Top 5: Music For The Road

Breaking my habit of only traveling by bus at night, Monday I came to Salvador by noon. The bus left at 30 past 12 and thankfully it had a conditioned air, because the heat was disgusting [the kind that makes you sweaty and viscous]. The night before I had got high, therefore I had a weird night/morning of sleep; but the point I'm trying to get is the music!
When I bought the Antony And The Johnsons and Björk's tickets I had planned in filling my mp3 player with their music and only, when the time came for me to go to Rio. Well, lines above you happened to know I ended up high and surely forgot to do that; but I'm glad. Coming to think about it I'd end up sick of them by half of the trip and the surprise of hearing the songs live must come fresh.
So in the bus, during my REM sleep, I played the folder with random artists and had wonderful trips. I've already posted about the sleep and music combo, how you come to have these crazy dreams and images flashing through your eyes, as you brain decides between sleeping and listening to the tune.
So, here follows the 5 tracks [+ bonuses] that gave me best dream-intros.
5. Gimme More - Britney Spears
Mhmm... I'd be wondering as well how could that catchy-but-lazy track by Miss Long-Time-Ago-Promissing-Pop-Princess bring good dreams. Well the thing is, to be in REM is like being under the influence of E and every little sound the penetrates your mind becomes powerful and dreamsome. Spears's track has lovely synth-details that woke me up to see that my hips were unconsciously moving.
4. I Talk Too Much [featuring Kylie Minogue] - Just Jack
Just Jack is the stage name of British singer Jack Allsopp. I never heard of him before the day his sophomore album was released and I happened to learn that he had a duet with my lovely Kylie Minogue. I downloaded I Talk Too Much from a Kylie fan-site and thought it was cool but didn't give much attention to it later, until I found myself having wild and crazy sleepy-imagery to Jack's rushy vocals, Minogue's acute and incisive voice and the wonderful horn samples from the track.
Note to self: download JJ's albums.
3. LDN - Lily Allen
Suddenly the lyrics came full and clear in my head and again the horn arrangements blew my mind away. Everytime I the song played I'd wake up to sing along, which is not bad cos this is one of my favorite tracks to sing along. It's pity I'm missing her show in São Paulo in two weeks.
2. Spell Of Desire - Kylie Minogue
This is one of the rejected tracks from Kylie's forthcoming tenth studio album. Produced by Mylo the
6-minutes-long song is a delicious fest of synthesized beats and spacebeeps [never as boring as Orbit's]; try to imagine this sci-fi atmosphere when you're half-awake/half-asleep. Like Sophie [Ellis-Bextor] would say I had to surrender to the party in my head. The wildest and marvelous abstract images became alive in my mind... but still not as powerful as the #1...
1. Stop Running Away [featuring Deborah Anderson] - Télépopmusik
This French trip hop group was presented to by the ho and now they remind me of Saint Etienne. Last year Jose told me to download Etienne and I ignored him; later I found myself addicted to the band.
When I felt I was waking up I forced myself to remain eye-shut, because the visions I was having shouldn't be erased by boring real imagery. It was Deborah Anderson's layered vocals on track "Stop Running Away" giving me the best dream I'd had in days. Suddenly I was a choir arranger conducting a group of fiveplets singing the wonderful lyrics, while I also played the beautiful and organic synths. No matter how thoughtfully I try to describe the feeling and sensation you will only know/feel what I'm saying after you listen to the track.
Right after SRA, came the wonderful Into Everything also featuring Anderson's sweet vocals but this time accompanied by marvelous beats and programming - and after the lovely surprise by its end I was all the into Télépopmusik's fandom-land.

Murphy Bullying + Prophecies

On the post bellow I underline my new relationship with htis lovely Murphy guy [fucker!]. Now I'll tell you good reasons for me to drama-queen.

It all started right after I bought the Björk concert's ticket. As I posted before, you've been aware of the fact I lost my wallet with all my papers and cards. It was more than a month ago and I still wasn't able to get new papers. I'm supposed to get a plane this coming Thursday. But this is not a case of lazy-Lucas-didn't-got-his-ass-outta-the-chair; the only way of getting my new ID card was my mom sending my birth certificate via mail. So she did it, and the Correios [the mail agency] seemed to have lost it.

We all got desperate because without that paper I couldn't get any other and no one can travel without papers. Last holiday dad and I went to Salvador and there he got another copy from the the certificate at the registry. Back to Conquista I went to the place where IDs are made and guess what! There was en error on that copy that the registry gave to my dad, and I had to check a number before being able to get the new card.

