Among my 2004 favorites: Folk is alive and well!

Nick Drake is gone, and so is Elliott Smith. But their style has survived in Sam Beam, the mind and soul behind Iron & Wine. I found out about them through the soundtrack of "Garden State" (the year's best OST in my opinion), and I am officially hooked on the mellow voice of Beam... as a beam of light it casts rays of melancholy interspersed with hope that make you want to listen to "Our Endless Numbered Days" once and again. This makes the choice of a favorite track almost impossible, but if forced, I'd probably stick with "Naked as We Came", "Sunset Soon Forgotten", "Love and Some Verses", "Each Coming Night" and "Sodom, South Georgia." In a nutshell, an album impossible not to love!

U2's latest has got a cover

Finally, we can see the cover art for U2's latest album, "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb", scheduled to be released on November 23, 2004 (yet already available to be pre-ordered). Frankly, I don't love the cover, but I will go with the old adage: "don't judge a book by its cover"... The first single, "Vertigo" rocks! (and you can also check it out serving as the music to the latest iPod ad... which also rocks!)

So, long story short: I keep excited about this new release, four years in the making. I feel it will meet my expectations, much like R.E.M.'s latest did. If you haven't gotten your copy of "Around The Sun", in a nutshell you are missing on the "Automatic for the People" of the new millenium.

Keane

How happy I am to have been introduced to this band. Keane, in a line similar to Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Starsailor and others, rocks! It reminds me of Travis... hmmm... or should I say James? :)

Well, here for your enjoyment is a link to Keane's program in KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. If you like what you hear, get their album "Hopes & Fears". I suspect you will not be dissapointed.

The Blue Nile - High

The voice of Paul Buchanan, The Blue Nile's fabulous vocalist, touched my life almost four years ago, when a colleague first introduced me to their work by means of their landmark albums "Hats" and "Walk Across the Rooftops", both on my list of Desert Island albums. They later released a bit of a flop album, a bit out of sync with the times, and eight years later, in 2004 they came back with "High", a fantastic production that once again fits in perfectly with our days and nights, considering that all of us that grew up as eighties children are seeing our music and rhythms revive in the most unexpected ways.

"High" presents a limited selection of nine songs, that sound like Talk Talk-meets-Peter Gabriel. As a matter of fact, Paul Buchanan had quite a performance in Gabriel's album OVO, which convinced me for good of his vocal ualities. With a cover that matches the recurrent 'downtown lights' theme of the band, the music very much works perfectly for nighttime playing, and stands out above most of the conventional works around, in spite of its incredible simplicity. It just strikes the right chords around Paul Buchanan's mellow voice.

So, in sum, The Blue Nile are back... and, with an album just as good as "Walk Across the Rooftops", they seem to me as if they're here to stay. By all means, check out "High".

friendo huevos

>Una mujer le está friendo unos huevos de almuerzo al marido.
>
>De pronto, el marido entra en la cocina.
>
> "¡¡¡Cuidado ... CUIDADO !!! Ponles un poco más de aceite.
>
> POR DIOS ¡¡¡ Estás cocinando demasiados al mismo tiempo !!!
>¡¡¡DEMASIADOS!!!
>
>¡¡¡Dales la vuelta !!! DALES LA VUELTA AHORA !!! Necesitamos más aceite.
>¡¡¡POR DIOS !!! ¿¿¿DONDE vamos a conseguir MÁS ACEITE ??? ¡¡¡ Se van a
>PEGAR!!!
>!!! Cuidado ... CUIDADO !!! ¡¡¡Dije CUIDADOOOO !!! NUNCA me haces caso
>cuando cocinas ¡¡¡Nunca !!! ¡¡¡CUIDADO!!! ¡¡¡Dales la vuelta !!!
>¡¡¡Rápido !!!
> ¿¿¿Estás LOCA ??? ¿¿¿Perdiste la CABEZA ??? No te olvides de echarles
>sal.
> Sabes que siempre te olvidas de la sal. Usa la sal. ¡¡¡USA LA SAL !!!
>¡¡¡LA SAL..................!!!"
>
>* La mujer lo mira con asombro: "¿Pero... Qué te pasa? ¿Crees que no
> puedo freír un par de huevos?"
>
>* El marido sonríe y contesta calmadamente:
>"Sólo quería mostrarte lo que se siente cuando voy conduciendo
>contigo en el coche, querida."