It has been raining in Poznan, so nothing much of the City has been seen.
I am feeling fine though. Always enjoy these NH hotels. I can work out, use the sauna and the steam room. If I have a steam room I will always be happy. Inhaling eucalyptus, everything slowing, the darkness, steam and mist, and tiny lights on the tiles twinkling like far away blue and green stars...It is heaven to me.
About to go to Sound check. The venue has been changed because of the rain. I hope the sound and the experience will not be compromised.
elysianfields 7/19/2009

greetings from the frankfurt airport. la mar is headed to poznan for the tzadik festival. airfrance flight here, operated by delta. note to self: no delta! brahim almost didn't make it on. they could not find his e ticket info. there are these automatic check in machines one is requested to use. they don't really work. what good are all these conveniences of the modern age if they only add more steps, more complications. the self check out at home depot is more effective! i was looking forward to watching flight of the conchords on the flight over, but the entertainment system on board was out of order for the whole flight. a beautiful sunset out the window with surreal cumulus cloudscapes, like frozen spindrift in lost space. i closed my eyes and started to drift away. listening to dj screw on my ipod. no drank, but how about an extra pillow and a blanket? i politely asked the head flight attendant if she might assist me with this. you get only one!, she barked. i nodded, then walked away. then i spotted a lovely pillow with a blanket in its wrapper, sitting on an empty seat in business, started to pick it up, when nurse ratchett arrested my operation. back in my seat i asked the other flight attendant, the sweet one, who had been giving zafer free vodkas all trip, for some cozy action. why of course she said, ever so kindly. she then came with that very set of business plush for me. i wrapped up, and as i was nodding off i could vaguely hear the head attendant yelling over my head, bawling out the other for helping me out. she tugged on the blanket, but i played dead, tightened my grip until she tired of her cruel game. i fantasized a bit about yelling out at her in front of the entire plane if she dared confront me again. you have all the people skills of a cockroach!, i would say.
and now i'm here at the zurich risk management kiosk. free internet. waiting waiting, to board for poznan. risk management. drown out the noise...

Labels: in transit

elysianfields 7/18/2009

What The Critics Are Saying, Babel Fish Version

(from les inrockuptibles)


The most generous discs are those which invite to be discovered from the start, to give up any form of dignity, to demolish certainty which one accumulated with the wire of time. It is a privilege to enter naked and light a work, and it is with this rare honor that The Afterlife invites, the new album of the New Yorkean duet Elysian Fields. Admittedly, it is not the first time that one finds oneself in the simplest apparatus vis-a-vis the housewife, delicious Jennifer Charles: by the only intermediary of its song, this she-cat with the extreme voice manages to thin out the leaves of the listener to the heart, to transform it into small vulnerable and insane thing of desire. But the experiment still takes a more intense turn with this disc with the poisonous beauty, where the art of the songwriting appears under one day new, magnifié by a filtered lighting which raises the charms of them.

Within a felted and acoustic framework (piano, coppers, cords) where the guitar always inspired of Oren Bloedow plays itself the cat-like graces, Elysian Fields ingénie to scramble the melody and harmonic tracks, to mislead our waitings with mischievousness and elegance, to gum the dividing lines between rock'n'roll of room, jazz, traditional or worked. Symbol bursting of a New Yorkean spirit which did not finish defending the release of musical manners, The Afterlife is a kind of Philosophy in the sound boudoir, whose each measurement is carried to the roof of the intelligence and the sensuality - thus listen to the refrain to fall from Someone, coded it dazing of How We Die or Ashes in Winter Light, not of two vocal coming to complete fabulous final soft inclined. As much to say that one will often return to visit this divine den of iniquity, as one likes to return towards all that makes the life more voluptuous and more unforeseeable.
elysianfields 2/23/2009

Oren here....

It's interview season again. The attention can be exciting, but the whole process is riddled with challenges. It's essential to listen well in order to speak well, but sometimes there's very little to listen to. "Tell me how it was, making this record!' 'Why did you call it The Afterlife?' are typical of the thinly-spaced boulders that one must leap between to safely cross the roiling waters of one's own boring private insanity. In an attempt to avoid the kind of self-effacement that comes naturally in these situations, one is too often drawn into a sort of megalomania to realize it only later from the sour aftertaste. And again, in print, if the editing process hasn't spared you.

'Why are you less, or more popular, or successful, here or there, now or then?' "What is it about you that has determined your apparent trajectory or public profile?' These kinds of questions are an invitation to stand as at a bathroom mirror, evaluating yourself and pondering your social life, while the world watches, which is not only embarrassing but impossible, two people can't have one person's private reverie in public. Another difficulty opens up in group interviews, where one person's portrayal of events or conditions battles another. Each member has their own agenda shaping that day's depiction of the emnity, indifference or support of the music industry, the faithfulness and discrimination of the listenership and the integrity of the band in the face of economic pressures.

