"Pjesme Iz Prizemnih Ulica" by Zvonko Špišić (1970)

 

Shoulder to shoulder with Arsen Dedić and Hrvoje Hegedušić, Zvonko Špišić created the soundscape of homegrown chanson - each of them had to go trough slightly embarrassing pop apprenticeship before they discovered their own, distinctive voice and even though sometimes it looks as everything was fight with the windmills (going against the mainstream) their music is still lovely and timeless as ever. Dedić might have been more prolific but each of them was also quite successful as composer, Špišić for example might not have been commercial singer himself but he composed several massive hits for others ("Suza Za Zagorske Brege", "Zvona Moga Grada", "Barbara", "Dobra Veče, Uzorita", "Dalmatinska Elegija") so his music was fairly popular, even if he was not upfront himself.

This early 1970s came out at the time when Jugoton just started releasing full blown LP albums of their biggest stars - mainly artists who already had some back catalogue from 1960s and now re-recorded old songs in stereo. Interestingly, Špišić sidestepped lightweight pop from earlier singles and focused on serious repertoire, mostly composed by himself and with lyrics of people like Vesna Parun. It is a breathtakingly beautiful album, full of poetry and introspective songs, almost little music dramas with interesting characters ("Kockar", "Trešnjevačka Balada") and unforgettable images ("Vrata Ruža"). Even though he was not what you would call pop singer, these songs were often played on the radio and to some extent he represented urban sound that appealed to literate audiences who would actually visit concerts, theatres and exhibitions. I have met the man during my early years as a journalist and he was a perfect gentleman, his music still etched in my heart after all these years. Beautifully orchestrated and performed, this is the peak of our chanson. 

P.S. By some strange coincidence, I wrote this review on a day that wold have been his birthday! 

Harriet Tubman

 

Time Traveller 2

 

                                  Stephen Fitzgibbon, 17, arrested for a series of thefts. 1907.

"Simply... Dusty" by Dusty Springfield (2000)

 

Very beautiful tribute to Dusty Springfield who have passed away from cancer just a year before. Springfield was remember as the quintessential British 1960s female pop star and the point can be made that she will forever be associated with that particular decade, although - as this collection shows - her career stretches way before and after that period. It feels as there is a lots of love and affection involved into this compilation, starting from impressionistic little song "Dusty Springfield" by Blossom Dearie (who has also written songs about Lennon, etc) to a sheer spectrum of her golden years and beyond. Quite a lot of space is given to her initial false starts with groups The Lana Sisters and The Springfields which serves as example of pre-Beatles music world and makes her later solo work even more impressive - basically, once she had found her own voice, Springfield created body of work that was quite timeless.

Considering how much attention was given to her iconic 1960s looks, its interesting to note what matters the most is her music and under all that cellophane & distractions, the music was glorious. It was inspired combination of girl group sound, Phil Spector and Motown, filtered trough her particular sensibilities - by borrowing from here and there, Springfield has created her own individual style that was recognised as deeply soulful even though her voice had nothing to do with rough edged soul screamers so popular back than. If anything, Springfield was vulnerable, tender and fragile - even though she is praised as a foremost British blue eyed singer, her individual touch was soft and gentle. Surprisingly, she could easily adapt to anything thrown at her and for the most of this compilation it worked perfectly - no matter what genre or production, she had always her own idiosyncratic sound. 

With such impressive repertoire, there is hardly a misstep during 1960s but afterwards it feels as Springfield has lost the steam a bit - its as her razor-sharp instinct have suddenly deserted her and suddenly it all turns MOR - there is a noticeable loss of focus in her later career, as she was unsure does the path leads to Las Vegas or movie soundtracks. Still, the voice was always magnificent and majority of this collection is now classic. 

Photo by Evelyn Hofer.

 

Storm Eunice

 

Yesterday we were hit by the storm Eunice - in case if you wondered, the storms have names to distinguish them from each other and apparently here in Europe we do it since 2015 - names are given when meteorologists expect they will be dangerous - we were given warning in advance and everybody who is following the news knew there is extremely bad weather coming. The wind was 130 km per hour and it was quite alarming, with the trees falling down and rooftops being completely blown away. This did not come without a warning - again, I must repeat that we were told about coming storm a day before and media was constantly informing us that all the public transport will be closed, ferries, trains and planes were cancelled (though apparently some international flights continued) - at one point the whole country got NL-Alert, asking them to remain inside, and warning them that emergency phone lines were overloaded. 

With all of this, some people still felt as they must go outside and do something terribly important. As a result, four people died in accidents. Now, we knew even the time when the storm will start - that is why I did my groceries first thing in the morning, knowing that later I will have to stay indoors. I got all that I need and cancelled my romantic date (there is absolutely nothing that could not wait until next day) so when the storm arrived around 14:00 I was safely tucked inside. And still four people did not believe the news, would not listen to advice and had to go around while the trees and rooftops were falling all over the place. They didn't have to die - if only they listened, they would still be alive today - but just as with Covid, people always think they know better and in this case died from their own stupidity. Yes, stupidity. There is no other explanation or expression to describe the reaction to alarm released on national level, where despite everything that has been said, people still refuse to listen because they think they know better. I have literary 0 patience for this kind of behaviour and feel no sorry for people like these. 

Luckily for us, the storm happened on a weekend - many people have left their jobs earlier to be able to come home safely on time - but now it looks as there might be another storm coming on Monday, which will be a little difficult to avoid since people must continue with their works. I guess that in case of real emergency there might be some more alarm and everybody will go home earlier. 

"Don't Look Up" by Adam McKay (2021)

 

The comet is hurling towards planet Earth and to their surprise and despair, two astronomers find out that humanity is too preoccupied with their own little interests and social media to actually give a damn. 

I was intrigued with the premise, because apparently it was breaking all the records on Netflix and it kind of sounded interesting - tons of really big stars made it look like "Mars attacks!" which is one of my favourite movies and also brimming with celebrities - however, the similarities were just superficial because this one wasn't really a comedy. It was advertised as black comedy or satire but everything about it was a bit too disturbing to actually be genuinely funny. Yes, I chuckled a few times, specially when Leonardo DiCaprio freaks out in a children's TV show that looks like Sesame Street or basically every time Meryl Streep was hamming it up as a President of the United States (undoubtedly inspired by you-know-who) but the overall tone of the movie was so snarling that all this irony actually just depressed me. Yes, I got it, its not about the comet but about the climate change - but hammering it on so obviously made my heart sink lower and lower, until the end of the movie I was disturbed with all that selfishness, egocentrism and superficiality. Perhaps I am reading too much into something that was basically created as a comedy, but I like to think that the world around me is not so cynical - even if it is, we are the one who create our own perspective of it.

I also have to admit that I am not familiar with director Adam McKay, perhaps this is what he does: it wasn't really enjoyable, more like he was forcing a mirror into our faces. The overall impression was one of many nasty people backstabbing and smirking at each other. 

Amsterdam 1948.

 

Amsterdam 1961.

 

"West Side Story" by Steven Spielberg (2021)

 

I was thrilled to death when I heard that there will be a new version of "West Side Story" and that it will be directed by no other but Steven Spielberg - it is one of my all-time favourite musicals ever and Spielberg for me epitomises big-budgeted, glamorous and shiny Hollywood so I just couldn't understand negative reactions online by the fans of 1961. movie - people complaining that the old movie was perfect as it was and it should never be touched again. I think the main reason for this confusion is the fact that movie audiences refuse to accept remakes, while constant and perpetual remaking is the heart and soul of the theatre - live audiences are used to the re-imagining and re-direction of live plays, in fact it is welcomed and expected that each generation must bring something new and fresh to the known scripts. "West Side Story" started its life as a theatre musical and its lyricist, late Stephen Sondheim have recently said that he loves the fact that it goes on with new talents and energy. I am very familiar with the musical, since in addition to Original 1957. Broadway Cast album I also own versions by André Previn, vibraphonist Cal Tjader, Oscar Peterson and Stan Kenton Orchestra, but the very first time I was familiar with the music was trough Barbra Streisand who have extensively covered songs on her "Broadway"  albums - I have also seen it live on the theatre stage but strangely I never liked the celebrated 1961. movie; for all its hoopla, choreography and 10 Oscars I had something else in my head and imagined it far more powerfully than what was on the screen. 

