Directory of Lost Causes

The first review of the Kodagain album Letters from Quentin can be found here, along with a review of the Serbian-language Kodagain album Vranje and another project on which Kodagain guitarist Vladimir Ristic has worked, Spoon-Blinded Williams.

In case your Croatian is a bit rusty I offer some mangled Internet translations of the reviews below (although it might be easier if you just try the link, which is less garbled):



Vranje

KODAGAIN - Vranje (2009, listen to the loudest)

Naslov albuma dovoljno kaže? Album title says enough?

U vrlo kratkom periodu knjaževačka Kodagain objavila je dva albuma nakon odličnog "000" (2008, Slušaj najglasnije). In a very short period Knjaževačka Kodagain released two albums, the excellent "000" (2008, listen to the loudest). Mislim da i nema pretjerane važnosti kojim su redom objavljivani, mada se može utvrditi da je dio banda otišao u solo vode (Vladimir Ristić - Spoon Blinded Williams), ali to nikako ne znači da se band raspao. I think that there is no excessive importance which the order published, although it can be determined that a part of the gang went to the water solo (Vladimir Ristic - Spoon Blinded Williams), but this does not mean that the band broke up. Rade oni punim plućima... They work to the fullest ...

Na samom početku mora se napomenuti da je ovo prvi album Kodagain koji je otpjevan u potpunosti na srpskom jeziku, te da je ovo praktički solo rad Čombeta koji je sve pjesme sam aranžirao, otpjevao i odsvirao na električnu gitaru i klavijature uz samostalnu pomoć kibernetike. At the very beginning it must be noted that this is the first album Kodagain which is sung entirely in Serbian language, and this is practically a solo work Čombeta that I arranged all the songs, sang and played the electric guitar and keyboards with a self-help cybernetics. Još prije je Čombe kazao da nema nikakvog prevelikog tehničkog znanja, te da pjesme radi po vlastitom nahođenju, onako kako osjeća, ali ovdje se mora priznati da je pogodio na najbolji mogući način u pravi kantautorski hardcore-pop. Even before the Čombe said no too much technical knowledge, and that song is at your discretion, as it feels, but here it must be admitted that he struck the best possible way in the real kantautorski hardcore-pop. Minijaturne linije s 2-3 akorda, po običaju minimalistički posložene u vrlo kratke pjesme koje jedva da prelaze preko 2 minute opčinjavaju svojim emotivnim folk motivima i naravno, nebeskim vokalom Čombeta koji bi bez ikakvog problema mogao voditi osnovne linije nekog melodijskog vokalnog anđeoskog zbora. Miniature line with 2-3 chords, as usual minimalist arranged in a very short songs that barely exceed more than 2 minutes opčinjavaju their emotional folk motifs and, of course, heavenly vocal Čombeta that no problems could lead to the basic melodic vocal lines an angelic choir. Ne znam (ustvari znam) šta se to događa na ovoj problemima okupanoj sceni koja nagrade za vokale dijeli šakom i kapom onima koji objavljuju albume samo za velike etikete, a ovakav glas Čombeta nikada nisu čule. I do not know (really know) what is happening at this stage that problems bathed award shares vocals with his fist and cap those published albums for major labels, and this voice Čombeta never heard. To je, za kritičarski pojam najgora sramota. That is, the term kritičarski worst shame. Uostalom, sam Zdena Franjić kaže da njega kao izdavača nitko od velikih medija ne shvata ozbiljno smatrajući ga 'tamo nekim šarlatanom'. Anyway, I Zdena Franjić says it as one of the big publishers do not understand the media seriously considering it's there some charlatan.

Vratimo se na temu... Let us return to the topic ... Čombe je na ovom albumu napravio izuzetan splet vrlo kratkih inteligentnih narodnih i tradicionalnih pjesama adaptiranih u izuzetnim varijantama koje se bez ikakvih problema mogu izvoditi na najvećim pozornicama world-musica. Combi is on this album made a remarkable combination of very short-intelligent folk and traditional songs adaptiranih in exceptional variants which no problem can be run on the biggest stages in world-music. To je to - jednostavan, britak i neprikosnoveno napretenciozan Čombe u solo varijanti. That's it - simple, britak and inviolable napretenciozan Čombe the solo version. Mogao bih sad napričati cijele kobasice od teksta, ali nikakva vajda od toga. I could now napričati whole sausages from the text, but no Vajda than that. Ako do sada niste ukapirali veličinu Čombeta, sumnjam da će te i nakon ovog albuma koji je prekrasan, blago lucidan i ironičan, ovaj puta u etno pop-hardcore verziji. If you have not ukapirali size Čombeta, I doubt that you will after this album is beautiful, lucid and slightly ironic, this time in the ethno-pop-hardcore version. Legenda. Legend.

