In his debut album “To Ever Be Made Whole”, Grey tries to explore the inner processes that entail self discovery and emotional maturity. Catharsis and an emotional bloodletting that center around meditative vocals help “To Ever Be Made Whole” achieve an honesty that many singers fail to achieve today.

Grey follows the tradition of Tori Amos and other deeply confessional singers who explore their own archetypes through the music they happen to write. Cinders, Last Days and Phoenix are some of the most significant tracks on this album while other tracks have a melancholic touch of their own. He cites 80s musicians and bands like Cyndi Lauper, Howard Jones and Aha as his inspirations. Grey’s music is piano inspired and it is easy to understand why he likes Loreena Mckennitt, Duncan Sheik, Kate Bush and Suzanne Vega.

He not only had to face a lot of adversities during the making of his album but he also experienced an alchemist’s dilemma of conflicting self worth and self discovery, journeys which certainly weren’t easy for him to make. To Ever Be Made Whole is a fresh-sounding piano influenced album that defies categorization based on genres. It certainly borrows from alternative rock, folk and meditative music but has a character of its own that is difficult to pinpoint.

To Ever Be Made Whole can be purchased at iTunes, BandCamp and CDbaby.

Naruto, without a shadow of doubt, is the greatest Manga today. Naruto was created by Masashi Kishimoto, and is published in Shonen Jump since 1999. The protagonist, Uzumaki Naruto, is an orphaned boy who struggles to be recognized by his peers for his village (Konoha) as a ninja and wants to become the Hokage – the military leader of his country. In 2002, it received an anime adaptation.

The fact that a Kyuubi was sealed in him (a form of demon of nine tails known as Bijuu. Previously it was understood that there were nine demons which were called depending on the number of tails they possessed: the numbers go from 1 to 9), makes people fear and hate him. People who have a demon sealed in them are called Jinchuuriki. In this sense, his life is a constant battle to prove his best for himself and for everyone else.

His importance and value are gradually recognized during his battles with the members of his own village (like Neji) and external enemies such as Gaara (another Jinchuuriki from a different village). In both the cases he ends up becoming friends with the former adversaries. His biggest disappointment was losing his childhood friend Uchiha Sasuke, who sought more power with an enemy of Konoha named Orochimaru. Naruto then promises that will do anything to bring his friend back to Sakura, his partner of Team 7, which he belongs along with their sensei Kakashi.

This task proves to be more complicated than he thought as Sasuke increasingly chose an evil path to follow. Sasuke’s family was murdered by his own elder brother, Uchiha Itachi, who was the motivation for Sasuke quest for more power: he wanted to kill his brother. However, it is later revealed that Itachi was only following orders from Danzou, a kind of obscure military leader who wanted to protect Konoha from an attack of the Uchiha clan.

Over time, an organization called Akatsuki is revealed, which is formed by powerful ninjas who hunt jinchuurikis (including Naruto) around the world for no apparent reason. It is later revealed that this organization “draws” the bijuu from their hosts sealing the demons in a giant statue. The then apparent leader of this organization, Pain (Nagato is his real name), says he wants to seek world peace, using a brute force with which the world can live on without wars. In a confrontation with Naruto, Nagato is convinced that he could be a new option in obtaining world peace.

Very soon, it is revealed that the real leader of Akatsuki is a man named Tobi (pretending to be Uchiha Madara). Tobi’s goal is to unite all bijuu to form a new ten-tails bijuu called Juubi. He intends to use this power to create a creature  an infinity Tsukiyomi (a form of genjutsu – ability to control the mind of others) which will be able to influence people all over the planet, eliminating the wills and desires of humanity. According to Tobi, this is the only way to establish real peace in the world.

There is then a World War in the universe of Naruto: all countries against Akatsuki and although many questions aren’t answered, what is important is the fighting spirit of Naruto. He does not want mankind to be controlled by force the way he was largely influenced by his senseis (Kakashi and Jiraiya) and heroes (like his father, the Fourth Hokage). Naruto believes that through diplomacy and dialogue, peaceful relations can be established between countries. He wants to become a hero who is recognized as someone who brought world peace by addressing issues in a civilized manner when possible.

