Great live clips: The soundtracks of Harry Potter movies

To me, seeing music performed live, always adds an extra dimension to music; weather it is rock, jazz or classical music. It's a peak into what is really happening and all the details. This afternoon I have been watching some documentaries behind the scenes of the making of soundtracks for the Harry Potter movies, and they show this feeling at it's best. And oh, how I wish I could play a orchestral instrument. Maybe it's not to late?

Great live: Phoenix at La Blogotheque

If you have been reading my blog before, you know that I am huge fan of the French site "La Blogotheque" and of the French band Pheonix. Really it was just a matter of time before the two had to work together and what an amazing result!! La Blogotheque basically takes artists outside and around and let the perform and see what happens. My favorites so far have been Beirut and R.E.M's collaborations with them and this one is also amazing! Click on the La Blogotheque tag on the right side of this blog and you can see more posts about it.

http://blogotheque.net/Phoenix,5176

Features the songs: 1901, Lisztomania and Long Distance Call

Live: Phoenix 1901 at Letterman

Phoenix is reaching new hights and here they are at the David Letterman Show. Finally I found it on YouTube :D Enjoy!

Great live: Phoenix on Saturday Night Live

This might be the first time I have ever seen the boys of Phoenix a tiny bit nervous. But my oh my, the still do an amazing job. Let's hope they can bring some french elegance to the American minds ;)

Enjoy, people!


22.03.2013 The original video has since been deleted, but I hope you enjoy this one:

Great live: Blur - Essex Dogs

As I have told you readers before, I really really love the song "Essex Dogs" by Blur. The other day I found an amazing live version of it. I think this is Blur at it's best in many ways... Quite crazy and atmospheric and the mix of Coxon creativity Albarns amazing lyrics and voice and Alex James is amazingly cool in this. You also get a quite good version of Song 2 live... There are a lot of bad ones out there, so enjoy this one :)

I remember thinking murder in the car
Watching dogs somersault through sprinklers on tiny lawns
I remember the graffiti
We are your children coming in with spray cans of paint
I remember the sunsets and the plains of cement
And the way the night just seemed to turn the colour of orangeade

In this town, cellular phones are hot with teens
In this town, we all go to terminal pubs
It helps us sweat out those angry bits of life
From this town, the English army grind their teeth into glass
You know you'll get a kicking tonight
The smell of puke and piss
The smell of puke and piss on your stilettos

Here comes that panic attack
My heart stops... and then it starts
Give me a drink
I'll drink your round
I take you round the pole
It's cold up here (I can see the universe waiting by a minibus)
You'll catch flu
Or you'll catch the city
Either way, you'll catch flu
Or you'll catch the city

Great songs & great covers: Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah

Some songs just can't even be explained and just chills you to you bones. Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah is one of those. I won't even go into his voice right now. I'll return later with a own post about his beautiful beautiful voice. The first time heard it I was at a theater school and we had an evening where we all gathered for a kind of show and tell. A girl went forward and said: "This song will change your life." and told us the story of Jeff. We all sat so quietly that we ever had done and just listened and listened. It was pure magic.

Here is the studio version, the one that came out of the speakers that night:





Today, I found an amazing live version of Jeff doing the song, so you can enjoy it here. (Embedding is possible, sorry) It give it an extra dimension to actually see him singing the song. I have never seen that before!

Great interviews & Great live: Arctic Monkeys at KCRW

On YouTube you can find this amazing series of clips from Arctic Monkey's performances live on air with KCRW from 2005 and 2007. In 2007 they look really cute and young and are just starting out and in 2007 you can see that they are a bit world experienced but still quite cute and they do it so so good live. I love how they communicate and have fun while they play :) I have to see them live some time in the near future. The easiest way to find these clips is probably to search for Arctic Monkeys KCRW at YouTube. There are so many clips at different persons that I haven't got the time to organize them and paste them all here now. But here is A Certain Romance from 2005.



