The Music Spot (part II)

May 25th

Ana Galache says:

I want to share with you the great concert that I saw last Friday night. The “Auditorio Fonseca” was packed with people eager to see and listen to the music of this fantastic group: The Sunday Drivers. They are five guys from Toledo, but all their lyrics are in English. They have been playing for ten years, and although they are quite popular in the United States and other European countries, there are many people in Spain that have not heard of them. Unfortunately, this was the last chance to see them in Salamanca, and next 17th of July they will play their last gig in the Benicassim Festival, as the group breaks up definitively after this concert.

Their music can be labelled as indie pop, somewhat reminiscent of The Beatles, but it is the mixture of the melodies and the singer’s voice that, in my opinion, makes them so special. There are lots of good songs, but I strongly recommend some of them such as ‘Smile’, ‘To see the animals’ (nominated for Best Song in the Music Awards), ‘Paranoid’, ‘My plan’ (whose video I attach), ‘Everything reminds me of you’, or one of the most popular, ‘On my mind’. As the music critic Juan Mari Montes wrote in ‘La Gaceta’ on Sunday, they are ENORMOUS. I hope you enjoy their music as much as I do.

To conclude, I have to mention that even the supporting band were surprisingly good to my taste. Their name is ‘Smile’, a band from Getxo that also sing in English, with a 70s American Country style. If you want to know them, down below is a video too.

Thanks so much, Ana. It's always great to support Spanish bands. You know, funny though it may sound (being an English teacher myself), I've got mixed feelings about them singing in English, but that's the price of globalization, isn't it?

May 17th

Their Satanic Majesties. That's how the bad boys of rock, the Rolling Stones, are usually referred to after a controversial album they recorded way back in the 60s. A story of sex, drugs and, indeed, R'n'R in its purest sense. Honestly, even if not being my favourite band (I'd rather listen to them than watch them live on stage), I have to give them some credit for their doubtless contribution to contemporary music. All the band's members now well into their sixties, The RS are back in the news as they recently announced they would be present at the Cannes film festival for the premiere of the documentary "Stones in exile", which deals with the making of their legendary 1972 LP Exile on Main Street, almost universally regarded as a rock masterpiece (and I won't disagree with this opinion, as it is a truly fantastic album with classic gems like Rip this Joint or Tumbling Dice).

The thing is that on Saturday I was flicking through the extensive RTVE archive when I came across this 1994 programme "Planeta Rock" by musical guru Tomas Fernando Flores reviewing their illustrious career which I'm embedding down below. I cannot say that, to my taste, it has the best selection of their songs but rather a chronological run-through of their most renowned videos. From Angie (such a beautiful ballad) to Start me up and Undercover of the night, you will get a rough idea of what both some of their music and indeed their aesthetic are like. Fittingly enough, the songs are subtitled, though unfortunately in Spanish.

Nearly five decades later, they are alive and kicking, even if past their prime both musically and physically. I guess their enormous egos make them resist their retirement and anyway audiences across the world seem to still find them appealing after all these years.

Fair enough, this is my modest contribution to our blog on Internet Day. If you'd like to voice your opinions about one of the most important rock bands ever, this is the place. If you happen to be a Stones fanatic, you might even want to list your favourite songs. If you hate them utterly, why is that? Anything goes!

May 6th

Antonio says:

One of the things with which I made a joke was during Tuesday’s class, after the Fleetwood Mac song, because José Luis was saying “because…” and I made the most of the occasion and inserted the rest of the words as in the renowned Patty Smith song “Because the night belongs the lovers”, do you remember?
Well, in order to write a review of the song I will tell you first that I don’t “control” too much about English music reviews - it’s my fault! - and serves me right for not revising the topics which focused on Macy Gray (pages 24-25 of Cutting Edge). I also regret not having fulfilled all the written tasks we were asked to do by José Luis on its day (I pull my hair!!). I didn’t do hardly anything!
Well, putting aside my semi-joke, I will say that I especially love 80’s music; and I love the sweet clear female voices which appeared in that decade, namely, Sandra, C.C. Catch, etc. They continuously speak about love and the word you come across the most is “night” or “tonight”, which I love!! What’s more, when I listen to a piece of music sung by this sort of singers (girls, I mean), speaking about love or a similar issue, plus the precious utterance “night” / “tonight”, I get very moved and energetic (kind of a contradiction, don’t you think?). I imagine myself patrolling the streets on foot at night, and, during my walk, helping people with problems (I mean, concrete situations, imagine a person who falls down and needs someone to help them, for example)
I know this is way too weird to understand, but let my feelings come out …
OK, thank you for your attention.

