American composer Charlemagne Palestine’s performarnce, , as part of Across Ø Around: Mika Vainio A Tribute was a mesmerizing experience of about 50 minutes.
Imersive is a beaten, too worn word, yet, here, for someone like me, who kept closed eyes, pretty much all the time, it is fitting. And quite descriptive.
Palestine start playing before the audience took its place in the pews. At first, a low, tremble leaning continuous hum. Given Igreja de Cedofeita seating seating, most people had their back turned to the pipe organ balcony, facing the empty altar. Having entering the empty room a little earlier, on the side pew, by the altar, that allows to turn and face the pipe organ and player, I had a prime location for allowing the sound, the music to lead and do its magic.
And its magic was a wonder world of tonal variations complementing, overlapping, at times almost making disappear, at others leaving it fully raw, a continuous hum. A hum, in itself, the same and diverse. The inflections, the detours, the shades, the sounds, the whispers, the tumoultous, all had its place in a linear-nonlinearsublime performance that included words of prayer in a language only known to Charlemagne Palestine’s and a short percutive moment with a couple of filled whisky glasses clacking against it other. A night to remember.
Amazing Songs & Other Delights #54 – The Ascend-Descend edition is tomorrow, Monday 20th, 3-4pm (gmt) on Yé Yé Radio:https://yeyeradio.com/ (or on the app).
The title refers to the flow of the very eclectic musical selection, comprasse of recent or just out instrumentals and songs, of this edition of the programme.
Tracklist: 01: Rafael Toral – Intro + Changes (except) 02: Cabrita – Todo Torto 03: Helado Negro – I Just Want To Wake Up With You 04: J. Masis – Can’t Believe We’re Here 05: King John – The Water 06: Mary Timony – Dominoes 07: MOORIS – 04 08: O Gajo – Corrosão 09 – Swansea Sound – Paradise 10: The Lemonheads – Fear of Living 11: The Smile – Wall Of Eyes 12: Ty Segall -My Room 13: Vince Clarke – The Lamentations of Jeremiah 14: youbet – Carsick 15: Francisco Sassetti – Sara Is Happy
The 26 issues of print Mondo Bizarre Magazine that run November 1999 to June 2006 are now part of the collection of Fanzineteca de Aveiro and are available for public consultation.
Fanzineteca de Aveiro https://fanzinetecadeaveiro.fanzine.pt/is a physical space dedicate to alternative magazines, newspapers and “fanzines” within the library of José Estêvão Secundary School in Aveiro.
Mondo Bizarre Magazine #09 – November 2001 – first colour issue
The alternative magazines, newspapers and “fanzines” collection of Fanzineteca de Aveiro is the personal collection ofMiguel Alexandre Simões Correia.
Mondo Bizarre Magazine #10 – February 2002
The purpose of Fanzineteca de Aveiro is to preserve important documents of alternative, independent and underground documents and to make them available to the general public.
Mondo Bizarre Magazine #13 – 3rd Anniversary – John Parish cover
Print Mo do started as a black and white magazine. By issue 09 the front page and some inner pages were in colour. By issue 11Mondo had so many pages I couldn’t carry the packages. We had to back track. For issue 13 three different covers were printed, corresponding to three major intervirws. One cover featuringJohn Parish, one with The Hellocpters, that had fronted our first cover, and one dedicated to Dischord Records to go along Ian Mackaye’s interview.
Mondo Bizarre Magazine #17 – 4th anniversary – Art Chantry coverMondo Bizarre Magazine #23 – July 2005
My deepest thank you to Miguel Correia for putting making available the 26 issues of print Mondo available to everyone a D for his extraordinary work with Fanzineteca de Aveiro.
words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Raquel Pinheiro
Famous British composer, musician and producer John Parish was in Portugal, to present live, in two concerts – Porto and Lisboa – his film-concert, called Screenplay. Thursday he was at Hard Club in Porto and Friday at Culturgest in Lisboa, the last as part of IndieLisboa International Film Festival programme.
Screenplay, a Parish album released in 2013, made of soundtracks for a movie that does not really exist. The concept is based on the selection of several scenes from various films (nine altogether), of the musician ‘s taste, who decided to compose sequentially with the aim to produce soundtrack for all those excerpts, resulting in nineteen themes. The idea is curious, very valid and the proof is that, after being listened to, it works well in musical terms,.
John Parish performed on Hard Club’s stage accompanied by his private band made up of accomplices (I immediately recognized drummer and multi-instrumentalist Jean Marc Butty, who was part of Mick Harvey’s support band, since he played in Portugal, in 2015). Butty is the service drummer, along with Parish and Jeremy Hogg (another of the guitarists present) of PJ Harvey’s). Marta Collica (keys and vocals) and Giorgia Poli (bass and vocals), the other band members, also are usual musicians from John Parish Band.
