Yndlinge

How fitting -- my 100^th post is the ‘favorite albums of 2007’ one... As always, feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree with my assessments here -- but before you take me to task too badly, please remember that after about April, I didn’t listen to all that much new stuff. Hence, I (rather unfortunately) haven’t even heard most of the albums that are at the tops of most people’s ‘best of the year’s. And these are not necessarily the best releases of the year; they are simply my favorite albums -- what I listened to, and liked listening to, the most.

10. 23 – Blonde Redhead
I’d be lying if I didn’t say I loved this album. The first time I heard 23 (the song) I thought it was just gorgeous. Later, I felt the same way about the album. And -- even if I don’t listen to it so much as I used to -- I still do.

9. Make Another World – Idlewild
According to my iTunes, I’ve listened to one of the songs on Make Another World only six times. However, I’ve listened to one of the other tracks -- You and I Are Both Away -- far more than enough times to make all of my neighbors either adore or despise it. It’s one of those songs that just gets put on repeat forever, and you run the gamut of emotions every time. One of my (ever-changing) life ambitions is to start a reprints-only vinyl label so I can own a copy of this song on 7”. The rest of Make Another World is solid, too, although it’s really You and I Are Both Away that makes the album.

8. No Shouts No Calls – Electrelane
This is a gorgeous album which would surely be higher on the list if only I’d gotten around to listening to it sometime before… yesterday. I bought No Shouts No Calls in, I think, August, but, due to my peculiar compulsion to only play vinyl under circumstances which are absolutely perfect, it was only very recently that I heard the album all the way through. I’ve liked all of Electrelane’s previous albums, and their new songs heard in other places all went over well; hence, the reservation of a spot in the top ten. I only wish I’d taken the time to evaluate it earlier -- discovering this kind of stuff makes me really lament the fact that my strongest skill is procrastination. Glorious fuzz.

7. The Magic Position – Patrick Wolf
Looking at the thousands of other ‘best of’ lists around the net, it seems everyone’s forgotten Patrick Wolf. Maybe I’m committing a grevious error, but I’m pretty sure The Magic Position came out in 2007. Even if it didn’t, that’s when I heard it first, and it makes it onto the list for this reason: In what must have been January or February of this year, an old friend was trying to get me to like Patrick Wolf. Whenever I wasn’t looking, he would change the song playing on his iPod -- which was usually on shuffle -- to play Overture. After about the fourth or fifth time, I got the hint and asked what it was. He was so excited -- and that’s what I think of every time I listen to Patrick Wolf (even sad and depressing Patrick Wolf) -- being excited. That, and The Magic Position has the best-smelling liner notes I have ever encountered.

6. On Trade Winds EP – Air France
This is the only EP on my list, and it really shouldn’t be here at all -- because I’ve only ever heard it all the way through once. It was months ago, and I wasn’t really paying attention, and now I can barely remember what the songs sounded like. So I guess it’s really the experience I’m putting on here, rather than the album. I miss being able to listen to that kind of stuff and being happy. I miss pointing out the inherent contradiction in having a traffic sign which reads ‘Ocean Beaches / Beaverton.’ I miss pretending but still being able to believe it was real.

5. Night Falls Over Kortedala – Jens Lekman
Like No Shouts No Calls (8), Night Falls Over Kortedala might have been higher on this list had I heard it sooner. Also like No Shouts No Calls, Night Falls Over Kortedala has been doing markedly well on year-end lists around the music world. However, unlike (most) of Electrelane’s songs, Jens Lekman’s feature phenomenal lyrics. Funny, though -- with this latest album especially, I often find myself more interested in the sound of his voice than in what he’s saying. I know the stories are good and the lines are clever (what’s broken can always be fixed; what’s fixed will always be broken), but I’m still a bit caught up in the delivery. Oftentimes I do pay a lot of attention to lyrics, while other times I’m only concerned with the way a piece of music comes across, the way it sounds. Jens Lekman presents the best of both worlds: it’s obvious that he means what he’s saying, and wow, does he sound good saying it.

4. Where the Ocean Meets My Hand – Billie the Vision and the Dancers
I first encountered Billie the Vision and the Dancers due to the “duet” Hello Saferide did with them, Overdosing With You. Even though their recurring character, Pablo, kind of annoyed me, I kept listening, and shortly fell in love. Billie the Vision and the Dancers are the kind of twee pop band who sing about TV shows and music (including their own band) and, of course, break-ups. But the last track on the album, Stick to You, is so sad and sweet that I can’t tell whether they’re breaking up or getting back together again after a long and painful time away.

3. The Bird of Music – Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone played Portland three times this year. I wasn’t old enough, and couldn’t go. I’m not completely sure, but I think it would be safe to say I cried every time. I probably would have done the same thing if I’d been there. Need I say more?

2. Migration – Sambassadeur
A very close second. Anything I might be able to say about this album has already been said -- perhaps even by me. I’m sitting here waiting for the falling of stars to come back in fashion again and crying in toy stores and god knows what else. This band will take my life.

1. The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming – Club 8
Even if I’d never heard this album, I’d have put it in the number one spot just for its title. This is a beautiful title. However, the songs on The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming earn their place here, too. The sound, and the lyrics, and everything… how was I ever content before this album came out? I don’t know. Cos I’m still not.

Ti sange

My ten -- okay, eleven (at the last minute, I remembered I’d forgotten one) -- favorite individual songs of 2007. Some of these songs were released only as singles or EPs; some were released on albums, but I either heard only a few tracks or didn’t fit the album into my top ten despite being mightily impressed by the one song. The following list is a bit different from what I presented on the show because, well, it’s difficult to pick favorite songs. There are ten more (more than ten more) which could just as easily be on here.

10. Sweden Hasn’t Changed (from the album Heart Geometry) – Fast Computers
Now that the Fast Computers’ bassist has shaved off his awful moustache, I feel it’s reasonable -- rather than a betrayal of my sensibilities -- to include this song on the list. Of course I was biased the first time I heard it, due to the inclusion of Sweden in the title. But even if this song sounds nothing like most of the stuff I usually listen to, I’ve continued listening to it. The words are so true.

9. Hip (from the album This is the One) – Marybell Katastropy
This song is contentious. I really only like the chorus. From the first song I heard by Marybell Katastrophy, I thought, ‘This band is weird.’ Their subsequent songs have not disappointed. But who’s to say that’s bad? The chorus just tears you up… this is the one, indeed.

8. Hungry Heart (from the album Plays the Hits) – Sexton Blake
Despite the fact that Sexton Blake is a Portland band, I have never seen them live, and I have heard very little of their music. But I have heard Hungry Heart (it’s a Bruce Springsteen cover) a whole, whole lot. Piano chimes and whiny guitars and soft, effected vocals were just what Hungry Heart needed to be a sad song, and everyone knows how I feel about sad songs.

7. Du og Meg (from the Suffer for Fashion single) – of Montreal
This is embarrassing. Unless I’m very mistaken, Du og Meg is the first song by of Montreal that I ever heard. I was attracted by the faux-Scandinavian title, and even though I’m not really sure why they chose that name (it doesn’t appear in the lyrics, nor does anything else Scan) I wasn’t disappointed by the song itself. Usually I dance around the kitchen listening to this, but once, late one night, I sat down in the dark and wrote a Peter Pan story about Du og Meg. Oddly fitting.

6. King Pop (from the album Quixotic/Taxidermy) – Kaspar Hauser
I don’t remember where I found out about this, but I’m very glad I did. This song, I think, utilizes all those random instruments and elements that pop up individually in other songs and individually sound really cool. In most cases, taking all those together would be a bad mistake; in King Pop, it works. Extremely well. On slow days at work, I used to draw Kaspar Hauser/King Pop pictures on the wrapping paper, and whenever I managed to get the song stuck in my head, I was so pleased. Plus they talk about vinyl.

5. Grammisgalan (from the 5-spårs EP) – Johan Hedberg
I wrote about this song not too long ago. Then, I’d heard it only a few times. Now that I’ve heard it a bit more, I feel pretty much the same way about it -- like Christmas… except in kind of a sleazy way. I now know what Grammisgalan means (it’s Swedish for the Grammy awards) but I have no idea what he’s saying the rest of the time. His voice reminds me just the teeniest bit of Baxter Dury’s, though (or at least I think it does), so I like to imagine it’s something foul… Nevertheless, this is a really endearing, and extremely catchy, song.

4. The Sound of You (from the Sound of You single) – Mono Taxi
I remember being absolutely obsessed with this song. And then I bought the record. Twice. The lyrics don’t really make any sense, but the construction of the song is just so well-done that that’s easy to overlook. Plus a ‘sound of you’ is just such a lovely idea. You know, when you hear something and it reminds you of some person? Or how ‘bout if you see someone and they remind you of a song? I’d like that. Unfortunately, neither of those things have happened in this case, but who’s to say? I especially like the ending.

3. Something New (from the Adrenaline single) – Oliver North Boy Choir
I’ll be honest -- any one of Oliver North Boy Choir’s songs could have been on here. They would certainly have been ranked (rather high) on the albums list -- except for the fact that they insist on releasing mp3 singles only. I had to pick one, so -- Something New was, I think, originally a demo, later released as the Adrenaline B-side. ‘I hope I dream of you’ -- one of the simplest lines imaginable, but it really is just perfect. I mean, that kind of thing is so obvious nobody thinks of it anymore. It’s so nice to hear that someone remembers… someone cares.

3. Kids (from the album Hey Trouble) – the Concretes
I feel like a horrible person for having forgotten Kids until I went back re-reading old emails… Then I remembered. I don’t own a copy of the song, so of course it could be easily overlooked – but that’s no excuse. Not when the song in question is Kids. It’s funny -- I’d been talking about lying on the floor -- and actually doing so -- for ages, and then this song came out, practically knocking me to the ground on first listen, and I realized it was all about everything I’d ever done with music. Aside from links to my last.fm page, the radio station where I work, and this blog, a line from this song is the only thing in the music section on my myspace page: ‘music just sounds better with you.’ Because really, what else is there?

2. I Was Definitely Made For These Times (from the Quiz single) – Hello Saferide
Over the course of the past five months, this song has become increasingly painful for me to listen to, even though it is quite the ‘happy’ song (especially for Hello Saferide). Hello Saferide wrote once that she worried about writing sad songs in case they came true -- I’m more interested in what to do when the less melancholy ones don’t.

1. Idyllwild (from the album The Last Holy Writer) – Trembling Blue Stars
I didn’t play this on the show -- not because I’d forgotten about it, not because I didn’t want to hear it, and certainly not because (even temporarily) I didn’t love it. I didn’t play it because I wasn’t sure -- I’ve never been sure -- if people ought to hear it. This is a serious song. As much as I may hate it -- because it hits so hard on everything that upsets me most -- I cannot stop loving it. Or listening to it. This is the only song I have ever asked someone not to listen to, out of love. This song hurts. So, please, don’t hurt yourself. Okay?

My favorite ten albums (there will be only ten this time) tomorrow. If you’re wondering why I’ve left something off, keep in mind that I’m not duplicating any of the bands or artists (for example, the Montt Mardié/Hello Saferide song (Pretenders) would be about number two, if I didn’t already have another Hello Saferide song there). So they may well show up in the album list tomorrow.

Feel free to let me know what you think of my selections, though. And sorry I couldn’t fit these all into the show for you to hear.

Syv og syv og syv

Her er i dags spilleliste:

1. Du og Meg – Of Montreal
2. Grammisgalen – Johan Hedberg (SV)
3. King Pop – Kaspar Hauser
4. You and I Are Both Away – Idlewild
5. The Sound of You – Mono Taxi
6. Something New – Oliver North Boy Choir (DK)
7. I Was Definitely Made For These Times – Hello Saferide (SV)
8. (Let’s Go) Get Lost – Patrick Wolf
9. Never Content – Air France (SV)
10. Your Arms Around Me – Jens Lekman (SV)
11. I’m on the Road – Billie the Vision and the Dancers (SV)
12. Stars – Au Revoir Simone
13. The Park – Sambassadeur (SV)
14. The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming – Club 8 (SV)

I morgen (eller sondag) -- mine ti yndlinge albumer af 2007.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (12.28.2007)

Ulykkelig jul sange

Yes, today was the Christmas stuff -- not so much of the traditional fare, though, but instead, sad Christmas songs.

Spillelisten:

1. When I Get Home for Christmas – Snow Patrol
2. Little Drummer Boy – Mink
3. Beehives Mighty Vicious – Oceano da Cruz (DK)
4. Hear the Bells Ring – thehelpmeplease (SV)
5. Cold White Christmas – Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
6. Merry Christmas New York – Saint Jude’s Infirmary
7. Christmas on the Beach – Irene (SV)
8. Lake Effect – Dirty on Purpose
9. Blizzard – Oliver North Boy Choir (DK)
10. Christmas Reindeer – the Knife (SV)
11. Saving Up Her Wishes (For Another Christmas) – Celestial (SV)
12. This Christmas – Tiger Baby (DK)
13. White Christmas – Snowden

The song I was going to play, but ran out of time for, was the very sad and lovely X-Mas Song, by Fireflies. Found it via Hits in the Car, where many -- but not all -- of the other songs can also be found. Or you can have the podcast. I tried to refrain from professing my general hatred of Christmas songs, but I may have slipped... I'm fairly fond of these (most of the time), and the Snow Patrol track I really do love -- I think I've listened to it more than any of their other songs.

One other Christmas-y song I love but was unable to play due to its inclusion of words not approved by the FCC, is Hello Saferide's iPod X-Mas. It was released last year, but since neither Razzia (the label) nor Hello Saferide herself have put it up this holiday season, I can't in good conscience give you a link; sorry. I can, however, suggest that a quick trip to elbo.ws might point you in the right direction. And you won't be disappointed, I promise -- this is one that you can listen to all year round.

--DL--
X-Mas Song (Fireflies)
Ashtrays Podcast (12.21.2007)

Og put mig...

Well, it’s mid-December again and year-end lists are popping up everywhere -- online and off. My favorite: the It’s A Trap! staff picks, in which contributor Simon Tagestam calls Jens Lekman “the King of Sweden.” It seems like anywhere at all music-related you go these days, such lists pop up, and it’s nice to see Jens -- as well as the occasional other Scandinavian act -- finding places on so many of them. My own favorites of 2007 list is well in the works and will be up here soon for your perusal and evaluation -- although probably not until after Christmas. Sorry.

In other news, Air France (who have the only EP to appear on my forthcoming top 10 list) have a new single out, called Hold On To Me, Baby. I’ve been trying to get my head around it since yesterday and I still haven’t quite. The more I listen to it, though, the more I like it, and I remember well that this is precisely the way I felt about the last Air France single, which I very much love now. Hold On To Me, Baby is good Caribbean-tinged pop in the vein of Air France’s other stuff, although it also has a nice tinge of ice-and-snow to it.

That seems like a weird sort of ending, but I don't know what else to say. Visit Air France's label, the fantastic Sincerely Yours, here, to see what they wrote about the song.

--DL--
Hold On To Me, Baby (Air France)

Meget højrøstet

Last night I went down to the subbasement to see Starfucker, playing live on Sound Judgment. Despite the fact that I take them with me nearly everywhere else I go, for some reason it did not occur to me to bring my earplugs along. Maybe it was because I spent the evening standing twelve feet away from not just one but two drum kits -- but I have never heard anyone, in any band, hit the drums so hard. And the feedback... and the noise... Walking home, my whole head felt numb. Pretty awesome.

You can listen to a podcasted recording of the show, as well as other Starfucker songs in various places here and there on the net.

--DL--
Starfucker live on Sound Judgment (12.17.2007)

Bedre end fint

Yeah, uh, Friday was pretty awesome.

From the radio show, min spilleliste:

1. Dance With Me – Adam Green
2. Never Let You Go – Bertine Zetlitz (NW)
3. En Helt Ny Karriär – Kent (SV)
4. It’s the End of the World as We Know It – R.E.M.
5. Eurosport Music Baby! – Le Sport (SV)
6. Tekno Love Song – CocoRosie
7. Let Me Put It This Way – David & the Citizens (SV)
8. Ashes to Ashes – David Bowie
9. Sophia – epo-555 (DK)
10. Lookin’ for a Love – Idlewild
11. Teardrop – José González (SV)
12. Hip – Marybell Katastrophy (DK)

Kind of a… weird show (in some respects) but I liked it. Next Friday (21.) I’ll be playing Christmas songs, by which I mean not the traditional carol stuff but rather lovely indie-pop songs, which mention or in some way deal with the whole holiday thing. For example, Tiger Baby’s This Christmas, perhaps the first festive song I didn’t hate. (Maybe because, like all good Christmas songs ought to be, it’s rather depressing.) More on that later.

The Friday after (28.) I’m doing a best of 2007 thing -- one song each from my ten favorite albums (which I’ve not decided yet), as well as a few exceptional single tracks without which the aural year would be sadly lacking. Did that sentence make sense to you? I hope it did. Anyway, I’m quite looking forward to this show.

Also -- we are, sadly, not having a Modern Age on the 28., due to probable closure of the building our venue is in over the holiday break. The next show will be 11. January. Details soon.

And last week’s show -- oh my god. We’ve had bigger turnouts, but as far as intensity of involvement and the audience being into the show, I think Friday takes the cake. All four acts were great, and, uh, Ross was pretty phenomenal. As well as any number of other flattering adjectives. One of the best live performances I’ve ever seen. Really.

--DL--
This Christmas (Tiger Baby)
Ashtrays Podcast (14.12.07)

The Modern Age

I haven't bothered translating The Modern Age, for two reasons -- one, it's a proper noun, and two, anyone who can understand Danish probably isn't going to have much interest in TMA anyway.

This Friday, the 14th, another show, with World's Greatest Ghosts, Ross McLeron, Yoyodyne, and Glass Teeth. Doors at 7.30, show at 8.00. In the FFT Cafe space in the basement of Smith Center at PSU. For more detailed info, visit the wordpress or the myspace.

Also, if you can help it, please don't wear perfume -- it tends to cause adverse reactions among our staff. And if the sound guy is outside trying to regain the ability to breathe, well, then, you're probably not going to enjoy the music quite as much as you would have. You know?

6. december (eller juni)

Jeg ved, i dag er ottende. Men. Seks måneder fra i forgars, skal jeg være enogtyve år gammel. Og dengang, kan jeg hader min eks ven hvor han kan se mig.

Her også er i fredagses spilleliste, som, synes jeg, var meget godt. Hvert program er et sammenblandingbånd.

1. Better Days – Club 8 (SV)
2. More Than This – Electrelane
3. Sea Shell Mind – Pierre/Oliver North Boy Choir (DK)
4. Electric Cave – Slumber Party
5. The Songs Don’t Make You Fly – Port Friendly (DK)
6. Pretenders – Montt Mardié with Hello Saferide (SV, SV)
7. Your Sweet Voice – the Reindeer Section
8. Never Gonna Fall in Love Again – Snow Patrol
9. Cash 22 – the Flaming Stars
10. Ronan Keating – Free Loan Investments (SV)
11. Split of a Second – Tiger Baby (DK)
12. Light Pollution – Dirty on Purpose
13. Damsel – Typhoon
14. Pumpkin Soup – Patrick Wolf

Også, alle af mine kommentarer var på dansk. Undskyld, hvis du kan ikke forstå, men jeg synes, jeg vil gerne det på den måde. (I guess, that I should say in English. All of my commentary was in Danish. Sorry if you can't understand -- but I think I like it better that way.)

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (7.12.07)

På dansk igen

Det har været en lang tid siden jeg har skrevet her på dansk. Hvis du er en som vil hellere læse dansk end engelsk, undskyld for det. Men det er ikke så let for mig, for at skrive på dansk, og somme tider, gider jeg ikke besværet. Og nu, når jeg har fritid og kan skrive på andet sprog, jeg har ingen, for at skrive om.

Så, jeg tror, her er i fredagses spilleliste:

1. Young Folks – Peter Bjorn and John (SV)
2. Grammisgalan – Johan Hedberg (SV)
3. The Partisan – Electrelane
4. A Violent Yet Flammable World – Au Revoir Simone
5. Bang Bang You’re Dead – Dirty Pretty Things
6. Sugarless – Autolux
7. I Don’t Mind – Slumber Party
8. Aly, Walk With Me – The Raveonettes (DK)
9. How To Be A Dreamer – Southerly
10. Secrets of the State – The William Blakes (DK)
11. A New Chance – The Tough Alliance (SV)
12. Vi Kommer Att Dö Samtidigt – Säkert! (SV)
13. State of Mind – Longwave

Jeg tror, de første sang er ikke i podcastet, men jeg tror også, det er et sang som du kan finde med lethed, hvis du vil gerne at høre det.

Og jeg tænker, skal jeg prøve, at skrive igen snart på dansk. Denne uge, håber jeg.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (30.11.2007)

Konkylier

I was going to write something yesterday, but instead I went to bed at six o’clock. Apparently I was even more exhausted than I thought. Now I’ve gotten off work an hour and a half early, so I have time to write this:

Everyone go and read Ivan’s blog. There are four new -- and old -- Oliver North Boy Choir songs to download there, including Epidemic Dreams, their latest single. I was going to pick a favorite, but I kept changing my mind. But here’s this: don’t take so seriously what Ivan says about the inferior quality of the Pierre songs -- he’s a lot harder on them than he ought to be. Because, yeah, the sound quality may not be oh my gosh the greatest in the world, but I still really like the songs. And -- okay -- I’ll pick a favorite after all. It’s Sea Shell Mind.

Tomorrow I have a day off from my finals, so expect something else, probably in Danish. I’ve recently realized it’s been probably several months since I’ve written anything in that language. Oops… Also tomorrow I’ll put up last Friday’s playlist and a link to the podcast.

Hvad betyder dette?

The other day, during my regular visit to Labrador... well, actually, I was looking for the new Radio Dept. album -- I'd forgotten it won't be out until next spring. But they have a nice new EP out 5. december -- 5-spårs EP (literally, 5-track EP) the solo debut from Johan Hedberg of Suburban Kids With Biblical Names. According to my database (it's best not to ask) I never really got into Suburban Kids, but this solo stuff is... nice.

My first thought, upon hearing the first track, Grammisgalan (anyone speak Swedish? I can't quite figure it out) was -- Christmas. Now I think of it as a sort of cross between a Christmas song and something by The Tough Alliance. NOT a Christmas song by TTA -- I don't even want to think about what that might be -- but rather a nice mix of the best parts of the two.

You can hear three of the other tracks from the EP on myspace, and the full thing should, I think, be up on last.fm within a week or so, as that kind of seems to be Labrador's thing. You can also tune in to KPSU today around three (Pacific time) as I'll be playing Grammisgalan -- and other excellent stuff, too -- on the show.

--DL--
Grammisgalan (Johan Hedberg)

Taksigelsesfest

Wow. I’ve been at my parents’ house -- and away from my computer -- for a few days, in celebration of Thanksgiving. (One good thing about living in the United States: a day of from school? and from work? Okay!) Of course, I’ve been back for nearly an equal amount of time, but due to the fact that I procrastinate and had/have three papers due this week, hmm… kind of some neglect of the blog. I hope no one checks this thing every day; they must be sorely disappointed. But anyway.

Before I get interesting, one other holiday-related thing I should clarify: if somehow you’ve downloaded/listened to last Friday’s show without it being on here -- well, it’s probably pretty obvious, but in case you haven’t noticed, I’ll point it out again -- that’s not me. I haven’t gone all weird -- I was just out of town, and had another DJ cover the show for me. This Friday, things will pick up again as normal.

Also this Friday, at the Modern Age -- five bands, starting at 7 o’clock: the Online Romance, Doubledutch, Almost Nearly, the Nihilist Croquet Club, and Museum. The Portland Museum. Not the Danish one. But I’m sure they’re good, too. And, if you’re in Portland, hope to see you there in a few days.

So, now, since this is supposed to be an mp3 blog, here’s what I have. I tend to group music into three categories, according to time of season: music I primarily listen to in the spring and summer, music I primarily listen to in the winter, and that which I listen to all year round.

In addition to the onset of winter, several things over the course of the past week have reminded me of a snowy-weather band I haven’t listened to in quite a while: Doí. They’re Danish, and not as well-known as they ought to be. (Read: their stuff is very hard to find, or at least it was last time I looked.) I listened to them a lot around January -- the last time it snowed in Portland -- and Doí was the band that was playing in my head that time I went out and wandered around in that frozen fountain in the dark. Yes, I actually did that.

Anyway, as anyone who’s at all familiar with this blog can probably attest, I have an incredibly difficult time describing music, a trait which is not really a helpful one for somebody who writes about music all the time. So here’s my description of Doí, which I conceived of last night in the bathtub. Listening to Doí encourages me to imagine hiding in a miniature log cabin out in the middle of nowhere, lying curled up on the floor in the dark, surrounded by a nest of pillows and blankets, looking up through a skylight at the stars and snow falling on pine trees.

If that isn’t appealing to you, perhaps you’ll get the wrong impression of Doí. So maybe I should explain what that scenario means to me: it’s the idea of being quite happy, or at least rather content, yet knowing, at the same time, that such a thing is unattainable. “We’ll wake when rivers run dry” is one of the only lines of their songs that I can, at the moment, remember. It’s like that -- waking up, and then -- oh, wait -- it’s too late already. Although that’s not entirely bad. Know what I mean?

If you’re in the mood -- for a bit of lying on the floor in pseudo-depression -- give them a listen. Here is Missing, the song I’ve listened to the most. Or you can hear their entire debut album, Sing the Boy Electric, on last.fm. Nice.

And now -- hearing this -- you ought to understand why I’ve been unproductive…

--DL--
Missing (Doí)

Fredag

Anyone who’s already heard Friday’s show may have noticed it was a bit… odd. To make a long story short, add some stupid actions on my part together with the slight inconvenience of a surprise pre-record going on prior to and during my show and you’ll be met, logically, with a bit of confusion.

I was going to play a bunch of KPSU cds, but as they were rather inaccessible, I wound up playing mostly stuff from silly myspace, as well as several of the mp3s available via Hits in the Car. I’m kind of annoyed because in my haste not to have dead air, I wound up playing a couple of things I would have much rather played in a more organized fashion… So I’m going to pretend that Friday’s wasn’t a real show. I think I was already pretending that as I broadcast it.

Many of the songs played yesterday will probably be played again on shows over the next few weeks. But if you really want to listen to the horrible segues and me shouting (in a voice where it’s really obvious that I have a bad cold) to be heard over the band playing so loudly next door that even they were wearing earplugs, well, it’s right here.

Spillelisten, også:

1. You Don’t Dance – Lupus (DK)
2. Great Expectations – The Ballet
3. Emily Scott – Esiotrot
4. To the East – Electrelane
5. Starlett Johansson – the Teenagers
6. The Gun in God’s Hands – Slowmotion Club (SV)
7. Tynd Is – Spion (DK)
8. Roscoe – Midlake
9. Artboy Meets Artgirl – moi Caprice (DK)
10. Her Voice is Beyond Her Years – Mew (DK)
11. Due to exasperation, encouragement by others present, and the fact that it’s just a great album, I ended the show by playing Neutral Milk Hotel’s album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea all the way through. About the first half of it -- 20 minutes or so -- should be included in the podcast.

Also -- The Modern Age last night was pretty sweet. A bunch of kids that I used to go to school with -- at two different places! -- showed up. (Plus this other kid who I probably creeped out by staring at a lot, because from the side, he looked just like a boy I used to know...) That was neat, too.

And finally -- this is important -- next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I will be out of town. DJ Frresh, who does the show before me, will be covering my show. Unless he suddenly gets into Snook (Swedish hip-hop), don’t expect a lot of Scandinavian stuff. I’ll be back on the 30th, though.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (11-16-07)

Jeg har endelig læst det, som jeg skulle have læst to måneder siden

So. Around the end of September, Emodreng & Indiepige posted a little interview with Camilla Florentz from Oliver North Boy Choir. And, now that it is mid-November, I’ve finally finished reading it. It took me 45 minutes. I suppose that’s not terrible -- it did take me a lot less time than I initially thought -- but now I feel utterly ridiculous for not having read the thing maybe, say, six weeks ago. Of course, I do not always have time for translations, even when those are the things I’d most like to do -- there are always so many other things to be done.

However, when one is ill, one has the liberty to put the writing assignments and lecture notes away for a time, and that is what I have done. I’ve learned several new words, as well. (Although I also encountered several that I couldn’t translate at all, and I’m unsure how the name Pierre can have come across as homoerotic -- but at the same time am rather afraid to ask…)

If you are interested in reading this interview, the information contained still seems quite valid, despite the slight age. You can find it right here. Unfortunately (for non-Danes), as you may have concluded, it’s only in Danish. So, instead, I will kindly translate a couple of highlights. Well, actually only one, talking about the lyrics: “When Ivan writes, it is in all cases only pop songs about hatred, death, and unhappy love, whereas Mikkel’s lyrics are more substantial and deal with unhappy love, death, and hatred.” I think Camilla had a lot of fun, doing this interview.

Other news in ONBC-land:
Songs for the fourth single are now undergoing mastering. The track list: Blizzard, Epidemic Dreams, a Kim Carnes cover, and the remix (not sure which song it will be of) is from Attention Now!, from Norway. I don’t know when the stuff will be out, so I guess that’s all for now okay?

Tomorrow I will answer emails. I promise.

Lange ture - J.L. = ondt

Wednesday night I took a nice long walk. 52 blocks, I think. Not the greatest way to spend the evening, but oh well. That’s that. Really, if I’m very honest with myself, I don’t -- didn’t -- want to see Jens Lekman. I just want to look at his contact page and pretend that if I stare at it long enough, it will come true...

Also, something I forgot to mention before -- last Friday’s Modern Age went incredibly well. More than 200 other people thought so, too. Wow. There will be another Modern Age show 16. November, with these bands/solo acts: Bodhi, Please Step Out of the Vehicle, Mattress, and Dragging an Ox Through Water. Please come!

And this more recent Friday: the show went well enough. If you want to hear me having ondt i min hals and mispronouncing band names, download your own copy and listen.

The playlist is here, too:
1. Late Nite – Slumber Party
2. House of the Setting Sun – the Flaming Stars
3. Go Progress Chrome – Grandaddy
4. Maple Leaves (EP version) – Jens Lekman (SV)
5. Pull the Trees Down – Delicia Mini (DK)
6. King Pop – Kaspar Hauser
7. In My Head – The Ballet
8. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
9. Cold Hearts – Club 8 (SV)
10. In the Park – Free Loan Investments (SV)
11. Hate to Say I Told You So – the Hives (SV)
12. Your Father – the Radio Dept. (SV)
13. Ewan – the Radio Dept. (SV)
14. Baby Captain – Xiu Xiu
15. Hyperschlieb – epo-555 (DK)

Also, please note -- links will be added when one (or, hopefully, both) of the following happens: a) my terrible internet connection works for more than five minutes, or b) I became less flu-like to the degree that I no longer fear it would be severely detrimental to my health to leave my apartment. Sorry.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (11-9-2007)

Andre bands

Firstly -- I am quite sure that 'banderne' is not the correct plural of 'band.' (Is band even used to mean band in Danish?) I know that Danish speakers look at this blog, at least from time to time -- as bands is a word I tend to use fairly often, it would be super if one of you would kindly clue me in on how to properly put it into Danish. Thanks...

Now. Perhaps you remember -- a while ago, I wrote a post about The Charade, mentioning that they were one of several bands which had been recommended to me, but which, for stupid reasons, I had never before listened to. Here are the others:

Rumskib: Danish boy + girl (yay!) shoegaze. I’ll admit that I (sadly enough) haven’t heard a whole lot of Rumskib. Nor have I heard a whole lot of A Sunny Day in Glasgow, so maybe I’ve gotten songs that aren’t a good representation -- however, going by what I have heard, Rumskib reminds me a whole, whole lot of A Sunny Day in Glasgow. That’s a good thing. You can listen to four of their songs on myspace. Dreampoppers Tribute, which clocks in at just over seven minutes long, is the best.

Kim Larsen was suggested to me by not just one but two people. Both of them made some sort of allusion to him as being the godfather of Danish rock/pop music. In my experience, the term godfather is usually associated with someone old(er), and lately, I regrettably have not been very into artists who began performing before I was born. However, for someone in his sixties, Kim Larsen is keeping up real well. I don’t know if what I heard was old or new or somewhere in between -- regardless, it’s good, solid, Danish-language (always nice) pop. With guitars and drums and bass -- and a bit of female backing vocals here and there. I rather like it. And I can quite see where a lot of the groups I like today pulled influence from him.

I cannot remember the name of the person who suggested Träd, Gräs och Stenar (whose name, translated from the Swedish, is Trees, Grass and Stones) to me. Thus, I cannot be sure if he actually liked their music or, having just learned that I played a Scandinavian music radio show, was simply and conversationally mentioning the only Swedish band he knew of. My memory is (obviously) a bit hazy, but I think it was the former more than the latter. As for me -- I can’t say I’m in love with this band. They’re good, I think (and they’ve been around for something like forty years; that amount of time can’t be wrong) -- just not in the way that is super appealing to me.

Their website describes them as a minimalist rock group, which is pretty accurate. They have a very strong sound -- and by that I mean very sort of driving guitar and bass… proggy, too. Träd, Gräs och Stenar remind me a lot of another band which I’m fond of, but unfortunately I can’t quite place who (aside from maybe that Hole song Olympia, if Courtney Love were calmer and, er, actually completely replaced by a fuzzy-voiced Swedish male). But they’re worth checking out. You can also download their song Decembernatt from myspace.

Spoon I will not talk about here -- but ga ga ga ga ga is right. Kent I'll talk about later.

I’m quite sure there was another (or even, perhaps two more) bands I was supposed to remember. For the moment, though -- perhaps encouraged by the absolute lousiness of my internet connection -- I have forgotten them. Eventually I’ll remember.

Also. This seems like the appropriate place to mention how secretly pleased I am that this blog is now visible enough that I’ve started to receive those mass emails (purporting to be personal) asking for coverage of so-and-so’s favorite band. I don’t really mind the whole fake-out thing, but I’m incredibly untrusting of all things online, so I’m always going to check up on anything that seems a bit sussy… sorry... However, at this point, if anyone real sends me an email about their band, unless I think they’re really terrible, I’ll probably at least mention them. Anyway.

Radio besked og spørgsmål

Those of you who listen to the podcasts (or don’t listen at all) might not know this, but the official time for my radio show is Friday afternoons, 3-4. I’ve just been offered a new time -- a better time -- Mondays from 11 to midnight. However, I’m incredibly -- perhaps even notoriously -- bad at making decisions. I haven’t yet decided. PLEASE HELP ME.

This is very long, but I need to explain a few things. First, in addition to the webstream, KPSU broadcasts via two signals. The weaker of the two, which basically broadcasts only to the PSU campus, is 24 hours. The stronger, with a signal whose reach is city-wide, is switched on at 5 o’clock every evening and remains on until two in the morning. Obviously, then, my show in its current slot misses the wider broadcast; were I to move, I would be within the city-wide time frame. I don’t know how many -- if any -- listeners this would pick up, but it’s something to consider. (However, something else to consider is that an increase in listeners would mean I’d both have to do a better job and be more embarrassed on those occasions that I don’t.)

What’s more enticing than the better signal is the position of the show: switching to 11 o’clock Mondays would put me immediately following Sound Judgment, with Arya. (If you live in Portland, and you’re reading an mp3 blog, you’ve probably heard of Arya. If you haven’t, well, you’re really not paying attention.) This is cool enough in itself. Even better, though, this would make a fairly awesome block of time -- or, at least, a far better sonic match than my current one: right now I go on immediately after a hip-hop show. I can’t imagine we have much listener overlap. So this would be better programming -- which is better for not only KPSU and the DJs, but also for listeners.

However. The drawbacks. Three o’clock Friday afternoons is not an incredibly convenient time for me -- but, given the confines of my schedule, it’s a lot more convenient than basically any other time in the week. I like my time slot. It works well for me. Eleven o’clock on Mondays, on the other hand, is somewhat less convenient. To begin with, there’s the lateness factor, and I’ll let you take that where you want. But also -- normally, I work Mondays. The closing shift. Normally, I’m out by, at the latest, 9.45. Normally, I’m home within an hour of getting off work. However, due to the fact that I work in a retail establishment and rely on public transportation to get me to and from a workplace which is ridiculously out of the way, there are always exceptions.

Ideally, DJs are at the station an hour before their shows begin. Obviously (unless I change my work schedule -- more inconvenience) this wouldn’t often happen. If I can consistently be in by 10.30, I’ll be okay -- but I don’t even know if I can manage this. Assuming I decide I can… I’d hate to have things go wrong and be late, or rushed, or upset or any of those other things. Plus, even if I do get in time, if I’ve just had a horrid day at work, no matter what else is going on, that’s going to show. And I don’t want the fact that people were jerks to the cashier to cause me to do a rotten radio show, which is what will happen. I’ll already have one thing to make me want to go home and cry; I won’t need another.

Anyway. I’ll try to sum it up. I would like to shift my show. Other people at KPSU would like me to shift my show. I feel like I should shift my show -- and I’ll feel horrible about it if I don’t. (That’s another thing I do -- carry guilt.) I would benefit from a wider broadcast base and KPSU and I would both benefit from having a more appropriate show there to be segueing in from. However, I like my current time -- I like being at KPSU on Fridays -- and the new time is pretty inconvenient for me. I’m worried that a combination of negative factors will cause me to, in that slot, produce pretty low-quality radio shows, which will be unpleasant and upsetting for both me and anyone who happens to listen. I’ve been doing radio for three and a half years, but it still takes very little to cause me to make enormous mistakes; I tend to snowball.

I feel that if everything went right, this arrangement could work out very nicely -- but if anything went wrong, it could really backfire and things would get bad fast. Please also keep in mind that this is one of the only things I enjoy doing, and if I start dreading it, or even just disliking it, my quality of life takes a sharp downturn.

Anyway, maybe you’ve never even heard the program, or maybe you don’t care either way. However, I already know that -- in one way or another -- I’m going to let somebody else make the decision for me. So you might as well weigh in on the issue. Email or comment. Please. And thanks.

Here also is Friday’s playlist:

1. Strange is the Night – Moneybrother (SV)
2. Where Do You Go To – Peter Sarstedt
3. Split of a Second – Tiger Baby (DK)
4. Kind of Better – Mono Taxi
5. Here – Pavement
6. Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo – Jens Lekman (SV)
7. Lazy Feet 23 – Earlimart
8. How I Broke My Foot and Met Jesus – Pelle Carlberg (SV)
9. Sundown – the Jesus and Mary Chain
10. Death in Her Room – Bertine Zetlitz (NW)
11. All Is Swell (ONBC remix) – DAMPFBAHN! (DK, DK)
12. Earl Grey With Honey – Loveninjas (SV)
13. You Don’t Dance – Lupus (DK)

…My god it’s horrible. I really cannot make decisions. I’m going to cry. Yeah -- I’m pretty miserable now. Every time I think things might be starting to fall into their places, a little bit of reflection and I realize everything's only gotten worse.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (11-2-2007)

Hallowe'en

Today, listening to music, it occurred to me that it’s kind of interesting that I have songs for almost every holiday (including multiple songs about Mothers’ Day) -- except Hallowe’en. At least none that I can think of.

Maybe if I listened to the Misfits more, this would not be the case -- didn’t some punk band have a whole album called Halloween? The sad thing is, three years ago, I would have totally known the answer to that.

Now, the closest to Hallowe’en I can get is a David & the Citizens song which mentions a mean witch, and which isn’t really close at all. But anyway. It’s called Now She Sleeps in a Box in the Good Soil of Denmark, which is one of my favorite song titles ever. Go and listen to it here.

To be perfectly fair, there are actually an enormous number of songs in my library which could be vaguely connected to Hallowe’en. However, the only other one I’m going to mention today is not really related at all. I was listening to Billie the Vision & the Dancers earlier, and I realized that the Pipettes were playing in Portland tonight. In fact, they might even be playing right now. (Although maybe not -- I hear they go to bed early.) But, uh… anyway, if you haven’t heard this one yet, you can have it for free to keep, because the Billies are just that nice.

--DL--
A Beautiful Night in Oslo (Billie the Vision & the Dancers)

I fredags

Fredag nat, jeg gik næsten elleve timer af søvn. Efter det, jeg arbejdede hele weekenden, og i går, jeg havde ikke kun en, med to, eksamene, og arbejdede også. Så, når...

Her er fredags spilleliste:

1. Cut Your Fingers Off – Electrojuice (DK)
2. Hey Eleanor – Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
3. I’m Happy But You Don’t Like Me – Asobi Seksu
4. Die All Over Me – The Kingdom
5. The Ostrich Approach – I Am Bones (DK)
6. You’re So Great – Blur
7. Dreampoppers Tribute – Rumskib (DK)
8. Plantage – Under Byen (DK)
9. Your Name Here – The Bear Quartet (SV)
10. Your Sweet Voice – The Reindeer Section
11. Lisa Could Die for Elvis – Yellowish (DK)
12. Don’t Be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed – Múm (IS)
13. Dance 2 – Kiss Me Deadly

Og du må lytte til det her.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (10-26-2007)

The Charade

Along with a number of other unproductive things, I decided to spend my weekend (this was written several days ago) reviewing various Scandinavian artists people have suggested to me over the past few months, but who I have, for one reason or another, mostly ignored. This is a weird fault of mine -- because almost always when something is suggested to me, I wind up enjoying it at least a bit. Even so -- today, I’m only going to write about one of them: The Charade, my favorite of the lot (aside from Kent. But I’ll talk about them later).

Within the first five seconds of the first song, Monday Morning, I could tell I was going to be in love. Fairly quickly, their sound reminded me of Club 8 (and right now, comparing someone to Club 8 is about the highest compliment I give) but after further listening, I decided they were akin more to Club 8’s labelmates Sambassadeur -- who, by the way, release their newest album, Migration, TODAY. They also remind me quite a lot of Free Loan Investments, a sadly now-extinct band from Sweden. The Charade (who, coincidentally enough, are also from Sweden) have a very lush, poppy sound, which at the same time is more jangly than smooth and sweet. I’m not very good at describing music -- but I do wish I’d discovered this band in spring or summer, rather than mid-fall; they seem more of a warm-weather band. On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with listening to summery music in the wintertime.

In addition to to the aforementioned Monday Morning, you can listen to three songs -- two from their most recent album, A Real Life Drama, and another guest spot which will appear on an upcoming album by Beatfanatic -- on myspace… There’s also the option to buy more music, which is incredibly tempting -- I’d like very much to hear a lot more from this band.

--DL--
Monday Morning (the Charade)

Kan ingen sorg for mig (Göteborg)

Last night I did sound for the Modern Age, where I also (unfortunately) slammed the end of a microphone stand into my chin. It hurt a lot -- but nowhere as much as this morning did.

Also, you may perhaps be interested in yesterday’s show... A couple people told me they thought I’d done a particularly good show, although that may have just been the influence of Elliott Smith -- he always goes over well.

Fredags spilleliste:

1. Strangers With the Same Dream – Particle Zoo
2. Twilight – Elliott Smith
3. Let’s Pretend – Cinerama
4. What I’m Dreaming of is Something I Could Have – Club 8 (SV) -- a gorgeous
new website!
5. Subtle Changes – Sambassadeur (SV)
6. Turn Into – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
7. Crazy Eights – Tapes ‘n Tapes
8. Bosphorus Bridge – Tiger Baby (DK)
9. War Is Over (Marybell Katastrophy Remix) – Speaker Bite Me (DK, DK)
10. Wildcat – Ratatat
11. A Man of Happy Solutions – My Friend George (DK)
12. Hounds of Love – the Futureheads
13. Stick to You – Billie the Vision and the Dancers (SV)

Due to some awesome scheduling weirdness, I have the whole weekend, as well as Monday night, off from work. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all this time -- but expect at least one more (probably long) post in the next day or so.

And please go here to listen to Håkan Hellström's Don't Cry for Me Göteborg.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (10-19-2007)

Mere gode nyheder

This is something I’ve actually known about for a while now but have been, for some reason, (mostly) keeping to myself. The release date -- and title -- of Sambassadeur’s new album, Migration, has been announced: 24. oktober. If you preorder the CD, your copy will be signed. But you can also go over to last.fm and preview the whole thing. It’s only nine tracks -- just over 34 minutes long -- but God, are those 34 minutes gorgeous. I wish it would snow.

Unfortunately, this means that the upcoming Radio Dept. album has been pushed back to a spring 2008 release. The Bear Quartet will also have a new album in 2008. And -- this I just noticed -- Mew has re-released their second album, 2000’s Half the World is Watching Me. It’s packaged with nine -- yes, nine -- previously unreleased tracks. Wow awesome.

--DL--
Subtle Changes (Sambassadeur)

Jeg lovede

I dags spilleliste:

1. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
2. The Partisan – Electrelane
3. Ooh La La – Goldfrapp
4. Where Is My Mind? – Frank Black Francis
5. One Night Is Not Enough – Snow Patrol
6. Locked In Tight – The Flaming Stars
7. Where Birds Don’t Fly – Club 8 (SV)
8. The Air That We Breathe – Figurines (DK)
9. Overture – Patrick Wolf
10. Song for No Ears – Memoplay (SV)
11. The Seething Rain Weeps for You – Mew (DK)
12. Mom and Dad – The Bear Quartet (SV)

I am in love with the Bear Quartet right now. Particularly Mom and Dad. Aside from the extremely addictive harmonica part, I think what I like best is a line that comes very early -- actually the very first:

I caught Mom and Dad making out
Realizing for the first time they were real

It’s deliberately unclear, I think -- I’ve never been able to decide for sure whether it’s the child or his parents who are only then realizing that they’re real. I like to think it’s the adults.

As you may or may not know, It’s A Trap! features a weekly Bear Quartet posting. You can read about and download one of their songs every Saturday. You can also stream one or two songs from each of their albums and EPs (this makes about 45 songs) on the official Bear Quartet site. You can also download Birds Are Singing Deep in the Greenery -- although it’s one of my least favorite of their songs; I’d try one of the other avenues first. Oh, and by the way, if anyone has the All Your Life EP -- I WANT TO BUY IT. Preferably on vinyl, although I have a feeling that that doesn’t exist, so I’m willing to accept it on CD, too. I guess.

Now, for my two readers in Portland -- upcoming Modern Age shows:

19. October:

Portland General Electro, the Hugs, the Bugs, the New Bloods -- doors at 7.30, show at 8.

2. November:

Southern Belle, Ghosties, 40 Hundred Thousand Locked-Up Guns, Starfucker, Kickball -- doors at 6.30, show at 7.

Both of these shows are going to be awesome. I’m particularly excited for 2. November -- a couple of my friends’ bands are playing, and, well, there are five (!) bands, and... it’s just going to be awesome. If you’d like to learn more about the Modern Age, look here. Or ask me.

Finally, I think I mentioned there might be some badmouthing of the workplace. This perhaps was a bit misleading -- it’s just a song that has IKEA in the title. (Yes -- if you didn’t know, I do work at IKEA. Can you say ‘obsessed with Scandinavia’?) I can’t pinpoint anything specific, but it does seem kind of derogatory toward the company…

Anyway, in anticipation of the release of The Floor is Made of Lava’s new album, All Juice No Fruit, Hits in the Car has been posting a bunch of their promo tracks this week. You can download all five, including the aforementioned IKEA Did a Job on You, over there. The album itself will be out 15. oktober. The music sounds just like what you’d expect from a band who first grabbed my attention by releasing a song called Do Your Sister -- very hyper, energetic, dance-y. They sound like they’re having a whole lot of fun.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (10-12-07)
Birds are Singing Deep Within the Greenery (The Bear Quartet)
Do Your Sister (The Floor is Made of Lava)

Jeg har ikke nogle begreb af tid

I seem to have fallen behind. Last Friday’s playlist here:

1. Gone Under Sea – Electrelane
2. Life is a Game – Rebecca Phinney
3. Fidelity – Regina Spektor
4. Tammy – Jens Lekman and El Perro del Mar (SV, SV)
5. Stop in the Name of Love – Bang Gang (IS)
6. Liar – Valerian (FL)
7. John, Let Me Go – Sondre Lerche (NW)
8. Du og Meg – of Montreal
9. You Can Make Him Like You – the Hold Steady
10. Surrender – Cheap Trick
11. ADHD – Jonas Game (SV)
12. Friends Now – Unicova
13. Dance With Me – Adam Green

I always become very excited when somebody asks me what I’m playing, or even better, asks how they might acquire a copy of it. This happened with Bang Gang’s cover of the Supremes' Stop in the Name of Love, a song I’ve loved since the first time I heard it. (I can do the dance, okay?) Actually, though, I find I prefer the Bang Gang version. The first Bang Gang review I read -- don’t remember where I found it or who the author was -- suggested that Stop in the Name of Love was a foolish and gratuitous inclusion on the album, Something Wrong. I don’t think so -- in fact, it’s one of my favorite songs. If you haven’t heard it yet, do yourself a favor and check the lovely thing out. It's on the From Nowhere myspace (that's the label), or you can listen here, on the podcast.

I have more things to say, but I’m supposed to be studying for a test (yeah, right) or going to bed early or something. Tomorrow, though: Modern Age updates, my precipitate (yes, it is a word; yes, it is used correctly -- look for the second adjectival definition) love of the Bear Quartet, and possibly even a bit of me talking bad about my place of business. Don’t get too upset, though. I still love it -- just not when I’m required to be there.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (10-5-2007)

Vinyl er vinyl

The new-ish Figurines album, When the Deer Wore Blue, is out now on vinyl. It’s limited edition -- only 1000 copies -- so act quickly, I guess (as it’s been out, actually, since 24. September).

Unlike a one-sheet CD or something, the packaging is really, really nice. It’s a double LP, although it’s only three sides -- the fourth is a nifty etching. It also comes with a pull-out poster, and the design overall is quite eye-catchy. Colors and patterns and yeah. You can look at it here, download The Air We Breathe there, and buy it (the vinyl) here. Figurines will also be bringing copies of the album on tour; dates are here. Maybe, if we are both lucky, you will see me at the Portland show.

Speaking of shows, I think I was supposed to/meant to put this up a long time -- well, at least a week -- ago. The Modern Age lineup for tomorrow night (that’s 5. October): Junkface, Bright Red Paper, and Autistic Youth. And it’s Arya’s birthday, too. If you’re in Portland, you should come.

If you don’t know where the Modern Age is, go here to find out. (Last paragraph.) Or ask me, because I can probably give better directions. Future Modern Age shows will be posted on here pretty soon -- probably over the weekend.

--DL--
The Air We Breathe (Figurines)

At rejse

Two wonderful things arrived in the mail yesterday. The first one scared me, because it had a government return address and I didn’t know what it was. I made myself open it anyway, though, and almost fell down the stairs. Because -- oh my god -- it was my passport. Already. It only took three weeks to come; I was told twelve. Not that there is really anywhere for me to go, now. But still.

The second parcel, I think, would have made me happy even if the first had been an announcement from the IRS that I was being audited. Perhaps you can guess what it (finally) was: the new Club 8 album, the one with the wonderful name. Yes, I actually bought it. And I got the Club 8 pin (not at all tacky; I have about ten different things I’m trying to decide between, what to do with it) and the awesome bonus track. It’s called What I’m Dreaming of is Something I Could Have, and if you can’t guess from the name, it’s quite lovely. At this point, since the presale is over (the album was officially released 26. September) I’m not really sure how you can get it. Labrador doesn’t really seem like the type to sell it to people, but I don’t know what method of distribution they might do instead.

Anyway, if you’ve somehow not yet heard The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming, get yourself over to last.fm and preview it, or, even better, to Labrador, and buy it.

Also, if you’re in Sweden, Club 8 will do a little mini-tour (or rather, a few very spread-out shows) in the coming months. If you’re not in Sweden, come and cry with me. Well, what I meant to say is that Club 8 also promises to have a new website up soon.

Oh, and look. The Shout Out Louds show is now 21+ again. I guess that makes the decision easy -- although to be quite honest, I’d already, long ago, decided…

Spillelister

I’ve decided that, in my playlists, I will give links to all the bands (except the really obvious ones, like, say, Neil Young) -- not just the Scandinavian ones. Because if you really liked that Svengalis song, you want to be able to find the band, right? Whether or not they live in Denmark.

However, because the emphasis is still on music from Scandinavia, I will put in parenthesis the country of origin after every Scandinavian band. Which is also more comprehensive than what I’ve done before.

Så, her er fredags:

1. Sunshine and Rain at Once – Oh No Ono (DK)
2. Mr. Beerbourineman – Oceano da Cruz (DK)
3. It’5! – Architecture in Helsinki
4. Soda and Cigarettes – The Svengalis
5. You Know I’m No Good – Amy Winehouse featuring Ghostface Killah
6. Starálfur – Sigur Rós (IS)
7. If I Was Young – The Raveonettes (DK)
8. Winterlong – Neil Young
9. Smother + Evil = Hurt – The Kissaway Trail (DK)
10. Smoke It – The Dandy Warhols
11. Mount Wroclai (Idle Days) – Beirut
12. American English – Idlewild
13. Objects of My Affection – Peter Björn and John (SV)

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (9.28.2007)

Ingenting. Nå...

I surreptitiously put up the download link Friday night without mentioning the show or even putting up the playlist. Anyway, for those who don’t know, Friday’s show was my weird sort of celebration of the end of summer and I played exclusively remixes. Apparently I started a little early, because the beginning is cut off. That’s okay, though, I guess. I think it sounded pretty good. Well, maybe the segues weren’t always the most brilliant (some of them were okay), but all the songs sounded nice by themselves. Anyway.

Min spilleliste:

1. Destroy Rock & Roll (Tom Neville remix) – Mylo
2. Broken Drum (Boards of Canada remix) – Beck
3. Fallen Snow (The Teenagers remix) – Au Revoir Simone
4. Adrenaline (Darkboy/TAT200 remix) – Oliver North Boy Choir
5. Someone’s Girlfriend (Casper Henning Hansen remix) – Evil Death Machine
6. Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT remix) – Metric
7. Just Can’t Get Enough (Tiger Baby remix) – CPH-Jet
8. Tell No One About Tonight (Mont Ventoux remix) – Le Sport
9. At Least I’m Honest (Zvook Mescalin remix) – Tiger Baby
10. Too Young (The Tough Alliance remix) – Taken By Trees

Lots of Scandinavian artists, because those Scandinavians seem to remix each other constantly. Not that this is a bad thing. On the contrary.

Today I am back to school again. In a few hours I shall have my first Danish lesson in several months. Meget godt. Håber jeg.

And some news, very briefly -- the new Oliver North Boy Choir video, for their latest single, Baby Cool, is online now. Aside from isolated parts, it took me a while to figure out -- it is backwards (which would explain why Camilla’s walking looks slightly funny), and it is awesome. She sings backwards, too, which is just… wow.

It’s a Trap! reports that Melody Club has just released an album in the US. My god. I haven’t listened to Melody Club forever. That's going to change. The album, which has actually been for about a month, is called At Your Service, and is a combined best-of from their two previous, non-US, albums.

I also had a dream that Hello Saferide played a show in Seattle. There is still time -- like a little stop on her way back from Brazil. Or something. I still can’t believe she picked Brazil over Portland. Or, I guess more accurately, Brazil over me.

--DL--
Ashtrays podcast (9.21.2007)

Varm og hel

Stuff is fixed, so (finally) you can download/listen to last week’s podcast. Check the playlist here. Links to older, archived shows have also been fixed (since their addresses all changed -- sorry).

This week’s show -- tomorrow, 3-4 pm Pacific -- is going to be awesome. I was going to just let it be a surprise, but I guess at some point I slipped up. Anyway, it’s my last show before school starts for the fall (not my last show ever; of course I’ll keep going -- I’ll just be even more distracted) so I decided to make it something interesting: all remixes. And good remixes. I’ve been excited for this for like a month. Please do us both a favor and listen in.

One more radio thing -- there are now links to both the KPSU stream and website in the right-hand margin, as well as similar links to KLC Radio’s stream and site. KLC started broadcasting for the 2007-08 school year this week, and, assuming their server isn’t down as well, you can tune in for… usually something interesting. They’re internet-only and thus get away with a lot more, not having the FCC on their backs. I also put up a link for DR Barometer, since my life would be very different without that.

