Læst radioprogrammet (igen)

As it turns out, the podcasts -- actually, the entire KLC website -- are once again way messed up. At this point, you can’t even go back and listen to old archived shows. Hopefully this will be fixed, but it’s pretty unlikely that the show from 26. April will go up.

I’m just as disappointed as you might be (if you missed it) -- this last one, I feel, was my best job. I did the whole thing in Danish and I think it came out very well. But perhaps I’m wrong -- if you listened to it, do let me know what you thought.

Min spilleliste var:
1. Wouldn't It Be Nice - Oldham Brothers
2. Friends Now - Unicova
3. Djuna! - Frida Hyvönen
4. Split of a Second - Tiger Baby
5. Tell No One About Tonight - Le Sport
6. Pictures - Sia
7. Terrible Angels - CocoRosie
8. Bluebells - Patrick Wolf
9. Cocaine Man - Baxter Dury
10. Eventually It'll Break Your Heart - Moneybrother
11. Adrenaline - Oliver North Boy Choir
12. To the Lighthouse - moi Caprice
13. Electric Cave - Slumber Party
14. At the Department of Forgotten Songs - Jens Lekman

Normally, I only give playlist links to Scandinavian bands. Unicova, here, is an exception. They’re from Germany. However -- Germany is very close to Denmark, and I like Unicova, and they sound as if they could be Scandinavian, almost. Plus, no one in the world seems to have ever heard of them, which is really too bad. You can download their song Friends Now, from their most recent EP, No. 7, and there are also two free downloads from previous releases available on last.fm.

Tak for lytte til radioprogrammet, hvis dig gjorde det.

--DL--
Friends Now (Unicova)

Læst radioprogrammet

I morgens Ashtrays vil være det læst radioprogram fordi KLC vil ikke være åbner fra maj til august -- der er ikke skole den. Undskyld for det, men...

Nå, du skal lytte i morgen -- fra 11 til 12. Jeg vil være en timer mere. Husker -- vi er i klcradio.net. Og, også, tak for lytte.

Yes -- tomorrow will be the last radio show for a while, as KLC is closing for the summer. Listen from 11 to 12 noon -- klcradio.net.

Om Tiger Baby

High time I wrote something about my favorite, favorite Danish band, Tiger Baby. It's been so long because every once in a while -- okay, fairly frequently -- I'll discover someone new and become obsessed with them. However, new things become old and then, rummaging through my iTunes, I run across Tiger Baby, and every time this happens, I first wonder how I've managed to live without them for five days, and then I lie on the floor and just think -- Oh. My. God. Tiger Baby is so (so with about eight os) good.

I've written a good deal about them, mostly in emails to the one other person in the world who loves Tiger Baby as much as I do -- so it's nice that we know each other and can discuss the awesomeness of the band, but none of these writings have been much use to the general public. I'll attempt to rectify this, but again I'm faced with an impossible task -- Tiger Baby is so wonderful that there simply aren't adequate words to describe them.

A good example: I am unable to pick a favorite Tiger Baby song. I'll be listening to one, and think, oh, yes, this is my favorite -- but then the song ends, the next one comes on, and immediately -- no, this one has to be my favorite. This happens with every track -- every single one. To be honest, I can't understand why they're not internationally renowned -- they're just so perfect and awesome. They make very gorgeous electro-pop music, and they're from Denmark, and they're called Tiger Baby, and everything about them is awesome.

You can listen to a good amount of their music without paying any money (although you should of course support them financially if you are able). Their entire second album, the absolutely phenomenal 'Noise Around Me,' is available for full preview on last.fm, where you can also download four songs and, chances are, look at a photograph of my eye that was taken in fifth grade. In case this temptation has still left you undermotivated, I'll give you one song to start with -- At Least I'm Honest.

Now, other stuff -- since they've just released their album in Germany, there's a neat German TV interview (in which they speak English) with Pernille and Nikolaj, two thirds of the band (the other third is named Benjamin), which you can watch on YouTube. It has two parts, but the second one should pop up immediately there. You can also visit the band's myspace, where there are a few other downloads, and if you still crave more, check out their media page for a few more -- and the Girlfriend video.

If I haven't endorsed them enough, let me add this one last thing -- you may think you don't like electro-pop music or whatever, and in general, you may not -- but specifically, in this case, anyway, you're wrong. You will like Tiger Baby. You can't not like them. Unless you love them, that is.

--DL--
At Least I'm Honest (Tiger Baby)

Og andet radio...

Okay. New show rule: I will never again attempt to re-broadcast streaming audio from my computer. If you catch me doing this, call me on it. Make me stop -- or, better yet, don't let me start. It's tempting sometimes, but it's bad, very bad. I've tried it several times before and it's always yielded poor results -- shoddy at best; disastrous at worst.

Anyway, what this means -- there will be no more playing stuff off myspace or last.fm -- so, if you are a band, and you want me to play your new song, unless it is available for download or I appear to have otherwise acquired it (radio stations are sometimes good that way) send it to me -- somedayashtrays@gmail.com. I love getting stuff. And if you send me stuff, chances are I'll play it -- even if I would have given no thought to your stuff before.

In more pleasant radio-related news -- Radio LXMBRG (pronounced Luxembourg), from Sweden, has a new song, Feel the Heat, up. It's from their upcoming album, Trivial Matters, which unfortunately won't be released until September. However, you can hear it on their myspace, where you can also download three earlier tracks, including one of my favorites, It's Cruel Up North. And they've got two videos. And, I believe, you can preview their debut album in its entirety here -- always nice.

Their sound (on It's Cruel Up North especially) is a sort of dance-type-thing infused with old-fashioned pop/rock sensibilities. Thanks to the lead singer's Jim Morrison-like voice, they sound something like what the Doors could have been, had they gone disco. I mean that in a good way.

--DL--
It's Cruel Up North (Radio LXMBRG) -- this is a two-click download, because it's from myspace, and myspace downloads do not link here. Undskyld.

Min Gud!

Wow. I guess small things do go right from time to time. What this means: you can listen to the Ashtrays podcast from 19. April. The archiving actually worked. Well, there are a few technical difficulties which you will encounter as you progress through the hour -- but at least this week it was recorded. At least I think it was recorded.

Min spilleliste:
1. Black Cab - Jens Lekman
2. Twisted Little Star - Bertine Zetlitz
3. Sad Song - Au Revoir Simone
4. Happy Healthy Lucky Month - Saint Jude's Infirmary
5. Stars - Port Friendly
6. You Don't Dance - Lupus
7. Now She Sleeps in a Box in the Good Soil of Denmark -
David & the Citizens
8. Yes Sir, I Can Boogie - Oliver North Boy Choir
9. Silently - Blonde Redhead
10. Sometimes I Still Feel the Bruise - Trembling Blue Stars
11. As Tears Go By - Marianne Faithfull
12. Feel the Heat - Radio LXMBRG

Sorry if the songs are slightly out of order -- Thursday evening, my computer died. (That's the large thing not going right.) It will not be fixed until next week -- if it is even repairable. I'm typing this in a school computer lab and retrieving the playlist from memory. When I can access an accurate version again, I will update it. Of course, I identify all the tracks on the show, so you can just listen to that -- probably easier.

Also, you can listen live to all our shows at klcradio.net. Du skal især lytte til hvad er måske Joshs læst program med KLC -- det er i mandag (den 23.) fra 11 i morgen til 12 (Pacific). Han spiller også kunstnere fra scandinavia somme tiden, og hans program er meget godt.

--DL--
Ashtrays (4-19-2007)

ONBC igen, og radio besked

Alright! News once again is good. Oliver North Boy Choir has recently made available a new song, a cover of Baccara's 'Yes Sir, I Can Boogie,' which will be on their upcoming EP 'Shell for the Mourning' (out 27. May). It's quite nice and soothing, in the vein of other ONBC songs, but, as the original is rather disco-ish, it's also a bit more upbeat. Overall, very nice. My only complaint is that the drum machine part (I'm assuming it's a drum machine, as I've never heard a human sound anything like this) seems at a couple of times not exactly off -- but just a bit too strong in the mix, just a little bit out of place. I'm hesitant to say anything negative, because this is a very minor thing, and because the rest of the song is just so good.

