Well…it’s coming. After several months of thinking, planning and procrastinating, I’ve finally managed to get the blog up. But hey, it’s totally indie, there’s a bit of music, the database part.. just needs a bit of work. Call this a pre-beta version (if there ever is such a thing). In the next few weeks, this site will probably make more sense. Until then, there’s this blog..and a nice link at the top if you guys have any stuff that you want me to include in the database (like information on bands and discographies). Yes, the title of the site is what it’s supposed to be – any relevant information that you have, shoot them over to me. In a nutshell, this site is….well, you guys should be able to figure it out as I build it. It’ll be a nice work in progress, you’ll see stuff getting better and better (hopefully!) as the days go by.
So, to anyone who’s stumbled upon this, I give you my warmest welcome 🙂 And of course what’s a site about music without the music? As part of this site’s first 100 days of being – I’ll be featuring one song a day.
What better way to start this off by a song from the aptly named Swedish band I’m From Barcelona. I first encountered this song on the Believer Magazine’s 2007 music issue. “The Painter” is a song about a street painter, caught in a moment of plight as cops descend looking for permit-less street artists to arrest. But before he flees, he dishes out a couple of wise words to passers-by – ‘Don’t give up on your dreams’. Yeah, we’ve all heard that before – though the way he sings it, in all earnest, it makes you feel that’s there’s still hope out there. (And there is! – note my enthusiasm, I just listened to the song a few minutes ago). The YouTube clip below is a live version of the song performed by probably the happiest band in the world. In their official website, they’ve actually got 29 band members listed. I’m not sure if all 29 actually go on all the tours, but the main guy Emanuel Lundgren (the one who oddly looks like Bill Hader) is their main frontman. He tries to organize the group and cue the lyrics for maximum audience participation – and it feels like everybody in the audience is part of the band: