The quiet zone...

If you are one of the persons left who has been following this blog for years you might (or might not) remember Breumm? A Danish duo (consisting of brothers Jonas and Steffen Breum) playing catchy electronic pop music with clever almost quirky lyrics, and who put out an album called Det Perfekte Spild af Tid (co-produced with Henrik Balling) in mid-2008? As the few of you might (or might not) remember as well, is that I did my utmost to hype them and featured the band a number of times. Not that I was very successful though, as I believe the album sold in the neighborhood of 5 copies in spite of being much better than your average yet big selling pop albums. Whether it was the lack of success or fatigue following the recording and release of the debut I don’t know, but following a few months of promoting and supporting the album they more or less ceased to exist as a duo. From time to time I’ve seen their names (Steffen especially) pop up here and there, but as a duo they’ve been awfully quiet. Well they still are, but this weekend Jonas wrote telling that he’s been working on a solo album for the past year and that he’s finally managed to finish a track. The track is called Stillezonen (the quiet zone) and the lyrics aside (still quirky and still in Danish) his solo musical universe is rather different when comparing it to that of the duo. Or as he describes it himself: “a stripped down dogma-folk universe, where I record the whole shebang myself”. An interesting concept and probably a much needed approach to recording music following the hype of the previous album (I wasn't the only one expecting big thing). Have to admit that it took me a few listens to “make friends” with Stillezonen, but now I’ve definitely been won over, so please Mr. Breum; keep the new tracks coming!
+ Stillezonen

Entakt/Jonas Breum...

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

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

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

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

Tonight, tonight, tonight...

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

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

Vesterbro Festival 2008...

This year’s Vesterbro Festival is over and now it’s time to recapture what happened during the 3 intense days of sex, drugs and rock 'n’ roll sun, music, talking and drinking. Plenty of stuff to write, so it might take a couple of days before this post will be finished, so check back every now and then for updates. As usual I didn't bring my camera, so no pictures I'm afraid (thanks a lot to Fiepige for the permission to use this photo of Ginger Ninja).

Thursday
Probably couldn't have started the festival in a better way, than "suffering" through an amazing performance by Cody. "Suffering" as the heat, which was a result of the small venue, the many people, the spotlights and the dark curtains attracting the sun, was almost unbearable. But in spite of the sauna-like conditions, it was a truly wonderful concert by a very talented band and somehow country/folk rock sounds a lot better when the weather is great and the beers are cold. Looks as if the band will not remain one of Denmark's better-kept secrets, as both The National and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy have asked the band to be the supporting act, when they visit Denmark during the summer.

Following the concert I had the fortune to (finally) bump into Ivan of Oliver North Boy Choir, and he kindly introduced me to a few friends including fellow ONBC and EPO-555 band member Mikkel. So the rest of the afternoon we had a few beers, discussed some music, where I among things tried to convince ONBC to play live (no luck), told them that they should start releasing physical albums (no luck), asked for some EPO-555 gossip including the release date of a third album (no luck), and wanted to know the story behind some EPO-555 song titles (finally I had some luck, but I won’t even try putting those explanations in writing).

Back to the music and next in line was a nice little concert by E Bird, though they did look somewhat uncomfortable (shy perhaps?) on stage. And vocally, a little less Bright Eyes inspiration wouldn't hurt.

Following a charming show by country rockers Southern Gothic Tales (with a few Cody band members on stage), there was a huge gap in the program with no interesting acts on for a few hours (though I was told that Monkey Cup Dress should be pretty good), but the weather was still fine and the beers were still cold, so a break from the music wasn't the biggest of problems.

For my part, the last concert of the evening (I once again must confess that my age is catching up with me) was by blog "darlings" BREUMM and they delivered a pretty fine performance in the (now) dark evening. Though I remain a bit puzzled why they opted not to play Ingen Verdens Ting, which I continue to rank among my favorite songs of the year.

Friday
Started the day by watching Mellemblond performing a few songs on one of the smaller venues, but the sound wasn't really good and my friend had to ask me if they were singing in Danish or English. Quite a shame, as the band was recommended to me as a pretty good live act.

So we quickly decided to move on and instead had the pleasure of watching Little Jimmy Reeves play a terrific set inside the atmospheric Øksnehallen. This is not the most complex stuff you'll ever hear, but fronted by Kashmir drummer Asger Techau, the band plays rather straightforward rock music, with the occasional inspiration from his other and better-known band.

