Shorties...

Things are awfully quiet around here these days. I wish things could be different, but unfortunately that’s how it is right now!

Going to Hamburg tomorrow with 6 of my real thirsty friends. A few train stops aside, this will be my first visit to the German metropol. Have been told that it's a real cool city?

This energetic and immediately catchy track by Rob Cowen and The Dissidents has had a permanent spot on my playlists the past week.
+ Heartache

Check out the solo project Devious Delight by Northern Portrait guitarist Jesper Bonde. It will be quite interesting to follow, if this evolves into something more serious or simply is the first indication of him (co-) writing future Northern Portrait songs.

Please vote for the excellent Cause & Effect remix (entry no. 65) in the remix contest for Andy Bell's upcoming single Say What You Want!.

Following a string of EP releases Tower of Foil has finally released a debut album. Named Driving North and available at CD Baby. The album can be streamed at Last.fm. or download the four promo tracks for free.
+ Shaping The Sky

Two brand new tracks by cool Swedish duo Ostrich can now be streamed at Myspace.

An Ostrich in Wonderland...

One of my few readers has left a comment and asked if I could re-upload the Ostrich track Wonderland. I originally posted it way back in November 2007 and back then I wasn’t really sure whether or not it was meant to be a Christmas tune. Still not sure, but the band has okayed that I share it once again, so here we go. Speaking of Ostrich; a new fabulous track named Prepared To Fall is now streamable at Myspace. Still impatiently awaiting the duo's first release on Cynical Minds Recordings.
+ Wonderland

Another fine track streaming at Myspace is the brand new Almost Gone from Grand Avenue. Taken from the band’s 4th album, which I believe will be out some time this fall judging from the tour dates.

Finnish duo Viola is giving away the track Shimmery Summery (Sha-La-La Love), which is yet another song you really should add to that ever growing summer soundtrack.
+ Shimmery Summery (Sha-La-La Love)

This young lady doesn't seem to realize how truly fortunate she is. She claims to be "bored while Stefan is recording", but since the Stefan in question happens to be Stefan of Nothern Portrait, this actually means that she's a first-hand witness to the recordings of the Northern Portrait debut album. No, no - I'm not interested in being Stefan's next girlfriend (among things, it would require rather extensive sugery), but I'd still give a lot to be able to follow the process and hear those new songs before anyone else!

Fine Danish blog Blaa Vinyl has been added to the blogroll. A good read, but you probably need to understand Danish to fully appreciate it!

Blogging...

Well someone corrected me a while back, so I’m not going to name this post ”live blogging”. Though in my small world “live blogging” is what I’m going to do for the next couple of hours. Once again the wife is out and the kids are (almost) sleeping. And once again there are lots of new stuff to listen to and things to write about. So between 9 pm CET and 11. pm CET I’ll be right here behind the screen and if you leave a comment, send a mail or twitter me, there might even be an outside chance (or perhaps even better than that) of getting a reply. As always when it comes to these kind of posts; quantity is far more important than quality, though I do promise that I will run the occasional spelling/grammar check to exclude the worst errors. Maybe I should stick to tradition and have a beer as well?

The past week I’ve been giving the forthcoming debut album Everything by Swedish duo Winding Stairs a number of listens. Especially the album opener Shadow Stripes has left quite an impression. I mean; when you wake up in the middle of the night and without really knowing it start humming the song, they must be doing something right? According to the band’s myspace the album was released yesterday, but not sure how you buy it.
+ Shadow Stripes

Time for a beer! Didn't take long getting thirsty! Once again it's a Dunkel Bock from our local brewery, and it has to be one of the best beers in the world! Obviously I'm biased, but I've spent a rather small fortune on imported beers the past ten years, so I know a great beer, when I see one. Oh - make that "taste one".

That The Lucksmiths are breaking up is old news already. But despite the splitting up thing, they’ll continue their ongoing tour, which will bring the band to Debaser in Malmø on June 27. Since Malmø is less than an hour and a half away by train from where I live, I really should go and bade them a last farewell. Shouldn’t I?
+ Up With The Sun

No way that I’m watching the Eurovision Song Contest tonight. The Danish entry was co-written by Ronan Keating. Nuff’ said!

Strange...Just checked the Debaser calendar, and it doesn't seem like there will be any concert there June 27. However both the band's myspace and webpage list the concert, so I guess we'll have to wait and see what will happen?

Still absorbing the news of The Lucksmiths breaking up the release of the second album Our Temperance Movement by Cats on Fire couldn’t have been timed much better! So far I’ve only listened to these two sampler tracks, but in a way it’s very tempting to start proclaiming “the king is dead; long live the king”.
+ Horoscope
+ Letters From a Voyage to Sweden

Currently uploading a few files, which gives me the chance getting this off my chest. Boxstr.com really, really pisses me off big time! The message “Boxstr.com is currently being updated and will be back online soon” has been up for the past 36 hours, which isn’t exactly the kind of service I expected to be paying for!

Hopefully you have already checked the Northern Portrait videos I posted earlier today! I’ve always suspected that this band would be an excellent live act, and today my assumption was verified by Indie MP3.

I’m really enjoying the new and very soon to be released Four Winds album by Lightning Seeds. But I just cannot understand why he (they) decided to release it as a Lightning Seeds album instead of a follow-up to the Ian Broudie solo album Tales Told. Four Winds is in every aspect far more related to Tales Told than anything ever released by Lightning Seeds. Suspect that it has something to do with the fact that selling an album under the Lightning Seeds alias is a whole lot easier than as Ian Broudie solo. But why didn’t they include Three Lions as a bonus track then? Four Winds is still a fine album no matter the name of the artist!

2nd album Modest Sensation by Sweden's Forest & Crispian will be out on Slow Shark Records on Monday (May 18). If you happen to be in Copenhagen the release party will take place at Jolene's on Wednesday (May 20), and if you show up at 6 pm there will be free beers. The band will hit the stage at 9 pm and I'd definitely be there if family obligations weren't holding me back. Opening track Benzair (assume it's named after this lady) sounds really, really promising!
+ Benazir

New fine track Collecteur Solaire by Swedish synthpop duo Ostrich is streaming at Myspace. No other news, so I assume that Press Hold will still be the first official release by the band!

Not quite 11 pm CET yet. But that'll be all for tonight!

Pure at heart...

One quick search at Hypem reveals that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart has already been featured by just about every other indie pop loving blogger. So feel free to move on, as the next few lines will contain absolutely nothing that hasn’t been said or written numerous times before. But since this is my blog, where else would be a more appropriate place to share my 5 cents on the smashing debut album by the NY quartet, than this? I have vowed to never use that “album of the year” description again, but the rest of the year’s releases will have a rough time trying to make a bigger impression on me than this one. Not often does it happen that I listen to a debut, where I have nothing negative to say. Where there isn’t something that I would have changed, had I been in charge. Or at least one track I would have canned. But there’s nothing here. Nothing really! There’s simply not a bad track or even a weak moment on the album. Of course you could always have wished for a more diverse album, as each track more or less follows the same formula of mixing a perfect pop song with noisy guitars and pulsing drums. And if you’re a pedant you could of course argue that there are enough bands out there claiming to be inspired by MBV and JAMC. However I see no point in fixing something that’s not broken (and, luckily, neither does the band) or reinventing something that’s not in need of being reinvented. Listening to the album without question proves that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart has a charming (and winning) formula on their hands, and if the band decides to stick to that one, then it’s just fine by me.
+ Come Saturday
+ Everything with You

Northern Portrait keeps adding new dates to their gig list. But we are still waiting for the band to announce their first Danish concert. Not that I’m impatient or anything. I just want news on this NOW!
+ I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me

As mentioned a few weeks ago, Swedish duo Ostrich has indeed been signed to a label. The band posted the great news yesterday and the debut EP Press Hold will be out in September on the Cynical Minds label.
+ Icecold Kisses

Folk-Rock band The Village Idiot is probably the best my hometown has to offer, when it comes to music. Tomorrow night Kenni (The Village Idiot himself) and his band will be playing at our local venue Toldkammeret, to celebrate the release of the new album Prima Materia, but unfortunately I won’t be able to go, as I’ll once again have to look after kids. Ridiculously I have yet to see the band in concert and that’s definitely something that needs to change very soon. A zip-file containing 13 selected tracks from various releases is currently free to download from the band’s homepage, which will offer you an excellent introduction to the band and its music.
+ Alcoholic deathride (Ponamero Sundown cover)
+ Secrecy

Shorties...

