Shorties (Happy Christmas version)...

Since this is the last post this side of Christmas, I guess it’s fitting to wish you all a merry, merry Christmas. Have a great time with your loved ones. Don't eat and drink too much, and of course remember to listen to some great music!

Champagne Riot is giving away a Christmas single as well as an old demo from 2004. December Slopes was originally recorded for the Cloudberry Records release Last Train To Christmas.
+ December Slopes

My favorite band Kent has published/released a brand new track named På Drift? and it's free to download from the band’s website.

Happy The Man is the title of the new release by Folk rock duo The Guggenheim Grotto and the album is one amazing collection of wonderful pop tunes. It has already been released digitally, but you’ll have to wait until January 27 for the physical release.
+ Fee Da Da Dee

afmusic offers free download of a 23 track Xmas compilation named Howly Night featuring a number of previously unreleased songs.
+ The Search - We Fell Asleep In Eachothers Arms

Shorties...

Only two days left, but there’s still one Christmas song left in the pipeline. It’s this excellent one by talented Copenhagen indie pop/rock quartet Passtime Poets named A Murder Yuletide.
+ A Murder Yuletide

In A Cyclone of Stones reports that Oliver North Boy Choir has been busy recording their next single (they are always busy recording singles - aren't they?). To ease the wait, the trio is giving away a song for free named Ventil, which was recorded years ago, while they were still known as pierre.
+ Ventil

The debut album Aboa Sleeping by Finnish duo Burning Hearts will be out February 10 next year on Shelflife Records. The album contains 9 wonderful tracks imported directly from the indie pop heaven, thus helping to keep the labels streak of fantastic releases alive. The album in its entirety can be streamed from Last.fm.
+ I Lost My Colour Vision
+ Sea Birds

One Weekly Gun has now officially published his excellent One Xmas Song.
+ One Xmas Song

Now there’s a Christmas present I could easily live without. Indie MP3 has decided to throw in the towel and has ceased to exist. Always sad when one of the best music blogs out there decides to call it quits, and it will be sorely missed.

Purplespace - Kaleidoscope...

Too tired to write anything, but this brand new track by US shoegaze/electronica combo Purplespace is, just like everything else the band has recorded, absolutely wonderful. You probably remember the band by this The Psychedelic Furs cover they recorded a couple of years ago.
+ Kaleidoscope
+ Pretty in Pink (The Psychedelic Furs cover)

One Xmas Song...

One Xmas Song is the 39th and most likely last song of the year by ambitious Danish one-man project One Weekly Gun, and as announced it’s completely different from the 38 previous ones. Now unfaithful to his own dogmatic rules of writing, producing and posting the songs in less than three hours, he has rearranged the first song ever published by One Weekly Gun. Appropriately that track was named One Song Every Week and looking back the lyrics predicted the year quite accurately (“one song every week now that’s what you’re getting”). Frederik Thaae (a.k.a. A Kid Hereafter) and Kristian Thomsen have mixed the new version of the track, Jakob Faurholt has arranged it and with the help of The Danish National Chamber Orchestra an absolutely wonderful Christmas feel has been added. Or as written in the press material; “listen to it loud and catch the Christmas spirit", and I can only second that! Thanks to Peter for letting me do an advance posting of the track, as it will officially be available from the One Weekly Gun website on Monday the 22nd.
+ One Xmas Song
+ One Song Every Week

Shorties...

I’ve decided to abandon the Christmas post. The post itself is rather lame I know and if nothing else it definitely proved that I’m one lazy bastard. This doesn’t mean however that there will be no more Christmas tunes, and here are a couple of nice ones for you.

+ Sherwood – Snowing In Seattle
Despite the chiming bells, this pumping and catchy track by Sherwood is probably not your typical Christmas tune. Instead its driving pace should be the perfect companion during the next few days of furious shopping.

+ Balthrop, Alabama – Christmas in Jail
Balthrop, Alabama consists of siblings Pascal and Lauren Balthrop (and several others I've been corrected) and with help from Dawn Landes the duo has recorded a seasonal album named A Very Balthrop Christmas. It’s out on End Up Records and with 12 charming folk-rock tunes (not every one is as bittersweet as this promo track) it is well worth a try. And two weeks from now, it sure is too late!

