om sproget / on language

Jeg vil skrive bloggen på både engelsk og dansk. Hvis du kan ikke forstå ordene, fortæl mig, og jeg vil forsøge at oversætte. Hvis du er dansk, vil jeg gerne fortælle dig, jeg endnu er ved at lære sproget, og mit dansk er ikke særlig godt. Hvis du gerne vil hjælpe mig med ordene, det er rart og tak for det. Min email er somedayashtrays@gmail.com.

This blog will be written in both English and Danish. If you, as a reader, have trouble with one of those languages and would like a translation, please let me know, and I will do my best to oblige. If you are a Danish reader, please know that I am just learning, and my Danish is far from perfect. If you would like to suggest corrections please do so. Email me at somedayashtrays@gmail.com.

29 February 2008

Vil du gerne et andet remiks?

Nogen sagde, jeg skriver altid (jeg tror ikke), så her er nogen dansk. Vil du have det andet remiks, fra i onsdags? Der var to, og jeg sættet her kun en af dem. Andet var Tiger Babys remiks af Reginas sang Minua ollaan vastassa. Det er fint og flink. Og det kom ud i 2006, så det kan du også nu downloade.

I morgen, skal jeg have min spilleliste fra i eftermiddags program, men nu, jeg er for træt. Jeg synes, jeg har prøvede at lave et hundred tinge i sidste to dage...

Og også, gladelig skuddag. Det er en af de bedre ferier, synes jeg.

--DL--
Minua ollaan vastassa – Tiger Baby remix (Regina)

27 February 2008

Jeg "hjerte" Labrador

Once again, Labrador is giving away free things. This time, it’s a remix of Club 8’s Jesus, Walk with Me, done by fellow Swede Jimahl. It’s eight minutes long, more than twice the length of the original, and while it’s still definitely recognizable, Karolina’s already breathy voice has been dosed with even more reverb, and a few little rhythmic tricks, like that good thing right before the two-minute mark, have been thrown in. To me, it sounds like a slowed-down version of a club song. The middle gets a bit tedious (as can probably only be expected from a song of this length) but the beginning and end are pretty good. And this kind of a remix is not something you hear every day. Worth a listen.

Also on the subject of Labrador, this is old-ish news but somehow I have always forgotten to mention it. There’s this guy from Manchester (UK) called Jam on Bread, who sings twee litte songs and plays a ukulele. Since I (albeit falsely) consider the ukulele to be a toy instrument, and I love toy instruments, I find him especially endearing. The song I find most endearing is called I Heart Labrador Records, and I think, from the title, you can guess what it’s about. His and my opinions of Labrador seem to have a great deal of overlap. Perhaps yours do too? If so, you will probably enjoy the song, if for nothing else but its lovely quirks.

I played both of those on the show tonight. Andre i spillelisten:

1. I’m Not In Here With You (You’re In Here With Me) – the Bear Quartet (SV)
2. Phantom Limb – the Shins
3. Minua Ollån Vastassa (Tiger Baby remix) – Regina (DK, FL)
4. The Quitter – Good Luck Casper (DK)
5. Downfall – Resplandor
6. Blush – the Raveonettes (DK)
7. Sorted for E’s and Wizz – Pulp
8. The Young Ones – Munich (DK)
9. I Heart Labrador Records – Jam on Bread
10. Jesus, Walk With Me (Jimahl remix) – Club 8 (SV, SV)
11. I Can’t Talk About It – El Perro del Mar (SV)

Also, next week I may be giving away (or attempting to give away) tickets to the upcoming Jens Lekman show -- 24. march, Berbati’s, Portland, 21+. This I will do in English. Tune in if you’re interested -- Wednesday nights, 9-10 Pacific. 1450 AM or kpsu.org.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (27. februar 2008)
Jesus, Walk With Me - Jimahl remix (Club 8)
I Heart Labrador Records (Jam on Bread)

26 February 2008

For ung, for snart

For whatever reason, I try to ignore Pitchfork as much as I can. (Go ahead and hate me.) However, this morning, It’s A Trap! reported that Pitchfork had interviewed the Tough Alliance. So I had to go and read it. Although I don’t actually listen to them very much, I have enormous appreciation for TTA -- and this interview only validated it. It’s unmissable.

