Merry Christmas...

This will probably be the last post before Christmas, so time has come to wish regulars, occasional readers and anyone else, who happens to pop by, a Merry Christmas!

I don’t think I’ve watched one full episode of this year’s Christmas Calendar Pagten, but nonetheless I’m looking forward to it every day just to be able to hear the fantastic title track Uden Hinanden.

Danish music site BandBase.dk has published a list of the 25 most popular artists of the past decade and obviously it’s thrilling to see favorites Entakt finishing second overall. Then in the same breathe they published a post stating that the band is (sort of) splitting up and then (sort of) reassembling the pieces. What this means exactly I don’t know (and apparently the band doesn’t either), so your guess is as good as mine!
+ Vinterbrud

Matinée Recordings just mailed that they are shipping my order today! Hey mr. postman! Hurry up!

US indie pop act (one-man project) Fireflies offers his new Covers EP as a free download. I've mentioned times and times before that I'm no fan of cover versions, but the 7 recordings included on this EP are simply brilliant.
+ Walk On The Moon (Asobi Seksu cover)
+ Walk On The Moon (Asobi Seksu original)

Ah-ah-ah-choo...

Catching a cold and am sneezing every 30 second; or at least it feels like every half minute. I’m fully aware that right now I’m paying the price for my behavior Saturday evening (and night for that matter), where I was running around outside in the cold drinking and partying like an 18 year old, and completely ignoring that I am in fact a middle-aged man, who should always go to bed before 10 pm, never leave the house when it’s freezing and refrain from drinking anything stronger than mineral water. Luckily I have my own office, so my colleagues don’t have to watch me suffer through my misery. And I felt even worse yesterday, where I was eerily close to dying! I swear I was! Oh man! Will I ever learn? Probably not!

Not being the cleverest of people (the above should provide you with all the proof you need) and incredibly naive as well, I started searching for news on that Clinging to a Scheme album. But there was no unexpected Christmas present for us, as Labrador still lists March next year as the (expected?) time of its release. But please! No more postponing!
+ David

According to Tower of Foil frontman Daniel Björck the band has mailed their debut album to the label. That’s all the information available, but still sufficient to be classified as great news!
+ Faster Than Your Eye

No quite sure if this is official yet, but I’ve been told that Moto Boy will release his sophomore album in Denmark on March 1 next year on Slow Shark Records (and probably in Sweden as well on Song I Wish I Had Written). However it is official that he will be supporting moi Caprice on the band’s Danish tour in February.
+ Blue Motorbike

Continuing the Swedish theme the new single by Karin Ström is free to download from the artist’s webpage.
+ Hon som älskade dig

Danes Tetris = Therapy have announced that they have finished the recordings of an album worth of music and are now working on how to get the record released. Quite eager to get my hands on this one!
+ Big Tasty

Cleaning out the mailbox...

The project "getting to know some new artists" started Wednesday will continue today. Words will be few, but hopefully the music will speak for itself (I'll try not to post anything too bad). Crossing my fingers and hoping that one (or maybe even two) new favorites will be discovered!

+ The Shape of the Earth - Alone In This
+ The Shape of the Earth - Separate Lives
Folk rock trio (though they claim to be an indie rock band) from Southern California. Excellent no matter the label attached!

+ Barzin - Look What Love Has Turned Us Into
Until this moment I wasn't familiar with the term slowcore, but apparently this is the best way to describe the music of Barzin?

+ Oranger - Brother Brother
Nice one from Eenie Meenie Records 10 Year Anniversary compilation.

+ Mark Mallman and The Varsity New Years 2009 Crew - Friday I'm In Love (The Cure cover)
Still no fan of cover versions, but since I do like The Cure (and Friday's) I guess why not post this one?

...more in the pipeline...but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Monday for further updates...

Drought...

Drought might not be the best word to use today, as snow is, if not pouring then at least, falling in large enough quantities to make roads and pavements both slippery and slushy. However from a blogging point of view, it certainly is more than fair to use the term, as the flow of interesting news seems to have dried up completely. And this despite getting 50+ promo mails and reading lots and lots of tweets and Myspace updates every day, but apparently my favorite bands and labels have decided that 2009 is over and instead sit back and wait for 2010 to kick off? So today I’ve come to the only obvious conclusion (still it took me hours to come up with) that it's time to be proactive rather than reactive and give some of the new artists introduced to me everyday a listen and that way (hopefully) find a couple of new favorite ones?

Sometimes a little whining is all it takes and just moments after posting the above, I had one of those experiences, I wish would occur every day, as I was swept off my feet completely by this track (randomly picked from the inbox). The Bailing is a gorgeously beautiful (electro-indie-rock-somewhat-shoegazy) song, which immediately took me on a dreamy trip well above the clouds, where I’ve been floating around ever since! Back on earth Inu is a trio from the US west cost consisting of experienced and rather diverse musicians (check out their rather comprehensive CV’s), who have just recently finished recording a debut EP named Monster (“available for download at the price of your choice”). A debut album, videos, live shows etc. will follow in 2010.
+ The Bailing

More from the promo pile;

Every time this happens I cannot help thinking of it as a joke, because why is it that when an album is released in Denmark (by a Danish artist) it's virtually impossible getting a single promo track to post? But as soon as the album is about to be released abroad (in the US especially) the promo mails start arriving. The most recent example is the US release of the Oh No Ono album Eggs that will be out January 26 next year on Friendly Fire Recordings.
+ Helplessly Young

Swedish label Nomethod is giving away the new singles by Mixtapes & Cellmates and Aerial. Excellent stuff as always!!
+ Mixtapes & Cellmates - Soft Eyes
+ Aerial - Velvet Light Trap

All I want for...

