This and that...

Wanted to buy the new Cause & Effect EP Artificial Construct - Part One earlier today, but bandcamp wasn't exactly cooperative. Decided to post my frustrations about this at the band's Facebook page and a few hours later the band posted an update that the problem(s) had been fixed. So right away I headed over to bandcamp and bought the CD (including access to immediate download). What I didn't see before ordering was that the band had mailed and offered me a free download of the EP for my troubles! Not posting this to express any dissatisfaction about spending those $5.99 (as always I'm just glad to support independent music), but rather to state how incredibly cool I think the band is for actually getting back to me as well as showing their appreciation by offering a free download! Listening to the songs right now and only too happy to learn that they sound like vintage Cause & Effect!

The program for this summer's Start! Festival was published two weeks ago, but to be honest, I'm rather unimpressed. So I'm seriously considering not going this year...

Exactly a week ago Jonas posted a Geneva video, which made me start pondering what has happened to ex-Geneva frontman Andrew Montgomery's project st famous. Seems like it has now turned into a solo project, but new songs are in the making, which I believe is always a good sign? And not matter how you look at things and how things will develop; Mr. Montgomery still has one of the best voices in music.

Just found this new single by Trentemøller in the mailbox. Not sure what I expected (not a long to be truthful), but this is surprisingly enjoyable and pleasingly distant from the electronica universe I normally associate with Trentemøller.
+ Sycamore Feeling (Trentemøller Remix Edit)

chaotisch und charmant interviews Caspar of Champagne Riot and offers the track Ingrid Bergman as a free download. As previously mentioned it's Stefan of Northern Portrait, who does the singing and this is one track you simply "have" to download! UPDATE: Caspar just okayed that I post the track as well, so...
+ Ingrid Bergman

Start! and more...

Unlike previous years I’m not going to write a lengthy report from this year’s Start! (previously Vesterbro) Festival. Primarily because I’m afraid that most of it will be spent on discussing the line-up and the criteria used for selecting the artists. So no in-depth analysis this year I’m afraid. But fact is that I was there, and during the three days I heard lots of music of varying quality and got introduced to a string of (to me at least) unfamiliar artists. A few made a good impression and will perhaps be included in a blogpost some fine day. Several made a not so good impression and most likely will never be featured around here. Those artists I knew beforehand did (for most parts) a fine job and I will continue following them and bring updates whenever there is something interesting to tell. The always reliable Ginger Ninja (picture) was the last band I saw at this year’s festival and whenever the band releases a debut album, it will be most welcomed.
+ OnePlusOneIsThree

No Blood In Bones has been picked "band of the week" at BandBase.dk.
+ Safe Way Out

Canadian artist Under Electric Light has remixed the track Danaé by fellow Canadians Les Incendiaries and has made it a free download. No clue what the song is about, as I've never bothered learning a single word of French. But it's good stuff!
+ Danaé (Under Electric Light mix)

New, small indie label Odd Box Records had the busiest of days yesterday and announced three new releases!

The Really Like to See You Again 12” single by Thieves Like Us will be out on Shelflife Records tomorrow. 500 copies have been pressed, so act swiftly!
+ Really Like to See You Again

Mushi and more...

I like my hometown. I really do. It’s beautiful and historical, and enough things are happening here to make it a great place to live. Unfortunately its inhabitants don’t seem to appreciate music all that much. Unless of course some useless cover band is playing or one of our nation’s many dinosaurs (you know – those artists, who have been around for the past three our four decades) are paying us a visit. Then people show up in bunches. But when fairly unknown artists, who are trying to make a living playing their self-written music, are coming to town, you can bet the venue will be close to empty (or the whole thing will be cancelled). No more whining about this cancellation, but as mentioned in a previous post, Mushi was playing at Annexet Saturday evening, which at least offered a nice alternative. Around midnight (when the past Saturday became Sunday) a friend and I headed for the bar, paid the entrance fee, just to learn that a total of 5 (five!) persons were there. Later I found out that three of those were friends of the band, so a smashing total of 2 locals had shown up! In all fairness, more people showed up later, but a no point was there more than 20 people at the bar (including the 4 band members and the people working in the bar). Despite the lack of audience and atmosphere, the band nonetheless and quite impressively delivered a fine performance, which (to me at least) proved that Rasmus (the man behind the alias) is an excellent songwriter.
+ Elise and the Guardian Angel

Start! Festival begins (simply refuse to use the word "starts") this afternoon. Tonight I'm planning to see Diefenbach, Among Relatives, Queens Garden and probably a few other names along the way as well. One funny (and very persistent) rumor is that the band The Descendants of King Canute (scheduled to play at 11 tonight) should actually be Nephew in disguise. Will be much wiser tonight!

No Blood In Bones is a brand new project (duo) featuring Green Concorde frontman Morten Espersen Dam. More pop, less rock and very interesting (and pretty darn good, too).
+ Safe Way Out

It really doesn't sound like anything from either Frengers or Glass Handed Kites. Still the new track Introducing Palace Players by Mew is bloody marvellous and expectations for No More Stories are sky high.

