"Flaming June" by Sir Frederic Leighton

As the final essay in 2014 I would like to mention something that is very rarely described here and this is a painting. I have no idea why this blog constantly ignores art because it is a great love and inspiration for me, in the future I need to focus more on this. Several days ago some of the passengers on this current cruise mentioned a painting with a very interesting story and it intrigued me enough to search some info on Internet about, it turned out fascinating story.

"Flaming June" was painted in 1895 and represents a sleeping beauty that might have came straight from the world of classical Greece. She truly looks like one of mythical Hellenistic Goddesses caught in a dream, wrapped in a transparent dress, completely lost in a sleep. Oleander branch above her apparently symbolizes connection between sleep and death. The painting is beautiful but it seems that for some reason this kind of art fell out of fashion at certain point and it ended up unwanted and forgotten in some art gallery. Now, how can a masterpiece actually fall out fashion is a question that sounds quite paradoxical to me - could it be that world was simply overdosed in similar style of art and people had enough of it? As I understand it, that whole style called Pre-Raphaelites eventually got swept away when new artists came along and photographic attention to details (along with mythological subjects) became old hat. I happen to love mythological subjects and Pre-Raphaelites so naturally this is something completely right up my alley. Give me Avalon and long haired priestess anytime, I will worship Mother Goddess, Moon and anything pagan immediately (& gladly eat some crazy mushrooms while I'm at it). If I danced naked around Stonehenge in a previous life, I can do it again. 

Back to "Flaming June" - some seven decades later, this now-elderly lady found herself forgotten and abandoned in some gallery in Amsterdam. It was here that certain Puerto Rican politician saw it and purchased it for his own private gallery. At this point painting was considered too Victorian and old-fashion for important museums who couldn't be bothered with it, although the price for it was US $140 - so "Flaming June" ended up in Puerto Rico where she lives to this day. The couple who told me about the painting actually travelled there just to see it and once they arrived, they sat for hours in front of painting, just soaking in it. Of course I found out about it after I visited Puerto Rico, but who knows, maybe I will visit again. I visit and re-visit places around the world so often that sometimes I even don't remember where I am. But I love the story about this painting and not only its beautiful piece of art but her after-life is fascinating. I still remember how much I enjoyed London's Tate Gallery and the whole Pre-Raphaelite style appeals to me - blasphemous as this might sound, I seriously believe that some of the later artists simply wouldn't even know how to create something like this. Broad strokes and impressionism is just fine as long as its not just a end in itself - I understand that Victorian art could also be seen as contrived and deliberately delicate & decorative but I found no fault whatsoever with "Flaming June" and find her magical every time when I look at this painting. She is also very sexy, warm and erotic as well. She reminds me of work by Lawrence Alma-Tadema and all his countless mythological beauties, in fact this particular painter (previously unknown to me, Sir Frederic Leighton) have his own museum in London and I definitely have to visit that place. Its somewhere around Holland Park, which means that I probably walked around many times not knowing about it. Well, for everything there is a season, I guess. Younger me was too busy with hedonism to seriously think about art. Older, middle-aged and somewhat more attuned with myself, now I notice such things. Happy New Year to me and let's write more about art in 2015.

"Roy Orbison at the Rock House" (1961) by Roy Orbison

First chapter in a truly legendary career - Roy Orbison's "Sun Records" music might be just a prelude to greatness and step towards bigger things to come but its hard to dismiss because here is a young 25 years old rockabilly Texan emulating his idols and trying his best to catch up with the energy he admired in Elvis Presley. Though his later work is certainly more famous and yes he did hit his stride & found his voice later, this first rockabilly phase is very enjoyable for what it is - joyous music by young rocker who might still be beginner but he is great fun to listen.

Album is built around several successful singles ("Ooby Dooby" is probably best-known track here) and though those memorable high notes were still just around the corner, there is nothing wrong with this music - if anything, its charming, earnest and cheerful. Perhaps the main reason why Orbison did not immediately achieve superstardom is that there were simply so many similar guys around and Sam Phillips was way to busy with all of them to specifically groom just one single artist. As "Trying To Get To You" shows, Orbison was just fine but Presley simply had a spotlight and his later version got better attention. CD version of album brings a lot of bonus tracks and unreleased demos, the most interesting here are undubbed versions that shows that rough ideas were perhaps more energetic and to me they sound much better when uncluttered with backing vocals and echoes. 