Not that Naruto is a pacifist born, because as has been demonstrated several times in the manga that the only option was to fight for it. However, he has an ideology that transcends the need for violence. Overcoming violence is his goal, without having to control or manipulate people so that there is freedom and peaceful coexistence. The allegory of Naruto is to strive for peaceful coexistence with others through diplomacy and dialogue and possess the willpower to achieve our goals. Being a warrior does not always mean attending meetings or wars, but the ability to make new allies on the basis of diplomacy and dialogue.

Doesn’t the world need a little bit of that?

Machado de Assis was born poor, but that did not stop him from achieving glory during his lifetime. Even though he hardly ever attended schools or universities, Machado stood out from the rest thanks to his enormous intellectual capacity. He held various public offices and managed notoriety writing for newspapers, which published his chronicles and poetry.

Although the beginning of his literary work had a strong influence of Romanticism, his work soon became the name of the main Brazilian Realism. The “realistic” style  sought not only to entertain readers, but divert their attention to the problems that faced society.

In this sense, Machado de Assis surpassed even the ‘realistic’ style of writing. With his nine novels and plays, in addition to 200 stories (he was also a poet, but the quality of his poetry can not be compared to the quality of his novels), he was able to influence an entire generation through his acrid comments and coldly analytical vision of reality. His remarks on the personality of his characters, full of coldness and cynicism, extrapolated everything that any other writer had done so far. This is one of the highlights in his works, together with a description of nineteenth century Rio de Janeiro.

Three of his works are highly acknowledged: “Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas”, “Dom Casmurro (Lord Taciturn)” and “Quincas Borba.” They form a “trilogy” of Machado de Assis. An interesting and essential factor that should be noted in these three major literary works is the fact that there is a love triangle in all of them.

 A brief presentation of the main works of Machado de Assis

Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas

“The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas” is a unparalleled novel in Brazilian Literature. Controversial when it was released, the novel gradually won public sympathy.

What causes controversy in this work is the fact that it does not have a linear narrative: the narrator begins to tell his story during his funeral. It is an autobiography narrated in the first person and topics such as slavery, the relationship of social classes, adultery and positivism are themes that are explored by the narrator.

Brás Cubas is both the hero and the villain of the story (comments on the other characters range from pure cynicism to black humor). Another factor that should be mentioned is that the work is fragmented, breaking the patterns of the realistic style in vogue at the time and is considered the first great narrative of Brazil.

  Dom Casmurro (Lord Taciturn)

“Dom Casmurro” is also narrated in first person by Bento Santiago (the protagonist) and is a true classic of Brazilian literature.

It is considered by many as the supreme work of Machado de Assis and was interpreted by various forms of knowledge: Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis. The interpretations of this work has changed over the years due to the author’s storytelling ability, which is timeless.

Bento Santiago (or as it’s called in the book “Bento”) tells the story of his marriage to Capitu, making an analysis of social relations in Rio de Janeiro during the Empire. The problem begins when Bentinho begins to believe that his wife had an affair with Escobar (his best friend). Suspicions increase as his son looks a lot like Escobar and also the way Capitu reacts at the funeral of Escobar.

In this sense, one can say that there is a certain intertextuality with “Othello” by Shakespeare. The fixation with Capitu’s possible adultery begins to dominate the character to the point that he “ignores” the death of his own son.

“Dom Casmurro” is considered one of the most important and influential books of the Portuguese Language.

Quincas Borba

“Quincas Borba” is a curiosity. The name of the book is not the name of the protagonist, but that of a hypothetical philosopher named Quincas Borba and his dog.

Rubião Pedro de Alvarenga, or simply Rubião, receives an inheritance of the philosopher and decides to move to Rio de Janeiro. There, he meets Cristiano Almeida e Palha and his wife Sofia. Rubião, who was naive, ends up being manipulated by the couple and also falls for Sofia. Rubião declares his love for Sofia who does not like it and complains to her husband, but Cristiano ignores his wife because he wanted to appropriate the wealth of Rubião. The unrequited love eventually leads the protagonist to madness.

In this book there is a parody of scientism, criticizing the positivist thinking of the time. Sociologically speaking, this book allows the analysis of various aspects of the human condition.

Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War, it has all the plots and subplots that make Hollywood movies appealing to the mainstream. It has the bombs, the violence, romance, special effects and a great cast that would encourage mainstream moviegoers to watch it. It also has the Bosnian War itself, as a storyline which is not very mainstream and even if it were so, it would rustle feathers in communities, which are linked to the war. Those who remain blind to what happened during the years of Balkan bloodletting may find In the Land of Blood and Honey yet another intriguing war movie, which would successfully arouse devious emotions that have been explored in other mainstream war movies as well.

