Jeg savner hjemme

Friday’s show went well. Lots of stuff I'd never played before -- or at least not played in a long while. Spillelisten:

1. Lost and Found (live) – the Radio Dept. (SV)
2. Girl Got Lost – Death Valley Sleepers (DK)
3. My Doorbell – the White Stripes
4. Liar – Valerian (F)
5. Janey Black (Tiger Baby remix) – Velour (DK, DK)
6. The Modern Age (live) – the Strokes
7. We Might as Well Have Stayed Young – the Enright House
8. I’m Still in the Grass – the Bear Quartet (SV)
9. Violent Skull – Girls Love Rallie (DK)
10. Mountaintops – What Can Skulls Tell Us?
11. Sky Phenomenon – Jens Lekman (SV)
12. Dudley – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
13. The Walk – the Honeydrips (SV)
14. You Know – Nomber 5s (N)
15. Hide and Seek – the Brian Jonestown Massacre
16. Wishing Well – Love is All (SV)

A couple of downloads: Wishing Well, from Love is All’s new album, is free at Pitchfork. (You can watch the video there also.) Most of what I’ve heard from this band is fairly annoying; fortunately Wishing Well takes that annoying and blends it with catchiness and stupid-dancing-around-ability. Something like that. It’s pretty alright.

Also -- the Radio Dept. has just (finally) launched a new website. It’s not quite done yet, but looks to be incredibly detailed and informative. The media page also has at least fifty songs (some are the same, but different versions) to download. Very cool. Unfortunately, there’s still no release date for the new album, but hopefully it’ll come soon.

Now, regarding next week -- I am now out of town, visiting family for Thanksgiving (which I note does not exist in Denmark, but my great grandmother wants to see me anyway) and I will not be back until Sunday. Zach from My Secret Crush will be hosting the Wednesday show; I don’t know what’s going on with Friday. I’ll be back Monday, 1. December, guest hosting Sound Judgment from 10 pm to midnight, and then Wednesday at 9 and Friday at 3 for the regular shows.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (21. november 2008)

Og nye navner

Last night I found out that since I am now a graduate student (as opposed to an undergraduate student) the large paper I thought I had due is in fact not due for three more weeks. This means that I could have gone out of the apartment Tuesday (I did not) and that I could have taken the time to plan a good show yesterday (I did anyway, but I could have done better).

A note about the Wednesday show -- though I usually “narrate” the evening programs in Danish, yesterday was all English, due to the fact that I was joined by a non-Danish-speaking guest host, Becca. Even though she declined to share Mulan quotes on air -- we didn’t, in fact, talk much at all -- I found the program pretty enjoyable.

Spillelisten:
1. Apple Blossom – Emily Jane Powers
2. I Grunden er Afgrunden Grunden – Thunderbear (DK)
3. Lord Anthony – Belle & Sebastian
4. Är Du Fortfarande Arg? – Säkert! (SV)
5. Miles and Miles – Said the Shark (DK)
6. Mission to the Moon – Harmony Boys (DK) -- now called SMALL
7. Arrows – Einar Stray (N)
8. Byen Driver – Under Byen (DK)
9. Tonight – Oliver North Boy Choir (DK)
10. Farrah – Action Biker (SV)
11. Oh! You Pretty Things – Au Revoir Simone

If you haven’t heard that last one, especially, you owe it to yourself to do it. It’s on the podcast, of course, or you can stream it here.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (19. november 2008)

Bands med beklagelige navner

Yesterday I was going to write a blog, but instead I read a whole book -- cover to cover -- which I haven’t done in a long time. I enjoyed it. Here is the entry I was going to write:

I’ll start with the old. There’s this band from New York, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who I’ve been listening to on and off for nearly a year. My hopes for having found the ultimate twee band were crushed when I learned, a while ago, that they are not (as their last.fm bio suggests) brothers and sister, but they are nevertheless a very good shoegaze-y twee band. I’ve seen them compared to My Bloody Valentine and Asobi Seksu -- neither of whom can really be called twee -- but all the descriptions seem apt. Another band I myself compare them to is Dirty On Purpose, especially the way they sounded on their second EP, Sleep Late for a Better Tomorrow, featuring vocals from Au Revoir Simone’s Erika Forster. If you like that, you will like this.

Anyway. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, the band (what a name, I mean). They have a saddeningly scant discography, and their debut LP, which includes several (okay, four) previously released songs, isn’t set for release until next February. Perhaps it’s because they have such a small catalog that the songs are so good. Many -- including a few of the as-yet-unreleased ones -- can be streamed at last.fm. They all share an immediately recognizable sound -- jangly and shoegaze-y at once; many also feature boy-girl vocals, and there’s just the right amount of mope and mock accents and minor chords.