Tonight a friend and I will be going to our nation’s lovely capital to see White Lies (supported by Wintersleep) at a sold out Lille Vega. Am really curious to hear/see/experience if the band can meet the hype!
+ Death

I mentioned the new Ostrich track Press Hold in a post the other day. I’ve been mailing back and forth with the duo asking if the track will be downloadable (for free of course) at some point. But apparently the band has been signed by some (still unrevealed) label, and the plan is to use Press Hold as the first single. So no freebie I’m afraid.

This is great news for the North Americans fans, but hopefully the next bunch of concert announcements from Doves will include a rendezvous with the Danish fans.

supertroels shares his thoughts on the new The William Blakes album Dear Unknown Friend. Will soon post my thoughts as well including a promo track

Did the bravest of things the other day, as I deleted all mails from my inbox. With SXSW coming up in two weeks time, promo mails are entering my inbox at a frenetic pace.

About bloody time I know, but today I finally ordered The Pains of Being Pure At Heart album.
+ Come Saturday

The Respectables have mailed me another straightforward rocker (caught it before deleting those mails).
+ Charged By The Minute

Look my way...

I posted the video for the new Doves single Kingdom Of Rust two weeks ago, and the song has been on permanent rotation ever since. Jetstream, the first track published from the forthcoming album, is still free to download from the official webpage, and the combination of the two tracks has increased my expectations for the upcoming album. I know I should be careful not expecting too much, at the band’s previous album Some Cities was a disappointing follow-up to the incredible The Last Broadcast, as it just never reached the epic heights of its predecessor. A month and half from now (April 6) we’ll all be much wiser, so until then I’m crossing everything possible and hoping that the band will hit another homerun. The band’s gig page has my constant attention, as new live dates are regularly being added. So far no European dates (plenty of UK/Ireland dates, but none on the continent) have been published and seeing Denmark being added to the list, would pretty much being a "dream come true". However I have a slight suspicion that the bands only visit to our small country will be for the Roskilde Festival, which will leave me discontented once again, as I definitely won't be attending the festival. So I’m crossing what’s left to cross, and hoping that a “real” Danish concert date will be published...soon!

The past few days have been scrapbook material for Brian Batz (a.k.a. Sleep Party People). Not only did he publish a brand new track by Sleep Party People, but perhaps even better his solo project was featured as New Band of the Day on this blog.

New track Press Hold by Swedish synth duo Ostrich is streaming at the band’s Myspace page. Been a while since we heard any news from the lads, but this one was worth waiting for!

US quartet The Respectables have been mailing a few tracks since the band was included in last week’s “mailbox” post. And the track Could It Be has actually been added to my current favorites (see the right column), without me even bothering commenting the band or the song. The band won’t be the runaway winners of any innovation contests, as the music is straightforward rock music with catchy hooks and riffs aplenty. But who will object and say that this is a bad thing? And since the band throws a lead singer sounding like a Kelly Jones/Rod Stewart clone into the mix, you know we're dealing will stuff that will never grow out of fashion.
+ Spark & Destiny
+ Could It Be

Thieves and lust...

Oliver North Boy Choir has recorded a cover of Teenage Lust for The Jesus & Mary Chain Covers Project. Until a few minute ago, I had never heard the original version, but now that I’ve listened to it (watch the video below), I honestly think they’ve done an outstanding job. It’s difficult to explain but somehow Oliver North Boy Choir has been able to remain true to the original and their own sound as well, which normally doesn’t sound like The Jesus & Mary Chain at all. If you understand Danish, you can listen to a nice little interview with the band at dr.dk/barometer.
+ Teenage Lust



Yesterday marked the one-year Myspace birthday of excellent Swedish synth-pop duo Ostrich. To celebrate the duo ”put up a new song called "Honour Among Thieves" and it’s a dedication I have written to a couple of my friends”. It is bit slower paced than previous tracks, but the dark, haunting and somewhat Depeche Mode inspired sound remains intact.
+ Honour Among Thieves

Lukewarm...

