Years Like These

So, here it is people. It's nearly 2010. End of a decade,beginning of a new era blabla.
Could you believe that, ten years ago, I was wearing black and worshiping some androgyn british guitarist ? (Who said 'You didn't change' ???)

Anywayyy. As it's december, aka 'the month where everyone makes lists and brings nostalgia in our heads', We, Groupies/Teasers/Bitches, contribute to that madness, by writing here about albums that owned us these last ten years.

Here's my list. Enjoy. Or don't. It doesn't count, does it?


The Joy Formidable - A Ballon Called Moaning (2009)
omgomgomgomg. You all know my ears have been feed by My Bloody valentine and Smashing Pumpkins. When I first heard 'Cradle',the first single, I thought I've found Heaven. That said, that mini album is one of the best things released this year. Whirring or Ostrich are perfect exemples.

Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up Till It Was Light (2008)
Everything is just perfect in that 1st album : lyrics I can relate to (even if I'm not from Birmingham, ie 'Sometimes in the Bullring'), inventive guitar tricks ('Hennings favorite' someone?), the boy/girl yelps I cherish. Since last october, these 13 hymns follow me like ghosts.Not that I'm complaining tho.

Blood Red Shoes - Box Of Secrets (2008)
Without this band, I wouldn't be here telling my stories. Back to 2006, when I first listen to them, I loved the grungey vibe they got. One year later, they were the 1st band I interviewed 'for real'. One year after, their first album appeared and I was caught by 'This is not For You'. We're late 2009 now, and most of my friends are related to this band. See The Subways for a similar story.


Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (2008)
October 08 document, post UK-traveling : How to sum up your complicated/catastrophic love life in 11 songs? ask Gareth Campesinos. Btw, Gareth, please stop being in my head when you sing 'It's Never That Easy Though, Is It?, my heart can't stand it. Sometimes known as 'best album ever', when I'm up for it.


Silversun Pickups - Carnavas (2007)
Late discovery, thanks fellow BRS boardies!!! Rusted Wheel is brilliant. Reminds me of my beloved Smashing Pumpkins. Excellent album


Serena Maneesh - Serena Maneesh (2006)
In 2004, I met someone who introduced me to My Bloody Valentine. In 2005, I met Serena Maneesh, who got the same spirit and taste for weird sounds and jazzmasters. In 2006, I saw their album in Covent Garden's Rough Trade. Little things make me happy.

The Subways - Young For Eternity (2005)
2005 was really intense for various reasons. I could actually tell you it was the worse year of my entire life. Strangely enough,it was also the year everything changed musically (for me). The Subways and their YFE weren't only that great,fresh teens with lots of energy on stage (euphemism), they were (still are) the band that changed my existence : creating a website, traveling through UK, meeting & partying with people who are now close friends.There's no goodbyes, they said.

The Rakes - Capture/Release (2005)
Burning dancefloors, being invited to hip parties, drinking orange juices when everyone is on drugs, sleeping in trainstations/on strangers floors, meeting scenesters and waving to Alan McGee. That's what this album is related to, in my mind.

Editors - The Backroom (2005)
Other part of the 'Great/horrible year 2005'. Munich and Fingers in the Factories still ringing in my ears. The whole album is stunning tho.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (2005)
I remember thinking 'waow, a Cure side project' when i first heard 'Banquet'. Pardon my ignorance folks. 'Plans' is my favorite track.


The Cure - The Cure (2004)
I was so impatient to listen to that album that i've skipped school to buy it. Lost is an amazing track. The End Of The World and Before #3 are some of the best tracks Robert Smith has written.Btw,yes, I'm still in love with Simon Gallup.

Indochine - Paradize (2002)
French band. First cult following I was allowed to do. (hey I was only 16). First gigs,fans and longtime friendships; The band? some Depeche Mode/Cure/Pumpkins/NiN copycats.But fun anyway. 'Dark' & 'La Nuit des Fees' are real standouts. Plus, Melissa Auf Der Maur appears on one track!

