Music from Sin Fang...

Sin Fang new album "Flowers" is out now since a while and I finally had the chance to listen to his new music the other day. I came across him as I liked the cover very much and the idea to name an album after a cover, not after a song. 

It looks different and so is the music, classic but more alternative and not a single moment boring. He has funny songs about being a boy and others about weird hearts and what's wrong with your eyes. 

It sounds fresh not just like it came out 2012. 

So, even the art work is not that old from that time. Actually nowadays you'll find those beards with flowers in campains, but then... No. 

Anyway, the music made with cello, violins, trumpets, frensh horn and other instruments is surrouned by a deep and warm voice you may not expect watching at the picture of the singer. 

The names of those who play the instruments and the name of the singer Sin Fang / Sinori Már Sigfússon leads you to the idea of scandinavian rock and pop and alternative music and you are not that wrong with it. Thought the album is produced in Germany, actually in Berlin. 

The lyrics he wrote have something of a dream story or fantasy world. Sometimes the structure of the song is a bit classic, but mostly not. However they are made in a way so they sound like being from today and have a positive vibe, which seems to be grounded but flowing in the same time. 

Listening to this art is like wanting to listen once more. 

Perfect music for winter time when wayting for spring is a must. 

Getting a warm feeling and a bit swing- that's what you're after- so here it is....

My recommendation for the weekend.

Love & Light

LP visus CD

Seems this is no question at all, isn't it?

Don't be that sure. The lovers of LP will nearly kill you for the wrong answere. But I refuse to let me blinded by the love of them. 

Seriusly, it is actually a good question. 

Let's see who wins, the CD or the LP.

Remember the CD came into stores around 1990 and made the life for the LP a hell of earth. The new thing the better quality they say and less place and easier to handle. True, true the world bought all in CD what they had on LP. Many did for sure had their doubt but as the CD became cheaper and your flat got space, it was no hard question to go on buying the CD. 

Nearly dead the LP was, but some refused to give up and then their was Disco and Techno and all the DJs needed LP. Thought these days no longer, but on the other hand, the best DJs are those with LPs or am I wrong. 

Now a CD is cheaper to produce and can give more money buy selling them than a LP.  

Now after nearly 20 years things have changed and we have streaming. No need of CDs anymore. But less quality of sound came with the new versions. Your Ipad still has a high music quality, but the generation after got down with it and now their are far away from being excellent. But all we know that and for what we use the new technic it is not needed. Or do you need to hear the music in such a high quality when you do your sport?

Still we want good music home and have quality, keep what the artist is actually doing. 

By the way - sadly to say, the quality of pop songs, and most charts songs have been going down and many CDs, many albums are not the same as it used to be, but when you have to pay less, you don't care that much about it. 

But then again, some artist have produced very rare and beautiful albums and even made the CD out of paper, not plastic. They worked with storybooks and art and made it special to buy a CD, not just a plastic box with a plastic thing which has music on it. 

Some even made an LP version, but as the LP nearly was out, many albums from the around 92- 99 are not to find on a LP or are only to find in little numbers and therefore expensive.

But who is better now- the CD or the LP? 

The testindustry says it is the CD with the better sound, which the LP lovers deny and they say it is a trick. 

Then LP lovers say the sound is not that hard, it is softer, more naturally. 

As a human myself being hard of hearing I can't hear the difference.

But I can tell you some things about the CD and LP.

The CD is cheaper, easier to produce, has a high sound quality and does not take much space, is easy to bear and handle and collect and it does not matter how high the quality of the songs.
You can even have singles and a lot of remixes, which I like a lot.
A CD comes also in papper versions and with art made just for the CD. 

The LP has more space to have a cover feeling like art and making it special. It wights in your hands and makes you listen to music more carefully and take it not for granted. The LP needs more time to be cherished and lives longer for sure (as a CD has a lifetime of about 20 years they say). And if you hear a scratch on the LP it reminds you of life. You choose more carefully what music you buy and will enjoy it for sure more like being happy.

