Ramblings...

Just a few ramblings...

Sunday I ran a marathon (my 5th overall), setting a personal best of 3:30:17. Has (for fun) been thinking about starting a running blog instead of a music blog, but it won't happen...after all; having one shitty blog on my resume is already on too many!

Has pretty much lost interest in Spleen United, but learning that they've teamed up with Sharin Foo (of The Raveonettes) to record a new version of their track Euphoria from recent album School of Euphoria obviously made me curious. The end result is (luckily) a definite improvement compared to the album version.


Found via Börneblogger...here's the new track Memories by Sambassadeur from the limited edition and double A-sided single Memories/Hearts Away which will be out on Labrador next month. Something doesn't change and doesn't  have to. Sambassadeur sounding like Sambassadeur is certainly one of those things!


The Holiday Crowd will soon release (US only?) a new 7" single on Shelflife and preordering has started. Awaiting permission to post lead track Sick Days for streaming, which I assure will give every fan of 80's inspired guitar pop goose bumps!

Depeche Mode has just announced another album and another world tour. No one will give a toss about their new album (of course some will claim that it's their best work since Violator, but since they are always doing that, we all know it's not true), but the tour will sell out in an instant. It remains beyond me why people are prepared to pay small fortunes to hear Dave Gahan shout "reach out and touch faith" for what probably is the 117th in their lives! Oh well...

London Work Calling...

Misery...

VETO frontman Troels Abrahamsen shares this remix of the Spleen United track Misery. The original is included on the band's new album School of Euphoria and features Danish "heroin" Gitte Nielsen on guest vocals...still no fan of remixes (yeah, yeah - I know, I posted one yesterday as well), but actually found myself tapping my feet along to this one...

Misery (Troels Abrahamsen remix) by Spleen United

My love...

As decided by the listeners of Danish P3...Spleen United covers Justin Timberlake...to be honest I feared the worst, but they've turned it into a really cool (using their own words here) "slow-eighties-tribal-house" kind of thing...

My Love (Justin Timberlake) by Spleen United

Days of thunder...

Check out the new Spleen United single Days Of Thunder...I used to love this band, but not a fan of the direction the band has taken since the debut album...

Shorts...

Via The Line Of Best Fit/Something In Construction comes this first preview track (the correct title is Blues and not Loney Blues) from the forthcoming Loney Dear album Hall Music.
Loney Dear - Loney Blues by SICrecords

The William Blakes announced yesterday that the band's new album (and fourth since the debut in 2008) will be out soon. An (almost) unprecedented pace of work and you'll have to be amazed if the album is of the same quality as the first three!
+ Violent God

Spleen United are busy recording their third album (follow the progress on Facebook), but have nonetheless found the time to remix Kenton Slash Demon's Sun.
Sun (Spleen United remix) by Spleen United

Reality Bites from the upcoming two-track single by Emerald Park is absolutely ace!
Emerald Park - Reality Bites by afmusic

When will I ever learn...?

Yesterday was pure torture, as I was tired beyond belief. Had far too much to drink and went to bed far too late Saturday evening, so yesterday my age once again showed its ugly face. The partying and drinking wasn’t a direct result of Denmark’s trashing of Cameroun at the World Cup (would like to think of it as “trashing”, though a “fortunate win” is the somewhat more accurate way to describe it), but simply because I spent a real fun evening with great company. And we all know how nights like those can evolve, and Saturday night it certainly did! But today I’m in a much better shape, so time to re-group and get back to blogging.

The new Spleen United single Sunset to Sunset can now be streamed at Myspace. I've always been a fan of Spleen United and therefore really hate to write this, but I do think that the new song is one of the band's weakest efforts to date.

Another new track streaming at Myspace is Caves and Light by The William Blakes. It’s the first track published from the band’s forthcoming (and third) album The Way of the Warrior, which will be out on September 13. Perhaps sounding a bit more “polished” than previous stuff released by the band, but more importantly the band certainly hasn't forgotten how to craft a great pop song!

The jury is still out on the new (and free to download) track Here Sometimes by Blonde Redhead. It’s not bad at all, but not really standing out either in the way I hoped it would (perhaps even equaling or beating 23, which is downright fantastic).
+ 23

Found this track by Elk City in the mailbox last week and it’s been on frequent rotation ever since. From the album House of Tongues which was released by Friendly Fire Recordings on June 1.
+ Nine O’clock in France

Another really nice one from the mailbox is the dark and haunting You Can’t Be Alone by All Saints Day. Not yet taken from any release, but simply mailed out to help promoting the duo’s forthcoming 7” release It’ll Come Around. Personally I like "Alone" a lot better than the track they’ve picked as the lead track on the single!
+ You Can’t Be Alone

On air...

