Trevor just brought home the Blixa Bargeld (of Einstürzende Neubauten and Bad Seed fame -- longtime fan here of both bands) and Italian composer Teho Teardo collaboration, Still Smiling.

Dark and tender, with lyrics that cut at the core, delivered in Blixa's signature incredible, all over the map vocal style (including some of the only spoken word I can really handle) set over a string quartet and dirgy industrials, I think it may be virtually flawless.

And I'll admit, I initially balked at the price. Why do I do this to myself? This is definitely one to own on vinyl as well.

Title track:

Took the day off from my job yesterday as my friend James was visiting, and we took in San Francisco, where he is looking for a place.

Being cheap bastards with bellies full of calorific pub grub from the Phoenix and a hankering for James to really see the neighborhoods he is considering for an abode, we walked EVERYWHERE. From the Mission through the Castro to the Haight, and then over to USF where we took a bus to a Chinatown and then walked through North Beach to the BART. In the rain. And it was grand!

Also stopped in for fun at the fancy-schmancy San Francisco headquarters for Scientology. Okay, it was really so James could use the facilities and we could escape the rain for a while -- and he owes me bigtime for fending off getting a stress or personality test and not succumbing to getting my thetan on while he took his sweet time.

My impressions while I dilly-dallied around the 30 foot long display of the life of L. Ron: nice looking place, decidedly not intimidating yet strangely posh, but most important, quite warm and not wet! I'm not one for organized religion anyway, and Scientology to me is really no different from a lot of other religious organizations and their houses of worship, but I must say I did get a wee bit of a creepy vibe in there. Must be the Cruise effect.

***

I have another amendment to my best of 2007 post: I wrote a bit about Einsturzende Neubauten's 2007 album, Alles Weider Offen in regard to their unconventional (and totally rad) way of putting out their album themselves -- therefore screwing the record companies while rewarding fans with a product they had a hand in creating (this last part is so crucial to me, especially after hearing the abysmal new album from Bauhaus).

Anyway, I totally forgot to include this album in my tops for 2007! Such a good listen, harkening back to classic Neubauten. I have such immense respect for Blixa Bargeld and his effortless weaving in and out of different genres of music and spoken word. True talent!

Fantastic article on former Bad Seed, and Einstürzende Neubauten co-founder, Blixa Bargeld, who discusses the future of the music industry and Einstürzende Neubauten's rather unconventional new release.

Titled "Alles Wieder Offen" the new album was financed completely online by fans. Calling themselves the Supporters, the fans donated between 35 and 65 euros ($51-$95), which entitled them to exclusive editions of the CD, a DVD of the making of the album, access to live Webcasts of the band working in the studio and even the ability to instant message the musicians with feedback on the artistic direction of the recordings.

"I find it interesting that the new strategies of the music industry are quite obviously coming from the artists and not the record companies," says Bargeld, seated at the dining room table of his posh house in the Castro district, citing the recent choose-your-own-price-tag tactics of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. "Three or four more major acts doing this and ..."

Bargeld lets out the sound of a mock explosion, followed by a conniving grin ...

"A landslide effect will follow and this industry will, I believe, really crumble."

He's not kidding. This is the future of music, and it's working. I am giddy to witness this new era, and see artists I respect and admire at the forefront of this movement.

And Blixa Bargeld lives part-time in the Bay? Righteous.

NP: Einstürzende Neubauten, 'Weil Weil Weil' from Alles Wieder Offen