Following the concert Asger was selling the band's EP Bring Out The Dogs (buy it here if you like) and my friend and I each bought a copy. He looked surprisingly flattered, when we told him that we had enjoyed the concert and my friend also got the inside story behind the band's name.

A little sun and a beer later, Twins Twins entered the stage, but unfortunately the band failed to impress me. The songwriting is great (no question there), but I guess it is the lack of variation that made the concert rather tedious after a while. But we still stayed and watched the entire set.

Plans were that we were going to see Halph next, but before the band entered the stage, I got a phone call from Northern Portrait front man Stefan, who just happened to be in the neighborhood and he asked if we had time for a small chat and a beer or two.
So for the next hour I had the privilege of speaking to one of Denmark's finest songwriters and among several things I finally got information on some of his previous works, news on concerts, the story behind the single cover, the record deal with Matinée Recordings etc. Some of this will (perhaps) be posted at a later and more appropriate (?) time.

A few minutes to 9 Stefan had to rush away, as he was going to play an acoustic live set (cover songs) at a nearby bar. But before leaving he suggested that we should drop by on our way to Tivoli Gardens (to see Kashmir), as we would be passing right by it. So we did and though he vowed not to do it, he treated us with a small gem, as he played acoustic versions of the two Northern Portrait songs Crazy and What Happens Next. According to Stefan it was the first time that the later was played live, so you can say that we witnessed a world premiere.

Off to Tivoli Gardens, where the plans of attending the Kashmir concert were quickly put to rest, as the length of the queues made us realize that we would be more than lucky to get in before the encore.

Slightly disappointed we went back to the Festival where we strolled around for a while trying to find some interesting bands to give a listen, but with very little luck. So instead we finished the evening at the bar, where Stefan played the third Northern Portrait song of the evening; I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me as well as a smashing version of There She Goes (The La's). Probably the highlight of the weekend, which in fact had very little to do with the Festival!

Saturday
It really wasn't my plan to see Evil Death Machine, but my train was delayed and when I arrived, my friend was sitting in the sun enjoying the band, so we stuck around; and I'm glad we did. Somehow I've always believed that his was an electronica project by EPO-555 member Hans Emil Hansen, which until now has kept me away from listening. But instead I (to my big surprise) found out that the music is a pleasant blend of alternative/indie/electronic pop/rock, so perhaps it's time to give in and give it a decent listen?

Waiting for No and The Maybes to start we spent 10 minutes listening to Danish electronica queen Tilde. But as I've stated a few times before, this is not my favorite genre, so when the sound of the synths suddenly disappeared...we did the same!

The start of No and The Maybes wasn't really anything to write home about, but 10 minutes into the show things somehow got adjusted and from that moment on it became very clear why this indie pop band has recently been signed by A:Larm Music, as the band played a string of catchy pop tunes and gave a charming performance.

Didium and The Black Bonnie Picture has been much hyped the past few months, so my expectations were really high. Normally the hype would mean that a large crowd would be showing up, but strangely it was one of the smallest of the entire festival! Whether this had anything to do with it I don't know, but the show turned out to be quite a disappointment. But as I do like the band's music a lot (their demo's are really great), I'll use the sound at the venue as the explanation for my disappointment and instead I'll be looking forward to the next concert (whenever I get the chance to see them again).

Luckily the last show I got to see at this year's Festival was a real treat. Ginger Ninja delivered one of the most energetic and dynamic concerts I've seen for some time and the four lads really made the most of this opportunity, and proved that they are a great and highly entertaining live act as well as more than capable of writing catchy pop tunes.

Thus ended this year's Festival and as you've probably understood by now, I had a pretty good time. So I've already started looking forward to next year's edition, but as a final remark I hope that they'll return to the original concept, so we'll see fewer of those established mainstream names that no one really (be honest now) cares about!

+ Cody - Just For You
+ Oliver North Boy Choir - Enola Gay
+ EPO-555 - Hyperschlieb
+ E Bird - Everyone Here Is Without A Past
+ BREUMM - Silhuetter (Zvook Mescalin Remix)
+ Little Jimmy Reeves - Romance on Drugs
+ Twins Twins - San Sebastian
+ Northern Portrait - Crazy
+ Evil Death Machine - Sugar In The Baby's Face
+ No and The Maybes - Mouth
+ Didium & The Black Bonnie Picture - The Twisted Way of Blues
+ Ginger Ninja - Stuck In A Rough Stream

The perfect waste of time…

The Eiffel Tower, Euro Disney, The Louvre Museum etc. etc. Back again after spending 4½ eventful days in Paris playing tourists with the girls.