............ ..... So no one wins in my eyes. 
When I just want to buy music or have a -Best of-, the CD is still first choice. When I want something to listen to when I travel, then it is the CD I take with me. When I want to mix things or just have a single, then I stream or have my I tunes. 
When I want to keep a special album until I die or even give it to the next generation, I will buy a LP. It is luxury, it is special and for all time. The LP makes me remind to listen also to CDs more carefully again and to be true, because of all the cheap music I stopped buying CDs long time ago and only bought them when I thought the music worth it. And I even have my cassettes/ tapes... they still are functional and the radio DJ is still to hear on them. 
But sometimes it is a question of money. Like the money I have to pay for the K.D. Lang LP "Invincible summer" is quite high. Thought David Bowie LPs are worth now much more, even -Blackstar- is now over 30 Euros up to already 70 till 80,-€. 
Yes, the big time for LPs maybe never comes back as it is nearly impossible to produce as much as needed already now. 
So for me, I like both and will take it that way and this way and have fun.

Love & Light

 

unbreakable

Before we start with the TBT, the last one before christmas and the last one before the year ends.... I may tell you about another women who had this year her try to get a comeback. Remember Madonna started and other followed. Even touring around. 

One of the big Stars of the 90tis was Janet Jackson and she brought out this year her "Unbreakable" album.  Janet Jackson who had several major hits in the USA and some big all around the world. A singer who had it not easy within the Jackson family. But she made her way and then after her best of CD it all slowed down fast. Not many hits followed after that. Last she made a break and it was not sure if she would ever do an album again. The tragedy in her family, the divorce and second marriage and becoming a muslim, the fight for money and her brothers kids and so on. 

So, after all this, expectation are quite high for something new but we would also take an album in the same way she did last time. Thought after the - Velvet Rope- she struggled to keep the same level or even make it better. 

Her albums have always been concept workings and she had mostly god producers. So this new album got the same way to be born. 

She decided to take the old style again and make an album in the same and therefore safe way and not to try something new. 

Sadly she did a very safe way and I was surprised how much many songs sound like songs I know or she seemed to cover herself, like her ballade "Again". Only this time she did not even try to power up things. I mean, Janet Jackson never had the biggest voice or a high range or difference in the notes she sang, but she always did put power in it. 

Yes, the songs as always different and not sounding the same on the same cd, but it seems that life has blown out of her. 

Even when she had not the biggest voice she tried emotion, but such emotionless singing had I seldom heard. And that from a person, who has been through so much! She should know better. 

I have nothing against taking a safe way, but this album is not only safe, it is disappointing. I know Janet means a lot in the USA and had never meant that way in Europe, but this is far to weak to listen again or to buy. At least she should have tried with a bit more energy. 

Her best songs are those she made with others- so just three songs from the album are a bit better, but even those are very low in the quality and they get boring after second hearing. No wonder she made no singles, no hits and "No sleeep" was just a small hit on the internet. 

So you better listen to her old work and enjoy what she had done. For the upcoming tour I would not hesitate to buy a ticket as if the CD is not promising, I wonder how much she can give on a tour. She used to be strong and dancing wild and much and having a big powerful show. But this time?

No -Janet, this time I am not sure if I ever want to hear from you a song on stage from the album or if you are really able to power up, when you have non on your cd. I far to much miss songs like "together again" "someone to call my lover" or "pleasure princible".
You call your CD unbreakable, but you sound not broken, nor unbroken. You sound not stronger, softer or wiser. You sound like some beginners, missing all that is needed for a good listening enjoyment.

So that comeback is not to recommend. 

