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9

Euterpe’s new space

Those of you who have been wandering across this blog since it started five years ago may know that it was named Ninth space in homage to Throwing Muses (who probably saved my life back in the late eighties when I first discovered them), and the nine Muses of Greek mythology. Basically, a place where I could write anything, depending on what grabbed me at the time.

Unexpectedly throughout these five years, my love of music has grown deeper than I could have imagined, and the main emphasis of this site grew in that direction. Then, late last year, I discovered Twitter, and felt the joy in sharing musical opinions and discoveries with other people. Hence my declaration a few months ago that Twitter would be the main place where I would hang out and talk music.

Today, however, is the start of a new journey for Euterpe, Muse of lyric poetry. She’s leaving the safety of Ninth space, and heading off to a new space:

I give you TheBrit and TheYank, a music blog devised and run by myself and fellow Tweeter @pnkrcklibrarian (who also posts on lib schooled.) All my future music-related posts will appear there, leaving Ninth space to the other eight Muses – I think they’ll prefer it that way.

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9

Apple is STUPID

Ok, I’ve been willing to cut Apple some slack of the past months for their “see how it goes” attitude of running the iTunes App Store, particularly with regard to how applications get approved. I’ve done so because it’s very much new territory to Apple. And remember, despite this, the number of applications available to the iPhone / iPod touch exceeds that available to Windows Mobile.

But I’m a bit miffed now, to say the least.

The popular Twitter client Tweetie – which I deem popular because I use it – has been waiting for approval at version 1.3 for a little while. Today word comes back from Atebits (its developers) that it was rejected.

Why, you might ask?

“Why?”

Thanks for asking: it’s because the Trends screen contains an offensive word. For those unfamiliar with Twitter, trends are merely the most popular words or phrases used in Tweets. That is, they are generated solely by Twitter’s users and Tweetie, or indeed any other client application, has no influence on this list.

Atebits has resubmitted the application, with Trends screenshots of four other Twitter clients. We all wait in hope.

I’m currently expecting the next version of the iPhone / iPod touch to be hardwired with no network capabilities at all. That way we can be protected from all those nasty words on the internet. Oh, and no text messages either, or address cards with dubious contact information. We’ll be lucky to get voice.

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9

Bad Weather

Something smells musty round here. Must be this blog, which has been abandoned for the past two months because life’s more fun on Twitter, or something.

I’m writing this because of the miserable state of the weather in Inverness at the moment. For the past few days it’s been overcast with drizzle, making everything appear colder than it is and its clinging dampness seems to have seeped into my brain, which doesn’t make for a happy Chris. I’m yearning for some decent sunlight to turn the skies blue, so that I may raise my eyes to them and feel that welcome tingle as they adjust to the brightness.

Today isn’t that day, unfortunately. After publicly grumbling about it, I have been tasked to share a Bad Weather playlist by one of my Twitter followers, which seems a great idea. And, given that Spotify isn’t available worldwide yet, this is the place for it to show itself. On second thoughts, Spotify doesn’t have three of the artists so that sucks.

Now, I’ve been lazy here. I could have trawled through lyrics for references to bad weather, but in the main the references come directly from song titles. Where they’re not, it’s just serendipitous that I’ve remembered some choice lyrical snippet. Some songs are literal and others figurative. Many are favourites of mine, which gives a clue as to where my head is at most of the time.

There’s quite a bit of snow too. I was considering leaving snow out of this, because I quite like it. But many of my transatlantic friends do not, so I’ve given them plenty. Haha!

Emm Gryner: Case of Tornadoes
Frazier Chorus: Storm
Renegade Soundwave: Thunder
My Brightest Diamond: Ice and Storm
Emm Gryner: Let it Snow
The Cardigans: Little Black Cloud
Kristin Hersh: Teeth
Ultra Vivid Scene: Lightning
Galaxie 500: Snowstorm
Kristin Hersh: Fog
Emm Gryner: Skating Rink
Charlotte Martin: Every Time It Rains

And yes, that final track shows a way out of the gloom.

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8

The Music 2008 (tracks 10-1)

Links to iTunes where available.