"Look at me I’m"…sitting right here by the computer. Yes. I deliberately changed (removed) the colors, so prevent anyone from seeing how grey my beard is! Plans tonight include listening to some music, reading some mails, watch some music videos and of course check the score in the England vs. Algeria game.

Have read so much about the video for Say No To Love (the new single by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in case you didn't know) that I have to watch it myself...just like the song itself the video is really lovely, and repeating myself is rather tempting as I'm once again wondering if the band can do anything wrong?
+ Say No To Love

A deluxe edition of Propaganda’s epic debut album A Secret Wish will be out on August 2 (according to the promo mail, though various online shops list the time of release as mid-July) including "the original album plus all of the cassette/vinyl-only mixes on Disc One, complete with guest appearances from David Sylvian, Steve Howe (Yes) and Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17). Disc Two adds a wealth of bonus material including the complete, unexpurgated 20-minute cassette mix of Duel, Trevor Horn's previously unreleased Thousand Eyes... remix of Dr. Mabuse, a works-in-progress version of The Chase and ten-minute 12" mixes of Frozen Faces and p:Machinery". This is really awesome news, as this was one of the albums of my teenage years and I simply cannot wait to get my hands on the double CD box.

As always I'm living in a world of my own, so I was completely unaware of that new single Sunset to Sunset by Spleen United is out on Monday (iTunes).

Not much happening really..........

Remix me...

Danish legends Laid Back has remixed the Lars and The Hands of Light track Me Me Me. The remix features vocals from John Guldberg and has that classic Laid Back feel to it. Even I, who’s a notorious non-fan of remixes, cannot ignore how utterly cool this one is.
+ Me Me Me (Laid Back remix)

No Blood in Bones and Fontän will be playing at Studenterhuset in Copenhagen Friday evening. The No Blood in Bones set will only consist of 5 songs, but since Fontän sounds pretty cool as well (today is the first time I’ve ever listened to them), I’m seriously considering going!
+ No Blood In Bones – Headphones
+ Fontän – Early Morning

RCRD LBL shares a The Juan MacLean remix of the Spleen United track Suburbia. Great seeing the band getting some well deserved exposure on a prominent website, though, I cannot honestly say that I like the remix!

Since this has more or less turned into a remix themed post, this remix of the Animal Collective track My Girls is surprisingly listenable. 2 fine remixes in the same post has to be a personal best!
+ My Girls (Mike Monday Unofficial Remix)

Indie label 24 Hour Service Station will release a 32 track double CD named Ceremony - a New Order tribute - on February 20. The release is dedicated to the late Tony Wilson and contains 31 cover versions of various New Order tracks (by various artists) as well as “a sonically enhanced spoken word dedication to Tony Wilson to introduce the record” by Peter Hook.

Assembly line...

Spleen United has re-launched their webpage. I cannot really figure out if there's supposed to be a deeper meaning to it, except showing a few short and rather fuzzy video clips and providing us with some external links. Reload the page (press VIII) and a new clip will pop up (I believe there’s a total of 5 different ones). I know complaining has sort of become my trademark, but I’d much rather have a less fancy and more informative site instead (obviously) including a few free downloads (remixes, covers or something like that)! The band will soon be playing a few dates in the US (check their Myspace for exact dates), and just like the previous time the band spent some time “over there”, I strongly recommend that you go see them.
+ Running Up That Hill (Kath Bush cover with The William Blakes)

I've heard some rather trustworthy rumors that Northern Portrait has finished the recordings of their debut album Criminal Art Lovers. But still, these are just rumors; nothing more!
+ Crazy

Obscure Sound has posted a lengthy review, probably containing more words than I’d write in a month, of the soon to be released UltraChorus debut album Ultra-Def. First promo track of the album Words Kept Talking was an instant favorite way back in March, so nice to learn that the rest should be equally great. If Mike’s review is to be trusted of course!
+ Words Kept Talking

BandBase.dk track of the day is Robin Parts by As In RebekkaMaria. The song is based upon Symphony No. 2 by Danish composer Carl Nielsen and is this month's featured remix at mixtoverdener.dk.
+ Robin Parts

Chris is doing a great job getting his blog Music Of The Moment back up and running. Today's post on Scottish trio AirSpiel is well worth reading.