All the songs have these traits, but I’m talking about one in particular here: Stay Alive. It won’t officially be released until February, with the album, but right now it’s up for grabs on the band’s website (and here). From the opening bars, I knew it would be my favorite Pains of Being Pure at Heart song, and I was right. I still don’t understand a lot of what they’re saying (as happens fairly often with me) so while it’s possible I’m subconsciously imagining lyrics, it’s far more likely that the song, its sound, reminds me of something I’ve long since forgotten. I really don’t know how to describe it any better, except to say that for every person, there are perfect songs. They come along every so often, and what sounds perfect to the one person may be only good, or even mediocre, for another, but for that one… This is one of my perfect songs.

And now the new. Followers of this blog probably already know I’m a pretty big fan of Oliver North Boy Choir, even though I cringe every time I say their name. They’ve just finished their next single (they only do singles), Over/Out. It’ll be released 23. November, but the third and fourth tracks are available for download now. They’re both nice and soft and ONBC-sounding, though the third, Farvel (it means goodbye, farewell, etc.) is their first non-English song, done in both Danish and Swedish. It’s also a collaboration with Marcus of Bakers at Dawn, who I also really like.

Farvel is nice, but I like the bonus track, Tonight, even better -- especially the last two and a half minutes. I think it’s largely the lyrics I’m drawn to, so maybe if I went to the trouble of translating Farvel, I would be more fond of it. One of the lines -- tonight I’ll be on your wall -- really sticks with me, and I don’t know why. This is another of those unhappy love songs the band bio talks about, and they do them so well.

For more such songs, pretty much the entire ONBC catalog can be streamed right now on last.fm. (I’d start with Lovesong, the Weekender B-side.) And, again, the front half of Over/Out will be released Sunday. Looking forward to hearing the rest of it.

--DL--
Stay Alive (the Pains of Being Pure at Heart)
Farvel (Oliver North Boy Choir)
Tonight (Oliver North Boy Choir)

Forsømmelighed

Spillelisten fra 12. november:
1. Hold Me Now - Elastica
2. Boneless - the Notwist
3. The Moss - Daníel Ágúst (IS)
4. What to Pass On/What to Keep - Jomi Massage (DK)
5. Keep It Down - the Worn-Out Virgins (DK)
6. Weekender - Oliver North Boy Choir (DK)
7. Words Enough to Tell You - the Mascots (SV)
8. Wayward Wind - The One A.M. Radio
9. Love Can Destroy Everything - the Raveonettes (DK)
10. Lester - Bakers at Dawn (SV)
11. Make it Pass - Jesper Norda (SV)
12. Boil in Bag - Children and Corpse Playing in the Streets (N)
13. Hospital Bed - Seabear (IS)
14. The Beauty of the Way We're Living - Club 8 (SV)
15. GBG 123 - Bonnie and Clyde (SV)
16. Lola - the Kinks

This show (Wednesday's) took a different than usual form (at least in terms of content) for a very specific reason. I thought it turned out quite well.

Og spillelisten fra 14. november:
1. Artboy Meets Artgirl - moi Caprice (DK)
2. 1981 - Cake on Cake (SV)
3. Pretending (Parts 1 and 2) - Tiger Baby (DK)
4. Trying Something New - the Honeydrips (SV)
5. Not Enough - Maria Timm (DK)
6. Butterfly in Paris - Anamia (DK)
7. A Year Before the Future - Typhoon
8. I Know You Sleep - Bang Gang (IS)
9. Black Fur - Fredrik (SV)
10. 7-11 - the Postmarks
11. Candy - El Perro del Mar (SV)
12. All You Want - Said the Shark (DK)
13. And Sleep Al Mar - Au Revoir Simone
14. I'm A Lady - Santogold

And one other radio thing: yesterday my frengers (can I call them frengers? I'm going to) Point Juncture WA played on Live Friday. I'm listening to their 2005 album Mama Auto Bass, which I admittedly and unfortunately have not played in at least a year. It's quite good, as is their new stuff -- the very soon to be released album Heart to Elk (a few tracks from which you can download through their website), as well as the Live Friday set, which is available here.

I can't write much more today, because I have to leave for work in a few minutes, but tomorrow, thanks to the economic downturn, I only have to work for four and a half hours (instead of the usual eight). When I come home, even though I should be working on my Lorrie Moore report, I will write about old and new things, I promise, just for you.

