Red painted walls, smoke coming from the stage, a huge chandelier at the entrance, round tables that aren't for table dancing anymore: that's the location where I had the pleasure to attend the show of one of the most outstanding bands of the British Music scene. I'm talking about Jungle, modern soul collective from London, already acclaimed this summer at several Festivals around the globe.
Jungle's concert took place yesterday at Komplex Klub in Zurich, former Dollhouse Stripclub, a club venue that kept the original interior and the vibe of being somewhere tabooed. Lush! I love this kind of places! The show was a total sold out, and you could easily notice that by seeing people still standing in the queue outside when the guys where playing already.
The concert was opened with "Platoon", a track that made Jungle famous worldwide last year, a wonderful choice to break the ice. There were fingers snapping, people dancing, no place was more appropiate to have all those different kinds of mirror balls everywhere: the 70s were back within seconds. I'm not kidding: the best confirmation for my statement were a couple of ladies and gents, being in an age and looking like they really were present during the hippie happenings almost 45 years ago. So if they were dancing, then it means the show was good.
Jungle have oldschool Disco and Soul running through their veins, that's for sure, but what it's making them unique are the modern and psychedelic beats added in each song. You can think about Daft Punk, can hear some MGMT out of it, or even feel Jackson 5 out of it, but you'll admit at the very end that's nothing exactly comparable to Jungle's sound. If I had to give to this wonderful collective's music a Definition, I'd say modern Soul with a touch of Disco. Period.
Photo: Jungle Official
A packed Komplex Klub
Frontmen Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson, on stage with their band ("composed of friends and friends of friends"), proved to have a great control of their voices live and sounded amazingly good. They could have might interacted more with the audience, but I belong to those persons who thinks that as long an artist's performance is done right, I'd forgive them not talking. Could be the nerves, or as a human being, could be a bad day as well.
After warming up the already overheated club with songs from their only and current album like "The Heat", "Julia" or "Accelerate", the final explosion of emotions, the coronation of an evening catapulted a world I thought I missed out, was given by closing track "Busy Earnin'" and the encore with "Time".
Watch Jungle closing with "Busy Earnin'" here:
Jungle were booked as opening act for Pharrell Williams after releasing their debut album. You could imagine why: Josh and Tom's voices are a delight, their singing is very similar to Pharrell's, but, unfortunately for him, they are way better live. These band is on the right way to shine. I can't wait to see them play again! And what do we learn? Yeah, vintage inspired music will never die, because it's still the strongest one to touch People, brings generations together and it's timeless. We got the proof yesterday night.
If you missed Jungle live in Zurich yesterday, you have the Chance to experience them tonight at Les Docks in Lausanne. Get your ticket here
Rest of the world, grab your Dates here! There are Shows planned for Europe, US and Australia until March 2015
Ciao a tutti!
I have been in Milan the last time surely 7 years ago, so I it was definetly time to go again. And, oh boy, I spent one of the best weekends of this season! Being one of Italy's biggest cities, Milan belongs automatically to the epicentre of happening. There's a lot of sightseeing and culture in here, but as we know, the time on a weekend can be quite limited. So if you're planning to be in North Italy you might be glad to have some tips for a big city like Milan. So let's start this mini survival guide: Milan in 36 hours.
1. Live Central
That doesn't exactly mean to live right next to the Dome, believe me, go local! One of the best spots you could live at is the lovely Zona Tortona. Located obviously in and around Via Tortona, next to the Metro Station Porta Genova. The former industrial and working class quarter left loads of space for little alternative boutiques, traditional and trendy Restaurants. The cute canal oasis Navigli is just 10 minutes away by walk and there's a good Connection through Metro line M2 from central station, Milano Linate is the closest airport from here.
We spent our night in Milan at the Hotel Mercure Milano Solari, in a two stories room with balcony, for a fair Price of EUR 74.