Finally it’s December; the month of Christmas. And finally the day has arrived where it’s completely ok to start posting Christmas songs and (more importantly) share my wishlist for Christmas. And kicking off with the later, I do think my wishes are once again very modest and reasonable, as the list has been trimmed down to include just one thing; Keira Knightley! Who, when I think of it, has been the only “thing” on my yearly wishlist for the past many years! But despite my humble wish, I have a nagging feeling than I’m in for yet another disappointment. Oh well, you can’t get everything you wish for, I suppose?

So let’s stick to the Christmas tunes instead, and regarding the posting of those, it will be business as usual. Meaning that this will be the one and only Christmas post, which I intend to update (and bump to the top of the page) whenever there are some great Christmas tunes (old or new) to share. This hopefully means that other blogposts published during December will be without any Christmas content whatsoever! I do like Christmas, but too much of anything is never a good thing!

+ Liam and Me - Winter Paradise (I Miss You This Christmas)
The main reason for why I’ve been impatiently waiting for December to begin. I love this song and it’s a huge guilty pleasure, which always makes me feel terribly stupid, when I’m listening to it during the summer. But now, for the next 24 days, I can listen to it as much as I like (and that’s exactly what I intend to do), without feeling the slightest bit of guilt!

+ One Weekly Gun – One Xmas Song
Sadly the “gun” has been rather quiet this year, but last year did end with a serious “bang”, when this glorious track oozing of Christmas was published.

+ Tiger Baby – This Christmas
This chilly electro pop tune is another seasonal favorite despite being a somewhat depressing reminder that Christmas isn’t necessarily such a wonderful time for everyone.

+ Remington Super 60 - Here Comes Christmas
If the previous track made you loose the Christmas spirit, this indie pop gem should immediately get you back on track!

+ Irene - Christmas on the Beach
As I wrote last year; "Just imagine celebrating Christmas on the beach. This is probably what it would sound like!"

+ TIAC - It's Christmas But Not For You
Another beauty and another one to remind us all that Christmas can be a rough time for lots of people.

+ Champagne Riot - Xmas Safari
According to the duo they have tried to add a twist of Bach as well as some easy-listening Burt Bacharach to the typical Champagne Riot sound on this year's Christmas single. Die they succeed? Surprised by the number of not so cheerful Christmas tunes included in this mix!

+ Champagne Riot - December Slopes
Last year's Christmas track by Champagne Riot, which was recorded back when the duo was a one-man project. Originally included on the Cloudberry Records release Last Train To Christmas.

A bag of warm chestnuts...

Wednesday I had to attend a meeting in Copenhagen and though I’m happy to no longer be working in our Capital city, I did enjoy the 1 hour train ride. Moments where I can sit quietly doing absolutely nothing without having a bad conscience are rare, so naturally I embraced this opportunity with enthusiasm. Decided to spend most of the time on the train listening to the much talked-about debut album by The xx and although previous listens have revealed that it is a fine release, it wasn’t until this point I understood how truly great it really is. Inspired by this revelation I immediately decided to buy tickets for the band’s concert at Vega, Copenhagen on January 15, which lead to a rather huge (and positive) surprise, when I saw that it had been moved from the small stage to the larger one (thus tripling the capacity), and with only a few tickets left! So while I was sleeping the hype apparently reached Denmark as well? But tickets have now been secured and I do expect that this will be the perfect way to kick off 2010.
+ Basic Space

When The William Blakes frontman Kristian Leth announced earlier this year that he was teaming up with Danish singer Morten Remar, I approached the news with some skepticism, as I haven’t been all that interested in the doings of mr. Remar’s since he released the Som De Andre Gør single in 1987 as part of the duo Back To Back. Yesterday a video for the constellation’s first single Lige nu og her was uploaded, and despite the single being released as far back as June (available via iTunes), yesterday was the first time I actually bothered checking the song out. To be honest, I cannot stress how glad I am I did! This is straightforward pop music and I see no point in pretending anything but, which probably means that it's something you’ll get tired of after some time! But at the same time I’ve been struggling to recall the last time (if ever) I heard a song that I was able to hum following the first listen (meaning that it’s catchy beyond belief) and then (after the second run) beg my wife to give a listen. And now I’m asking (begging if you like) the rest of you to listen to it as well! For the curious, a debut album should be out on Speed of Sound some time next year.


Speaking of Speed of Sound. Seems like the self-titled debut album by Sleep Party People will be out on said label on January 25. That's really great news!
+ I'm Not Human At All

Paul Rijnders of Anything Box shares a reproduced version of his old track Wonderful at Soundcloud. Good stuff!
+ Wonderful

Blah blah blah...

Wife's out, kids are sleeping, but no beer tonight as it is Tuesday evening. Mailbox is jammed and there are plenty of blogs to check out. Hopefully something interesting will pop up?

Ivan has written a rather entertaining post on his trip to All Tomorrow's Parties. My short term memory is a joke, as I had completely forgotten our talk about favorite Mew songs. But I do believe we came to the conclusion that Mica is by far their best?

Indie MP3 reviews Criminal Art Lovers. "...we surely need another Smiths to send us blazing into the next decade..."!!

Don't know how many times I've written about that jammed mailbox of mine. But it's true and sometimes means that I forget something I should have posted a long time ago! This includes this Live Foel Session version of Victoria by the Andrew Boland fronted Carnations. Tracks from The Union EP can be streamed at Myspace, but information on a possible release is sparse.
+ Victoria (Live Foel Session)

NY duo The Ropes will release their 3-track Love is a Chain Store EP on December 15 using the well-known "pay what you want" model. This is great stuff. Don't know what else to say!
+ Love is a Chain Store

Mail promoting Kylie Minogue...delete...