Sometimes the conversation turns to other artists, and at these moments one interviewee seizes upon this topic with relief, while the other one, hating to squander a rare opportunity, struggles to redirect the subject to the new album. To venture into related culture, history or politics is almost always more congenial but here as well there are dangers, especially in the case of politics, of saying something ignorant or trite that is far below the level of the artist's work. It might as well be admitted, the majority of musical artists, even ones whose work is of real political importance like Bob Marley, are neither thoughtful nor articulate enough at most times to give lectures.

Celebrity forums like the rock interview are prone to this kind of elevation. And there is ample precedent to view mass-media musicians as prophets. As early as the late 18th century, Thomas Paine, in his anti-religious book, the Age of Reason, identified the prophets of the bible with musicians, although in his book, the comparison is not complimentary. Again, this effect is much increased by electronic media. The televangist from Arkansas, a fascist dicator or self-help guru, a singer or rapper, anybody with a stage, lights and a PA system, usurps this role to the degree they are susceptible - and many of us are quite susceptible. It's intoxicating to be applauded for. And just as a drunk rues last night's excesses, it's painful to read one's intoxicated remarks on global warming, international relations, trends in culture and so on in the newspaper the next day.

Still there is the actual work, the artifact, to discuss. Like a castaway on a desert island waits for a low flying seaplane, one waits for the journalist, who, having listened to the CD with a notebook at his elbow, maybe several times, has identified references, themes, recurring motifs... who perhaps is reminded of Mizoguchi, Chekhov or James Ellroy, of Sappho, of Minoan Crete, of Civilization and Its Discontents, Courtly Love or the formula to forge Damascus Steel, who is reminded of childhood or even of this morning's coffee with their estranged love. One waits for a subject that is not demeaning to discuss. One waits for the return of one's own sense of humor, the quickness that sometimes overtakes one from within, the return of the insights that came on last night's after dinner walk in Barcelona, the tenuous links between one's reading on late antiquity, mercantilism and the ages of exploration, colonies and industrialism and today, the sense that there is in fact something to say as an observer of individuals, of nations, of art and intellectual movements and of one's own work in context, something that is neither boring, insignificant or an outright lie. One waits, like a robotic vacuum cleaner that keeps on banging into the same wall, for an opening, so that new vistas can be made clean.
elysianfields 2/20/2009

well hello there friends. jennifer here. nothing so comprehensive to be flowing forth at this time, i'm afraid. it is after 1:30 a.m.
and we're in germany. freiburg. in the "lobby" of this very strange hotel. it's hardly a hotel. it's actually a sports complex of some kind. yes, when we come to a town we specify these things, please put us in a sports center! as long as there are sporting games, and lots of them, we want to be there.
so, yes, you can see it has been a long day, and ole jc has gotten a bit punchy. rose at dawn in lisboa, flew to zurich, antoine picked us up there, then drove to freiburg, played the concert, now our rest has been sanctioned to the sports center 15 miles outside town. there is wifi in the lobby so hurray for that. and some minutes ago a blow monkeys song came on the radio! but the real highlight for me was on the drive back here, a beautiful big red fox crossed the road in front of us. nothing like a vulpine creature to get a girl's blood flowing. I wish i could have smelled it. brought to mind a recent read- pelevin's sacred book of the werewolf.
any way, yes, must soon sleep. lisbon was wonderful. will try to give details soon. we were lucky enough to spend four days there.
xo, jennifer
elysianfields 2/17/2009

We leave tomorrow for our European tour.
It is after four pm. Have I packed yet?
No. Do I know what I'm bringing? Nope.
It's a beautiful day and I like to make
tea. Stay tuned. First stop Portugal! x

Labels: primer

elysianfields 2/11/2009

PART 2 Hello. Again, Jennifer here. Before I allow too much to fade away, let me try to at least get to a bit more of the last visit.
In my post Montauk haze, it is hard to focus on last weekend, which now seems light years away. I am left with spurts. (Love comes in spurts- oh no it hurts!)

The first evening, a walk around the town, then a drink with Seb and his compadres. The festival catering made a lovely dinner, crevettes. Chloe was there, the groovy gal who sings and goes out with Alain Bashung. She is very sweet, and has a strong energy. Also sorry to have missed Bashung, I so love his voice. (must get his latest album!)

We were put up in a beautiful old vine covered villa, just 5 km outside of town. My room had a lovely little juliet balcony, with a stone balustrade, from which carpets of pale indigo passion flower loosely draped. The balcony overlooked the back of the house, outer farm houses, an expansive and well kept garden, and a separate fenced in area where roosters would roam. The garden outback was delightful, where one could take morning coffee, suck on a succulent peach, leisurely reading one's book, amongst dahlias, mums, giant nasturtium, blood colored wild roses, and a trellis covered in tangles of honeysuckle. That first night sleep resisted me, and it wasn't until the tenth crow of the cock that she finally took me. Yes, the cock would crow every morning, at the first hint of morning's light.

