Spinning Words

U2 in Stockholm

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Diana

It was the inspiration of the moment to go online and buy a ticket for the concert U2 were having in Stockholm tonight. Skipping the part with “I will starve for a month because of this”, which I can totally live with, I fast forward to saying that it was the best decision I could take. OK, everybody knows U2, they are the cool dudes who’ve been playing on TV since forever and the singer is that guy who’s an activist, right? Well, right, but I don’t do them justice if I say just that about them.

I went to their concert blindfolded and expecting to hear all those amazing love songs that bring tears to everybody’s eyes (you know, “With or Without You”), and all those hits that make you jump and clap (“Vertigo”) or fill you up with optimism (“Beautiful Day”) and I totally forgot about politics. So no wonder that I was bewildered when all of a sudden I woke up in the middle of my thesis all over again. Then I remembered where I was and what band I was watching and I couldn’t take my eyes of the display and I couldn’t stop listening carefully just to make sure that I don’t miss anything. Of course I couldn’t do that because I am a sucker for music and if it sounds good, and it did, I get lost in it, and I did.

The whole concert was an intertwinment of love and politics, a display of good music and oh my, do you have any idea what The Edge can do with a guitar? And out of all the instruments, why must Larry be a drummer? You can barely see him from behind his drum set. Leaving the joke aside I am pretty sure I was at a rock concert, but next time I’d go to see them just to identify, extract and analyse every political hint they sneak in their show, besides the so very obvious political messages that Bono has no stress in presenting on stage. Along the obvious visuals related to politics, the EU star formed out of floating corpses, (a 5 second moment accompanied by the EU anthem sung in a megaphone by Bono), the #RefugeesWelcome message, we also got politics-related speeches, Sweden got its praise for its policies, we were asked if we want “An Europe with its heart open or an Europe with its borders closed to mercy” and were told that “It is always impossible until it is done”, as Nelson Mandela used to say. And then, in the middle of “Pride” one boy got washed on an empty beach. A wordplay, a change in lyrics, a reflection of reality, in case we forgot about it, though I doubt we did.

I don’t know if I was at a rock concert or at a Media and Politics lecture but it was an experience. I will have to see if I can make something out of it personally, and hopefully people go home with a little bit more after an U2 concert. Just something more to think about should be enough. But not all concert was politics, we got our share of hits, riffs and sing-alongs. And Bono still hasn’t found what he’s been looking for, he said it himself.

Posted in Away, Day to Day, English, Music Stuff | Tagged concert, music, U2 | Leave a comment

An Evening Full of Music

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Diana

Growing up, I learned my classical music from watching Tom and Jerry but also from my family’s vinyl disks played on a pick-up. That’s pretty much how I learned my rock music as well, but that’s another story. One of my favorite albums has always been Vivaldi’s Seasons. I always wanted to see them performed live, so when I saw the poster announcing a performance in Tyska Kyrkan by The Chamber Orchestra of the New Philiharmonia of Hamburg I said I mustn’t miss it. So that’s where I’ve been last evening. I think everybody knows the unmistakable sound of “The Spring” so probably most of you know what I am talking about. I often use “The Seasons” to study and I wrote a big part of my Master’s Thesis listening to them on repeat. What I mostly like about this music is that I can close my eyes and see the inspiration behind the music: the fresh Spring, the Summer storm, the brown leaves and, my favorite, the blizzard. Yes, my favorite season, Vivaldi-wise, is Winter. So yesterday, the first 40 minutes of the concert, were a journey back to my childhood, a dream come true, a display of some of the most beautiful music one can write, perform and listen to. For those who want to listen to this, please go here. And they’re also on Spotify.

And after the concert, as euphoric as I was, I decided to walk home, hopping to the music I was listening to, singing along and wearing a smile. Hope I didn’t freak anybody out, it was just me being happy and enjoying a beautiful Autumn evening in Stockholm.

And now it’s time to study, school has started, in case I omitted saying that already. But at least I am done with my thesis.

Posted in Away, Day to Day, English | Tagged The Seasons, Tyska Kyrkan, Vivaldi | Leave a comment

Here I Go Again

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Diana

I am so close to saying that 7 months of hard work on my thesis are closely coming to an end but I think this just might be the beginning (hopefully) of a long friendship and cooperation (hopefully fruitful) and a way of getting myself stuck with music and pop culture for quite a while.

However, the crazy working rhythm of the past months has slowed down a bit and now I had the time to chill and enjoy some of the last warm days and a glass of wine with dear friends. Among other things I took the time to see a play organised by the Romanian Cultural Institute, N(AUM) ,and besides enjoying good quality theatre and plenty of talent, I ended up watching ideas about life just unfolding under my eyes. The bittersweet reactions theatre creates in the audience can be quite fascinating, if only we allowed ourselves the time to reflect more often. Plus the soundtrack of the play and the way the scenery was created only with the help of lights made it even more enjoyable, relaxing and a pleasant experience.

And now I have more time to listen to music, other music than the Billboard Year End Rock Charts, so I am taking Spotify by storm and carefully organising playlists, digging deep and finding songs I haven’t listened to for ages and I absolutely enjoy it.