Soundpool (sort of) mixes disco and shoegaze on their forthcoming 7" single But It's So.
+ But It's So

London...

Back from London and here's a real quick summary. London was lovely (as always), but crowded beyond belief. The weather was surprisingly fine. It did rain of course, but mostly during night time, and we did in fact see the sun a few times during our 48 hours visit. The 2 days were pretty much spent like this; Flight, Lunch & Pints, Musical, Late Dinner, Sleep, Art, Lunch, Shopping, Dinner, Pints, Sleep, Sightseeing, Lunch, Return flight. Had burgers 3 times and I swear that I'm not going to eat another for the rest of the year. Funny coincidence of the trip was that the always friendly Ivan (of ONBC and The Boombox Hearts) was sitting in the row behind me on the plane to London on his way to All Tomorrow's Parties.
+ Oliver North Boy Choir - Baby Cool (Good Luck Casper remix)
+ The Boombox Hearts - Extras, when you're ready, please

London calling...

@ DMCA/BLOGGER etc. - before removing the post or changing the status. PLEASE let me know exactly what I'm violating!!!!!!!!!!!!! All songs have been found in promo mails, but just to make you guys happy, I've removed all download links!!!!!!

Off to London tomorrow for what will be my eight visit to one of my favorite cities (in a span of 17 years!). Off to 48 hours of shopping (likely) and pub crawling (not very likely).

The spreading of the word on the forthcoming album by Shout Out Louds has begun, and so far I’ve received no less than 3 promo mails informing the world that Work will be out February 23 (or 24 - information varies) next year. Should you happen to be the only living soul in the universe, who has yet to listen to the first track off the album; well, look no further!
+ Walls

I've ordered 6 copies of the forthcoming album by Northern Portrait! You?

Another track spreading real fast is this new one by Danes The Kissaway Trail. SDP (as it's called) is grand, epic, beautiful, you name it and the perfect appetizer for the album Sleep Mountain, which will be out in April next year (though this article says March 1 in Denmark - lucky us if this happens to be true!).
+ SDP

Should I ever decide to make a “best of songs posted” list, Fee Da Da Dee by The Guggenheim Grotto will definitely be included. Remember falling completely in love with the song in late 2008, but somehow I forgot all about it and it probably would have stayed that way, hadn’t I found it in my search for Christmas tunes posted in the blog last year. It does feel quite odd writing this, because you don’t hear pop songs this infectious very often.
+ Fee Da Da Dee

Atypical...

Something very, very unusual happened yesterday, as I honestly cannot recall the last time I went an entire day (holidays not included), without being on the Internet for just a couple of minutes. We probably have to go as far back as 1996, but as written I'm not really sure. But anyhow this is exactly what happened yesterday and I’m rather surprised how well I dealt with it. And it does look, as if the www did behave quite nicely in my absence, so no harm done really!

Working close to the city centre sure does have its advantages, as I just spent my lunch break rushing out and buying the new moi Caprice singles compilation All We Fear Is Love that was released this Monday.
+ The Art of Kissing Properly

Following shamelessly in the footsteps of Shallgrenzen and Music of the Moment and posting the new single 5 Steps / 7 Swords by Get Well Soon. New album Vexations will be out very early next year and hopefully it will equally diverse and interesting as the truly remarkable debut Rest Now, Weary Head! Jonas has just brought to my attention that the band will be playing at Loppen, Copenhagen on March 23 next year!
+ 5 Steps / 7 Swords

Brilliant Italian combo A Classic Education has a new free to download single named What My Life Could Have Been out on Holiday Records. The second track on the single is the band's wonderful cover of Toi.

Various...

Quite unusual this, but I've spent this morning listening to the radio. And DR Barometer is, hands down, by far the best radio station in Denmark. Go check the playlist if you don't believe what I'm telling you! Kent, Michael Møller, Bright Eyes, Morrissey, you name it. They've got it all covered! And while typing this beauty is on...
+ Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree

Speaking of radio. Heard Bad Romance by Lady Gaga on DR P3 while having breakfast this morning and my ridiculously small brain simply refuse to understand how and why a song this awful is getting any airplay!

Been waiting for this and finally there is some news from Matinée Recordings! Tracks from the new releases can be streamed at Myspace. Time to start preordering!

Great music just can't be stopped! mp3hugger features Death Valley Sleepers.

I’ve tried getting into Efterklang a number of times, but so far without any luck. However new track Modern Drift, taken from the forthcoming album Magic Chairs, is pretty good, so perhaps this will be time? But apparently fans of the band think that the song is too mainstream, which probably explains why I like it? Blast! Life is complicated!
+ Modern Drift

New album Bear Life by NY indie pop band The Ballet is out now!

+ The House on Fire

Cover versions...

Having my recent rant (which hardly was a rant, but rather a quick comment) against cover versions in mind, one could understandably question my decision to post the following track. But trying to defend myself, I believe my complaint was against bands recording cover versions trying to help promoting their own music. Like when you receive a promo mail and the first thing mentioned is that “we recorded a cover of” (insert whatever) and then “oh by the way! We’ve recorded some of our own songs as well”. Can't help it, but those mails are deleted immediately. So basically I have no problems with cover versions, when they are record as some sort of novelty/part time/charity thing. And this cover recorded by Danes Under Byen definitely falls straight into the novelty category. The song Du Er Min Øjesten was originally recorded in two different versions by Danish actors Peter Malmberg and Ib Mossin, and both of them included in the 1956 movie Flintesønnerne. The Under Byen cover bears no resemblance to the original version whatsoever, as it has been through a complete makeover and sounds far more like a typical Under Byen track rather than anything like a 53 year old (and so-called) Danish “evergreen”. I’ll leave it up to you to judge, whether this is good or bad, but I do actually enjoy the new version as well as I had quite a laugh when reacquainting myself with the original. The track (the new version that is) is included on the free to download Paper Bag Records compilation The Seven Years Itch, which contains 12 different cover tracks.
+ Du Er Min Øjesten

One small step...

