Zoltan Sebestyen

About honesty and truth in songs by Leonard Cohen.

I guess that’s some kind of basic view I hold about the thing, that it doesn’t really matter what the singer is speaking of, it doesn’ really matter what the song is. There’s something I listen for in a singer’s voice and that’s some kind of truth. It may even be truth of deception, it may even be the truth of the scam, the truth of the hustle in the singer’s own presentation, but something is coming across that is true, and if that isn’t there the song dies. And the singer deserves to die too, and will, in time, die. So the thing that I listen for is that note of something big manifested that is beyond the singer’s control.

Source: Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah by Tim Footman
Image: Amazon UK

On the first weekend from October I was in Budapest. The main reason for this short escape is called Hangfoglalas/Soundquest, the yearly Music Industry Trade Show from the Hungarian capital. As I’m interested in bass heads and cabinets, this event seemed to be the right opportunity to try some new gears. Here you have some first impressions…

(Just to be mentioned: I tried each head and cabinet by using different entry-level basses, depending on what the given retailer had to offer + the environment was super-noisy, far from ideal for any serious test…)

Head: Laney Nexus Tube
Cabinet: Laney NX 810

A reliable and high quality setup. It delivers a clear, clean and rich tone.
Emotional impact: 8/10

Head: Ampeg SVT Classic
Cabinet: Ampeg 810 E

About an Ampeg SVT I’m not sure if anyone could tell anything bad… It’s a good head and with the 810 E cabinet a more than correct setup. Even so, I experienced no magic with it…
Emotional impact: 7/10

Head: Ashdown BTA 400
Cabinet: Ashdown US Series 8×10

Talking about magic… The BTA 400 Ashdown head had a huge impact on me! When you not only see the tubes behind the front grid but with every picking you feel the warmth and the rich frequencies produced by them flowing over your soul, like honey over a doughnut, you know that’s magic.

I tried it with some entry level bass, but this detail didn’t seem to matter – it made me never forget the 2nd of October. I was standing in front of it with a smile on my face, having difficulties to believe what I heard there…
Emotional impact: 10/10

I also tried some Hartke products and a Marshall MB 4410 (Unexpectedly clean and clear sound!), but this day was the Ashdown day…

From Hangfoglalas I got to the Jesus Culture concert, God knows how, as it wasn’t planned…

Thanks, Budapest!

We are lost in love-filled pain
and we know we won’t be found.
We can’t stay dry in the rain
as she’s no longer around…

In the loving memory of Imola Sebestyén . 3rd of March 1976 – 27th of August 2009

agony and ecstasy – a syntagm, a song title and, often, a cliché
Nothing special, but… still…

Perhaps I wouldn’t tell anything surprising if I told that for 10% ecstasy there is 90% agony. In your case it might work with a more convenient percentage, but this is how it proves to be in my case.

It’s not a complaint. What I would like to say is that if you’ll ever witness my 10% of ecstasy, please don’t envy me. I’m sure you wouldn’t want the other 90%…

So, do you want to start a revolution? Yes?! That’s great! Let me help by telling you about three extremely powerful songs (and videos) which will keep your spirit on fire.

1. The first is “Yesterday Is Dead And Gone“, the latest Arch Enemy single, destined to promote their new record, “Khaos Legions“. The third verse says it all:

“Under a blood red sky
Our voice will be heard
In a world
Where compassion is lost
You try to control us
This is so absurd
Freedom will be won at any cost”

Arch Enemy official site . “Yesterday Is Dead And Gone” official video

2. The second song is from the first album of Times of Grace and it’s called “Strength In Numbers“. It’s fresh and full of vitality. Here’s its first verse:

“Arise and be triumphant
No rest until all is fulfilled
Our roots must balance our branches
Be vigilant in truth and love”

…and its expressive chorus:

“There is a strength in numbers,
we must unite mankind
There is a strength in numbers,
our faith lies deep inside

We struggle, we suffer,
so we must come together
We struggle, we suffer,
but we will live forever”

Times Of Grace official site . Strength In Numbers official video

3. The new In Flames song, “Deliver Us“*, has no revolutionary lyrics – at least, not on the surface… -, but its spirituality’s deeply rooted in the big movements of the essential changes.
There’s something in it which won’t let you in a passive state, something which will wake up your conscience…

In Flames official site . Deliver Us official video
*extracted from “Sounds of a Playground Fading“, 2011

Have a pleasant revolution!

