Documentations....

Life is an adventure of our own design intercepted by fate and a series of lucky and unlucky accidents...

Patti Smith appears in a black and white cinema screen with these words and haunts the audience. Steve Sebring followed Patti for the last ten years in her dream of life. She travels, re-visit her mentors, reads poetry, engages in conversations and she performs. The only thing I knew about Patti is that she is a rock icon and a poet. Watching the documentary made me realise how she influenced music but more importantly how she inspired people in her life. More than an icon she is real, genuine and an amazing human being that still has a child's soul. Watch the trailer.

Another documentary that we loved was also dedicated to music but this time it was a punk music explosion. Punks not dead is really the best documentation that I have seen about punk that refers equally to the UK punk scene and the American punk scene. The journey of punk starts in the late 70's and continues in the present time.Dynner Susan created a daring documentary that tells a tale about the forms of punk today, the commercial punk (pop-punk etc) and the underground punk scene. Famous punk bands state their diverse opinions on the past and present of punk. Some of the punk band members that appear are Subhumans, Stiff little fingers, UK Subs, G.B.H, Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins, Bad religion etc... Everyone left with a smile after viewing the documentary and we could not stop singing. Τhe image of Joey Ramone still haunts me...Watch the trailer of punks not dead.Punk is really not dead but keeps influencing the way music is performed today. Both documentations are really worth seeing regardless of your music taste.

There would be no world as we know it without music....

(art by lara fairie)

A moment captured...

Τα γενέθλια μου τα γιόρτασα το Σάββατο στον Σταυρό του Νότου όπου έπαιζε ο Φίλιππος Πλιάτσικας. Θέλω να μοιραστώ 2 σκέψεις μου από εκείνο το βράδυ. Από το μπαλκόνι παρακολουθούσα τον κόσμο κάτω που ήταν άνθρωποι μεγαλύτεροι σε ηλικία και είχαν έρθει με την οικογένεια τους. Σκεφτόμουν ότι αυτοί οι άνθρωποι δεν έχουν πάει σε κάποιο σκυλάδικο αλλά έχουν έρθει να δουν κάτι που έχει ηλεκτρικές κιθάρες και ξέρουν τους στίχους. Αυτο με έκανε να χαρώ!Το δεύτερο που με έκανε να χαίρομαι είναι ότι έπαιξαν διασκευές από Placebo, Cure και Radiohead.Πραγματικά δεν το περίμενα.Ο Πλιάτσικας και η μουσικη παρέα του τραγούδησαν πολλές διασκευές και λιγότερο Πυξ Λαξ.Ο ίδιος φαινόταν πολύ σεμνός, η παρέα του ίσως να τραγούδησε και περισσότερο απο τον ιδιο και πολλά τραγούδια απλά τα συνόδευε με την κιθάρα του.Αυτές οι σκέψεις και οι φίλοι μου που ήταν μαζί έκαναν αρνητικές εικόνες που σχετιζόταν με το μαγαζί να χαθούν.Άντε και στον Παυλίδη που θα εμφανιστεί σύντομα.

Piracy may save music...

Lately more bands are giving the opportunity to their fans to download their songs for free or to buy their cd at a smaller price like Radiohead and Charlatans.The past years the record labels and the media have struggled against piracy by using the motto " piracy kills music". As they watch the record sales dropping, they have adopted an aggressive policy towards those who download or distribute music for free.In that battle even bands participated like that would actually go to court with their fans (Lars Ulrich vs Napster).

I believe that piracy does not kill but actually saves music.The record sales have been reduced over the past years but for me the cause is not the free exchange of music.The record labels exploit their artists and the price of the cd's its really unnecessarily high. Moreover, artists due to the pressure of the record labels have started to release records that are not worth buying. They have one or two hits on their album and then the rest of the album is of a bad quality.Why then would someone want to buy their record? If a record is good then through free downloading a wider audience can listen to their music.Don't forget that its impossible to buy every cd that we like. Then if their work is decent many people will buy their record regardless if they can get it for free. They will buy it to see the artwork, to read the lyrics, to have a good quality sound and mostly to support the artist or band.

When a band is worth people will buy their album and support it. Their music will be listened by a wider audience and in that sense piracy saves music.The only thing that a band or an artist needs to do to sell is to respect their audience.

(art by honeychick)

Unconditionally....

We live our lives in the company of others that most of the times love us conditionally, help us conditionally, hang out with us conditionally. This is not necessarily bad because people need each other but it does depend on the conditions and compromises that each of us accept when forming relationships. There is no right measure I think but this really depends on each individual and each relationship. However, sometimes in our lives we learn that there is a love that can be unconditional. Someone might approach us and love us posing no terms. This love can be friendship, romance or a platonic kind of love. But it happens to be unconditional and we can either embrace it, or we can deny it and hurt the one that loves us most. Of course there is always the chance that we don't even notice something nice happening to us...