In a conceptual and intimate concert, as was the, where fifteen of the nineteen songs were played (not on the album’s line-up), I have clearly and very objectively retained two points to comment:
– Although the projection of some of the film sequences is understandable, in order to provide the audience with more engagement and clarity about the music being played for that very footage, the fact is that in most cases it did not work effectively. If it is visually pleasing to see a band silhouetted in front of a film screen with films projection running, in this case there were many moments when the intensity of the music, and even its volume, could not harmoniously connect with the images, losing kinematic beam. Not always, but most times. Many of the band’s best musical moments happened when it played without the footage projection.
– The John Parish Band is a luxury band, made up of musicians that create excellent music, with extremely elegant and impeccable good taste. It is, therefore, always able to play variable quality material with the same commitment. All that to say that it was obvious to ascertainment that some of the album’s themes are quality rather inferior composition wise when compared to others that are simply excellent, of a touching melancholic beauty. It is, however, understandable that this oscillation (possibly caused by of Parish’s different moods during the creative act that brought them into being, certainly always variable and circumstantial), in the sense that there does not always have to be a perfect album with huge themes. The point is that Screenplay has excellent themes, but also offers so many that are only understood as Parish’s experimental approaches (or even reveries), possibly very valid for him … but that do not reach the greatness and depth of some of the others.
John Parish is a very friendly musician with the audience and was quite pleased with the warm reception he was receiving with clapping at the end of each theme. After the performance, the band returned once again to stage, as a farewell and encore, to play another composition called Buffalo.
In short, I will say that it was, without a doubt, a good concert, but with my best expectations were somewhat disappointed, because from John Parish I only expect nothing less than excellence.
O famoso compositor, músico e produtor britânico, John Parish está em Portugal, para apresentar ao vivo, em duas datas – Porto e Lisboa – o seu filme-concerto, de nome Screenplay. Ontem esteve no Hard Club, no Porto e hoje estará na Culturgest, em Lisboa, fazendo este último concerto parte da programação da IndieLisboa International Film Festival.
Screenplay é um álbum de Parish lançado em 2013, feito de bandas sonoras para um filme que não existe na realidade. O conceito parte da seleção de várias cenas de vários filmes (nove ao todo), da preferência do músico, que decidiu compor em forma sequencial com vista à realização de uma banda sonora totalizadora desses excertos, resultando em dezanove temas. A ideia é curiosa e muito válida e a prova é que resulta bem em termos musicais, após escuta.
John Parish apresentou-se no palco do Hard Club acompanhado da sua banda privativa feita de amizades cúmplices (reconheci de imediato o baterista e multinstrumentista Jean Marc Butty, que fez parte da banda de apoio de Mick Harvey, desde a última vez que este tocou no nosso país, em 2015). Butty é o baterista de serviço, conjuntamente com Parish e Jeremy Hogg (outro dos guitarristas presentes), de PJ Harvey). Marta Collica (teclas e voz) e Giorgia Poli (baixo e voz), os restantes elementos da banda, são também elas músicos habituais na John Parish Band.
Num concerto conceptual e de pendor intimista, como foi o caso deste, onde foram tocados quinze dos dezanove temas (fora do alinhamento do álbum), retive, clara e muito objetivamente, dois aspetos para comentar:
– Embora seja entendível a projeção de algumas das sequências dos filmes de forma a dar mais envolvência e esclarecimento ao público da música que era interpretada para essas mesmas cenas, o facto é que na maior parte das vezes não resultou de forma eficaz. Se visualmente é sempre agradável ver uma banda em silhueta à frente de um ecrã de cinema com projeção de filmes a decorrer, neste caso existiram muitos momentos em que a intensidade da música, e até o seu volume, não conseguiram ligar-se harmoniosamente com as imagens, perdendo fulgor cinemático. Não em todos os momentos, mas na maior parte deles. Muitos dos melhores registos musicais da banda, ocorreram quando a mesma atuava sem a projeção das cenas.
– A John Parish Band é uma banda de luxo, feita de instrumentistas que fazem excelente música, de forma extremamente elegante e de irrepreensível bom gosto. É, por isso, sempre capaz de interpretar material de qualidade variável com o mesmo empenho. Tudo isto para dizer que foi óbvia a constatação de que alguns dos temas do álbum são de qualidade composicional bastante inferior a outros que são simplesmente excelentes e de uma beleza melancólica tocante. Entende-se contudo esta oscilação (eventualmente por diferentes estados de espírito de Parish aquando do ato criativo que lhes deu origem, e que certamente são sempre variáveis e circunstanciais), no sentido de que não tem de haver sempre um álbum perfeito de enormes temas. A questão é que Screenplay tem excelentes temas, mas também oferece outros tantos que só se entendem como abordagens experimentais de Parish (ou até devaneios), eventualmente muito válidos para o músico… mas que não alcançam a grandeza e a profundidade de alguns outros.
John Parish é um músico muito simpático com o público e mostrou-se bastante contente com a receção calorosa que ia recebendo deste, em forma de aplausos no final de cada tema. Finalizada a atuação, a banda regressou mais uma vez a palco para, em jeito de despedida e de encore, interpretarem mais uma composição, Buffalo de seu nome.
