Out Of Office...

It's time for the annual summer holiday and tomorrow the girls and I will be heading to Jutland. So see you all (I hope) in two weeks time!

Below some of the stuff that I wanted to post before leaving, but never found the time to do (and I expect my mailbox to be completely cluttered when I return)...

+ Palomar - You're Keeping Us Up
+ Cuba Missouri - Lover's Leap (thanks to Peter)
+ The Papertiger Sound! - Youth Club 1982 (thanks to J.A.)

Schallgrenzen Festival...

Some of you have probably noticed that I've added a new banner in the right column. On December 15 the Schallgrenzen Festival (labeled the "smallest festival of the world) will take place in Hildesheim, Germany and I thought I should do my best to support this great initiative; therefore the banner. The main attraction of the Festival will be the 3 (very good) Danish bands Volvoe, Late Night Venture and Windermere, with local support from Juli Kapelle. Unless something unforeseen happens I plan to be there and I know that I share those plans with fellow bloggers Chris (Music Of The Moment) and Peter (Coast Is Clear). The entrance fee will be €10, which to me seems like quite a bargain with this excellent line-up! So...expect to see YOU there!
+ Windermere - There's A Sun
+ Late Night Venture - Pay The Moon
+ Volvoe - Remedy

Bedroom Eyes - New releases

Today is quite a day for Swedish one-man band Bedroom Eyes. The three track single Hand-In-Hand Grenade is released on the American indie label Cloudberry Records (100 hand-numbered CD-r copies are made) and a new four track EP (including two tracks of the aforementioned single) called Valentine Vacancy is available as a free download from the band's webpage. I strongly recommend that you give it a listen (and you really should listen to the excellent Embrace In Stereo EP as well), as this is charming, catchy and gorgeous Swedish indie pop at its very best! You know - violins, trumpets, handclaps, jangling guitars and some melody lines that will refuse to leave your head.
+ Hand-In-Hand Grenade
+ (Here's One for You) Underdog

Don't run to the...

The sun is shining and this has the potential to become an absolutely wonderful day. But I have plenty of work waiting for me, so unfortunately there's no chance that I'll be working on my suntan today. However life isn't completely miserable, as I have plenty of nice music on my harddrive and some it will (hopefully) be posted during the day, when I find a couple of free minutes.

First out is Don't Run To The Suburbs by the German trio The Dance Inc., and if the band name has created some expectations of a pulsing, energetic and danceable track, you certainly won't be disappointed. Especially the 70's inspired disco remix by Erobique will (after you've put on your white suite) make you head directly for the dancefloor, where you will start doing your best John Travolta impersonation.
+ Don't Run To The Suburbs
+ Don't Run To The Suburbs (Erobique Remix)

Another track that I've been listening to quite a lot the past couple of day is Severine by US duo Ego Likeness. Recommended to me (and you) by FALK, who once again has unearthed a very good darkwave/gothic artist. I'd really like to explore Ego Likeness further, but unfortunately the links at Last.fm don't seem to be working.
+ Severine

J. Forte released his solo debut album Secret Pop last year and states that he wants to promote it one last time before moving on. So he has sent me (and probably a few others) a mail hoping that his music would sound great in a car. Well I haven't listened to it in the car, but I'm certain it would. These are lo-fi indie pop songs with charming melodies sounding pretty much like they had been recorded somewhere in Sweden. Do I need to say more? Download two more tracks from his webpage.
+ Lines To Follow
+ Come Back Now Baby (Your Data's Good)

That and This...

The hard work finally seems to be paying off for Kind of girl. Yesterday Slave To Your Charms was aired on the Danish radio show Studie 4.
+ Slave To Your Charms

Another favorite band - US shoegazers Panda Riot - has posted a couple of new demos on their webpage.
+ When You Said/When I Said

Ivan of Oliver North Boy Choir sent me a suggestion the other day that I should pay Norwegian one-man project (a duo when lovely vocals are needed) Attention Now! some attention (pun intended), as he believed that I would like it. And since this sounds like a mix of The Notwist, Radio Dept. and EPO-555/ONBC it was a pretty good guess that I would like it. Attention Now! is still unsigned, but the track Sarcasm Shooter has received some airplay on various radio stations in Norway, so hopefully record labels will soon be knocking on the door. Some remixing activity is going on as well, so there should be plenty of interesting new stuff to be looking forward to.
+ Don't Let It Slip Away
+ Sarcasm Shooter
+ Soundwaves

I'm now 15.89% mainstream!

Vesterbro Festival - Some Thoughts...

Not a lengthy report - just a few thoughts (I didn't bring the camera, so no pics either)!

Was waiting for a band to start playing Who'll Stop The Rain Saturday afternoon. The water was pouring down.

The Festival is ambitious and wants to introduce the public to as many bands as possible. Unfortunately this means that the minutes dedicated to each band is very limited. I don't necessarily think that the bands need to play more than 30-40 minutes for the concert to be enjoyable/entertaining, but I think everyone would benefit if more time was available in between concerts for sound checks etc. That way the bands would feel more comfortable and the audience would get a better sound and (more importantly) a better impression of each band. Finally I think the placing of bands on various stages needs a little/some afterthought.

I spent at least 5 minutes watching each of these bands (x = entire set): A Kid Hereafter, Entakt (x), Nana Jacobi, Breum (x), Cinnober, Green Concorde (x), The Broken Beats, August and the Apples, Amazonair (x), US With Millions (x), Surfact, Carlas, Kind of girl (x), Swing of Sahara (x), Velour (x), Don't Go To New York, Volvoe (x) and 1 2 3 4 (x).

I was especially happy to (finally) catch Entakt and Kind of girl live, as they both have been on my "wish list" for a long time.