At least in an intuitive way, we all understand that our individual struggles can be eased by love, but many have no view on the ambivalent character of love, on how it can become a magnetic field for sin. Love’s a playground where you can have a lot of fun or you can break your neck. It depends on your ability of being synchronized with your own limits.

Some say that love is pure. This idea makes me think of those who seem to have “failed” being as we are, the saints. Perhaps they had no intention to become who they’re known to be, but they were unadaptable, with no appetite for any crime.

We all go down and… we all go down on the same path, even if we’re not the same. Some have a smooth walk, some a troubled one, but we all have the same sense of uncertainty in our steps. No one’s a natural born saint. Some become, due to a limitless number of conflicts with their “environment”.

Being a saint is a kind of accident…

Photo: Feuillu, under Creative Commons license

Even if we have access to more music than ever before, it doesn’t often happen to be profoundly impressed by a new release. It seems to me that the whole international pop-rock culture is a gigantic war-field and, as we all know, in war there’s not too much beauty. So when the guns stop making their obsessive noise and the perspectives of peace start arising, there’s a great magic in it. In such moments, even the most fragile ray of light brings an indescribable comfort.

For All We Know, the project of Ruud Jolie (guitarist of Within Temptation), is such a ray of light and it’s far from being a fragile one…

It is possible that For All We Know is more than just a new progressive rock album – it might be a link in a chain formed by names like Pink Floyd, Queensryche, Fates Warning, Pain Of Salvation and even Dream Theater. The best music on the Earth is the least earthly and For All We Know is a gateway to the unseen side.

If I had to describe For All We Know in one word, I would say: intimate. It carries something that, when it’s told, it is possible to cause pain to the story teller. It has to do with giving yourself, which in art is similar to giving yourself in love. Both imply a certain type of renunciation.

1. BLIND ME

The album starts with an obsessive guitar riff which, side by side with some fine piano and synthesizer lines, creates a “floating” atmosphere. As it evolves, its dramatic content has a fine progression, making the first composition an introspective journey.

2. BUSY BEING SOMEBODY ELSE

“Busy Being Someone Else” is the expression of some inner turbulences. It starts with a rhythmical formula which underlines an (almost) angry restlessness. Its coldness is ready to stir up all the senses…

3. OUT OF REACH

The chorus of this song reminds me of Jesus Christ Superstar. The main melodic line (voice) takes me between the Savior and His disciples. It asks for special attention – it’s like a gentle teaching which gives sense to the passing through the wilderness. The guitar solo brings a contrast to the chorus – it comes up with a new perspective, a harsher one.

4. WHEN ANGELS REFUSE TO FLY

The fourth track is a more “classical” progressive rock composition, in the same “no rest for the living” thematic key, already known from “Busy Being…”. Musically, some parts remind me of Dream Theater instrumental passages. Even so, it has many fine orchestral elements (acoustic guitars and synthesizers) which seem to be characteristic for For All We Know.

5. I LOST MYSELF TODAY

Outside is cold but inside, in the warm house, there’s a meditative soul, wondering how it lost itself. A good wine and a good cigar are its companions, while the guitar is weeping through time and space. “…don’t wait for me, I’m still too far away”…

6. KEEP BREATHING

“Keep Breathing” is the smaller brother of Road Salt of Pain Of Salvation. Enough said. Go, flow with it and let its beauty bury you alive!

Beside many others, special guests (vocals): Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) and Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain Of Salvation).

7. DOWN ON MY KNEES

Another expression of restlessness and controlled panic. The first “soft” part reminds me of Promised Land of Queensryche. The most (let’s call) aggressive passages have some Dream Theater flavour, but in a For All We Know manner. “Down On My Knees” is a complex song with various emotional states.

8. SAVE US

This is an instrumental trip with psychedelic vocals, a kind of conclusion to all that was previously said. It asks for nothing but it gives a lot…

9. EMBRACE/ERASE/REPLACE/EMBRACE

There’s drama even in the most positive experience. There’s a fragility which reminds us about the transitory character of each moment, no matter if it’s good or bad. “Embrace…” is the embrace of that fragility.

10. TIRED AND ASHAMED

This song is built around sensitive melodic lines and a sensitive lyrical content. It has a simple orchestration, based (mainly) on acoustic instruments. At a certain point it turns into a consciousness-awakening musical speech and it opens new dimensions of understanding for the “tired and ashamed”.

11. OPEN YOUR EYES

This seems to be the most eclectic track from the album. It goes through many atmospheres and musical themes. Its orchestration is non-linear and unpredictable. It starts and it ends with the same beautiful vocal line, a fingerprint of intimacy.

12. NOTHING MORE…

Many bands usually include an “out of ordinary” composition on their albums as their last track. Up to a certain degree, Nothing More is such a song, but, still, it keeps the For All We Know feel. A little bit of mandolin, a little bit of violin and a colorful orchestration…

The entire album is like an emotional hallucination.
Something you desire and something you hope for.
Some kind of blessing…

1. ABOUT INNA IN FORBES ROMANIA

If you’re interested in the music business, you should check the latest issue of Forbes Romania, nr. 54/4-17 April. You can read about the secret* behind Inna’s (and Edward Maya’s) success. Enjoy!

* revealed in, let’s say, 20%…

2. FOR YOUR COUNTRY

In 1961, J.F.K. said:

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”

In 2011 I have the following comment:

If you’re interested only in what you can do for your country (and deeply uninterested in what your country can do for you), Romania is a good place to live in.

3. DO NOT WEEP FOR ME…

“Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children”.”

Luke 23:28

These words seem to have a special “resonance” these days. When I see the (global) tragedies we’re facing, I hear Jesus’ words like a kind of soundtrack of all the madness we’re into…

4. TWO RESTAURANTS

A few streets away from where I live, there are two restaurants at, let’s say, fifty steps one from another. They are in the most popular area of the city so, theoretically, both have the same chances to be successful.

Even so, one of them has clients all the time – the other one only from time to time. One of them had become a reference for those who’re interested in spending some quality time and eating well – the other one has the “one of the others” status.

Reasons? There might be a few. What I know for sure is that the guy from the “not interesting one” has a communism-rooted history. Unintentionally, he succeeded to transfer into the contemporary Romania the “values” of the “red cancer“: his restaurant is grey, dark and cold.

Ultimately, the difference is in the perspectives. Both businesses are reflecting some. One of the restaurants seems to tell that “We’re here with something you’ll love!” and the other one “Sorry that we’re here. Come in and you’ll never come back!”.

In the town where I’m consuming my days, there’s a restaurant I wouldn’t compare with any other. It is placed in the heart of the city and, as some of you might presume, it is a luxurious one. The strange aspects related to it started from its very first day…

While some well-established places would almost beg you to visit them, this restaurant has clients from the day of its opening. Its guests give the impression that they’re from elsewhere. They represent that solid middle class that Romania doesn’t have. Where do they come from? Are they local people or some obscure organization is importing them on daily basis?! No one could tell. The idea of a secret society would be quite attractive for any mortal who would engage to explain the phenomenon. It could be said that this restaurant is the headquarters of some international secret agents. There’s no hour during the day when it would be empty – with its big windows to the street, just like an office. The only difference is that there are new “workers” every 24 hours.

Their clients are fine people with fine gestures and fine mimics. If you take a good look at them, you would think they’re perfect. From behavior to the trendy clothes, they’re the representatives of a premium human typology and, yes, visually they do impress. If you didn’t see them you would hardly believe that they exist.

I walk by this restaurant often. Every time I see the people at the tables, I have mixed feelings. I admire them because of their almost religious happiness and I’m troubled because of their perfection. The chance to take a seat beside them, even on a single occasion, is not even worth mentioning. As in a profoundly wicked relationship, I see no perspectives. The distance between us would grow with every step I would make towards it…

Photo: www.danielnyc.com