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(Helene Grimaud - one of the great modern day French Pianists)

I thought I would give this a try. Since the weekends are usually spent with 78's or rock concerts (or the occasional Jazz or Folk Special), maybe doing something as a break in the middle of the week might be a good idea. I don't know. I'm just trying this out to see if anyone likes it.

Here is a portion of a concert given on November 19, 2009 recorded live at the Champs Elysees Theatre by Radio France featuring the London Philharmonic conducted by Vladimir Jurowski with Helene Grimaud, piano solo. They're performing the Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor.

I didn't include the other two pieces (Wagner: Parsifal Prelude and Good Friday Spell and Tchaikovsky: Symphony Nr. 4) as I just wanted to test this out.

Anyway - if enough people like this I will make it a regular Wednesday feature on Newstalgia.

A little something to decompress to - or charge your batteries to for the rest of the week. Hump Day means many things to many people.

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(Leitmotiv - Shoegaze Italiano)

When you get away from mainstream music, there's a whole universe out there going on while you aren't looking. And it's happening all over the world, in every country on the planet, in seemingly every town.

Leitmotiv is an Italian band going under the alternative/psych/shoegaze/experimental category. They've been around for a few years and their first album came out in 2008. They're from the southeastern part of Italy with one member from France tossed in for good measure. This track, Balocchi is the first cut off the album. It's atmospheric and densely layered, and the spoken lyric adds a touch of moody cinema to the whole thing.

Check out their page if you get the chance - and give this one a listen while you're at it.

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(Peter and Laurel of Exlovers - wistful dreamy angst)

Exlovers are a relatively new (2007) band out of London. Fronted by singer Laurel, whose plaintive voice spins remarkably well into this lush acoustic tapestry, Exlovers have been touring around England quite a bit so far this year and are gathering some good word of mouth in the process. This track, The Moon Has Spoken is some of their newer material and well worth checking out. No label (yet), but a new ep "You Forget So Easily" which is available via iTunes or as a CD. They are doing it themselves and can use all the encouragement they can get. They even have T-shirts to sell. So there's no excuse not to stop by their MySpace page and help them out.

Honest, I'm sure they'd do the same for you - if they haven't already.

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(Claudia of Gamine - Techno Chanteuserie . . whether that's an actual word or not)

Jumping into a bit of Techno tonight, by way of UK band Gamine, fronted by singer Claudia who puts a nice atmospheric presence on things. They have one album out so far and are going the indie route. And as is the case with all the MySpace discoveries of recent months, they need support and listeners. Check them out here and you can pick their album up through the site as well. This track, Oh What A Kiss off their album Sabotage gives a good idea of what they're about.

Good, tasty moody stuff - and you can never go wrong with moody.

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(The Flaws . . .MySpace week continues)

A little more traditional, not-so-progressive or alternative, or even shoegazing. The Flaws are another MySpace discovery from Ireland who have been together since 2004, have been gigging around a lot and are getting a lot of noteriety on the other side of the Atlantic, but not here - not yet. As always, They're worth checking out.

You know the drill - play loud, support, play often. Tell your friends. Don't keep it to yourself, unless of course you want to.

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(Les Fauves - Postmodern Psychedelia. Every home should have some)

Yet another in the seemingly endless list of MySpace discoveries. It's getting to the point where you don't even need radio when you can point your cursor, browse and find an entire world with a few clicks.

Les Fauves were one of those chance meetings. Billed as a mix of Postmodern with Psychedelia, they've managed to get word of mouth going and have appeared (to good reviews) at last years SXSW Festival in Austin. They are, from all accounts, based in London but appear to be multi-national as many of their SXSW reviews are from Italian press, as is there management. Some pages bill them as an Italian Alternative band. Take your choice.

Nevertheless - they have two albums and an ep currently out and you can definitely check out their MySpace page and see what they're up to.

For now, here is a track they recorded last year with the somewhat unlikely title "Death of The Pollo" (okay, you got me there - I dunno either).

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(Julie's Haircut - if you thought all they made in Modena Italy was Balsamic vinegar, think again)

Julie's Haircut have been around since 1994 (as far as I can tell). They're an Italian band from Modena (the little town known for it's Balsamic Vinegar) and I've only gotten to know about them since 2006 when I first ran across them on MySpace.

This track, The Dead Will Walk The Earth, is off their latest album, Secret Ceremony which came out in October of last year. There was a limited edition vinyl version available, but it was quickly sold out. If you're curious about this band (and from what I understand a lot are), check out either their official website (linked above) or their MySpace page.

I suspect we're going to be doing a lot of running around MySpace, checking out bands this coming week. Lots of interesting stuff. Further evidence that music is far from dead. Even though the business claims otherwise.