J.A. continues to be a useful and reliable source. This time he has mailed the info that you can get three new recordings by Glasslights for free if you sign up to the band’s mailing list. Plus this new version of old favorite Someone Like Me.
+ Someone Like Me

December is just around the corner and so is the annual flow of messages from bands wanting to share their Christmas recordings. The number of unread mails reached four digits some time ago, but I’m pretty certain that this track by Kate and After was the first of its kind to hit the mailbox this year and thus kicks off the Christmas season in this blog.
+ Snow Angel

Though just published earlier today it’s hardly news any longer that Interpol will release a new album in early 2010. It has (apparently) been revealed as well that the album will be a return to the sound of Turn on the Bright Lights, which makes the news even greater!
+ NYC

The album Three Fact Fader by Engineers has just been released and promo track Brighter As We Fall indicates that this is a must-hear for anyone who (just like me) is a fan of shoegaze.
+ Brighter As We Fall

A list of the 60 best albums of the decade (2000 – 2009) according to the Frekvens staff has been published.

Evening update:

Checking mails and downloading songs tonight. As written earlier today there's plenty to dig into.

First song to catch my attention and simply impossible not to post, is this ultra cool new wave/post-punk inspired track by Project:Komakino.
+ Civility

Have yet to decide if I actually enjoy the music of Morningbell or simply was intrigued by the description in the promo mail saying "...evokes everything from Curtis Mayfield to Tom Waits to African drumming and Brazilian folk music".
+ Marching Off To War
+ Stay In The Garden

Scrolling through the mails, I’m honestly surprised by the number of bands recording cover versions to help promoting their own music/releases.

Need to setup a filter to delete all remixes. Would reduce the number of mails by 50% (at least) in an instant!

When Danish bands write me in English is it because my English is super or because they haven't bothered reading anything in the blog except the mail address?

Fresh from the mailbox is this insisting dance floor anthem by Danish duo DATO. Disco, dance or whatever label you prefer attaching to this song, you simply cannot ignore that this is really, really catchy one.
+ I Don't Wanna (featuring Danny Andersen)

Death...

This is not well-written. It's rather depressing. But everything comes straight from the heart...For years I’ve had the (admittedly) rather odd habit of checking the obituaries/funeral notices, when reading the newspaper at lunchtime. Colleagues have often looked in disbelief and asked me why, but I doubt I’ve ever been able to come up with a convincing explanation. The closest I’ve come is probably something like, I do it to remind myself that life is something you “borrow” for a certain period of time and therefore should be treated with enormous respect. Not in any way meaning that I’m constantly forcing myself to be thinking of death, but especially those situations, where people my age (or younger) have died, have caused me to reflect on life. So far this has been nothing but this odd and rather neutral/anonymous habit, as I’ve never seen the name of anyone I’ve known. But that just changed Tuesday afternoon, when I recognized a name from a distant past. Not someone close. Not someone I believe I ever used to call a friend. But one of my classmates from nearly 20 years ago (when I was pretending to be studying at CBS), with whom I spent a lot of time during the three years and did all the usual stuff ranging from schoolwork to drinking beers. Actually I had lots of great classmates, but of all the people I’ve ever met at school (and life in general), I doubt I’ve ever respected anyone more than him. He was a few years older, very intelligent, sporty, a favorite with the girls and yet at the same time he was hard-working as well as having no problems at all being incredibly friendly and helpful. A truly rare combination! Looking back those three years went by extremely fast and since I’ve always been really terrible at keeping in touch, I quickly lost contact with my classmates (those were the days before mails and Facebook) following graduation. I’ve more than once thought about contacting him (as well as a few others), curious to hear the usual stuff about life, jobs, family etc. But this “hey it’s me from the past – remember?” thing has always made me feel awkward, so mails were never written (yes - I did actually find him “out there” in cyberspace). Do I regret it; of course I do, but not much I can do about it now, except perhaps write a few of those other mails I've been thinking of writing for a long time?
+ White Lies - Death (Crystal Castles Remix)

Held up by a banana...

Being the provincial nerd I am, I obviously know close to nothing about Copenhagen nightlife. Nonetheless I’ve always believed that it was all covered. This meaning that whatever music you were into, you could always find some bar or night club playing your favorite records. So when I learned about the Banana Hold-Up club night and their ambition of playing “a beautiful mix of indiepop, twee, c86, britpop, yé yé, sixties pop and northern soul”, I didn’t think it would bring anything new to the table. But apparently I was dead wrong, and judging from the number of people showing up Saturday evening at Jolene Bar, one could easily be convinced that Copenhagen has been in dire need of a club like this. From around midnight (I believe) and until we left at 1.30, people were queuing outside, which has to be the best stamp of approval anyone can think of? Knowing my taste in music, it can hardly surprise anyone that I enjoyed the evening immensely and when Slight Return was followed by Happy Hour, She Bangs The Drums and moments later Ready Or Not, I learned that drinking beer, while smiling from ear to ear, is virtually impossible! Add to this that I finally got to say hello to Tobias (Death Valley Sleepers), Caspar (Champagne Riot) and Danielle (one of the organizers), as well as being updated on Northern Portrait by Stefan, and the evening was pretty darn close to perfect. I’ve “borrowed” a picture taken by Danielle for the post (more pics), and if you look closely, you'll see yours truly on the right in the back with his back (lots of backs) turned to the camera, deeply engaged in a philosophical discussion with Mr. Champagne Riot. Or maybe we were just exchanging drunken thoughts? I honestly cannot remember! So you pick whatever scenario you think is the most likely.
+ Champagne Riot – The Champagne Anthem
+ Death Valley Sleepers – Seaside
+ Northern Portrait - Crazy

A mouthful of shorties...