The fact that Angelina Jolie has attempted to use the Bosnian War as a theme makes many curious as to what the reactions of those involved in the actual war would be. The hunters and the hunted of the Balkan Wars of 1990s shall feel genuine reawakening of emotions that are still rather fresh in memory. It hasn’t been long after the last couple of bones were found in a desolate grave in the beautiful mountains of Bosnia. These bones are rather young, and if their owners were not murdered and killed, the bones would still have carried the weights of living people, some of whom would still be in their teenage years.

Angelina promises that though the movie uses the done-to-death Stockholm syndrome plot, it has something to offer to everyone, and will offer a wide landscape to explore the possible effects of war on human relationships and behaviour. She admits that it is a complex plot, made more complex by the reality of the theme which is bloody, disturbing and full of wounds that are still not healed. Tragic as it is, movies that explore the effects of Balkan War on the people of former Yugoslavian people have mostly been critically acclaimed, and managed to rustle emotions of people who were involved in the wars, or those who passively or actively participated in it, and endured it. These are the very people who have seen their lives being destroyed right in front of their eyes, and these are also the very same people whose memories are scarred with the sounds of gunfire, of screams of rape victims, and of people dying. The rest of the people either saw these movies as ‘just another war movie’ or worse, ‘amazing movies with great special effects’.

Jolie who has worked closely with the people of the Balkan region and the victims of Bosnian War has the luxury of personal experience with her film theme, celebrity status, financial strength and access to technology and marketing. This undoubtedly gives her an edge over other big names in Hollywood, who might have all the above correlates but for personal experience. In the Land of Blood and Honey will pique those stuck in the cycles of conflict and hatred, arouse the interest of film critics and grab the attention of mainstream audience.

Bosnian writer Ivo Andric had captured the Balkan mood quite prophetically in his short story ‘Letter from the Year 1920‘. The first-person narrator of the story reflects on the nature of human hatred which is seen as a correlate of fear and the driving force behind wars, particularly in the Balkan region.

The story is rather ironic in nature for the fear experienced by the Jewish doctor towards Bosnia and its feuding peoples made him leave his beloved country, for he was repulsed by the organic hatred which surrounded him. Eventually, hatred of other people takes his life, when he mortally wounded while treating his patients in Spain. Hatred, Ivo Andric felt, would consume those who hated it, and also those who loved it. Ivo Andric described his own understanding of wars, religious violence and hatred in the Balkans, and centuries of suspicion and take-it-for-granted sort of hatred, which according to him, gave the people of Balkans a purpose to live.

The Balkan region has curiously been a microcosm of human culture itself, for it has been the scene of all the hatred, love, prosperity and devastation that humankind has ever known. Prophet that he was, the hatred that he describes Letter from the Year 1920 convulsed the Balkan region again during the 1990s. This time, the hatred was acted upon as revenge by those who were blinded by their state of victimization. Thus, the victims of yesteryears become the perpetrators of today, and the victims of today would perpetrate atrocities against victims of tomorrow.

A part of this dark tale of hunters and the hunted will now be captured on the celluloid by Angelina Jolie in her movie which shall explore the relationship between the female, Muslim and Bosnian protagonist and her Serbian, male captor who eventually becomes her lover. Caught in the cycle of hatred as they both are, they make for a wonderful storyline that will entertain the audience across the world. The tragedy however is movies that have themes of recent wars usually entertain the larger audience, and remain a topic of discussion for a few weeks or months. The real wounds are either aggravated, or healing wounds are scratched again to bleed a bit here and a bit there. What is not tragic is that both big and low budget movies provide landscapes for people to study human behaviour, and how many of our thoughts and actions have been thought and acted by generations of people, and will continue to be.

Electronic music was dead, you thought. Well, all that one thinks needn’t be true, and just because they are not visible on the top radio stations or on the hit lists does not mean they have their takers. In fact, electronic music, electroclash & seedier versions of electroclash like electroporn, electrocrap etc have continued to be popular in spite of Peaches’ mainstream decline, not that she is the only ambassador for the genre. In an age where artists are expected and implored to be politically correct to suit the tastes of a bland mass audience, electroclash, electroporn and other sub-genres of electronic music are surprisingly popular, if one just looked around.

