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)

Overskæg

Today was mostly maintenance -- covering up my dead, deep, and/or illegal links. Apparently I did a pretty good job of choosing in the past, though, because there actually weren’t very many.

Another thing I should point out -- this was done a while ago, but if you get this blog in a reader, you might not have noticed. I’ve redone the sidebar again, adding convenient little links to the podcasts. There are also new links in the blogroll. I think there are only two. Both were discovered during research for my paper, and both are written in Swedish. However, they each have one of the best blog (or anything) names I have ever encountered, and their music selections aren’t bad, either.

That’s that for that, but I also feel as if a bit of clarification is needed regarding yesterday’s post -- specifically, the Peter Björn and John bit. Yes, I'll admit I’m something of a music elitist, or, to be more accurate, I become kind of annoyed when bands I like become popular. It’s weird.

Anyway, I’m glad that Peter Björn and John were able to see such success with Young Folks -- it’s a good song, very catchy, and I like it. It’s just that I like it much less than some of their other songs. And I feel as if it’s very much the other direction for other people. This is probably largely untrue, but once I become convinced of certain ideas, there’s no turning me back.

The other part has to do with the pseudo-hipster part of the line. This is something else I shouldn’t have said; I’m probably something of a pseudo-hipster myself. I know what I meant, though. As for moustaches: I hate them. I have no problems if they are attached to (full) beards (goatees are unacceptable) -- but few things annoy me more than solitary moustaches. Fortunately, most males seem to agree with me in this moustache distaste; however, they seem to be gaining popularity on certain faces, particularly those of boys with hot soft eyes who wear sweaters with embroidered animals on the front and pants which are slightly too short for them.

I also, in most instances, dislike gratuitous tattoos -- the presence of which is particularly obvious in the summer -- although this dislike is nowhere near as great as my dislike of moustaches. I had just been exposed to a bunch of over-tattooed people when I wrote that, which I think is why I threw it in. I (usually) have nothing against the people who wear them -- it’s just their particular articles of adornment that repulse me. So that is that.

I figure most people have some weird thing that bugs them about other people; it’s only reasonable. This (the moustache thing) is mine -- and, despite the fact that other people tend to keep their pet peeves to themselves, it’s perfectly within my rights to not want to surround myself with mustachioed individuals, and to say something about it. Also, anyone I know who reads this blog will now know the danger of appearing before me wearing a moustache, and will not be confused by my sudden distance and odd refusal to look at them.

Uh... No mp3s today. I wish there were a free and legal way for people to listen to more than 30 seconds of Paris 2004 (my favorite Peter Björn and John). But I've spent a fair amount of time -- multiple times -- looking, and there isn't. Undskyld.

However, on a slightly related note -- today marks the third day in a row that I have seen members of Typhoon out riding their bikes. (Even though there are about a hundred people in Typhoon, this is still kind of odd. I used to go for weeks without seeing anyone I recognized.) This got me thinking about alternative modes of transportation, which led to the realization that yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the last time I drove a car. That, in turn, reminds me of another anniversary: this month, It’s A Trap! is celebrating its fifth birthday. Avi is conducting a reader poll to see what people like and don’t like and things. Since he filled out my questionnaire when I was doing that research paper, I figure it’s only good reciprocation practice to suggest that, if you read It’s A Trap! -- as you should -- that you go over and fill it out.

Har du endnu denne?

Yesterday I had to run some errands, which led me to take a different route on the way to work. I walked by Niketown, which I don’t usually do, and they were playing Tonight I Have To Leave It. This reminds me of something I’ve never been sure of: whether or not Shout Out Louds are popular in America. I know they’ve toured a bit, and done some album releases, and there was this one kid at my old radio station who kept hiding their CD because he really liked it -- but I’ve nevertheless always felt that they’re kind of on the periphery of the American consciousness. Maybe I’ve always been wrong, maybe it’s the (admittedly awesome) new single that’s done it, or maybe it’s just some discerning-palated (can that be applied to aural (as opposed to oral) consumption stuff?) staff member putting his iPod on. I kind of think option three. But go percussion!

Anyway, Shout Out Louds will hit America again in October. They’re touring with fellow Swedes Johnossi (coincidentally the other band which always, stupidly, reminds me of the kid who hid the Shout Out Louds CD). 11. October they play in Portland, at Berbati’s -- of course a bar.

Other upcoming PDX shows:
(Well, this has nothing to do with Portland, but is relevant because I want to but cannot go: the 14. through the 23. of September -- Hello Saferide will be in Brazil. Yes, Brazil, for whatever reason -- her biggest fans are in Oregon.)

18. September – Peter Björn and John at the Crystal Ballroom, which is actually all-ages; however, tickets are 22 bucks and the whole unstable floor is sure to be packed with pseudo-hipsters with awful moustaches and/or gaudy tattoos who’ve only ever heard that horrible Kanye West version of Young Folks. (No link because trust me - you do not want to hear it.)

26. September – Amiina (Sigur Rós’ backing band) at the Doug Fir, which is a bar.

13. October – Figurines at Berbati’s, which is still a bar.

7. November – Jens Lekman at the Someday Lounge, which is a bar, too.

I have to stop doing this.

(On a related note, be sure to check out Willamette Week’s awesome cover story, Sonic Youth -- not about the band, but rather about the all-ages “scene” underage Portlanders have created for themselves. (It also explains why they can have beer at the Aladdin.) Good story, on something that needed to be seen. I find it interesting, though, that only one of the people interviewed for the story was actually an underage Portlander. Oh, well.)