The Libertines - Up the Bracket (2002)
Because of them, I : started a band, went to famous parties, improved my english, dreamed of Albion, skipped school a thousand of times and had endless chats about Pete&Carl, met some awesome people. I don't care what people will say about it : This album was a big breath of oxygen in our lives. that is all.

Queen Adreena - Drink Me (2002)
2nd year of high school. New town, new faces and Rocksound magazine, one cold morning, just before the english lesson. Katie Jane Garside is interviewed : her band is playing the french festival 'Les Transmusicales'. The journalist compares her to an 'UFO'. She compares herself to 'a bit of sand in the whole Universe' and truly thinks that 'all the world is a collective dream. We don't exist properly'. Of course, I bought the album afterwards. Her raw punk coupled to her fragile voice still amaze me, seven years later.



Damien Saez - God Blesse (2002)
French artist. Arrogant and talented. In 2002, he released his 2nd album, a double-album actually. Controversial and risky choice, amplfied by the fact half of the compositions are classical music. God Blesse/Katagena is sometimes pure as snow, sometimes dirty, but always intriguing and beautiful. How many times did I put that album at night, crying for a better tomorrow? I've lost count.


Muse- Origin Of Symmetry (2001)
at 15, I was way more impressed by Brian Molko singing about bi-love, but this album totally owned me. Bliss is still a tune, and Hyper Music often helped me during this year.And I think I've learnt to sing with Feeling Good.

Placebo - Black Market Music (2001)
Teenage years hello! I have to confess a deep obsession for Sir Molko, from 13 to ...18,yes. Black Market Music isn't my favorite album (Without You i'm Nothing ftw), but Taste In Men is one of the sexiest tracks I've ever heard.

Depeche Mode - Exciter (2001)
Before being a shoegazer, I was 'new waver' (sometimes mistaken as Goth.) I've never been able to resist Dave Gahan's voice and Martin Gore melodies ; 'I am You', 'I feel loved' and of course 'Dream On' : soundtracks of my last year before high school.That was good.

Marilyn Manson - Hollywood (2001)
Yes. Oh don't tell me you didn't listen to it. To be honest, it was fun to frighten classmates with songs like Fight Song or The Nobodies. Apparently, one of my nicknames at the time was Suicidal Girl. Classy.

Ash - Free All Angels (2001)
Summer album!!! 'Burn Baby Burn' was really popular in my 1st year of high school.But I definitely prefer 'Walking Barefoot' or 'Sometimes'. See, I'm a teenage romantic. Oh , did you know 'Candy' has its own french version? It's hilarious.

Smashing Pumpkins - Rotten Apples (best of) (2001)
BEST BAND EVER EVER EVER. Excuse the fangirlism here. I discovered Billy C and his posse the year they announced their spilt-up. Sad times heh? This best-of was released the year after, and, even if I already owned 'Adore', I obviously bought it. Covering all eras, this 2-discs edition got some interesting bsides. And a beautiful booklet.



The French One x

(4) year 0

Scared. Of course I'm scared. I'm always scared.
Need to move. Blank page and new land(slide). I need a flash of innocence again. All was---back in the days//
Nightmares are back, panick attacks.
The sweet sensation you can't breathe again, and yet your tears are almost dying inside//I know I could try again, only to let them go.
These things you can't control.
Always eating your mind.


x

Like in Almost Famous...

I recently had a discussion with my Dutch friend Laura about bands and their fans. How far fans are willing to go just to see their favourite band, how much they are willing to pay and so on. Mostly talking from our own experience.
For instance, I met Laura last year in the Netherlands. In Utrecht, in Breda and in Amsterdam. At Tivoli de Helling, at Mezz and at Melkweg. Some of you know - those are the venues Blood Red Shoes played at last year in one week. I travelled with my (now ex) boyfriend to the Netherlands to see our favourite band play three times. We paid a respectful amount of money to get there. And why? Because we love the band.
And this was not the first time I've done that. The very first band I travelled for was Mew - we saw them at Tivoli in Copenhagen in 2006. I've also travelled for Muse, Arcade Fire... and most recently for Trail of Dead. Trail of Dead played in Prague this year, but it wasn't enough - I just wanted to see their show one more time. And then one more time. And I still want to see them play again. Sometimes I travel simply because that certain band doesn't play in Prague or anywhere else in my country. Like Blood Red Shoes - never played in the Czech Republic and yet I've seen them seven times.
Does my dedication make me groupie? I don't care. I don't care if I won't have money for food after my trip. I'm young and I know I'll survive. Sometimes a guestlist spot helps - to be honest, this world would be a much sadder place without guestlist spots. There's pride, of course, but mostly it saves money. You can say "You call yourself a dedicated fan and you don't want to pay for the show?". You are absolutely right. But - I always pay a lot for the means of travelling. Trains are fricking expensive these days - 60 Euros from Prague to Salzburg? That's a lot. Without a guestlist spod I'd have paid almost ninety Euros just for the trainticket and the show. Plus food and drinks and merchandise. Well, you can bring your own food and drink pure water and not buy any merchandise, but where's the fun in that?

And by the way #1: When I say stuff about musicians hotness and/or getting with them, I'm 99% of the time joking. I know get too excited sometimes and then seem to be the biggest groupie in the world, but I never mean it THAT seriously.
What does it mean to be groupie/fangirl/fanboy anyway? People say "oh you're such a groupie, you've seen the band so many times!" but that's bullshit. Seems like nobody understands what "groupie" means anymore. If a person wants to get with a bandmember just because they are one - that's groupieness. If you love them because they make amazing music, that's being a fan. Dedicated, yes, but only a fan. Do you happend to fancy a band member? Hm, and what? They are musicians, but still they are people. And people happen to fancy other people. It's called nature. But "oh I love him, he's from band XYZ" is stupid. Just so you know.
And by the way #2: I fancy musicians. I can say "he's hot!" and mean it. On the other hand, if they are good musician and stupid people at once, there's no chance I'd fancy them. Musician does not equal a god. It equals a person with a talent and stuff - yes, a person. And that matters.

The Cosmopolitan WishList of a Complicated Girl.

(cause we need some of my infamous posts. Brought to you by Conde-Nast publishing. Enjoy)

WANT.
NOW.

. some time to write
I don't need time, I need motivation.

. A new haircut. And color
Redhead like Shirley Manson?black like Siouxsie Sioux?Blue?Green?
short?straight?curly?
suggestions required.

.Tickets to see Tegan&Sara in Paris
Cause,when I'll be rich again, It'll be sold out.
ALSO : tix to see Paramore.Same reasons.


.'About a Boy'-Nick Hornby ; London To Brighton DvD ; The Cure ' Join The Dots' ; A new dress
I'm a girl, I can't help it. Speaking of dress, what do you think about Vanessa Bruno's new collection?

. A band.
ideally a three piece, ideally shoegaze-lo-fi-punk.
Ideally, I should bring my bass again and play some tunes on my own. One can dream.


. a Pavement world tour.
That would pass by France, UK, the Netherlands, any country I can go in.
speaking of, who's in for a stalking tour?

.A flat in Uk.
I need to win the national lottery first.
wish me luck.

.The job I'm looking for.
No,not my dreamjob (for this, I'm working hard, see above). The part time Job I had two interviews for these last two weeks, the one where the boss is a mix between Hugh Laurie and George Clooney (I'm not impressed, i'm not kidding)

. A time machine
SUMMER OF 2009. And October. There are people who will understand



The French One, obv.
x

No More Stories Are Told Today I'm Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I'm Tired Let's Wash Away.

This is a translation of my review on Mew's new album - check exitmusic.org for its Czech version.

Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away.

I was asked to write a review on this album a relatively long time ago. Since then I've been thinking about what exactly I want to say to the world about this album. Mew is a band so close to me, music so personal and sensitive, that I'd never want to perform an autopsy on their almost epic piece of work. I'm listening to No More Stories... on repeat. Let's listen together.

I won't disturb my listening progress and go back to the intro. At the moment, track #7 Cartoons and Macramé Wounds is playing in my ears – and it's, in my personal opinion, the strongest piece on this album. Do you know that feeling, when your heart seems to be trembling and you don't know if it's going to race like never or just stop? That's what I'm feeling right now. And there are no simple emotions like “oh and now I am going to cry”. No, now you don't know what to think, you don't actually concentrate on the song's lyrics, you just listen and feel something. Something, that you can't describe, it's just heavy inside you and cheers you up at once.

And you know what, I won't continue describing song by song. What I feel whilst listening to Cartoons doesn't really change when listening to the rest of the album. After the very first listen it seems like a very calm album, for some a bit whiny and dreamy, but that's not right. In those pieces, in those tones and in Jonas Bjerre's vocals, there is so much epic power that makes you wonder why you haven't noticed it before. There's a beautiful phrase in English - “effortlessly epic” (thanks James Ether) – that describes this album on the dot. And I'm not even in that phase of listening to an album, when I analyze the lyrics. After one month of listening to it I'm still on the stage of dumb adoration, when I am floating on the music's waves and letting them do with me whatever they intend to.

Mew don't deserve common “it's like this and this and the interpreter made it like that and this is how it is supposed to sound and this is what it means” kind of a review. Basically, I am writing this review like their music has always appealed to me – a slightly modified stream of consciousness. But this album deserves more. This album is a collection of this autumn's anthems.

If life was like TFLN...

(+44): i went to the movies with this girl ...and then i fucked her best friend

Les filles mortes se ramassent au scalpel

note to reader : borrowing book-titles is UNCOOL.

So yeah.I'm a geek for novels,shortstories,anything with nice words inside.
Books usually follow me until they're dead. Words tatooed my mind,and so on.
here is a glimpse:

High Fidelity-Nick Hornby
What if your love life was a compilation?
Welcome to Rob's life. He broke up with a girlfriend again. He's 36, owns a record shop somewhere in London with his hilarious (and yes,loser) friends. He's wondering where his life's going...and lists his love stories, from the teenage crush to the last hook-up, matching them with rock-anthems. Top 5, favorite records, best movies...
Somehow, when I read this book, I want to own a record shop near Whitechapel. Don't ask me why.
Long time favorite, indeed.


Love Is A Mixtape (Life & Loss, One Song At Time)-Rob Sheffield
"Tapes for making out, tapes for dancing, tapes for falling asleep..."
1989. Rob Sheffield is a student, a music geek, when he meets Renee, and later marries her. From here to 1997 and Renee's sudden death, they share a life filled with music reviews (they both worked for zines and were also DJs) and mixtapes they used to make to each other. It's not only a novel about love and grief, it's also a great, amazing declaration of faith to what people tend to call 'Underground Culture'.




Owen Noone & Marauder-Douglas Cowie
Oh,this book. Sums up all my teenage dreams and more.
Mid 90s.Marauder is a young and shy student who meets Owen Noone at an open mic night. Follows an immense road trip, where two young people who haven't talent in songwriting, only two electric guitars and an old book full of folk songs, learn about friendship,stardom,fate and delusions.
must have.



Les Peaux Transparentes - Marc Dufaud
[translucent skins]

the only french book here. Why did I buy it? There are notes from one of my favorite french artists in it.
The Story?
Drugs. Addiction(s). A guy (Thom) who has his heart broken (yes again,it's an obsession with me it seems), meets a a lovely but yet toxic woman, spends five years between heroin, rock&roll and a love that inevitably fades away. Paris in the 1990s, the background of this fascinating slice of life, mixed with intense reflexions about God, Shiva and others.






btw :

Petra's last post was a real blast.

I'm wondering if I can be that spontaneous,too.


The French One x