Garbage for instance was one of the most famous alternative rock bands to experiment with electronic noises, and sounds. That inspired several musicians to try their own versions of electronic music, and Junksista is a promising band in this genre. Hailing from a small town in Southern Germany, Junksista (the lead singer goes by this stagename, apart from Junksista being the band’s name)  grew up listening to Garbage and was heavily influenced by their electronic beats and bass guitar riffs. A stylish electro-porn sound, sexually explicit lyrics, heavy bass and synthesizers and a sprechgesang lyrical style have ensured that Junksista will grab the attention of those who love electronic music.

Grab attention, she surely did. With their first EP ‘Click Me’ and with the album ‘Cunt Rock’, Junksista has got quite a cult following of her own, and she works with her long time friend, band-mate and producer, Boog. Boog is not only the producer of the band Junksista, but also helps with fine tuning music, and plays the guitar. “Gaywhorebourhood,” inspired by a weekend trip in Amsterdam could just be one of the most popular tracks by Junksista so far, and is reminiscent of kinky people dancing away in gay clubs dressed in tight rubber, PVC and collars. Junksista does not like to carry the baggage of writing about how life sucks, or how life is unfair. While she acknowledges that life can be truly unfair through her dark guitar riffs and industrial beats, she also makes music fun with pornographic lyrics.

Perhaps, electroclash can bring porn and music together, and finally give them both a space they deserve in the realm of art. At the basis of every song is ridiculous humour, and a tendency to ‘not care about anything’.

In this interview, Junksista, aka Diana S. reveals her plans to take over the world, make the next album, her views on electronic music and music industry in general, and how badly she wants to perform live at a Garbage concert.

JC: Much of your music is heavily influenced by Peaches’ version of Elctroclash, and Garbage’s version of sophisticated and stylish electronic music. With Garbage’s new album coming up, we are not really sure what the sound is going to be. However, one could say that electronic music is dwarfed in popularity when compared with other dance music genres that are currently popular. Do you see that your style of music could revive electronica?

Junksista: Obviously I´d love it if we could revive electronic! Haha, wish us good luck with that! Yeah dance is everywhere! I mean even RnB artists converted to dance music…WTF? It seems to be the best way to sell music these days. That explains why all these recent dance songs sound, like they were cooked according to the same recipe. And it will be going on until someone brave comes along with something new and then everyone else will copy it. I think there still is really great electronic music out there. You just won’t find much of it in the charts and on the radio.

JC: How relevant are musical trends to you, especially when you are growing as a musician? It goes without saying that the journey uphill can be nerve-wracking and difficult, to say the least.

Junksista: I don’t give a flying fuck about trends.

JC: Many 90s musicians have begun to produce and record music on their own. This is mostly because the mainstream record companies find it difficult to market what they consider isn’t popular. Would you ever ‘tone’ down your style of music to make it more appealing to the larger market? An album name like ‘Cunt Rock’ definitely would attract the bashers.

Junksista: I don’t know if that would help to reach a larger market. If we tone down our music, won’t it be more random then and drown in this ocean of random music out there? So far our experience is, that we’re reaching exactly the kind of people we wanna reach. Just not enough of them so far!

JC: The kinky and explicit lyrics are honest, and straight from the heart. Was it difficult for you to be yourself, and did you meet resistance from the mainstream groups?

Junksista: I don’t think the lyrics are straight from the heart – they are straight from somewhere else, if you know what I mean! Haha!
The thing is – I am having fun writing those lyrics. I rarely feel like writing deep and meaningful stuff – leave alone political content.
Life is unfair and love is a bitch, at least music should be fun!

JC: Describe an incident that made you more skeptical about the way things are, in the music industry.

Junksista: I could write a lot about this, but basically it comes down to this: right now we are spammed with so much trashy, unoriginal music and it’s a result of the fact that the music industry doesn’t care if something is original or artistic. They consider artists and music as a productand rate it by how well it can be sold. It’s a shame that many talented artists are starving out there cuz they simply can’t find a way to reach a larger audience.

JC: Your musical and lyrical style could make you an alternative gay icon almost immediately. Do you think electroporn/electroclash music would find popularity among the mainstream? If it did, would it defeat the purpose of being ‘alternative’?

Junksista: In a perfect world, it would be mainstream and everyone would listen to Junksista all day long. Haha, but seriously, we don’t waste any thoughts on the question “Are we still alternative enough?” “Can we do that song, or will it sound mainstream?”. Hipsters can torture themselves with these questions and decisions but we just do what we do best and we hope that as many people as possible will enjoy it. If that would make it mainstream, I´d be fine with it. We won’t rest until our music is played in every gay club worldwide!

