A Weekend in the City is the second studio album by British indie rock
band Bloc Party. It was recorded at Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath,
Ireland, in mid-2006, and was produced by Jacknife Lee. The album was
mixed later that year and released on 24 January 2007, with Wichita
Recordings as its primary label. The band aimed to create an album that
distanced them from conventional guitar band music, incorporating more
electronically processed beats and hiring a string sextet for certain
tracks. Frontman and chief lyricist Kele Okereke (pictured) themed the
lyrics on life in modern cities, including issues such as drug abuse,
sexuality and terrorism, as exemplified respectively on the singles "The
Prayer", "I Still Remember" and "Hunting for Witches". Critical
reception was split on the band's new musical directions and more
forthright lyrics. A Weekend in the City, named by The Guardian as one
of "1000 Albums To Hear Before You Die", was re-released in November
2007 to coincide with Bloc Party's touring schedule. It peaked at number
2 on the UK Album Chart and Irish Album Chart, and at number 12 on the
Billboard 200.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Weekend_in_the_City>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1458:
The 14-year-old Matthias Corvinus was unanimously proclaimed
King of Hungary, after the Estates were persuaded to do so by his uncle
Michael Szilágyi.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Corvinus>
1857:
The University of Calcutta, the first modern university in the
Indian subcontinent, was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Calcutta>
1900:
Second Boer War: Boer forces stopped a British attempt to break
the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spion_Kop>
1978:
The Soviet nuclear powered satellite Kosmos 954 burned up
during reentry, scattering radioactive debris across Canada's Northwest
Territories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954>
1993:
Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu was assassinated by a
car bomb outside his home in Ankara.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%C4%9Fur_Mumcu>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
obsidional:
Pertaining to a siege.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/obsidional>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It was part of her discernment to be aware that life is the only
real counselor, that wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does
not become a part of the moral tissues.
--Edith Wharton
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Wharton>