2. Celebrate Food <3
My arrival in Milan was around midday, perfect for brunch. I decided to make a reservation at God Save the Food, where you can get the very best of the american (Burgers, Eggs) or the italian (classic cornetto with coffee or other sweets like cake) breakfast. Ideally accompained by one of their delicious homemade smoothies, everything tastes delicious. The restaurant offers a sitting space outside and is very bright and friendly inside. Even if it's good sized, I would reccommend a reservation for brunch on weekends.
Egg Benedict with smoked salmon
We went to Milan because of a concert. The show start was communicated for 9 pm, basically no chance to have proper dinner. But lucky us, we were in the city that invented one of the best afterwork events ever: Aperitivo! Usually starting at 6 pm until 10pm at night, almost every bar offers a buffet of warm dishes and cold appetizers that are included in the price of the first drink you'll have (around 10 EUR). Being the perfect solution for us, I opted to visit the beautiful Navigli area and go to Spritz to have our aperitivo. Spritz Navigli is perfectly located on the water, which can be very suggestive on summer nights. In our case it was pouring outside, so we had to sit inside, which wasn't bad either. Spritz offers 20 different kinds of the italian classic "Aperol Spritz", besides different cocktails, or national liquors like Sambuca. They have a huge buffet and they serve good sized drinks; definetly a must!
On our last day we decided to go more traditional and visited the very nice decorated Ristorante Boccino. Besides the nice interior, they have very attentive waiters. We were informed that they had fresh truffle avalaible, so it was clear that we were going to order dishes based on that. My friends had some beef sashimi and I had tagliatelle, both with truffle on top. They also serve mouthwatering desserts, homemade as well. We had lunch there, I would make a reservation for dinner, because of the romantic vibe of this place, I really can imagine it perfect as a packed dating spot.
If you'll find yourself travelling through Milano Centrale, you totally should enjoy some coffee, aperitivo or buy some italian food at Bistrot Centrale. A very welcoming spot into the madness of the train station. Coffee is the best start you can have for your Italian trip and their focaccia was my delight on my way home.
Admitted, in 36 hours (trip included), there's not a lot left for sightseeing. I just decided to bring my friends to the world famous Duomo, beautiful inside and outside. In Addition we had a walk with another ton of people throug Corso Vittorio Emanuele for some Shopping. If you have one more day to spend I'd reccomend for sure to visit the Scala Theatre and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele as well.
4. Spoil your Soul with Music
As I mentioned before, I went to Milan because of a concert. And yes, there I go again: Paolo Nutini. And I'm absolutely not ashamed of visiting Show #4 this year, because it's totally worth it. His voice might be one of the best of the past couple of years, and it's an everytime confirmation. Paolo's latest record, "Caustic Love", is for sure one of the most acclaimed ones of the year. Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased for this amazing Artist to be as successful as he is right now, but I miss him playing in small venues. His concert in Milan was Held at Mediolanum Forum, huge complex for approx. 15000 People, and the Show itself and the vibe in there were so great. I just hope that if he chooses Zurich as a tour destination, he'll Play in a smaller place, just to get the intimacy back that I had when I saw him in Munich in May. It gives a "smokey jazz bar athmosphere" to the whole thing, which I think fits so well to his music!
With himself joking about the bad weather ("no pioggia, no arcobaleno" - "no rain, no rainbow") he wrapped the audience easily around his little finger, by speaking italian with that charming accent.
My personal Show Highlights were for sure his single "Iron Sky" played with Chaplin's movie "The great dictator" projected on a wide screen on the back. I still could see this song in a 007 movie. A big surprise was MGMT's cover "Time to Pretend": I think the last time I've heared him singing this song was a couple of years ago. It's one of my favourite tracks ever, talking about how good we are nowadays in faking and pretending to be who we aren't, forgetting about genuine things in life like family or real friends. Funny is, I think Paolo Nutini's version has much more substance and emotion than the original performance!
The italian crowd literally freaked out, and singed the most along the second cover of the evening, which was Fred Buscaglione's "Guarda che Luna", released in 1959, declared to be one of Paolo's favourite Songs. I won't stop telling you: go to one of his Shows! I promise that it won't be the last you wanna see. Confirmation is also the double sold out at SSE Hydro in Glasgow within a couple of hours.
