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Blame Canada!

I must be passing through my 'Canadian' phase in music taste... Bands like Broken Social Scene, the Stars, Metric, and of course the everlasting Arcade Fire, dominate my musical preferences for the time being. I must say that these guys and gals know about innovation and especially about ROCKing!!!

This clip is dedicated to a friend who arguably believes that 'he lied about death' is the best that the Stars have to show off at the moment. And she is quite right, if I may say! Please forget the video, it's the audio that counts!

End of Censorship

Our blog is once again open for comments (after a short period of voluntary censorship). We are open (and looking forward) to your opinions and criticism - we retain the right to erase them anyway :-)

The Good, the Bad and the plain Weird (the road to Satisfaction)

On another Monday morning (we all know how difficult these are) I took comfort on Otis Redding’s masterpiece Blue (which has been re-released as a Collector’s edition). And while I was ready to post something about this musical gem, I wondered off into a cover track contained in the record, the hit-piece Satisfaction. The original was of’ course written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards back in 1965 and ever since 95 other artists have made a cover of it, from masters like Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix to duffers like Samantha Fox and Vanilla Ice. You can find the complete list of covers on SecondHandSongs but we decided to make a mega-video-posting here with our top, worst and strangest takes on this rock-and-roll piece of history.

The Good
Otis Redding

This is just a masterpiece. As much as I love originals, this version is how the song was intended to be heard.

Devo

One of the best covers ever made (of any song). Devo deconstructed the original and ended up with a kick-ass punk version that I actually love even more than the Stone’s.

The Bad
Vanilla Ice

I can’t really decide what’s worst, Vanilla’s outfit or his mockery of a song.

Britney Spears

Just when you thought she couldn’t get any worst (even worst than her acting in How I Met Your Mother). Now that I think of it, she is actually on her own league along with David Hasselhoff!!

and The Plain Weird
Cat Power

Ok, this is not that weird in general, but given the likes of Cat Power, I have no clue why she did this cover..

The Residents

A cover by the Residents, need I say more?

Surf's up, Glasvegas style

Another band from Glasgow to watch out for, Glasvegas (Glasgow-Las Vegas) are a combination or retro rockabilly and surf-rock blended with a Scottish accent. They have only released a number of singles so far, with NME praising them as the next best thing. The collection of singles I’ve heard so far are quite promising, but I’ll be waiting until mid June, when their first album is coming out. We’ll keep you informed as soon as we get our hands on their release (hopefully it will be leaked quite quickly). Until then check out their Daddy’s Gone single.

Metrics make Sundays feel good

Pure coincidence led me to stumble upon Metric this Sunday morning, a Canadian/New Yorker band whose sound can be accurately described as the Cardigans meet the Stars. All I can say is that they provide the perfect soundtrack for an enjoyable morning coffee, which is quite a lot for my standards! There are few clips on YouTube, mostly live performances, so it took me an hour to find a suitable video to post. Enjoy!

PS. Their last published album 'Grow up and Blow away' was actually recorded in 1999 but came out the shelves only last year. What injustice! Apparently, the music business needs to rely more heavily on metrics...

Gold Soundz from the past

Today has been a really lay-back-and-enjoy type of Saturday, with the sun shinning gloriously upon the whole city...what a better mood for chilling and putting some of your favorite old albums on the stereo. And this brings us to today's Tune of the Day, from the original lo-fi indie rockers Pavement. What a better soundtrack to today's weather than their first two albums Slanted & Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. Our tune comes from the latter and is accompanied by a typically ridiculous Pavement video. Enjoy..

The Bodies are Back in Web

Our favorite web-seriers-only is back!! IFC has partnered with Nerve.com and agreed to co-produce a third season of Joe Swanberg's hit Young American Bodies. Season 3 premieres on May 27th at IFC.com site and I'm certainly waiting for the 12 brand new episodes. In the meantime, all the previous episodes from the first two seasons are now also hosted in IFC.

PS. I'll be checking out the other web series of IFC soon, with a couple of them looking really promising (and another couple looking really lame).

The Covers are on Fire

I'll sound bitter and old again, but I've missed the good old days when one of the joys of going into a record shop and browsing through the endless record collection was to also glance at some of the finest pieces of art depicted on the album covers. I'll be totally honest, I didn't really live through the golden years (since I grew up at the time of CDs), but with the digital revolution taking over the music industry, I start to wonder (like many have before me), is this art form slowly disappearing? (and am I starting to sound too much like Carrie? shit..)
Fortunately, there are still some nice covers coming out (although most of us only get to see them as thumbnails in our computers or iPods). So what stirred all these memories? It was one of my previews reviews, that of The Twilight Sad. Their album (and EPs preceding it) include some magnificent covers that pay tribute to the 50's comic era. Brilliant illustrations that reflect the band's reference to adolescence and sour memories that sometimes accompany them, illustrating lyrics such as "The kids are on fire, in the bedroom" and “But this is where your arm can't go”

Bowld, Harrrd

Can't say that I've been a big fan of Will Ferrell. I have to give kudos to him though, because he finally made a movie that is at least watchable. It is also funny at times! It even made me want to post something after so much time!

That's all for now, I'll get back to the posting habit when I can find some free time during working hours. Until then, I must avoid the temptations :)

Fujiya & Miyagi taking over the Day

Today I’ve decided to dedicate both the Clip and Tune of the day to Fujiya & Miyagi. Despite their name, the group currently has three members (none of which are Japanese). The real brains behind the group are David Best and Steve Lewis (with Matt Hainsby being called in later on to replace two previous members). Their sound is indie electronic (or plain electronica) and in their last album Transparent Things back in 2006 they produced some really amazing tracks. Below, you’ll find Ankle Injuries, which has a really cool video (and thus named our Clip of the Day) and Collarbone, which got me hooked and thus named Tune of the Day (you may have heard the song before since it was used in some of Jaguar’s 2006 commercials). Just follow the beat…

Clip of the Day - Ankle Injuries

Tune of the Day - Collarbone

The Team

Athens66 started off as a common project by a bunch of friends but quickly turned into almost a personal blog (although some remains of previous posts can still be found). Currently, the Team has been narrowed down to two members, who besides being old friends and schoolmates share the same joy for Music, Movies, Alcohol and Pro Evolution sessions.

The sole purpose of this blog is to shout out whatever comes in mind about movies, music, reality, fantasy and all the rest. Nothing posted here is to be taken seriously, but then again what is? Since this blog is still quite fresh, we are definitely open to suggestions and directions (although most of them will just be ignored)

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Athens66

Blame Canada!

End of Censorship

The Good, the Bad and the plain Weird (the road to Satisfaction)

Surf's up, Glasvegas style

Metrics make Sundays feel good

Gold Soundz from the past

The Bodies are Back in Web

The Covers are on Fire

Bowld, Harrrd

Fujiya & Miyagi taking over the Day

Tune in to Athens66 @ Poplie.eu

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