Quelqu'un m'a dit

Pardon my lazyiness, my review of the maxwell's show will be posted sometimes this weekend. and speaking of lazy ass, the photos are in the works as well, i've had what i shall call some "technical" difficulties lately...

I'm a big fan of Michael Goldberg's column, whether he reviews a record or just reflects on what it means to be a rock critic, his words are always on point and inspirational. I just finished reading his take on the decline of the music business and i couldn't agree more with his thoughts. Read the article and tell me what you think. i didn't really see it that way before, especially with everyone putting the blame on the downloads. With the number of records i purchased in 2002, how could the music industry be in decline!? I thought, my friends and i alone were making the wheel turn... but no, we are exceptions.
"Once, rock wasn't an entertainment choice. It was life or death. There was no choice. We had to have it." Some of us still feel this way today.

I've been digging some 2002 releases that i discovered recently. Though not a big hip hop fan (except for french hip hop - i still occasionally fancy MC Solaar and NTM), The Streets are definitely growing on me. I love Mike Skinner's voice and his lisp á la Jamie Oliver. it's not straight up hip hop either, since it contains lots of reggae and dub bits. and his lyrics are clever too. Ikara Colt's Chat and Business has been on heavy rotation. it's a good rock record, i wouldn't really call it "garage", just a good rock record... there's a song on it that even sounds a bit electro.
My homecountry friends are kind enough to keep me up to date with the good french releases. A big surprise lately when i received a debut album by former model Carla Bruni... the surprise is that the record itself is pretty damn good (oh yeah i was totally prejudiced and expected it to be crap). It is so very Gainsbourg. Her voice is quiet and melancholic in that i-can't-really-sing way - think Jane Birkin.

major tom

better late than never... happy birthday to mister Bowie! David turned 56 yesterday, and the man keeps looking better as he gets older. i wish you all men out there to look and dress this good at fifty-fucking-six year old (damn, i just realized that he's older than my dad). One of my biggest regrets in 2002 was missing him live.

i'll have a review of Interpol @ maxwell's later today. meanwhile check out pitchfork's take on the dec. 19 gig, and do read this great Earlash review and photos (wink, wink) of the dec. 21 show.

attention, attention!

For you all Interpol fanatics, i got a special request from the Interpol camp to announce that the performance on Letterman has been moved from thursday january 9th, to wednesday january 8th... yes, you heard me right, they will be on tomorrow night.
And yes, (unless you live in Hoboken) if you're going to Maxwell's to see them play tomorrow night, you're screwed.

grammy nominations

So the Grammy nominations happen and no one told me!? All i remember hearing about this morning is Katie Couric's birthday...
Looking at the nominations and using a bit of common sense, i think that Norah Jones is gonna take every pop award home, and Springsteen may take everything rock... Eminen will probably get the rap awards. Just my predictions. The most interesting category is the Best Alternative Music Album:
Beck Sea Change
Clinic Walking with thee
Coldplay A Rush of blood to the head
Elvis Costello and the imposters Cruel Smile
The Soundtrack of Our lives Behind the music

I have heard all these albums except for Elvis Costello (we heard it's good), and they're all very good... so me predicts that Coldplay will win. I kinda don't care about the other categories, but i will watch the whole ceremony, for the fashion of course... DOH!

Miss modernage finally decided to give us some of her BEST OF 2002, and you gotta go read because 1) she's wicked smart and 2) we were there too (except for the BIG freakin III, damnit!).

Benigno y Mario

I made a rare cameo at the movie theater yesterday. I saw the new Pedro Almodóvar film, Talk to her. I've always loved Almodóvar's movies because they make you feel sympathy and even compassion for the outkasts and weirdos (that we all are) of the world. I felt that Talk to her was a much graver film than some of his previous ones, partly because Almodóvar usually infuses his films with some humor, but completely devoided Talk ot her of any. The movie, even though revolving around women, really focuses on male characters, something of a departure for the director, famously known for his unique look at the complexity of women. The story is tragic in a lot of ways, but still has the same kind of twisted subject that other Almodóvar movies have. Tragic but nonetheless beautiful, i highly recommend it. The soundtrack is also very nice, featuring Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso, also appearing/singing in the movie.

Check out this lovely Spoon video for Small Stakes. [link via Frank]