We were informed that we had at our disposal the use of a set storage facility, from which we were permitted to withdraw any artifacts that we might desire for the enhancement of our show. What a treat this was! In the bowels of this dank space, we picked out a dark velvet Victorian style love seat, along with a matching overstuffed chair, a red tribal carpet, several free standing candelabra, a Moroccan tile and iron end table, an African figurine made of wood and grasses, and a large mysterious portrait of a lady, who could have resembled me 150 years ago. Soon after, the fabulous crew had our set delivered to the theatre, and quickly assembled and hung. Oren and I also bought hundreds of tea lights, which we filled our whole stage area with.

For the Parc Secretes concerts, of which we were a part, a bus delivers the audience to a secret unknown location, and perhaps they don't even know what they will experience. Seb had arranged it so that everyone could be on pillows, sitting before us. The room got filled to the outer edges each night, and the whole thing was very intimate. It really felt like we were all conjuring something. Everyone who worked at the theatre was warm and lovely and very fine and professional. There was also a very special dog named Hope (she must be some kind of Shepherd mix), and she belongs to the sage-like theatre manager. That second night she came to me in a dream. Extraordinary.

Any way, the concerts were great, especially the second night. I love playing in a space for more than one night. I would love to do a tour of just short residencies. It can be draining to be in a new place every day. Seb, who is very talented musician, sat in with us on Lady in the Lake and India song. His friend Camille, who was also playing in the festival, in the garden space, came to the show the second night with some of her musicians, and she was a very sweet girl. Unfortunately I had to get back to NY, so I had to miss the third night, but it was great that Oren did a solo show. I hope people know how lucky they were to hear that, for he doesn't play out as often as he might.

Other highlights that come to me- The pleasure of listening to, and becoming acquainted with Joung-Ju. She is a wonderful master of the geomungo. Very cool! And she and her manager Mee Ra, are both very interesting and kind women. I hope they can come play in NY. And I hope we can go to Korea!!! Was sorry to miss Taraif de Haidouks, but at least I have seen them live before. There is never enough time to hear other acts in these festivals. OH! And Seb and An-Em took us on a drive and to a wonderful French thrift store in the country that was just filled with interesting little treasures. I found an early edition of Dostoievski's Le Joueur (the Gambler), and stuck between the old pages, hid some beautiful ephemera - a pressed verveine flower dated from 1945, as well as a hand written poem and letter. Seb was dear to get me a record de la poesie lyrique Francais. They are a lovely couple. What else? Oh, and Olivier the director of the festival, whose generosity was mirrored in the appearance of his appealing mouth. All in all, a fine jaunt to France, where the music once again, could come alive. xo, JC
elysianfields 8/18/2008

PART 1A few hours before I was to leave for the airport, I had a little accident. I was on my bicycle, having come from a quick run-thru at Oren's place. My head wasn't so much in the clouds as it usually is, but gears clicking down to-do lists, I had yet to pack, blah blah. I was looking ahead, but it was all too fast. He came from behind a blind curve, full speed velocity. Another biker and I crashed head on into each other. There was a split second where I realized what was going to happen, I attempted to turn my wheel slightly, but it had to be a fine balance, or I could fly right into moving traffic. Each of us went crashing down, smash up derby style. Amazingly I didn't hit my head. And he seemed just fine. I'm so sorry I said, it must have been my fault. No, no, it was my fault, I'm sorry he said as he helped pick my bike up. He was very kind, and offered to pay for a taxi cab. I thanked him for his offer, but politely declined. I'm glad he was OK, as well as his bike. I hobbled away pushing my then unrideable bike. My leg was bleeding and I was rather shaken. Lugging the bike down the street was quite an ordeal, dead weight. I ended up locking it up along the way. Dear Oren was so kind as to pick it up for me and take it to be repaired while we were in France. Always the unexpected before travels.
I slept the entire flight to Paris, thanks to a little pill. And I could make a temporary hiatus from my sore and aching banged up body. I slept for the two and a half hour drive to Aulnoye-Aymeries. We were taken right to the venue. The theatre Leo Ferre. That was a good sign, I thought. You see, we had gone to France to play in Les Nuits Secretes Festival. Seb Martel was kind enough to invite us to be a part of it with him. Seb was very welcoming and gave us the lay of the land. That first day we didn't have a gig, so we had a little time to make the transition, and to prepare.
Something very exciting happened. Oren and I were going to sound check a bit after we arrived, rehearse some of the songs, get a feel for the space. Oren takes his guitar out, which luckily was permitted to travel with us in the cabin of the plane, after much debating with Air France officials. So when the guitar comes out of it's case, even after some not too stressful travelling, one always momentarily holds one's breath. All good. Beautiful. He slackens the strings for travel, not to stress the instrument.
He started to play the instrument with the slackened strings, this bizarre warped tuning, and he's playing this really cool riff. Hold that! I say. But my strings, he says. No, no, it's fucking great, I want that and I've got something for that; I start singing a bit on top of it, then grab a pen, feverishly writing. We're sitting there playing and writing, in this strange town, just hours off the plane, and there it is being born, a new song. I am never so happy as when a song is coming, being born, is born. And of course there are many types of birthing processes. Some are very painful, and you're in labor for ages, even years some times. This one was more like when Brooke Shields was giving birth in The Blue Lagoon, she parts her pretty legs, makes an appealing moan, wipes the golden beads of sweat from her brow, and bizarrely and rather instantly a little baby appears that she has just birthed by herself, and it lets out a perfect little cry. Any way, I'm being silly now, but the writing thing... I can't explain how this feeling feeds me so completely. In those moments when you finish a song, it's as if anything, everything is possible. Suddenly life is really worth living. I mean your not just holding on, but you're soaring, soaring ahead with life. I don't know what to compare the song writing process to. But sometimes it can be so unexpected and unpredictable when it's coming. It just takes listening for it. But when you can hear it, Man! It's like when you happen to see a rainbow. Any way, I'm excited for us to record this song. Maybe I'll wait to say what it's about. Any way, that fully charged our batteries that day. xxx jennifer
elysianfields 8/11/2008

