© ARD / Alligatoah (via Youtube)
Ich mix’ uns Grippeviren mit Brausetabletten /
Nur wenn wir außer Gefecht sind, könn’n wir auch mal relaxen /
Ich verschiebe die Termine bis in alle Ewigkeit /
Viel zu viel zu tun für das bisschen Lebenszeit /
— Alligatoah feat. Felix Brummer – Beinebrechen
ardmediathek.de/video/friends-of-mdr-sputnik/friends-of-alligatoah
© Sigrid (via Youtube)
When the world is on your shoulders /
And the weight of your own heart is too much to bear /
Wеll, I know that you’re afraid things will always be this way /
It’s just a bad day, not a bad life
— from Bad Life by Sigrid feat. Bring Me The Horizon
Looking forward to the second album “How To Let Go” by Norwegian singer and songwriter Sigrid to be released on Friday, three years after her debut “Sucker Punch”.
© Nina Simone (via YouTube)
After a wonderful, warm and sunny Sunday with the family, this is my current mood —or at least it was before turning on the news: My Baby Just Cares For Me by Nina Simone remixed by HONNE.
Loving the vibes of the video as well, I really can’t wait for summer to begin and travel again. It has been years since I’ve dipped my toes into the ocean.
© KUMMER (via Youtube)
Ich wär gerne voller Zuversicht /
Jemand, der voll Hoffnung in die Zukunft blickt /
Der es schafft, all das einfach zu ertragen /
Ich würd dir eigentlich gern sagen /
Alles wird gut
— aus Der letzte Song (Alles wird gut) von KUMMER feat. Fred Rabe
© Bendo / Macklemore / Jason Koenig & Ryan Lewis (via YouTube)
And I, know I gotta roll with it /
I’m well aware the universe doesn’t owe me shit /
I know that, all of this pain means the growth, I think /
That next year’s gonna be better than this (Let’s go)
— from the Lyrics of Next Year by Macklemore
© Ingrid Michaelson & Zooey Deschanel / Andrea Love & Phoebe Wahl / Hornet (via YouTube)
My goal was to make it the cutest, coziest, warmest video ever. It’s supposed to be a little over the top, but almost in a ‘I can’t stop watching this and I need more’ kind of way.
— Andrea Love about the stop-motion music video for Merry Christmas, Happy New Year by Ingrid Michaelson & Zooey Deschanel
hellohornet.com/andrea-love.html?project=merry-christmas-happy-new-year
© ANTI / Fleet Foxes (via YouTube)
me by myself on the longest night of the year… honoring the loneliness of 2020 with a nylon string and some songs new and old.
In December 2020 on the winter solstice —just a few days after New York declared a state of emergency because of COVID-19 and forced a wide lockdown, Robin Pecknold performed acoustic arrangements of “some songs new and old” from various albums of his band Fleet Foxes as well as a Nina Simone cover (‘In The Morning’) and a traditional tune (‘Silver Dagger’) at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn. The recording of the live stream finally got a proper digital release –on Spotify for example– with physical formats to follow in Spring 2022.
A Very Lonely Solstice is a haunting depiction of the isolation a lot of us experienced in one way or another throughout the last two years and another beautiful cultural-historic document of our time. Furthermore, it’s the perfect score for dark winter days and a wonderful alternative to the more traditional –and often cheesy– Christmas time songs.
© The Howl & The Hum / Kobalt (via YouTube)
Hostages (Live Alternate Version) is probably one of my favourite songs this year, Human Contact is very likely one of my favourite albums this year –the studio version I missed in 2020 as well as the current live version– and The Howl & The Hum is most definitely my favourite band discovered this year. I might have a little crush on those lads.
© Phoebe Bridgers / Dead Oceans (via YouTube)
I keep coming back to this one. And to this nice little moment, when Bo Burnham was in the audience, experiencing how much his song touched everyone —something he wasn’t able to due to COVID when he published his stand-up. Guess it might be time to watch it once again.
© PaprTape / Label Engine (via YouTube)
© PaprTape / Label Engine (via YouTube)
© PaprTape / Label Engine (via YouTube)
© PaprTape (via YouTube)
While watching the short Antonio Carusone did for the release of the –beautiful looking– new book Selection: Architecture by Carl Barenbrug and Ivan Moreale, the used ambient music caught my attention. Apparently, it’s from Tony Yang aka PaprTape, who has a lot of atmospheric videos on his YouTube-channel.
His ambient EP “A Midafternoon Dream” is available on Soundcloud and Spotify, and some of the tracks are being sold digitally via Bandcamp, in case you want to support the work of the musician more directly.
© UMG / Xavier Rudd / Axel Massin (via YouTube)
Music is a memory machine —one reason why I enjoy collecting records so much. Xavier Rudd for example was one of my favourite artists over a decade ago when I was still a student but already transitioning into a completely new phase of life. His old album ‘Solace‘ –I still own on CD– awakens a lot of happy memories of said carefree days whenever I put it on.
Currently my life is changing to a greater extent than ever before and even though I’m not trying to live barefoot, planning to move to Berlin and thinking about getting dreadlocks anymore –ironically I do have long hair for the very first time nowadays–, Rudd has been on heavy rotation again with his new song latterly. Now Stoney Creek for me will inevitable be linked to the life events of the challenging yet incredible fortunate last weeks.
Coz baby, the wind is blowing /
And there ain’t no other place I’d rather be /
And the wind owes me nothing /
But it’s blown me here with you /[…]
This is home
© Ed Banger Records / Because Music / Genesis (via YouTube)
We were really attracted by the epic visual appeal of cymbal making: bronze, fire, hammers —something almost mythological and elemental like Vulcan or the Nibelungen. We chose Bosphorus Cymbals in Turkey because they had this very traditional process that barely changed in centuries; in this video I am just a link in the chain of production and quality control, after all these cymbals have been melted, hand hammered, and lathed into a musical object.
I’m not sure why Gaspard Augé created only such a short teaser video for the first single from his upcoming solo album, even though Force Majeure is already out in the –seemingly– full version on Spotify and YouTube (without a proper video). Either way I really would’ve liked to see more of the shown traditional craftsmanship paired with the driving electronic music —probably because Augé’s music helps me to cope better with the recently announced break-up of Daft Punk.