Also on It’s A Trap! this morning, the news that El Perro del Mar, along with Lykke Li and Anna Ternheim (who, a couple years ago, recorded that beautiful cover of Broder Daniel’s Shoreline), will play in Portland, at the Doug Fir, on 16. May. Happy as I was to see that she’d return to the US, I was also disappointed. This is too soon. This is exactly three weeks before my essential birthday. When El Perro del Mar played Portland last March, I heard third-hand that her show was awesome, which is probably about what I’ll get this time, too. Thank you, thank you, OLCC, for all the happiness you bring to my life.

24 February 2008

Travl igen

Today after work (although, nicely, while I was still on the clock) my boss showed me some photos from when she used to live in Sweden. Stockholm looks awesome, but my favorite was actually the one of her in-laws’ house at Christmas. It’s just an ordinary house, with a bit of snow on it, but it just looked so… homey; so Scandinavian. Maybe the word I’m looking for is hyggelig. There was just something about it that seemed really nice; I can’t quite put it into words.

But anyway, getting on -- once again, I’ve gotten myself swamped. Feel free to email me whatever -- cos having things in my inbox is what keeps me going -- but don’t expect a reply for another week or so. (And I apologize to those of you to whom replies are way overdue.) Well, at least there’re only four more weeks til spring break. My god I’ll need it.

I fredegses spilleliste:

1. Tragic Mirror – Sondre Lerche (NW)
2. Paris 2004 – Peter Bjorn and John (SV)
3. Who’s in Your Dreams – Strawberry Whiplash
4. I Want You – Mugison (IS)
5. Ladybird – Ladytron
6. Gone Under Sea – Electrelane
7. Cat Claw – the Kills
8. Pilot – Under Byen (DK)
9. Marc – Louis XIV
10. A Track and a Train – Shout Out Louds (SV)
11. Kids – the Concretes (SV)
12. Goodbye – Asobi Seksu
13. Bewitched – Luna

Remember, I had an apprentice DJ with me then -- although I did still pick all the music. So if no one has any issues with anything, good, no problems. If anyone does have any issues, please keep in mind that that Loius XIV song was kind of (uh, completely, uh) a joke. Yeah.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (22. februar 2008)

21 February 2008

Fem dage af tinge

A while ago I mentioned that there would be no updates for a while because I was incredibly busy. Well, I still have a lot to do and, doubtless, not enough time in which to do it, but it always seems like I’m doing better on Thursdays, because I don’t have class and only work in the evening. So, in the order of my realization of them, a few things you/I might have missed:

There is a Modern Age show tomorrow (22. februar, at 8 o’clock) with the Revisions, the Wires, and Flask Mask. I saw the Revisions about a year ago at what was, sadly enough, one of the last shows I’ve been to that wasn’t at the Modern Age. I don’t mean to imply anything bad about the Revisions by this -- as, in fact, I thought they were rather good -- but rather to deplore the fact that I still don’t go to nearly enough shows.

The Raveonettes’ album Lust Lust Lust, which was finally released in the US the day before yesterday, can also be streamed in full on last.fm.

Once again, I will be having an apprentice DJ on my show Friday. I’m not sure how this will affect the content/sound of the program, but it’s something to keep in mind.

French/English band Mono Taxi, whose membership has now sadly dropped by half, announce that their new single, We Wanna Get Some Real Fun, will be out 7. april. That’s still a long way away, but you can stream the song on myspace until then, or (very, very slowly) download it through Hits in the Car. No word on what the b-side will be.

The SXSW people have finally released a list of all the 2008 showcasing artists. Of course I’m not going, so it doesn’t really matter to me, unless some more of them decide to add US tours around those dates. I haven’t had much of a chance to look the list, but anyway. Some fine bands from all over the world will be playing (if you hadn’t figured that out yet).

El Perro del Mar’s new album, From the Valley to the Stars, is now streaming in full on myspace. It’ll be released next week (27. februar) in Scandinavia, and in mid-April in the US.

Under Byen’s live EP Siamesisk was released Monday in limited edition quantities. (A few more will be released in North America in late March.) I hear they’re really good live.

