Berkeley Girl and Stars – New Music by Harper Simon
The transatlantic diablog likes to introduce to you Mr. Harper Simon. Singer, songwriter and guitar-player. Here’s his stateement about that: “As a guitar player, I’m just as comfortable playing honky tonk or fingerpicking folk-y stuff as I am playing a Ramones riff or a Ron Asheton style solo.”
Wanna know more? Facts and music after the jump and below. And before you ask. Yes, he’s a relative to Paul Simon…
A List of Songs with, from and about “Flood” – Songs/Videos included…
Water as one of the substances you can’t live without very well, has a reccuring role in the world of music. To specify it a bit, we now a have a look at a special form of it. The flood.
So here’s our list of songs with, from and about “Flood”.
Four songs and stories after the jump and below…
“Talk Talk” – Do you remember one of the great bands of the nineteen-eighties?
It actually is a shame to use that play of words, since “Such a Shame” is one the most famous songs by the band. And the band is Talk Talk. Formed in 1981 they had some major hits before singer Mark Hollis decided to make rather moody music. Almost jazz. Or was it jazz? In the end it was music that could change a life. Very detailed, very melodic, sometimes sounding like it could open a window in the skies.
So now take a walk down memory-lane and remember, or discover, one of the great bands of the nineteen-eighties. We present the ultimate knowledge guide to Talk Talk after the jump and below…
A top three of their most underrated songs (as chosen by the team of the transatlantic diablog) there too. Plus: Audio of a Live-Show, artwork and cool links…
News from the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Videos, Album and Live-Shows…
It’s an outlaw biker movie the band got its name from. The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club was a presented in 1953′s “The Wild One”. A black and white movie starring Marlon Brando. And since the name of the rival gang, “The Beetles”, seemed to be used somewhere else, the three-piece-band from San Francisco took this one.
Now, 15 years after forming the band, Peter Hayes (vocals and guitars) and Robert Levon Been (bass and vocals) moved to Los Angeles, have a new drummer, Leah Shapiro, and brought out a new album. All in all the seventh. It’s called ”Specter At The Feast”.
More (tracklist, videos, tour-dates, etc.) below and after the jump…
10 Movies starring Elvis Presley – and their funny German Title-Translations
There was a time when it was not uncommon for Germany to translate the titles of foreign movies. Why? Well, to make people understand it. Sounds good. But sometimes it went a bit too far. Changing the meaning of the original title to something else is not that good, right?
Today, Germany keeps the titles most of the times – for movies and TV-shows. So we have “How I Met Your Mother” or “Fringe” and “CSI”. But now back to the times when titles we changed. Why not looking at some of the Elvis Presley movies?
The Top Ten after the jump/below… (Germany obviously loved the word “hot”…)
German Singer Herbert Groenemeyer in America – What we know so far…
He’s a star in Germany – as well as in other European countries. Herbert Groenemeyer. Originally written with the letter “ö”. The one you won’t find on an American keyboard. So since we’ve reported about Mr. Groenemeyer now crossing the Atlantic to play some music there, it’s time to check out what we know so far about it…
Ten facts here and after the jump (video, too)…
1. Born April 12, 1956, Herbert Groenemeyer is an active musician, composer and performer since the early 1970s. He started as a composer at a theater in Bochum – western Germany.
2. In Germany every album he has brought out since 1984 went to number one. All in all he has sold over 13 million records in Germany only.
Panda, Giraffe and Skull – The Art of Max Neutra [w. special video]
His great-grandfather is the well-known and influential architect Richard Neutra. He himself is creative, too. As an artist. Max Neutra. Born, as he says, “just across from the Sidewalk Café on the boardwalk of Venice Beach” he still lives there. And works there.
To conquer the other side of the Atlantic, Max Neutra now collaborates with TYPORiA. The online shop for visual art and design now presents some of the limited edition prints. The Panda, the Giraffe and a skull, too.
You can shop now. More after the jump/below… There’s also a cool time-lapse-video of Max Neutra painting the band The White Stripes in real-time. Amazing.
