... Just gonna have to be a different man

How hard is to face life when there are no changes ..

How hard is to put yourself in the right path to get what you want..

Where to look for, what to say, who to ask ...

Make things happen ...

Get things done..

Have a little luck.. and get it.

.. and it doesn't count cause I don't care

How lucky I was to discover Jenny Lewis...

She seems to be a joker.. that's why I like her ..

Her lyrics are down-to-earth, has an original way of explaining things and talk about her stuff.. plus she sings like a tough girl..

She may have lots of great songs.. but I like the story on "It Wasn't Me".

I have never been through such story of a girl trying to forget some sordid love relation... Maybe somebody told me about destructive relations.. But hearing it this way makes it so clear.. nothing more to ask..

How many times have you heard someone say ..

If I had money, I would do things my way...

When I had in my hands what was going to be Jeff Buckley's second album.. I was shocked by "Satisfied Mind", by the way he plays the guitar, the way he sings.. and the way he clears his throat...

He’s the last man in the line of the singing tradition that started with Robert Johnson and continued with Nick Drake, though there's a lot in between them... known and unknown..

Poor Jeff.. such a tragic end he was bound to found..

But I am happy to hear him sing ..
“… one thing's for certain when it comes my time,
I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind mind mind, mind mind,…”

Which are priceless words …

...you gotta pay your dues before you pay the rent

Pavement were the antiheroes of the 90's.. and that's why I like them..
Part of the late great indie tradition from that decade in the US...

How come a rock band from California sing about settling down ? about getting the masks off from music business and rock stardom ... Stephen Malkmus sings as if he is improvising the words while the guys played as if they were rehearsing..

This is the kind of songs that you'll never see on TV.. though they represent some people's feelings, .. you know that Sunday morning feeling.. feeling like staying home all day, watching a movie.. and then going with the skateboard for a ride..

I remember when they came to Barcelona, one of my friends Eva, asked them for an autograph.. the guy said.. - For who ?... she said - For Eva.. , he understood "forever", and had this really funny expression, like.. "what the hell is she meaning ?", but she kept on saying, "for Eva, for Eva.. "

Won't you let me walk you home from school ...

when I discovered this tune I felt so identified with the feeling it expresses that I became immediately a fan of Big Star. This incredible cult band that have influenced so many artists..

Alex Chilton sang with such feeling this teenage anthem. This little 3-minutes masterpiece that gets us back when we believe that holding her hand for a while would make life grand.

it’s all about naivety, innocence, dreams, illusions and hopes



I also remember once my mother brought an oldies compilation record, and I am not lying, my favorite song on there was the letter from the Box Tops.. I had never again remember that tune, until today reviewing Alex's bio, found out he was the singer in that band.. whoaaa.. double surprise..




RIP - Alex Chilton.

L'Ocell - Joan Colomo

This is quite an strange thing here..

because the guys is Spanish and sings in Catalan..

Which unfortunately will prevent a lot of people for enjoying his talent..

Particularly this little song which is a poetic masterpiece.. I reckon.. simple and easy..

So simple that it's inspiring..

Vol
però no pot
per que sap que caurà el sol
per que no pot fer-ho sol
ha d’aprendre a aixecar el vol

viu
en un niu
sobre un arbre a prop del riu
allí passarà l'estiu
per aprendre que esta viu

no en te prou
amb sortir de l'ou
ell no pot témer el destí
perquè sap que un dia ell serà un ocell
obrirà les seves ales
en el cel dels cels

vol
d’altitud
es un vol directe al sud
ha d'anar a buscar el calor
per que arriba la tardor

es un ocell
i en l'estol tot son com ell
però no vol ser-ho mes
però es que no pot fer-hi res

no en te prou
amb aixecar el vol
ell no pot témer el destí
perquè sap que un dia ell
deixarà de ser un ocell
escamparà les seves plomes
en el vent dels vents

It ain't easy living like a gypsy...

How did I get to hear Mama Kin again after all these years ?
I remember when I was a kid and got their album LIES, that was the song that I couldn't stop listening to.
And now I took it once again and got that same feeling..

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words.. and I guess that if somebody want's to know what rock and roll is about, this is a perfect example.. it's dangerous and hard and cold and hot at the same time..

These guys were on their prime back when they were just a bunch of misfits with nothing more than these songs..

I love Aerosmith more than any other rock band but this cover is just excellent..

