Category Archives: My Favorites

The Most Moving Performances In Music (Part 1)

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This is the first part of something that I hope to build along with your collaboration. The title speaks for itself, really – I’ll try and collect together these moments in which music becomes a true epiphany.

I have begun by picking my five favorite moments. I have made an effort to include some performances by artists I am yet to add to the blog like Pink Floyd (just give me time), and artists I am to cover more extensively like Queen.

Please, add your suggestions by leaving a comment. The idea is to let everybody discover these performances he might not hear about otherwise, and which are too amazing to be missed. I’m counting on you!

So, without further ado:

1- Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova Perform “Falling Slowly” At The 80th Academy Awards.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova Performing "Falling Slowly" Live At The 80th Academy Awards

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova Performing "Falling Slowly" Live At The 80th Academy Awards

The stars of “Once” play the movie’s signature tune at the 80th Academy Awards. You can watch the performance here.

2- Pink Floyd Performs At The Live 8

The whole band reunited for the first time in 24 years for the Live 8 festival, and they proved that they still had it. “Comfortably Numb” was the final song they played that night. The performance started gathering momentum when Mason threw his headphones away (around the 2:00 mark)… The song ended up being even more mesmerizing than ever.

3- Music Video: Queen’s “These Are The Days” Continue reading →

My Five Favorite Who Albums

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Now that I have finished reviewing all the albums that The Who released during its original run, the time is ripe for individualizing the five studio records of the guys I can’t do without. As I always say, this is just a matter of personal tastes. I have to say it again because having included “Face Dances” at the expense of “Who Are You” or “Tommy” could end up in me being lynched. I am just highlighting the albums I can connect with the most. You can let us all know what you think by posting a comment below with your own favorites.

1- Who’s Next

The Who’s most consistent album from start to finish, and that is specially remarkable considering the tensions it caused within the band, the friction with their longtime managers and the risks that they took by embracing new technology so openly. If you listen to classic rock stations, you already know more than half of the songs on offer here – “Baba O’ Rile” (aka “Teenage Wasteland”), “Behind Blue Eyes”, Won’t Get Fooled Again”…

And the ones that you don’t know are no B leaguers in any sense (“Getting In Tune”, “The Song Is Over”, “Going Mobile”…)

2- Quadrophenia

A very problematic album turned to be a timeless work about identity – Pete Townshend’s key theme, and one that few have investigated as thoroughly as him. The 1996 remaster put everything in a mix as balanced as that of “Who’s Next”, making listening to this double album as pleasant to the ear as it is to your intellection.

3- Face Dances

How good would a poppy Who sound? The answer lies in this album, the first with Kenny Jones onboard. It produced their last chart hit, the dynamite “You Better You Bet”. But it also had some great songs in the shape of “Don’t Let Go The Coat” and “Another Tricky Day”. In each and every case, Roger’s delivery is more nuanced than usual. It is a pleasure to listen to him on this record. And the remastered CD is a true gem. Continue reading →

My Favorite Music Moments In Anime

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The Opening and the Ending of Zegapain

One of my best-loved anime alongside Evangelion and RahXephon, Zegapain has one of the most outstanding soundtracks I have ever come across. Even the show detractors wholly agree that the opening and the ending are superlative. The show is not that engaging on first looks since the writers took their time to establish everything, but I think that it really paid off – you become completely immersed without even knowing, and when the series hits full stride (episode 14)… mamma mia.

The opening is called “Kimi E Mukau Hikari (“The Light That Faces You”) and the ending is “Little Goodbye”. The former is sung by Akino Aria, and the latter is done by Rocky Chack. Amazing. Both easily top my list of favorite music moments in anime.

Suzumiya Haruhi Plays At The Live Alive

Episode 12 of the groundbreaking anime. It is the school festival, and the pop group ENOZ has lost 2 members hours before they are set to hit the stage. The hyperkinetic Haruhi volunteers her help, and drags Yuki Nagato along for the gig. In her bunny and witch attires respectively, they win over the audience and rock the event. Continue reading →

My Favorite Elvis Costello Lyrics (Part 1)

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Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

What a task it is to pick favorites from Costello’s lyrics! I will say again what I said when reviewing my favorite Keith Moon’s drum breaks – this is just a list of lyrics I truly connect with, or that hold some kind of thematic poignancy to me. I could have a list made up of 80 lyrics and I would still feel like I omitted a worrying amount of excellent lyrics from him. I will see how many installments I end up running as regards this topic. In the meantime, these are (in no particular order) 5 of his lyrics that I relate to the most. I chose some obscure songs to start, too, so as to avoid quoting the ones everybody knows to the bone.

1)

“But if I’ve done something wrong there’s no “ifs” and “buts”
Cause I love you just as much as I hate your guts”

If someone asks you what a paradox is, do not give them a tome on rhetoric – give them this lyric. It is from the song “Alibi”, which is included on the “When I Was Cruel” album. That single song justifies purchasing it. Continue reading →

My Five Favorite Keith Moon Drum Breaks

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Keith Playing Live In The Mid-70s

Keith Playing Live In The Mid-70s

Ha. That is quite a hard thing to set down, for the mere reason that Moon played a constant drum break from start to finish. This list is made up of personal favorites- I am not saying they are the best, they are just the ones I like best.

Doctor Jimmy

One stormy afternoon I was listening to “Quadrophenia” (the duty of every Who fan when it is stormy outside, you know). While listening to “Doctor Jimmy” the almightiest thunder you could imagine roared and shattered the air, right before the break that you can hear at 05:20. I had always loved it, and from that point onwards it became the one I was the most emotionally attached to from their entire discography. Continue reading →