Now, on a completely un-music-related tack: does anyone know how to work a radiator? I’m a bit ashamed to ask this since it’s still September, but I’ve always gotten cold really easily. The last time I was even moderately warm was when I went out to an old friend’s house and let her roommate’s dog fall asleep on my lap. But I started shivering again soon after it woke…

For a while I tried toughing it out, resisting, but I’ve been wearing my (huge) winter coat around the apartment for the past week. It’s helping, but unfortunately I can’t wear it in, say, the bath -- and even if I could keep it on incessantly, it only covers about half my body. And the weather’s not getting any warmer.

So I have this radiator. I’m assuming it works -- but I haven’t a clue how to use it. True, I probably could figure it out on my own, but I probably also would blow up a few things along the way. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated. I just want to feel warm again.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (8-14-2007)

Radioavdelningen -- samme på dansk?

To tinge i dag -- en svensk, og en dansk. Første, svensk: dette har rejst rundt på bloggerne for de læst to uge, tror jeg... De er en ny sang af The Radio Dept. -- deres version af Bachelor Kisses, som var første med en andre band (fra australia), hedder The Go-Betweens. Selv om det er ikke deres oprindelig sang, lydder meget lige en af The Radio Dept. Meget godt. De skal have en ny album (af oprindelige sange) ud i november.

Og dansk: Manden som skriver den meget godt indie-pop blog Music of the Moment har en ny projekt, hedder Music from Denmark. Det er en meget lang liste af alle indie/alternative banderne fra Danmark. (Nå, måske ikke alle -- men han vil gerne, hvis du kender andre banderne at er ikke på hans list, hvis dig vil hjælper ham og adder dem.) Der er ikke så mange besked om banderne, men der er linker for deres websider, og, somme tider, mp3erne. Og det er nu en godt plads for at finde ny dansk bands, især den at du har ikke hørt af.

Okay. Two things -- one Swedish, one Danish. First, the Swedish: this has been making the rounds of the blogs for the past few weeks… It’s a new song by The Radio Dept. -- a Go-Betweens cover, their version of Bachelor Kisses. Even though it’s not their original song, it sounds like it could be. Pretty good. They should have a new (and original) album out in November, too.

The Danish: Chris, the writer of the very good indie-pop blog Music of the Moment, has started a new project-thing. It’s called Music from Denmark, and is basically a long and comprehensive list of all the indie/alternative bands from Denmark. (Well, probably not all of them -- however, if you know of any he’s left out, he’d appreciate your help in adding them.) It’s not real heavy on information, but it does have links to websites and/or myspaces, and, in some instances, mp3s. It could be a nice place to find hard-to-find bands, as well as new ones -- especially those you haven’t yet heard of. I’ll probably be spending a lot of time clicking on the links there in the coming weeks.

--DL--
Bachelor Kisses (The Radio Dept.)

Ja -- lidt

I just learned that the Shout Out Louds show on 11. October at Berbati’s is going to be all ages. (!) Unfortunately, this show is the same night as the lovely and dashing (I think dashing’s a particularly apt word) Patrick Wolf, who’s also playing an all ages show in Portland. Life was so much easier back when I never had to make decisions. When you never have to make decisions, well, then you never make mistakes.

Anyway. Also nice -- the opener for Figurines’ 13. October show here will be the Builders and the Butchers, whose music I’ve never heard, but -- if their substantial press coverage of late is any indicator -- are among Portland’s rising stars. This show is also at Berbati’s; no word, however, on whether it’ll likewise be all ages -- but as it’s a Saturday night in a venue that’s normally a bar, I’m guessing not.

Finally, yesterday my afternoon was made a bit brighter when I opened my email to find a note calling my attention to the fact that the new Club 8 album can now be streamed in full via last.fm. God, Labrador’s such a nice label. If you pre-order the album (which is out 26. September) they’ll even give you a “tacky” badge and an unreleased bonus mp3.

Programmet

Something (I think a firewall) is wrong with the KPSU server. I apologize if you tried to tune in via the web and were unable to. I also apologize for the fact that you won’t be able to download the podcast yet, either. I’ll let you know, though, as soon as that’s available.

In the meantime, here is the tantalizing playlist:

1. Almost Gold – the Jesus and Mary Chain
2. Baby Cool – Oliver North Boy Choir
3. Marine Thing – the Bridal Shop
4. Let’s – Kiss Me Deadly
5. Down the Line – José González
6. Absolutely, Salutely – Billie the Vision and the Dancers
7. I’d Rather Dance With You – Kings of Convenience
8. My Chemical Romance Saved My Life – Esiotrot
9. In the Park – Free Loan Investments
10. Over and Over – Heavenly
11. Sylvia Plath’s Platinum Summer – Saint Jude’s Infirmary
12. Age of Consent – New Order

I played a lot of “pretty” music, and bookended it with two older, edge-of-the-underground standbys that didn’t quite fit with the rest of the set. And then that My Chemical Romance reference -- good god. It was only my overwhelming love of Esiotrot that got me to even listen to the song in the first place. I actually don’t mind the few songs I’ve heard by My Chemical Romance -- but one of my previous roommates was in love with them; she had their stickers everywhere, it was like Christmas the day their new album came out, I think she even had a little My Chemical Romance sweater. Anyway, we didn’t really get along well, and that kind of ruined whatever tiny hope I may have had of ever really liking them. Oh well. Esiotrot is still super. I just kind of ignore the parts that I don’t agree with. Either that, or I sing them really loudly.

Uh, let’s see. I also tried to give away José González tickets -- he’s playing Portland 5. October -- but no takers. (Not, I think, because people don’t like José González -- but because the stream was down.) Again, oh well. I guess you will all have to come to the Modern Age instead. The 5. October lineup should (hopefully) be confirmed by this time next week. And it’s going to be good. No, super.

Nye koncerter

(I cannot remember -- should there be an e after the ny, because koncerter is plural? I'm getting confused with my Latin.)

Spilleliste fra fredags program:

1. October, First Account – Be Your Own Pet
2. The Greatest – Cat Power
3. Naomi Ruth – Southerly
4. Everything Beautiful is Far Away – Grandaddy
5. Generation Gap – Oliver North Boy Choir
6. Score on the Floor – Radio LXMBRG -- new website
7. Ask for More – Billie the Vision and the Dancers
8. Where Do You Put Your Hate? – the Bear Quartet
9. Seattle – Jeffrey Lewis
10. Gingham Smalls – Baxter Dury
11. It’s Not the Fall that Hurts – Caesars
12. Grey Days – the Concretes

Now that MusicFest NW is over, I don’t really feel like talking about those three bands that I picked to “preview” from its lineup… But I do hope that anyone living in the Portland area managed to enjoy at least one show this weekend.

Also, I’d like to announce, for anyone living in the Pendleton area, a show one of my frengers is putting on this weekend: Blitzen Trapper, At Dusk (both from Portland) and James Dean Kindle will play Saturday, 15 September at 8.30 at the Arts Center. It’s all ages, cover is 5 bucks, and the show should be great. (As a measure, Blitzen Trapper embarks on a nationwide tour with Two Gallants two days later.) A nice way to recover from Round-Up, too, if you know what I mean.

Back to Portland -- on next week’s show, I may be giving out a pair of tickets to the upcoming José González… he’ll be playing at the Aladdin (all ages) in Portland 5 October. However, it is still a big maybe. I despise telephones and therefore don’t really like people calling during my show -- that, and I’ve never actually listened to José González, despite his good reviews and Swedishness. If, though, I manage to re-learn the ticket-giving-out procedure -- and there are still tickets left to give, which I think there probably will be -- anyone in PDX who wants to save 20 (well, actually 40; you get two) bucks on tickets should tune in. Friday, 3-4 pm, KPSU.

Last.fm is not working properly, so you may have to wait a while for these, but if you’re so inclined, there is a downloadable -- and live -- version of José González’s Teardrop there. You can also stream full albums by both Blitzen Trapper and At Dusk, with some free downloads there, too.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (9-7-2007)
Teardrop – live (José González)