Good Night And Good Luck

As some of you may have noticed, this blog is no longer what it used to be. There is a very simple reason to that fact : I've met people IRL through this blog. I've met Orouni, and his buddy MiLK and Fruit Juice, and played music with them. I met other persons (don't worry, your names and addresses will be kept secret).... and I am still i touch with some of you, in NYC or Paris. 

I felt frustrated, because the old Parisian Cowboy fashion was to write about late-night drinking, bleak mornings and the whole damn stuff of having warm blood in a big city. 

I am no longer interested in that. 

I might do some new things there : David F Keller. 

It was my pleasure to read your comments. If some of you are lost in Paris, drop me a line, and we'll get some drinks. 

Cheers to the holy spirit, and so long !!!

David 

Henry Miller - "Aller retour New York"

J'ai longtemps été dubitatif sur le cas Miller. Il y a trop de clichés qui entourent son oeuvre pour que celle-ci ne paraisse pas suspecte. J'ai en outre le souvenir précis d'une jeune fille assez stupide qui lisait "Tropique du Cancer". Cela a justifié pour moi de laisser Miller là où il était.

Au hasard d'une promenade parisienne, je suis tombé sur un petit volume intitulé New York, aller-retour. J'aime bien ce titre. Ca me parlait. J'ai donc acheté ce livre et ai commencé à le lire dans le métro. C'est en fait une longue lettre adressée depuis les Etats-Unis et le transatlantique du retour à un ami de Miller.

Il y a de bons passages : lorsque il explique par exemple la présence des médicaments dans la société américaine. Mes amis américains sont tous sous prozac. Je me souviens d'armoires de pharmacie dans lesquelles il n'y avait que ça. Tous ont un psy. Cela en devient parfois risible. Un autre point marqué par Miller est la description de la mécanisation à outrance de la vie en Amérique du Nord. Là, je crois qu'il est bon. La mécanisation de la société américaine arrive même à avoir des conséquences sur la géopolitique du monde..... le Golfe, l'Afrique Australe..... Miller ne parle plus de ça et nous quittons là la littérature pour entrer dans la politique. Mais j'aime bien ce thème.

Là où Miller perd beaucoup de points, c'est lorsque il fait son expatrié américain qui critique à outrance son pays. On échappe pas à l'endroit d'où l'on vient, et je crois qu'il en fait parfois un peu trop dans ces pages.

Lauren Hoffman - Pictures Of America

"from here your land it seems so far
like a distant star
from here your ways they seem so strange

but yeah, face to face we could be friends
in another age
and yeah, face to face we could be lovers
in another age

i'll send you pictures of the view
from my window in america

i'm making tea i'm breaking bread
on a quiet day and you're
in your bed you try to sleep
but your hands are shaking

they
tell me war is justified
to forward all mankind
and peace
only comes through sacrifice
...do you think they're right?

i'll send you pictures of the view
from my window in america

my god, the television loves to say
you're my enemy
i wonder what you've ever
done to me?

cuz yeah, face to face we could be lovers
in another age
and yeah, face to face we could be friends

i'll send you pictures of the view
from my window in america"

Mascha Kaléko - Die paar leuchtenden Jahre

I was in Berlin not so long ago. I've posted photos about the three weeks I spent there. I love Berlin. I've been there as a kid. I've kissed my very first girl in this city and I can tell you this means something to me.

I've always been fascinated by Berlin. It's right in the middle of Eastern Europe and the West. It's the only place I know where you can find old USSR clothing and valuable banjos and mandolins brought there by soldiers of the US Force after WWII.

I've been very happy in Berlin. I was once in love there. I've been drinking beers, reading in public parks. I've dated an Australian girl who an accent so thick I could not get a word of what she said. These were happy days...

This might be the reason why I admire the poetess Mascha Kaléko so much. She was born on june 7, 1907 in a part of what was then the Austrian Empire and is now Poland. She had to flee to Berlin.

There she wrote some of the most beautiful poems of European XXth century poetry. She wrote about sleepness nights in a hot city, about lovers parting in a grey and sad morning, about waking up at 7 am to go to an office. This is pretty much a thing called life. If you're not moved by that my friend, then you have some cold blood in your veins and I am so sorry for you.

Kaléko was jewish.... after the nazis came to power, she had to move and ended up in NYC.

Ironically enough, it seems I'll never managed to get free from NYC. Even reading a German poetess in her own language drags me back to the banks of the East River. I've realized there is no escape, so I am taking this rather lightly. Kaléko lived in NYC somewhere in Manhattan, I think she lived on the Upper West Side, somewhere near W. 85th St.

Kaléko embodies the 1930's in Central Europe. She is a daughter of a sad and violent era. Howewer, she was not cynical.

That's the major difference between her generation and mine.

Red State Update - Budweiser bought by foreigners

Martin M-21 Steve Earle Custom

I have to admit that I am not an acoustic guitar enthusiast. I’ve learned to play the 6-string axe in 1997 on a heavy-metal guitar while I was playing drums in an indie-rock band. It took some time, but I eventually came to folk music (as I was raised mostly in Canada, that music was the soundtrack of my childhood). I’ve been listening to some artists for years now (especially Townes Van Zandt, Gillian Welch and Johnny Cash) and this music is a part of me.

A couple of years ago, I’ve discovered Steve Earle’s music. Though I was familiar with country and honky-tonk singers, - and strange as it may seem – I had not heard of Earle. I am now a huge fan of his music. I’ve seen him live in Paris, I bought some collectors and goodies in the US.

Through Earle, I became a customer at what is possibly the damn’ best guitar shop in Manhattan : Matt Umanov, right on Bleecker Street. When I was younger, I used to go to Chelsea Guitars, on West 30th ST, or Guitar Center (is it on 14th ST ?) or to one of those megastores on West 48th. The last time I was in NYC, I went to Umanov, and I saw beautiful instruments there. I wanted to write a entire post devoted to NYC guitar shops, but I am too lazy. I hope I’ll get the chance to do it in the future.

What is the link between Earle and Umanov ? That’s easy, brother. Earle teamed with Umanov to create a brand new acoustic guitar……. the Martin M-21 Steve Earle Custom. It’s a M body style, which combines jumbo (0000) size with 000 depth. Umanov was actually famous a couple of decades earlier when he customed some guitars for professional musicians. This time, he helped Earle and the Martin team to design a guitar that was powerful and clear, but smaller in size as the big jumbo guitars such as the Gibson J-200.

I’ll be back in NYC soon, and even though I’m not the king of guy to buy a signature guitar, I think I’ll try to bang a few chords on that one.

Live from Austin, TX, pt 2

I'm not sure where I stand on Neko case. She sure is someone. Howewer, I was always a bit suspicious about her. Now that I've listened to her performance on the Austin City Limits festival I kind of like her. She has some kind of wonderful records'title (Furnace Room Lullabye) and her hit Hold On Hold On.

I think the Live in Austin, TX is a good introduction to her work. I'm writing this because I'm not that familiar with her other records but I think I'll take the time to listen....

Have a fine sunday. Rainy here in Paris.