Hello Dear friends! Happy New Year! You might think I was contacting you from beyond the grave, considering it has been a long long time since I have written here. Still quite alive, and the music is running hot in our veins. I won't bore you with excuses, but I will take this time to introduce to you our forthcoming record, The Afterlife. The new record is recorded, mixed (yay Juan!), and just mastered (thanks Howie!). No, I can't tell you when you get to hear it. The truth is, we are tremendously excited about this new disc. I have to say, it is really...well, I have to stop myself. We seriously want to find the right home for this record, because it really deserves that. So that is what we are doing now, looking for the proper home. But we are wanderers, griots. As you know, we wander for long periods. There is not always an oasis. There may be sand in our eyes, but there is always new music springing from our throats and our hearts. Now we hope for the best. Thank you for still being here, for listening. What can I tell you to expect from the record? 10 songs, unfastened from the firmament. The brilliant light from Ed Pastorini, Ben Perowsky, Matt johnson, James Genus, Thomas Bartlett, Michael Blake, Pamelia Kurstin, Sam Amidon, Jeff Hill, Charles Haynes, Eric Elterman, Shelley Burgon...Oh yes, very excited indeed. And of course Oren and myself. Stay tuned.

What else? We need to find someone who can run and update this site, because obviously, we are incapable.
We have a gig coming up at The Stone, Zorn's little treasure of a performance space, on January 18 at 10 PM, so hopefully a bunch of us can squeeze in. We'll be scaling things down that night, with just Oren, Thomas, and myself to attempt the levitations.

Well, I'm going to get back to my kombucha tea. My faves are guava, greens, and citrus. My brother and sister in law once gave us a mushroom, the mushrooms multiply, and multiply, and we were brewing our own tea, but they started to take over. I had trouble sleeping. The energy these shrooms emit is hardcore, but I was having invasion of the bodysnatchers anxiety! Tonight my pal Becky and I are going to an Otto Preminger double feature. She and I recently caught the Puryear exibit at MOMA, and a magic lantern film show, which was just amazing. Hope to go back and see the Lucian Freud etchings soon. Also want to see the Cental Europe photo show at the Gug. Tomorrow night it's the Front Room in Bklyn.

Well All, I'm really going to make an effort to be more present this year here. I'll also try to get Oren to post more. It would be so great to back on the road, I really miss sharing with all your magic out there. xo, Jennifer
elysianfields 1/09/2008

Spring is here.
elysianfields 3/21/2006

lovely ones,
it's just about 1:30 AM, and here we are in the studio just finishing up the last day of basics for the new record.
i'm fading, so i won't stay long, but i've been wanting to post here. so far it has been a beautiful experience. i
am so excited about these new songs and how they are coming to tape. can't wait for you all to hear them. at
this very moment some overdubs are going down. shahzad is putting some extra guitar onto "lions in the storm".
the mellow and mighty cool joe blaney has been engineering these basic sessions for us, some of you may know
that he did "combat rock". yeah. kick ass. i've always loved the clash. in fact, one of the reasons i was swayed to go with radioactive all those years back, was because mick was there, and so were the ramones, i guess i figured if it was
bad, at least i'd be in cool company... anyway, joe's dope. he also did all this stuff with charly garcia, who's like
the rock hero, the dylan of argentina. I didn't know joe had worked with him. strangely enough i was in a charly
garcia video back in '88 or '89 that my friend mariano shot at ex funeral home. anyway, we've been working at joe's
studio here in soho, actually, a block from the apartment i lived in when i met oren in '90, the last place i lived before
moving to brooklyn. yesterday we tracked at avatar (the power station). it was magical. the room sounded great, and it
was really something to be recording on december 21, the shortest day of the year. and also dee-dee's birthday. she
would have been 90 yesterday. we tracked "bum raps" there, and it felt so right. i could feel her. we were there for the
piano sounds mostly. good to have all that isolation. james and claude were so solid, and thomas ignited the yamaha
grand. oren and i just did our thing and delighted in the sounds all coming together. soon we will be reuniting with our
old friend bryce and he will wave his wand over this new work. i can't wait to start my vocals (i'll probably track most of
them at home again). the guys say i should keep some of my ghost tracks i layed down from the basics, we'll see.
anyway, for those of you who came to northsix last week, thanks for coming out and thank you all for all the years of
love and support. please have happy holidays and a fruitful and healthy new year. much love, jennifer xxxx

elysianfields 12/23/2004

i just wanted to say how much i relished the little piano paul-henri provided for us at the rotonde... it was as sweet as sugar, and the demure, elegant entrance it made, sliding quietly in on slim ramps, was one of the happy moments of my life. thanks, paul-henri, father of two, for thinking of us even as you raced off to arhus that morning.
and thanks to all our friends in europe, such great hosts. xxoo
oren 6/14/2004

I'm sitting on the plane, headed back for New York as I write this. As so often happens, my chances at going online on the road
are rare. My heart always aches leaving Paris. Like leaving a lover behind. This mini-tour was a lovely experience.

