Out of office...

The holiday season is coming up, so for the next couple of weeks there will be no updates. It would of course be tempting to use blogger’s scheduling facility to secure a flow of daily posts, but somehow I don’t see that as “true blogger spirit”. So mid-August I’ll be back again and I’m already beginning to fear the number of mails and blog updates I’ll have to read my way through upon my return. But that’s a problem of the future and instead I’ll much rather find joy in the fact that the weather forecast looks absolutely fantastic, unlike last year, where we were inches from drowning. And while I'm away I suggest that you:

Join the Northern Portrait Facebook group! I'm seriously afraid that the Napoleon Sweetheart EP will be released while I'm on holiday.
+ Crazy

Download the 6 tracks by Velour that (for the moment) are freebies at the band's Myspace profile. The album Undress Your Alibis was my soundtrack of last summer.
+ Janey Black (Tiger Baby Remix)

Watch last night's episode of Kaer paa tur. It's in Danish, but if you wind forward to the 5:17 mark you'll get an introduction to my local CD pusher. You could of course watch the rest of the episode and get a bit more familiar with my hometown.

Download the 8 Speaker Bite Me remixes, including this fine one by SuperTroels. Try to spot the Pink Floyd and Kate Bush references!
+ Teach Me Tiger (SuperTroels remix)

Check out the Green Concorde post from yesterday. It's been updated!

Shorties...

New track by Sweden’s Bakers At Dawn has been posted at Myspace.
+ With these options nothing can really fail

From a Myspace bulletin: For a very short time Ether Aura are selling 3 CD’s for only $10. For this ridiculous sum you’ll get two excellent albums (Crash + Before We Could Sing) as well as the Semblance EP. Don’t know for how long this offer is valid, so act now!
+ Twist

J.A. has uploaded a string of photos from his visit to the Rip It Up festival to his Myspace account. Boy do I regret that I didn’t go!

Somehow I “re-discovered” Swedish one-man project Twinkling Streams today. These two tracks just jangle along so perfectly that they make me want to grab a beer, put on my sunglasses and dance right into the sunshine.
+ Relations Failure
+ Things We Never Had

On a Green Concorde...

It’s been a while since we last heard anything from the four lads in Danish alternative rock band Green Concorde and I’m probably not alone in my wait for a follow up to the (early) 2007 debut Ten Cities. Still there is no news on how the work is progressing or whether it’s actually moving forward at all, but the first song recorded for the album Flowers of Romance (originally posted for streaming in January) is now available to download for free at Myspace. In my opinion it’s among their finest efforts so far, so I strongly recommend that you grab it right away. And while you’re already busy “right-clicking”, why not check out the recently published live version of Catch and Turn (the stand out track on the debut album) recorded for Danish P3.....a few more freebies have been added.
+ Flowers of Romance
+ Catch and Turn (P3 Live)
+ Catch and Turn (album version)
+ The Anthem To Which We Fall
+ This Time (tWAMi Remix)

Update (from a Myspace blog post): "We are recording new songs in Safelandings Studios in Århus with Ole Gundahl. Everything is going as planned and we are pleased to pieces. Today Rune Wehner from Spleen United is visiting us with his Korg, contributing with some dark synth ..ed bits. Then only the recording of Mortens vocal remain.

The tracks will, together with Flowers Of Romance, be featured on a forthcoming release, which we speak of as "Down The Corridor, To The Exit, Through The Gates, Out Into Safety".

The track list looks a little something like this:

Silence and Glass
Silvercoated Buildings
Arrows on Fire
Miami
Flowers of Romance
Planet WWX
Death
[Untitled]

Listening to these songs it's evident that a lot has happened since the recordings of Ten Cities back in 2006. It's still Green Concorde. But it's different."

Small Town Bells in the Death Valley...