Labrador has announced the re-release of four of Club 8’s earlier (and, apparently, sold-out) albums. They all contain between 2 and 6 bonus tracks, and can be bought individually or as a package. What I find more interesting, however: The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming is now available on vinyl. Oh, no...

I think that’s all.

Måned og ja

There was a lunar eclipse last night, which temporarily had me more excited than I’ve been in a long time. And the weather in Portland has been getting unseasonably warm and not-rainy for the past week or so, meaning there were no clouds in the sky and I could actually see it -- and do so without freezing. (This is why I was a little late starting my show.) I can’t remember the last time I saw an eclipse, so it was pretty awesome. If you missed it, there’s supposed to be another in 2010… Sorry. What I really want to see is a solar eclipse, though.

I kind of wish I’d known about this whole thing earlier, because then I might have done a moon/celestial bodies-themed show. On second thought, maybe it’s better I didn’t know about it in advance.

Her er min spilleliste:

1. Karma Police - Radiohead
2. Score on the Floor – Radio LXMBRG (SV)
3. Your Brother is My Only Hope – Le Sport (SV)
4. Examinor No 39 – epo-555 (DK)
5. Food in Strings – Memoplay (SV)
6. From Off to On – the Knife (SV)
7. Hide and Seek – the Brian Jonestown Massacre
8. A Vacant Heart – Wolfkin (DK)
9. A Man of Happy Solutions – My Friend George (DK)
10. Ronan Keating – Free Loan Investments (SV)
11. A Violent Yet Flammable World – Au Revoir Simone
12. Blush – the Raveonettes (DK)

Download the whole show as a podcast, or individually download Your Brother is My Only Hope. It comes via last.fm, where there are (still) a bunch of other Le Sport songs to download, too.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (20. februar 2008)
Your Brother is My Only Hope (Le Sport)

16 February 2008

Beskeder, synes jeg

I fredagses spilleliste:

1. Two-Headed Boy – Neutral Milk Hotel
2. Till I Know – Daníel Ágúst (IS)
3. Godrevy (Live) – Patrick Wolf
4. Waiting for the Moon to Rise – Belle & Sebastian
5. Baby Cool Backwards – Oliver North Boy Choir (DK)
6. Wherever (Live 2001) – Mew (DK)
7. Eventually It’ll Break Your Heart – Moneybrother (SV)
8. S.O.F.T. – Elastica
9. Tonight the Walls Are Closing In On You – David & the Citizens (SV)
10. Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts – Wolf Parade
11. Nosy Parker – the Tremolo Beer Gut (DK)
12. Hej Monika – Nic & the Family (SV)
13. Sleeping in Seattle – Jakobínarína (IS)

This week, in addition to the podcast, you can download Nosy Parker, from the Tremolo Beer Gut’s new album Nous Sommes The Tremolo Beer Gut, Qui le Fuck Êtes Vous? (It’s definitely not Danish, and it’s not Latin either; I’m guessing French. I’m also guessing that you can all probably figure out what it means.) I got this in the mail a while ago; it was described by their press person as ‘old-school surf & western’ -- a genre I don’t know enough about to say whether that description’s accurate. But in this song, at least, they sound like a cross between older songs by the Raveonettes (think glorious Bb minor), the instrumental tracks on Tapes ‘n Tapes’ first LP, and something else I’ve forgotten… Anyway, it’s a bit of a departure from what I usually listen to and put up on here, but I don’t see that that’s a bad thing -- and, if it were ever sunny and I were in a real happy mood, I can see myself quite liking these guys.

Also -- I have a massive amount of things to do in the immediate future -- school, work and otherwise -- so unless anything huge happens, don’t expect to see anything new on the blog until at least Wednesday. I also won’t be returning emails for a while. Sorry.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (16. februar 2008)
Nosy Parker (the Tremolo Beer Gut)

15 February 2008

Jeg kan ikke sige det

Jeg har havde så mange tinge, at jeg måtte lave. Så, det var en lang tid for denne. Undskyld.