Grenoble- we did Radio Campus show when we arrived. Interviewed by Stephan and Paul, who were very kind. It is always a pleasure to come to Grenoble and play at le Ciel. It is one of my favorite places to play in the world; great sound, great room, great staff. If only there were a Le Ciel in every town. Everyone there is so good to us, Laurent, Audrey, Michel, Olivier...they took us to a superb dinner, amazing fish, artichoke souffle, creme brulee de lavander et chartreuse. WOW. Gorgeous flowers in the dressing room. merci.
The concert was magical for us, a very intimate and special energy in the room, and the audience of Grenoble so warm. It's such a pleasure for me to sing there. Oren was great on the piano. Alot of people were asking me after the show what instrument I was playing, so for the record , it's an omnichord.

The next day it was off to Strasbourg. A lovely train ride. Fields overflowing with wild red poppies, gentle streams, beautiful mountains, rivers, majestic trees, old farm houses and bombed out castles sped by. The land in France is so beautiful. Strasbourg- played La Laiterie. The crew was good, especially Phillipe, Laurent, and Flor. The show went well, and we met some nice fans afterwards, some of whom had come to see us the last time we played in Strasbourg which was about eight years ago. Got online in production office. Strasbourg is a lovely town with the Rhine going through, also got back to the mind blowing cathedral. I love the giant clock.

Brussels- spent most of the day-off on trains enroute to Brussels, zoning out the window with cows napping under trees and shiny horses and beautiful birds flying by. Paul-Henri of the Botanique was there to pick us up and take us to the hotel. After sitting for so long it was good to use the gym and sauna. Walked around downtown, good Indian food, blanche with lemon, saw kooky light/sound show at the Grand Plaz. The 4th- after a great sound check, Chris "the eagle of the road" took us to the National radio to do a live show on Pure FM. Good to see many of the Bang folks there. We played four songs, and it was cool. Yves the engineer was terrific. The radio was also a chance to bring up some political issues and to share our disgust at what is going down with the Bush/Cheney regime. Ribot had put me in touch with a Belgian peace group called Mother Earth, I had written them and invited them to come speak before our concert at the Botanique, but I never heard back from them. Anyway, the show at the Botanique went wonderfully. I like playing the Rotonde, nice crowd, played two encores. Bernardo and Xavier did a nice job on sound, and I adore Jawad, the gentle and gifted lighting man who always does a great job for us. After gig, sold and signed merch. Sweet people. Shared some wine with Mark from Venus. The last time I saw him was in the fall when we were in Nuits Botanique together along with Hugo Race, when Mark invited me to sit in on the Jaques Brel song "Amsterdam" with him. He's very sweet, and it was nice that he came.

It was great to get to play stripped down like we did for these three shows. All the concerts felt very personal and intimate. Jean-Marc's loops are very cool and worked out very nicely.
The last day of the tour was spent back in Paris. Pere Lachaise. Yes we saw Jim Morrison's grave, as well as Colette. What a beautiful cemetary. Bush was in town tying up traffic and there were protests all over the city. Boo Bush! Un imbecile.
The evening was spent with our friends Jean-Marc, Nicolas and Emmanuelle. A lttle extravagant wine party at Nic and E's place with fabulous wine, food, and company, keeping us busy almost til dawn. This morning it was the flea market, oh if only there were more time... bises immortellement, Jennifer
elysianfields 6/07/2004