New download single Mouthful of Wasps by Kashmir is out today and is available (apparently for Danish residents only) for purchase from the official webpage. My initial thoughts; this is a pretty decent, surprisingly upbeat and almost indie pop inspired first single. So Kasper’s voice aside, this is hardly your typical Kashmir song. Not necessarily a bad thing. Not necessarily a good thing either! Hopefully we'll be much wiser February 1, when the new album is released. UPDATE: Stream the track (thank you! Jonas).

The Shelflife blog has posted a second of the three new Champagne Riot tracks for download.

Remember this post? Feeling so guilty for not having written anything proper about the A Purpose To My Sins album by Danish Daycare. If I never get around to posting anything take my word for it. The album is brilliant!
+ A Purpose To My Sins

I'm really terrible at checking emails. Just found a two week old one informing that Casiokids were playing in Denmark Monday evening. Check this blog and be updated...guess not! Here's the band's cover of Det Snurrar I Min Skalle.
+ Det Snurrar I Min Skalle (Familjen cover)

Almost forgot to mention...The Banana Hold-Up...tomorrow night at 10pm...Jolene Bar...Copenhagen...See you there!

Shorties...

Getting a haircut today and boy do I need it!

Chromewaves is (once again) my guiding star. Go stream the (utterly brilliant) new track White Russian Doll by Lucky Soul.

Play People will release the single Feel Good on November 23. Still amazed that Playmobil figures are capable of writing such great pop songs!

Picked as "ugens uundgåelige" (track of the week), the new single Hey My Love, Hey Love! by fast rising Danish act Lars And The Hands Of Light is getting massive exposure on national radio this week!

Emerald Park writes in a blog post that "there are great news soon to come". Hate messages like that. Just tell me what it is instead!
+ For Tomorrow

Anyone mailing me to promote Robbie Williams deserves to be shot at dawn!

more?

A Champagne update...

When Champagne Riot transformed into a duo earlier this year, it also marked the beginning of what was ambitiously defined as the making of “the perfect pop project”. The EP Paris and I, which was released by Shelflife Records last year, was basically a solo project by frontman Caspar Bock, but still gave plenty of indications that the ambition could be more than just some gimmick, as the electro pop dominated EP consisted of 6 rather catchy tunes. A few live dates aside, things had been somewhat quiet since their formation as a duo, though I did notice that the combo was a trio for a short while, but yesterday a first batch of demo recordings was finally publish, thus giving us the much welcomed chance to evaluate the development of the project. Not surprisingly it was easy to conclude that there is still plenty of work left, before the label “perfect” will be attached to the project. But at the same time it’s equally unsurprising that all three tracks are catchy and enjoyable pop tunes bringing back fond memories of the likes of Pet Shop Boys, The Lightning Seeds etc. Especially the infectious The Champagne Anthem, which I've been given the go ahead to share, sounds like something Pet Shop Boys might have come up with, had they been inspired by a track such as Losing Haringey. What will happen next has yet to be revealed (and to be quite frank I completely forgot to ask), but hopefully they'll soon be picked up by a label, as I don't imagine there will be another Shelflife release? Signed or not! I'm already looking forward to the next bunch of songs.
+ The Champagne Anthem

Lists...

I was somehow convinced/manipulated by Anders to compile a list of my 25 favorite albums of the past (or what will soon be the past) decade and submit it for a soon-to-be-published Frekvens Top 50. Having spent several hours on this project today, I now clearly recall why I hate making those lists. Be it a best of the year, decade, whatever, list, I still hate it. They are just so definitive and once you’ve published them, there’s always the risk that they’ll be used forever to question your taste, judgment and lack of knowledge. Especially the later, as I willingly admit that time has forced me to ignore far too many releases that I at least should have given a few listens. In my research I checked out some of my year end lists (I refuse to post links, so you’ll have to find them yourself) and was rather confounded by some of the picks. Actually by quite a few to be honest. Albums I rated so highly back then have been collecting dust ever since. Others barely sneaking into my top 10 (or 20) turned out to be real growers and in hindsight should have been ranked much higher. So being afraid of publicly contradicting myself, I more than once thought about canceling the whole thing, but decided to take the “lists are useless, but fun to make” approach instead and that way talked myself into finalizing and sending a list. What? You want to see the list? Forget it! No way, I’m going to publish it! Didn't you read the above? But I’ll reveal this much; The Last Broadcast by Doves was my top pick, while And The Glass Handed Kites by Mew was my clear-cut choice for the best album by a Danish artist.

Zzz...

I’m unbelievable tired today. Had a night (which was more like an evening) out with the boys Saturday, and even though I wasn’t terribly drunk, went to bed before 2 am, slept rather well, had a fairly quiet Sunday and another good nights sleep, I’m still absolutely worn out today. But as I’ve said times and times before; “I’m definitely not 35 anymore”. There’s a photo on Facebook taken some time during our small get-together, though I’m not sure if anyone’s actually allowed to see it? If so, I’m the dude on the right, who (more than ever) needs a haircut!