The new album Whatsinsideswhatsoutside by Bodebrixen will be released on Monday. According to this newspaper article, the album will be free to download from the band's webpage in an attempt to attract more listeners.

...paused...

Bjarke Niemann – Champions of the Wild Side...

The artist’s name might not ring a bell, but if I add that he’s more known as the one fronting Spleen United, you hopefully have some kind of idea, what were dealing with here. Champions of the Wild Side is not the first sign of a solo career in the making, but a result of his participation in the MixToVerdener (mix two worlds) project, which has been set up by Danish Radio P2, Danske Bank and BandBase.dk. Every month a sample from a classical piece is picked by a jury and made available from the MixToVerdener website for everyone to download and remix. This month’s sample (I believe) is taken from Pictures at an Exhibition by Russian composer Modest Mussorgskij and aided by this and a sketch for a song already written, Bjarke Niemann has produced a fascinating and melancholic track. Spleen United fans might find it a little too poppy and not quite faithful to the band's trademark darker sounds, but I can only recommend that you give it some listens and let this beautiful piece sink in. Then it won’t take long before you’ll be hooked!
+ Champions of the Wild Side

Various...

That title again! Sorry...

If their Twitter profile can be trusted, Northern Portrait is currently mixing their debut album. And of course it can be trusted (I sincerely hope).
+ I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me

7" single Turktown Saints by Socialist Leisure Party will be out on the incomparable Cloudberry Records tomorrow. Same band released the CD + 7" Tactical POP! for Coffee Cadets on Shelflife Records exactly one month ago today.
+ Turktown Saints

Boxstr.com hasn't been working for I don't know how long. Wonder if they'll refund the money I've paid for their so-called "services"?

Should have mentioned previously that fab Danes Spleen United are currently performing shows in the States. If you happen to be in L.A. tonight or tomorrow or in N.Y. on the 26th make sure to catch them.
+ She Falls In Love With Machines (Vhs or Beta Dee Jays Remix)
+ Running Up That Hill (Kath Bush cover with The William Blakes)

Cannot say I'm a fan of this band, but Private is offering free downloads of several remixes of the track My Secret Lover. And will always be a fan of free downloads!
+ My Secret Lover (Remixed by Juxx)

Climbing up that hill...

Back from a fantastic but extremely exhausting trip to Tallinn. I know I have a habit of forgetting things, but I seriously cannot recall being so completely worn out before. Ever! So today is one long uphill climb.

As an almost symbolic response to how I’m feeling today, The William Blakes and Spleen United teamed up at the recent Backstage show and performed an alternative (and by that I certainly don’t mean bad) version of Running Up That Hill. As a small treat a MP3 of the recording is now downloadable from the Speed Of Sound webpage.
+ Running Up That Hill (MP3)
+ Running Up That Hill (Video)

News of the day! The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will be playing at Lille Vega in Copenhagen on August 2. But the even better news of the day is that the supporting acts are Champagne Riot AND Northern Portrait! This is news I’ve been waiting impatiently for, for a long, long time and tickets were bought in an instant.
+ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Everything With You
+ Northern Portrait - I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me
+ Champagne Riot - Scandinavian Warfare

The Twitter profile of Labrador Records is quite informative. Sign up, follow and you’ll soon be able to read a really interesting rumor about The Radio Dept.

Green Concorde remix...

Just a quick one, as time is sparse today. Bjarke Niemann of Spleen United has remixed the Green Concorde track Detroit, which the band is giving away for free. Still impatiently waiting for news on the release date of the band's sophomore album. UPDATE: According to Gaffa the album will be released late March/early April.
+ Detroit (Niemann Remix)

Evening shorties...

The Google Page Rank of the blog has improved from 4 to 5. Very nice me thinks.

Want to listen to some yummy indie pop? Then stream the new track dan semua kan berubah by Indonesians Sunny Summer Day. You probably won't understand a word, but the melody is absolutely gorgeous.

For some reason I couldn't access blogger.com this afternoon. Still haven't figured out why, but everything seems to be working fine now.

Just received a message from NY shoegazer's Elika that they'll be sending me a promo copy of their new album Trying Got Us Nowhere. Perhaps mentioning Soundpool earlier today helped?

Listen to the first single from the forthcoming album by racingpaperplanes. The band is from Gothenburg and that's all you really need to know, to understand what we're dealing with!
+ In and out of coma

Seems like Suburbia will the second single from the Spleen United sophomore album Neanderthal. This is the video...

Monday shorties...

I certainly hope that the new Spleen United album Neanderthal is a grower, because after one listen I’m somewhat disappointed. But if I remember correctly I wasn’t really overwhelmed by the debut to begin with either.
Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet gives the album 3 out of 6 stars, but in the very same review they also talk about the album View From A Highwire by debuting Danish act The Romanian Empire, which gets 4 stars. First single Criminal is surprisingly cool and according to the band itself the music sounds like a hybrid of Flaming lips, Radiohead, Deus and Beck, but check them out and decide that for yourself.
+ Criminal
+ Now Becomes Now

The Papertiger Sound amazingly continues producing new music and yesterday the band released the magnificent online single magnetic north, which of course is available to download for free. It remains one big mystery why this band hasn’t been signed to a label.
+ magnetic north

First release of the year by Swedish label Sudd is a collection of remixes by Fujasaki called ReMixtape (download as zip file).
+ Familjen – Hög luft (Fujasaki Remix)

Shorties...

My body means serious business and it just won't let me forget my age. My back is still a painful mess!

I have too many CD’s - plain and simple. I spent half an hour last night searching for Godspeed Into The Mainstream, and although I found lots of CD's I had forgotten all about, I never did find that Spleen United debut. Perhaps the girls have swapped it for a pair of candy bags? Don’t forget that the sophomore album Neanderthal will be out later this month!
+ Streetfighter (Broken Spindles Remix)

The morning started with some seriously bad news. J.A. mailed the info that Danish The Smiths’ inspired quintet The Cupids has decided to split up, even though a single release seemed to be just around the corner.
+ Tonight
+ Sunday

The new Moto Boy single (to be released next week on Songs I wish I had written) is a gorgeous piece of sweet pop music.
+ Young Love

In A Cyclone Of Stones recommends lovely Swedish indie poppers bakers at dawn. The new 9 track EP anything in particular is up for grabs right here. This stuff is simply too good and too interesting to overlook.
+ hopeful

Flowers of Romance is the title of a brand new track by Green Concorde and it's arguably their best track to date. Stream only.

One event that you shouldn't miss - next Friday (January 18) a few of the Frekvens boys will be DJ'ing at the Beta Satan concert at Musikcafeen in Århus. Read more.
+ Great Moments of Pleasure

This, That and a Whole Lot More...

The other day I posted the video for the new single, My Tribe by Spleen United and according to the band's label the sophomore album will be out January 14 next year. I don't believe that the title of the album has been revealed just yet, but since I immediately liked the new single, my expectations are growing fast (no matter what they decide to call it). My Tribe doesn't exactly indicate that the band is planning any major changes to their electronic soundscape and I find absolutely no reason to complain about this, as the debut Godspeed Into The Mainstream was one of my favorite albums of 2005. As a small "appetizer" I guess, the band has decided to give away Heroin Unltd. from the debut for free.
+ Heroin Unltd.

US jazz-pop and somewhat Steely Dan inspired trio Layabout will embark on a small German tour in December playing the following dates:
14.12 - Berlin (at ACUD kantina)
17.12 - Dortmund (at Q-Bar)
19.12 - Bremen (at No-OK)
If I was living anywhere close to the venues I'd most certainly go, as I really enjoy the jazzy and quite laid-back sound of the band.
+ Arms Around The City
+ Like kin

The fine 2005 demo album Kun En Elektrisk Summen Fra En Neonreklame Der Skulle Have Forestillet Solen (I won't even try to translate this) by ENTAKT has been reissued and you can buy it here, here or here.

A string of blogs have been added to the blogroll. Be a sport and pay them a visit!
* Busted Up Bulldozers
* Can You See The Sunset From The Southside?
* Captain Obvious
* Hate Something Beautiful
* JPs Blog
* PrettyMuchAmazing!
* quick before it melts
* Raised on Indie
* Small Things Stupid Packages

Danish trio Sensommersne (Late Summer Snow) sings in Danish and plays a very catchy kind of acoustic pop/rock. The melodies and instrumental parts are really great, but unfortunately the lead singer needs to practice his singing a bit (or perhaps they should even think of recruiting a new frontman), which sadly makes this far less enjoyable than it could have been!
+ Engle Taarer

New single by Spleen United...

It's awesome and I cannot wait for the album...(stream)

Spleen United Remixes...

Two tracks from the fantastic Spleen United album Godspeed Into The Mainstream have been remixed and the band likes the remixes so much that they have decided to make them both available as free downloads!
+ Streetfighter (Broken Spindles Remix)
+ She Falls In Love With Machines (VHS OR BETA DEEJAYS REMIX)