Danish 6-piece A Sunday Honeymoon jumped onto my radar yesterday and has pretty much stayed there every since. The band’s music is quite a mixed bag and if you check the influences the list includes the likes of Springsteen, The Strokes and Field Mice. And you could indeed say that the music sounds like a clone of all those three artists. The three track mini-EP Yuzo Citrus is free to download, which I strongly recommend you to do.
+ Feel It Now
+ Yuzo Citrus (EP)

Småt brændbart...

At the risk of losing whatever credibility I may have left, I’m still not afraid to shout out in public that (this is my opinion of course) 21st Century Breakdown is brilliant, though not quite as fantastic as American Idiot. At least not yet.

Entakt frontman Jonas tested the “live blogging” (or whatever it’s supposed to be called) concept last night. And it ended up being a quite interesting read!

Start! Festival announced yesterday that 10 new names have been added to the line-up. I can see that Outlandish is one of them, but who are the other 9?

Perhaps the quintet Nomotion is one of them? At least I cannot recall seeing their name in the line-up before, so I’ve been giving them a few listens to see, if they should be added to my “must-see” list. The band’s britpop inspired songs are really likeable, but at the same time sound like something we’ve heard lots of times before. So for now I remain undecided.
+ Terminal Probation

Chromewaves (Frank; that lucky bastard) had the privilege of being at two The Radio Dept. live shows the past weekend.

Sweden's Kamera has mailed me their recent single Dead Man Walking. It's taken from the band's new (and second) album Blank Expressions, which is released today. And if it wasn't because of my snotty nose, I'd probably go to Helsingborg tonight to see them live at The Tivoli, as I'm really enjoying the band's 80's inspired new-wave/pop.
+ Dead Man Walking

IFPI revisited and more...

Is this nemesis? Just hours after writing that IFPI/Blogger hadn’t removed my re-post of the Doves remix, I received a notification that another post had been taken down. I assume you’re now awaiting a post of rage and anger, but apparently my previous post didn’t help, so why bother? And since the post in question is from February and not something removed from the “front page”, it is somehow easier to live with, though I still find it difficult to accept that they did it without contacting me first. However it does puzzle me somewhat that the post taken down is one of those “emptying the mailbox” ones, where I post various promo tracks found in the mailbox. But perhaps I should have read the mails more carefully, though I doubt very much that any of them said that I wasn’t allowed to post the track or only posting it for a limit period of time. I know I keep the songs up for quite a long time (maybe too long), but since I’m in the third or fourth wave of bloggers receiving the promo mails, the songs have most likely been posted by several other (and much bigger) blogs. So the songs are already out there, and the 5-10 extra downloads caused by me not removing the download links cannot really be what’s ruining the industry. Can it? But I’ll soldier on, though some guidelines would be much appreciated.

I’ll definitely be standing right in front of the stage when Danish quartet C’est tout Martine are playing at Start! Festival. Completely unknown to me a couple of days ago, but the band’s naive yet absolutely lovely indie pop tunes (sung in Danish) have charmed me away. This year’s line-up just keeps looking better and better and still plenty of new bands left to be checked out.
+ Faa Et Liv
+ Vender Tilbage

Superb Danish folk rocker Cody is now in New York and for the next week he and the band will be playing a number of gigs. Simply too great to miss!
+ There Is A Light (Live)

A new 7 track CD by Florida shoegazers Starring Me will (hopefully) be out in May.
+ Parallels are Endless

Ruined by Martin and more...

The Ruined by Martin concert Friday evening was a mixed experience. It sure was great finally meeting the guys and equally great to at first hand be there to witness that the band has moved to the next level and is now a live band. Unfortunately the venue didn’t offer the band the best conditions as they had to take care of the sound themselves. So on a few occasions the sound was deficient, but taking into consideration that this was their debut and they had to do it in DIY fashion, they certainly did a fine job. And no doubt the band has learned a lot from this experience and I feel pretty certain that they’ll be doing even better the next time they hit the stage.
+ Untouchable

Unfortunately the next time won’t be at this year’s Start! Festival, as they weren't included in the official program, which was published Friday evening. Just like previous years I’m somewhat skeptical about the line-up, as there aren’t that many artists included I know that well. So the next couple of months will be spent getting introduced to a string of new and hopefully interesting acts.

Before the Loney, Dear concert Sunday evening I met Ivan (ex-Oliver North Boy Choir) for a few beers and got a brief update on the various projects involving the former ONBC members. There’s not much to be revealed right now, but in a few months time expect a few songs to surface.

Rounding out the post is some absolutely cracking news. Come May the debut album Criminal Art Lovers by Northern Portrait will hopefully be out on Matinée Recordings. Around the same time look out for the second album from The Electric Pop Group. To be named Seconds and (of course) this is a Matinée Recordings release as well.
+ The Electric Pop Group – I Could See The Lights
+ Northern Portrait - Crazy