Perhaps this is not really quintessential from the perspective of his later megastardom and music that truly catapulted him into world, but as a chapter in a rockabilly universe this is great fun. I simply love Roy Orbison and everything he did so its hard for me to be critical about him. 

"Aretha Franklin - The Queen of Soul" by Mark Bego (1989)

After suffering trough 1 204 pages of Stephen King's saga, I needed something completely different to get my mind out of his dark universe and twisted minds. So I turned my attention to well-proved genre of biographies to simply relax and read with pleasure. Oh, what a change! This book was so easy to read, so light and breezy, I actually sailed trough like swan on a swan lake, no pressure, no obligations, no countless characters whose names have to be memorised, no thousands of pages and chapters, just a pure pleasure + I love the subject and her music so it was all like a vacation.

If all seemed somehow vaguely familiar, it should be - afterwards I found out that I have actually read the first edition of this book some two decades ago   but in the meantime it was expanded, polished and new chapters were added. Whatever I found light and superficial back than, now I think its excellent - either I have changed or Mark Bego did some serious editing job so final result is definite book about Aretha Franklin, a book that covers almost every single corner and aspect of her life, at least the ones open to public. It seems that lady herself was always very reserved when it came to sharing her private life with audience and there is a long list of subjects she won't discuss with anybody - which I perfectly understand and accept. When she wrote autobiography herself, it was so vague and elusive that at the end of the day seems that other biographers like this one have far better perspective and eye for a detail - which in itself is a curiosity, it brings a question of difference between autobiography (where a person talks about his own life) and biography (where others write about it as they perceive it). Surely Mr. Bego can't possibly know more about Aretha than Aretha herself, however since she is so decidedly silent about what makes her tick, he does admirable job.

We are not talking about gossipy biography here - author shows a great deal of respect and affections for a lady, though he also does not shrink away from her colourful escapades. He (and in turn, we readers) is awed by her talent, perseverance, class and style. On the other hand he is also amused with all of Franklin's non-musical, highly publicised missteps in fashion, food and such. Although she is often thought of as haughty and arrogant, somewhere between the lines she comes across as likable, self-deprecating and often humorously toying with her image and status. If her sensitivity about the crown & throne & sceptre seems occasionally childish, well if you look back at her achievements they are actually glorious and unprecedented so she has all the rights to be proud of them. Contrary to what I expected, I ended up the book liking her actually even more than before. 

"Red Rose Speedway" (1973) by Paul McCartney

After truly abysmal and pointless album "Wild life" McCartney leaves rough-and-simple home-grown demo sound and turns to truly professional production where this time everything is wrapped in a shiny cellophane. To be honest, I actually liked simplicity of his solo debuts (1970 and 1971 albums) so this comes more as glitzy polish than some real artistic improvement. He always had a ear for a good melody and quirky sounds popping from everywhere - check "Big Barn Bed" that sounds like a Beach Boys homage to me - but besides now worn out and tired ballad "My Love" that was calculated step into what he knew mainstream audience expected of him (and it paid off) I don't hear anything so exciting here. 

It is a pleasant album that has interesting snippets of ideas all over but nothing truly memorable - perhaps I actually prefer earlier, raw and simple work done without all these gadgets and echoes. The final medley is the only thing I cared for here and is lovely, happy and bouncy piece of music where several extremely sunny melodies are interwoven together. The whole album baffles me a bit because I kind of find it pointless unless its a prelude to masterpiece that comes afterwards. Perhaps McCartney simply spread himself too thin on many occasions and never finalized his ideas to the perfect endings. 

"The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition" by Stephen King (1990)

In all honesty, three books by Stephen King in one year was a bit much. Previously I always thought that he was the only writer who has a gift to keep me intrigued from the very first page, but this novel - which is supposed to be his masterpiece - proved me wrong. Out of curiosity I sailed trough "Carrie" and "Salem's lot" but my God, "The Stand" was truly a never ending task where I actually had to put darn book aside several times and come back to it few months later, always feeling guilty for leaving it unfinished and for not enjoying it.