Spillelisten (fra i onsdags):
1. German Love - Starfucker

2. Don’t Let It Slip Away (Oliver North Boy Choir remix) –
Attention Now!
(DK, NW)
3. Never Take the Beauty – Northern Fields (SV)
4. Beehives Mighty Vicious – Oceano da Cruz (DK)
5. This Moment – Under Electric Light
6. Anorak Christmas (Piano mix) – Sally Shapiro (SV)
7. All You Want – Said the Shark (DK)
8. Sugarless – Autolux
9. I See Those Who Died – Jomi Massage (DK)
10. The Songs Don’t Make You Fly – Port Friendly (DK)
11. Needs vs. Facts – the Bear Quartet (SV)
12. Clever Girls Like Clever Boys More than Clever Boys Like
Clever Girls – Pelle Carlberg (SV)
13. At Least I’m Honest – Tiger Baby (DK)

Og i eftermiddag (klokken 3) skal jeg have Patrick Wolf -- Mew -- Jakobínarína -- mere... Lytte på kpsu.org.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (13. februar 2008)

13 February 2008

Hunden af havet

(So now you know how to say El Perro del Mar in three different languages!) Anyway, her new 7” came out today. Remember? -- How Did We Forget. The B-side is You Hit Me (It’s a Crying Shame), which I haven’t heard, but the title sounds good, and, of course, the A-side is excellent. (Read a bit more of what I’ve written about it here.)

Anyway, here I am in Oregon, stuck until mid-June at the very earliest, and all the records are hiding halfway across the world. So, if anyone is in the proximity of any “good record stores throughout Scandinavia” (as Licking Fingers says) you should buy me a copy and send it over. Really. I think I want this record more than any other one right now. And I’ll totally reimburse you.

For those of you who are more patient, less particular, or perhaps just more conveniently situated than I, both songs can be bought, as mp3s, through the Licking Fingers website. From the Valley to the Stars, the album proper, will be released 27 February, and will reach the US about two months later -- 22 April. Three media -- mp3, CD, and vinyl -- and you can bet I will be wanting one of those, of the last sort, as well...

10 February 2008

Ingenting

I really don’t feel like doing anything right now. However, there are several things that I have to do. This is the most attractive of them, so --

I fredagses spillelist:

1. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
2. The Church of John Coltrane – Saint Jude’s Infirmary
3. Back from the Dead – Wolfman featuring Peter Doherty
4. I’d Rather Dance With You – Kings of Convenience (NW)
5. ADHD – Jonas Game (SV)
6. Marine Thing – the Bridal Shop (SV)
7. Because Trees Can Fly – Lampshade (DK/SV)
8. Slowly, Slowly – Cake on Cake (SV)
9. Thursday – Asobi Seksu
10. Wishbone – Architecture in Helsinki
11. Over and Over – Heavenly
12. No Regrets – the Helio Sequence
13. Hate to Say I Told You So – the Hives (SV)
14. Lookin’ for a Love – Idlewild

Jeg elsker Because Trees Can Fly. Du må lytte til det på last.fm. Og, også, her er the Church of John Coltrane, for at tage. Saint Jude's Infirmary er, synes jeg, med de bedste bands i Skotland.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (8. februar 2008)

The Church of John Coltrane (Saint Jude's Infirmary)

07 February 2008

Jeg er ikke godt med navner

I had kind of an unpleasant day yesterday, and that maybe kind of reflected on the show. Oh, well. There’s some good music anyway -- like I Think You Suck. I hadn’t heard that in ages.

Also, I think my Danish is (maybe?) getting better -- which is a good thing, as I have two midterms tomorrow: Danish and Danish films. 7-9-13…

Spillelisten:

1. Straight Thin Line – Frida Hyvönen (SV)
2. There’ll be a Time for Nice Guys – Esiotrot
3. Apologize – Billie the Vision & the Dancers (SV)
4. I Think You Suck – Psyched Up Janis (DK)
5. The Greatest – Cat Power
6. Black PearlDeath Valley Sleepers (DK)
7. Avec – Dazzle Ships (DK)
8. In the Lost and Found – Elliott Smith
9. Tropical-Iceland – the Fiery Furnaces
10. 747 – Kent (SV)
11. Violent Skull – Girls Love Rallie (DK)
12. Objects of My Affection – Peter Bjorn and John (SV)

If you wanted to hear the Tiger Baby remix of the Fashion’s song Like Knives -- that one song that I played like thirty seconds of before stopping -- you can download or listen to it here; there’s a link in the post immediately below this one. I guess this is a safe place to say why that omission happened -- even though I knew what they were saying, and it was perfectly clean and FCC-safe, it sounded awfully close, for someone who didn’t know, and I decided I’d rather not take the chance.

