The Breakbot experience

Since I managed to survive the previous stroke and attend yesterday's party without a heart attack, I might as well tell you a few things about my Breakbot experience.

I 'll be honest: there have been Breakbot sets that have absolutely blown my mind in their full duration, track by track. Yesterday, in The Kids are Alright party, I can say that I got the chills with 3-4 tracks that have never heard before, had minor strokes with 1 or 2 awesome unknown tunes (and the fact that they still remain unknown doesn't help my condition), danced a lot, came face to face with Breakbot -and without realizing it I think I froze and goggled-, but in the end I didn't totally get that "mind blowing" feeling.

I think it's because Breakbot's set was just 1 hour and a half -or a bit longer- and during that time he had to warm up, harsh it up, disco it down, bring back the old skool, play a few hits and close down. Too many things to do, too little time. But to tell you the truth, I don't care. Mind-blowing or not, I had a great time. Breakbot can do that to you, even with the worst one of his sets. And this man's talent of incorporating producing skills into a dj set is just beyond me.

Highlights: The I'm glad that you're here track, Breakbot's intro track (see video below), Michael Jackson's Thriller track with people from the crowd dancing on stage -they should have danced like zombies though, that would be fun- and the whole nostalgic '90s part of the set with Snap, Robin S and stuff.

                                             (ok this actually was more than mind-blowing, I admit it)

 (This is the Thriller track I mentioned, but that's it, sorry. No more videos. I prefer spending the night dancing than recording...)

After Breakbot, Busy P took over. He started off well with a really dirty edit on Imagination's Illusion and a bit of disco mood, but then things got too harsh for my ears, so I didn't stick around much longer. After all, I'm like 100 and if the music can't speak to me, I get tired and hungry.

Keziah in town

I've got some good news and some bad news. Good news: Last night Keziah Jones was in town for the 1st Nigerian Festival in Athens. Bad news: We only enjoyed him for 3 songs, because of the rain. Good news: We saw artists from Nigeria like Adedeji Adetayo and the well-known and really warm-hearted Greek-Nigerian MC Yinka (just found out he's a neighbor). Bad news: It was the first cold day of autumn and we froze our asses off. Good news: There was nigerian kitchen for us to indulge in. Bad news: The waiting line was expanding from here to eternity.

With these mixed feelings and a runny nose, I 'm stuck wondering today what it would be like to listen to this live yesterday, one of my favorite tracks ever from Keziah - who, I must say, moves like hell.

For now I'll just have to wait for his new album "Captain Rugged", which is about to drop worldwide on November and in the meanwhile I'll hang on a few memories from last night. Like this one with Keziah singing Bob.

tracks' info:
-Keziah Jones - Where's life
Blufunk is a fact
Delabel 1992

-Bob Marley & the Wailers - War, performed by Keziah Jones
Rastaman Vibration
Island 1976

The possessed post

Last night I attended a very intense concert, one that I 've been reading about over the past years, but never got the chance to see. Yesterday was my time to live through the experience of Roger Waters' The Wall live and I can honestly say I still get goose bumps when I think about all the symbolisms presented and how skillfully combined they all were with the masterpieces that were performed either in front or behind the glorious wall.

I'm not the classic Floyd fan (surprise), but I believe I can appreciate the greatness of music wherever I can catch it, even if it is not in my standard influences. I can say I feel even more the superbness of compositions and music inspirations, when I get carried away by music pieces and genres that are not included in my everyday playlist.

Obviously, The Wall live was too intense for this disco gal and that's probably why today my lips hurt as I bit them and bit them to block the emotion that would end up in tears and would make a fool of myself to the enthusiastic crowd around me, as it was enjoying "Run like hell" (this is their disco track as Nick Mason has once said ironically, after producer Bob Ezrin suggested to use a disco beat on this one), "Comfortably numb", "Mother", "Hey you", "Another brick in the wall", while I was about to cry like a baby, moved from the references on capitalism, fascism, war and the victims of all of the above.

I don't know where all these came from. I logged in today to post something about the instrumental version of McFadden and Whitehead's Ain't no stoppin' us now by Dj Butcher, probably giving it a greater sense than what it represents, a revolutionary sense, influenced from yesterday's symbolisms. But instead, my brain ordered my typing fingers otherwise. Looks like I smashed my own wall and jumped to the other side, just for a while.

Live vs. album version

In my early teens I wasn't very fond of concerts and live gigs. The reason was that I found the songs I loved perfect the way they were and I didn't want to have to hear them altered in a live version, where the voice wouldn't give 100% of its potentiality, where the crowd would clap their hands rhythmically (I still hate that in most occasions) and where the whole rhythm section would be even slightly different from what I had loved before. I could slap me in the face right now for this absurd point of view, but I was young. I didn't know.

If I could ever catch this live, I would certainly have one sheer moment of happiness. 

I would probably lose consciousness to this one.

I can't quite get how this miracle could come out of the original "Sparks", but I can imagine the faces of the people in the crowd when they first heard it live.

The vocals are essential in this one. And the live version kicks ass.

This ain't the end of the road. This is the beginning of a new one.

Well, what can I say? People change after all.

tracks' info:
(all live versions of:)

-Faze Action - Kariba
Moving Cities 
Nuphonic 1999

-Stardust - Music sounds better with you
Roulé 1998

-Röyksopp - Sparks
Melody A.M.
Wall of Sound 2001

-Parov Stellar - A night in Torino
A night in Torino EP
Etage Noir Recordings 2005

-Quantic Soul Orhestra feat. Alice Russell - End of the road
Tru Thoughts 2006