Superb Danish quartet Ginger Ninja are releasing a second single from their forthcoming debut album today. The single is called Bone Will Break Metal and is a surprisingly synth dominated track; still bloody excellent though!

Speaking of Danish excellence. 5 “new” tracks by moi Caprice are now streaming at Myspace. “New” as three of the tracks are alternative versions of previously recorded songs, and as always I’m not quite sure if that’s such a splendid idea. I certainly need to listen to those a few more times, and yet I doubt that they’ll ever be rated higher than the original versions. But the two brand new tracks The Sorrow of War and Tell That Girl (especially the later) are absolutely brilliant and proves that the band still knows how to write those catching pop tunes that to some extent were missing on the previous album We Had Faces Then. The 5 tracks are included on the singles compilation All We Feat Is Love (including a bonus disc called The Past Is a Foreign Country), which will be out two weeks from now on November 23.

Thought that Sweden's Kamera had split up (and they probably have), but nonetheless I've just found their recent single Friday Night in the mailbox...
+ Friday Night

It’s all red...

Wanted to write a blogpost yesterday, but spent the entire day listening to Röd (that’s the new album by Kent, in case you’ve somehow managed to miss that) and never got around writing anything. I’ve said a number of times before that I’m no fan of Kent experimenting (I’m still hoping it’s just an experiment) with an electronic sound, as I prefer thinking of them as a rock band rather than a synth pop ditto. But, as the band (understandably) doesn’t care about my thoughts, feelings, whatever on this topic and as indicated by first single Tönterna, they stuck to the formula used when they recorded Tillbaka Till Samtiden and ended up exploring the electronic world even further on the new album. Consequently my expectations where pretty modest, when I downloaded the album (from the official webpage of course and not some illegal copy), as a kind of precaution to prevent major disappointment. However I could have saved myself from all that, because this album would have no problems meeting any expectations I might have had, as songwriting and production melts beautifully together to create a rather overwhelming whole. And this despite I have yet to listen to it at home in quiet surroundings while checking out the lyrics, which makes me confident that the album will continue to grow on me. So perhaps time has come for me to finally accept that Kent is a rock band turned electro, though I seriously doubt that the journey is going to end here? Synth pop, disco, rock or whatever path they’ll choose to follow, something definitely has to go terribly wrong before they’ll be dethroned as best band on the planet.

Oh well – other bands do exist!

The albums by Danish Daycare and Digits are on my ever growing pending list. They have left good first impressions and I really ought to give both some serious listens!
+ Danish Daycare – A Story of Hurt
+ Digits - Monster

New single Days by Sambassadeur is spreading real fast in the blogosphere. No wonder really, as this, exactly as expected, is a short, sweet, uptempo and infectiously catchy pop tune. A yet untitled (?) album will be out in January...on Labrador of course!
+ Days

Danish band Mushi has announced that a new album will be released in late spring next year. A much more welcomed piece of news than the “Mushi has come to an end” announcement published six months ago!

Snacks...

Will one loose one’s street cred (if one has any) if one says that ones likes the new Snow Patrol single? Risking an eye and putting in writing that I think Just Say Yes is a terrific pop song. Watch the video if you need to be convinced that I haven’t lost it completely.

This has to be one of the best promo mails ever. Texas quartet Fate Lions has mailed this download link for their album Good Enough For You and adds "Please feel free to treat it however you like. Perhaps you know someone that might enjoy it or know someone that would hate it but whom you'd enjoy annoying, either way please feel free to share, etc. We play wannabe smarty pants fist pumping roller rink bubble gum downer pop.". Not a word about how fabulous they think they are. A short, intriguing and (just a little bit) funny message is really all it takes!
+ Seen It All

Swedish indie popsters Tellus About The Moon will be holding a release party for their album Australia tomorrow at the nightclub Svanen in Gothenburg. Clever as I am, I obviously understand that this means that the album will be released and thus available for purchase. How come then that I cannot find any info on how to buy it or even who is releasing it (though I do suspect that the band is releasing it themselves).

Interesting remix project mixtoverdener.dk (mix two worlds) has reached its final chapter and rounding out the experiment are these two recently published remixes by Carpark North and Nikolaj Nørlund. Samples were taken from cello concerto no. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
+ Carpark North - The One
+ Nikolaj Nørlund - No Love Lost

Music, music, music...

Tonight’s agenda is pretty simple. Read some mails. Download some music and listen to it. Post whatever is worth our (that’s you and me) time. No words. Just music!

Some seriously bad stuff so far...

+ PJ Bond - You, Too

Not at all loyal to my own formula. Peter just mailed a link for this video of Kent performing new track Svarta Linjer. New album Röd will be out November 6.



Back on track...

+ Pants Yell! - Cold Hands
+ Ravens & Chimes - Hearts of Palm

Things are improving dramatically now! Nice!

+ White Rabbits - Percussion Gun
+ ArpLine - Fold Up Like a Piece of Paper

Must have deleted a hundred emails (at least) by now! And that will probably be all for tonight!

Oh well - that was one big lie. Here's one final one...

+ Lullwater - One More Time

A secret beer...

This one sounds familiar. Wife’s out, the kids are sleeping, the mailbox is bursting (or just about to) and I’ve found a beer in the fridge. And no; the post title certainly isn’t meant to be a joke, as all information on the beer label (enlarge the photo and perhaps you'll be able to see that yourself) has been printed using the Braille system. The beer has therefore been given the name "blindeøl", so calling it a “secret beer” can't be completely wrong? But as funny and interesting this might be, I'm afraid that it also means that my only option is to learn the system, if I want to know exactly what it is I’m drinking. Lazy as I am, I’m probably not going to bother, so I'll just drink and (hopefully) enjoy it. Definitely worth mentioning is that for every sold beer the brewery will donate 2 DKK to Dansk Blindesamfund....