JC: Why the name ‘Junksista’? It is ironic, but I call one of my friends ‘Cuntsista’

Junksista: Oh my god, Cuntsista…I should have thought of that!! Of course I needed a name related to Garbage. And let’s face it – Junksista sounds cool. It was also my DJ name.

 JC: Tell us about other bands, musicians that you like and those who have influenced you.

Junksista: As trashy as it sounds, but all this 90s Eurodance influences me a lot. Stuff like 2Unlimited or Culture Beat. It was the music of my teenage years and I just can’t stop loving it. I am also a huge fan of (obviously) Garbage, Björk, Goldfrapp, Simian Mobile Disco and The Kills and some 80s bands like the Bangles, A-Ha, Billy Idol and Cyndi Lauper. Boog, the other half of Junksista is a true rocker and unbelievably great guitar player. He is into stuff like Trivium, Killswitch engage and many 80s rockbands. I still think it’s amazing that the two of us can actually work together and agree on the result!

JC: Which unknown, struggling musicians would you like us all to listen to?

Junksista: Well I don’t think they’re struggling, but hey – everyone should check out the Vinyl Black Stilettos! It’s mega catchy, really well produced and the singer is super-hot! We found each other on Twitter and I stayed in touch with front Lady Laura D.! We remixed a song for them and all of us like liked the result so much, that we decided to record an EP together. That’s actually the next thing we’ll release and I am very excited about it. We´ll play a gig together in London on the 8th of October and we’ll play one of our new songs together.

JC: What’s your second album gonna be like?

Junksista: It might feature more guitars! When we recorded the first EP, we didn’t even plan to play live. Now that we know we will, we want it to rock more!

JC: What do you think of the famous ‘noir’ incident that Shirley Manson endured?

Junksista: If you mean that Geffen Records turned her down cuz her material was too noir then this is what I think: either the material wasn’t that good, or it was and Geffen Records just didn’t think it would sell well. But I guess we’ll never know. Also she could have released it on her own. That’s what many musicians do these days.

JC: How excited are you about Garbage’s new album, and what do you think the sound is going to be like?

Junksista: I am mega excited! And I have no idea at all what it will sound like, Haha! I am trying not to expect anything, just be open to whatever they’ll present us!

 JC: It is clear that you love Garbage, and that you want to perform with them. Which Garbage song/songs would you like to cover, and what would you play if you got an opportunity to open for them?

Junksista: I will make a statement now: Junksista won’t ever cover anyone. When I like an artist or a song, I just want to listen to it – I don’t feel the need to prove that I can also do this song or even improve it. When I heard Placebos cover version of “running up that hill”, I thought “Gimme a break!” I am not saying that it`s always bad and wrong to cover – I heard a great version of a “The Knife” by Gossip and I usually like it when Marilyn Manson covers a song.  Also I´d probably be up for a parody of something that is already shitty.

If we’d open for Garbage we’d simply play this cool show we’re preparing now. We added lots of guitars to all the songs which make them just bigger. I don’t know any electro band with a guitar player like Boog in them, so I think we’ve got an advantage there!
Of course I’d be thinking the whole time “Holy fuck, are we really opening for Garbage right now?”

(c)lick me EP by Junksista

Chérie – The imaginary war remixes by Junksista

Don’t say no by Junksista

The great Deal (Junksista remix) by imaginarywarofficial

Watch out for more on Junksista, and the next time around, it is going to get only more exciting! Meanwhile, do join the ‘Junksista for Garbage Support Act Group on Facebook’ that’s been screaming for attention from the evil people in Garbage to let Junksista open for them. Or go ahead, and Tweet till Butch Vig, Shirley Manson and other darklings get the message that Junksista is here to stay, and that she and her fans will do anything to open for Garbage.

About Shirley Manson’s debut album being too ‘noir’, she gave away many of her songs on her Facebo0k for free, and they were all gems. That makes many of us think that her debut album was not commercial/mainstream enough for the record companies to package, market and sell.

I always wanted to be like Gwen Stefani during my childhood and probably she and her spectacular band No Doubt helped me to listen to you more. It is quite funny in fact. There was a time when the No Doubt and Garbage fan boards used to be active. Really active. Back in those days, we did not have Facebook or Twitter or even Blogs to network and communicate with other fans. The fanboards served the purpose of being a tool to communicate with others who listened to similar kind of music.