Hokusai - The Great Wave

I found this painting so amazing that felt like painting it myself.. so I could see what did the guy felt when he did it..
well I can say.. that the drops of water took ages !!
Obviously is quite far away from his, though the experience was quite good.. Listening to some good music, stopping for a coffee.. and just enjoying the feeling of drawing with ink over white paper... it's like time stands still.

... I pick myself up and get back in the race

Frank Sinatra said “You gotta love livin', baby, 'cause dyin' is a pain in the ass.”
This should be the first thing to read in the morning.

First time I heard this song I felt like traveling all over the world and start a band and hug my brother, and jump so high I couldn't never fall and then swim in the sea till I get exhausted and write a book and say to the world... That's life !!

Always a smile comes on my face when I hear this song, It kicks your ass, it makes you jump from your seat and start enjoying what you've got, the smallest good thing that you may have around, hold onto it, grab it hard, don't let it go !!!

So each time I find myself flat on my face ... I pick myself up and get back in the race.

Pedro lives out of the Wilshire Hotel he looks out a window without glass ...

You know this guy bought a guitar..
.. then he bought an amp
.. then he wrote a song

He wrote about something which is a secret..
.. something that must be hidden
.. because it shows the misery which is down the corner in any street

He knows not so many people will look
.. cause it's easier to look to other side
.. anyway he does the best thing he can, talk about it..
getting things into focus..

Dirty Boulevard is a killer track, has a smooth clean riff and a superb drum beat..
This must be one of the easiest riff ever, anybody with just a month playing guitar can do it the same way it's recorded..

If you will dare, I will dare ..

This must be one of my all time favorite words from a pop song..
It's easy, short, simple, but so meaningful.
This is the kind of things I stick to. Come on !! why not, Dare doing it and I'll follow..

These guys were the ultimate Garage band, as raw and authentic an not so much American bands could be in the 80's.. no trendy haircuts, no posing, no Rolling Stone, no MTV ...

In fact, I had to upload the video myself in youtube.. ;), there wasn't any around with the studio version.

Kids with guitars .. that's it.
They were after all Replacements..

a horse ... a horse.. my kingdom for a horse...

Such sad news to learn about Mark Linkous death..

I remember when I was living in London with my buddy Charly, and we discovered this terrific artist ..

We were impressed by his world of solitude, anxiety and despair... but there was something marvelous in the way he sang..

Guess he had enough of this world, which sometimes is hard to bear...



HOMECOMING QUEEN - SPARKLEHORSE



WISH YOU WERE HERE - SPARKLEHORSE w/ Thom Yorke

Orion, A Masterpiece Of Modern Rock

Is it any fun to listen to a 8:25 minutes thrash-metal instrumental piece ?

I guess there are so many barriers on musical taste, though I don't need to struggle with that, just need music that gives me inspiration..

Back in high school daze, me and my friends were crazy about Metallica… each one of us had his favorite record or song.. 'Master of Puppets' was my LP and ‘Orion’ was my song.

I remember I kept the money my mother gave me for breakfast so I could save enough just to buy this record.. that was a whole month without breakfast.. but the wait (and hunger) was worth because it is a superb album ..

Orion is like a story or a movie itself. It explains a lot of different situations with not even a word.. I believe it’s about somebody who is coming from a dark and helpless situation and gets to see the light.

The intro is like a machine pumping coming from a mysterious fade in, until they get in the main riff... James and Kirk and the great late Cliff Burton..

Then they go on a series of modifications and riffs that made this the most epic song written in the last 20 years.. Couldn’t find any other than can match better that adjective ...

But the masterpiece inside it begins at 3:59, with the most beautiful and sweet bass line ever played by a metal band.. Cliff Burton was a extremely talented guy, it was for him that the whole band moved from LA to San Francisco.. they knew he had it..

The solo that James and Kirk play at 4:20 it's like an awakening from a tortuous situation, like a fresh breath of hope. At 5:12 the line is so peaceful and logical in musical sense. then at 5:40 its where everything comes on the same focus.. Is just amazing.. a Masterpiece... I think here is where it just gets better and better.. But I would have finish the song around 6:55 with another resolution. because returning to the main riff is like the hope and faith are lost again..

Metallica became so respected and are so successful besides from being amazing musicians because they are cool and approachable, and that's why people likes them....

In any picture from their old days, you see that would be a great thing to hang with them.. they smile !! something you don't see in other metal bands, even Dave Mustaine looked like a nice guy..

italiano, alla fine !!