Ocjena (1-10): 8 Rating (1-10): 8

Letters from Quentin

KODAGAIN - Letters From Quentin (2009, listen to the loudest)

Nakon onih izleta u eksperimente s albumima "Speed Up" (2007) i paralelno objavljenog solo Čombetovog "Vranje" potpisanog kao Kodagain, te solo projekta gitariste Vladimir Ristića - Pekara pod nazivom Spoon Blinded Williams (album "The Dark Side Of The Spoon", 2009, Slušaj najglasnije), došlo je još jedno u nizu klasičnih Kodagain albuma. After those trips to the experiments with the album "Speed Up" (2007) and simultaneously released solo Čombetovog "Vranje" signed as Kodagain and solo project guitarist Vladimir Ristic - Bakery called Spoon Blinded Williams (album "The Dark Side Of The Spoon" 2009, listen to the loudest), there is another in a series of classic albums Kodagain. Sve je poznato - kratke i jezgrovite ritmičke i melodične pop pjesme s dva-tri akorda koje iznose uglavnom oko 2 minute (s ponekim izuzetkom od 3 ili 4 minute), te onaj poznati nebeski vokal Čombeta koji uvijek daje poseban pečat njihovoj nepretencioznoj i jednostavnoj formi. Everything is known - short and concise rhythmic and melodic pop songs with two to three chords, which amounts mostly around 2 minutes (with occasional exception of 3 or 4 minutes), and the famous heavenly vocals Čombeta who always gives a special seal their nepretencioznoj and simple form . Osim njih dvojice (Čombe je ovdje u nekolicini skladbi svirao klavijature), na albumu su još prisutni Vladislav Dopuđa Arči (double bass) i Bojan Ristić - Pekar (bubnjevi), a čitav tekstualni opus uzet je od stanovitog Quentin S. Crispa. In addition to the two (Combi is here in a few compositions played keyboards) on the album are still present Vladislav Dopuđa Arči (double bass) and Bojan Ristic - Baker (drums), and the entire text was taken from the work a certain Quentin S. Crisp. Nisam imao vremena da se pozabavim detekcijom tko je taj lik, ali uz činjenicu da je od iste osobe preuzet i omot albuma može se zaključiti da je riječ o nekome vrlo bliskom ovoj ekipi. I have not had time to address detection of who that character, but the fact that the same person taken from the album cover and it can be concluded that this is someone very close to this team.

Elem, pjesme su odreda temperamentne, uglavnom laganije s ponekim izletom u brže forme (npr. glam-rockerska "Thomas Ligotti" u pravom stilu ranih Roxy Music, te "The Iowa writters' workshop lacks yuggen" koja može parirati i pop/rock stilizaciji The Smiths), a najinteresantniji dio albuma je skladba "Kamakura" na tekst Kaneko Misuzu gdje Čombe, vjerovali ili ne, pjeva na japanskom jeziku. Elem, songs are temperamental detachment, generally lighter with occasional excursions to the faster form (eg, glam-rock-"Thomas Ligotti" in the true style of early Roxy Music, and "The Iowa writters' workshop lacks yuggen" that can counteract and pop / rock stylisation The Smiths), and the most interesting part of the album's song "Kamakura" in the text where Misuzu Kaneko Combi, believe it or not, singing in Japanese. Također vrijedi izdvojiti veoma sentimentalnu temu "Mushrooms" koja je gotovo polovica instrumentalnog karaktera. Also applies to single out a very sentimental theme "Mushrooms", which is almost half of the instrumental character. Kad su Kodagain već tako daleko otišli, od njih bi se moglo još tko zna šta dobiti u ovakvim prepoznatljivim, ali istovremeno i neuobičajenim, najjednostavnijim mogućim pop obrascima koji su često okupani sa blagom psihodeličnom atmosferom. When Kodagain has so far left, one of them could be more who knows what to get in such a recognizable, but at the same time unusual, pop the simplest possible forms that are frequently bathed with a mild psychedelic atmosphere.

Ponovno lijepo, fino i dotjerano djelo Kodagain koje se izdiže iz gomile svih onih drečavih, cviledretajućih i pekmezavih brit-pop/country/americana razmaženih ucviljenih šminkerskih albuma. Re nice, gentle and polished work Kodagain that rises from the crowd of all those drečavih, cviledretajućih and pekmezavih brit-pop/country/americana razmaženih ucviljenih šminkerskih album. Kodagain sa svakim svojim novim albumom pokazuju kako se dostojanstveno korača utabanom stazom na vješto dovitljiv, duhovit i inteligentan način. Kodagain with each of their new album shows that the dignity walking off the beaten track to skillfully clever, witty and intelligent way.

Ocjena (1-10): 7 Rating (1-10): 7

The Dark Side of the Spoon

SPOON Blinded WILLIAMS - The Dark Side Of The Spoon (2009, listen to the loudest)

Ovo je novi projekt sastav Vladimir Ristića, gitariste knjaževačke Kodagain, a potpisuje se kao Spoon Blinded Williams. This is a new project structure Vladimir Ristic, guitarist knjaževačke Kodagain and signed as a Spoon Blinded Williams. Sa njime ovdje su još učestvovali stanovita Sour Cherry Baby i Josseph Joy E, ali na omotu, a niti na njihovoj web stranici nema nikakvih podataka koje instrumente koriste. With them here are still a certain part Sour Cherry Baby and Josseph Joy E, but on the cover, nor on their website there is no data that the instruments used. Po glazbenoj konstituciji moglo bi se zaključiti da uz osnovni instrument ukulele ovdje koriste mnogo nekakvog priručnog instrumentarija (kućanske predmete, čaše, drvene palice, improvizirane zvečke i sl.), laganu potporu samplera i kompjutera, te u nekolicini brojeva bubnjeve kojima se služe u vrlo minornoj količini (bas bubanj, vodilice, okvir doboša). Music by constitution could be concluded that the main instrument used by many here ukulele priručnog of some instruments (household items, glass, wooden sticks, improvised rattles, etc.), light support sampler and computer, and drums in several numbers that are very minornoj quantity (bass drum, guides, frame drums). Kasnije mi je sam Vladimir javio da je uz ukulele koristio marakasi i nekakvu dečiju pištaljku, te da je Jože Zupan napravio ritmove na synthu za par pjesama, dok je ženski vokal Višnja Fičor. Later I am told that Vladimir the ukulele marakasi and used some sort of children's whistle, and that Jože Zupan made on synth rhythms for a couple of songs, while the female vocals Cherry Fičor.

Glazba je vrlo minijaturna kao iu slučaju Kodagain, svedena je na osnovnu melodiju koja ne prelazi izvan pop pragova, no čitav album odiše vrlo mirnom idiličnom atmosferom iz vremena ranih godina 20. Music is a miniature as well as in the case Kodagain, is reduced to the basic melody, which does not exceed the thresholds pop out, but the whole album exudes a quiet peaceful atmosphere from the time of the early years of the 20th stoljeća uokvirenu povremenim psihodeličnim i eksperimentalnim izletima. century framed occasional psychedelic and experimental excursions. Pjesme su vrlo kratke, u prosjeku negdje oko 2 minute, te nakon početnih eksperimentalnih improvizacija "I don't want to set the world on fire, take 1" (obrada E.Seller/ S.Marcus/ B.Benjamin/ E.Durhan), "Out of season grapes", lo-fi psihodelične "Oh yeah" koja djeluje kao da je proizašla nakon nekakvih čudnovatih spojeva Can, The Residents, Flossy And The Unicons, Blackout Procession, neo-folka i akustičnog komornog gothica s uvrnutim vokalom za kojeg je vrlo teško zaključiti da li je muški ili ženski, dolazi se do nekoliko vrsnijih skladbi na albumu. The songs are very short, averaging around 2 minutes, and after the initial experimental improvisation "I do not want to set the world on fire, take 1" (cover of E. Seller / S. Marcus / Benjamin B. / E. Durhan ), "Out of season grapes" lo-fi psychedelic "Oh yeah", which acts as the resulting after some kind of strange compounds, Can, The Residents, flossy And The Unicons, Blackout Procession, neo-folk and acoustic chamber with a twisted gothic vocals of which is very difficult to conclude whether it is male or female, there are several vrsnijih compositions on the album. To je "All I really want to do", vrlo kratka jednominutna obrada Bob Dylana, zatim kabaretska "Bagel Dreadel song" kao da je ponikla u vrijeme crno-bijelih filmova '20-tih godina 20.stoljeća gdje je vokal mutan i namjerno nerazgovjetan, no baš upravo zbog ovakve produkcije ne samo ova kompozicija, već i čitav album ima strahoviti starinski šlih vremena kojih se jedino prisjećamo zahvaljujući prastarim filmovima između dva svjetska rata. It is "All I really want to do, a very brief treatment of one Bob Dylan, then a cabaret" Bagel Dreadel song "as if it originated during the black-and-white films of the year '20-20th century, where the vocals intentionally blurry and indistinct but just because this production is not only the composition, but the whole album has a tremendous old šlih time which can only remember through ancient films between the two world wars. Jedan od najupečatljivijih komada je obrada Johnny Casha nazvana "Folsom spoon blues" u kome se može osjetiti suptilan spoj pop melodije, bluesa i rock svjetonazora na minimalistički obrađen način s obiljem psihodelije koja prevladava u posljednjem dijelu skladbe. One of the most impressive pieces is the treatment of Johnny Cash called "spoon Folsom Blues" in which he can feel a subtle blend of pop melodies, blues and rock into minimalist world view cultivated way with an abundance of psychedelia that prevails in the latter part of the composition. U drugoj verziji "I don't want to set the world on fire, take 2" pojavljuje se prekrasni elegičan ženski romantičan vokal Višnje Fičor kao uzet iz '20-tih i '30-tih godina 20.stoljeća kada su swing, tango i kabare imali svu draž onoga što danas otprilike nazivamo pop glazba. In the second version of "I do not want to set the world on fire, take 2" appears in the wonderful romantic elegiac female vocals Visnja Fičor as taken from the '20-'30 and the year-20th century when they swing, tango and cabaret, all the charm of what is today called about pop music. Isti ženski vokal pojavljuje se u "I only have eyes for you" (obrada A.Dubin/ H.Warren), zatim u neuobičajenom spoju duba i trip-hopa na akustičan lo-fi ukulele način kroz pjesmu "Oh Gretchin" koja je popraćena s tri ženska vokala od kojih je jedan na francuskom, a jedan na njemačkom jeziku, te u nešto temperamentnijoj "San Antonio" pred samim krajem albuma koja ima i neke elektronske elemente. The same female vocalist appears in "I only have eyes for you" (cover of A. Dubin / H. Warren), then in an unusual blend of dub and trip-hop to acoustic lo-fi ukulele way through the song "Oh Gretchin" which is accompanied by Three female vocalist of which one French and one German, and in some temperamentnijoj "San Antonio" in front of the end of the album which has some electronic elements. Skroz neobično. Totally strange.