Two days later I checked the numbers and there was indeed an error. I got desperate, I had two ways: asking my mom to go to the registry and get me a new certificate and then sending me so I'd get the new card here - which would take more time than what I trully have; or I could go to Salvador asap to do these stuffs.

In a stroke of luck my mom found the first birth certificate: she wrote the wrong address and the Correios returned it to her, but her building's super - a very nice and lovely person - NEVER returned her the paper!! It was trapped inside a book for more than fifteen days and he never dared to look inside to hand it to my mother. Well she managed to find it and the second option is the most profitable since I'm going to Salvador anyway to get the plane. So I'm returning to the big city tomorrow.

Now the prophecies.

In July [or August - who knows] a plane from the TAM airlines crashed the company's building in São Paulo and more than a hundred people died. An exact year ago a GOL airlines airbus crashed with an american private-jet and fell onto the Amazon jungle; everybody died.

I'm flying GOL and am not a bit worried about this stuff; I don't think recent eventual misfortunes define years of safe air-traveling, and I'm absolutely not superstitious; but some people are saying that a new plane crash will happen by the end of October. And considering all of Murphy's flirting with me lately, I'll probably be on the plane or somehow involved, if it ever happens. If it's not anything with the plane, I'll probably be shot by a missing bullet from the traffic "war" in Rio, the second [or third - who knows] most violent capital of the country.

[Song: Pretty Little Thing - Freddi Cruger featuring Linn]

The Change Of Heart

I've been absurdly stressed. I'm to travel to Rio next week and still I wasn't able to get my ID card, without it I won't be able to get the plain, nor the concerts tickets. All the misfortunes that has been crossing my crusade are the paradigm of Murphy Law, but I still hope things will be okay in the end... I have to hold on to that.

But in this whole stress I've become a bit sensitive about things around; especially music that reminds me of twisted parts in my life. Lately it's been Brazillian g-d Vanessa Da Mata who's been startling me about the dark side of my joy.

Don't get me wrong. I'm far from going into depression land again, but suddenly the unfinished businesses of my life have showed themselves as if the red curtain was opened up. Last weekend was Children's Day, therefore, a holiday. Dad and I went to Salvador after two nights and a day in Inhambupe, his hometown. I saw my mom again, after a month since I moved back to Conquista; it felt like an eternity and I realized how much I miss her. That cunning ache to the chest possessed me as soon as I laid eyes on her; I wanted so much she'd go out with us but she preferred not to, probabaly because of dad. And on the Monday, after we dropped my sister home, I wanted to go upstairs and tell her my feelings; she still wasn't home though and I thought the chance was missed.

So, this morning, feeling terribly tired after another unsuccessful attemptive of getting my papers I drove home listening to Da Mata's Minha Herança: Uma Flor [already on the white-box] and the lyrics made me think of my relationship with mother. How I've been neglecting her emotionally and how probably she got tired to get close and seems now to be just accommodating with my coldness. And a fierce fear possessed me as the tears rolled down my face; a fear we'd become strangers, simply relatives who let the personality differences drive them apart.

The song however has optimistic lyrics and along with the fear came a deep and honest desire to fix everything; my heart wished so vehemently that I'd become a better son. My mom has been getting into so much [emotional] trouble lately, and listening to that song made me see how cruel and judgemental I've been towards her. I suddenly saw that by turning away and choosing not to get involved not even a bit with her problems, I've been positioning myself on a higher level than hers... and uhg I now see how stupid and embarrassing it is. Me Mr. I'm-Destroying-My-Ego... turning my back to someone who I should never do so.

All culminated in Woody Allen's Another Woman, and I found myself feeling like Gena Rowlands's character. In the end she decides to change... I guess I'm supposed to make a phone call.

[Song: Minha Herança: Uma Flor - Vanessa Da Mata]

Narcissism

I think I've finally come to the terms of my own beauty.

I never saw myself as a handsome person; at least not all the time. As adolescence was left behind and my face started looking even, not a Picasso painting, I started reckoning I like my countenance. But still I'm far from being a beauty queen and I like it.

I realized, a couple days ago, that my beauty isn't something easy to get. Not that I'm à la Ziyi Zhang, with such exotic features that you might strange at first, I actually have a pretty common face; but it's my personality that outbursts and enhances my physical features. And I simply can't and don't want to control that.

A person that barely knows me, told me once that I'm the kind of person who calls attention; whom, among a bunch of people, involuntarily stands out from everyone because my personality was grander than my body.