You can listen (but not download) 'Yes Sir, I Can Boogie' on myspace, or visit ONBC's links page to listen to the song on a server of your choice. (If you enjoy disco, you can also listen to the Baccara original -- good, more sex-sounding, but not as innocent and sweet -- here.)

And now -- less pleasant news. If you are one of those wise and musically-inclined people who listen to the Ashtrays show, please be warned -- the capabilities of our podcast archiving system have fallen to virtually zero. While there is the slight chance that tomorrow's show will be recorded and available for later download, at this point, such a thing is very unlikely. I'm sorry, but my technological abilities stop at typing -- there's really nothing I can do. So, if you want to hear the show, I recommend you make every effort to listen to it live -- 11am to 12pm, Pacific time. You can catch it at klcradio.net. Tak for lytter.

Gode nyheder for dig og mig

Yes -- good news for you and me! (Such a nice headline that I had to repeat it.) Apparently I was wrong about there only being one freely downloadable (by freely downloadable, I mean freely and legally downloadable) moi Caprice track online. It's recently been brought to my attention that there is a second track, To the Lighthouse, from their 2005 album You Can't Say No Forever, available.

Hoping this download is indeed legal. The host URL is that of moi Caprice's website -- however, that website is currently defunct. But I'll make the assumption that it's okay, and we'll both benefit from that assumption; I like To the Lighthouse quite a bit better than For Once In Your Life Try to Fight for Something You Believe In (the previously offered download). It's much more falsetto-y, which gives it an even more oneiric quality, something which I will forever be unable to say no to.

Also -- I forgot to mention last time -- you can listen to four other moi Caprice tracks, all from their new album, The Art of Kissing Properly, on their myspace, which also tells me that in June, they are playing two shows on a ferry, which is absolutely awesome. They also have a very sad and endearing video for The Town and the City, which you should probably watch, too.

--DL--
To the Lighthouse (moi Caprice)

En... to... tre...

Since the ongoing computer programs we've been having mean that only one person in the entire world (me) was able to listen to my radio show this week, I've decided to talk about Kids, the wonderful song from the Concretes' new album, Hey Trouble, on here.

I'll be honest -- the first time I heard this song, I wasn't too impressed. The sound of it really isn't that interesting. I've seen mixed reviews of the album (which I haven't been able to listen to in full since, sadly enough, it doesn't even have a release schedule for the US -- although it's out now in Scandinavia, and will be released in the UK in June). I do agree that their cute boy-girl harmonizing sound is not quite the same with the loss of Victoria Bergsman, but that only means that the new stuff has been endowed with a different quality.

Again -- I didn't like Kids the first time I heard it. But then I found myself listening to it again, for whatever reason, and paying attention to the lyrics -- and it knocked me out. The lyrics remind me so much of my own life that I couldn't help immediately falling in love with it. I still don't like it all that much, but this is a song that will stay with me, and be important to me, for a long time.

As far as I know, this song is not downloadable, but there are a number of places you can go to listen to Kids. I am afraid to say the best-quality version seems to be on myspace. There is also a kind of cute, semi-animated music video which you can watch here.

Speaking of Swedish music videos -- Melody Club has recently (alright, about a week and a half ago) posted a new video, for their song Fever Fever. I don't listen to Melody Club as much any more -- they're a bit more raucous (I mean that in a good way) than what I most enjoy right now -- but if you are a fan of what can, I think, best be described as power disco, they are quite a good band.

The Fever Fever video, likewise, is quite good. It has clips of a bunch of hip indie kids at a party interspersed with shots of Kristofer singing, as well as a few of the rest of the band. Unfortunately, Andy, my favorite Melody Clubber, doesn't get much screen time (perhaps because he's the drummer?) but there is one amazing shot of him straightening his jacket in a very cool way... The day Melody Club comes out with a video that's nothing but Andy will be the day I can die happy. Well, not really, but it would please me very much.

