Bluvertigo - Altre Forme di Vita
I heard this Bluvertigo track on the TV today. I had heard it before and quite liked it, I suppose because it reminds me of something from the early 80s. It’s not bad. Indeed, it is quite ‘alternative’ for Italian music.
‘Altre Forme di Vita‘ means ‘other lifeforms’ in English, by the way.
As a matter of interest, and according to the Italian Wikipedia entry on the band, Bluvertigo used to be called ‘Smokin’ cocks’. Nope, it’s not in the least bit vulgar, at least for the average Italian. It’s a leg pulling play on words based on a band member’s surname.
The band member in question is’ Andrea Fumagalli’ and ‘fuma’ means ‘he, she, it smokes’ or ‘is smoking’, and ‘gallo’ is ‘cock’ as in male chicken. ‘galli’ is ‘cocks’, hence the ‘Smokin’ cocks’ name, which almost nobody would have understood in Italy.
‘Bluvertigo‘ is much more understandable to Italian audiences - and wouldn’t cause problems should the band wish to break into the US or UK music scene.
An Italian site I found, written in almost English, does not mention this little story, so I don’t know how true it is. Could be a case of a ‘cock and bull’ story.
Here are the lyrics, should you wish to brush up your Italian, and, here is a YouTube video of the song:
Let me know what you think.
PS If if this video becomes no longer accessible, like the previous version, let me know, and I’ll see if I can dig up another on YouTube. Or, alternatively, just visit YouTube and search for Bluvertigo Altre forme di vita.
Milano Jazzin’ Festival
From the 7 July (today) until the 7 August 2008, in Milan’s Arena Civica, the Milano Jazzin Festival is to be held. Some big names are going to be there. Here is a list of some, along with the dates on which they can be seen in action:
- July 14 - Lenny Kravitz
- July 16 - Pat Metheny
- July 26 - REM
- July 28 - Paul Simon
For a complete list of the acts appearing, and there are plenty, this page from the Milano Jazzin’ Festival site will help you: Milano Jazzin’ Festival
To start things off, this evening there is Justice and LN Ripley, but the event has been sold out!
Anyway, there are plenty more acts to see, and you should be able to check ticket availability by visiting this site:
- TicketOne.it (sorry, but I could not get the English version to work) or ring 02 6269 4720 - if you can speak Italian, although they might well speak English too.
Click: Milan - Arena - to see where the venue is on my Platial map.
Concerts begin at 9:30. Have fun!
For Jan - Elisa: Almeno tu nell’universo
Jan, a long time reader of this blog, said that she likes this particular Elisa track - Almeno tu nell’universo - ‘At least you (are) in the universe’, so here it is, thanks to YouTube:
Here’s the version which another long time reader, Cristian, prefers:
soundSCAPE 2008, Pavia
One Bob Schneider, who runs Guitar Plus International, an organisation dedicated to promoting the use of guitar in chamber music, kindly wrote to me recently, mentioning something called soundScape, and said he liked this blog.
“soundSCAPE? What’s soundSCAPE (…and why is it written in a funny way?)”, I asked myself, and headed on over to the soundSCAPE Pavia website to find out.
Well, soundSCAPE is a festival all about promoting new music. It all started down in Tuscany as the Cortona Contemporary Music Festival, but now the soundSCAPE event has taken on a life of its own.
In the words of the festival’s organisers:
The 2008 festival offers performance studies and composition opportunities in flute, guitar, mandolin, piano, percussion, violin, and voice.The music of emerging composers is featured in open rehearsals, the Composition Colloquium, and in recorded performances. In turn, performers receive coaching from composers, complementing instruction in modern performance techniques from an internationally renowned faculty.
If this type of musical experience takes your fancy, then you might like to drop into the soundScape Music festival which is to be held in Pavia from the 15 to the 25 July this year. Pavia is, incidentally, only about 20 minutes from Milan by train.
To find out more, and to ask where the rehearsals and performances will be held, visit the website or write to: newmusic@soundscape-pavia.com
Also, visit the Grammy Award nominated Duo 46 website, and turn on the sound, to hear examples of the kind of music that will be featured at the soundScape Pavia event. Duo 46 is an original coupling of violin and guitar, and while putting these two instruments together may sound a little odd at first, the combination produces some lovely results. Pop over, have a listen and see what you think.
Should you wish to brush up your own musical skills, then various courses will be held during the event too. If I can find the time, I might well pay the festival a visit, camera in hand, of course.
Actually, there is a musical genre is known as soundscape, and there is even a Wikipedia entry on the subject, but the soundSCAPE festival, and its music, do not appear to be related.
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