Music The obligatory end-of-year post So, 2016, right? What a roller-coaster. Leonard Cohen died. Fortunately, he managed to release one final album, out of which emerged my personal song of the year. I hope you all have a good 2017.
blues Double Trouble I recently, by sheer accident and luck, stumbled upon Sean Costello, a blues-guitarist/singer-songwriter. His performances are so vibrant and heartfelt, I could weep everytime I see them. Well, not weep. But at least move my foot or tap a finger on my desk. There’s a pretty big archive
concert Oceansize, Flex, 09 It’s not that long ago that I wrote on here about one of the best concerts I’d ever been to. It was Oceansize’s gig at Vienna’s Flex, about two years ago. I was quite ecstatic, and for solid reasons. First of all, I was in the
free Here's to NIN Do you remember when Radiohead released their latest album online, giving it away for whatever price people saw fit? Well, NIN just did the same, with the difference that unlike Radiohead, you can download their newest album “Ghosts” via BitTorrent, without having to go through a credit-card transaction (even though
Food This... ...is soup. I really should start thinking of stories to accompany my images. Well, here’s one: Yesterday we went to a supermarket stocked only with the most organically grown and produced items. And it was surreal. In a way it reminded me of the Contemporary Christian Music scene, in
Music Oceansize Saturday I went and saw Oceansize. The thing that made it extra-special: I got to interview lead-singer Mike Vennart. You can read the outcome in due time here. The whole thing was really very pleasant, conducted in the rather cramped, but cozy dressing room. My biggest mistake: I forgot to
Music In Rainbows First this. Then this. Aren’t the Internets just loverly? (Don’t you just hate it when I do that?)
Music Recurring fears Oh why is it that I’m always afraid of upgrading my WordPress version? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s because it always ends in something that’ll take me about three hours to repair and clean up. Don’t ask me why, but it just does. Either because
Impressions Portugal. the man We went and saw Portugal. the man yesterday. Curiously, the venue was just about half full, which is really quite surprising considering that they are not only good but also one of the most pre-hyped bands around (pre-hyped meaning not quite yet hyped, but surely on the brink). The singer
gasometer The White Stripes... …in red and tiny. I don’t know whether it’s a trademark already, but I do find the way Meg White moves her head from one side to the other while playing the drums kind of cute.
Music Klaxons in Vienna - and I'm ticketless So hot newcomers Klaxons will visit Vienna on the 19th. I had planned on seeing that show for a while now, and today I wanted to buy two tickets, only to find that they are all sold-out. SOLD OUT! I mean, two weeks ago when I went to see the
Movies-and-TV ...and so they went So, Oscar Night is over, and the only really interesting thing about the show was Jack Nicholson’s enormous head. And once again I was baffled by the selection of songs they had nominated for an Oscar. Now, I didn’t exactly do a whole lot of research apart from
Movies-and-TV Little Amadeus and possible spin-offs Only recently I was made aware of (meaning, I turned on the TV and saw) a TV cartoon show called “Little Amadeus”. I was hooked the moment I heard the theme song, which basically was a song about little Mozart having all sorts of fun being little and a genius.
Music How to be fucking awesome, Pt.II Apparently, for some people the phrase “fucking awesome” is just a bit too ambiguous. Karl Fluch, music critic at the Austrian daily “Der Standard”, may be a nice fellow not least because of his admiration of everyone’s favourite yellow people, but his writings about music are worth shit. If
Music How to be fucking awesome! Here’s a little tutorial on how to be fucking awesome: Be a fucking awesome band! Play a fucking awesome concert! Have a fucking awesome lights and visuals show! Play not only new songs but also the classics! The fucking awesome classics, I should add! Make sure grown men start
Music In which I rave about two hymns Descriptive titles! They are back, and are indeed the new black! The advantage? No need for introductory paragraphs. The downside? I can’t stop raving about them. So, to be precise, the real title to this posting should be: “In which I rave about two hymns and descriptive titles”. Oh
madonna Take a bow Muse finally have a new album out. The first song on it is named “Take a bow”. If any one of you who were around when people still listened to Madonna’s musical output are still alive, you’ll surely remember that she in fact had a song by that
Music Relax, it's only a ghost I’ve never really liked German indie guitar-pop band Tocotronic. I’m not sure why, but I think it was their rather overt pretentiousness. Well, I’ve now fallen victim to actually liking a song by Phantom/Ghost, a side-project by Tocotronic lead Dirk von Lowtzow. The song’s really
allofmp3 Allofmp3 and XRost - do come back! My love affair with mp3 provider Allofmp3 lasted only a mere four months. It has now come to an abrupt ending, and for a reason you don’t usually find in a relationship: They also added they are “working hard to resume the service”. Being stationed in Russia, this could
gödel Gödel-Escher-Bach-Tool I just watched a science show that had a segment on Gödel, Austrian mathemagician, whose work today is considered as the basis for von Neumann’s and Turing’s work, thus he’s the one who made all this computer greatness we’re using each and every day possible. His
Music Antony and the J. Well, we’re off to a strangely un-advertised gig by Antony and the Johnsons. And once again I wonder why the hell I always have presentations the day after a concert? Just in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, I had a presentation on “Politics and
Music East Rodeo interrupted Well, yesterday was Culture Saturday. First we went to see a play, then we witnessed a great performance by a band called East Rodeo, featuring none other than Imre LB. It’s mostly instrumental, lazed with flavours of jazz, rock and Balkan influences, and on their website they aptly name
Music Backyard metalfest Yesterday my brother had his farewell party in our backyard. There were three of his pal-bands scheduled to play, but only “H.A.L.” was fortunate enough to get through their whole set. About halfway through the set of “I not dance” , the heat showed up and after threatening to
Music Kissthisguy Have you ever wondered why Ricky Martin kept singing Shampoo, shampoo you down. in his hit-single “Livin’ la vida loca”? Or why he’s stating that Her lips are deviled eggs. Well, then you have to visit KissThisGuy, an unbeatable repository of misunderstood song lyrics. I for one am just