Today’s subject line doesn’t refer to the trip, but is the translated title of the new BREUMM album Det Perfekte Spild Af Tid. Been spending most of the day listening to it, and the fine lyrics combined with the catchy melodies simply make the album one of this year’s “must have’s”. Buy it via the band’s Myspace page.

One Weekly Gun has been busy as two new tracks have been posted.
+ Drive Your Wagon
+ We Will Happily Sedate You

Listen to two new tracks by Larsen & Furious Jane at Frekvens.dk.

BREUMM and more...

The BREUMM/Decorate.Decorate. concert last night was pretty OK, and it was especially interesting watching the new (?) "version" of BREUMM. Compared to the concert last year, this was a somewhat (and surprisingly) nosier edition with Jonas refusing to let his guitar rest during the set. Here's an older clip of Jonas doing an acoustic performance of Ingen Verdens Ting, which so far is my favorite track of 2008.



Without Magnolia I would probably never have heard of Aimee Mann. First single Thirty One Today from her odd titled forthcoming album @#%&! SMILERS sounds quite lovely, but it also hints that she hasn't really moved an inch musically since that fabulous soundtrack.
+ Thirty One Today

Danish trio Marybell Katastrophy seems to be on every one's lips these days. Now they have been mentioned here as well...
+ Hidden Agenda

The single Good Day has earned US trio Jukebox the Ghost comparisons to the likes of Queen and Ben Folds. Judge that yourself, but a really fine one it is!
+ Good Day
+ Good Day (Andrew Maury Remix)

The rest of the evening I'll be listening to various promo stuff and if/whenever I come across something worth the time, I'll add it to this post...

Blandede bolcher...

Next Friday (April 11) I plan to show up at Templet in Lyngby to see BREUMM and Decorate.Decorate.. I've been told that this will be the first official gig played by BREUMM, so it's definitely going to be a night for the history books! I was somewhat disappointed about the Decorate Decorate debut album Normandie, as the single Surname of Copenhagen promised so much more. However I'm giving it a few spins right now, and hopefully it will start growing. Anyway - watch the video for Surname... below and you'll probably understand why the expectations were so high!!



I still have no speakers for the computer, so I can only suggest that you stream the new demo Seven Years by Ruined by Martin and download the new song Hey Messy Queen by Death Valley Sleepers, as I really don't know if they are any good. Though I expect them to be!

And One Weekly Gun has a new song up as well. This week's topic is plastic surgery.

Newton Faulkner covers Massive Attack. His version of Teardrop can be found on Hand Built By Robots.
+ Teardrop

RAC shares their/his remix of Radiohead's Nude.
+ Nude (RAC remix)

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).

Back from the cold...

I'm back from 5 days in what turned out to be winter cold and not at all spring-like Warsaw and as always the world has been busy turning while I was away, so let's take a quick look at some of the stuff that has happened...

Hits In The Car favorite Andrew Boland has a new song up called The City Lights.
+ The City Lights

Late Night Venture front man Søren Hartvig has written an excellent piece on shoegaze. It's pretty obvious where the inspiration came from if you listen to this track from the band's forthcoming album.
+ Skylights

The Zvook Mescalin remix of the BREUMM track Silhuetter is now available as a free download. 3 more weeks and the album will finally be released.
+ Silhuetter (Remix)

And while you're busy downloading. Why not grap the Truth Telling Peekholes EP by Majorian from the band's Myspace page?
+ Truth Telling Peekholes

12 weeks and counting...One Weekly Gun has recorded a new track.
+ Prenuptial Agreement

The brilliant AirSpiel track I mentioned last week is now free to download.
+ Seventh Heaven

Monday shorties...

This week’s track over at One Weekly Gun ironically “celebrates” that the Hollywood writers are back at work again. I might be mistaken, but don’t the opening seconds of the track sound like a small homage to Indiana Jones??
+ Horray for Hollywood

Peter recommends BREUMM.

The new excellent single by Mono Taxi called We Wanna Get Some Real Fun will be out on Ciao Ketchup Recordings on April 7. Very accurately described as "their punchiest yet!".
+ We Wanna Get Some Real Fun

Following this performance on the Danish Radio program De Sorte Spejdere last month, Yoav's concert in Denmark quickly sold out (at least so I've been told):


+ Club Thing
+ Club Thing (RAC Remix)

BREUMM - Silhuetter...

Cool song, cool video and the hopefully equally cool debut album will be out March 31st. Read more.