My age is starting to show. At 10:30 each night I was dead tired (and my back was hurting), so I decided to leave. This unfortunately meant that I missed Factory45 and Mushi.

Had the pleasure of saying hello to Sissel of Kind of girl and Anders/Thomas of Volvoe.

I had never heard of August & The Red Apples prior to the Festival, but the band's country-rock sounded really great and was a very pleasant surprise.
+ Desert Night Sky

Another surprise was the five-piece Amazonair. Despite having problems with the sound throughout the entire set, it was easy to hear that these guys write some fine Coldplay/Keane/Travis inspired pop tunes.
+ Because Tonight

Finally 1 2 3 4 (apparently pronounced "en to tre fire" and not "one two three four") was absolutely great. To me the lead singer looks the prototype of an "anti pop star", but he sure can sing.
+ Coltrane

A Saturday evening Last.fm mix tape...

(Almost) no words - just music:

+ The Greens - Found My People
+ Reflecting Skin - Soul Desert
+ Yo La Tengo - Upside-Down
+ The Icicles - Crazy
+ Tompaulin - Heard Your Whisper
+ The Exploding Boy - Shot Down
+ Stars - Ageless Beauty

Vesterbro Festival...

Tonight's the night...Check the weather forecast. Especially tomorrow looks really, really bad!

The line-up for this year's Vesterbro Festival (June 15th & 16th) looks absolutely fantastic. Here's a list of the band's I plan/hope to be able to catch during the two-day festival (unless of course they play at 2 a.m., as I'm way too old to be staying up all night). Unfortunately it looks as if I have to make unpleasant decisions a couple of times, as a few bands on the list are playing simultaneously:

+ 1 2 3 4 (Saturday 9:15) - Saddest
This is the new (re-recorded) version of this wonderful indie pop tune. Debut album to be released in September on the independent Auditorium label.
+ A Kid Herafter (Friday 4:45) - Secret Service
Will play early Friday afternoon and I'm certain that he'll deliver a great start to the festival!
+ Amazonair (Friday 9:15) - Rear-View Mirror
New addition to the list. Nice and melodic indie rock.
+ BREUM (Friday 6:45) - Silhuetter
I've only heard two songs by this band. Both of them are brilliant, but is the rest any good? Or do they only have two songs? Guess not :) Silhuetter is a brand new demo, so now I know three tracks by the duo!
+ Cinnober (Friday 7:30) - Armies of Disdain
Hopefully the music will sound equally beautiful when performed live!??
+ Decorate.Decorate. (Friday 7:00) - Departure
The band will release its debut album called Normandie on May 21. Surname should have been on my best of 2006 list.
+ THE ELEPHANTS (Friday 8:30) - Caroline Knows
This is the excellent new single by indie pop/surf band THE ELEPHANTS. Made available as a free download after some "mild" pressure :) The band has just been signed to the German label Tapete Records. How come no Danish label was prepared to sign this fine band?
+ Entakt (Friday 5:15) - Ventilen
I'm lobbying for permission to post a track from the band's debut album, but so far without any success. Instead I've posted the old (but still great) demo track Ventilen.
+ Factory45 (Saturday 11:30) - Supermarkets
New to the list. Probably requires a bit getting used to, but this is indie/alternative rock with potential.
+ The Floor Is Made Of Lava (Saturday 9:45) - Do Your Sister
We do expect these guys to deliver quite a party. Don't we?
+ Green Concorde (Friday 8:15) - 2:26
The only band on the list that I've seen live before. And they were pretty good!
+ Kind of girl (Saturday 4:45) - You Can't Save Me
A must see, as this is the most blogged about band in the history of this blog.
+ Mushi (Friday 00:15) - White Picket Fence
He'll be playing around midnight and I'm too old staying up that late (I have an one hour drive home afterwards). But two great albums make this a concert I cannot allow myself to miss!
+ Swing of Sahara (Saturday 6:15) - Mucked up in Brooklyn
The Danish version of Beirut?
+ Turboweekend (Friday 10:30) - Into You
I'm kind of expecting these guys to throw a dance party. Check the band's remix blog.
+ Us With Millions (Friday 10:00) - Shepherds Hour
Another band I don't want to miss. So far I've only heard 4 tracks by this band, but they all sound great. There certainly is some Band of Horses inspiration here.
+ Velour (Saturday 7:00) - Pam and The Important Man
The second album Undress Your Alibis has been received really well by the Germans. However we are still waiting for the (brilliant) album to be released in Denmark.
+ Volvoe (Saturday 8:30) - These Moments
Another band that I'm very much looking forward to see. That these great guys remain unsigned is hard to understand.

And I'll probably find several other bands that I'd like to see, once I get familiar with their music. Therefore this post will be updated every now and then (during the next month and a half), when I've listen to some of the other bands. More songs, comments, thoughts etc. will be added along the way as well.

Alcian Blue - One final EP...

US Shoegaze/Dreampop band Alcian Blue split up last year, but have still managed to find enough tracks in the vaults to release one final EP. The EP will be called Years Too Late and (quoting) "will be on it's way to press very soon and will be available exclusively at Tonevendor & Safranin Sound". Stream 3 of the tracks at Myspace and/or download Carousel for free.
+ Carousel

He's gone, but tWAMi is back...

I just received a message from old Hits In The Car favorite tWAMi that he has recorded and uploaded a brand new instrumental track called He's Gone. In his own words the track is colder and more minimalistic than his previous works, which might have something to do with the passing away of his father earlier this year. And the title of the track certainly indicates that this could very well be the case! But even in times of grief, creativity will flourish, and tWAMi has (despite everything) recorded a dark, intense and absolutely gorgeous piece of electronic music.

+ He's Gone