Sure I understand that sometimes its simply not the right moment and outside factors distract our attention but I don't think this was the case - its plain and simple sprawling and overlong novel (even in a first 1978 edition from which 400 pages were cut out and added back here) with way too many characters. I had to constantly check Wikipedia for help to remember who is who and than as I would put book aside, usually I would forget everything again. I plowed and plowed patiently trough this epic saga - which is apocalyptic fantasy more than horror - without really ever getting into it and was feeling frustrated about myself for not being able to feel King's alleged genius. And now I have finished it finally & thanks God & thanks to me and all my patience, it would be awhile before I put my hand on another Stephen King novel. 

What's it all about, Alfie? 

"The Stand" starts as virus escapes army base and destroys everybody on its path. This new day Plague not only erases society and politics but creates groups of survivors who are all drawn to two destinations, which prove to be kind of good and evil sides. Good side is led by 108 year old woman who had a prophetic gift and bad side is centered around Las Vegas and Randall Flagg who might be immortal evil demon with unnatural powers. Contrary to my usual expectations I did not feel magnetic power right from the very first page, in fact I did not feel this at all - I suffered trough the 1204 pages with hardly ever remembering who is who, characters were by far too many, I had to constantly look at the list, this was all pain in the ass. And it seems that every time King does not know what to do, he either simply kills off the characters or brings on some kind of explosion that would nicely do the job. I understand that this was supposed to be his own version of Tolkien and its all fine by me, obviously he has his own fantasy thing going on, however I did not feel excitement here but actual relief when novel was finally finished and hallelujah - Tom Cullen is the only character I will miss. 

"Angel with a Lariat" (1986) by k.d. lang and the Reclines

Completely zany, eccentric and even raucous country album that bursts with raw energy.

You know when people say they don't like country - well, it could be also because genre is so darn boxed in stereotypes but this is completely different and obviously it takes outsider from far North to bring some new energy into what is basically a worn-out, tired and grey pound. I have no idea how did Nashville establishment take this but to me it sounds almost revolutionary in its playfulness and irreverence. It has fiddles and all, as expected but album explodes with wink and nudge - as "Diet of Strange Places" and "Rose Garden" shows, K.D.Lang could easily switch to croon whenever she wished so though the rest of the collection is more madcap energy and it definitely appeals to everybody curious to hear different take on country. Here I must also add that its exactly this youthful energy, humor and rockabilly sound that I like the best - going all weepy ballads and heartbreak is for me just calculated step into boring direction that plays on acceptance. To come out with something as crazy as Monthy-Pithonesque "Watch Your Step Polka" means "hey world, here I am" and I enjoy it immensely. This is sound of young, enthusiastic musicians playing their asses off and having fun. 

As subsequent releases showed, Lang went the torch way and got heaps of awards for it. Which is just fine if you love ballads but spontaneity and energy here was never repeated. I am not sure does it mean improvement, because I happened to love celebratory and party music like "Tune Into My Wave" where she just explodes with energy and Presley himself would probably love this. It makes me wonder does success in country means whitewashing all the rough edges and everything that made artist interesting in the first place?

"Night Ride Home" (1991) by Joni Mitchell

Wonderful, mature and focused work of art that surprisingly came after a decade or so of experiments that basically cooled mainstream audience of this artist, who probably couldn't care less. Joni Mitchell blazed like some Biblical prophet once in early 1970s and her music was hugely influential in spite of being decidedly uncompromising. Hard-core fans followed her later but even with my best intentions I found that my attention slipped once she moved away from confessional to abstract - later music was perhaps brave and admirable statement but it didn't speak to my heart.

"Night Ride Home" is actually my all-time favorite Joni Mitchell album.

Everything that I always loved about her - interesting lyrics, intriguing melodies, that jazzy touches, Wayne Shorter and eye for the details - had blossomed here into confident palette that works like magic for me. That cool, cold and slightly detached voice of Delphi priestess is in fact even more expressive here than in youth, I have no problems with that. And I absolutely love how she handles what are basically strange subjects, ideas and impressions, stories about other people ("Cherokee Louise") or even weaving legit poetry (W. B. Yeats, no less) into her music. 