May 2nd

Paz starts May with another song:

Hi guys!

I’ve been listening to these new entries on our already lively blog and I was thinking about the music I like, and definitely The Police is one of my favourite groups. I like most of their songs. Perhaps I’ve never thought of their lyrics, because what I really like in a song is its music. If it has plenty of sounds, the more instruments it uses the more I like it. That’s probably the reason why I prefer studio recordings to live concerts, as the sound in the latter is not so good.

Wrapped around your fingers is the second single The Police released in 1983. This English rock band, consisting of only three members, was formed in 1977 and oficially an act until 1984. Their music had great influences from reggae and jazz and their success was based on the sublime songwriting and the instrumental talent in their songs.

Here are the video and the lyrics scroller. Hope you enjoy the song!

Well done, Paz. Great stuff by The Police! I can only say that once in my teenage years I was totally hooked on the fabulous English trio, bought all their records and knew their songs by heart. I was really upset when they disbanded even if they never publicly announced it, but Sting's solo career kind of triggered off the ensuing events.

Honestly, Wrapped ... is not my fave song but I do love the video, especially Sting doing the slow-motion lip synch while jumping across the circle of candles. The lyrics are rather weird and enigmatic, with references to both Greek mythology ("caught between the scylla and Charibdes") and the Devil ("Mephistopheles is not your name"). Who knows who or what Sting was thinking of while he was penning the song?

April 26th

Eric Clapton. One of the best rock guitar players in history and truly one of my idols when it comes to one of my favourite genres, the blues. His personal life has had his ups and downs as much as his music but he has always looked to me an honest musician, who I’ve admired for his “bluesmanship”.

You must be wondering why I'm talking about good old Eric (he's 65 now). The thing is that Ana has sent me this great interview down below on the CBS programme Eye to Eye about his 2006 album with another music great, the Tulsa sound founder J.J. Cale, called The Road to Escondido, dedicated to the legendary keyboards player Billy Preston. As you will hear if you watch the programme, he modestly admits that "your faculties start wearing away at some point".

Obviously, it's been a long while since Eric started his illustrious career way back in the mid-60s with such influential bands like The Yardbirds and Cream. That's why I thought I could also embed this interview (subtitled in Dutch) featuring a young Eric in his early 20s as a member of Cream (Ginger Baker walks by now and then), at a time when he was building the reputation as a guitarist that made him into the legend he is today. So funny to see him in his hippy looks, you can barely recognize him! Watch how he talks about his music, his new album, his influences ...

Now, I guess most of you have at least heard of Eric Clapton, but also many probably don't know much about his music. Mind you, it would be extremely difficult for me to choose a single song, but one that I really dig is this 1960s Billy Myles classic called “Have you ever loved a woman?” The live cover I embed here is, to me, simply amazing, a 7-minute gem, and Eric’s guitar solos let you know why he is famously nicknamed “Slowhand” and why he's one of the most influential musicians of rock music. Boy, do I love that blues sound which makes my hair stand on end. And the way he sings - literally howls - the song: "Have you ever loved a woman / so much you tremble in pain …” , so much class he has that I tremble in awe! How many times I have played him when my son learns to play the blues in his electric guitar. "Sonny, Eric really rocks!", I keep telling him. And one of the lessons I hope David learned from his early years (and I hope one he’ll never forget) is that, as someone once said:

"The blues is the root, the rest is the fruit"

April 1st

Lourdes says:

The weary kind is the main theme of the film "Crazy Heart" and the Oscar-winning song in 2010. After listening to several versions, including Jeff Bridges’ performance, I´ve chosen which I consider the best, perhaps because the singer is the author and the way he plays moved me more than the others. As you can see it's the story of a loser because of alcohol. Apart from the lyrics, I would like to emphasize the country sound of the accompaniment; as a whole it turns out to be a moving, heartbreaking ballad.

Lastly, I would like to recommend you to see the film; it´s worth waching Jeff Bridges in the role of an alcoholic country singer whose career is fading away. As far as I'm concerned, he's just superb.

Thanks a lot, Lourdes. I thought nobody else was ever going to send some stuff for our moribund blog.

Well, on a funnier note, I'd like to embed another Youtube clip my son showed me a few days ago, which I find rather amusing. You see, I tend to forward you more or less serious stuff, but not this time.

