Are you Hawaing?

Ma ‘ndo… ‘hawaii
se la banana non ce l’hai
bella hawaiana
attacchete a ’sta banana,
ma ‘ndo ‘hawaii
se la banana non ce l’hai
vieni con me
tè la farò vede’…
vengo con tè
me la farai vede’…

This morning I found myself wondering about what music could best describe the Italy we live in today. On this blog we [...]

The Bicycle and the Sewing Machine

Rome, a sultry afternoon, on a B line underground train, way to San Paolo
Background music: Sonic Youth, Tunic
dreaming, dreaming of a girl like me
hey what are you waiting for – feeding, feeding me
I feel like I’m disappearing – getting smaller every day
but I look in the mirror – I’m bigger in every way

“Yes, I’m calling [...]

Babes, Me and a Boy

Being 14 years old and ridiculously ugly, life is not a holiday. Everything is dark, even eating can be turned into something scary. Love is not an option, it is a disease. These feelings need a soundtrack. Today it is all neatly packaged as emo, and marketed as music to cut [...]

Sunny Afternoon #2

Sunny afternoons are quite common, especially during the summer, so here I am annoying you with the second chapter of my list of must-see (or absolutely-avoid) concerts for the roman summer. It already starts tonight with one of the most interesting events of the warm season: the gig of one of the best rock singers [...]

24 Hours for a Dead Soul

I come to my place. I throw the keys no matter where. I got lots of things to do.. got lots of things to do.. got lots of things to do.. but I have no time I have no time.. and, unfortunately, the time’s always enough.
I’ve got the spirit, but lose [...]

Milk-Eyed Mender

Here’s a tip for you: Joanna Newsom, The Milk-Eyed Mender.
Ok, so I know it’s not a recently released album (if I’m not mistaken, it came out in 2004), and I guess some, or even most, of you already know it, but for those of you who don’t: what are you [...]

Dub Narcotic Karaoke

Finally an interesting low-price event in Rome, I said to myself. Last Friday, at the Villaggio Globale, there was a concert of a dub reggae myth like Lee “Scratch” Perry, preceded by the cruel and surreal comedian Antonio Rezza.
I absolutely have to go there, I said to myself, just 7 euros for such an attractive [...]

Caveman in Rome #2

Nick Cave’s concert, last Sunday, reminded me that I have always been a “natural” communist. It has nothing to do with political parties and more or less fashionable political tendencies; it’s something deeper that I guess is more a form of anarchism, and it’s pursuing me since I was a little kid. So, the King’s [...]

Caveman in Rome #1

There he was, right in front of me, so close I could almost reach out and touch him. I was within a radius of 5 metres from the man I had worshipped and adored throughout my high school years; the man for whom I had planned to run away to London, [...]

Bo was a Gunslinger

Well it’s 1969 okay
All across the USA
It’s another year
For me and you
Another year
With nothing to do
1969, The Stooges

For a really long time, I knew Bo Diddley more by the covers of his songs, performed by other bands, than for his own records.