The Cité de la Musique in Paris is a huge complex in the north-east section the capital which sits next to the Philharmonic and comprises a beautiful performance hall in which I've seen several acts including Comus, Bill Frisell and P.I.L. and a splendid museum which I visited back when it first opened in the early nineties.
À deux pas de la Philharmonie de Paris, temple de la Grande Musique, sérieuse et imposante, et à quatre pas du Zénith que Renaud a inauguré et rempli des centaines de fois, la prestigieuse Cité de la Musique consacre une belle exposition au chanteur énervant, l'occasion de retrouver son univers alors même que son activité musicale est en berne, hormis la sortie il y a quelque mois d'un single bâclé, le médiocre Corona Song.
This Friday's Playlist is a selection of Beatles songs played by other artists. Of course, these songs are given some new guises: soul, hard rock, jazz... Because a good song can be played in any style.
No real theme to this one, just ninety minutes of cool, hard rocking songs, some old, some new, most of which might have been a little overlooked. Play this one extra loud.
For some reason, Van Halen never did anything for me. It should have, in theory it should have ticked all the right boxes. But I never got them. Sure, I did enjoy some of their classics and hits the same way I enjoy Don't Stop Believin' or Too Shy. But I never went beyond that until a few years ago.
Over a month ago we shared a playlist focusing on then-recently departed producer Martin Birch and it was a big success, so here's the second instalment in our Friday's Playlists Mixing Desk Hero series. This one focuses on the legendary Bob Ezrin.
Today marks a pretty sad anniversary: it's been exactly a half century since Jimi Hendrix died. Jimi was arguably the most influential guitarist, well, ever really. His contribution to the musical lexicon is immeasurable and goes way beyond the realm of rock. His appeal also transcends generations, instruments, gender and race. Because Jimi's music didn't just break down musical walls: it broke down racial ones, social ones. Face it, Jimi's music was woke. Cross-breeding music to fight cross-burning mentalities.
Extremely sad news: one of the originators of reggae has died at the age of 77 from complications of COVID-19. This shitty virus has wreaked havoc everywhere on the planet and has already taken some beloved musicians like John Prine, Manu Dibango, Dave Greenfield of the Stranglers, Trini Lopez, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, and many more.