Love & Light

Kylie Minogue- Kiss me once

Nun hat sie also ein neues Album auf den Markt gebracht, die kleine Pop-Prinzessin, wie sie genannt wird. Kylie die aus einer Soap Opera entstiegen ist und mit Hits wie "The Loco- motion" und "I should be so lucky" die Welt umreiste. 
Dieses kleine Mädchen, einst eine einfache Nachbarin, ist zu einer reifen Frau geworden und doch, scheint sie ein ewiger Jungbrunnen zu sein. 
So könnte man meinen, wenn man die Presse liest, denn dabei ist die Dame noch gar nicht so alt, aber auch nicht mehr die Jüngste. So hat sich dennoch folgerichtig, ihre Musik vom einfachen Girly-sing-sang zu ernsterem entwickelt. Doch wie es sich zeigte, all zu ernst wollen die Fans sie nicht haben. Indie Kylie hat weder beim Ersten, Zweiten, noch dritten Versuch gefruchtet, obschon sie ihre Sache gut machte. 
Sie hat daraus gelernt und widmet sich demzufolge nur der Disco. 
Nun hat ihre Musik immer schon ein wenig den Hang zum gewöhnlichen und all zu kommerziellen gehabt, was sich auch bei dem aktuellen Album zeigt. Obschon Kylie Minogue bei ihren Tourneen immer wieder zeigen kann, was in ihr steckt, so ist dies nicht immer auf ihren Alben wieder zu finden. 

"Kiss me once" ist ganz im Stil ihrer letzten Alben seit "Fever" produziert und damit folgt sie weiterhin der starken Anwendung von Technik, auch ihrer Gesangseinlagen betreffend. 
Dies ist durchaus legitim, aber dennoch schade, da eine der besonderen Eigenschaften bis zum "Fever" Album war, das sie live immer sehr ihren Aufnahmen glich und man merkte, sie kann das was sie auf dem Album singt auch tatsächlich performen. 
Mit den Jahren konnte sie es sogar immer besser, denn von den Kickslauten, den anfänglich etwas dünnen und schwachen Gesangsdarbietungen, konnte sie sich abwenden und zur ernstzunehmenden Sängerin werden. 
Leider beschränkt sich Frau Minogue nicht alleine auf Technik zur Liedergestaltung, sie versucht Disco in ein Disco Inferno zu drängen. Auch vergreift sie sich an Liedgut, das im Refrain aus ein, zwei Worten besteht, welche sich immer wiederholen, was leider selten ein wirklich gutes Lied entstehen lässt. Tanzbar ist das Album dennoch, aber es ist nicht so homogen, wie der Vorgänger "Aphrodite", jedoch auch nicht so ausgeglichen und interessant abwechslungsreich wie "Fever" und "Body Language". 

"Kiss me once" wirkt streckenweise zu bemüht und zu sehr darauf bedacht einer Zielgruppe zu gefallen, jedoch welcher Zielgruppe? Die Jungen von Heute oder ihre Gay Fans? Den Gaga oder Madonna Fans? 
Ausgerechnet sie, die sich in den letzten Jahren so sehr von Madonna und Co emanzipiert hat, hinterlässt aktuell den Eindruck, das sie wieder lieber kopiert, als weiter sie selbst zu sein. 
Nicht das ich etwas gegen die Zusammenarbeit mit u.A. Timberland und Timberlake habe, jedoch hört man das dem jeweiligem Song an und fragt sich, ob das nun gut oder schlecht ist. 
Manchmal denkt man beim Anhören der Songs, das sie wunderbar anfangen, dann aber ist man enttäuscht, das sie sich doch wieder anders entwickeln und sich scheinbar voneinander nicht so recht unterscheiden wollen. Zudem fängt es schnell an einen zu nerven, wenn man wieder merkt, das sie zu sehr auf's Gaspedal drückt, statt das was sie gut kann zu tun, nämlich hörbar und gelassen zu singen.

Eine Idee, wie sehr es sie drängt, kann ein Jeder mit dem Lied "If only" bekommen. 
Der Titelsong "Kiss me once" ist im Übrigen ein gutes Beispiel für ein Lied mit gutem Start und dann leider beliebigem Verlauf. 

Aber nein, nicht doch- es sind auch gute Lieder dabei. So kann man die Ballade "Beautiful"oder das Lied "Mr. President" als gelungen bezeichnen und zusammen mit der ersten Single "Into the blue" als beste Lieder des Albums betiteln. 

Insgesamt fängt das Album gut an, wird dann recht eintönig, bis es sich zum Ende hin wieder abwechslungsreicher gestaltet. Es ist also eine solide CD geworden, die aber auch aus einem anderen Grunde etwas enttäuscht. 
Kylie Minogue hat vor dem Erscheinen davon gesprochen, das sie Lieder machen wollte, die nicht mehr so brav sind, die anspruchsvoller und eher etwas für Erwachsene sind. Sie wolle mehr sexy sein, mehr wagen. 
Sex kommt als Wort oft vor, jedoch sexy würde ich keines der Lieder beschreiben, erwachsener oder verruchter sind die Texte auf gar keinen Fall. 
Lieder wie "Sexy Love" funktionieren bestens zum Tanzen, aber für die sexy Stunden zu zweit empfehle ich ein anderes Album.
Nun gibt es aber noch die Special CD- die kaum ihr Geld wert ist. -Making of- und das Video zu "Into the blue" sind für mich absolut kein Grund diese zu kaufen und dafür extra Geld zu bezahlen. Hier fühle ich mich gelinde gesagt als Verbraucher gearscht. 

Schade ist am Ende das Wort das ich wohl am Meisten mit dieser CD verbinden werde, denn als "Into the blue" zu hören war, hatte ich auf ein wirklich tolles Album gehofft. Leider reicht es nicht einmal an die zwei letzten Alben heran, welche schon nicht so prickelnd waren, noch weniger reicht es an "Fever" heran. Auch verwundert es, das eine Frau, die den Krebs überlebt hat scheinbar meint, dem Trend der ewigen Jugend nachrennen zu müssen. 

Spass wird sicher die kommende Tournee trotzdem machen, denn dort kann und hat sie bisher immer beweisen können und zeigen können, was wirklich in ihr steckt. Eine Entertainerin, die zu unterhalten weiss und das auf gutem Niveau.

Love & Light

Gloria!

This is an album you may not know from her. It's her Disco Album and in my own eyes a very good one. All the songs go into each other-like a one hour dance marathon, also you can find on special cd's her spanish version of some of the english songs- by these version-it's more fun. 

This Disco Album is a mix of Disco from old style, to new style and Latin, Salsa and Pop. 

A very healthy mix and it's fun to listen too and it shows another side of her, light and with a lot of spirits. She sings of course about love, dancing, but also about her home country where she comes from, and then more. 

I know a lot don't like Gloria Estefan so much and her Conga beat, but give it a try, this could be what you need. 

I just wish they would play these songs in the Disco, cos you can dance to them so very well and your feelings are growing up and a smile will pop up on your face, I am pretty sure. 

yours

Love & Light

MY Marilyn

On August the 5. this year, Marilyn Monroe will be death exact since 50 years.

A very long time and still we see her films, love her pics and talk about her.

The way she died is still a mystery and it doesn't really matter why she dies, but after the last books about her which came out, it seems to be bad luck, an accident like, cos two of her doctors gave her medicine which seemed to have killed her, but anyway... we maybe never knew the hole truth and like i said, it does not really matter now...

I always liked this very special woman. And over the years, the more I got to know about her, the more I love her and what she's done. She really was and is a star, and not only that.... she was much more.... Some people called her a dumb blonde. Still there are some who think she is or better was a stupid girl/ woman. That is for sure untrue... after all the things I have read about her and what she had said... she must have been a smart woman.

Well we all know that she was known for her delay. Mrs. Monroe was late but not out of maliciousness. She once said that she is not to have for drill and discipline. She saw herself as a man, refused to be treated as a machine. She was very nervous and had very high expectations of her own performance. That's why she was often late.

But she was in my eyes an actress, a very good one, a comedienne and had that special gift to shine in every film she was in.