There is a song stuck in my head that was originally by Kate Bush but I prefer the Placebo version. It’s just being played over and over inside my head the past week. People can interpret the lyrics as they want and this is the beauty of art and music. For me its a bitter sweet song about overcoming life's difficulties, about switching places with a person that you care while you approach him or her unconditionally. Mostly its about all unconditional and real relationships in life....

It doesn't hurt me.
You wanna feel how it feels?
You wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me?
You wanna hear about the deal I'm making?
You be running up that hill
You and me be running up that hill

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh...

You don't want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder.
There is thunder in our hearts, baby.
So much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don't we?

(Art by pesare.)
You can listen the song in my playlist

Three minutes to live

A person wakes up in the morning as he does usually every day to prepare for work.When he goes into the bathroom he realizes that he has something like a bomb detonator embedded on his chest.He tries to remove it but he can't.In the short time left before the machine reaches the end time he has not even time to call for help.He doesn't know who to call, the police, the fire brigate or the hospital.There is just no time!He has only three minutes to live.He is desperate and he tries to call for his neighbors but there is no one there.Or maybe no one opens, the depiction of the cities isolation.

During the last minutes thoughts come in mind.Thoughts mixed with panic would come in mine.For goodbyes and things that was never said.For things that was neglected, for things not yet just lived.For regrets and things that could be different if ego was not a barrier.At this moment nothing matters but truth and ego, barriers and inhibitions sound silly.The story was depicted in the new video clip by brilliant U.N.K.L.E and this was the effect that it had on me. I think that I would remember that when ego and other inhibitions come on the way or when I simply wait for the right time to present itself.When things that are meant to be said remain untold.When there is only one time and maybe the right time never appears because of lack of time.I guess the right time is the time at any given moment.Now not later...

Watch the video burn my shadow I am sure that you will make your own reflections....That was mine...

For Allan...

The music of Mogwai is sensitive,emotional,deep and mostly acoustic.They provoke me an interplay of emotions like happiness,calmness ,sadness,solitude,nostalgia and it all depends on the state of mind that I am at the time and on the memories that might be connected with their songs.Mostly they provoke me positive emotions but a particular song and this is Cody reminds me of Allan.He lives in Glasgow and he was the reason that I first listened and loved this band.Our ways parted but every time I listen to this beautiful song I feel lucky that he was a part of my life and can only hope that he is happy and well.

You can switch off the lights and listen to this song,this is a post that breaks the boundaries of speech and wants to enter your ears and senses.




Old songs, stay till the end.
Sad songs, remind me of friends.
And the way it is, I could leave it all
And I ask myself, would you care at all...

(See the link to listen more of Mogwai)

(art by ploop)

My guitar is sleeping…

When I was 14 I bought an electric guitar. I went to a music school for a year and then I started playing on my own. I used to try to play with my guitar the music that I was listening to as my personal experiences were always followed by a soundtrack. It is difficult to learn how to play guitar by yourself and a year later I was lucky that I met a friend that loved playing guitar. We met from an advertisement as he was selling some cd’s that he had twice and we became close friends. He showed me how to play the most obscure rock bands and he made me really love my guitar.

Just before I leave Greece in order to study, I bought a black big guitar case in order to be able to move my guitar across countries. It was always difficult travelling with my guitar and all these suitcases but there were always nice people that would help me in the airport. I continued to play even though having an electric guitar an amp and plugs in a small student room was uncomfortable. Then a year later, my friend Howard bought me an acoustic guitar for my birthday. That was really unexpected as the present arrived anonymously (because he knew I could not accept it) and I discovered a year later that it came from my friend.

Then in my small room I had two guitars. I played in a project with some other friends and it was the first and last experience that I had from a recording studio. What I realized was that I could not play alone anymore as music needs to be shared with others. It was so beautiful writing songs and music in a collaboration with people that cared not so much for the instrument ability but for the messages conveyed through the lyrics.

In my last year in England I lived opposite a park. There I met a singer and guitarist from a local band that almost every day was sitting in the park playing his acoustic guitar. He invited me to play with him and we would meet every weekend if the weather was good to play. I learned more from him than I learned all my life. He used to download songs that I had never heard and he taught me how to play and sing close to my voice.

Since then I have stopped playing guitar. For me the important thing was never to be good at playing guitar or knowing techniques. The important thing was to share with someone the music, writing lyrics and sing not for a purpose but for expression. It makes me sad that I don’t feel like playing guitar now but I think the reason is that I started seeing this instrument as something that it involves other people. And the people that I loved to play with are no longer in my life as some live far away, others have moved on and for this reason my guitar is sleeping in my closet. Maybe it will wake up again in the future…

(art by jaysu)