Rejection has been a long companion, but I never analyzed what could cause that. So, in a stroke of narcissism I've come to terms that it is not easy for a young gay guy to stick around someone who is so open about himself, his tastes, his beliefs. Even outted, some gay people feel the need to behave strict and straight; not that gay people has to follow a certain pattern of behavior, and straight people other, but when do we start behaving like ourselves?

Some guy I know is gay, but if someone don't tell you, you won't know. One day he had a skank and hash joint and start acting like Jack McFarland. Dropping the judgemental side of this whole speech, I remember the question the ho made me a couple days ago: "why doesn't anyone under 30 want us?" Probably it's because most of older men can already see beyond the silly rules of conduct ["don't be so talkative cos it's too feminine"; "don't be too eloquent cos it drives people away"...], and don't give a shit of what society will think.

Purki's got a boyfriend; one of the first things he told his beau before they start officially dating was that he, Purki, could offer no protection to him. Anyone who'd seen a guy walking too long with him would consider them as a couple; that because he's okay and open about his sexuality and had no intention in hiding that away.

In a small town's gay world things are even more tricky to understand; the colonial mentality prevent people from doing what they want and feel like. Purki also once told me that our clique tends to scare people away: we're too open about ourselves. He's right, we're too loud, we dress like it pleases us, we're too honest about our feelings and wishes, we speak loud when we want, we shake our asses when and the way we want, we drink heavily when we want; most importantly we say and do whatever we want whenever we want. Red also said that if you slap society on the face, it punches you back wherever it can hit. And damn yeah it hurts. But do I want to be a leader or a follower? A doer or a repeater?

In the end of these nonsensical rambling I realize this desire to be an achiever is part of my beauty, and I'm not prepared to put it off to please anyone else.

[Song: Forbidden Love - Madonna]

YAAAAAAAY

The main reason why I love Kylie Minogue the most: SHE NEVER LETS ME DOWN!

"It's A Mixed Up World"

Already in the preparations of my annual Songs Of The Year list I'm having last year's trouble in choosing the the top 10, but kind of differently. Last year I had a million people list to choose, but this year I also have a million... but songs. No artist this year released decent albums, except for Björk, Joss Stone and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. They are obviously going to feature on the list, but though it's clear by the music posts the artists that will probably be on the list, it's been a shit for me to choose the tracks.

Later this week I'll post the not-so-much-but-stil-confusing pre-list.

[Song: Walls Keep Saying Your Name - Sophie Ellis-Bextor]

The Ugly Boots Fried Convention

Saturday I went to another rave not very much into the thing, but surprisingly it turned out to be a marvel. So, considering that in Portuguese the slang you use when people are high on ecstasy is frito [fried], and considering that I was one of the fried people, it's no overreaction naming this post as such.

The best thing about taking Ecstasy is the rhythm of things. While your body is quicker than a ray of light, your mind process everything very slowly and vivdly. The colors are brighter [especially under the dark light], the music is stronger and you feel the Earth move. The feeling is so dangerous that despite the weariness of the after effects you still feel like getting more; perhaps because the after effect is mostly depression, making you crave for the happiness and increased positivity into your veins.

I felt like five minutes after I took the little Batman pill I was already under the effects of the drug; but realizing now that the notion of time is totally affected, it could've been an hour until I started to feel hot but cold, speeded up but down... Suddenly a blonde woman, DJ Amanda, got up on the stage and started playing a psychodelic mix of trance and dance; my jaw clenched in an involuyntarily way and my body, thrown against the giant speakers, trembled by the rhythm of her music; the Earth trembled as well, everyone seemed to be jumping like in an earthquake.

Purki and I jumped in front of the speakers; my jumps were so high I felt like flying. I had no strings attached, I hugged people, I took pictures of everyone around me, I kissed Marie [a Canadian interchange student - pic right], I unashamedly flirted with Sophie [German interchange student - pic left] and saved Lotte [Belgian interchange student- pic under with Tcheus] from ugly men flirting with her and ran among people without touching them.

When the sun suddenly rose, the fatigue started to make its way, but I was still happy as never before. DJ Kronic was onstage and he did a live guitar performance that made us all chilled by the spine, thrilled to the bone.
I suddenly started smoking a cigarette after the other and people seemed so beautiful as I was able to see their pores. But as hours started to drag [my notion of time was returning], I started to get annoyed by that amount of falsely pretty people - they mostly were preppy rich boys and girls wearing sunglasses to hide their dilated pupils from the sun. The boys danced like druged... oops crazy robots, trying hard to move their hips in only a macho-tolerated way, but clenching their jaws like maniacs; as for the girls they all had lollipops into their mouths [sucking candies help you to salivate, softening the sense of drought in the mouth], and were all wearing the ugliest boots ever designed! These boots are fever in rave parties; there's not a single rave you don't find at least a hundred girls wearing them. And I came to the conclusion they are the most boring and hideous fashion statements. From now on, any girl that attend to raves wearing Converses or even flip flops will have my respect.
The party ended at noon and by that time I was already dozing at the lounge room; me and other dozens of fried fuckers. It was a memorable night that I was alrerady missing by the morning, while it was still happening. Sunday afternoon died before it started and its night... well I guess I slept.