So, Oren and I are here in Europe doing a few duo shows.
Here's what's been happening.
The trip started out ideally enough. Painless airport
experience. Pleasant flight on Air India, flipping between
classical ghazals and bollywood soundtracks on the headset,
vegetarian curry and uninterrupted ambian-aided sleep. Good
hotel in Paris (used to be a church), nice room with wooden
beams to hang on. A lovely day wandering through the ancient
streets of the Marais, returning to one of my favored thrift
stores, and scores for both of us, then leisurely sipping
kirs at Petit Fer A Cheval (a place I frequented this past
winter while making the forthcoming Jean-Louis record). One
of those moments where one of us say (this time it was me), "this is the best fucking job in the world". yeah. And youfeel so lucky to be doing what you're doing, the taste of anticipation in your mouth of when you get to go on stage and play your songs for people. Later on we had an interview witha small film crew who are shooting a documentary about Jim (Thirlwell). Both O and I felt spacey unfocused jet laggy, but hopefully it was OK. Cous Cous for dinner then early to bed after both finishing our books, then a fine night of adventurous dreams. One I particularly remember was filling in last minute as the host of the tonight show, improvising, and ofcourse being outrageously funny. The King of Comedy. Anyway, the next morning didn't prove as care-free. It started with my curling iron exploding and sparking flames. Then breakfast- only one piece of fruit in the hotel breakfast room and it was a lemon. Next- checking out and ordering a cab. But there are no cabs to order. The hotel can't get through. And we are quickly losing time. It becomes questionable whether we will make our train to Grenoble. Fethiye, the sweet hotel manager, insists on helping us get to the nearest cab stand (which isn't really near at all), and the three of us slog through the streets in the rain at break-neck speed with suitcases and instruments.The cab stand isn't a cab stand at all. There are no taxis in Paris when it rains she tells us. We say goodbye to her and decide to take our chances with the metro. The lind for metro tix is the length of a family of tape worms, and Oren starts to lose his cool. Somehow it's finally our turn, we run through the the metro, tearing down the tunnels, hop on a train, in minutes we sprint again, our bags flying through the air as we transfer trains, the clock is ticking, beads of sweat fly off of us like mercury, finally we are in Gare de Lyon, Oren's running through the station with two large suitcases like a mad terrorist looking for voie 19, and me his accomplice not far behind with my omnichord, satchel, and guitar. Wrong platform! Wrong platform! "Excuse-moi! excuse moi!" And then, forgive me God, but I knocked a blind woman with the guitar. seconds later - the whole thing is a lsd mirage, voie 19, the beautiful train is still there. we made it with two minutes to spare. a bittersweetness, sitting in my train seat in my cool french vintage blouse with lions on it, sticking to my skin with sweat, my hands aching, still out of breath as the train starts moving and soon paris is out of sight.
more soon.
elysianfields 6/02/2004

Hiya. It was lovely playing for everyone in Lille. Another gig in the rain. We bring that backdrop where ever we go, it seems. Many commented on the show having been too short,
or that I seemed to have left the stage abruptly.
We weren't alotted much time, as there were many other bands playing that night and they had to keep it moving. Also, Oren's pedals failed at the beginning.The upshot was having to cut the set, so I'm sorry about that. Also, Joan was going to sit in with us on violin, on Black Acres, as she was there with Antony. Shame we didn't get to do that. There was a little confusion because Oren was playing later that night with James Chance in Roubaix, and they were afraid the times would conflict, so we ended up playing early. There was certainly no conflict though, as the Chance gig wasn't until 2 am. Speaking of which, it was quite kick ass, and Oren tore it up on the guitar. Lille was freezing cold and rainy, but the hotel was pukka, which is always a good thing. A good hotel bar/lounge can also be a fine thing. This one had piped in music, as many do, but it was odd when an english rap song came on, with the phrase 'Mother Fucker' repeated, I looked around this somewhat stuffy room for some kind of reaction, it was a lame song, but certainly in that context an ice beaker, but there was none. No one seemed to understand, or perhaps notice. All the inane wallpaper we are fed and digest in its myriad forms. I enjoy such moments of severe contrast. Or perhaps there is no contradiction there, really.

Well, here's wishing everyone happy holidays, and a beautiful and healthy New Year. May the New Year bring more Peace, more Love, and hopefully better music. xxx, jc
elysianfields 12/22/2003