The new movie was apparently finished long time ago but its premiere was perpetually postponed because of the world's epidemics - the resulting financial disappointment is something that gleeful critics never fail to point, but its not about movie or Spielberg, it is simply that audiences are staying away from the cinemas. There was a particularly nasty review in "The New Yorker" that said how "rich and famous artist spends a hundred million dollars to revive a corpse with the blood of young people" - I refused to to read it after the first sentence. And naturally there was similar backlash from a constant snowflakes complaining about everything - that this movie continued old racial stereotypes, etc - same people who complained about "Porgy & Bess" or those who wanted to destroy old movies with Bessie Smith because they didn't like what they saw. I had to wait forever (thrilled with the phenomenal trailer) because of our lockdowns and also had to keep in mind that majority of people immensely dislike musicals - when the time finally came, I went to see it by myself because I didn't want anybody to distract me with moaning and complaining. (I still remember with embarrassment how the whole cinema moaned and laughed when Streisand sang again during "Yentl" - seriously people, ever heard of musical? This is back in my homeland and people around me were absolutely dead set against musicals.) 

Dear reader, I was so excited and hypnotised with everything on the screen, that I had a smile and tears rolling down my face like idiot - from the very first opening whenThe Jets start dancing and gliding trough the streets of derelict Manhattan neighbourhood (that was to be demolished) I was completely besotted, smiling, humming and drumming with my fingers - Spielberg took the old musical and pumped everything to maximum, making everything bigger, massive, louder and better. I felt as he took ancient piece of furniture that was too long covered with the dust and polished it to perfection, gave it a new coating, made it spectacular as it should always have been. This is what I had in mind when I listened music, not skinny, fake-tan Puerto Ricans from 1961. movie. Also must mention that the newly recorded music sound brilliant. And the odd experiment of untranslated Spanish didn't bother me at all, because it made sense and everything was still easy to understand. For me this was the movie craftsmanship of the highest order and I was enjoying it immensely, specially when Tony and Maria finally meet on a dance and later sing to each other on the balcony - Spielberg played me like a violin here and I was in the movie Heaven right than and there. 

Unfortunately, its not 100% perfect - it goes a little bit too long and there were clearly some compromises done to avoid any political incorrectness. The final 30 minutes were very downbeat and even though this has nothing to do with Spielberg (basically this is the story) it felt as it was dragging on forever. At this point I even start to feel dislike for angelic Rachel Zegler (Maria) who started to get on my nerves being so one dimensional (not surprisingly, she is set to play Snowhite in upcoming Disney movie). Actually to be honest, I wasn't seriously fascinated with neither Tony nor Maria as much as I enjoyed charismatic Puerto Rican couple David Alvarez (boxer Bernardo) and Ariana DeBose (fierce Anita) who for me were real stars of the movie, but originally were just supporting characters. I must not forget Mike Faist as Riff (one of The Jets) who was constantly antagonist until in one particular moment, he breaks your heart. The original Anita (Rita Moreno) was also here and she was fine, though not terribly important - she is a small, supporting character in a movie about young people. I was also intrigued by Corey Stoll as policeman, who had enough charisma to stand up to both Jets and Sharks - when he speaks, they all stand still. I don't remember when was the last time I enjoyed musical so much - in fact I am already looking forward to go and see it again. In the cinema. 

"The War of the Worlds" by Herbert George Wells (1897)

 

"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same."

The unnamed protagonist witnesses strange spaceship landing near his home in Surrey - at the moment nobody connects this with strange explosions on Mars some time ago - while amused locals swarm the area and poke at the metal cylinder, what eventually emerges out of it are dangerous Aliens who continue to kill, burn and destroy everything on their path. Simultaneously, we follow the protagonist in Surrey (where the landing happened) and his brother in London (where initially citizens don't grasp the seriousness of situation). 

Dear reader, you might wonder why am I reading such apocalyptic novel in stressful times as these but in fact I always loved H. G. Wells, was planning to explore some more of science fiction genre, needed something gripping that would help me with pure joy of reading and - last but not least - I actually don't remember ever reading this before. There were zillion adaptations but I don't care for them, this is the real thing. And its right up my alley, since I was always annoyed with naivety so predominant during my childhood, where media praised Aliens as friendly and wise - you know, they will come and make this planet suddenly peaceful and loving - the unknown species might as well be some giant insects ready to gorge on whoever they find on planet Earth. I genuinely believe that life forms here very possibly reflect life forms somewhere out there, but in a changed size or shape - so rather than a gentle, friendly E.T or wise Yoda, I expect Aliens might come as cockroaches or octopuses. H. G. Wells shared my opinion, because his Martians are definitely not here to teach us how to be kind and wise - they suck the blood out of us and burn everything on their path. Interestingly, this is not your typical adventure novel with a heroic character winning the fight - everybody here is relatively selfish, inconsiderate or simply mad with fear. People are looting, breaking into empty houses, stealing horses and trampling each other in panicking crowds. I find it all surprisingly realistic, dark and very gripping. 