10M83Skin of the Night
 

M83’s album Saturday = Youth really is, in its best parts, a revisit to the wistful romanticism of The Breakfast Club. Skin of the Night matches glacial blissed-out vocals from Morgan Kibby (unmatched this year, except by my No. 3 track) to a electronic tom-driven backing whilst managing to weave a tail of erotic horror, later joined by the shimmering haze that M83 is known for. It’s a masterpiece.

9Miss KittinPollution Of The Mind
 

BatBox is probably the first of Miss Kittin’s releases that goes some way of fulfilling her potential. It’s full of sleek, distinctly European electro, exploiting Caroline Herve’s French accent. Pollution of the Mind motors through your brain, pummelling it with the simplest of rhythms and melodies, only to reveal its beauty in the chorus. And if you fail to be swooned by that, then you don’t love music.

8The NationalSlow Show
 

Slow Show, from 2007’s Boxer, works because its tale of regret and longing is accompanied by such understated backing that when it evolves the emotion it releases is overwhelming. No more so than when their earlier song 29 Years is pinned to it as a coda. Remarkable.

7Margaret BergerPretty Things In Life
 

Ah, pop music. Whilst Bertine Zetlitz may own my heart when it comes to the dark side, Margaret Berger’s impossibly shiny, but often poignant, Pretty Scary Silver Fairy, released in 2006 is a flawless creation. Pretty Things In Life bursts with self-proclaimed defiance borne from the angst of adolescence: “Get over yourself and take control. Believe that life is now.”

6School Of Seven BellsFace To Face On High Places
 

Many bands have taken over the mantle left by the shoegaze era. M83 and Asobi Seksu adhere more closely to its legacy. School of Seven Bells, fronted by twin sisters Claudia and Alejandra Deheza, have chosen a slightly different route, wholly embracing electronica to reach a serenity that few others can match. Face To Face On High Places may be based around the familiar looping queasiness, but the vocals – recalling the best of Mimi Goese’s work – when paired together form something incredible. And the line “One day I’ll tell you what you did for me” shatters me.

5ElbowOne Day Like This
 

I may be the only person who thinks that Elbow’s latest album The Seldom Seen Kid is, even at 55 minutes, too short. This is down to its musical inventiveness and a set of songs that demand and reward attention. None more so than on this track which essentially iterates around the age old songwriting technique of Tension and Release, gradually turning its little fragments of unconditional, timeless love into something that transcends everything. Then it has the audacity to throw in a choir – and it works!

4Cerf, Mitiska & JarenYou Never Said (Dash Berlin Remix)
 

You can spot that this a Dash Berlin remix from a mile off by the bassline. Not that their trademark sound matters much here. But any song sung by US alt-folk singer Jaren and which launches with the words “Rejection’s like an ice cold bath / But the water’s feeling good this time” is a keeper, and it’s more complex and downbeat than you’d usually expect from vocal trance.

3Starchaser featuring Lo-Fi SugarSo High – Martin Roth Remix
 

Martin Roth makes the original song darker and more club-oriented, with fierce snares and gated swept pads. And then there’s The Voice. Heather Pollack is one half of the Lo-Fi Sugar duo, who adds her sweet vocals to make this a 10 minute progressive trance barnstormer.

2School Of Seven BellsChain
 

When you have two delicious voices to play with, what could be more sacrilegious than processing them? Chain economises on the instruments by turning Claudia and Alejandra’s voices into another one, interplaying them with the organic bassline, and round and round and round they go.

1Amanda PalmerHave to Drive
 

Three songwriters rocked my world this year: Bertine Zetlitz’s entire back catalogue is essential listening, and one day I hope she’ll release videos for all her songs. Jo Gabriel’s intuitive musicality embraces serendipity and weaves incredibly emotive songs from the unlikeliest of sources. Then there’s Amanda Palmer, who can scream and rant as much as she wants if she continues to come up with songs like this. Have to Drive begins like an Emily Haines song, with its simple piano progressions, then turns immeasurably darker, sadder and multi-layered, incorporating a fabulous choral and orchestral climax. And throughout it Amanda’s voice gets gradually more strained and emotional. Truth is, no other song I heard this year came close to matching this one.

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