Most No Doubters in 1999 and 2000 were also Garbage fans, which I think is quite true to this day. I was more into No Doubt than Garbage initially, and I think I have a few funny confessions to make. Let me tell you a few dark secrets about myself. I would get pissed off when people would compare you with Gwen Stefani, and how Garbage was cooler than No Doubt. When you are 14/15, such comparisons can trigger off strong emotions. I registered myself on the pink Garbage fanboard (Ah, how I miss it!) and began to participate on the forum.

I couldn’t keep my bitchy mouth shut, and started threads like ‘Holy No Doubt and Garbage War’, which served the purpose of not only being the star of the board for a few minutes, but also fed me with enough fodder to believe I could start a revolution to prove that No Doubt was somehow so much cooler and better than Garbage.

I mobilized a few No Doubters, and I don’t really remember the names. One was a 12 year old girl who wanted to look just like Gwen and used to tell me how I could train my voice to sing like her, but my voice ‘broke’. She and I went on a rampage on the board, and one of your greatest fans Walid Awadh, who went by the name ‘mysteron’ on the pink board would remember the details.

The number of tunnels that I walked through, and the number of ‘darkened halls’ I have lived in have faded my memory so much so that I don’t remember what my nicknames were on both No Doubt and Garbage fanboards. While No Doubt continued to be one of my favorite bands, I began to listen to you, Shirley Manson more often. Ah, let me also tell you how I ended up listening to you and just you. In a fit of rage and madness, one day I burned all my photographs and tapes.

When I went to the local music store in a town that I lived in India, they only had Garbage, the self-titled debut album. I was happy to get back one of my burned tapes back and being poor as a church mouse that I was, listened to the album day in, and day out for about 3 months. When I could manage to purchase Version 2.0 and Beautiful Garbage, I was lucky enough to find most of the other tapes which I had set alight as well. Thus my tape collection continued to grow, and so did my scars.

The more I listened to Garbage, the more comforted I felt, and gave me the strength to fight my demons and my scars. When Bleed Like Me was in stores, I had a CD player finally and that album strangely prompted me to consider majoring in psychology. Until today, I have not come across a simpler, more minimalist and stronger song that depicts mental illness in all its forms and in all its incomprehensibleness.

Garbage as a band helped me to discover new music, and I began to listen to Hole, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Tori Amos, Marianne Faithfull, Blondie, Nico and before I knew, a whole new world of music opened up right in front of me. One cannot of course ignore the importance of Internet as a medium in helping listeners find the music they want in places they may not be physically able to purchase. Moreover, physical tapes and CDs are redundant now, and I thank the darkest of angels of that.

The last 11-12 years of being your fan has not only helped me to fight my own demons, but I have found other musicians, bands and writers who think like you, sing like you and feel similarly about the way things work. I know, that is a really vague way to put that across, and I don’t think I am even making sense anymore.

What prompted me to write this lengthy, almost confessional and probably naive post was your birthday. I had typed the first few lines of this blogpost on my cellphone in an attempt to put it on your Facebook wall. The damned phone would not allow me to type beyond a certain number of characters. How could I show my gratitude, love and say thanks to you in just a few words? Thus, I had to write this letter-sort-of-thing which may not make sense, may appear juvenile (Aren’t we all?) and fanboy-ish. I don’t have any qualms in saying that this could be the most subjective piece I have ever written, and I mean every word I say.

Apart from introducing me to a world of new genres, artists, and subcultures, you and the boys, and No Doubt (I hope they release their album soon!) have been extremely important in shaping me in becoming the person I am today. Like I said initially, many of Garbage’s songs are life-savers. A few of them continue to save mine. And you continue to be a catcher in the rye to me and other darklings around the world. I shall stop my praises here, before I appear too corny. Happy Birthday Shirley Manson!

Official Site of Garbage, Garbage on Facebook, Garbage on Twitter, Shirley Manson on Twitter, Shirley Manson on FaceBook,  Butch Vig on Twitter,

‘Nihilism!’, one might accuse but Parade encourages the listener to believe in something that is worth fighting for, as the lyrics of the song puts it “it doesn’t matter who you are’. Unfortunately, human culture has always insisted that it truly matters how you live, what you believe in, what you drink, what you eat, what you do not eat, which position you like it the best, whether you are circumcised or not, whether you are born with a penis or a vagina, and so on and so forth.