The Savior

*click the song's names to download*

I believe that nowadays there is a weird feeling of loss about culture in general, especially music, that is the most popular of arts. Everywhere, people [who like to wonder] have been wondering if this musical apathy is the doom of the current century: nothing's new, everything's recycled and those who are really innovating and reinventing don't get the media attention that they deserve.

In Brasil that is not a bit different. In a country where the next Britney Spears imitatation or the next Ivete Sangalo song [that is never different from any previous one] are the radio-candies, the good and old Brazillian music seems to be lost. But that's very superficial.

An artist that have already featured on a list of mine grabbed me by the balls and reassured me that nothing's lost. Roberta Sá finished Fama Bis [Brazillian's Star Academy] as 2nd best; but while the 1st place is nowhere to be heard Roberta, with her sophomore [big-labelled] album, firmed herself as an important modern MPB [Brazillian Popular Music] name. A performer that sometimes writes her lyrics, Sá has a quality that goes beyond the commercial and popular; her albums are real art-pieces, filled with research and references, results of her teaming with some of the best composers and producers from contemporaneity [such as Pedro Luís - from Pedro Luís e a Parede - and Rodrigo Campello]. As a singer, she's a gem that should be much more contemplated than she is; her guttural and sweet vocals caress any song she happens to sing, with a marvelous characteristic: the words come out of her mouth filled with life and meaning, because of her clear and pure pronunciation; not a single word is cut or swallowed which gives the listener a perfect description of the lyrics, boosting imagination and fully touching your heart.

Her second album, Que Belo Estranho Dia Pra Se Ter Alegria ["what an oddly beautiful day to be happy"], surfs from traditional samba [Interessa] to Bossa Nova [Cansei De Esperar Você] and Forró [Fogo E Gasolina - with Lenine]. The openning comes in the form and sound of the impressive and involving O Pedido, a song about doing something for someone else, but the strong performance makes the song feels more like an imposition than a request. Mais Alguém, with its modern and dreamy synths, is my favorite for having its lyrics tapped to the most optimistic face of romance; in Janeiros she presents her exquisite songwritting with a poem filled with beautiful [but untranslatable] immagery. The Bossa that inspires the album's title, Que Belo Estranho Dia De Amanhã, plays with the feeling of pause when you're in love, and the oppressive but wonderful Samba De Amor E Ódio plays with the notions of love and hate, breaking shallow Manichaeisms. The album closes with the delicious and exciting Girando Na Renda, a samba de roda that invites everyone to party all night long, despite the album's end.

Sá, in the end, comes as a savior from the really cult and profound MPB. Obviously she doesn't have the media space she deserves, but it's amazing how her works impress the music critics and bring her fans among the alternative and eager-for-culture scene. And if you are one of those who wonder, both of her albums are musts.

[Song: Que Belo Estranho Dia De Amanhã - Roberta Sá]

The Next Best Thing...

If I had the power to turn anything into a sensation I'd turn The Puppini Sisters into wordly stars. They already have some buzz in the UK and [surprisingly] at the States as well. But you know what, I'd like to see them famous everywhere, playing on MTV and Pop radios, even if that meant they would stop being exclusive for me.

Why do I say so? Well, check it out. Probably one of the most glamourous things I've seen so far this year - even if it's a last year gig.

"I'll Be Anticipating..."

I'm all smiles today. After watching a deliciously funny Woody Allen movie [Small Time Crooks], dad and I sat down to look up plane tickets to my trip to Rio in the end of the month. I'm sure I didn't tell about this here before, but I'm going to Rio de Janeiro to see Björk and Antony And The Johnsons live. I don't need to say I'm beyond excited.

I still have some crap to solve, like getting all my papers and bank cards all over again until then [this is starting to freak me out, because time never goes by so slowly when you need it to], and making reservations at a hostel. But despite the weight in my chest that these little problems bring, I'm still floating with the prospect of a whole weekend at one of the beautifulest cities in the world.

And funny thing I titled a post about Björk and a trip to Rio with a line from a Britney Spears song; if I were superstitious I'd take that as a not-so-good omen.

[Song: Twlight - Antony And The Johnsons]