Entertainment for the Braindead, a Life Saver

I'm writing this post from behind the churning curtain of a splitting headache, probably the result of too little drinking water and too much falling asleep with the iPod's uncomfortable headphones stuck in my ears. Whilst it's a very nice experience having The Tallest Man on Earth and Bright Eyes singing you to sleep, this kind of effect in the morning after leaves much to be desired. And quietly so.

So when I stumbled upon Entertainment for the Braindead, I knew I was heading in the right direction. Not only my hammering and fuzzy mind would be properly addressed, it would also get a calm, quiet and yet subtly invigorating music it so craves. At my current state, Cologne, Germany's Julia Kotowski, working under this moniker, was exactly what the doctor would have prescribed.

Check out Entertainment for the Braindead on her website, MySpace and last.fm for additional tracks and gigs info (Germany). Some of her recordings are available on her site here.

Entertainment for the Braindead - Colours {MP3} (from Hydrophobia)
Entertainment for the Braindead - Resolutions {MP3} (from Hydrophobia)
Entertainment for the Braindead - Prologue {MP3} (from Hydrophobia)
Entertainment for the Braindead - Run! {MP3} (from Hydrophobia)

On other news, I wrote my first contributer post on the wonderful Music is Art. This is a huge honor for me and I hope I'll be able to actually contribute something of my own there. This will also mean I'll have to devise some sort of a work plan to coordinate my efforts on these two blogs - I have no intention to stop writing this one or reduce its update frequency. I'll figure something out.

As a start up bonus, here's a video I was unable to share there (due to my limited Wordpress experience) and that features a beautiful instrumental version of a new song by Amit Erez from his coming album. Enjoy.

Something(s) to look forward to

Great news: I got un-fired! Thanks to some clandestine arm wrestling and a substantial pay cut, I got to keep my job. This is good considering the current economic conditions and whilst this job is far from perfect, it can serve as a haven in times like these.

These past few days are proving a bit disorienting as I find myself making plans and changing headings with the ebbing of the (economic) tides; on Sunday I got fired, on Monday I was given a chance and today I was finally saved. All in all, it has been a positive and invigorating experience, especially considering the results.

Additional good news come from two of my favorite artists. Amit Erez, the up and coming indie singer-songwriter, is set to begin work on a new record (finally!). Next, Julian Velard, now touring heavily across the UK, has recently launched a new video and continues to make an impact.

Check out Julian Velard on his amazing website, MySpace, Facebook (don't miss his Once upon a time in the West v-log videos) and last.fm. Be sure to check out his new video here. Buy his albums on Amazon, iTunes or CDBaby.
Check out Amit Erez on MySpace, last.fm and Facebook. Buy his albums on Amazon or iTunes.

This post's songs are in the spirit of the last few days and will be shared for a limited time only.
Julian Velard - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (Work to do) (from Nitetime) check on iTunes
Amit Erez - Clever and Strong (live) (from Amit Erez)

A Festive Pause: Eatliz's "Hey"

I've finally been able to get into some festive, mildly happy mood. The last paper, barring anything I'd have to re-submit for some unknown yet awful reason, is ready in its first draft. It totally sucks, of course, but I'm not too worried. This means I have about two days to review it and make enough adjustments to it (as in MAJOR adjustments) to be qualified as a good enough paper (which means I can just barely submit it without being completely overcome with shame). Yay!

In honor of this wondrous achievement and the somewhat deceiving sense of freedom accompanying it, I want to share this beautiful and rather disturbing clip for "Hey" by the Israeli alternative indie-rock band Eatliz (MySpace, last.fm, home page).

According to Guy Ben-Shitrit , main creator of the song and the video clip, the production took almost 3 years to realize - and it shows. It was featured on Aniboom, Youtube and MTV and is available to download here (as well as just the song).