While ‘human values’ teach us that all these qualities and more are important and create the ‘essence’ of a person, and the reason for one’s existence, Parade suggests that while life could be pretty meaningless, it could be made worthwhile if you could believe in something that is ‘worth fighting for’. Thus, if you choose to fight for yours or your friend’s right to keep a child’s body intact, that could be a step away from the ‘parade’.

If you believe that it is worth fighting for your right to stay healthy in a country where appointments are given 3 months after you report falling sick, then you are again moving away from the ‘parade’. Being unconventional and not conforming to accepted social and cultural norms could just be the most powerful tools to ‘believe in something that is worth fighting for’. However, that certainly would not include manufactured belief systems like religion, cults, fascism and sometimes, even science to an extent.

The flipside of course, is that we never learn from history, and the parade continues in different forms and names. Ka-boom!

Parade on YouTube

Eastern Europe has this curious ability to produce some of the best electronic and dance musicians in the industry. While the 90s were rather traumatic for those in the region, the last decade and the present one has seen a number of young and promising artists, who seem to be helping in reviving electronic music, and at the same time boosting tourism in the region. One of the promising and young artists from the region is Igor Garnier. Igor is a Serbian DJ, music producer, songwriter and remix artist who is one of the hottest names in the Belgrade club scene. In fact, many clubs abroad have begun to play his numbers too, and his popularity rests heavily upon the sound technical and musical background he comes with.

The 21 year old DJ began to play piano at the age of 6, and attended the Music High School, after which he majored in Sound Engineering at the European Music University. An eclectic combination of music theory, sound engineering, professional equipment and a zest for promoting Belgrade club scene to a larger International crowd has prompted Igor Garnier to experiment with moods, beats and tunes. Of particular interest are the numbers ‘Belgrade People’ and ‘Milka Canic’.

Igor Garnier feat. Minja – Belgrade People is a club track that doubles up as a way to project Belgrade as a friendly city which welcomes people regardless of colour, race or nationality. In fact, the song quite reflects the situation of Belgrade, which is usually perceived by foreigners as a post-Yugoslav city which may not be very friendly. On the contrary, Belgrade has been listed as one of the best places to party by the Lonely Planet, and it is popular among most Europeans looking for a great time.

Milka Canic supervises the popular show TV Slagalica and could perhaps be the most popular Serbian meme. The video features Milka Canic with her trademark smile, uttering Dobro veče (Good Evening). Milka Canic has remained popular and has been an idol for generations of Serbians who have witnessed some of the most unfortunate incidents in history. Igor Garnier’s Milka Canic reflects the optimism, and the carefree abandon which is what Serbian culture is all about today.

Artists like Igor Garnier, club music and parties could help Belgrade and other cities in Serbia to draw more tourists. For most young people now, Belgrade does not evoke images of tribunes, NATO and bombs. Instead, it is the place to be seen at, party, dance and witness the growth of a a new era in the history of electronic music thanks to DJs like Igor Garnier.

Igor Garnier on Facebook, Twitter

Marc Schmitz, a Berlin-based artist shall hold an art show at the Kai Hilgemann gallery in Berlin and is titled ‘EDEN’. The show is a visuo-sensual experience with neon works, new paintings, and installations. The installations are particularly poignant and seem to acknowledge the dichotomies that bind human experiences. The installations include two knot works made from camel hair, pearls and rubber project from the wall in about 40 cm height and cross the gallery’s floor.

The artist’s previous sculpture from Baku N°5 could be seen at the back, and a clock from the 70s, picked from a bank is installed as well. EDEN perhaps seeks to encourage people to question the quest for balance, perfection and order in a space that allows freedom to ‘feel’.

As abstract as art could be, EDEN could be a gentle critique on values that are priceless to the human existence. The gallery would feature Marc Schmitz’ various works and could be a semiotic from as blatant as the art market to something as surreal as the incomprehensible desire for order. The art show would open on the 18th of March, 2011 and would be open till the 23rd of April, 2011.

Marc Schmitz is a German artist based in Beriln who has participated in group and solo exhibitions all around the world. He is most recognized for his non linear perspectives.

Galerie Kai Hilgemann is located at Zimmerstrasse 90/91, 10117 Berlin

The gallery can be contacted at Tel +49 30 20453396 . info@kaihilgemann.com