Charlie, Don’t Surf drummer Mikkel has released (published is probably a more accurate term) a few tracks under the alias ME ME ME. These infectious synths/electronic dominated tunes are worlds away from the indie pop universe of the surfer lads (not that I mind at all). Learn more about the project and download two more tracks from Mikkel’s website.
+ Shed Some Light

Remember my comment last week on the Plushgun promo mail? Afterwards I actually received an apology, which was quite a surprise. Learned in the same apology mail that I haven’t posted the new video for Just Impolite, so here it is. And if you missed the track the previous billion times I posted it, it’s here as well.
+ Just Impolite

moi Caprice/No and The Maybes...

Better late than never I suppose? A few thoughts on the No and The Maybes/moi Caprice double-packer Friday evening.

No and The Maybes played a really tight set and managed to include just about every track from their debut album. The songs are short with a Beach Boys/60’s feel to them, which makes you think wayfarers and suntan rather than snowballs and Christmas trees. But despite this being December, it was still nice seeing the trio again and I’m already looking forward to the next time. Plague of Angels has posted a few songs of the debut album, and I strongly urge you to check them out.

Somehow it always seems close to impossible to rate a concert by one of your favorite acts. moi Caprice performed 16 songs and still it was way too short. A few too many songs from the back catalogue were missing and the sound wasn’t the best. But being biased as I am, I still think the concert, despite those flaws, was absolutely fantastic. And it was quite encouraging that a decent number of people actually showed up (close to 100).

After the concert I had the privilege to chat briefly with lead singer Michael Møller and (sort of) got answers to two of my burning questions. What will happen to those “catchy” tracks that the band claims to have deliberately cut from We Had Faces Then (to be released at some later point) and does he plan to release a follow up to his amazing solo album Every Streetcar's Got a Name (he probably will some day, but it will neither sound like Streetcar nor as moi Caprice “light”).

+ No and The Maybes - Mouth
+ moi Caprice – For Once in Your Life Try Fight for Something You Believe In
+ Michael Møller - All the Girls I Lost in the Fires

On the radio this morning...

For Danes only I guess?



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!

Your name will ring a bell again tonight...

Unless you’re a complete stranger to this blog, you probably know by now that I’m going to see moi Caprice/No & The Maybes at Toldkammeret tonight. As always it will be highly interesting to see the number of people showing up, as my (otherwise lovely) hometown never seems to be very good at embracing upcoming or little-known bands. In a way you can say that my hopes for tonight are split in two. Obviously it will be great if lots of people show up, which should improve the chances of either band returning some other time. Or perhaps even better encourage other bands to (at least) consider Helsingør as a serious option, when planning their tours. But on the other hand it’s always a cool and very intimate experience, when hardly anyone shows up, though this has to be extremely frustrating for the band(s). So as much as I’m hoping for a big crowd tonight, I feel rather certain that it will be an experience for the few.
+ To The Lighthouse
+ Drama Queen

The 38th song of the year by One Weekly Gun has been posted. He’s done an admirable job and now we’re all waiting for that New Years treat!
+ Seven Things I Hate

Nearly laughed my ass off. Just received a promo mail suggesting that I should check out the new track Just Impolite by Plushgun. Please, please, pretty please, check the mail guidelines before sending any promo mails. The person responsible for this definitely hasn’t wasted 10 seconds checking the blog before mailing. Otherwise she would have learned that I’ve featured the track in 3 (1,2,3) different blogposts as well as in this Støj På Frekvensen post. Frustrations aside, I do love the track immensely and don’t mind at all posting it once again!
+ Just Impolite

On the radio this morning...

I agree with most people that the third Keane album is quite a disappointment. It does however include this track, which has to be one of the band’s brightest moments. Strange video though!



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...

Will I ever learn to make up my mind? In April I wrote that I thought the Lykke Li album Youth Novels was plain boring. But before making my year-end list, I thought I should give it another listen and suddenly find myself completely in love with it! Apparently I can’t always tell the difference between boring and beautiful? D’oh!
+ Dance, Dance, Dance

Two tracks from the forthcoming Demons Are Real EP I mentioned yesterday can now be streamed at Myspace. I'm afraid that the jury is still out!

