Big Blueville - Countdown

Only 10 days left to the release of Big Blueville. 10 days to convince the world this years Easter will be nothing more than ‘two days before Big Blueville’. 10 days to 10 songs. 10 days to present those 10 beauties. One by one, day by day.
Yay!

.

track 1 (March 15, 200
Infinite Down
Picking an album opener can’t be easy. The song must get you into the record from whatever you were doing in whatever place you are.
Infinite Down is doing this in a great way. His thrifty arranged intro -piano + acoustic guitar, accompanied by Stefs voice- is comforting and the song guides you with an ‘a band in a box’-touch into Big Blueville.

Infinite Down live @ Elastiek Muziek festival 2007

.

track 2 (March 16, 200
Looking for a Friend
Hey… isn’t this?… yes, -surprise!- it’s Big black tv cat! Masked with a new title… here’s how it sounds like these day’s… (song starts at 00:43)
For those who are rather new to Zita Swoon: Back in 1993, when ZS was still known as A Beatband, ‘Big black tv cat’ was the last song on their debut EP ‘Jintro travels the word in a skirt’.

Big Black TV Cat live @ Paard van Troje, Den Haag, 24/02/2008

.

track 3 (March 17, 200
I Feel Alive in The City
I must confess. I don’t like the version you hear on Big City… the rhythm is way to slow… you can’t feel the thrill of the city in it. I should’ve felt bored in that city. Lucky enough someone else must have had the same idea… and so they turned up the speed, added some dynamics, wrote an extra verse (with some french lines)… and OMG…
Now you feel alive in that city. Now the whole world trembles. Now it’s a joyfull town.
Now I love this song!

I Feel Alive in The City live @ Paard van Troje, Den Haag, 24/02/2008

.

track 4 (March 18, 200
Je Range
A French song about the difference in the importance of ‘things’, the distinction between now and the future, about making choices.
Above I wrote about improved dynamics in I feel alive in the city. At the broader albumlevel Je Range provides  -as an oasis- the optimal dynamic.
Unfortunately, no recent videos of this song. (edit: there is one hereat 3voor12 - tnx matthijs)

Rehearsal - video taken from No Big City (2007)

.

track 5 (March 19, 200
Everything Is Not The Same
Tropical, that’s what this song is, or maybe… no, that’s not quite right, tropical is what it gets you. A kick-ass synth intro gets you off, and once the rhythm has got a grip on you there’s no way out, you will end up hot and steamy. 
(and you’ll notice the supercompensation caused by I feel alive in the city and Je Range preceding this song)

Everything is not the same live @ Rivierenhof, Deurne 24/07/2007

.

track 6 (March 20, 200
Josieanna
This song reminds me of a dutch song called Sammyby Ramses Shaffy (last year Stef sang one of his other songs at Zo is er maar één). In both songs (Sammy and Josieanna) the singer tries to convince someone to be optimistic. Whereas Shaffy’s song is cabaret-esque, Josieanna sounds like a french-flavoured ‘the sun is rising and I’m loving it’-song.
btw, I haven’t heard this song at concerts so far, did you?

+ As you can see, no video today :/

.

track 7 (March 21, 200
People Can’t Stand The Truth
Initially written for the theatre/dance project ”Plage Tattoo/Circumstances”, this song also appeared on the CD which came along with it. At concerts Stef introduces it by telling “It’s a song about a man, standing on a bridge, looking down on a highway”.
The man in the song reflects on society and is determined to win/conquer the rat race that surrounds us.

People can’t stand the truth, Tourvideo, Istanbul, Turkey (october 2007)

.

track 8 (March 22, 200
Quand Même Content
Ah, this is state of mind you’re aiming for. The world ain’t perfect but you found your balance, your way to handle that rat race, your very own choreography of life. And that’s what this song sounds like.

Again, no video today, but we do have a live recording of the song.

.

track 9 (March 23, 200
L’Opaque Paradis
I don’t know about this one (well, I do know but I don’t like to say it)…
I love this song on Big City and especially live because of the way the speed shifts and the Swahili part that takes the song to another level. In this new version those speed shifts and the Swahili lines disappeared. I miss them … the song lost it’s soul.
(I do like this video-version)
(second opinion: it’s highly possible a full throttle version of the song won’t fit Giving up th hero.)

L’opaque paradis, official video, Istanbul/Paris, Turkey/France (october 2007)

.

track 10 (March 24, 200
Giving up the Hero
This song go’s back to the Sunrise era. That soundtrack for Murnau’s silent movie was -in 1997- their first release as Zita Swoon. Like then, the song serves on Big Blueville as the records final. The piano is the major instrument in this new version, creating an atmosphere similar to the one in Infinite Down, and closes the album in a most intense en beautiful way.

Explore posts in the same categories: Zita Swoon

Tags: Big Blueville, countdown, Jintro travels the word in a skirt, Ramses Shaffy

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.