The Past and the Future
We are now in Brighton and immersing ourselves in contemporary indie music. But before that, we were invited to a different kind of festival, the Sanremo Italian Song Festival. Not the original, which takes place every year in Liguria, Italy, but to a showcase of its "newcomers" at the Italian Cultural Institute on Park Avenue.
The Sanremo - in its 75th year – rings a nostalgic bell. It was a big deal in the 80s in Germany, when Italian was the language of summer, vacation, and dolce far niente.
It was interesting to see that not so much has changed decades later. The event focused on singers, who alternated to present their songs, accompanied by a band of serious-looking musicians. The music was updated and fresh, but would not have been out of place in the 80s either.
The Sanremo Festival obviously values this reverence for Italy's pop tradition, but the country’s music is not at all stuck in the past, as demonstrated by cutting-edge artists like Giungla, Madisine, or georgia, georgia. When we spoke to one of the singers after the show, it shone through that he felt honored to represent his country, but was looking forward to playing his shows with his own band again.
However, we have now arrived in Brighton to attend “The Festival for New Music”. We are staying in a historic building built in 1935, when the biggest apartments were available for a yearly rent of £500. The building, the apartment, and its views are breathtakingly beautiful! The weather forecast is excellent – no rain at all – and consequently, Brighton’s vibe is especially friendly and welcoming. The first day of Festival programming was light, and we made it only to the welcome party, where we had interesting conversations, and two shows: Bria Salmana from Canada played in a packed pub, and the local New Jersey transplant Lonnie Gunn in a quaint hotel ballroom where Paganini performed some 100 years ago.
So we are off to a good start and looking forward to three days packed with music. More about that next week!
Song Pick of the Day
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- The Montreal singer/songwriter mokina sings in three languages on her new EP "mirage" – two are apparent, the third you'll hear in "heartbreaker."
- "I wrote the first verse the day we broke up" – breakups are hell, but they can inspire beautiful songs, such as "Hanging by a Thread" by London-via-Spain singer/songwriter Dalia
- “Miss” is the showstopping opener of Erika de Casier entirely self-produced surprise album Lifetime - a strong candidate for the album of the year.
- The swirling synth pop track “Seed” by Juno Empire is full of feel-good vibes and "about this transformative power we can tap into within our minds, but also this strange relationship people have with time."
- renforshort from Toronto goes all out in her quest to feel better again – the result is her new power pop anthem "feeling good.”
- The London singer/songwriter Tragic Sasha puts a twist on this breakup story in “Billboards”: "While the best thing I ever did was let you go, the best thing you ever did was take over the world."
- Grace Turner, aka City Builders, also from Toronto, shares an intense song, “Learning to Miss You,” about losing people close to you, romantically or otherwise.