Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanoes are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008. (Carlos Gutierrez)
Samuel Peter from Nigeria receives a punch from Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine during their WBC heavyweight boxing world championship fight in Berlin, Germany on Oct. 11, 2008. Klitschko won the fight after round nine due to technical knock out. (AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski)
Earlier this year I discovered the fantastic knob-twiddling/sampling/crooning charms of Aussie-Belgian Wally De Backer. Going under the artist name ‘Gotye‘ the 26 year old has released a couple of spanking albums. His second full-length, Like Drawing Blood, was released in Australia in 2006 and slowly, by word of mouth has worked its way round the world, earning itself a spot on eMusic’s ‘Must Haves’ list (where I discover a ridiculous amount of good music by the way) and then on to a full physical release in the UK through Lucky Number in August.
One of the album highlights, ‘Hearts A Mess’, has been a regular for me since first hearing it:
Eltham High School (of unknown geographical location) clearly have a hepcat music teacher in Ed Fairlie as he arranged the above song into an excellent school band number. Just shows the strength of the original as it still shines in this totally different context. Must be a real buzz for the artist as well, seeing people invest so much energy and care into re-interpreting the song. Truly the sincerest form of flattery:
After visiting the Soviet Union in the 1930s, American actor/singer/civil rights activist Paul Robeson became smitten with communist society and it’s egalitarian ideals. He found that “the country was entirely free of racial prejudice and that Afro-American spiritual music resonated to Russian folk traditions.”
“Here, for the first time in my life … I walk in full human dignity.”
He welcomed the arrival of communism in China by singing the Chinese national anthem ‘March Of The Volunteers‘ at a performance in Europe in 1949:
Bamboo scaffolding on a seven story building in the French Concession, Shanghai - Nov ‘08