Over the past year or so, Swedish synth-pop duo Ostrich has slowly developed into a blog favorite and recent output Lukewarm only helps reinforcing that trend. Like most of the previous tracks (you can download all of them for free over at Myspace), the new baby is dark and melodic, and continues to draw heavily on the Depeche Mode influences. Isn't it about time that some label somewhere signs this duo to some kind of record/publishing deal?
+ Lukewarm

Two new tracks by Swedish indie poppers Tellus About The Moon can be streamed at Myspace. Looks as if the band has been signed to Letterbox Records, but no words on if/when anything will be released.

Danish one-man project choir of young believers will release its/his debut album this is for the white in your eyes on Monday, and the advanced single, the grand and absolutely gorgeous Next Summer, has already received massive airplay. The band/act has been getting quite a lot of press as well since the debut EP was released last year, so one could say that hype has slowly been building up. Soundvenue has just published a review of the album, and a 5 out of 6 rating certainly indicates that there could very well be more to this than just “hot air”.
+ Next Summer

Bad news of the day is that Danish sixties inspired surf/pop quartet Velour has decided to split up. Why the band's appealing pop songs never reached a wider audience is simply beyond me. They'll be missed and the band will be playing their last ever concert on September 19 at Rust in Copenhagen.
+ If You Really Want Me

Ostrich - Sleepy Angels (new track)...

A couple of weeks back Swedish duo Ostrich uploaded a new track to Myspace called Happy Tuesday, just to quickly remove it again. I must have been (unusually) alert that day, because I managed to grab a copy, despite it being available for less than 15 minutes. I was told that the band wasn’t all too happy with the first version of the track, thus explaining it being removed, but at the same time they also promised to bring us a better version very soon. Sticking to their promise, the song was (re-) published with the title Sleepy Angels yesterday, which means that I’m finally able to introduce to the new catchy electro pop opus by Ostrich.
+ Sleepy Angels

From the top of my head...

In an article in the recent edition of Soundvenue, Djuna Barnes states that MP3 blogs are dying (out of boredom). At least to her they are. Does this mean that my blog is so last year before it even became a wee bit hip? Blast!!

I don’t own an iPod and I still by CD’s. Perhaps the right Latin term for prehistoric monsters like me, who failed to understand that we entered a new millennium years ago, is CDsaurus Rex?

I’ve often wondered what my CD collection would look like, if I said yes to all the CD’s people offer to send me. The reasons why I refrain from accepting most of those generous offers are:
1. I have no time to listen to them anyway.
2. 90% of it will be a waste of time (a polite way of saying that the music will be pure garbage).
3. Storage.
4. The dying market for 2nd hand CD’s. 10 years ago I probably would have thought of the CD’s as some sort of pension fund, but those days are long gone.

Spent 3 hours yesterday afternoon at some sports arena, watching my daughter (and several other youngsters) taking part in the annual gymnastics show. Highlight (my daughter’s performance aside) was this oldie being used during one of the shows. The quality is next to useless, but there is always a good chance that the song/video will bring back a few ancient memories to some of you?



Swedish synth pop duo Ostrich had a new song up last night for about 10 minutes (plus/minus?), but then decided to remove the track, because of poor sound quality. Luckily I found it in time to grab myself a copy, and I actually thought that it sounded pretty good. But I will respect the band’s disapproval of it and refrain from posting the track.

I swear that I found this recently uploaded track by Klaus & Kinski before Ivan posted the news in his blog. Oh well – great music will always find its way to the masses.
+ En la cama

zzz...

Damn I’m tired today…zzz…

Danish author Thomas Ladegaard writes a few nice words about this blog and re-posts the video by Imperiet. Yay!

Found the album by now split-up quartet Coolsville (former band of Jonas Breum) at the local CD store the other day. Certainly different from the sound of BREUMM, and the melodies aren’t as strong. Nevertheless it’s quite enjoyable.