All about the Album: British singer Dido comes back with “Girl Who Got Away”
Some songs are not about what people think they are. Dido’s “Don’t Leave Home” is such a song. It’s from her second album “Life For Rent” and most people consider it a lovesong. It’s not. It’s about drugs. “Don’t Leave Home” shows how carefully British singer Dido is writing her lyrics and melodies. The latter most of the time as sweet as possible. The words sometimes very heavy. The music world missed her. But now she’s back.
It’s her new album “Girl Who Got Away” that actually puts her back into the spotlight. It will be out in March, so the transatlantic diablog gives you a roun-up of what we know so far.
1. The first single we’ve heard from the new album is “No Freedom”. Here’s the video (below, too). Here are the lyrics. Tracklist of the single.
PopSpots by Bob Egan: “The exact Spots where famous events of Pop culture took place”
Some people travel the world to make photos. Some people do it for musical reasons. Bob Egan combines both things.
Constantly looking for the origial settings where famous album-covers were taken. Some are very obvious. The Abbey Road in London. The one with The Beatles on it. Or another classic: Bob Dylan in New York.
Sometimes the artists are on the cover, and sometimes it’s just a place or an object. Bob Egan finds them all. Like the one above from an Oasis record. The photo was taken in London by Michael Spencer Jones.
Our top five of the best covers after the jump/below…
Fanta Dorado & Der Innere Kreis: First Solo Album by Nikolai Szymanski of Stabil Elite [Listen Here!]
Earlier in 2012 the transatlantic diablog had the opportunity to have a chat with the electronic band Stabil Elite in their hometown Düsseldorf. And while the three-piece combo is still touring their debut album, member Nicolai Szymanski now releases his first solo record. As Fanta Dorado & Der Innere Kreis.
It’s still electronic music and sometimes sounds like Stabil Elite. But why not?
All you need to know, the video to the single “Die Insel” and a preview of all tracks below/after the jump…
Photos + Playlist: camou* in Liège
Frequent readers of the transatlantic diablog know him: Photographer camou* aka Chris Amouzou. Traveling a lot, he recently got to the Belgium town of Liège.
Take a walk through the streets of the town with camou* and his analogue G2 camera with our exclusive gallery. And to feel like Mr. Amouzou felt while taking the photos just start his personal iPod-playlist he also shared with us. Great experience – both of it.
Although Liège (formerly Liége – notice the minor change) is located in the French-speaking region of Belgium, the photo above looks like it was taken in Las Vegas. Doesn’t it?
Gallery and songs after the jump/below…
From Harrison to Obama: The Best Presidential Campaign Slogans [PLUS: Some Dumb Quotes]
The times of Presidential Campaigns are the times of opinion, revealed secrets, media and slogans. Every candidate has one. Has to have one. That, and songs and other ways of visual support. Like posters. Without judging we have a closer look at a long history of slogans. From the recent ones (Obama’s “Yes We Can” in 2008) to some almost historical slogans. Together with the stories behind it…
By the way. Do you know the recent slogans of Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney?
More after the jump/below…
Weltenreiter Tyron Ricketts. Back with a Book and Songs! [Video incld.]
Weltenreiter Tyron Ricketts. Back with Songs and a Book!
Weltenreiter is a German wordplay. A mixture of Welt (World) and Wellenreiter (someone who’s actually surfing). And all that combined you now get from actor Tyron Ricketts. In the physical form of a book and album.
He himself said he was a bit exhausted after quitting the rather safe job at a German crime series a few years back. What then? Maybe traveling. That’s what he did. Six months and one ticket, various countries – most of them hot-spots for surfers.
Being home again he put all the photos he took in a book. It’s out now and has the same cover as the album he wrote. The first in a long time. In a recent TV-interview Ricketts said he was a bit afraid that his songs sound too old school. Do they? Maybe. But it’s also sweet soul music. Or at least music for soulful people.
His latest video below/after the jump. Filmed on the trip? – You got it. Some German lyrics anyone?
ON JACK’S ROAD. A Film about Kerouac, his famous Book and four People in America [WATCH HERE!]
In 1951, 60 years ago, Jack Kerouac wrote a book. A classic now. “On The Road” [German title: "Unterwegs"]. Generations of people have read it. Felt inspired by it. And it still captures a lifestyle. The idea of traveling from one end of the United States to the other one. A novel like a roadmovie.