Anyway, who hasn't heard at least once the famous Pachelbel's Canon? If you listen to the goear player down below, you will recognize the music instantly, I'm sure. "Ah, yes. Beautiful!" You will probably think. Well, there's a guy who's not that fond of it ...

March 7th

Hello folks, here I go again with a bit of music for our blog (which I haven’t done for a while).
You know, a few days ago I was watching A3’s news bulletin when Matias Prats read the news that it was 70 years, no less, since Frank Sinatra had had its very first hit. So the TV channel played a dull report on the glorious artist, as usual full of corny cliches, such as his alleged crime links with to the mafia, his political views, his condition of a womanizer, blah, blah, blah. But what made me upset is that they always seem to play the same obvious and trite songs, namely New York, My Way and Strangers in the Night, which to me are among some of his most "average", however famous they may be in Spain (and indeed across the world). I mean, they depict an old Frank, well past his prime (very much like Elvis in his Vegas period), when actually he sang, literally, hundreds of marvellous songs who very few know.
You see, I regrettably discovered Sinatra in my late twenties, thanks to a very influential secondary school English teacher I had, my always remembered Juan Antonio Carrascal, who later became a close friend until a terrible disease took his life some years ago. Indeed I had heard of Sinatra but never paid much attention to his music (apart from the classic hits, New York and stuff). That was until he recorded for me on a modest 4-cassette pack (those were the days!) a collection by the name “100 songs in the life of a man”, which I still preserve like a treasure, for the sentimental value, certainly not the sound quality, as the original source was an old turntable. He was shocked I couldn’t possibly appreciate Frank’s music as it deserved. And damn right he was!
Well, those tapes were like a revelation to my ears: soon I started to love Frank’s masterful phrasing, his crystal clear English (I keep telling my students, as did Juan Antonio to me, that they’re a hopeless case if they cannot understand his words … and that music, well, the glorious “swinging” jazz sound that grabs you by the throat and never lets go.
But I will let the music by “Ol’ Blue Eyes” (as he was sometimes nicknamed) speak for itself. I’ve chosen, just because that’s the song I listened to on BBC radio 2 which triggered off all these memories, a 1957 classic, representative of, to my modest opinion, his best period, the so called Capitol years (when he signed a contract with the namesake record company): Witchcraft, a beautiful love song with short yet powerfully romantic lyrics that can only be described with two words: sheer class!
Wow, I guess I’m making this too long. Just let me end up by saying that I hope this latest addition on our music blog will arouse in some of you the curiosity for this universal artist … Enjoy!

March 1st

Ana wishes to have another song featured in the film Once embedded on our music spot. This time is not a duet by Glen and Marketa, but just her (yet I'm not sure if Glenn does the backup during the chorus) singing a beautiful heartfelt ballad called If you want me. You know, the film is sort of driven by music rather than dialogue, and this is a good example, but I'm not going to spoil the plot by saying what it means within the film, as hopefully some more of you guys will want to see it too.

March 2010

25th March

After a 2-week stretch Ana has written a small review on our blog, this time of a 2000 film directed by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot:

Durham (Northern England), 1984. Eleven-year-old Billy Elliot, whose father and brother are miners on strike and whose mother died not long ago, attends boxing lessons after class, but what he really likes is the girls’ ballet lessons.
Living in a gruff family, with the exception of his grandma, who lives unaware of reality, his secret new love for dancing is a difficult issue for him. Nevertheless, he doesn’t give up pursuing his hidden dream.
Taking everything into account, Billy Elliot is a film such a hard (yet also sweet), moving and captivating film that you can’t stop watching it until the very end.

Thanks Ana. Our blog was rather inert of late, so your contribution, however small, has brought it back to life. A highly recommendable film indeed, acclaimed by the critics and loved by audiences across the world, which scooped a few awards at the time and is regarded as one of the best British films in modern history. This is a little sample, the official trailer courtesy of, what else, YouTube:

March 10th

Hi there! Tell you what: since she visited the Emerald Isle, Ana has become half Irish now, kind of a leprechaun, ha ha! Only joking ... or am I? The thing is that she seems obsessed with all things Irish. You see, she has just sent a review of another film shot on location in Dublin. First, it was Once, and now ...

Engagement, dedication, obligation, responsibility… (The) Commitments. That’s the title of this 1991 movie, directed by Alan Parker. The sweet dream of a working-class group of Dubliners doesn’t commit them to anything but pursuing their fondest wish, which is playing soul music.