Hello. I've been wanting to write something here for a while, but somehow it has seemed rather daunting. On October 31, my grandmother died. She was 88. I just wanted to talk about it a bit, as she was very important to me. Not many people know, but Dee-Dee (as I so named her when I was a babe) has always been one of my biggest influences. She was the only grandparent I had ever known, and she was a truly unique and exciting person. This was not a grandmother who would knit you jumpers and bake for you, no, this was a wild woman who would teach you about the ways of the world. She would often say she had done it all, and I believe that is nearly true. She certainly burned her own path. She was wealthy and poor at diffrent times, but never gave money much importance. Though when she had it, she certainly knew how to live it up. She was married four times, to four terribly different fellows, kind of like 'divorced, be-headed, died, divorced...', only she eventually outlived them all. She was fiercely independant. She had a million eccentric tales to tell and that is her legacy. She was a long time pro-choice advocate, herself undergoing several back-alley abortions. In some ways she was very old fashioned, she very much lived in the fabled glamour of the old screen sirens, this is a woman who never washed her own hair! Even in the depression when she had to quit drama school to work two jobs to bring money home to her family, she always put a little money aside to get her hair done! She loved to travel (was famous for her sixteen! pieces of luggage on ships), she loved people, making people laugh, she loved driving, drove a big convertible, she adored men especially, was quite frank and not shy about sex and her sexual appetites, she loved words, reading, great at tough crossword puzzles and a champion scrabble player (using all her letters several times in a game was typical), she was a passionate smoker from a very young age, before it was 'acceptable' for a woman to smoke in public, and smoked almost right up to the end, but most of all she loved music. She would often say that it was a cruel trick that she loved music so much, knew all the words to the songs, and hadn't the voice to sing them. "Your mother got her father's voice, a lovely Irish tenor, and you got your mother's voice.", she said. She also loved to dance, and went to all the hot night clubs in New York back in the day. Her favorite was the Place Elegante (sp?), where they all knew her. Her friend Bill Farrell, the pianist would play her special song when she walked in the room, depending on which man she was with, he'd wink at her, as she had a different signature song with each beau. When that joint closed, she'd often go up to Harlem with Bill where he was playing a rent party or something. Anyway, many many stories. The sad thing is the story teller is now gone. I must try and remember as many of her stories as I can. She was also one tough broad. Here are some recent quotes- "Can I give you some advice? (big pause, then, like a pirate) DON'T GET OLD!" also after telling her that I love her, her reply in a grizzled voice, "not enough." From the time I was born, she adored me, so naturally I loved her back. She gave me lots of attention and confidence at a very young age. When I was three, she made it her mission to teach me how to read and she was a very patient teacher. Also from the time I was talking, before I was one, she was teaching me all the old songs, and that continued throughout my childhood, this is how I came to know many of the songs from the 20's and 30's and 40's. She also started my passion for old 78's, and I'm lucky to have many of her old records. So strange how a life just goes like that. We are all such little blips. The end was tough because she had alztheimers disease, only she didn't know it, didn' really understand it. She lived with my mother for the past two years, who took amazing care of her. Dee-Dee could be quite difficult, especially toward the end. It's painful to see someone's memories leave them like a fraying hem, unravelling it's thread. Memories are almost all that one is left with, and when that goes, there isn't much. She even forgot that she smoked. The only thing that could jog her out of her zoned out black hole was music. She loved it when we sang for her, then, it would start to come back, something vague, and smokey, something distant, but beautiful. It was intersting that she chose to go on Halloween, it was always one of her favorite holidays. She was always such a pagan. yeah, she used to get really into it, which was especially fun for us when we were kids. She donated her body to science, something she was always very firm about doing, as a long time agnostic, she also wore all her past illnesses like badges of honor and was anxious to share them with anyone that would listen to her. In the end, everyone wanted her body, yes, many medical centers are desperate for corpses. This also cuts the cost of the pricey 'death business', it's big business. We're happy to say she has finally gone to Valhalla (where the medical center we chose is.)
The same four medical students will be with her for the next two years, hopefully learning new things about alztheimers, then we get her ashes back. I miss her, but I'm so glad she is out of her misery. I will always love her and hold her so dearly to me, and am so grateful for all the kookiness she gave me.
elysianfields 12/07/2003

the tour was amazing. there was very little time to get online. i want to tell you more about it, but must figure out the error with this blog on the site. stay tuned.
elysianfields 10/09/2003

Once again we are off to Europe.
I have yet to pack, having spent the morning finishing up a track for the new Tweaker record. Must get to the post office!
We will try to post while on tour. See ya soon. xx Jennifer
elysianfields 9/22/2003

hi from moody annapolis, maryland, in the heart of historic anne of arundel county!
i'm down at the harbor in a bookstore, been examining the old slave docks, souvenir shops and the starbucks.... real estate agencies...you wouldn't believe what you pay for a three bedroom house down here, five times what it would be in tours. i guess the bush years have been good for somebody, after all.
came here with meshell ndegeocelo's band, as soon as i landed from europe. one day i'm at the national radio in france, meeting the incredible riccardo muti, director of la scala (he allowed me to attend his rehearsal of cherubini's mass, which was so beautiful i cried, and very edifying too... the maestro, in addition to singing the choral parts and playing some killing piano, fine tuned the already fantastic vocal performances, switching languages incessantly in the rehearsal, so i couldn't follow it all, but my favorite english bit was when he addressed the soloists about the 'agnus dei (?)' - pardon my latin - section of the mass, which he said is usually made very optimistic, but in cherubini's mass instead of "everything being ok" at the end it's "maybe everything turns out allright.....maybe not"
i really value this kind of direction in performance - the singers were awesome, and the tenor, herbert, an opera star from vienna, came to the black session and stayed the whole time, and astounded jennifer by telling her he loved her voice!)
and the next day i'm in annapolis, playing a one of america's "revitalized main streets" in a brick and glass restaurant with waitresses wearing ties and carrying around pitchers of beer and cobb salads, and then waking up to find a sea of dogs: a pet massage convention going on in the lobby and courtyard of the hotel.... they were massaging a "five year old male cocker spaniel" on the dais, while people milled around getting danishes and grazing on a brunch for "people and their pets".... there was a little pen with a bunny in it, very frightened with all the dogs around. lots of retirees with pet fancier slogans on their t shirts.
the pet masseuse was going through her little rap: "...and what kind of dogs can benefit from a massage?" (older dogs, but also younger dogs with growing pains, it turns out, and don't use the size of the dog as an excuse either, because both your smaller and your larger dogs can use a massage, plus your working dogs, like seeing eye dogs, do suffer workplace stress) and "how l long should the massage last? it's up to your pet...after all, it's their massage"> (but we're shooting for half an hour.)
i didn't stick around long enough to see if she massaged the bunny, but i hope she did, the bunny was looking pretty stressed.
want to thank everyone who came out for the france/benelux tour, it was great to see you - we'll be back in september - keep an eye open for us. love o
oren 6/20/2003