The fabulous and ever so productive Danish one-man project Death Valley Sleepers has published yet another track. The newbie is called Small Town Bells and as great as it is, it doesn’t really bring much new to the table, as the music continues to sound like The Jesus and Mary Chain joining The Raveonettes in a time machine on a nostalgic trip back to the 60’s to team up with The Velvet Underground. But the real news of the day is that Death Valley Sleepers have finally announced the date of their first gig, which will take place at Rust in Copenhagen on August 28. Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to their first live performance, but hopefully this means that more concerts will be soon be announced!! I’ve done a bit of counting (I’m normally very good at this) and have reach the conclusion that the band has published at least 12 different tracks or pretty much an album worth of music. For your convenience I’ve posted 10 of the tracks below (all of them are free to download at either Last.fm or Myspace) and hopefully I’ll add the two missing ones tonight (no promises though)..
+ Small Town Bells
+ Heartbreaking Sound of Joy
+ Hey Messy Queen
+ My Blue Underground
+ The Golden Mud
+ In The Valley
+ She's In Control
+ White Noise
+ Sweet End
+ Black Pearl
+ Left Me High
+ Girl Got Lost

Falafel...

Had a falafel for lunch today. Really should feel a slight bit of guilt, as this is not the proper diet with the 100 Push-Up challenge in mind! I do promise that I’ll continue my quest tonight!

A new track by Calexico is free to grab at Myspace and though I’m no fan and therefore lack any insight, I do find it very appealing and believe it must be one of their best songs. New album to be called Carried To Dust and will be released September 9 on Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records.
+ Two Silver Trees

On a Myspace crusade yesterday I found this quite beautiful cover version of Love Will Tear Us Apart recorded by Italians Albanopower.
+ Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover)

Series Two Records has agreed to release the debut album by Swedish electro pop duo Television keeps us apart later this year. I feel the "need" to mention that the duo hails from Stockholm, as I should have mentioned yesterday that indie pop duo New Found Land is from Gothenburg. Check this post to understand why this is of “importance”.
+ Television keeps us apart – Never be alone

Shorties (longer version)...

As it was played on the radio this morning, I wanted to post the video for Zookeeper’s Boy by Mew, but all I got was the “embedding disabled by request” message! I’m tempted to post multiple question marks here, because what exactly is the motivation behind this decision? I’m truly sorry that I wanted to promote one of your songs. Sorry, sorry, sorry and I promise that I’ll never do it again! My big problem is that I absolutely adore Mew, so hopefully it’s just some label jerk showing his complete lack of judgment.

The lovely Someone You Replaced by Kind of girl was played on the radio as well. The debut album Lonely in a modern way will (finally) be digitally released August 11. What a long, long journey this has been.

Also on the radio this morning was the annoying Don’t Get Me Wrong by The Pretenders (video) and I seriously believe it must be one of the worst songs ever written.

Swedish male/female duo New Found Land has just finished recording their first release (?) and the track Leave It All Behind once again leaves me in complete awe how the stream of charming and catchy pop tunes by Swedish bands never seems to dry out.

Hits In The Car favorites Ether Aura are giving away an unreleased version of the album track Our Favorite Song. These guys deserve a major breakthrough, so they can go on a world tour, as I believe this will be my only chance to ever see them in concert.
+ Our Favorite Song

Another favorite act The Papertiger Sound will soon be releasing/publishing a new EP. It's to be called This Is How It Ends and hopefully there's no deeper meaning to the title? Every single track recorded by this amazing band is available as a free download.

I love small indie labels like Shelflife, matinée etc., but at the same time I do find it a bit frustrating when the “coming soon” signs are up for months. When will Shelflife release that Paris and I EP by Champagne Riot and it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that I cannot sleep at night, because I’m impatiently awaiting the Napoleon Sweetheart EP by Northern Portrait (hopefully out on matinée very, very soon)?
+ Champagne Riot – Heroes Of Our Time

Yays and nays...

Yay – ENTAKT believe they have finished recording the last track for their sophomore album. Come October the album will hopefully be released.
+ Kunsten At Slippe Taget (oldie but goodie)

Nay – The new Last.fm layout is downright ugly and the download function isn’t working. They’ve taken a huge step in the wrong direction if you ask me.

Yay – Celestial have finished recording their sophomore album. No news on any release date.
+ Dream On (another oldie but goodie)

Nay – Chris is busy, though he did find enough time to write a post today. He doesn't seem to be a fan of the new Last.fm design either?