What is the most important thing? Achieving a dream, even if it’s too painfully brief to relish? That is the premise behind “The commitments”: a youngster from a humble family decides to found a music band, so he recruits other boys and girls from the same background with no apparent prospect of future in order to make his dream come true ... and he kind of achieves it, but what happens in the end? Well, I don’t want to be a “spoiler” so you must watch the film.

Apart from the unbeatable Dublin atmosphere, the music envelops a modest and unpretentious plot, with a dose of harshness not exempt from tenderness.

To tell you the truth, I know that I’m not absolutely objective because I adore music and I am very much in love with Dublin. Anyway, the best way to know if I’m right is to watch this great film, The Commitments.

Thanks a million, dear Ana. I cannot but recommend this highly entertainment Alan Parker flick - the first screen adaptation of the so called Barrytown Trilogy, written by Irish author Robby Doyle - specially if you love quick-witted dialogues and soul music. Here's the trailer.

March 8th (the "Oscar hangover")

Hi guys!
It's official: David beat Goliath. Or, in other words, Katherine trashed her former husband James last night in Tinseltown (Hollywood, that is).
Fittingly enough, on International Woman's Day, she's made Hollywood history by becoming the first female director to win the coveted award for The Hurt Locker, which practically swept the board with six Oscars. Now, I haven't seen the action-packed war epic, but I'm starting to wonder, is it that good?
The thing is that, contrary to what all the media hype - and the generally entusiastic response from audiences across trhe globe - had anticipated, the film of the century, the groundbreaking 3D extravaganza, the smashing box office hit, whatever you call it, Avatar, had to make do with three modest, minor technical accolades (best visual effects and cinematography, indeed). You know, I kind of feel sorry for poor Mr Cameron and guess I surely cast a bad spell on his flick ... not bloody likely! I still feel Avatar is overrated, presumptuous, overambitious ... a mediocre story with a spectacular wrap, so Cameron and his big-budget film got what, in my humble opinion, they deserved. Mind you, not that I think much of the Academy members' artistic judgement and assessment, as they could have chosen Tarantino's glorious Inglorious Basterds as a perfect alternative to the Hurt Locker. Or Precious, for that matter. Or Up in the Air, or even the fantastic animated cartoon Up. The small consolation is that Cristoph Waltz (such an extraordinary performance as the bloodthirsty colonel in "I.B.") won the much anticipated Oscar for best supporting (¿?) actor. Then both the critics and the public quite agree too that Jeff Bridges deserved to win, at long last, an award for his great portrayal of a run-down country singer as much as for his long illustrious career. What I cannot understand is the nod to Sandra Bullock (or Sandra Botox, as she is nicknamed sometimes), whose acting (or rather "overacting") I've always abhorred.
Spainwise, Pe(nelope) left the Kodak Theatre empty-handed so she couldn't kiss her lovebird, Javier Bardem, in front of the US audience (that would have been something for our country's gutter press!). The nearest our cinema reached glory, so to speak, was the award for best foreign language film to Argentina's El Secreto de sus Ojos (a wonderful film, I hear), whose statuette was presented head to head by Tarantino and our one and only Pedro Almodovar.
You must wonder if I stayed up all night long to watch the ceremony as it happened ... well, no. And, according to TV critics, I must have done the right thing because apparently it was dull, slow, BORING TO DEATH. I just watched the opening act with Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (reasonably funny but not brilliant) and then went to bed until 5:35 more or less when I woke up just in time to watch the last two awards and quickly flick though the ceremony's highlights ...
Wow, this is indeed coincidence! Guess who I've just spoken to on the phone? Juan Heras, the Van Dyck owner, who wanted to talk to my colleague Benimar about the forthcoming fim week the school organizes regularly. And as she was halfway through her lessons, he gave me the "inside" information: the "ciclo" will take place in April, from the 19th to the 22nd and then from the 27th to the 29th. And guess which film, one that both he and I love, will be shown among other titles: that's right, Inglorious basterds! It would be long to put down in words the 6-minute conversation we've just had about Avatar, this year's Oscars, but pretty interesting all in all ...
Ok, so as I was saying, I've recorded the whole ceremony, which once edited you'll be able to see if you wish, for the sake of English of course. And one more thing I haven't forgotten: I have to check your Oscar ballots to see who has won the competition...
Gosh, this is really a lenghty email (may I have set a new Guiness record, ha ha!). Sorry mates for the "sermon"!
See you tomorrow
Jose Luis

PS: I reckon writing a review of The Hurt Locker on our blog is a must now. Anyone who's seen the film willing to do so? In the meantime this is the trailer, if only as a small tribute by our modest blog to the ... film of the year?





