words & video by Raquel Pinheiro; photos: João Octávio Peixoto/TMP
To say Bill MacKay’s concert was extraordinary, would be underwhelming. Sublime is a better word. Transcendental, another good one. Those words still don’t do justice to the music, guitar, playing, singing. In fact, being there is the only thing that would do it justice.
Beauty, poetry spoken with an electric guitar as I’ve seldom heard it. Bill sings too, and tells little stories about the songs, however, his visual, sound, poetic mastery of the guitar is the domain of few.
The songs from MacKay’s latest album Locus Land (by the way it’s Terra do Gafanhoto, Bill 🙂 ) gain a different, spiritual, otherworldly dimension live. They become a time within time. A time of gentleness, until the final piece served: Arcadia. Bill stood up to play Arcadia in full, distortion mode adding a sharp dramatic contrast to the tone of the concert.
Come and see me and my colleagues from GOR – Grupo Operário do Ruído – a large experimental-exploratory-avant ensemble – on our Open Reharsal, Friday, 13 at Associação de Moradores da Bouça in Porto, 9:30pm. Entry is free (2 tickets per person, at the door, from 8:30pm).
I’ll be on electric guitar, prepared, bass like or otherwise, and, most likely, on a few peculiar instruments too.
We conclude our photo view of Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Leipzig, 2024 portraited by Gustavo Hochman with the fourth photolog of the series. Links for previous photologs below the photos. We will bring you Wave-Gotik-Treffen again next year.
As usual we have a photographic overview of Wave-Gotik Treffen, the world’s largest gothic, cybergoth, steampunk and rivethead festival, captured by the lens of Gustavo Hochman. Over the next few weeks we will be showing Gustavo’s amazing photos of this year’s event in four instalments.
Links for following photologs, and other years, below the photos.
The 3rd Anniversary edition of my Amazing Songs & Other Delights can now be listened to on mixcloud.
With the help of my “band” – The Astro Travellers – I put together a beautiful show comprised of songs composed for the show, music from the vaults, some of my own instrumental music, collaborative songs by me and Francisco Silva and me and Bill Rivers, music from the vaults, still to be released music, songs that friends think represent me. This year I also picked a song that represents me. You can read the story of the 3rd Anniversary edition here Amazing Songs & Other Delights #67 – The 3rd Anniversary edition by Raquel & The Astro Travellers – programme story On the tracklist the name ahead of a song is the name of the person that picked it for me.
Tracklist: 01: Raquel Pinheiro – Big Bang with sax – Paulo Miranda’s Spectral Sound Modulation version 02: Bill Rivers & Raquel Pinheiro – Da Da Da bom 03: João Diogo Zagalo – Dead Redemption 04: Lola Flowers – This Is Not A Love Song (Pedro Mesquita) 05: digei de bairro – never been in Ibiza 06: Ed Clayton-Jones – Country Girl 07: Pernice Brothers – Working Girls (Rui Pimenta) 08: The Rolling Stones – She’s a Rainbow (Dana Detrick) 09: Francisca Fortes & Carlos Fortes – Como Um Cavalo Louco (Um Zero Amarelo cover) 11: Francisco Silva & Raquel Pinheiro – Someone Kissing You Away 12: Cake – I Will Survive (Raquel) 13: John Cale – How We See The Light (António Cunha) 14: Paulo Navarro – Atravessando as Águas 15: Bill Rivers & Raquel Pinheiro- Sweet Peace 16: Ed Clayton-Jones – Interloper 17: João Diogo Zagalo – Red Uszatek 18: Iggy Pop – The Passenger (Matt Hutchison)
My Amazing Songs & Other Delights #67 is The 3rd Anniversary edition and airs Monday 3rd, 3-4pm (gmt+1) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app). As usual on the program anniversary my “band” The Astro Travellers and I put as radio show together from a mix of purpose created songs or instrumentals, morsels from the vaults, songs that represent me, still to be released songs and instrumentals.
Here the Astro Travellers are António (Tó) Cunha, Bill Rivers, Carlos Fortes, Dana Detrick, Ed Clayton-Jones, Francisca Fortes, Francisco Silva, João Diogo Zagalo, Laura Mesquita, Matt Hutchison, Paulo Miranda, Pedro Mesquita, Pedro Tenreiro, Rui Guerra, and Rui Pimenta.
Tó, Dana, Matt, Pedro Mesquita and Rui Pimenta selected songs they feel represent me. Interestingly, Dana choice is Tó’s choice for my 1st anniversary show She’s a Rainbow by The Rolling Stones. This year I also picked a song that reportes me Cake’s version of I Will Survive.