Paolo Nutini just released his new single "One Day" today, watch the offical Video here:
Have a listen to his MGMT Cover "Time to Pretend", here live at Paleo Festival Nyon 2010:
Paolo Nutini will be live on stage between December and January in the UK and hitting his first Australian Tour in March 2015
If there's no Nutini avalaible, I'm pretty sure you'll find loads of other concerts to visit. As I said, Milan is one of the central events spot in Italy, keep yourself informed on Vivi Milano. Buon Divertimento :)
5. Bring a second pair of shoes
I already mentioned the bad weather on the first day. It was more than bad, it was apocalyptic. I had the pleasure to walk a whole day in my (poor) wet boots. So you won't make a mistake by taking a second pair of shoes with you during the autumn and winter months :)
Thank you to these Darlings for sharing the madness
Folks! If there's any of you out there with a little passion for innovative Indie Pop, then you surely didn't miss Marina Diamandis' announcement via social media yesterday.
It was pretty clear that something will be coming soon, 'cause this greco-welsh Beauty already made public her Album release through her first single, which has the same name as the Album itself: "Froot".
"Froot" will be released on April 3rd, 2015, so in six months. If the Album is pre-ordered on Amazon, ITunes or Marina's Website, there will be a track released every month. This might makes the waiting time a bit easier, even if a lot of hardcore fans couldn't understand why it has to take so long after this announcement. In my opinion it was a great idea and I really look forward to every month's release!
Photo: Courtesy of thelineofbestfit.com
The new single seems to go back to Marina's Indie roots of her first Album, "The Family Jewels". When I listen to the music without the lyrics, I can totally hear something of "Shampain" out. Totally different was the direction of album number two, "Electra Heart", which went more in a Dance Pop direction, and made her gain popularity especially in the US. I remember her single "Primadonna" being sold like crazy also here in Switzerland. I am a fan of both babys, it's maybe because every record has songs that I feel related with. Even though "Froot" leans lightly on "The Family Jewels", it has a different vibe. Like a lot of musicians, Marina tried to fight darkness and disappointments by putting them down on lyrics, and in her case, there was a lot of dark humour in all those texts. Something that I love, just because there are plenty of passages that I would say myself! On the day that "Froot" came out, the Internet was like "there you go, another song about casual sex". And everybody was wrong. So wrong.
As she reveals in a very private interview on thelineofbestfit.com, the single is about her finally found happiness. An ode to it, basically. The whole Album will be a total new thing and will eventually catch less the sad Spirit she used to have in the last couple of years. We can't tell until we hear. She already knew that "Electra Heart" would have been a phase, "the anomaly", as she calls it in the interview. She gained a lot of Electro Pop Music fans during that period, so now it's up to them if they still wanna follow her progress or just let her fall because it could become different. After ending her "Electra Heart" tour, she disappeared for six months and didn't really see loads of People during that time. She sorted things out, and this progress and rising should be heared on "Froot". I am really excited to hear the new monthly releases and see where it takes until the full album is out. So if it goes in the single's direction, there's nothing that can go wrong. For those who don't know, Marina surely has one of the most versatile voices in the Pop Business! Also her Video appearence changed: she Looks like a futuristic Sophia Loren. A word to describe how I feel about it: Amazeballs!
"Froot" Album Cover
"I suppose still being feminine but maybe dressing in a way I didn't before. I used to be a lot louder, a lot more 'pop art', but now I'm 29 I feel different, and I want to dress differently. [...] I can't control what people think of me and what people are going to think of anything I do in the future. I think for the first time, I feel comfortable. I know I've struggled in certain parts of the past five years, as most artists do when they're starting out, and I know I'm always going to want to experiment with production and with sound so everyone had better get used to the fact I'm probably going to change with each album!" - Marina Diamandis on thelineofbestfit.com (read full interview here)
So have a listen, give her a Chance, she planned some nice things, why don't believe her?
Marina And The Diamonds
"Froot"
Release Date: April 3rd, 2015
Atlantic Records UK