"The Only Joy In Town" and "Two Grey Rooms" are classic Mitchell, such brilliant songs and as I am writing this, they play in the background - they are just a part of the whole incredibly strong collection that inspired me than and still do. That album originally went unnoticed by everybody except cult followers is still a mystery to me, those Grammy awards that were heaped upon her later albums really mystify me. Subsequent albums got much media hype but I have to work hard to get into them, no such problems with this one.

"Before Midnight" (2013) by Richard Linklater

Third part of beloved trilogy comes of as a cruel hangover after dizzying heights of romantic love - passion and flame are still here but they are buried under layers of daily wear and tear, obligations, children, responsibilities. Its not that main characters changed so drastically visually - which was expected - as much as they metamorphosed into older versions of their once so young and adorable selves. Somewhere deep under these dialogues and gestures I can still recognise people from "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" who at this point know each other so well that they don't even try to lie or pretend anymore, now they know where to hurt and how to make each other laugh.

Did I enjoy it? Not nearly as first two movies.

For the first time, script felt laboured and even though I laughed occasionally (Sylvia Plath moment) seeing how once sweet love can turn sour made me wonder about the point of the third part. In fact, right after watching the movie I felt seriously depressed because it kind of destroyed my dreamy cocoon notion of a feel-good story that worked like a magic earlier. Yes, dialogues are witty, actors are charming and deep down I understand this is probably very life-like for many couples but at times I felt like watching "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?" and I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, it was like watching your parents argue. It is not a complete disaster because relationship obviously continues in spite of mutual irritation, there is lot of delicate touches in almost every scene and maybe I simply have to accept the idea that this is how it usually goes with people who share good and bad together. With all my heart trying to understand and like the movie, it left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

"Gli Anni Della Polydor 1963/1978" by Orietta Berti

Not unlike Cilla Black who is known to young audience only as a familiar TV presenter, Orietta Berti was once a successful pop singer with quite impressive record sales but today she is hardly remembered and even than the cloud of notoriety hovers over her music. You see, Berti had at certain point turned to children's songs and traditional Italian folk music - these recordings sold in huge quantities and almost erased anything that came before. When talking to my Italian friends, they all dismiss her as bad taste and something infantile. This didn't influence my curiosity as I kind of liked her albums with traditional folk so his CD Box with anthology of her decade on "Polydor" was something right up my alley. 

It turned out very enjoyable. Kids today would be shocked to find out that music in previous decades was actually based on voice and not on things like choreography and image. People loved the voices they heard on the radio and so talents like Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf and Frank Sinatra were nurtured despite the fact that they didn't do cartwheels on stage - they had voices instead. Orietta Berti was a chubby, cute girl-next-door with incredibly pretty voice and her success was based on it. Where others were perhaps more sophisticated or knowingly sexy, hers image was all about innocence and tenderness that comes across as genuine because who else but good catholic girl would record Soeur Sourire’s "Dominique-nique-nique" and get away with it. 

Over the five CDs collected here we follow Berti's work on "Polydor" and how she tentatively found her sound - if the start is little shaky & overtly romantic, later she got over covers and got herself original material by strong composers. At certain points there are really hits galore and everything becomes very enjoyable, it is extremely melodic Italian pop easy to listen and sing along - if Berti lacked rough edges and anguish so beloved by Italians today (everybody seems to purposely avoid sounding pretty) her weapon was naturally sensitive and melodic voice that works extremely well, give her strong refrain and she flies. First four CDs cover her singles and EP recordings, while CD five is complete LP album from 1976. with Gypsy music - it is very ambitious in scope, collecting songs from all over the world but is not very convincing because she sounds too darn pretty for this kind of music (paradox perhaps but it needs a bite). Who knows what Berti does today and how local audience remembers her, this anthology however serves well as a reminder of how it was once done. 

