Niki N. Phaser

Confessions on a Dance Floor marks another stage and another successful comeback in Madonna’s career, bringing in record numbers all over the world and creating the inertia on which Hard Candy‘s triumph was originated. Lead single Hung Up also did its part of the job, as well as the other three that followed. If choosen as a single, Forbidden Love would have surely prooved to be a hit, but, truth be told, it’s not just pure dance energy like Hung Up, for example. This track holds the strange combination of being a very danceable serious song. It sounds as profound as some Gregorian piece and yet it’s filled with ethereal synths and powerful beats, which make the song seem like a really dirty ‘da-club’ remix, all courtesy of Stuart Price aka Thin White Duke. The somber electro moods do a great job in emphasizing the grandeur of the song’s theme. Love is regarded from a philosophical/existential point of view: “Are we supposed to be together, We seal the destiny forever”. It’s written so that it would fit any kind of ‘forbidden love’ and no matter how free-minded we think the world is there are still plenty of forbidden loves out there. Just think about it, there are plenty of loves you yourself would forbid… In live performances on her Confessions Tour, Madonna went for some religious meaning, brilliantly suggested through coregraphy as you can see in the following video:

LIVE PERFORMANCE OF Forbidden Love

Chances are that this very moment somewhere in the world two Bowie fans are fighting over which period was better. The work of a man who’s been 50 years in the music world should be divided in periods. For practical purposes, if not because of the sound and image changes. With such a huge catalogue and such a huge talent, there are plenty of non-single masterpieces to choose from, but right now I’ll go for 5.15 The Angels Have Gone from the 2002 classic Heathen, which probably has the most cool cover of all David Bowie albums. You can see from most of the Heathen tracks that the author was in a relaxed zone – there was no pressure, just the joy of making music or of playing it (the album features a few covers, including The Pixies’ Cactus). 5.15 The Angels Have Gone itself has a very chillout vibe, with plenty of seraphic choirs and bells and chime effects. Still, halfway in, you get a drum solo, performed most likely by Bowie himself and, of course, some slap bass (he just couldn’t help it). The airy sound contributes to imagery suggested through lyrics like “5:15 ,Train overdue, Angels have gone, No ticket”, which makes you believe that here Bowie sees limbo as this train station, where you change trains, which will take you either in Heaven or the other place. This is a very luminous piece of music, without it being upbeat. It’s not the kind of song that will cheer you up when you’re feeling down, but it will provide some sort of distance from whatever is happening in your life at that moment.

LISTEN TO THE SONG HERE

The Pixies have some good news for European fans: they will celebrate Doolitle‘s twentieth birthday with several shows, in UK, Holland, Germany, France and Belgium. The tour starts in octomber. In The Cure-Trilogy tradition, they will play their 1989 album in its entirety. Most dates will be in the UK, since this is the place where they were first embraced, Doolitle charting at number eight here, at the time of its release.

In case you are not that familiar with the tracklisting of said album, don’t worry, you will hear a whole bunch of your favourites, even though Where Is My Mind? might miss, since it was recorded on their first full-length venture. Still, you’ll get to hear Frank Black scream both Tame and Hey, while your more melodic needs will be met by crowd-pleaser Here Comes Your Man or love-song parody La La Love You. For those craving for some raw Kim Deal bass, Debaser and Gouge Away will have your stomach vibrate, be at peace.

One thing is sure: this is a great chance to see a band that becomes more and more comfortable with their legend status and those of you who do attend, be sure to make a lot of noise, cheer like crazy, maybe one of these day they might just decide to drop some new material on us.

THE PIXIES PERFORM Here Comes Your Man LIVE