Resumindo: direi que foi, sem sombra de dúvida, um bom concerto, mas com as minhas melhores expetativas algo defraudadas, pois de um John Parish só espero nada menos que a excelência.
by Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro)
Strange Peace, the third album of Canadian band METZ, one of the most exceptional current do noise-rock post-grunge/punk/hardcore collectives, is, essentially, an album haunted by the baton of its producer, the mighty Steve Albini. Everything in this album makes sense as far as the inevitable meeting along the timeline between band and master is concerned: because they are one of the greatest heirs and current reinventers of the Seatlle’s sound that dominated the planet in the 90s also for being umbilically aesthetically and creatively linked to Sup Pop, and Steve Albini because he is an institution of his own right of this type of sound, always innovating, sometimes as a musician (Big Black, Shellac), other times as a sound engineer/producer (among countless works, Nivarna’s inescapable In Utero is inevitably stressed
In Strange Peace, Metz show themselves with a more natural and concrete sound, retaining the constant, magical demential and explosive combustion of their themes, but this time, with a dense and more detailed intensity; would even risk considering it progressive and experimental, as if reorienting the band’s future towards new latitudes. There are many moments in this piece that remind PIL’s debut album, or even earlier Killing Joke. We believe that this is a way to refresh a whole traditional identifiable universe of the band that lays on Nirvana, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, Melvins and a few others that they are eternally associated by the musical press and not just to the structural sound of the band. Strange Peace is a perfect album to any lover of underground rock, in its most noise and extreme aspect and whole its 36 minutes of urgent listening are highly recommended.
Metz are currently touring Europe promoting Strange Peace and with two concerts next week in Portugal: Tuesday, 17, at Musicbox, Lisboa and the next day, Wednesday, 18, at Hard Club, Porto. American band Moaning, also from Sub Pop, will be the opening act. By the vertiginous intensity of their music, but above all because of their excellent and demolishing live performances, for a start, we expect nothing less from METZ than an excellent concert …in the end, we anxiously expect that it is also one of those auditively therapeutic; those that save our days and gave meaning to our existence.
(Sub Pop, 2017)
—- /////—– …../////….
por Guilherme Lucas
Strange Peace o terceiro longa duração dos canadianos Metz, um dos mais excepcionais coletivos do noise-rock pós-grunge/punk/hardcore da atualidade, é, essencialmente, um álbum assombrado pela batuta do seu produtor, o enorme Steve Albini. Tudo neste álbum faz sentido no que ao encontro inevitável na linha do tempo entre banda e mestre diz respeito: os Metz porque são uns dos maiores herdeiros e reinventores nos dias de hoje do som de Seatlle que dominou o planeta nos anos 90 e também por estarem umbilicalmente ligados esteticamente e criativamente à editora Sub Pop, e Steve Albini porque é uma instituição em si mesmo deste tipo de som, sempre inovando, ora como músico (Big Black, Shellac), ora como engenheiro de som/produtor (entre inúmeros trabalhos, salienta-se inevitavelmente o incontornável In Utero, dos Nirvana).
Em Strange Peace, os Metz revelam-se com um som mais natural e mais concreto, permanecendo a constante e mágica combustão demencial e explosiva tão caraterística dos seus temas mas desta vez com uma intensidade mais densa e mais cuidada nos pormenores; arriscaríamos a considerar até de progressiva e experimental, como que a reorientar para novas latitudes o futuro da banda. Há muitos momentos neste seu trabalho que lembram o álbum de estreia dos PIL ou até Killing Joke dos primeiros tempos. Acreditamos ser esta uma forma de refrescar todo um universo identificativo tradicional da banda que acenta nos Nirvana, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, Melvins e mais uns poucos e que são eternamente associados pela imprensa musical e não só ao som estrutural da banda. Strange Peace é um álbum perfeito para qualquer amante de rock underground, na sua vertente mais noise e extrema e aconselham-se vivamente todos os seus 36 minutos de audição urgente.
Os Metz estão atualmente em tour europeia a promover Strange Peace e com duas datas já na próxima semana em Portugal: dia 17, terça-feira na Musicbox, Lisboa e no dia seguinte, dia 18, quarta-feira, no Hard Club, Porto. Os norte-americanos Moaning, também da editora Sub Pop, farão a 1.ª parte. Pela intensidade vertiginosa da sua música, mas acima de tudo pelas suas excelentes e devastadoras performances ao vivo, dos Metz não esperamos menos do que um excelente concerto à partida… no final aguardamos ansiosamente que seja também um daqueles auditivamente terapêuticos; dos que salvam os nossos dias e dão sentido à nossa existência.
Time to (slowly) get back to life. This page is aimed at being a memory and archive for Mondo Bizarre Magazine but also for us to share the things we like and appreciate. Hopefully new features will also come along. This a second life for Mondo Bizarre Magazine and we’re still testing the waters, to see where the journey will lead us.
(Alfred Wertheimer, Elvis at 21, Reading Fan Mail, Warwick Hotel, New York March 17, 1956)
Mondo Bizarre Magazine 