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(Francoiz Breut - Moody French melancholy with an Alternative twist)

Francoiz Breut has been performing for a while and I've only recently been turned on to her. But since this is Friday and we're kicking off the weekend, I thought I would ease into the world of French Pop tonight. Mellow, moody with a touch of melancholy. It's been a long week - wet if you live in L.A.

This track, L'Automne Avant L'Heure is some of her new material. I would urge you to check out her other stuff.

A little something to kick off your weekend.

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(Grand Archives - should be landing in Madrid right about now)

I haven't heard from Seattle in a while. Not that it's dead up there - I've just been preoccupied with the flood of bands from Europe at the moment. But Grand Archives has been around for a while. They're on SubPop and are getting ready to do a huge European tour starting in the next day or two. This track, Torn Blue Foam Couch is one of their earlier tracks off their first and I was turned on to them by my friend Pati in Madrid. At any rate, Grand Archives is a new band to me and they've been getting a lot of repeat plays over here at the Newstalgia Think Tank.

If you feel the same way, by all means check them out. If you happen to be in Madrid, or any one of a number of cities they're playing in Spain this month, fall by and hear them live.

Exposing yourself to new stuff always does a body good.

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(Rosario Blefari - Further evidence its not your dad's Argentina anymore)

A few months ago I ran a post on the Argentinian band Suarez featuring their lead singer Rosario Blefari. The track I played was from 1995 and the band had since broken up, with Blefari off to pursue a solo career. She has gone on to become a very well known name in progressive/underground/alternative/world music circles and she is touring quite a lot, as well as releasing several albums. her MySpace page gives a full rundown on what she's up to. Don't expect her material to come out in the States anytime soon (although I can't think of any good reasons why).

This track Escuela, is some of her newer material. I think it's off a new album or an upcoming album. In any case, Rosario Blefari is a remarkable talent the world is better off knowing about.

Check her out . . .as always.

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(Provkoket - new sounds from Sweden)

Thanks to my friend Mig for turning me on to yet another amazing band I've never heard of. This time a 3-piece acoustic group from Sweden. Provkoket is two cellos and voice (there an accent/umlaut thing over the O). I don't really know anything about them other than what comes from their MySpace page. This track is called Polaris. Check them out.

I think you'll agree, they sound pretty amazing in a very haunting kind of way.

Not dance music . . .but great for a Wednesday night. Trust me.

Greg Sargent of The Plum Line makes his picks for the top 5 online news stories of the year.

From Media Matters--Glenn Beck: Media Matters' 2009 Misinformer of the Year:

Glenn Beck's well of ridiculous was deep and poisonous before he launched his Fox News show, but the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States -- and the permissive cheerleading of his Fox News honchos -- uncorked the former Morning Zoo shock jock's unique brand of vitriol, stage theatrics, and hyperbolic fright, making him an easy choice for Media Matters' 2009 Misinformer of the Year.

When he wasn't calling the president a racist, portraying progressive leaders as vampires who can only be stopped by "driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers," or pushing the legitimacy of seceding from the country, Beck obsessively compared Democrats in Washington to Nazis and fascists and "the early days of Adolf Hitler." He wondered, "Is this where we're headed," while showing images of Hitler, Stalin, and Lenin; decoded the secret language of Marxists; and compared the government to "heroin pushers" who were "using smiley-faced fascism to grow the nanny state."

Like his predecessor, Beck spat on scruples, frequently announcing his goal to get administration officials fired. He increasingly acted not as a media figure, but as the head of a political movement, while helping to bring fringe conspiracies of a one-world government into the national discourse.

And he all too frequently helped to set the mainstream media's agenda.

Continue reading...

Crooks and Liars has done our fair share of covering Beck's insanity as well if you've got the stomach for it. Hats off to Dave for managing to stomach him night after night for the better part of our coverage, and to the folks at the invaluable Media Matters who not only monitor his television show, but his radio show.

I'm reminded of Al Franken talking about the interns he hired to help him research his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them and that they were complaining to him that having to watch Fox was making them physically ill and Jon Stewart watching Sean Hannity and waiting for him to apologize for his show's "mistake" airing the wrong protest footage and saying it wasn't worth it to have to sit through the entire show to finally see the apology at the end of it. Franken interns and Jon Stewart -- any of us that monitor Fox News and especially Glenn Beck can definitely relate.

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("All the seasons changed and all the reasons changed")

"Any plan I sign must include an insurance exchange -- a one-stop shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, costs, and track records of a variety of plans -- including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest."

- President Obama - Weekly Radio Address - July 17, 2009

So . . . what happened?

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As Media Matters noted the O'Reilly Factor seems to be proud of Bill's endorsement of waterboarding or mocking Helen Thomas since they were included in this year end "highlights" video. I think without intending to all they highlighted is what a pompous ass Bill O'Reilly is.