Album ima i mnoštvo eksperimentalizacije (teme "Oh wow", "Nice work if you can get it" - obrada George Gershwina, "Hey you", "To smile", "Mamboo", "Rye yellow"), no sva ekspresija se svodi na oživljavanje starinskog duha od prije skoro stotinjak godina. The album has a lot of eksperimentalizacije (theme "Oh wow", "Nice work if you can get it" - treatment of George Gershwin, "Hey you", "That smile," Mamboo "," Rye yellow), but any expression of the tantamount to the revival of old-fashioned spirit of almost a hundred years. Kada bi se generaliziralo, uz sva namjerna škriputanja, šuškanja i cjelokupnu prikazanu glazbenu građu zasnovanu na starinskom zvuku ranih godina 20.stoljeća, biti ću slobodan navesti da je ovakvu strukturu mogao napraviti jedino vješti futurist koji je igrom slučaja mogao predvidjeti što će se u popularnoj glazbi dešavati kroz naredno stoljeće. When the generaliziralo with all deliberate škriputanja, lisp and the entire musical collection presented based on the ancient sound of the early years of the 20th century, will be free to specify that this structure could make only skilled futurist who by chance could not predict what will be popular music fare through the next century. Dakako, to nisu mogli predvidjeti niti najvještiji kompozitori tog vremena koji su otvarali nove horizonte u eksperimentalnoj, avangardnoj i electro-acoustic glazbi, pa je stoga ovaj album u određenu ruku vrlo dosjetljiv i nadasve neobičan spoj starinskog romantičnog zvuka i uglavnom klasičnih pop formacija. Of course, it could not predict or most skilled composers of the time that they opened new horizons in experimental, avant-garde and electro-acoustic music, and so this album in a hand very witty and, above all, an unusual blend of old and mostly romantic sound of classic pop formations.

Vrlo zanimljiv, po domišljatosti i kreativnosti veoma originalan i nadasve raritetan album. Very interesting, the ingenuity and creativity are very genuine and quite raritetan album.

Ocjena (1-10): 7 Rating (1-10): 7

I've just set up a photo album for images and art related to the music album Letters from Quentin.

Above is the front cover. Below is an unfinished version of the back cover, with a number of the songs and one band member missing. I hope to post more artwork (updated and finalised) there later.

