Our closest star pushing its rays of light through the clouds.
The weather has been a mixed bag of clear skies, thick fogs and now lots of snow. Not a stable winter, then.
Now that I’ve been writing a few weekly posts in this blog, I have a feel of what is working and not.
One thing is that reviewing a film, album, music or public art takes time. Sure, anything you do takes time, but I’m wondering should I be doing something literally thousands of others are doing anyway across various reviewing platforms with much better writing skills, insight and knowledge. Probably not in most cases (public art in Helsinki perhaps an exception).
The one thing I could do more, is commenting on the mentioned things above in relation to myself. This could apply to almost anything of course. I’m thinking about picking up objects around my apartment: an album, book, gadget or anything else and think about what is its relationship with me.
For everybody else the relationship is different or nothing, but for me there is a shared history or something that links to a memory. In a way, how do I relate and treasure these bits and pieces of my reality.
But I won’t be doing that in this post yet, at least in the way I’m thinking about. Let’s write some thoughts on music instead.
Return of the synth pop arena giants
Depeche Mode’s music has often been on my playlist, although I wouldn’t say it is high on my greatest bands list if I ever made one. I guess their music’s dark themes of isolation and fragile human relationships gel too well with my thought patterns when I’m mellow.
Their latest single is nothing mind-blowing, but impossible not to search for references to the sudden passing of band member Andy Fletcher last year. I guess more mentions of mortality might be coming from their upcoming album Memento Mori.
Speaking of the album, I thought about pre-ordering the album without a listen, but once I saw that the price for the vinyl version is over 50 euros, I decided to hold my horses and patiently wait for it be to available on a streaming service first. Then I will decide if I’ll buy a more reasonably priced CD. Based on their recent albums, I’m not expecting much.
They are also coming to throw a gig in Helsinki later this summer. I saw them once over ten years ago and it was an underwhelming arena concert, so I’m a bit hesitant am I ready to see these old geezers in an outdoor concert. Again, it all depends on how good the new album is, but also what the set list during their tour turns out to be.
Temptations of vinyl
While I’m on the subject of music, lately I’ve had Suede’s Autofiction and Iggy Pop’s Every Loser on repeat. On both cases, I’ve had the impulsive urge of buying vinyls of them, but every time I question would I really blast them through my home speakers instead of my headphones, the answer is most likely not.
Sure, it would be a token of approval by adding the album into my vinyl collection, but so far that is not enough to click that costly confirm order button. Not even if limited editions are still available (which is a completely separate discussion of their worth).
I did however order a Sisters of Mercy t-shirt that had the cover of their first single Alice. I liked its artwork the most of the choices available and wondered is there a story behind it and sure enough, it actually is a replica of a lithograph “Blue Nude II” by major French artist Henri Matisse. Learned something new again.
Oh Mickey your so fine
This reminds me of another “scratching the surface” incident. One day I started thinking about music videos I saw when I was a kid and one of them was Toni Basil’s “Mickey“, which is a very simple but catchy tune with some pretty good dancing to boot.
Well, now I learned this Toni is actually much more than a one hit wonder singer, but foremost a choreographer, dancer and actress, who has been in the business since the 60’s with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley plus starred in films like Easy Rider.
And it didn’t stop there as she has also choreographed David Bowie’s Diamong Dogs Tour back in the 70’s and lately Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Never would have thought that same cheerleader (age 38 in the music video) having a crush on Mickey would be so much more than meets the eye.
Bought Toni Basil’s single (actually a German release with some other band on the b-side) some years ago out of pure nostalgia. Only last year she won the rights for it.