Eatliz - Hey (from Violently Delicate)

Song of the Morning: Trees

Israel is my adoptive home. There, I said it. It's not like I, my parent's or even some of my grandparents were not born here. It's how much I feel at home that I'm talking about. On the one hand, I barely feel comfortable in my own skin. This feeble body has brought its fair share of disappointments and frailties. On the other hand, in this life I'm not likely to experience how it would be like living in another body, which means this is the only body I have and may as well consider it Home (there's a somewhat disturbing dualistic view of Mind-Body acting as a pre-supposition here; disturbing because I'm not sure what I really think or feel about it).

But I digress. My point is I don't always feel at home here, like I belong or long to be here. Whether this is the result of me being a snob, some remnants of another (and better) life elsewhere, plain escapism or a correct reading of the facts, I don't know. I like forests and rivers. The desert has its charm, but I'd prefer it'd keep its distance from me.

So yes, I'm at home here. But maybe I need a little RV time before I can finally settle in.

This post's song deals with similar issues. It was written by one of Israel's greatest poets, Leah Goldberg, expressing longing for her birthplace (she was born in Königsberg). Achinoam Nini (also known as Noa), along with Gil Dor, composed the music for it as well as adding a few verses of her own in English. She spent most of her childhood in New York and has, as she sings, "roots on both sides of the sea".

Perhaps it's possible to have roots in a far away land one has never been to. Perhaps we grow our own roots after the fact. Right now, I think I have some packing to do.

Achinoam Nini (Noa) - אילנות (Trees) {MP3} (from Achinoam Nini/Gil Dor [Leah and Rachel])
Achinoam Nini's picture from Last.fm.

Late Edit: When I first heard Amit Erez's "Postcard" a couple of years ago, I thought it dealt with the same feelings I mentioned earlier - not really belonging here and longing to be elsewhere. With the video clip of the song, released a few months ago, you get a somewhat different meaning. See below the beautiful clip.

Featured Artist: Amit Erez

I've known Amit Erez for more than two years now, thanks to the introduction of a friend. I consider new (and good) music one of the best gifts that I can receive and it certainly was like that in this case.

I admit, I do not go to as many shows as I would have liked, but I did attend a few of his. I especially like the intimate acoustic performances. It has a feeling of something new and fresh, yet with mature content and presentation.

This isn't really a music blog. I'm not sure what kind of a blog is it anyway. I don't really know how to analyze the music, how similar (or not) it is to Elliott Smith's or others. I believe Amit Erez is an artist in his own right and does not need to draw constant comparisons to his peers. All I can do is convey my feelings and sentiments. Saying that, I would have liked his latest CD (titled Amit Erez) to include some new material, much like his wonderful EP (Black Light). Anyway, here's to the future.

Picture from the official MySpace here.
Clever & Strong (Live at the Barby, 6.2.2007)

Quick Update

Hi, this is basically just a quick update to keep this place alive. Sorry about this...
My new job gets me very busy for long hours and it promises to gets even busier over the next few months. I am still learning a lot everyday, both on the professional-technical side as well as on the more social-'how to act in a high tech company' side. I am tired most of the time but at least I don't have that horrible feeling I've had during my temp job days of "how am I going to make it this month". It's sad to say but financial security (and I'm not paid millions if that's what you think and it's Not just the money thing) has a lot of bearing on my mood. I can't say I'm happy; in fact, I suspect this period of adjustments is causing quite a bit of stress and tension which I definitely feel (see next paragraph for details) but I hope that will diminish in time.

As long promised, I have a sort of a musical review. I went last week to an acoustic concert of Amit Erez in the Roots pub and it was sensational. I told you I'm not much of a music critic but I definitely loved it. This is the second time I went to one of his concerts and this one was very intimate as it was a very small pub and Amit played and sang just 3 feet from us. It's amazing to see how far he's come from his CD in 2003 ("Wish I Could Make it a Story", which was good) to this performance and onwards. The only thing clouding it was how I felt, which was not all that well, and I suspect it had quite a lot to do with stress (some work related, not all). So anyway, Amit, if you happen to read this, I'm sorry if I had a sour face on, it was all me. In fact, the music helped me feel better. So there you go, a recommendation.

Anyway, that's really all for now.