Walker Evan’s “ Girl on Fulton St.” (1929)

 

"House of Gucci" by Ridley Scott (2021)

Well, hallelujah - first cinema this year!

Because of perpetual lockdowns and restrictions nobody was able to enjoy the cinema for months (but I still continued to pay my membership, in order to support them with my pennies) and when time finally arrived, guess what, I couldn't even get the darn tickets for this, because everything was sold out in advance. I phoned several cinemas to inquire how is that possible and they told me because cinemas are basically half capacity so it all gets sold out very quickly. Eventually I managed to find place and we felt like winning the lottery.

I am still not sure were we genuinely enjoying the movie or just being so happy to be in the cinema - "House of Gucci" turned out to be very entertaining, almost a comedy, although critics were not kind to Ridley Scott because at this point his huge legacy seems to loom over everything he does: because he has created "Alien", "Blade Runner", "Thelma & Louise", "Gladiator", "Kingdom of Heaven" and "The Martian" people expect that everything he does must be a first rate masterpiece and this one is not - it is very funny, very entertaining and campy but not masterpiece. The reason for it might be in a story itself - it is a saga about notorious Gucci family and how internal intrigues, squabble, manipulation and greed eventually ousted original members out of the company (to the point that the name stays but the owners are international conglomerates). The movie could have easily be made about any of the five characters on the poster - but it loses focus and wobbles here and there, because of the moral dilemma: in the heart of this story is Patrizia Reggiani who eventually ends up in the prison for arranging the murder of her husband. This is a true life crime story and its just not possible to focus only on a murderess, no matter what explanations and motives people think she might have had. 

What happens, therefore is that the movie soars every time Reggiani (Lady Gaga) is onscreen and sinks when she is not. The rest of the Gucci men are fine (and with such cast, how can it be otherwise) but there is a huge difference when Reggiani's self-centred, sociopathic personality lit the screen and when she is off - Lady Gaga is perhaps too strong and seriously unbalances the movie. Another thing is a fake Italian accent that everybody tries to emulate: each actor has his own version of it and the results are laughable, specially considering these people are supposed to be family. So it all fairly quick turns into kind of comedy where actors are hamming it up big time and director loves it - starting with wonderful Jeremy Irons who overcooks his "sensitive aristocrat" shtick and nervously twitches upon hearing that Reggiani comes from truck driving business (and this is person who became rich by selling affordable fashion accessories, like handbags and wallets), Al Pacino who basically always plays the same intimidating rage, Salma Hayek as TV medium who milks her wealthy client and perhaps the best of all, Jared Leto as "idiot son" who is unforgettable and quite possibly the only true match for Gaga - he is deliciously nutty and so exaggerated that his turns are highlights of the movie. We were delighted with the movie and enjoyed it a lot - there is also a very interesting interview with Reggiani that you might like to check out here. And its interesting to see how the real characters looked, for example this is real Rodolfo Gucci (played by Jeremy Irons) who in his youth was quite dashing actor. 

"Iz Kajkavskih Krajeva" by Lado (1966)

 

It took me a whole lifetime to pull my head out of my ass and start paying some attention to what is actually traditional folk music - like many youngsters, I grew up idolising everything that was current trend and that logically would not be songs of my grandparents. Its a generational thing - youth has its own reasons, where music taste is often reflection of peer pressure; traditional folk music is just not part of that culture. I worshipped big, massive stadium concerts of international rock stars, thinking how impressive there were, never in a million years would it occur to me to look out for something played on old rural instruments, by some village musicians. It takes a certain awareness to  realise that pop music is manufactured product (carefully packaged to appeal to teenagers who will spend money on it) and there is so much more to music - one of the many alternatives is traditional folk.

