It's gf's fault - again

After it was her fault that our fake/dream generated kids are named Rübezahl and Hotzenplotz, gf's now also responsible for my growing nostalgic procrastination attempts.
She gave me this link to render me unable to get work done for University.
I'm now alphabetically working through MTV's music video directory looking for old pop up videos and other stuff with nostalgic value.
I'm still at A and here is my fav "A" video:
Tori Amos - Strange little girl

Tori Amos |MTV Music

Tori has a lot of videos I love to watch, like Spark or 1000 Oceans, Jackie's Strength and A Sorta Fairytale...so I chose Strange little girl for no apparent reason, except that I love how David Slade draws the hunter and the hunted...

Video greatness

I'm not a radiohead fan. I don't own any of their cd's. Yet, everytime I see one of their videos or hear one of their songs I'm deeply intrigued and want more of the greatness.
Watch this:

mid week soundcheck

So I got myself some new music again...
Alanis finally released flavors of entaglement last Thursday and I'm listening to it right now. She's come a long way, thinking of her first album and then listening to this.
But while other artists kind of lose themselves or at least get lost on the way it seems to me that she simply evolved, grew and became what she is now and in a way always was. A brilliant singer and songwriter.
Some of her records had to grow on me a little but in the end I liked them all. This one I love. I regret so much that I haven't bought it and can't sit here and indulge in the album artwork as I used to (back then when buying CD's was still cool). I lack the words to decribe my love for this album, so I'll just leave it to you to fall in love too...

Get your hands on the record, headphones and crank up the volume!!!

random trainwreck of thoughts #54685

I'm drowning in work (again.) but I need a break and do something halfway meaningful (as opposed to writing hundreds of little sticky notes and sticking them to the wall behind my screen.

So we went to that sarah bettens concert on Monday and it was great. Gf had her reasons to like it and I understand that because of course I'm in there with her, but to me the concert was also some sort of celebration. It was my new freedom party. Also the music is just perfect for such occasions. I usually just forget about how much I like sarah bettens during the year when I have nothing but her records. I like them ok but they're not as driven and vibrant as the live version. She rocks on stage and I was so happy that she didn't have a support act but just started the whole thing by herself. I usually hate the whole break before the actual artist comes on stage. and also the tickets are much cheaper this way. I love it that she plays in small locations and makes tickets affordable. She comes everytime she's on tour in Europe and not only once every 5 years and then charges I don't know how much...To make a long trainwreck of thoughts short - I like Sarah Bettens. Also I think she should have her own skateboard or snowboard line. But I'm a sucker for merchandise...

I always wonder if she doesn't get bored playing "not an addict" everytime (at least everytime I saw her play here). I love the song though, especially played live.
Also it was very cute when she asked someone in the audience to lend her a camera to make a video to be put on youtube. It took only 3 days to be put up, it always goes slow in Austria. She had left her daughter back home and wanted us to say hello...how nice is that!?

Ok, now after boring you with a story of Monday I will go back to my sticky notes and put some more on the wall...

patriotisms

if you ask me to sing any national anthem that I ever might have heard somewhere, I will probably ask you how much you drank. I really just know fragments of the o canada and the star spangled banner, I even can't remember God save the queen or la marseillaise. Not even my own hymns (the national and the one of my federal home state) will come to me properly.
But as of late my head developed this strange kind of habit to play these anthems - with lyrics. I don't know where they come from and don't ask me to recite them, they are in there somewhere, buried deep but not deep enough.
this can get quite distracting when focusing on reading the news and "and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" starts off in my head. or reading something about a prison and "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee" fills my head.
Sometimes, this phenomenon starts untriggered and I walk down the street to a cheery version of "Fé chiúnas chaomh na hoiche ar seol, Seo libh canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann". That's the irish one, btw.
I don't really know how that happens or when it will stop. If nothing else it's amusing and diverse, so who am I to complain.
the conclusion I draw from this is probably: I like the German anthem much more than the Austrian one...but then again, they stole it from us...

Juno

gf and I just finished watching Juno. Expect to find me in a state of pure bliss for a couple of days. Or at least everytime I listen to the soundtrack or think about the film.
I'll let you know about the whole soundtrack thing at the soundcafe as soon as I find the time or need a break from my oh-so-studious-self. please, do not roll your eyes at me in disbelief :)

I'm gone now to listen to the antsy pants' - Vampire...oh my god I love this soundtrack...

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the socialists' lament - a rant

gf and I went to a concert today. we're in vienna, in one of the most prestigious and pretentious buildings the city has to offer. The Musikverein. gf's mom is playing in this orchestra and they played Grieg and Carmina Burana. I like the Scandinavians, so Grieg wasn't a problem. Carmina Burana is ok in the beginning and in the end, but I'd be ok with cutting out the middle part. Carmina Burana in 15 min - my ideal.
We sometimes go see gf's mom, and we're both not the biggest fans of classical music but today's music was ok.

I have a "problem" with the audience and the environment usually. First off, they had a fence on the edge of the stage. I wasn't sure if it was to keep the musicians from falling down or to make it clear to the audience that they are "just down there". After all, the musicians sit; unless one of them has a seizure they CAN'T fall off the stage!
The room is all golden and really pretentious, but only for people without legs, because I have the shortest legs, and my knees would hurt from crashing with the front seat...

So, apart from listening to ok music in a building I find ugly I really don't get the people there.
None, and I mean NONE of these people there smiled at one point. They didn't have fun at all in there. Why do they go? because it is so beautiful. Serious music. "we don't listen to music to be entertained". bottom line: they don't have fun.
during the middle part of carmina burana - the one that I found so boring - I could see people shift in their seats, keeping straight faces to appear as if they were taking serious what happens down there. they all have sticks up their ass and the nerve to suit up on sunday morning. I don't get them.

why do people like the pathos of all this? why do people like to listen to the same thing over and over again for centuries and not change a single thing? why can rock bands incorporate a bach sonata but a symphony orchestra hardly ever play korn?
why is there no real variation? no wonder they were all bored to death.
I hate their arrogance, their elitist thinking.
the musicians thinking they are better than the rest because they are up on that pedestal and ALL these people came to see them. and the audience thinking how good they are being there listening to all this great music and really being a part of the upper crust.

I'm gonna stop this rant now. I think you get my point.
Sorry to come back from hiatus with a rant, but I felt like it.
btw, I met the deadline and my paper was handed in just in time to be accepted for grading. YAY!

Tori meets Ani

never before have I had a phase in which Ani and Tori have met.
Usually it's one or the other, I never thought that they go together well and I was always of the opinion that they represent different parts of my life.
tori is in charge of the real powerful emotions I usually can't deal with. love, sorrow, sadness, basically everything that makes me cry because of its overwhelming beauty or pain.
ani is in charge of all things action, empowerment, political, etc. I knew that both had songs that fell more into the others' department but I'm thinking fluid boxes here...

And today, there's a premier. and it's Ani and Tori meeting in my headphones. I like it, they go good together. One fueling my motivation to finish my work for uni, the other fueling my motivation to curl up and cry. this may sound twisted, but well,...we're still talking about me here.

I'm cool

So, I managed to host my own forums. isn't that cool. I feel kinda like a mini-CEO now.
I used to have one, just to see how it works, but now I really published one and it's for everyone.

Basically, it's part of my Soundcafé site but I figured that readers of this blog might be music freaks too and wanna join.

So feel free to enter.

See you there!