Yay – A Classic Education are now so popular that one of their songs has been covered. The band's own version is still the better of the two.
+ Stay, Son

Nay - I have exactly 1,156 mails in my mailbox waiting to be read, filed or deleted.

Yay - Afraid of stairs have a new track streaming at Myspace.

Nay - The Danish album chart. A joke as always, as the best selling album is by "newcomers" Creedence Clearwater Revival!

Yay - Superb Swedish indie pop band Sweet Sweet Concorde has a lovely new tune named Benji and Me streaming at Myspace.

Opening the mailbox...

The debut album Portuguese Prince by Austin indie rock band Goldcure is definitely worth checking out. I’ve been giving a few spins this morning and it probably deserves a post of its own. Will be out August 26 on Sorin Records.
+ Make It Stop

Labrador is giving away the new Pelle Carlberg single 1983 (Pelle & Sebastian). A lovely indie pop tune and the Belle & Sebastian references make perfect sense.
+ 1983 (Pelle & Sebastian)

Among things I'm trying to understand why there is such a hype surrounding From Bubblegum To Sky. Still haven’t figured it out.
+ I Always Fall Apart

I’ve just downloaded the Liz Durrett album Outside The Gates. Promo track Wild As Them got me interested.
+ Wild As Them

Fields are currently recording their sophomore album and sends this track to give us an idea of how things are progressing!
+ Worst Love

Mmm...I kissed a girl...

First song on the radio this morning was the Hanson “classic” MMMBop, but no way that I’m going to post that video. Though I do recall requesting it at some disco back in 97 and dancing to it like a maniac. Instead I have no problems posting this funny new video for the Max Vernon cover of I Kissed a Girl.



+ I Kissed a Girl

On the radio this morning...

This was the first song on the radio this morning. Even though the title isn't the most optimistic you'll ever hear, I still expect today to be a fine one, with a start like that.



+ No One's Gonna Love You

Every morning when eating breakfast the radio is on, and from time to time it does happen that some really fine stuff is aired, thus helping to make the start of the day a good one. The “On the radio this morning” posts are an attempt to make your start a good one as well!

Shorties...

It’s summer and thus the season for reruns on TV, so with that in mind, I thought no one would complain about this fine cover by Ether Aura being reposted?
+ Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

Hitmeister has nominated my two German blogger friends Peter & Peter, a.k.a. Mr. Schallgrenzen and Mr. Coast Is Clear for Superblog of the year. And they really need your votes!

Motivated by the awesome title track, I’m currently listening a lot to the new album Another Noon by Canadian acoustic folk rock duo Jon and Roy.
+ Another Noon

I’ve been asked a few times, if I’m going to this year’s Rip It Up festival. Sadly the answer is no.

The free download album Secrets of the Witching Hour by The Crimea has now reach 92,811 downloads. That's another 6,224 downloads since June 26.

Superman where are you now...?

A while back I submitted this blog to the blogger social network blogcatalog, with the attitude that I’d do a lot of promotion of Hits In The Car and not give a damn about other people’s blogs. Now that I’ve spent some time there, I’ve realized that just about everyone else has the exact same agenda (shameless self promotion), so one could claim that I from day one fully understood what this so-called “social network” was all about. That said, I did actually stumble upon a quite interesting blog called Catapult Fitness, where the writer describes how she’s taken the 100 Push-Up challenge. Heavily inspired and extremely motivated I thought I’d take on the challenge as well, so Saturday morning I began my journey towards the 100 push-ups and everything went pretty well (or at least so I thought). However my upper-body didn’t think it was such a terrific idea, as I’ve been having constant muscular pains ever since I woke up yesterday morning. But once the pains are gone, I’ve promised myself that I’ll continue the challenge – stay tuned.
Today’s title was (of course) inspired by this classic:

Can you sense the frustration...?