What was it like? America of the 1940s and 50s. What did the Beat Poets see on their way from New York to San Francisco? What were they looking for? And did Jack Kerouac consider himself a Beat Poet?
It’s 2012 now and four young people re-lived the trip – as a photographer, musician, writer, and everything else. Together with some cameras they went to the places the book mentions. Streets. Houses. The house where Mr. Kerouac was born. All those places mixed with the expectations and ideas of those four people.
The French-German TV-channel now premiered the two-part documentary.
You can watch it after the jump/below. But only for a limited time. So hurry up…
Brill Building, New York City: Home of Haberdashers and Songwriters
They are a part of American music history. A great team of composers. Burt Bacharach and Hal David. With Bacharach composing the music, and David writing the words – to songs you all may know.
“What The World Needs Now Is Love”. Sung by Jackie DeShannon. Tom Jones’ “What’s New, Pussycat”. In May 2012, both, David and Bacharach were awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. At a tribute concert at the White House. Both looking back to a career of 6 decades.
The songwriters met in the very early 1960s – at a place called Brill Building. Originally, it’s an office building located at 1619 Broadway in Manhattan. North of Times Square. Built in 1931 as the Alan E. Lefcourt Building it became very famous for housing music industry offices – and studios.
The full story, a short documentary and more below/after the jump…
Two Door Cinema Club: New Album “Beacon” plus Documentary “What Wee See”
It’s a quite joyful noise and something to dance to. The new album by North-Irish, now Glasgow, band Two Door Cinema Club. After their debut album from 2009 (“Tourist History”) brought them on the radar of the music world, this is their second attempt.
“Beacon” is produced by famous producer Jacknife Lee at his home-studio in California. And you can’t help and hear that in the songs. Even if the lyrics get a bit depressive, “Sleep Alone” is about nightmares singer Alex Trimble had after moving to Glasgow, the music is still uplifting.
Listen to our favourite track “Someday” below/after the jump. There’s also a documentary about the band’s recent touring activities and more…
Benjamin Gibbard’s new song “Teardrop Windows” – via First Listen (w. Free Download)
It’s the first single from his solo album. Death Cab For Cutie’s Benjamin Gibbard presents “Teardrop Windows”. First listen and legal and free download at his SoundCloud page.
Link and listen after the jump/below…
IKEA Catalogue judged by the Covers: Swiss vs. Canada (inclds. Animation)
Every year people can’t wait to get it delivered via mail. The new Catalogue by the Swedish international home products company IKEA. But how many of them actually get two versions from both sides of the Atlantic? Well not that many, presumably. So here we are presenting both covers of the 2013 catalogue. One from Canada. The other one from Swiss.
After a quick look you might not discover the differences. But after some further investigation there are some.
More, including an animation for easy comparison, after the jump/below.
In English now: German Singer Herbert Grönemeyer’s new Album “I Walk” [Updated: Listen now!]
[Updated:] Here we are. The first sound snippets of all tracks are now available. Listen HERE. And now there’s also an English website by Mr. Grönemeyer on the internet. It’s HERE.
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In Germany he’s a living legend. Highly appreciated for his lyrics, even more than for his music. That’s maybe a typical German idea of consuming songs, but it’s also deserved. Herbert Grönemeyer creates multi-layered worlds of words. Some German’s joke that they never understood a word of what he’s singing, but they are always deeply touched by the lyrics.
Now Grönemeyer’s doing it in English. Why that? Before moving back to Berlin for family reasons, his centre of life was in London – for more than a decade. So at least he’s fluent in English. Another positive aspect is that “I Walk”, that’s the album (out October 8, 2012), is far from being a best of album. Songs are re-arranged, re-thought, re-recorded. The beautiful “Zum Meer” from 2002 turns into “To The Sea” and now features James Dean Bradfield of the famous and also legendary Manic Street Preachers on guitar. Then there’s the first single. “Will I Ever Learn”. Performed as a duet with Antony Hegarty of Antony & The Johnsons.
Listen to it after the jump/below…