Excellent Swedish synth pop duo Ostrich has been promising us new songs for some time, but seems to be experiencing a few computer problems. Be patient and the songs will be published in April (hopefully)!
+ Icecold Kisses

April Song by Biker Boy has been posted and is available for download (for one week only).

J.A. recommends – Swedish edition...

In these busy days J.A. provides a much needed helping hand, by sending updates on this trio of fine Swedish bands.

Indie poppers Japan Air have made two lovely new tracks available for download.
+ Claire
+ Stars

Biker Boy is working on a project called “Calendar 2008 – One Year, Twelve Songs”. First output is appropriately named January Song and this instantly catchy pop song immediately raised the expectations for the rest of the year!
+ January Song
+ January Song (Sporty Fred remix)

Depeche Mode inspired electro pop duo Ostrich gives away another new track. I've mentioned the duo a few times before, and I'd really love to hear a full length release from these super cool guys!
+ Passion For Slaves

Moving on...the next step...

Tomorrow I’ll be going to the first job interview since I handed in my resignation last month. If I get the job, I seriously doubt that much will change from a working point of view, as the job description is pretty much the same as in my current job. So why do I even consider taking the new one the devil's advocate might ask? Obviously new surroundings, colleagues and a different boss will be much needed breaths of fresh air. And since it is located just around the corner from where we live instead of a 45 minute drive away, the new job certainly has that little something that makes it very attractive! Now I just need to make a good impression!!!! Perhaps I should send a substitute?

That list I mentioned a few times last week still has a few names left on it, so before December comes creeping up on us, I guees it’s about time to get the remaining names wiped off the list! Chris has already mentioned a few of the artists, so if you're a regular to his blog, you probably won't find much of interest in this post.

I received the Panda Riot debut album She Dares All Things (buy) a few weeks back, and have been enjoying it immensely ever since. Great tunes on an insisting platform of noise; and why is it that dreamy female vocals fit the shoegaze genre like hand in glove?
+ She Dares All Things

Swedish synthpop duo Ostrich is giving away a new track named Wonderland. Not sure if this is meant to be a seasonal offering, but in their own words it's a little more danceable than the previous track; the super chilled Icecold Kisses.
+ Wonderland
+ Icecold Kisses

Not so long ago it seemed like every new band was inspired by Joy Division. However it's my impression that this have slightly changed, as more and more bands seem to be embracing The Jesus and Mary Chain. The Vandellas from NY is another fine proof that TJAMC haven't lived in vain.
+ Swell To Heaven

If information is to be trusted, Canadians The Mission District will release their debut album Youth Games sometimes early next year. Judging from the songs I've heard so far this will be something for anyone who's into catchy indie/alternative rock music (think The Bravery, Bloc Party etc.).
+ The Age Of Pretending

What's the frequency...

The nice boys over at Frekvens.dk have asked me to join their small part of cyberspace, and I've happily accepted the invitation. Plans are that I shall post 2-4 times per month introducing their readers to the best "hits in the car" of the past week/fortnight. Sounds like the perfect concept to me. Will let you know when the first post is up (probably not this week).

Pitchfork reviews Black Kids and suddenly the number of visitors to this blog increases, because I've mentioned the band a few times. I like their music, but I certainly didn't see this sudden popularity coming. Download the rest of the Wizard of Ahhhs EP here.
+ Hurricane Jane

One more week and The Floor Is Made Of Lava debut album All Juice No Fruit will be out on Tabu Records. The band has sent out a promo mail including download links to 5 songs of the album, so I thought I'd turn this into "the week of the Lava" and post one song each day (Monday-Friday). If you like what you hear, you can pre-order the album right here.
+ Do Your Sister

Swedesplease has added me to the blogroll, so I've returned the favor...

Sad to say that I'm slightly underwhelmed by the four Celestial remixes that Music Is My Girlfriend is giving away for free today. I love the original tracks and cannot see why they had to be remixed; though getting them for free is obviously very nice and generous!
+ Lake Como (remix)

One-two-three clicks over at Myspace and I suddenly find myself listening to Icecold Kisses by Swedish electro/synth-pop duo Ostrich. Not groundbreaking in any way, but this really is a nice, sweet and catchy synth dominated tune.
+ Icecold Kisses