Unfamiliar stars...

Check this clip of The Lucksmiths recording their final single Get-to-Bed Birds (and check the cool t-shirt worn by the drummer!).Taken from the new Unfamiliar Stars DVD, which is out next month on Matinée Recordings. The band probably sounded as great as ever on this track, which somehow (if possible) makes it even sadder that they decided to split!


+ Get-To-Bed Birds

Various...

The Boombox Hearts are playing a semi-acoustic concert at Nørrebro Bryghus tonight at 9 pm. Wish I could go. Especially after watching those videos!

The very-soon-ready-to-be-shipped 7” Get-to-Bed Birds will be the last ever (I believe) release by The Lucksmiths. Out on Matinée Recordings and the title track was originally included on the magnificent Matinée Grand Prix compilation. Get-to-Bed Birds is sheer brilliance and so vintage The Lucksmiths that it’s impossible to add anything that hasn’t already been said.
+ Get-to-Bed Birds

When (not if) you visit the Matinée page to order the aforementioned single, don’t forget to order the equally soon-ready-to-be-shipped 7” single Life Returns To Normal by Northern Portrait. Interestingly the band’s rendition of Some People, which originally was recorded for the Buffetlibre Rewind project, is included on the single.
+ Some People (Cliff Richard cover)

The debut album Travels in Lowland by The Migrant is out now. The release will be supported by a series of gigs around the US, which I believe is quite rare for a Danish artist?
+ The Organ Grinder
+ In The Sun

The Matinée Grand Prix...

The Northern Portrait debut wasn’t the only album included in that parcel I received from Matinée Recordings on New Year’s Eve, and though I make sure to get my daily dose of Criminal Art Lovers it’s high time to listen to the rest of the contents. First “pit stop” is the compilation The Matinée Grand Prix, which contains 11 brand new recordings by some of the label’s finest. Normally I shy away from these kind of releases, as the quality of the entries often vary at little too much for my liking (bands seem to be "saving" their best efforts for their own releases). But be it the new track by Northern Portrait (which of course is downright wonderful) or the last song (ever?) recorded by The Lucksmiths, there really doesn’t seem to be one weak moments on this one. The Strawberry Whiplash contribution is exactly as noisy as expected, The Electric Pop Group shows that the “pop” is there for a reason, Clay Hips does indeed deliver their best Pet Shop Boys impression and on it goes! So basically what I’m saying is that “Grand Prix” is an absolutely amazing collection of indie pop tunes and darn close to being the perfect gateway to the genre as well as the Matinée roster.
+ Simpático - Australian Idle
+ Cats on Fire - The Hague

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!

Music is oxygen...

As mentioned in his blog yesterday, Jonas and I have recently been sending messages back and forth recommending various stuff and discussing music in general. One of the major conclusions (or mutual understandings if you like) has been that music IS oxygen, which I cannot help think would be the perfect tagline/phrase to headline the blog. So unless you've noticed it already the description at the top of the blog has changed!

I originally went to the concert in Helsingborg last night, because I couldn't resist the opportunity to see indie pop band DAYS playing live and I definitely wasn't disappointed. The four boys delivered a fine performance, though it certainly was on the short side (6 songs in 20 minutes). But then again - they only needed 3 minutes on stage to prove that they must be one of the most talented bands to come along in recent years. After the concert I had the pleasure of talking briefly to Fabian and ? (unfortunately I didn't get his name) from the band and news is that a 7 track EP will be out on Shelflife very soon.

Concerning Shout Out Louds (the second band playing yesterday) I have the following three things to say:
1. If you have already bought a ticket for a show, make sure that you go, because you'll be in for a treat.
2. If you haven't bought one - buy one (see the tour dates here)!
3. If there ever was any doubt in my mind, it has been erased now. Tonight I Have To Leave It is a killer track!

Lovely Aussie indiepop band The Lucksmiths will release a "double CD 45-song compilation of their non-album recordings of the past decade" called Spring a Leak on Matinée Recordings this week. Listen to the two samples below and then order it (or the other way round if you like)!
+ Once Again
+ Rushes Of Pure Spring

It was my impression that the mature sound of Danish youngsters Tetris = Therapy caught a few people by surprise when I wrote about the duo earlier this year. Now the boys have informed me that they'll soon start recording some new tracks and as an appetizer an older track from the previous EP is (after some persuasion) available as a free download. A band worth keeping an eye on and I'll keep you posted whenever there's something new to tell.
+ ...Bright

Pipas.

Tonight I was checking a few profiles over at Last.fm, when I noticed someone listening heavily to UK indie/twee pop duo Pipas. Somehow I've never heard of them, but since I'm a fan of the genre, and saw that the band has been mentioned by several other bloggers, I thought it was a good idea to check them out. And I wasn't disappointed, because the duo (consisting of Lupe Núñez-Fernández & Mark Powell) writes short, sweet and catchy melodies. And the remix of The Lucksmiths' How To Tie a Tie is obviously a pleasant "bonus". Pipas has released 4 albums so far, and a few more tracks can be found here.
+ Riff Raff
+ Wells Street
+ The Lucksmiths - how to tie a tie (like a churros mix - remixed by Pipas)