Call me naïve. Call me stupid. Call me hopelessly stuck in a distant past. Call me whatever you like. But there I was yesterday, down at the local CD pusher wanting to spend my weekly allowance on the new (2 months old) album Zen Sucker by Larsen & Furious Jane – just to be informed that the album is only available on vinyl and as a digital download (had I been paying attention to some of these very fine and highly informative Frekvens posts, I could have saved myself from the embarrassment). Get lost! My turntable is now living its own quite life in the attic, as my wife has once and for all expelled the vinyls from the living room and I still refuse to buy any releases as digital downloads (and back we go to that good old “is music tangible or intangible?” discussion). So what the *explicit swearing* do I do now?
+ Fine (which things in my humble opinion certainly aren’t!)

UK playmobil faced popsters Play People have uploaded a new track Don’t Come Back to Myspace, and once again it’s streaming only. So I’ll continue adding fuel to the fire and claim that I have a sneaking suspicion that the band will soon release an EP on Cloudberry Records. This piece of information, which could be classified as a homemade rumor, hasn’t been verified, but exactly when did that stop the tabloid press from printing anything?

Yesterday I received a mail from Swedish electropop duo Psychic Stunts and once I had listened to the band’s fine new EP 101 Pick Up Lines (free download), my thoughts started to wander. Why is it that every Swedish indie pop band seems to be coming from Gothenburg, whereas every band with a more electronic approach origins from or is based in Stockholm? This is not meant to be a scientific analysis of the musical landscape of Sweden, but I’m simply trying to figure out, if there’s any truth to this (and there probably isn't)!!

Gothenburg (indie pop)
+ The Electric Pop Group - I Could See The Lights
+ Days - Downhill
+ Tellus About The Moon - Wwwm
+ The Lost Homeboys - Don't Say You Don't Know

Stockholm (electro/synth-pop)
+ Psychic Stunts - Speaker's Block
+ Ostrich - Icecold Kisses
+ Le Sport - Tell no one about tonight
+ Kuryakin - Take My Hand

On the radio this morning...

Doubt that I'll ever be a fan of Nephew, but this has to be their finest moment.



Every morning when eating breakfast the radio is on, and from time to time it does happen that some really fine stuff is aired, thus helping to make the start of the day a good one. The “On the radio this morning” posts are an attempt to make your start a good one as well!

Mixed bag...

How The West Was Won is the title of a brand new track published by Andrew Boland. How can you not love this voice and you should prepare yourself for 6 minutes of grand beauty!!
+ How The West Was Won

The first part of the interesting 80’s cover project REWIND by Buffetlibre is now officially complete. A total of 60 songs are now included and amongst the last two additions was French synth-/electropop act Anoraak covering Talking In Your Sleep. The originally by The Romantics was a major anthem of my teenage years, so quite funny hearing this electronic rendition of it.
+ Talking In Your Sleep (The Romantics Cover)

While One Weekly Gun is away on holiday, his track 12 Million has been remixed by DJ Vonbas. As we all now by now, every song in this project has been written and produced in less than three hours, so it was quite interesting hearing how the end result improved, when more time was available for producing and mixing.
+ 12 Million
+ 12 Million (DJ Vonbas Remix)

US youngster Max Vernon has recorded a jazz inspired cover of the Katy Perry track I Kissed A Girl and spending 3 minutes in his company is certainly a lot more enjoyable experience than listening to the original.
+ I Kissed a Girl

I’ve just received my copy of the A Sketch For Summer CD and it’s truly fabulous packed with "sunshine indie pop". Pick up your free copy in one of these selected CD stores (UK only) or grab a free digital copy. Thanks a million to CatCutter Records for shipping a copy to Denmark!
+ Telegramme - Dance

A boy is bathing...

I've been giving the debut album A Fire to Make Preparations by NY quartet The Boy Bathing a few spins the past few days. Appraisals galore have been sent its way, but so far my reactions are quite mixed. Album opener The Beaches Meet the Sea is as beautiful and dreamy a pop song as you’ll ever hear and immediately raises expectations. The rest of the album consists of quite lovely and well-written tracks (with clever lyrics, I've been told), which should be all the foundation needed to produce an excellent album. Still I’m not quite content, with my main objection being that this far to often sounds like yet another Bright Eyes release. Inspiration and admiration is a good thing, but a more serious attempt at trying to distance themselves from Mr. Oberst, would probably have done wonders and transformed this from a really good to a bloody brilliant album! Order it from the band's webpage or wait for it to be digitally released on Tuesday, July 15.
+ The Beaches Meet the Sea

Shorties (short edition)...