My family moved from Italy to Argentina, probably around the late 1890's. As thousands of families, who were living on the edge of the worst poverty which was going around in Europe back in the day... My family comes from a small village called l'Aquila.

Once we went there with my parents and siblings. How I felt ? I was to young to realize how important that moment was for my father, for me it was just a nice place to visit... we entered to a really old church, older than any building in America, and there it was that mural with the family surname.. It seems some of my forefathers went to the war... How it would be to ask them how it was ?

We were traveling all the way from Barcelona and that was a really nice trip for us, my parents were really cool, and my bro and sis are somehow my best friends.. So that was enough.

I always knew there was some deeper connection to Italy in myself as my family probably never left that village until they went to Argentina. So I guess I must be more Italian than Argentinian, though probably some might say I'm more Spanish or Catalan. who cares...

So I don't know.. how come but now I am doing a super intensive approach to Italian, cause I have an interview where it's required. And as some said, every circle has to be closed.. maybe this is the time my great-grand father Giuseppe Moscardi, would be proud of me..

But I wouldn't go to war.. I would have stayed in Rome as Marcello Mastroianni and kiss Anita Ekberg ..

So now I am listening to some Italian music 'cause it's the best way for me to learn a language..

This below is "Va Pensiero Sull'ali Dorate" from the great opera Nabucco by the late genius Giuseppe Verdi. It means "Thought, fly over golden wings".

Letter to Nick Drake

Hey Nick,

this morning 'Pink Moon' started to sound on the stereo, so I though about sending you a letter. Basically 'cause I got quite inspired after hearing it and felt like doing something.. wasn't feeling like playing guitar this morning, but was feeling like writing.

I don't know when I first heard about you, Maybe in a review of a book in some magazine.. your image has become quite of a cult icon lately, I must say... in the last 10 years or so.

so I was kind of looking for the time to approach to your records and one day, don't know why, I had Pink Moon on my hands, went straight home and played it... well, that album of yours is quite a gem... The song itself is something like a sweet lullaby, your voice sounds so calm and relieving.. it's the perfect song for coming back home.. because the moon is up there looking after us..

that is the first sensation I got from the record; relief.. Wasn't having the best time of my life when I got into it, was like a bit of lovesick... And your record became quite an impressive company for me. And still is.. so thanks.

I heard it like twenty times while riding my bike by the beach here in Barcelona. The best song to bike along to is 'Free Ride'. Got to tell you, don't know which was your motivation, but your songs have made me quite happy.. i found in them a really comfortable place to go.. never got tired of hear them... also the way it's recorded.. it's like you are playing next room.. it's strange.. I heard that was recorded on single takes, was it ?

anyway.. Got to have a look to the other records.. I like that one called 'Five leaves left', cause I also smoke rolling tobacco and always when the paper is starting to run out, I remember you and that record..

take care ..

Max Moscardi

An unavoidable consequence of pure coincidence

Yesterday something weird happened.
I was about to roll a cigarette around 5 pm.
I knew I hadn’t any filters so decided to use any piece of cardboard to make one.
I opened my drawer and had a quick look.
On the tray of the drawer there was three cards, one from my sister and two from an old friend of mine.
I haven’t seen him for a few months, maybe three.
So I thought, I am not going to need these business cards at all, but didn’t felt like breaking one of my sister’s so I took one of his and tore a part of it.

Rolled my fag, and that was it.

One hour later, I received a call.
I was waiting to be any of the persons that usually call me; my brother, the guys from the band.. but wasn’t any of them.

It was him..

I was so happy, cause I really like him, he’s been a friend since high school and whenever we see each other we start laughing..

Then I didn’t notice, but while we were talking I remember, and told him…

- What a coincidence ! you know , I had taken one of your cards and tore it to use a bit as a filter.
He said,
- Well this must really be... I have just lost my job on that company.

People say that your dreams...

...are the only things that save you

and I totally agree...

It took some time for me to get in the mood for Arcade Fire, even everybody around was telling me they were great.

Read somewhere David Bowie did a collaboration with them, which obviously means they are worth the time to look.

So the song in my mind now is Rebellion (Lies).

I was riding my bike when the song started to sound on my earphones,

Couldn't help loving it..

Wim Butler's is in the middle of the line that goes from Bruce Springsteen to Tom Verlaine. Dramatic, passionate and strong..

I really believe they are folk players playing rock, they remind me of the Waterboys mixed with the Clash.