Her voice was special, that was because she acted with her voice because her true speaking voice was not so nice and special. Now we can really call it the Marilyn voice.... it is so special, that no one really can cover.

And the way she moved her mouth and smiled is so special, that you try and try but never come as near as you wish to the way she did it. It seems like a miracle.

And her songs.... she had some very good... sure her soul was not big but she knew how to spell, how to make a song so you want to listen to on and on...

After all she is best known for her acting in front of cameras, she was maybe the only one who knew best to play with to flirt with that medium. Even Madonna, who likes the camera a lot too, does not reach that kind of being in front of a camera.

That was maybe after all learning a gift too.... Oh she was very strict with the selection of images, almost out of her critical uncertainty.

What I like about her is, she never spoke ill of others. She did not care much for money and fame. Most of the money was donated, and she herself had only a comparatively small house. Nevertheless, she had many envious and bloodsuckers too around her and she knew this very well but for a long time she did not know how to get through this and how to deal best with them. Last but not least, the studios made it very difficult to her.

Nevertheless, it was very progressive, likely to be aware of it without realizing it. Ahead of her time. She demanded higher salaries for women, made herself independent with her own production company. Ensured that the actors were not only bound to a studio. Made sure that she could say a word in the publishing rights.

She was always just a Sexsymbol for the studios, never really had the chance to get a role which was bound just to acting. That must have been very difficult for her. But she was more down to earth than many believe... not only did she spend her money and time for children, animals or plants like trees.... She was also very often in the clubs and thought that all people are equal... and so on day she said to a manager of a club for white people, that he has to let Ella Fitzgerald play in his club. If he does, she will be there every night and she was and Ella never had to play in little clubs again and so began the rise of many black Jazz artists and other musicians.

What a smart woman and that was in a time black and white people lived still (in most parts of the USA) separate.

So I think it's very right when a "David Klein Quintet" plays Songs of Marilyn... ...a Jazz album you will like... and of course most of her films are still very much to recommended.

And a new picture book about her has also just appeared, I would definitely call this book as one of the best I've ever seen. The name is Marilyn Monroe- Metamorphosses-Transformations (Marilyn Monroe/ Metamorphosen / Verwandlungen- erschienen im Schiermer Mosel Verlag).

This book not only shows pictures, it also contains the last interview with M.M. and sentences she herself said once or other told about her. Many of the pics you will see the first time and some of them you will know well. It is such a pleasure to go through this book and you once again realize why she is still so popular and lovable.

LOVE & LIGHT

..you don't want to read..so listen then..

...Hej folks,

so today.. some music you should or can listen to when you think reading is to much for you but listening is enjoying your way...

well then, you'll now see my first recommend...

Joseph Calleja with his album "Tenor Arias"-he's a young tenor with a very nice timbre, very deep and passionate.. he has a high quality, though he has not such a success he should have but otherwise he has time to get better and better. I saw him playing and heard him singing in Berlin and can say he's really someone to enjoy. So if you like Opera and will try a new and warm voice and have some italy in the air... he's yours..:-)

The next artist is not know outside scandinavia- I think so, but really worth listening... Timo Räisänen and his album "The Anatomy of... " well, I think this is his best album, it's not only some kind of Rock like 60's or 70's, it's more than that.. he uses Electro and mixed it up with classic Rock and Pop so called Glam Rock... each song is different and I can say you'll enjoy this if you like it danceable too... his other albums are more like classic Rock/Pop but this is more like Maaroon 5 etc.

try to listen to: Cocaine, Numbers and Outcast or Bleeding and Hollow Heart.... so this is something for a sunny day or a rainy day... some slowly and some uptempo numbers...

....
and here's the Soundtrack of "De-Lovely" with a lot classics sang by a different lot of singers and actors and it's smoothy... warm, like chocolate, easy listening and bit swinging... and if you have friends home, it's the perfect music in the background without being to much like put to sleep...