SuperTroels, who hasn’t been using that alias for quite some time and instead preferred his real name Troels Abrahamsen, offers “a near final version” of new track Swaat as a free download. The final version will be included on his forthcoming album BLCK.
+ Swaat

Speaking of Troels, I was wondering if there was any news on VETO? Last year’s album Crushing Digits was monster, so any sign of a follow-up being in the making would be classified as "great news". But there was no information to be found or at least I couldn't find it. Instead this oldie, which always is worth sharing…
+ You Are A Knife

Did you download your copy of the Bodebrixen album? If you need to be convinced why you should even bother, I strongly recommend you check out this lovely pop gem. Unless of course you're not at all prepared to be charmed off your feet!
+ Shone

Here's a real nice one from the inbox. It has already been featured by a number of blogs, so I'm taking the easy path here and letting the music speak for itself!
+ Loch Lomond - Wax and Wire

I don’t know how many times I’ve written this before, but I’ll never be a fan of remixes. More often than not the only thing a remix does is ruining the original track and I’ve never fully understood the purpose of this! The few remixes adding something to the original or at least being “listenable alternatives” are few and far between, but whenever I stumble upon one of those, I guess it’s somehow my “duty” to post it. And this recent remix of the Phoenix track Fences by Son Green definitely falls under the “listenable” category!
+ Fences (Son Green Remix)

Various...

I've promised myself that I will not start whining or complaining about small insignificant things in today's post. Though I do suspect that blogging will be less interesting that way, as words just seem to come more easily to you, when you're pissed off. Luckily my computer is a reliable ally and does it's best to prevent me from keeping my promise, as it is unusual slow today. I mean it normally operates at a pace which wouldn't even impress a snail, but somehow it has found a way to be even slower today. This actually impresses me quite a lot, as something this slow would normally accept its destiny and simply roll over and die! But from time to time it does show signs of life and allow me to type a few words, so maybe (or maybe not) I'll be able to add to this...

J.A. just mailed a reminder that the new Bodebrixen album is free to download from the band's webpage. Thank you and shame on me for forgetting! The bitrate is a measly 128, but should be plenty to convince you whether or not the album is worth buying! So far it has been downloading for half an hour, so things really are slow around here today!
+ Keychain

And whenever things get back to normal, I'm definitely going to download the rest of the Hold It Close album by Canadian electro pop artist Digits. Just to find out if the rest can possibly be as fine as these two promo tracks!
+ Monster
+ Nonstop

Grumpy...

Fuck this has become predictably boring! Once again I’m a grumpy old man and feel the need of complaining about something! Perhaps my age has finally caught up with me and begun to show its ugly face? Because, believing that the world has united in a collective attempt to piss me off is simply too paranoiac, so it has to have something to do with my age! I suppose! I hope! Anyhow; this morning I learned that my file host boxstr.com had transformed itself into OpenDrive, but of course not before deleting all my previously uploaded files. I did read somewhere that true reason is that boxstr.com has been hacked, but I can find no verification of this anywhere. And no matter the reason, this meant that I had to spend quite some time re-uploading a string of songs to prevent people from bumping into far too many broken links. Well at least on the front-page. And tomorrow I wouldn't be surprised if things are back to normal, thus making today’s work a complete waste of time...fuck modern technology and bring back the glorious days of vinyl and cassettes...told you I was grumpy!

Guess it’s time to put focus back on music and leave all my whining behind!

Danish youngsters Avisitor has three new tracks streaming at Myspace. While you're there, why not give the new track Easy Come Sit by the lovely Majorian a listen? And Lastbandalive has a couple of new ones streaming as well! Too much streaming for my liking, but still great to learn that things are brewing!

Chris is excited about the news that Shout Out Louds are in the studio recording their third album! And give me one good reason why he shouldn't be?

Konrad has mailed me his never-released remix of the Track a Tiger track (try repeating that: “Track a Tiger track”) Don’t Make a Weapon. Since I really like this band and the remix certainly isn’t “killing” the song, I have no problems posting it. The original version of the song can be found on the band’s second album We Moved Like Ghosts.
+ Don't Make a Weapon (Konrad remix)

Oh sweet bitterness...

Okay then. I did pull my act together. I asked and had not problems at all getting a “going out” permit for Saturday evening. I even managed to get my name (and a friend as well) on the guest list for the Grand Avenue + Sorgenfrei/Villumsen concert, so things were all set for a great evening. However Saturday afternoon a second friend called and asked if could join us, and prescient as he was, he even asked if I was sure that he could get a ticket. Still recalling a concert some years ago, where less than 70 people showed up for a Grand Avenue concert and at the same time feeling certain that the brilliance of Sorgenfrei/Villumsen has yet to reach a larger audience, I confidently replied that of course he could. Today I’m everything but proud of my confidence (which actually is very unlike me, as I normally double-check everything), because the concert turned out to be completely and totally sold out, which obviously left us with quite a dilemma. Three guys, two names on the guest list and a 40 minute drive away from home. With some friendly assistance, we did try to get an extra name added to the guest list, but with no luck, as the venue wasn’t exactly cooperative on this matter. So in the end the only acceptable solution was to drive back home, find a bar and have a few pints instead. Nice of course, but not exactly the way I hoped and expected to spend my Saturday evening. The Sorgenfrei/Villumsen part of the concert went pretty well (at least so I’ve been told), though it did hurt and still does, when I learned that the duo had included a rendition of my favorite Entakt song Kunsten at slippe taget in their set! Bummer...naaah...MEGA bummer!
+ Kunsten at slippe taget

Thoughts and such...

