I'm quite proud of the latest screengang.com offspring: www.isee-projects.org/ has launched its official website just over a week ago.

The non-profit organization, based in Fribourg, is developing social projects for primarily young people. Its first two concrete projects is the Neighborhood Academy (Académie des Quartiers) and info-fri.ch.

The site's available in French only, but there are plans for a German and eventually an English language version too, later this year.

The office opening event was celebrated last Saturday, together with the start of spring-time.

Sharleen Spiteri - Melody
Never been a Texas fan, but this solo-album is overwhelming. Every single song is a hit-tune, and you can play it on repeat for hours.

Earlimart - Hymn & Her
Probably the best pop duo out there right now. The songs are 110% pop. You start to worry if the speakers will melt if you listen for too long.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Prolix! Prolix! There's nothing a pair of scissors can't fix! — More News From Nowhere.

Ratatat - LP3
Deserves an award for the cover alone. The masters of instrumental music right now.

Fleet Foxes
Personal surprise newcomer of the year too. No one mixes Beach Boys harmonies and folk tunes like these dudes.

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colors
New Wave meets the 21st century. Until 2008, I usually expected other sound to come from Melbourne (see Beasts of Bourbon et al). As long as it sounds like this, I don't mind.

Bohren und der Club of Gore - Dolores
No surprises here. Just right for long, dark, cold winter nights.

Best Mix-Tape: Little Boots - Magical Tropical Mixtape

Favorite classical composer discovered this year:
Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894). Check out Habanera. It's no coincidence Ravel was inspired by his work.

Favorite classical tune discovered this year:
Jean Sibelius - King Christian [op. 27. Nocturne]. This lo-fi web version doesn't do it justice, bur as far as previews go, it's worth a listen.

Is it too early for this? Probably. But I can always add to the list if by any chance another album appears till year-end worth praising.

And here they are, in no particular order:

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Comparisons stretch from fabled American primitive folk music classics to modern orchestral film scores but the way Cave and Ellis harness all the styles into a record with glorious restraint and subtlety is astonishing. The gravitas they manage to achieve too defies the simplicity of the music, but with only meagre elements they elevate the score to places Hans Zimmer never really touches, and without the cloying saccharine of the Hollywood mainstream.

Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted
Probably the most refreshing, uplifting, innocent music in a long time. Shake shake shimmy shimmy, doo-wop, swing till you drop. Very retro, but in a good way. Phil Spector would be proud of this album.

Irving Fields Trio - My Yiddishe Mama's Favorites
How many 92-year old pianists are pulling it off like Irving Fields? Not many, I suppose. He dishes out yiddish classics that swing, jazz and rhumba into town like nobody's business.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
An unlikely musical marriage, but hey - we're in the age of anything goes. Everything seems right here: The choice of songs (my favorite: Townes Van Zandt's Nothin'), the superb production, the harmonies. If you were wondering why T-Bone Burnett is praised as one of the great producers of our time, pick up this gem and you'll know. Instantly.

Mekons - Natural
One of those trustworthy bands that you can rely on. Trends, styles and fashion come and go — the Mekons are here to stay and deliver.

Eleni Mandell - Miracle of Five
Why this singer doesn't get more recognition, is beyond me. Superb songs and a matching voice to match.

Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
Grand old man that defies descriptions and labels. Perhaps forever a musician's musician. A voice you'll either love or hate. Just as you are is one the best love-songs recorded in years.

Feist - The Reminder
She delivers - again. It seems she's able to pull off everything, with ease. I didn't count how many styles are present on her latest album, but they all feel natural, and they all got that certain je ne sais quoi.

Blonde Redhead - 23
An album that's hard to describe. It just flows along until you realize you're hypnotized. It all sounds like it has been recorded in one session. And that's a Good Thing™.

 

Bald sind alle "Kottan ermittelt" Folgen als DVD erhältlich!
Bisher musste man mühsam via ebay VHS Kopien suchen, oder hoffen dass ORF wieder mal eine Folge im Spätprogramm wiederholt.

Links zu Amazon:
Akte 1 (Fall 1-8)
Akte 2 (Fall 9-19)

Vorbestellungen sind möglich; Auslieferung November + Dezember 2007.




Zur Gedächtnisauffrischung ein paar klassische Zitate:


Kottan: "Geh'ma no ins Buffet?"
Schremser: "Is immer so voi."
Kottan: "Oba an Plotz hintam Bier wer ma scho kriang."



Verdächtiger: "Verzeihung, ich geh in mich."
Schremser: "Am besten bleibens a dort"



Kottan: "In drei Wochen is Ostern!"
Schremser: "Mir egal, I geh net hin."



Kottan: "I rauch ned, i trink ned und i hob nix mit andere Frauen."
Elvira: "Gar koan Fehler?"
Kottan: "Doch - I liag manchmal."



Ilse: "Schmeckt's?"
Kottan: "I hob scho a besseres Gulasch gessen."
Ilse: "Aber bei mir ned."

Recently the verb "Wyatting", named obviously after Robert Wyatt, appeared in some blogs and music magazines to describe the practice of playing weird tracks on a pub jukebox to annoy the other pub goers. The name was coined by Carl Neville, a 36-year-old English teacher from London, because one of the favourites LPs for this effect is Dondestan.

Robert Wyatt was quoted in The Guardian: as saying "I think it's really funny," and "I'm very honoured at the idea of becoming a verb." However, when asked if he would ever try it himself, he said "Oh no. I don't really like disconcerting people. Although often when I try to be normal I disconcert anyway."

(from: the almighty Wikipedia)


Check out the current Wire issue, if you get a chance.