Der Anti-James Brown-Post

James Brown ist diese Woche gestorben. Auch wenn die meisten Posts anderer Blogs dazu meist differenziert Stellung nehmen und insbesondere seine musikalischen Verdienste preisen, konnte ich persönlich mit seiner Musik (von wegen "Godfather of Soul"- andere waren viel besser) und mit seiner Person (diese Glorifizierung seines Dandytums vgl. "Der Pate des Souls" in SZ 27.12.06 halte ich für völlig daneben) noch nie etwas anfangen.

Wer guten Funk hören will, dem sei an dieser Stelle das kongeniale Album Who's making love (1968) von Johnnie Taylor (stax) empfohlen.

Weitaus schmerzlicher für die Popkultur erscheint mir das (viel zu frühe) Ableben anderer Musiker in 2006: Grant Mc Lennan (Go-Betweens), Nikki Sudden (Swell Maps, Jacobites), Desmond Dekker und der alten Zeiten wegen: Konrad Kittner (Abstürzende Brieftauben).

Ta Dah Vol. 1: Alben 2006

Seit gestern steht die Liste der Zündfunk-Alben des Jahres 2006 online. Dass die Zündfunker hier, wie sonst auch, geschmackssicher sind (von ein paar Aussetzern abgesehen: Raconteurs, Flaming Lips, Junior Boys) brauch` ich wohl nicht extra zu erwähnen, obwohl mir schon ein paar weitere wichtige Sachen fehlen, wie z.B. CALEXICO-GARDEN RUIN (city slang), LILLY ALLEN-STILL (emi), MATTHEW SWEET AND SUSANNA HOFFS-UNDER THE COVERS VOL. 1 (soulfood), THE PIPETTES-WE ARE THE PIPETTES (rough trade), PORTUGAL. THE MAN-WAITER: "YOU VULTURES!" (defiance), V.A.-WE DIED, THEY REMIXED ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI (moshi-moshi-music) fehlen:

01.HOT CHIP: THE WARNING
02.SPANK ROCK: YOYOYOYOYO
03.TV ON THE RADIO: RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN
04.BEIRUT: GULAG ORKESTAR
05.BURIAL: BURIAL
06.PETER LICHT: LIEDER VOM ENDE DES KAPITALISMUS
07.THE FLAMING LIPS: AT WAR WITH THE MYSTICS
08.CSS: CANSEI DE SER SEXY
09.CAT POWER: THE GREATEST
10.GNARLS BARKLEY: ST. ELSEWHERE
11.THE RAPTURE: PIECES OF THE PEOPLE WE LIKE
12.KODE9 & SPACEAPE: MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE
13.MIDLAKE: THE TRIALS OF VAN OCCUPANTHER
14.LO-FI FINK: BOY LIFE
15.THE ROOTS: GAME THEORY
16.CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH: CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY
17.THE RACONTEURS: BROKEN BOY SOLDIER
18.JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: FUTURE SEX / LOVE SOUNDS
19.JUNIOR BOYS: SO THIS IS GOODBYE
20.HOT CHIP: COMING ON STRONG
21.JOHNNY CASH: AMERICAN V
22.THE ARCTIC MONKEYS: WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM...
23.ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI: IN CASE WE DIE
24.DIE GOLDENEN ZITRONEN: LENIN
25.TOLCHA: GESTALT
26.BONNIE PRINCE BILLY: THE LETTING GO
27.JAN DELAY: MERCEDES DANCE
28.THE THERMALS: THE BODY, THE BLOOD, THE MACHINE
29.TRENTEMÖLLER: THE LAST RESORT
30.KNARF RELLÖM TRINITY: MOVE YOUR ASS & YOUR MIND WILL FOLLOW

Franz Ferdinand Cover Similiarities 2.0

Concerning my previous post about the cover-art of the new Franz Ferdinand album, I have discovered an interview from 2002 on the web with Shepard Fairey, the creator of the very similiar cover of the before mentioned compilation. During this interview with the art magazine Tastes Like Chicken (Vol. 4 Issue 8) he explains his understanding of art and how he got to that cover:

v: I remember when I got the Plea for Peace compilation-- that image on there, I couldn't place it. But I remembered seeing it in my History of Graphic Design class. I remember thinking, "That's an appropriation. It's gotta be an homage to-- "

S: It's an old Russian poster for the state-owned drug store. What I do with a lot of stuff is I don't try and reinvent the wheel. If there's something great out there that can be used to communicate something I want to communicate, and it can be reinterpreted, I just use it. I don't try and disguise it. I just remix it.

(Click here to read the whole interview.)

You could have it... with another cover, Franz!

After weeks of waiting the new Franz Ferdinand album You could have it so much better (Domino) finally also saw the light of day here in Germany this Friday September 30th. Since this release has already been praised almost everywhere for its musical qualities, there is absolutely no reason for me to blog another of those detailled "Why You could have... is my album of the month/year/decade/century etc." posts. Okay, 80% of the before mentioned reviews might be slighty exaggerating, however I agree that it is a good release without a doubt and "a worth successor to their debut album"
Nevertheless It'd like to highlight something else: Its album cover. Unfortunately their charming idea of releasing all their future records with the same cover-art like their self-titled debut only to be distinguised by different colour combinations has not been realised. Soon after holding the album in my hands, I knew that it reminds me of another album cover although not yet knowing what. Anyway, after a couple of hours I found the solution in my CD collection: A benefit Punk/ Hardcore compilation called Plea for Peace Take Action with bands like Hot Water Music, Strike Anywhere, Alkaline Trio, Atom & his Package etc. already released in 2001 on Subcity/ Asian Man Records. The Franz booklet says that the cover photo is by Shana Moulton, the inlay of the above mentioned compilation names a guy called Shepard Fairey as responsible for the cover art. Anyway, make up your on opinion: