Eighteenth music presentation session for the blind and visually handicapped took place on 30th October 2019 in the presentation room of Czech agency SONS (Czech Blind United) in Prague. I was really honored for very positive feedback from the previous sessions, therefore I prepared a playlist based on visitors’ preferences and also added some pieces to expand their musical horizons. You can find the background of this story in an article about the first session here.
List of songs and their final scores:
Congratulations to Type O Negative, Paolo Nutini and Dan Bárta & Die El. Eleffant!?
| Track | Score |
| 01 – J. A. R. – Jsem Vymletej | 3 |
| 02 – The Comet Is Coming – Blood Of The Past | 9.5 |
| 03 – Zrní – Koně | 7.5 |
| 04 – Björk – Jóga | 6.5 |
| 05 – Audience vote #1: Jamiroquai – Music Of The Mind | 1.5 |
| 06 – Dan Bárta & Die El. Eleffant!? – Elephantology II | 10 |
| 07 – Type O Negative – Love You to Death | 12 |
| 08 – Tom Walker – Leave The Light On | 7 |
| 09 – Audience vote #2: Tool – Prison Sex | 5.5 |
| 10 – Bonus – Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky (Abbey Road Live) | 11 |
During the previous sessions I have used number of songs which I truly love, therefore it is getting more challenging to come up with more and more songs. Luckily there are many that I come up based on listeners’ feedback or from my current journalism or personal experiences, which I share in between songs. My guests surprise me each time with their preferences, which pushes me to pick “extremes”. I usually concentrate on prog rock or ambient jazz, but I am more than open to add everything from experimental metal through avant-garde electronics or lounge jazzy pop.
The Beginning
It’s a tradition we start with something heavy and energetic. For the start I picked a legendary Czech funk band J.A.R., which was formed exactly thirty years ago during a revolution in my homeland. These guys have an insane humor, impressive line-up including various singers and unshakable position among locals. I spoke to them recently during their thirty years celebrations and as a classic says: “Couple of drinks before an interview make it a lot more fun.”
I discovered The Comet Is Coming’s track Blood of the Past as plenty of more within London jazz scene through Spotify. But I kept it sort of on a side, as it seemed to me too dark to include on the setlist. However, over time I kept bumping into it and I was gradually falling in love with it more. Breathtaking saxophone, amazing dark music background and impressive monologue by Kate Tempest. It is so massive that I translated part of it for the audience.
Video interview here
Next to J.A.R., I did plenty of video interviews for a Czech TV Seznam with local bands. Zrní is an art folk rock pop band, which I knew very little about, but they have a big respect among my friends from acting/radio/TV/journalism world. For an interview I went through their whole discography. I may not become a massive fan of the band, but this track just blew me away with its emotional rage mixed with poetic flavor.
I never listened to Björk much and I was sort of fine with playing Army of Me once in a while. But thanks to a great email and video interview with impressive Korean-German artist Josin, I was recommended to check Jóga. I don’t understand how come I skipped it for that long. Simply great!
Few sessions ago, we made a deal with a guests, each one has a right to pick a track themselves. This time, it was big music fan (not only female fronted metal) Antonín. He picked a track called Music Of The Mind from Jamiroquai: “I know you guys would expect some funky dance tune. But check this instrumental jazz piece.” Great choice Antonín!
And here is the final pick from Czech department, which is Dan Bárta, one the most respected singers Dan Bárta. Next to being one of the singers of J.A.R. and his impressive prog jazzy project Dan Bárta & Illustratosphere he was a member of couple of others bands. While preparing for the interview, I came across a super-band Die El. Eleffant !? Songs gradation and Dan’s vocal rollercoasters are simply breathtaking.
After The Break
I always had a feeling for female fronted bands, gothic rock but Type O Negative, massive inspiration for my favorite bands as Lacuna Coil, were never on my playlist before. It was Spotify again and I must say Love You to Death explains why they are such a cult. Melody structures are brilliant but I mainly enjoy the sound of the guitar.
In order not to make these sessions too prog, too jazz or too metal, I like to add some quality pop as well. Last time it was Lewis Capaldi and this time I picked Tom Walker, not only we conducted a great video interview. After a while I can say I like sth from the mainstream radio. Same as Pierce Brothers before, I like to choose live versions which show the true powers of the singers and roughness of the vocal peeks.
For the second audience pick I gladly gave space to my best friend, which just arrived from France and stopped by. She is a massive Tool fan. Therefore for her thirtieth birthday I gave her a ticket on Tool show in Prague, plus I also managed to get a guitar pick for me. I exchanged it with one of the local crew guys for an autograph of Mike Shinoda. Naturally she picked a Tool track and explained to us a background of the track, influenced mainly by the drummer, who was abused as a child.
Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better ending track than live version of Iron Sky from Paolo Nutini. It was a great tip from my sister, but to be honest, I planned to play in the previous session. But for the first time since I organize these events I forgot to play a track. Maybe it was meant to be saved for my best friend and her friend, who both came for the first time. They wrote me few days ago, they are both listening to this track all the time. To be honest, I love to get to it regularly too. Paolo’s performance remind me of what my dad once said: “If I had a voice like this, I would jump on my boss’ table and piss on it.” Incredible voice is backed up in Abbey Road studios by perfectly gradating instrumentation. Plus I really love the motivational speech in the middle of the track.
Next session is planned on 25th of November.