This won’t last long though, it’s back to school on Monday and Alice Coper singing School’s Out in Gröna Lund seems to have happened ages ago sometimes, though other times it seems to have happened yesterday. So instead of saying “finally”, I am more tempted to say “here I go again”. So, let’s roll!

Now I am stuck with The Corrs, Jewel, Natalie Imbruglia or Jennifer Paige, just to name a few. Check some out below.

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More Music Please

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Diana

After almost 3 weeks of having my life wrapped around tennis, now I can say that my life is wrapped around music, in every possible way. I don’t think there has been a day when I didn’t get stuck on a song or when I didn’t think about how to deal with the empirical material for my thesis which is made out of, exactly, songs.

First thing is first, I have to talk about the latest concert I’ve been to: Lenny Kravitz. His gig in Gröna Lund was wow! I have never seen so much harmony between the artists performing on stage than I’ve seen in those 90 minutes. They played with every song they performed, they were full of energy and all smiles. And I really had no idea Lenny Kravitz was 51, but why am I so amazed? He’s been on TV ever since I was 10 and that was quite a long time ago. I really wanted to hear “Again” but they didn’t play it. However they went through a lot of songs, they interacted with the audience and got everybody involved in the show, they impressed with ballads and raised spirits. It was a very good example of rock meeting soul, not just genre-wise but feeling-wise as well.

Leaving the live music aside, because I am trying to, and have to keep myself as busy as possible, I’ve been listening to music when I afford a short walk on my way home or wherever. And because Stockholm spoiled me with amazing evenings, I’ve had quite a few good reasons to stay on the streets. There were quite a few thunder storms around here, quite unusual some might say, nevertheless very beautiful.

But the nights are getting longer and I begin to consider precious every bit of sunshine that I can get. So in between a Summer rain, a rainbow and a bit of sunshine I just stick to my earphones and my playlists and I enjoy. Below is the song that has been on repeat all day today.

Posted in Day to Day, English, Music Stuff | Tagged Lenny Kravitz, music | Leave a comment

Let’s Talk about Music

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Diana

Though most posts I publish have had some music clips or were about concerts, it’s been quite a while since I actually wrote something on what I think about music. Because I got to enjoy Spotify a lot lately, I’ve listened to a lot of great songs I already knew and discovered some really nice new tracks. I am going to do a brief presentation of some songs that I came to enjoy, some a bit more than others, some close to an obsession. Will start, of course, with HIM. Not because they put something new out but simply because I absolutely love this track, can never get enough of it and, though the ice-version of the music video might be a bit more artistic, the 13th floor version is what got me hooked to the song and the band. Plus, though the movie wasn’t a success, it is actually quite good, you should give it a try. Above all, it’s been 16 years since I listened to it for the first time. And they played in Romania 2 days ago and I wasn’t there…23 songs…some they didn’t play when I saw them live.

Next I will stop on something a bit more controversial, more precisely Marilyn Manson. I already talked about him a bit before when reviewing his concert in Gröna Lund. I am still quite impressed by his new album and enjoy listening to it, I like the energy it sends out and it has a pretty good sound and vibe to it. Playing with controversial topics, the “in your face” attitude that the singer has, the symbolism of his lyrics and videos are not accepted by all or are taken too serious by others. I like to look at his music as art with a message. He has the habit of pointing out some obvious issues of our modern decadent society. I don’t always agree with his ideas and form of presentation but I will not deny the quality of his music. Nor will I deny that part of this is just a marketing strategy, even so, worth giving it a try.

Now I will talk about “sweets”, a term I use for the extremely radio-friendly tracks that get stuck in my head, those annoying ear worms, pop tracks that won’t let me be, that I wake up humming, the Summer hits of the 90s, the songs that sound better when played before a tennis match rather than on my iPod. It’s the no-brainer kind of music that makes me feel good. I should post here Ace of Base or E-Type just because they are Swedish artists but instead I will stop on something I believe is worth listening to: Take That – “Kidz”. Quite a legendary band, these guys sound better to me now than they did when they were breaking hearts in the 90s. “Kidz” is a song that brings together all original members, Robbie Williams included. And don’t get me started with the message the song and video send, the youth culture, the peace message though the song has a war-music tempo.

Last for today’s entry, which is already quite long, but not least, I am going to stop on a Swedish band I accidentally came across just because Youtube has the suggestion list on the right side of the screen and just because my instincts help me find good music. All the songs from this band can be found on Spotify and they are worth listening to. They have a very old-school rock’n’roll vibe to them, perfect for the ones who are into the 80s music but an excellent example of how good music should sound like. Good to dance to or hop to, depends on how you feel, a video that gives me the impression that sometimes it’s good to not take yourself too seriously, a funny video and a good track. A spirit lifter. Just for the record, not all their tracks are like this but all sound good, trust me on this one, I know music!

Will write about music as soon as I find anything interesting to write on and I get in the mood of sharing my thoughts. Enjoy!

Posted in English, Music Stuff | 1 Comment