Shoreline

I first got acquainted with this song in the performance of Anna Ternheim, who's a Swedish singer-songwriter, one of my favourites in this genre. She made it very simple, but this simplicity has a cause. With the clear piano sounding she made it more serious than the original version. I didn't even think that someone else wrote it. And when the harmonica starts (on the album version), it creates a fascinating feeling for me, which don't want to stop - yes, it plays for a long time, in a monotonic way.

Later I noticed that it originally belongs to a Swedish indie/emo band, called Broder Daniel, and it's very far from the acoustic version. In spite of that the genre "rock" isn't my favourite, let alone emo, I like this version, too, because that great melody has the same effect on me as in the version of Anna Ternheim. And the melody of singing has little changes, which are good, I think.

ever since I was eight or nine

I've been standing on the shoreline

always waiting for something lasting

loose your hunger, you loose your way

get confused and you fade away

oh this town

kills you when you are young

oh this town

kills you when you are young

I'm not the boy I used to be

this town has got the youth of me

all eyes turn hollow

from the work of sorrow

standing on the paving

by the office building

they've got so much to do

never time for you

we are shadows

oh we're shadows

shadows in the alley

you die when you're young

you die when you're young

you die when you're young

Broder Daniel version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djLRO8wjdKw

Anna Ternheim version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDfbrdQKwjk

George Benson concert review

This concert was held in the Budapest SportArena at the 22th of July, and was a part of "The European Tour". Mr. Benson and his band did a great job, a two hours long show, introducing us to the world of smooth jazz. I'm not really interested in this genre, but I liked the concert very much, it matched with my actual mood. There were some expectances by me, for example the song "The ghetto", "Breezin'", or "Summertime/Take five" which are two classic song and I saw it on youtube, in his earlier performance. Unfortunately he didn't played them, but amongst the tracklist there was for example the well-known song "On Broadway", "Give me the night", and a very interesting version of the old jazz standard, "Nature boy" (you can hear it on the album: In flight).

So Mr. Benson - with his thin moustache, with his fascinating singing voice and with his almost singing guitar - proved that he's not only a great musician, but an effective performer, too. He also told us that he spent a lot of money and saw a lot of beautiful girls in Hungary.

A part of this concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMwBPAF7i-8

Kraftwerk concert review

I had the honour to visit Balaton Sound festival (which is an electronic music festival at the coast of the lake, in Hungary), for one day, especially to hear and see the performance of one of my favourite groups and the group which has taken the biggest influence on me in music, I think. It's Kraftwerk, the well-known german electronic band, which is usually named as the "pioneer of electronic music". Yes, it isn't just an exaggeration, because any time they released a new album (after a long, long waiting time), they produced something which is brand new and we couldn't hear before. The clean, minimalist arrangement are the basis in their songs - and the word "perfection" is always connected with them in my mind.



This word is suitable for describing the concert, too. The songs were very similar to the songs of the concert 05 05 24 which was also held in Hungary (and that was my first Kraftwerk concert), but there were little changes, just a little, to improve the quality. I think only the biggest fans could realize it. For the first time I saw the performance of Showroom dummies, an extremely cool remix version of the original album song, and the Computer love, which was also new for me. Unfortunately they didn't play the song Airwaves which I saw on youtube, from another concert, and it's very good. But it's hard to write more about the concert, because the audio-visual effects only works when you're there. See the links below.

I suppose they won't come again here, because of the rare concerts and their age, but the hope dies last...

Visit their minimalist website: http://www.kraftwerk.com/

Some concert videos:
Radio activity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zymSXKoME60
Showroom dummies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB1DDvU8Y0E
Autobahn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWcuP4PaKtY&feature=related

The police - Reggatta de blanc

It was so hot today that I had to choose an old favourite, an album from the summer two years ago, when I used to listen to it. If I created new weird tags, I would stick a "we broke up and there's a new life coming" tag on it. Yes, there are some kinds of music which you have to listen to forget, to feel free, to get happier and carefree. Police did a great job for this aim - perhaps these properties take effect only on me, I don't know it for sure... but take a try if you feel it.

Many of us don't know that Sting - before his private music-making - was the leader of the rock group, The police. But I go further: he started his career as a jazz bassist. So go back in time: if you know what is Sting's music like, Police will be different. It was simple, cool, free, and sometimes funny, totally vivid, and full of energy. One of my favourite is Reggatta de blanc (and the three best albums are ~, Synchronicity, and Zenyatta mondatta).

Sting's mid-high toned voice suits well on the music which is based on cool rhythms and drum patterns. And there's a slight touch of reggae in their tracks, making it interesting. The album starts with the well-known Message in the bottle, to set on the mood, but later a few slower songs also appear: for example my special favourite: The bed's too big without you, which is a nice expression by the words and there's a cool bass melody in the whole track. And in addition, the album features Walking on the Moon and Bring on the night, too, not mentioning some funny stuff as On any other day, which's lyrics is the following:

There's a house on my street

And it looks real neat

I'm the chap who lives in it

There's a tree on the sidewalk

There's a car by the door

I'll go for a drive in it

And when the wombat comes

He will find me gone

He'll look for a place to sit

My wife has burned the scrambled eggs

The dog just bit my leg

My teenage daughter ran away

My fine young son has turned out gay

Cut off my fingers in the

Door of my car

How could I do it?

My wife is proud to tell me

Of her love affairs

How could she do this to me?

My wife has burned the scrambled eggs

The dog just bit my leg

My teenage daughter ran away

My fine young son has turned out gay

And it would be ok on any other day

And it would be ok on any other day

Throw down the morning papers

And spill my tea

I don't know what's wrong with me

The cups and plates are in a

Conspiracy

I'm covered in misery

My wife has burned the scrambled eggs

The dog just bit my leg

My teenage daughter ran away

My fine young son has turned out gay

And it would be ok on any other day

And it would be ok on any other day

And it would be ok on any other day

So this album mix these things, and this is what makes it great, a great leisure for a summer day.

Message in a bottle (live Earth):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QfoBHH8_Pk

Walking on the Moon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxAPmKLWIyA

The bed's too big without you (special live version):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24w_2OAg-fU

My baby shot me down

All of my close acquaintances know that I'm a fan of Frank Sinatra but today I've chosen a song by his daughter, Nancy. During my walk in the afternoon, I was listening to the album: Gabor Szabo - The spellbinder which is a new purchase, thanks to my friend who spent his holiday in Berlin. So Gabor Szabo performs the same track on the album in a very cool and attractive way, but it isn't the perfect timing to write a review about the whole album - I keep it for early autumn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Xl0Qry-hA

We can also hear it in the film: Kill Bill directed by Quentin Tarantino. It was "re-discovered" as a theme song of it.

I like its lyrics because it's a childhood memory:

I was five and he was six

We rode on horses made of sticks

He wore black and I wore white

He would always win the fight

Bang bang, he shot me down

Bang bang, I hit the ground

Bang bang, that awful sound

Bang bang, my baby shot me down.

Seasons came and changed the time

When I grew up, I called him mine

He would always laugh and say

"Remember when we used to play?"

Bang bang, I shot you down

Bang bang, you hit the ground

Bang bang, that awful sound

Bang bang, I used to shoot you down.

Music played, and people sang

Just for me, the church bells rang.

Now he's gone, I don't know why

And till this day, sometimes I cry

He didn't even say goodbye

He didn't take the time to lie.

Bang bang, he shot me down

Bang bang, I hit the ground

Bang bang, that awful sound

Bang bang, my baby shot me down...