.....and what is this? The movie has never been shown in Europe, but the music is a real summer day, a beach and a sunny day, a happy time and not at all kitschy... if you want to make a holiday last longer or want to get a feeling of a holiday with breezy warm wind and soft dancing and sexy hips and blue water in sight....

...then get the groove back with Stella and have fun...

...make love and dance.. drink a Tequila or a Pina Colada...

... now- my dear Cyndi with an album full of old songs, songs of her childhood... and guess what.. never heard the song "Stay" so well or the song "At Last"... she can really sing and tell you about "Unchained Melody"...

This is something to hear in a late afternoon or nearby the dark midnight... No pop at all, it's very- what is it.. ? Some kind of swing, Jazz and blues..? Kind of...

Can german pop be good if the singer comes from schlager music? Well it can be.. we know that from the last years and if you listen to this album you maybe will be remind of "Rosenstolz".. well one of the songwriter is Peter Plate from the Band Rosenstolz and Kim Fisher has a very nice, light and smoky soul and has a mix of Pop, Latino and Jazz to show us... just listen to "Follow me" the cover from Amander Lear, or listen to "Vergib mir", "Ich fessle dich" or "Rote Rosen".

But also "Soviel geb' ich nicht". The themes are a mix of Sex, Love and Heartache...

... and this women comes from New York and lives since about 15- 20 years in Berlin. This is maybe her best album ever... just Jazz with a little blues inside and her interpretations of classics like "Summertime", "It ain't necessarily so" or "My Ship" and "The man I love" are just amazing. Her warm, deep soul, her kind of interpretation which is very free and clear, makes every song worth listening... the songs are all from Weill and Gershwin, which are known as very good ones... so, take your cup of tea and listen.. you won't regret it...

Carole Kings "Tapestry", old but still good.. easy, but the lines of each song are so true and her soul very simple but somehow deep in the way she sings... very good in the background or to listen to directly... She was on Woodstock, she still is alive and still enjoys in the song/ writer tradition... This album is history...

Ever heard of Jewel..? She maybe is to find at stores under Country or if you're a lucky kid under Pop... but most under Flolk music, but the truth is, she's somewhere between... with a very clear soul, very near like an angel, but bit darker... "This way" starts with slow motion and gets higher with every song, but also has some breaks to breath and like you drink a glass of wine, here music has a taste which holds a little after you've heard her song... good music to start the day or when you come home from work...

Try: "Standing still" or "Jesus loves you"

....and YES we need Bette...!!!!!!

Miss Midler is no more so successful in Europe but still brings out in America her albums, but this one was comin' out here too.. it's now a few years ago, and this contains songs she has sang a lot and in the beginning of her career. She started in little clubs and so she wanted to make an album which has songs for little clubs or bath houses... that's why she called the album "Bathhouse Betty"... This music is dreamy, except the song "I'm beautiful"... this song may be a bit to strong and doesn't really fit the album but the rest, songs of love, a lost child, beaches... and friends... it's a feel good album- if I may say so...

DIANA KRALL... she often gets the criticism to be to commercial... is there something wrong with this? Well she seems to make easy listening Jazz but the truth is, it sound easy and sounds like commercial but is not... she is really one of the best interprets of classic Jazz music and her way is classic but not too classic. She plays the piano self and sings with a light and smoky soul... soft and clear and deep... you really feel the songs and you can close your eyes and enjoy them... or sit on the sofa and drink whatever you want... this music is bit like.. mmmmh :-)

...and my last is: Scott Matthew.. he is not known so well and if, more about singing sad and deep blue songs... First time you maybe heard him in the movie "Short bus".

His new album is different... it's more easy, more sunny.. more fun and positive...

His soul is smoothy, warm and bit dreamy and his music is kind of song /writer and independent... hearing this album can get you a warm feeling and if you think you need to read a book now, this is good in the background but also to end a day in bed... because you begin to realize that the music is finished, long after the music is finished...

Hope you'll enjoy it again with me...

LOVE & LIGHT