04 março 2010

Deixa-me rir...

Caros audiophiles, this week I wish to highlight one of my favourite contemporary "indie" bands, I Am Kloot.
From Manchester, they have enjoyed a cult following for some years without achieving, or perhaps not wanting to achieve, a wider popularity. 
They are friends and collaborators with their fellow Manchester band Elbow and I think deserve the same recognition that Elbow has recently experienced. 
The first song I ever heard, appropriately called Untitled #1, was on an acoustic mixed artist compilation, maybe 2 or 3 years ago, and I was curious to go hear them play in concert, in a small sweaty venue in East London. The place was packed tight like sardines, so intimate, so raw, and I sensed immediately an unusual rapport between band and audience, like a shared secret among friends. In fact I  felt a strange sense of deja vu, that I had met this band somewhere.This was the place to be, for the clever people, I felt like I had joined an exclusive club of cognoscenti.
Their songs are passionate, romantic in a slightly twisted way, but don't easily fit into any category for the mainstream. To borrow a comment I heard somewhere about the charismatic lead singer, he is not afraid of sentiment and so is quite unsentimental.
My favourite song is Ferris Wheels, (unfortunately the video misses the final few seconds), but there are many so that I include also 2 other songs which also have interesting videos, Proof and Over My Shoulder



Ferris Wheels:
I don't know who i am,
I don't know who you are,
but when i touch your hand
i see shooting stars
i see ferris wheels
curving walls of steel
and light.
 
A long distance call
over twisted wires,
some lost heart-felt words
caught up on the line.
We speak through satellites
that hang like the stars at night
in the sky.




I hope you enjoy.
A proxima,

po
 

8 comentários:

  1. Muito onda de Manchester. Gostei!

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  2. Great band, P! So happy that you introduced me to it. Wish I could have seen them live, in that sweaty venue!! I love, and I miss, these venues, these indie, sweaty, urban venues. Particularly enjoyed the second one. Very beautiful. Fantastic description too! P the musician, P the writer. Bjs. pcp

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  3. po,

    I need a media artist to work for my company. I think that you are the right person:)

    talk to you later.

    i'm about to leave and will get back to you.

    what a fantastic post!

    PS: sorry JB.

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  4. po,

    i'll be in London next week.

    i'll be in touch with you.

    i think the images for the 1st video liaise greatly with the song.

    the image of the 2nd is totally modern. there is a british director who made some clips similar to this one last year, i think: thinking of the human face as an ensemble capable of producing a great video.

    the 3th has that iconic characteristic that people appreciate so much nowadays.

    i also liked the music and the way you introduced the artist.

    M

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  5. I forgot to include another song worth checking out: Avenue of Hope, from the soundtrack of the science fiction film Sunshine...
    MariaL, I don't recall your director, but a few weeks ago I posted a song/video by Nick Cave which also employed close-ups of the human face. Another famous example was Sinead O'Connor's version of Nothing Compares 2 U in 1990. Check also on YouTube the 1981 video for the song Cry by Godley & Creme (who were half of the band 10CC before concentrating on video direction) - very innovative for its time! PO

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  6. Avenue of Hope is great. Loved the calm of it and the guitar too. Extremely relaxing the idea of stretching under the sun ... Cry not so much ... I hated the faces that were shown on the video.! I agree with Maria Lemos, I like the clean close-up of Proof, it's very modern and sleek (?), but not at all the Cry faces or even the Nick Cave's ones. There is so much anguish and pain in that video!! I find it strange as the song is about so, so much love... I know you can cry for love but not in that way, it does not match the song in my opinion. Thanks, PO. Always learning. Bjs. pcp

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  7. po,

    i'll check it all later on. loads of work right now:)

    the trend is, to minimise & minimise & minimise again. play the human face of an artist + voice saying whatever they wish. maximize the quality of sound + image. i saw amazing results.

    see you later po

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  8. and,

    i noticed the NC clip you sent: same thing

    M

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