Completely forgot to mention in the same post yesterday that the excellent indie poppers No and the Maybes will be supporting moi Caprice tomorrow night. The band gave a really fine performance at this year’s Vesterbro Festival (now known as Start! Festival) and with plenty of gigs under their belt since the release of the self-titled album in October I expect them to (at least) match that one.
+ Mouth

Shorties...

Find information on how to pre-order the forthcoming Ether Aura album Watercolor Ghost Town. $12 seems like s a fairly reasonable price.

Danish New Order/Joy Division inspired indie rock trio Demons Are Real will release a 5 track EP named The Blessing Of Sorrow on February 2nd. They’ve previously promised that a new release would include more “evil sounding” guitars, so it will be quite interesting to hear if the band has moved in completely different direction. All 6 tracks of the band’s previous (and absolutely terrific) EP Hum Speed On/Off are free to download at BandBase.
+ Burning Oil

One Weekly Gun shares his thoughts on the threat of terrorism.
+ Tomorrow When it Comes

Sudd is dead.

Time to vote. The Matinée fanclub poll is open.

Looking forward to the moi Caprice concert at Toldkammeret Friday evening. One more band to wipe off that “bands I need to see” list.
+ Drama Queen

Støj på frekvensen...

New post is up!

It's (almost) Christmas...

If this post looks familiar, it's because I'm taking the easy road here and re-posting last year's post. Broken links have been removed and new comments, songs, links for other compilations etc. will continuously be added until the 24th.

You know it is December when you cannot open your mailbox or check the Myspace bulletins, without seeing the word "Christmas" in the headline of just about every second message. Not that I mind at all, as most of the Christmas tunes I've checked out so far this year have been rather good. But in an attempt to prevent the Christmas songs from dominating my other posts, I've set up this one which I intend to update throughout the month, whenever something interesting pops up.....

The always reliable J.A. recommends these two Christmas lovelies from Sweden...
+ The Garlands - Christmas Song
+ TIAC - It's Christmas But Not For You

+ Betty & the cavaleros - Hey! I'm Your Gift Today + Love Will Come Back To You
These two beauties by this Norwegian constellation could easily soundtrack the next Christmas flick from Disney.

+ The Raveonettes - Come on Santa
Already posted by numerous blogs. But it's probably my favorite of this year's Christmas tunes, so the post wouldn't really be complete without it.

+ Remington Super 60 - Here Comes Christmas
In a few seconds, this one will get you into the right Christmas mood. Can be found on the recently released An Indiecater Christmas compilation.

+ Foxes! - Christmas Songs
Have a lo-fi indie pop Christmas. Versions of 4 Christmas classics are free to download from Last.fm.

+ Carlas - Jul I Havanna
Translated to English the title means Christmas in Havana.

+ She Wants Revenge - Kidnap The Sandy Klaus
If we kidnap him; does that mean that we can have all the presents for ourselves?

+ Aberdeen City - Just Like Christmas
Another band dusts off last year's holiday single.

+ Modern Angels - December
From the free Electric Fantastic Xmas 2006 compilation. Download the Electric Fantastic Christmas 2007 compilation for free right here. Released by generous electronic record label Electric Fantastic Sound. Thanks to J.A. once again!

+ Fireflies - X-mas Song
A short but simply wonderful indie pop Christmas song. Thanks to J.A. for the heads up!

+ Sofia Talvik - Christmas
Christmas doesn't necessarily mean joy and happiness. Still this is a lovely tune by this equally lovely Swede.

+ Sofia Talvik - A Carol For The Lonely
And another lovely and quite melancholic one from the Swedish singer/songwriter.

+ Liam and Me - Winter Paradise (I Miss You This Christmas)
This is probably my favorite Christmas song.

+ Tiger Baby - This Christmas
And this is probably number two on that list.

+ Irene - Christmas on the Beach
Just imagine celebrating Christmas on the beach. This is probably what it would sound like!