Please also expect more information on the album and its musical content. Thank you.

The following is the list of songs that have resulted from my collaboration with Kodagain so far. In no particular order:

Boys and Girls
Mushrooms
Stars and Dandelions
I Approve of Sifow's Lifestyle
The Return
Magibon Is Awfully Quivering
The Death of Walt Disney
Annette Funicello
The Maestro
An Interesting Case
Kamakura
How Will I Know My Love?
I Wonder Who's Watching Me Now
Designer Vagina
Radish-Patch Rain
Sea and Seagulls
Purple Loosestrife
Princess Kaguya
The Letter
I Can't Help Smiling
You By the Bayou [Two different songs with the same lyrics]
Leonard Hatred
Tristan Disappointed
Earth, To Me You Are a Teenage Actress
Three Cherry Trees
Tao Te Ching
The Iowa Writers' Workshop Lacks Yuugen
Thomas Ligotti
Mannerisms
The Candle
The Nagai Kafu Way of Life
Nervous, Before Breakfast
My Well Known Views on the Subject
Fear of Sex
I Love You, Psycho
England and France
Creaking Gate
The Old Violin
You Are a Half [Lyrics by Justin Isis]
Short-Term Solution
Susan Tully
Now Do You Understand?
Honolulu
I Am Here With You
It's Never Going to Happen
The Beauty of Anti-Life Writing
Berlusconi Stole My Teenage Girlfriend
Do You Think I Was Born This Way?
Failures
Destroy the Diaries
David Niven
Take this Tip from Me
Quentin S. Crisp is Tired of Life
Incompetent Doctors
Pearl Harbour Newsreel
I Looked Back
Injured Ninja
Presence
People Like You
Fishes

I think that's all. I calculate that makes 60/61 songs, and counting. (60 different lyrics and 61 different songs.)

Some of the songs are featured on the Kodagain MySpace page. Sometimes new ones are added, and sometimes a song that has been featured for a while is taken away.

The song embedded in this blog post is not part of the collaboration, but comes from the Kodagain album 000.

Today I don't wish to make of my body a pin-cushion for daggers and long for the grave to obliterate the obscene embarrassment of my existence quite as much as usual, because I have received a package containing a number of Kodagain CDs (five in all), including the demos so far of the Quentin S. Crisp/Kodagain album project, Letters From Quentin. I have not felt this excited about music for years.



I have listened to the demos for Letters From Quentin on the big speakers downstairs for the first time (rather than on the computer speakers here), and I am currently lost for words as to the... I told you I was lost for words. I only think that this will be the best album ever made.



I'm going to be naughty and give you a peek at the titles of the demo songs so far, like a saucy minx lifting her skirt to show her garter. Not all of the songs here (about thirty, I think) will appear on the final album, probably, and there may even be songs as yet unwritten that do make it. Anyway, there'll probably be just over twenty songs on the album proper. Here are the titles so far:

The Letter
Purple Loose-strife
Short-Term Solution
The Iowa Writers' Workshop Lack Yuugen
Three Cherry Trees
Creaking Gate
Radish-Patch Rain
Thomas Ligotti
Tristan Disappointed
Nervous, Before Breakfast
Princess Kaguya
Annette Funicello
Mushrooms
Boys and Girls
The Candle
Mannerisms
Tao Te Ching
Sea and Seagulls
Designer Vagina
The Nagai Kafu Way of Life
Fishes
Stars and Dandelions
Leonard Hatred
Take This Tip From Me
The Old Violin
The Return
I Can't Help Smiling
You Are A Half (lyrics by Justin Isis)
Magibon Is Awfully Quivering
England and France
You By the Bayou

31 titles. I'm going to have to stop sending lyrics to Sasa, because even as it is, it's going to be agony excluding some of these songs from the album.



Anyway, after listening to this demo album, I put on one of the other albums, Diggin' Deep Ain't No Sleep. What can I say? Apart from anything else - a fantastic start with It Takes So Long To Say Goodbye, the whole song resembling a fantastically baroque and wistful yodel. The next song was A Suggestion to My Friend, Liu, a poem by Chu-i Po set to music:

There's a gleam of green in an old bottle,
There's a stir of red in the quiet stove,
There's a feeling of snow in the dusk outside --
What about a cup of wine inside?

To which I reply:

There's a brown parcel on the mat this morning,
There are CDs from Eastern Europe inside.
There's snow outside the cottage, and coal tits flurry by.
How about listenting to Kodagain for a while?

I realise making promises is the last thing I should do, so I won't, but don't be surprised if I write more about some of these CDs later.