Where newfangled "turbo folk' (hugely popular, party music) took some elements of traditional music and combined it into some mutant of Romani/Klezmer/Turkish mix, original traditional folk usually comes strictly connected to a specific area. During my childhood I was not really exposed to it so it was later in life that I started checking it out - imagine my surprise when I heard this 1966. album and discovered that it was as brilliant as celebrated Bulgarian voices - now, why on earth this type of music has absolutely 0 support at home but its renowned around the world? My guess would be because back home we associate it with rural background and everything backward that we want to sweep under the rug, you know, leave the village, come to the city, that is embarrassing past - one has to grow up, mature and look at it differently to appreciate what is uniquely part of local charm. In my case, this started to dawn on me once I left my homeland and looked back from a different perspective - suddenly I was genuinely very interested in all of it that never appealed to me before. 

Ansambl Lado is at this point venerable institution that kept the torch going on for more than 70 years - its combination of singers, dancers and musicians specialised in traditional folk music and they seriously work on keeping this fire alive - female branch Ladarice grew out of this main group - on this particular LP album they are focused on area of Zagorje which is Northern part of Croatia towards Austria. What you hear is a perfectly conducted choir but with a twist - they are village voices of full-throated singers who sound incredibly earthy, ancient, exciting, lusty and uplifting. Occasionally there is a soloist but generally its a thrilling combination of male and female voices, backed by all sorts of instruments that sometimes give music the medieval feeling. I was familiar with the phenomenon of Bulgarian voices (famous all over the world) so this hit me like a comet, genuinely powerful music that actually comes from my own backyard (and I kinda understand the lyrics, if not the context). There are several conductors involved here so my guess is that this was archival collection that highlighted their work up to this point. Magnificent. 

"Življenja Krog" by Neca Falk (2000)

Reader would be forgiven if he remembers Neca Falk mainly from her angry, rock days - though those early 1980s recordings still sound fresh and inspired, Falk had recorded lot of music before and after that. Her early steps into pop music of Slovenia are documented on compilation "Dravski Most" where smorgasbord of genres reflects what was going on trough the 1970s, while later work includes very successful excursion into children's music and some genuinely beautiful acoustic work. "Portreti" and "Življenja Krog" are twin albums that work perfectly together as a comfort music for a rainy day - they show different, gentler and reflective side of this multi-talented artist who might have been unjustly dismissed for her attention-grabbing single. 

If young Neca was angry and experimental, on these acoustic albums she tones down - in fact, they are both decidedly unconcerned with following any potential trends, therefore they actually sound timeless. On both of them she works with classical musician Jani Golob and guitarist Primož Grašič who give her music a soothing atmosphere and frame her (still surprisingly youthful) voice with lovely acoustic instruments - I might have slight preference for this particular album because it starts with haunting "Bela Pravljica" (that I know from Majda Sepe) and the title song is actually a cover of "The Circle Game" by Joni Mitchell. This actually might be my all-time favourite Neca Falk album - not only as artistic statement of mature musician, but also as something that resonates with me, where music soothes and comforts, heals and beautify. There are some days when I just need to curl up and  listen something tender.  

Time traveller from 1902.

I have just found a brilliant photo from 1902. taken possibly during arrest of certain James Williams who was caught in theft. In fact we can even trace the newspaper article describing what happened:

"LARCENY AT NORTH SHIELDS.-- James Williams, labourer, Beacon Street, was charged at North Shields yesterday with stealing a guernsey valued at 12s, the property of Robert Graham, from a shop door in Beacon Street, on the 23rd inst. Miss Appleby stated she was an assistant with Mr Graham, pawnbroker. The goods produced were from her master's, and she missed them from the shop door. -- Sergeant Proud stated that accused went into the police station on Saturday night in a state of drunkenness. He said he had stolen the guernsey produced from Mr Graham's, and he wanted to be locked up. He was detained upon a charge of drunkenness, and from inquiries witness subsequently made he charged defendant with stealing the article. He replied, "I never intended stealing it or I wouldn't have brought it here." Defendant's employer spoke on his behalf, and said that during the eight years he had been with him defendant had been entrusted with thousands of pounds and nothing had gone wrong. Defendant was dismissed, the Chairman advising him to sign the pledge."

-- Shields Daily Gazette, 26 Aug 1902, page 3."

The reason why this photo resonates with me is that Williams looks completely contemporary - he could have been just anybody from our current times, somehow transported into 1902. And the best of all, he looks completely unrepentant, like "what are you staring at?" - it is not often that in the old pictures we somehow see the characters similar to ours - most of the time people look stuck in their particular times but this man is a first class time traveller.