorsiones y la potente voz de James Graham. Muy recomendable para estas noches frías y con mucho viento.

Descarga: The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead (Fat Cat Records)


The Twilight Sad "I Became A Prostitute"



The Twilight Sad 'Seven Years Of Letters'



The Twilight Sad - Made To Disappear (Live on KEXP)

Siouxie Sioux/MantaRay 2007

En un afan de poner todas las cosas en su lugar, la reina regresa para recuperar sus dominios robados, sobre todo cuando hoy en dia el mundo musical esta lleno de femmes fatales ultratrendys que tratan de imitar a la banshee mayor.

Si ustedes creian que la voz y el estilo de Karen O era algo nuevo les recomiendo escuachar Arabian Knights de 1981. Siempre he creído que Siouxie es una She-Bowie que parece no envejecer nunca y solo se va solidificando. Es impresionante como después de 30 años de carrera y de 50 años de vida su voz solo a adquirido un poco mas cuerpo y profundidad pero continua intacta.

No se cuantos artistas puedan llegar al medio siglo con toda esa carga de erotismo y melancolía juntos.
Recomendable sobre todo loveless y If It Doesn't Kill You.

Descargar: MantaRay-Decca Records

Cover de los Beatles
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Helter Skelter