Interview from 2005



And the first part of the 2007 session:

Great songs & great live: U16 girls - Travis

On Monday I am going off to see one of my favorite bands Travis again. This time I am so lucky as to see them on a really small stage (but very legendary) stage in Oslo: Rockefeller. It should be an unforgetable experience as it's very intimate and they are amazing live. To celebrate this joyful event and to bring out more Travis fans, since there are still tickets left, I give you the legendary "U16 girls" from a live show in 2001 where Travis played live in their hometown Glasgow. Must be the peak of the career so far. I love the how direct the lyrics are, though they have been joking the last years that they think it's a bit weird to sing about that underage girls now that their are so much older... hehe.. It's that kind of song that makes you jump up and down and sing along... A great rock song and I am glad they are back to a bit more rock songs at their last album and back to their roots somehow and the days when they warmed up for Oasis. Here you go.

I met a girl in l a
The million dollar kind
She was all for all or nothing
She was open all the time
But when I called her number
Her mothers on the line sayin
Youve no business
As gods my witness
With a child as young as mine
So make sure that shes old enough
Before you blow your mind
She may look like she knows enough
But look in her eye
And if so
Let her go
Youll let her down in style
I met a girl in paris
She talked like vera lynn
And her eyes were full of dew drop
The moment I walked in
She was awfully nice
The kind that likes to win
But if Id been wiser
A whole lot wiser
Then I might have thought again
Chorus
Chorus

Great live clips and great lyrics: Elton John -Rocket Man

For years and years I have kind of hated Elton John, but since this song was on that before mentioned commercial I have really fallen in love with it. This is a great live version of Elton in 1976 sans wig or hat. But with big glasses and lovely pianoplaying.



I also have fallen totally in love with the lyrics:
She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the earth so much I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it's gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I'm a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man

And I think it's gonna be a long long time...

Live and great cover: Travis - I Kissed a Girl

Here is Travis version of "I Kissed a Girl" from the Mono concert on Thursday. Amazing!! :D And so much better than the original. They might actually have done a Britney 2 ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDRf4wpqgmQ



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77dGONWQt3Y

Great live clips: Radiohead - Arpeggi /Weird fishes Live from Dublin

As I am sure you know, I am a huge Radiohead fan, so there will probably be a lot of posts about them, but I will try to restrain myself a little bit ;) I just found an amazing live clip of arpeggi from their new album In Rainbows. It was filmed by a fan in Dublin and it's just bloody amazing!!! And how well dressed they are for a change, though that sweater of Johnny's is rather odd, better than that red sweater though. But hey, he's a genius, he can do whatever he want.

I love the structure of this song It just rises and rises and gets more and more beautiful, before stopping up and get going again. It is just PERFECTLY arranged and all the choices are right and all the melodies beutiful. It's for sure my favorite on the record and one of the fav's over all :D

Let me be your guide you through this, and show you why this footage is perfect and filmed by a person that really knows this song and what to expect:

I love the first few seconds when you can see Johnny and Ed getting ready at the left of the screen, like "Let's do this thing" and Colin jumping like always in the background. Then you can see Johnny heading over to his side and Ed is concentrating like hell there. Oh, I know how he feels. Just let the fingers do what they want to and don't think to much about it. And suddenly.... oh there is actually three guitars now... ( I knew.. hehe) Perfect panning over to Ed that is screaming his lungs out and doing a perfect job. I think he should be allowed to sing more on record to, as he did on this part on this song. I love the person who filmed this. Perfect pan over to Johnny as he starts doing some impro (I think ?) on the right. Cool stuff at least. Then he heads over to play some piano or organ or something like that. Perfectly capture the handgesture from Colin to make the people sing loader too :)Mr. nice guy and probably the only one except Phil that at this point has any focus and attention to spare. The others are concentrating like hell. Thom sure is. Ed is looking a bit more relaxed though... hehe... Haha... again perfect capture as the drums come back, and during this part Greenwood has before recorded stuff that he then loops and plays with later, wonder if he all ready has done that or maybe he will now... hm... Let's see...Oh yes... here he goes, and that ladies and gentlemen is a Fender Starcaster. Beautiful piece of guitar, that is. Ah... that just adds that perfect extra spark to the song. Perfect panning over to Colin as the bass rejoins. And hey! Thom is doing some basslike things too. Of course, why didn't I think of that. genius... And very classic head-bobbin' there.. hehe... Sigh... and it's over. I'll be back with more some other day ;)Just realized this person filmed the whole concert, bless him, so I will probably post parts of it from time to time and write a little about the songs and why I like them.

Oh, and you can go on the youtube page and see it in high definition if you find the link right under the videowindow. Not sure if that is included when I embed the file, but I don't think so..

Oh, and I made a video for this song too...

Clip