Of course, in the next song I very nearly missed a radio edit that I’d forgotten about. This is why my new project is to listen to every song in my iTunes library and mark it with either ‘clean’ or ‘not clean.’ (That way I’ll always be absolutely sure.) This should take only about three months...

Also also! Modern Age tomorrow -- featuring Per Se, the Janglies, Swimming, and the very aptly named Dhani the Champion of the World. Be there. It’s at 8.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (6. februar 2008)

04 February 2008

Forskellige versioner

To af mine yndlinge dansk bands har lavet remixes -- Tiger Baby har lavet en af The Fashion’s sang Like Knives, mens Oliver North Boy Choir har lavet en af Attention Now!’s Don’t Let It Slip Away. Begge kan du downloade.

Jeg synes, det vil ikke være rigtigt, hvis sagde jeg, de var nogle af mine yndlinge remixer. Jeg synes, de bedste ord for dem er et lidt mærkeligt -- men jeg har ikke sagde, at være lidt mærkeligt er slet. Nej, tværtimod. De er interessant, og de kan jeg godt. Like Knives, kan man danse til -- det lyder mere om andre remixer jeg har hørt -- og Don't Let It Slip Away, kan man være god og bedrøvet til. Meget fint.

Også, jeg har endnu husket, at efter klokken seks i aften (da min første radioprogrammet var på) skal jeg have været en DJ for fire år. Det er en lang tid.

--

Two of my favorite Danish bands have recently come out with remixes -- Tiger Baby has done The Fashion’s song Like Knives, while Oliver North Boy Choir has remixed Attention Now!’s Don’t Let It Slip Away. Both are free to download.

I would be lying if I said these were my favorite ever remixes. I think the best word, for both of them, is weird -- but I have never said, remember, that to be a bit weird is a bad thing. On the contrary. They are interesting, and I like them well enough. Like Knives, you can dance to -- it sounds more characteristic of other remixes I've heard -- and Don't Let It Slip Away, you can get all good and sad to. Nice.

Also, as I remembered just a little while ago, as of six o’clock tonight (which is when my first radio show went on the air) I will have been a DJ for four years. Seems like such a long time…

--DL--
Like Knives (Tiger Baby Remix) – The Fashion
Don’t Let It Slip Away (Oliver North Boy Choir Remix) – Attention Now!

03 February 2008

Eftermiddag radioprogrammet

Her er hvad spillede jeg på programmet i fredags:

1. Just Can’t Get Enough (Tiger Baby Remix) – Cph-Jet (DK)
2. Hurra för fredag fest och öl – Johan Hedberg (SV)
3. Suffer for Fashion – of Montreal
4. Empire State Human – Marsheaux
5. Nunca estás a la altura – Klaus&Kinski
6. Le Beat’s on Fire – epo-555 (DK)
7. Drown them Out – Viva Voce
8. Coming Down the Hill – El Perro del Mar (SV)
9. Teignmouth – Patrick Wolf
10. Pas på du ikke falder i! – Thunderbear (DK)

11. Cash 22 – the Flaming Stars
12. Tonight I Have to Leave It – Shout Out Louds (SV)

I mentioned that El Perro del Mar would have a new album out soon, with the first single, How Did We Forget, to be released on mp3 and 7” 13. februar. I have heard it (as you can, via the Licking Fingers stream) and this I can say: most songs sound better on vinyl. Some songs sound near-stellar. And a few songs -- How Did We Forget is one of them -- are just made for vinyl. Oh my god. I can’t wait.

As I promised, you can download Nunca estás a la altura by the Spanish band Klaus&Kinski. (And there are several other songs to be downloaded from their myspace.) My Spanish isn’t quite what it used to be, so -- instead, I’m told the title means something like ‘You were never at that height.’ Anyway, it sounds good. You can also download the full Ashtrays show as a podcast.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (1. februar 2008)
Nunca estás a la altura (Klaus&Kinski)