Mª Jesús says:

Yesterday, I saw the French film A prophet. It was nominated for best foreign language film, although finally it didn't win.
A prophet is a gripping prison drama, where the main character is a young guy, Malik, who starts his six-year imprisonment in a French prison. He is an illiterate orphan, born in France to Arab parents, but he is extremely clever and sharp. He meets very different kinds of people inside the prison and he learns many interesting and useful things from each one.
Malik learns to write and read inside the prison. Later, he learns economics and languages, because different languages are mixed in this story. The characters speak French, Italian and Arabic. Malik realizes that it is very important to understand the different groups of criminals if you want to survive inside. So, the prison becomes his "school", which is a paradox.
Mainly, he becomes the servant of a Corsican gangster, who virtually runs the jail. On the other hand, he meets an Arab, who encourages him to study in prison. He will become his best friend and will trust him. He also meets a typical gypsy drug dealer.
In this way, the main character changes mentally as the years go by inside the prison. In this "school", he develops a criminal education rather than his moral rehabilitation.
I recommend you A Prophet despite being a bit violent, as it engages you. Besides, I think that the film shows the realistic situation of the prisoners both inside the jails and when they are released, specially because on many ocassions these guys are unemployed immigrants, and the society is unable to rehabilitate them.

March 7th

Hi folks!
It's barely 12 hours before the Oscars ceremony begins in LA. Fittingly enough, Roberto has sent a short review of what could be one of the "dark horses" of the night, a truly harrowing film called Precious:

Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (this is the long tittle) has just won six Spirit Awards, which proves this independent film is one of the favorites at the Oscars (it has six nominations, including best picture).
The film tells the story of Claireece Precious Jones, an obese 16-year-old black girl who lives in Harlem with her selfish mother. She discovers her second pregnancy (she has already had a Down syndrome daughter) as a result of being constantly raped by her father. No one actually loves her but in her mind there is another world where she is appreciated, which helps her to go on with an otherwise very hard life.
She begins to go to a new school where a nice woman teaches her to read and write, apart from accepting her as a person. From now on she is prepared to fight and begins a new life with her two children.
Precious is a disturbing film with a very moving script, but the main attraction is the female acting (Gabourey Sidibe as Precious and Mo’Nique as her mother). They are both nominated to the Oscars and Mo’Nique is the odds favorite to win in the supporting actress category (she really does a very good job so she is my favorite as well).

Thanks a lot for your review, Roberto. And good luck for the Oscar competition!

March 1st

Hi and welcome to a new entry of our blog. Well, reviews keep flooding in (which fills me with immense joy) and this time it's Ana Navarro's turn:

Invictus is the latest film directed by Clint Eastwood, based on the political and human figure of Nelson Mandela.

In my opinion this film may be divided into two different parts. In the first one the focus is on the figure of Nelson Mandela when he had just become President of South Africa. Invictus reveals the terrible situation of the country due to Apartheid, and also the gripping personality of Mandela, who suffered the consequences of Apartheid and, despite being imprisoned for such a long time, forgave his oppressors and did his best to put and end to the racism problems that his country went through.

In the second part of the film the main interest is in the way Mandela finds to join blacks and whites together for a common cause: winning the rugby world cup that is going to take place in South Africa. To my mind, this second part of the film is predictable and the rugby matches take so much time. So, if you are not a fan of the sport, there is too much of it. Furthermore, in order to enjoy this second part it seems to me that it is better to have a basic knowledge of rugby. Only when I was explained its importance in some countries such as England, South Africa or Australia, or the significance of the dance by the All Blacks, the New Zealand team, before the final match starts, did I understand rugby’s full meaning.

All things considered, it is without any doubt an uplifting, feel-good film, highly recommendable.

I cannot finish this review without speaking of the main actor, Morgan Freeman, who is superb in the role of Nelson Mandela. In fact, he is nominated to this year’s Academy Awards, the Oscars. Of all the nominees I have only seen George Clooney in Up in the Air, and, as far as I am concerned, Morgan Freeman deserves the award much more than George Clooney. Let´s see what happens!

Well done, Ana. Let me just say I haven't seen the film yet though I've always admired Nelson Mandela, possibly my true political icon of the late 20th century. However, I cannot imagine, after watching the trailer down below, Morgan Freeman dubbed into Spanish, so I guess I'll wait until I can download the film or it is available in the video club. Hope the SGAE watchdogs are not reading this!