In a whining mood, as I’m once again contemplating whether or not I should continue blogging. Well I’ve been through this a number of times before and the outcome is pretty much given, as I will of course carry on. But today is just one of those days, where things seem to make no sense. Spend far too much time on this. Both writing posts and constantly searching for new (and interesting) stuff. Still it happens way too often that I never get around to write about or even listen to things I ought to check out (generously sent to me by artists I like and respect – some of it I even asked them to mail me), and therefore end up having a bad conscience. And isn’t blogging supposed to be fun? And not about feeling guilty? I mean! I know I’ll never make a living out of this, so this will forever remain a hobby. A hobby is definitely a good thing. At least so I’ve been told! But what’s the point if it’s puts you under constant pressure or makes you feel that you’re letting someone down? Oh well fuck the whining. I’ll post whenever I have the time and I’ll post whatever I feel like posting and if the music you sent me is never featured, I swear it’s not ill will.

U2 inspired Danes Grand Avenue will be playing at Templet (located in Lyngby just outside Copenhagen) tomorrow night and I’m seriously thinking of going. I’ve seen the band twice before and they are surprisingly much better live than on recordings. However the true reason for my considerations is the supporting act Sorgenfrei/Villumsen; a fairly new constellation consisting of Andreas Sorgenfrei (of Didium & The Black Bonnie Picture) and Jonas Villumsen (of Entakt). Now all I need is the guts to call the chief and ask for a “going out permit”. Read more about the track below here or here.
+ Bygdebarn (En Sang For J)

Experience has taught me not to be too blue-eyed optimistic, when it comes to Matinée Recordings and release days, but November looks as if it could turn out to be rather noteworthy, as the label will (finally) release the Northern Portrait debut as well as the sophomore album by The Electric Pop Group. As everyone should be aware of by now, I’ve eagerly been awaiting both releases for, if not ages then at least, a long, long time! Another intriguing release by the label could be The Matinée Grand Prix compilation, which will include (new?) tracks by 11 absolutely amazing artists!!

Danish shoegazers Dorias Baracca writes that they are on the verge of being signed by glorious label Club AC30. Accordingly this should be followed by the release of the band’s debut EP Handsome Meltingpoint!
+ The Only Touch

Shorties...

Working my way through mails, updates etc.

Northern Portrait (sort of) verifies that they have finished the recordings of the debut album Criminal Art Lovers.
+ I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me

Quite frustrating to learn that the Ruined by Martin concert at Rust (Copenhagen) November 14 has been cancelled. Especially annoying since the problem "finding a babysitter" had been solved. Instead I'll attend the first (of hopefully many) The Banana Hold-Up club nights.
+ Defy The Odds

Glorious acts like Play People, Celestial and The Legends are among the artists included on the forthcoming Rough Trade Indiepop 09 compilation. Check the tracklist and start drooling!
+ Play People - Goes Out

Two brand new tracks by excellent Danish band Lastbandalive are streaming at Myspace.

Slumberland Records has just put out a smorgasbord of 7” singles; each accompanied by a free download promo track. Currently trying to figure out which track I like the most!

Swedish synth pop duo This Vision has just released their self-titled debut album on their own label Devotion Records. I'll write more once I've listened to the entire album, though I do recommend that you give the four streamable tracks a listen. Unless of course you don't like catchy pop music!

Former Decorate Decorate band member Mikkel Holtoug shares his remix of the Turboweekend track Trouble Is.
+ Trouble Is (Holtoug ReMix)

The bodega of dreams...

A second band rising from the ashes of Oliver North Choir has now seen the light of day (the first being The Boombox Hearts), as new combo Mikkel Max og Drømmenes Bodega has decided to publish (and share) a brand new recording named De sidste glade dage af Romerriget. Oh boy! Lots of Danish words there, but the band name roughly translates into something like Mikkel Max and the bodega of dreams and the song title The last happy days of the Roman Empire. So as you’ve already figured out by now, the song is obviously sung in Danish, which I’m afraid could scare quite a few non-Danish speaking listeners away. But you really shouldn’t be, because as always it’s the quality of the music that matters the most (at least to me it is), although in this case the heartbreaking and no doubt personal lyrics about lost love, cannot and shouldn’t be totally ignored. Musically this has been called “folkpop with hint of indie and country” and this is probably as good as any description I could come up with, so I’ll stick to that one. The vocal might be a bit challenging and for my part took some getting used to, as it a number of times sounds like it’s on the edge of bursting. Neither should that scare anyone, as the song itself is just brilliant and the production pretty fine too (I really like those drums!). The band is still so brand new that no webpage, Facebook group or even a Myspace profile exists (and no pictures either), but Ivan (who takes care of the bass "in the bodega" as well as fronting The Boombox Hearts) has posted some further information on the band in his blog.
+ De sidste glade dage af Romerriget

UPDATE: suddenly doubting if "bodega" has the same meaning in English as in Danish. According to wikipedia "bodega is "Danish term for a small local bar", so if the above translations didn't make much sense, this little piece of extra information might help?

Low profile...

Didn’t post anything last week and though Chris mailed and suggested otherwise, the hiatus had absolutely nothing to do with me recovering from Denmark qualifying for The World Cup. Instead week 42 means autumn holiday (is it really called that?) in Denmark, so to spend some time with the kids, I took the week off from work, which ended up being time off from blogging as well. But as usual the flow didn’t stop, and news and mails are piling up, so I've got plenty of catching up to do. Now I just need to get my brain going and then posting should (hopefully) resume tomorrow.