Less discouraging -- upcoming releases:

9. September – Baby Cool (Oliver North Boy Choir)
You can stream it now on myspace. Following the format of their previous singles, there will also be a B-side (the absolutely gorgeous Generation Gap, maybe my favorite ONBC song ever, although that’s a distinction that’s hard to make), a cover, and a remix. This remix was done by Zvook Mescalin, the same group (of three teenage boys from Århus; what is it with teenage boys from Århus?) that did the awesome remix of Tiger Baby’s At Least I’m Honest a few months ago. (Search here -- that is, Ashtrays -- for ‘Zvook Mescalin’ and you’ll get the download link.)

11. September – Our Ill Wills (Shout Out Louds)
In America, anyway. I think it's out everywhere else.

12. September – Trivial Matters (Radio LXMBRG)
You can listen to two tracks on myspace: Score on the Floor, which has just been put up, and which is also downloadable, and Feel the Heat, which is older. You can’t download it, but go and listen anyway -- it’s awesome.

5. November – Lust Lust Lust (the Raveonettes)
Stream four tracks on myspace. If you search on here, somewhere there’s a link to download a fifth track, Dead Sound, which might still be active.

And NOW! – In anticipation of the 26. September release of The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming, Club 8 has released a second single, Heaven. Personally I prefer Love In December, which is older (from their self-titled 2002 album) but popped up on the Labrador site as a free download sometime in the last week. Always good.

--DL--
Score on the Floor (Radio LXMBRG)
Heaven (Club 8)
Love in December (Club 8)

Radio og radio

Two things occurred to me. One -- that I never put up last week’s playlist. Here it is, the weird thing:

1. Ghost Dreaming - Quasi
2. Plantage – Under Byen
3. Lord Anthony – Belle & Sebastian
4. A Vacant Heart – Wolfkin
5. The Ostrich Approach – I Am Bones
6. Dark Heart – Broder Daniel
7. If This Is Life! – Kristoffer Ragnstam
8. Great Days for the Passenger Element – Autolux
9. The Devil May Care – the Brian Jonestown Massacre
10. Neverevereverdid – Architecture in Helsinki
11. Dead Sound – the Raveonettes

The second realization was that, apparently, podcasted shows are deleted from KPSU’s online archives after eight weeks. I’ve uploaded (a slightly lower-quality copy of) the Under Byen one from 6. July, since people seem to like it -- but otherwise, I don’t feel that it’s really worth the effort. However, if you’d like to hear one of the older shows, feel free to email me, and I’ll send it your way.

I’ll write again tomorrow -- Club 8 -- Oliver North Boy Choir -- Shout Out Louds -- more!

--DL--
Ashtrays podcast (8-31-2007)

Jeg lyvede

So it’s been something like a week and a half since I’ve even touched this thing. I have a number of explanations, most of which amount to this: I’m exhausted an uninterested in everything. However, as I haven’t abandoned my other daily activities (e.g. work), this apathy is certainly no excuse for discontinuing the one I enjoy the most. Thus, you have my apologies -- and, as penance for my negligence, I have decided to post the TTA blog I wrote in May (with no intention of ever posting). Then I will talk about them some more, too, to make this thing current.

I make it my business to always know what other people are listening to. Last week, everyone was playing a lot of TTA, or, as you may prefer, the Tough Alliance. Which reminds me of something I meant to say earlier -- which is that they have what is indisputably the coolest myspace page ever. Be sure to check it out. You can listen to two songs -- from the new album, A New Chance, out 16. May -- too. [Note in September: unfortunately this particular myspace page no longer exists.]

Aside from those two, I’ve only heard one other song by the Tough Alliance, although, due to the fact that they (I think) run the label of Air France (the very interesting and cool Sincerely Yours), I’ve known of them, and been reading about them, for a while. Avi writes about them from time to time, too. If you type ‘tough alliance’ into the search box on It’s A Trap!, you can come up with some interesting stuff. Also, Pitchfork has two videos and a nice little bio-thing you can read, as well as one song download, Silly Crimes. It’s old though (from the New Waves EP). But that’s okay.

There are a couple other mp3s hiding out all around the web, but it’s cloudy again, and I’m exhausted, and generally, look -- I just don’t feel like seeking them out right now. Undskyld. But Avi’s got the links; you know what to do.

It’ll probably be sunny again in a couple days, and I’ll talk about Air France then, so keep checking back.

I find it interesting that that post contains an explanation of my lethargy, even though, due to the fact that seasons change, it’s not entirely valid. Also not valid is the whole ‘expect an Air France post’ thing -- although I do have one, written, actually, five days before the TTA entry. I still don’t feel like talking about Air France (for the same reason as before, actually (and it’s the reason I didn’t write down; not the weather)). So it’ll probably be a while.

Anyway, The Tough Alliance. My relationship to them has remained largely unchanged -- except for this one song. And it’s not even, technically, their song -- it’s a remix, of the song Too Young, by Taken by Trees, also known as Victoria Bergsman. This is the song I hum to myself during the slow spots at work (that is, when I’m not whistling Lord Anthony). Eventually, someone will hear me and begin freaking out: ‘Taken by Trees! TTA! Oh my god, Too Young! Taken too young! Me too!’ And then I will have a friend.

Oh, Victoria Bergsman, what would I do without you? You left the Concretes, but you and they both stayed good. Proof: head on over to myspace and listen to Kids. While you’re there, visit Peter Björn and John; check out Young Folks. (Such a lovely obsession with youth.) And when you’re done with that, download Too Young (as a remix, you actually can’t buy it) and take it with you wherever you go.

--DL--
Silly Crimes (TTA)
Too Young - TTA remix (Taken By Trees)