Fuck I’m getting old. I was a wee bit drunk Saturday evening and my body is still in complete recovery mode.

My condition makes it almoste impossible focusing on stuff too complicated, so electro pop tunes like this one by MakeUpBreakUp are exactly what I need.
+ Jungle City

Jonas recaptures his Roskilde Festival 2008 experience.

Still enough time left to grab Chanson de juillet by Biker Boy.

On the radio this morning...

Few songs sound better on a sunny day...



Every morning when eating breakfast the radio is on, and from time to time it does happen that some really fine stuff is aired, thus helping to make the start of the day a good one. The “On the radio this morning” posts are an attempt to make your start a good one as well!

Shorties...

It's weekend!!

Indonesian indie pop band Sunny Summer Day is sharing a live version of this perfectly titled track.
+ Happy In The Summer

RAC covers Take On Me with some help from Karl Kling. Part of the REWIND project mentioned yesterday, and it's (mildly said) somewhat different from the original.
+ Take On Me (A-Ha cover)

UK indie label CatCutterRecords is giving away their Sketch For The Summer compilation for free. You can pick up the CD (still for free) from selected CD stores in the UK or just download it.
+ Foxes! - It's Ridiculous, Adam

Via It's A Trap comes word on the new summer single by Universal Poplab. A bit cheesy perhaps, but certainly charming and catchy.
+ Summer Struck

My Blue Underground...

The very productive Death Valley Sleepers has once again published a new track. The music remains very much inspired by the likes of The Raveonettes and The Jesus and Mary Chain, though My Blue Underground is bit slower paced that most of the previous songs. I am slowly beginning to wonder if there is a deeper plan behind all of this (e.g. being signed and releasing an album or perhaps some live performances). Hopefully there is, as these songs certainly deserve to reach a much wider audience.
+ My Blue Underground

On the radio this morning...

Not that many interesting songs played on the radio this morning, but on a summerday like the one today, I guess this tune is OK?



Every morning when eating breakfast the radio is on, and from time to time it does happen that some really fine stuff is aired, thus helping to make the start of the day a good one. The “On the radio this morning” posts are an attempt to make your start a good one as well!

Northern Portrait covers Sir Cliff...

As part of the interesting 80's cover project REWIND, Danish indie pop trio Northern Portrait has recorded a cover version of Some People, which was originally included on the 1987 Always Guaranteed album by Cliff Richard. Not bad at all, but taking the band's influences into consideration, you cannot help thinking that this choice is somewhat odd.
+ Some People (Cliff Richard cover)

Interpol at Train...

As always I’m not going to write a review, but (as always) I’ll post a few thoughts/comments.

- It was my first, but hopefully not my last, visit to Train. It’s a fine venue and I especially like how you’re close to the stage, even when you’re at the back of the room.
- Why the F-word wasn’t Take You On A Cruise included in the set? It just happens to be one of my favorite songs and I will pity myself for a long time that it was left out.
- Their live performances certainly won’t charm over any new fans. But you gotta give them credit that they remain true to their image of being indie cool and angry young men.
- The sound was fine during the first two songs, but once Paul Banks signaled “more guitar”, Daniel Kessler dominated the rest of the show. Perhaps this was what the band wanted, but it didn't sound like a wise decision to me.
- DKK 450 (EUR 60) is a lot of money for 16 songs and 80 minutes of music.
- Despite all my criticism, the show clearly proved that this band has unique songwriting talents.
- A few reviews: Gaffa, JP & Soundvenue.

This is what I missed or rather what I was hoping to see:

On the radio this morning...

Another classic. Don't think I've ever met anyone, who doesn't like this one? I had serious hang-overs the first time I saw this video (and heard the song) and it simply blew me away!



Every morning when eating breakfast the radio is on, and from time to time it does happen that some really fine stuff is aired, thus helping to make the start of the day a good one. The “On the radio this morning” posts are an attempt to make your start a good one as well!