I threw three chords to Bill and Francisco. Two of which I didn’t even knew the name of. I strummed them on the guitar, like it, drew a diagram. Bill didn’t knew the name of one of the chords either and called it chord H. Turns out, according to Francisco, chord H, if strummed a certain way is a pompous thing, a Fmaj7#11/ whatever that may be.
What happened to those three chords – with some adds/modifications by Bill and Francisco? They become three songs, Da Da Da bom, Someone Kissing You Away and Sweet Peace. Da Da Da bom are exactly the same instrumental basis, the first on keyboards, the second on acoustic guitar. Da Da Da bom has no lyrics per se, it is Bill humming a vocal melody. The lyrics in Sweet Peace were written by Bill to his latest record with Simon Hayward. Someone Kissing You Away are a few words Francisco used instead of a vocal melody to show me how the song could turn out.
Like the cover of Um Zero Amarelo Como Um Cavalo Louco by Francisca and Carlos Fortes, the aforementioned three songs are home, living room, recordings. João Diogo Zagalo and Paulo Navarro also contributed with home done music. Paulo did a beautiful piano solo piece, Atravessando as Águas, João sent what turned into Dead Redemption that was just voices. I liked it and kept it along Red Uszatek. Pedro Tenreiro, with his digei de bairro moniker, and Ed Clayton-Jones graciously allowed me to play still to be released material. Paulo Miranda took my Big Bang with saxophone (courtesy of Rui Guerra) and with spectral audio modulation created a new ambient for my music.
The Anniversary edition is my wide family affair, a group of fabulous musician, composers, songwriters, producers. It is always a guess, a what will come of it, until the show is fully assembled. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed doing it.
01: Raquel Pinheiro – Big Bang with sax – Paulo Miranda’s Spectral Sound Modulation version 02: Bill Rivers & Raquel Pinheiro – Da Da Da bom 03: João Diogo Zagalo – Dead Redemption 04: Lola Flowers – This Is Not A Love Song (Pedro Mesquita) 05: digei de bairro – never been in Ibiza 06: Ed Clayton-Jones – Country Girl 07: Pernice Brothers – Working Girls (Rui Pimenta) 08: The Rolling Stones – She’s a Rainbow (Dana Detrick) 09: Francisca Fortes & Carlos Fortes – Como Um Cavalo Louco (Um Zero Amarelo cover) 11: Francisco Silva & Raquel Pinheiro – Someone Kissing You Away 12: Cake – I Will Survive (Raquel) 13: John Cale – How We See The Light (António Cunha) 14: Paulo Navarro – Atravessando as Águas 15: Bill Rivers & Raquel Pinheiro- Sweet Peace 16: Ed Clayton-Jones – Interloper 17: João Diogo Zagalo – Red Uszatek 18: Iggy Pop – The Passenger (Matt Hutchison)
My Amazing Songs & Other Delights #66 – The John Parish edition dedicated to musician, composer, songwriter, producer John Parish can now be listened to on mixcloud.
Tracklist: 01 – PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love 02 – Dry Cleaning – Hot Penny Day 03 – Giant Sand – Astonished (in Tucson) 04 – Tracy Chapman – You’re The One 05 – John Parish – Westward Airways 06 – M. Ward – Primitive Girl 07 – Bettie Serveert – Satisfied 08 – Eels – Stumbling Bee 09 – The Goon Sax – In The Stone 10 – Mazgani – Distant Gardens 11 – Aldous Harding – Lawn 12 – PJ Harvey – Inside the Old I Dying 13 – John Parish – Sorry For Your Loss 14 – Peggy Sue – All We’ll Keep 15 – Sparklehorse – King of Nails 16 – John Parish & Polly Jean Harvey – Rope Bridge Crossing
Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app) the radio where my Amazing Songs & Other Delights airs every other Monday turns 3 years old Monday 27th. We’re celebrating at Praia da Luz, in Porto, 7-11pm with DJ sets by Francisco Coelho, Francisco Esp, João Bruschy, José Amen, Maria Gambina, Pedro Tenreiro, Rui Pimenta and Tugalife.
Yé Yé came to be May 27th to signal one year of the departure of our friend Vicente Pinto de Abreu. Vicente was a music, books, film, tv shows, comics lover. Praia da Luz a place he liked and identified with. A place where he and the djs collective he was part of, 7 Magníficos – of which Pedro Tenreiro and Rui Pimenta were also part of – spinned records many times.
I still remember the day of Vicente’s death. The night before, as we often did, we had been talking about films, tv shows, comics. I both were meant to watch and read something to discuss with each other the following evening. There was no following eve.
We are celebration Vicente, Yé Yé, radio, music, life, the joy of life and living, the seaside. Come celebrate with us.
Mondo Bizarre Magazine 