And since this is an mp3 blog, but it has been at least twenty years since I posted anything (aside from podcasts) to download, here is something to tide you over. I've probably posted it before, since it was my favorite song for about a month this summer, but just in case I was negligent then, too, here is Trying Something New by the Honeydrips, with more mp3s on his media page.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (12. november 2008)
Ashtrays Podcast (14. november 2008)
Trying Something New (the Honeydrips)

To programmer; ikke mere

Spillelister fra fredag, 7. november:
1. Please Please Please (Let Me Get What I Want) - ANT (SV)
2. Music on the Radio - Sissy Wish (N)
3. Danger! (Ice Cream Shout) - The Sound of Arrows (SV)
4. Teach Me Tiger - Speaker Bite Me (DK)
5. Her Voice is Beyond Her Years - Mew (DK)
6. Sing Bird - Oli Oli Oli (DK)
7. Amsterdam - Peter Björn and John (SV)
8. Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second - Starfucker
9. Candy Land - CocoRosie
10. Little Lovin - Irene (SV)
11. Over - Working for a Nuclear Free City
12. Goodbye - Asobi Seksu
13. 16 Ink - 18th Dye (DK)
14. Subtle Changes - Sambassadeur (SV)
15. Claustrophobia - Choir of Young Believers (DK)

Og eftervalgs højtideligholdelse, fra onsdag, 5. november:
1. The Times They Are A-Changin' - the Byrds
2. Blew Away - Smashing Pumpkins
3. 747 - Kent (SV)
4. X Telling Me About the Loss of Something Dear, at Age 16 - Hello Saferide (SV)
5. Iloitkaamme - Mikko Singh (SV)
6. Let Me Put it This Way - David & the Citizens (SV)
7. Take Me Home (Johan Agebjörn remix featuring Sally Shapiro) - Don Juan Dracula (SV, SV, N)
8. Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo - Jens Lekman (SV)
9. Nicknames - Pelle Carlberg (SV)
10. Summer Sun - Batte (N)
11. Stay Alive - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
12. Prolusion - Tiger Baby (DK)
13. The Young Ones - Munich (DK)
14. Fake Empire - the National

Jeg skal snart skrive om the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, selv om de kommer ikke fra Skandinavien.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (7. november 2008)
Ashtrays Podcast (5. november 2008)

OBAMA!

After this I promise I will return to music and stop going on about politics. But, to quote Bill Bradbury, Oregon’s current Secretary of State, “the world is different tonight.” Let’s hope that different means better.

Glem ikke at stemme

This post probably doesn't apply to about half of you, but for those who, like me, live in the US of A -- please remember that tomorrow (Tuesday, November 4th) is election day, and you had better vote. If, also like me, you live in Oregon, where we vote by mail, please don't mail your ballot now; it won't arrive in time. Instead, take it to one of the drop boxes listed here.

This election cycle, I haven't really been very active or vocal with politics; I did a lot more in 2004, when I wasn't even old enough to vote. However, I feel that this may be an even more important election than the last one, and so, even though an mp3 blog probably isn't the most appropriate venue, it's my venue, and I can say whatever I like, so I'm going to talk about politics for a little while now.

I'll be brief, though. I'm only going to discuss the presidential race. Even if you don't cast a vote for anyone or anything else, please make the effort and vote for a new President of the United States. It is worth the effort of filling in a bubble, pressing a button, or punching out a chad (punch it all the way), so that the country will maybe not embark on a nuclear war or escalate in Iraq, so that I (and numerous others) can maybe afford to have and be able to acquire health insurance, so that the world's most militarily powerful nation can have a vice president whose most compelling political credential isn't the fact that she can see Russia from her house. (I mean, has anyone ever thought of this -- Sarah Palin's neighbors can probably see Russia from their houses, too. Does that make them qualified to be Vice President of the United States? No it does not.)

I shouldn't have to say which candidate I'm endorsing. It should be incredibly obvious who everyone's choice should be. But forty percent of the American public is still saying, in polls, that they plan on voting for John McCain, and a small segment of the population is still undecided. So I'll make an endorsement, but first I'll say this -- no one we elect is going to be perfect. No one is going to fix everything that is wrong with America. But, given a choice between working on digging out of the hole or miring further in, why, oh why, would anyone choose to get worse when there's the opportunity to do better?

Please, when you vote for President of the United States, make the better choice -- the intelligent choice -- the right choice. Vote Barack Obama.