no, silly we are not scabs! we played for free at this sweet pub. we support the strike in the big venues and all the workers. it is so wonderful how everyone here is so dedicated. Richard from Vendome (amazing great music lover) called his pal Jan in Tour and arranged everything. Jan and his crew were all sweet as pie, Claris an actress, Mathilde a student, Sebastian, who works in film in Paris, and William, a photographer with a gorgeous mouth, all helped out. Jan arranged for a last minute radio show as well on Radio Beton, it was a covers show, so they played our versions of a Dylan tune, a Bolan tune and a Gainsbourg tune. Shit, the cognac here in Angouleme is amazing, guess we are close to Cognac. I have just been informed that everyone is waiting f or me to go back to the hotel. I am always last to get to use internet. more soon, i hope xxx jc
elysianfields 6/12/2003

hey there everyone from oren
we're wrapping up our night in angouleme, south of france. it was nice, great crowd, they were completely attentive and enthusiastic for our set as well as the very hard and loud band that came after us, which i thought showed a lot of range on their part.
it's very hot here.
last night we ended uo playing a surprise gig in tours, france, instead of toulouse, on account of a nationwide strike that closed down all of the shows all over france "even johnny halliday"; so i guess we are scabs which pains me but it was wonderful of the people that helped us to get the gig, richard, lionel, and especially yann, who owned the lovely venue and fed us
oren 6/12/2003

hi everyone. we are in Gent, Belgium. about to play the Kinky Star. and let me say we're all feeling pretty kinky. We just had dinner at friends of the promoters house, and they made a lovely dinner for us. George is busy smoking and quoting Snoop Dog. Thomas and I have been sampling chocolates. Last night we played at the Soundstation in Liege. We were all dreadfully exhausted (all but Shazad, who arrived the previous day after playing in London with some Sugar Cubes). Chris from Bang picked us up at CDG in Paris, the ride to Paris was cramped to put it lightly as his car was too small, and he had his girlfriend with him. I had to sit on Oren's lap in the front seat, in something of a fetal position. Liege is beautiful. O? Thomas and I took an amazing walk through winding streets of cobble stones? up hills? beautiful old wooden doors. amazing trees. well they say we have to play now. pardon the typos. these keyboards here.... more soon. xxx JC
elysianfields 6/07/2003

well we just heard from Shahzad, he's already in Brussels, he was coming from Iceland. It's been a mad week and a half. The rest of us fly tonite to Paris. I have yet to pack. My yoga mat takes up most of my suitcase. I usually put off packing to the last minute. I'm just savouring my lapsang souchong. more soon...
elysianfields 6/05/2003

ok they fixed this thing so i can leave stuff here again. did you miss me? i missed you! going to europe tonight for tour - will leave some diary stuff as we go! see you later- oren
oren 6/05/2003

it's oren here, although it will appear as jennifer at the bottom. it's time to say goodbye europe now, as the tour is over, and we're making our last visit to the easy everything in brussels before flying home. we love easy everthing.
jennifer kicked a heckler during our second to last belgian show, and the next night the manager/owner threw us out of the hotel....anyway there's a germ of truth to these rock and roll stories.
france was great, especially marseilles and grenoble, and we were blessed with cool weather for the drive back, as the sun was actually getting too much for long drives in the hot van. grenoble has the most gorgeous scenery. i'd recommend it to anyone. we met wonderful people, played a lot of encores, ate croissants, drank coffee. Wonder how our cats are.....
elysianfields 6/01/2001

back in brussels having completed liege, a club called the video, in gent - where they treated us wonderfully (incredible dressing room spread, five kinds of incense), brussels. wonderful beautiful people here in belgium. tonight's show at the botanique was really special, it's a great room. the soundman, hassan, was terrific. he's coming to hasselt, too, sunday -our last show in belgium. on that afternoon, we're intending to visit one of the guys we know from here. his pet donkey just had a baby yesterday, and oren is desperate to play with it.
our good friend alicia surprised us by appearing on the street in front of the club! she took the train from koln, germany. we went to the archiduc, an art deco bar with original fixtures from the 1920s. speaking of period pieces, we were staying at the plaza, very old and refined european luxury hotel, but frighteningly quiet and deserted when we were there, and we found an ancient black and white photo of jennifer hosting a huge party there, in evening clothes, also from the same era.
elysianfields 5/24/2001

Well it's late at night, and Oren and I are in one of these internet cafes. We're in Brussels. The Damned were on our flight over here, coming back from playing Joey Ramone's birthday party, which was the biggest ever as it was also a memorial. Captain Sensible is really nice. You always see musicians in airports. Hope the airline has found George's snare drum. First gig tomorrow. Pretty darn tired.
elysianfields 5/21/2001