Greek Poets

A few days ago I bought a book in a tiny Greek bookshop called "Modern Greek Poetry". Modern though, seems to me a bit of a misnomer as there is nothing in there from beyond the 1960s and most of the poetry is from the early part of the twentieth century. There was one poet in the book who I particularly liked - Nikos Engonopoulos. WhenI looked at his biography I was surprised to find that he was first and foremost a famous Greek Surrealist painter. Sadly he doesn't seem to have written that many poems.

Another Greek Salad

I'm sitting here like a geek in an internet cafe whilst outside the hot sun is beating down and my stomach is telling me that it is time to eat lunch - maybe another Greek salad....

Murdering Music

We heard an interesting radio station whilst drinking our coffee in a Greek cafe this week. The station's playlist seemed to be made up entirely of cover versions of classic English songs. During our coffee we heard versions of Eurythmic's "Sweet Dreams" and other numbers originally performed by Radiohead, The Beatles and John Lennon amongst others (sorry track titles elude me right now - or else I have blanked them out). Sadly every number played was truly awful - now I know what they mean when they talk about murdering a song!

How to Say Goodbye...

One of the things about a holiday is that it gives you a bit of space to think and I got to thinking about a conversation I had with a friend recently about what music she would want played at her funeral. I found myself wondering what music I would want played at MY funeral. It's a difficult one. Some people might go for poignant songs or songs with meaningful lyrics, then there are the obvious songs about dying, death and saying goodbye. Of course one could go the other way and include childish songs, joke songs or those that would generally be deemed inappropriate for a funeral - or one could view it as a last opportunity to inflict your musical taste on friends and family.

Personally I would go for songs I love and hope that they mean something to everyone else. The danger is though that you could ruin a good song for your loved ones. Years ago someone sang "Summertime" at a close friend's funeral and I haven't wanted to listen to it since.

Here is my list so far:
Damien Rice - Volcano
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
The Clash - Stay Free
John Martyn - Over the Hill
Damien Rice - 9 Crimes

Eaten Alive

It's hard to relax on holiday when you are being eaten alive by mosquitos. Hunchermuncher has not had a single nibble but my current tally is seven - and that includes one the size of a smallish dinner plate that is hot enough to fry an egg on. Yes I am somewhat allergic to bites and I find myself wondering why it is always the allergic people that get bitten. It's a bit like cats - H is allergic to cat hair and whenever visit friends with a cat the cat homes right in on him ignoring everyone else.

Don't Shop the Reaper

We went to Somerfield today and lo and behold what was the background music - "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult. I couldn't believe it - I have blogged about this before - last time they were playing it in the department store Jarrolds. I find myself wondering what is it about this song that it has suddenly become so popular as backing music for shoppers. Blue Oyster Cult were never exactly mainstream and it's a song about death for chrissakes. Either someone hasn't listened to the lyrics properly or they are being ironic. I mean supermarkets do have something grim reaperish about them don't they. What next will we buying underwear accompanied by "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath or "The Lemon Song" by Led Zeppelin - "squeeze me baby, till the juice runs down my leg..."

Damien Nice

It's funny, a year ago I wasn't keen on Damien Rice - but he is one of those singers who has really grown on me. The more I listen to his albums, the more I like them. They are a powerful rollercoaster ride from heaven to hell and back again, oozing with sex, anger and sadness. He is like a modern day John Martyn, not just because of any similarity in guitar or vocal style - but because he is the only other singer whose work is so encompassing of both darkness and light.

Rice's music gets right inside of you, tearing apart your senses and putting them back together in new and unexpected ways. There are very few singer/songwriters that can make a woman want to have sex with them and bear their children - but Rice's music can have that effect on women of all ages - and that's before you've even seen him! It's all about the voice, the words, the emotion!

Recommended tracks:-

9 Crimes

Volcano

Blower's Daughter

Sleep Don't Weep

Canonball