"The rest":
+ Regina - Näinä mustina iltoina
+ The Swimmers - The Christmas Sound
+ Celestial - saving up her wishes (for another christmas)
+ The Ten Thousand Dollar Tattoo – My First Santa
+ Factory Kids - Father Christmas Still
+ Richard Hawley - Silent Night
+ Soda Fountain Rag - The Christmas Where It Ends
+ Manic Street Preachers - Christmas Ghost
+ Summer Cats - Plastic Christmas Trees

Santas Working Overtime is a great place to find more Christmas related stuff.

Entakt/Jonas Breum...

Some thoughts on the Entakt/Jonas Breum concert last night (photo is used without any permission whatsoever).

Don’t know exactly what I expected, but probably that a little more than 50 people would be attending. Especially with a venue so close to Copenhagen and a location right next to the Metro.

Warm-up Jonas Breum showed the witty side of himself as well as delivering a charming acoustic set. Some of you are probably familiar with the debut album Det Perfekte Spild Af Tid released earlier this year and it being quite an electronic production. So excellent to hear that the songs easily hold their own when performed in stripped down versions. He played a few new songs as well, but I was surprised that he opted to include several songs by his long-ago disbanded group Coolsville. And judging from the gossip I heard afterwards, we should expect the second release from Breumm to be more of a rock/guitar driven album. He clearly showed last night that this is where his heart belongs!

The past 18 months I’ve been going on and on about how I much I've wanted to see an Entakt concert. So obviously expectations were sky high last night, but the band certainly didn’t let me down (or anyone else for that matter). The band gave a simply brilliant performance, where it quickly became rather obvious to anyone, that the band sees itself as a rock rather than a pop band. As I feared a few favorites were missing (sadly including Mandagens Vægt, Den Blinde Vinkel, Intet Rør´mig Nu (ctrl+alt+del)), and only one song from the band’s two full length demos found its way into the set. But you cannot really blame the band for trying to promote their new album På Bagsiden Af Europa, and the opening message was that they hoped that a few people would buy the album after the show. Especially since “no one else has”. And I did indeed buy a copy (signed by Jonas) for my daughter and a few others secured themselves signed copies as well. Hopefully the band will carry on despite the lack of recognition the band is getting from radio, audience and record buyers. Symbolically manifested through this quote by Jonas when he introduced Kunsten At Slippe Taget. “We’d like to play a hit, which never was a hit”. So you can say that neither the band nor I understand why this song didn’t become just that, as it was one of my favorite tracks of last year. Still this didn’t ruin the night and summed up this was probably my concert highlight of the year. And one can only feel so sorry for all of those, who decided to stay at home and missed out on this great one!
+ Kunsten At Slippe Taget

Tonight, tonight, tonight...

Entakt live at Vanløse Kulturhus supported by an acoustic solo performance by Jonas Breum (of Breumm). Finally getting the chance to see a full length Entakt concert!
+ Entakt - Livets sang går i stå mol

Watch Jonas Breum perform an acoustic version of Ingen Verdens Ting.

Taking a break...

No, no. Not from blogging, but from posting anything even remotely related to Christmas. There are still another 3 weeks left until we reach those glory days of stomachaches and credit card debts, so let’s focus on something completely different instead.

But since we have now reached December, bloggers, magazines etc. are beginning to post their year-end lists. Still ridiculously early if you ask me, and like previous years I’m going to spend December on catching up on the many releases I’ve missed/ignored. As an example; had I compiled my list two days ago, the debut album Tu hoguera está ardiendo by Spanish band Klaus & Kinski would not have been on my list. But yesterday I finally started listening to the album, and now it will definitely end up in my Top 10 (and probably even higher). An amazing album on which the band blends pop, electronica and shoegaze in the most charming and contagious way, and my year-end list would have been ever so incomplete without it.
+ Nunca estás a la altura

One album I’m impatiently waiting for is the third release from fabulous Detroit band Ether Aura. Scheduled for a release in February next year and pre-ordering (to help the band out with production costs) should be possible anytime soon. If the band’s blog is to be trusted the band is working on a transformation from shoegaze towards a more gothic-americana-folk sound. Two new tracks are streamable at Myspace and they do somewhat verify that such a transformation is in progress. The two first albums were nothing but fantastic, and despite the aforementioned changes in the musical direction, I expect the third one to be equally great, thus foolishly ignoring the obvious risk of a major disappointment.
+ Twist (standout track of Before We Could Sing)