"Before Sunset" (2004) by Richard Linklater

Richard Linklater and his friends created something quite unique and made unforgettable piece of art that works as our collective memory. That it took so many years and troubles with finding finances to actually put this all together is mind-boggling because it seems that any old & tired flick with car crashes and explosions can get funds but this - masterpiece with adult people living real lives and dealing with tears and disappointment - had to wait forever. Maybe its even better this way, because the script got polished to perfection and it was obviously labour of love for everybody involved. We are not the only ones who took "Before Sunrise" to our hearts - actors themselves wrote their lines, along with Kim Krizan and director.

It is not and it can never be like "Before Sunrise" because that was unforgettable first love that happens only once, when hearts are still young and trembling. Characters are older now but we helplessly root for them, understanding what effect their chance meeting had on their lives and how it affected them. To accept that they are now different-but-still-same-inside is to accept that life changes all of us in the same way. If freshness and bloom of the first youth is forever gone, so be it, scars of time are unavoidable and look what we gained along the way. Again I found myself thinking about my own life and meetings with old loves, how shy, clumsy and full of reproach they were. 

Ethan Hawke and Julie Deply are fantastic - under her neuroses and his quiet resignation there is so much unsaid and sometimes I thought that we are following two lines of dialogues, what has been said out loud and what their gestures and eyes expressed. This is now the pure magic of cinema where we can't distinguish anymore between what is real and what is acting. I honestly don't remember when was the last time when I cared so much for movie characters. The ending is just perfect. 

The original Misirlou - Μισιρλού (Τέτος Δημητριάδης -1927)

"Shine" by Joni Mitchell

Contrary to enthusiastic reviews that welcomed this album like a masterpiece and brilliant return from self-exposed exile, I always had a gnawing feeling that its a trading of water and very sour worldview from artist who grew bitter and disillusioned with age. Sure, Joni Mitchell never was actually a bundle of joy and even in her gentle, young years she was always a serious, brainy girl who analyzed everything but there was an eye for details and poetry that worked as magic once. As she moved out of pop and towards cryptical lyrics/songs that perhaps signaled artistic growth, the aloofness and coldness towards general audience that might not even follow her in these experiments became more and more prominent. And I ask you, what is the point of art if it does not communicate with audience?

I made a mistake and actually purchased this album - with trepidation, as I couldn't really get my head around several of her recent releases. "The Night Ride Home" was honestly the last Mitchell album I actually loved. Than Grammy awards came along and media hype that confirmed lady in her own opinion that she always was a genius and to hell with audiences. Here she sings about genocide, suicide and state of the world that went down the drain in her opinion, not realizing that she sounds old and puritanical exactly as her mother once was. I listen and listen this album, constantly wondering what is wrong with me because I don't hear "artist at her poetic powers at a peak" but someone who doesn't enjoy life anymore and life is all gloom & doom. It always was, Joni, but the fact is that young artists find the beauty and inspiration in what they see around them while people who are inclined to get depressed will find darkness where others experience the sun. I seriously think that we are under illusion of "serious artistry" because of work done long in the past. Why else her old, classic albums sounds so darn wonderful even today and almost everything after 1980 is just afterthought? 

"Kad je Rock bio mlad" - continued

Part of CD Box "Kad je Rock bio mlad", "Beat Goes On vol.1" continues research trough old music archives and all those now forgotten EP and singles recordings once cherished by young, teenage audiences in & around 1960s Croatia. While CD 1 started with than-current generation of basically pop and "schlager" singers covering international hits without any pretensions to actually rebel against anyone, this CD covers second part of the 1960s where new young beat groups and earnest artists truly tried to establish themselves with original material.

It is a great idea as a statement that kids today are not as wild or rebellious as they think and every time has its own angry punks. Sure, this music has also to be understand in contest of its time and what kind of mainstream it confronted back than. It would be great to claim yes, these were truly original and fabulous rockers who swept everything away, but in reality its actually very mild and well-behaved. In all honesty, I don't think that these guys were so much different from any East European student groups and beat bands who emulated their international idols. The only difference between music here and on vol.1 is prominent guitar sound and appearance of more bands as opposite to single artists previously. If previous generation still nurtured idea of solo singers, mid-1960s showed explosion of competing bands formed seemingly overnight and 70% of them never went further than few EP recordings. Quick look at the list of artists actually prove my point, almost half of them left the music eventually and nobody survived in music business without compromises and dabbling in mainstream pop, festivals and all.

