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.