Somewhat similar to the Fever Fever video is The Shaky Hands' new video for the song Why & How Come. The Shaky Hands are not from Scandinavia -- they are, in fact, from Portland -- and I know very little about them. I am making this post for two reasons only: 1) the two videos remind me quite a bit of each other -- well, at least somewhat, and 2) either it's coincidence, or this thing has become wildly popular, because I've seen it in at least three seperate, unrelated places online in the past week -- and I might as well add myself to the group. Yeah, okay, and it's good, too.

Undskyld

Ja, der er ikke et podcast af Ashtrays programmet i ugen, igen. Ved jeg ikke hvorfor computeret vil ikke arbejde. Men det er det. Hvis du vil gerne at vide sangerne at jeg spillede, min spilleliste er her:

1. Maybe Tomorrow - the Brian Jonestown Massacre
2. Make It All Right - the Legends
3. There Is No Ending - Arab Strap
4. For Once In Your Life Try to Fight for Something You
Believe In - moi Caprice
5. 2 Birds - Mugison
6. Kids - the Concretes
7. Perversion - Hell on Wheels
8. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
9. Ghost Dreaming - Quasi
10. Teach Me Tiger - Speaker Bite Me

Men nogle af det sangerne vil var svært at finde, og også du vil ikke kunne at høre mine fortællinger. Jeg talte om det navne Ashtrays og sanget at det kommer fra, og hvorfor jeg så elsker Kids (sanget), og også -- jeg talte om busen at jeg tager til radiohuset, som døde om morgenen. Ja -- jeg var ikke særlig glad... Men jeg manglede kun ti minutter af mit program, men senere jeg lært at computeret var ikke arbejde, så mennesker kunne ikke at lytte. Men det er det.

Hvis du vil gerne at lytte til det eneste sang med det dansk band moi Caprice at du kan få gratis i Internet, det er For Once In Your Life Try to Fight for Something You Believe In, fra Stytzers blog, Hits in the Car. Det er ikke min yndligt sang med moi Caprice, men det er OK -- især det læst to minutter.

--DL--
For Once In Your Life Try to Fight for Something You Believe In (moi Caprice)

Radioprogrammet

If you missed the show Thursday -- sorry, your'e kind of out of luck this week. Our archiving program is having issues again, so none of the shows were recorded; thus -- no podcasts. Not that this is a particularly bad thing -- you can find most of the music I played on your own, and as for the rest -- very uncharacteristic -- me talking a great deal, all in English, about... actually nothing. I was a bit unfocused Thursday morning.

Anyhow, min spilleliste var:
1. Shy - Tiger Baby
2. 23 - Blonde Redhead
3. Holy Cow - Harmony Boys
4. Albertino - Oliver North Boy Choir
5. Werewolf - CocoRosie
6. Stop in the Name of Love - Bang Gang
7. The End of Medicine - New Pornographers
8. Drown Them Out - Viva Voce
9. Loser - Beck
10. Something's Going to Happen Soon - Ballboy
11. 156 - Mew

If you somehow, magically, managed to listen and want the CocoRosie link I promised, it is here. However, be warned of three things: 1) it opens in Windows Media Player, so if you don't have that, it may not work, 2) it takes a long time to load -- be patient, and 3) I can't remember. You can find this song (Werewolf) on their new album, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, out 10. April.

Next radio show will be 12. April, 11-noon (Pacific time). Listen at klcradio.net.

Mew

So we saw Mew last night and -- Oh. My. God. I will never be able to adequately describe the experience -- going in, I was worried they wouldn't be as good live as they were on the albums; coming out, I'm worried that I'll never be able to listen to their albums again. All I can say is -- the red lights aren't long enough.

Since you now probably want to listen to the absolute sonic wonderment that is Mew -- well, there aren't any song downloads available that I'm aware of, although there are about twenty million little clips (also several full-length videos) on their website. The only thing you can download is this podcast interview they did with Interface last year. The interviewer totally butchers the pronunciation of Sigur Rós, but otherwise it's good. It's about half an hour long, they do acoustic versions of four songs (The Zookeeper's Boy -- Eight Flew Over, One Was Destroyed -- Why Are You Looking Grave -- Comforting Sounds) and the talk is interesting.

Either way, however, these are definately albums I would recommend buying (from your local, independent record store -- not Amazon). Definately.