Listening this cute, nostalgic collection today I am trying to imagine how did it sound when these recordings were originally released - it was very probably very cool and wild as compared to mainstream and weepy "schlagers" that ruled the radio waves, but true spirit and bite can be heard only occasionally, with Karlo Metikoš, Tomi Savilj, "MI" and "Uragani", all of them doing covers. The rest is either sunny 1960s pop ("Bele Vrane", "Delfini") or clumsy first steps that show the best intentions marred by seriously banal lyrics. Only two girls emerged in this generation (Josipa Lisac, Alenka Pinterič) and they easily overshadowed guys with their charisma and voices - but being non-instrumentalists, they belong to category by themselves.

"Beat Goes On Vol.2"

Second part of vocal selection in CD Box "Kad je Rock bio mlad" (archive recordings from early Rock in Croatia) continues nostalgic walk trough late 1960s music. Its almost without exception very happy, sunny 1960s music that would perfectly fit into any "oldies" radio station playlist today, but it was rebellious and wild once. Some of these songs, once released on EP and singles recordings became classics in the meantime ("Osmijeh" by "Grupa 220"), others remind listeners that today's old farts were once vital and young artists. Like everything else in this Box, it would probably appeal to listeners who were there and danced to these groups on student dances once but I doubt that it would impress anybody else who is not somehow connected to it trough either language or geography. It is mainly of interest to listeners familiar with these artists who without exception later left their youthful anger behind and moved into pop.

"Doba Električara"

Judging by the sheer space Siniša Škarica gave to instrumentals in this CD Box (three our of six CDs) it is easy to get impression that his main idea was to release the retrospective of these now completely forgotten EP and singles, than just beefed it up with vocal selection as an afterthought. It is probably very interesting to older musicians and lovers of instrumentals, but it kind of looks overwhelming to casual listeners faced with 30+ titles by long-defunct bands. True, it is very interesting anthology of 1960s surf rock and to my knowledge this chapter has never been so fully covered as here but its still just a chapter that appeals really only to connoisseurs. So my main complain here is not the music - which is quite fun in small doses - but the huge quantity of it. Sure, its good and timeless, meticulously and obsessively researched from every corners of archives & private collections so it has historical reason to be released again, I guess. Its just that the whole concept of boxing this kind of music into CD format that holds so much of this music seems more like academic pedantry than real listening pleasure.

"Doba Električara Vol.2" 

More goodies from CD Box "Kad je Rock bio mlad" created by Croatia records director Siniša Škarica who was musician himself once and obviously feels a deep affection for this kind of music - he not only decided to put together this anthology of first rock recordings in Croatia but also published the book about it under the same title. Perhaps the focus on instrumentals seriously unbalanced project in a sense that giving half of the CD Box to exclusively instrumentals obscured anything else that could have been included, but this is his call and no point of criticizing guy who truly loved this project and unearthed music that was seriously forgotten. Anybody can quickly make a 1960s hits collection that covers biggest, schmaltziest  and the most bombastic from than current pop charts but only this man remembered obscure EP recordings by 1960s beat bands, who were actually not bad at all - except that most of them emulated "The Shadows".

"Doba Električara Vol.3"

Final CD with instrumentals from CD Box "Kad je Rock bio mlad" that serves as anthology of early rock recordings in Croatia - while half of the box focuses on vocal performances and all those earnest copies of international covers, the other half is all about instrumentals. What is sweet here is that guys compiled here played not only obvious pop covers but also recorded their own versions of either classical pieces or traditional folk songs dressed up in surf rock - very good. Some of these recordings are very hard to find indeed, as they come from private collections and we would probably never heard them if not for this compilation. Another curiosity is that most of these groups actually had very good singers who later became successful as solo artists, but here they were caught in a first bloom of youth where they were proving themselves as instrumentalists. "Zlatni dečaci", "Crveni Koralji", "Uragani" and "Delfini" were just some of groups that served as starting point for their singers. Its all about 1960s surf rock and retrospective ends in a very good note with several newly recorded tracks from current artists that perfectly continue the tradition.