Yndlinge albummer af 2008

I wanted to have this up yesterday, but I was getting tired and incoherent. When Sune Rose Wagner’s Altid (see number seven) nearly dropped me off to sleep, I decided to quit. But now I’m awake -- now two days later -- so here are my ten favorite albums this year. The numbers, especially five through ten, don’t really mean that much, though, and are subject to frequent change.

10. No Way Down (EP) – Air France
In my opinion, this is the least outstanding of all the albums on here, though it’s probably also the one that’s gotten (elsewhere) the most good press. It’s a good EP, but right now I think it sounds a little tired, and I’ve never liked it as much as Air France’s previous effort, the On Trade Winds EP (number 6 on my 2007 list). But it has just enough of that same Caribbean tinge, mixed this time with a feeling of adult-longing-child wistfulness, and their samples and sounds are well-chosen and interesting. Sort of like a dream -- no, better is great, and “No excuses” has become my mantra for the year.
(stream two tracks + others)

9. Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust – Sigur Rós
I must admit I was not impressed at first listen; I was particularly let down by Gobbledigook (though the video made it better for me). Light and happy Sigur Rós was not something that particularly interested me, and this is without doubt their lightest and happiest album. A few more listens and it got better. I still prefer the second half of the album (actually, technically, Festival through Straumnes), and I still like their earlier work better, in general, but no matter how peppy it may be, there’s no denying that Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust is a very beautiful album, and very much in the vein of other music by Sigur Rós. You can study to it, you can appreciate nature and snow to it, but in this case you can also, as proven by Gobbledigook, run around in a forest in the summer and scream and swim and just have a really, really okay time.
(mp3 -- Gobbledigook)
(stream three tracks)

8. Little Ones (EP) – Jesper Norda
Maybe my favorite song title of the year comes from this album: Tomorrow You’ll be Forgiven but Tonight You’ll Have Your Teeth Knocked Out. This line just rings true for me. Norda’s composition, throughout the EP, is excellent. It’s sparse, just gradually crescendoing piano, occasional percussion, and, of course, his voice, crisp with very slight reverb, resonant, and surprisingly low -- you don’t really hear many singers in the bass register any more. On Little Dance, for example, Norda's voice sounds kind of soothing, but it also sounds kind of sly. His voice, instrumentation, and subject matter (though I’ll admit I don’t listen to the lyrics all that much, but rather the sound) all fit together really well. It's a great little EP.
(mp3 -- Tomorrow You'll Be Forgiven...)
(download full album)

7. Sune Rose Wagner – Sune Rose Wagner
Sune Rose Wagner, my favorite half of the Raveonettes, released his solo debut just a couple weeks ago. It’s all Danish, but aside from that, it sounds just like what you’d expect -- the sixties influence is strong (he really should have been born earlier), the instruments are stripped down -- nothing overproduced -- and the songs are very reminiscent of the calmer parts of the Raveonettes. (Think The Heavens, from Pretty in Black).
Honestly, speaking of the Raveonettes, I’d have loved to have put their most recent full album, Lust Lust Lust, on here, but even though it wasn’t released in the US until February, it was out in Europe in 2007, and therefore ineligible. That’s probably part of the reason I put Sune’s solo effort on here. However, it sounds just like I hoped, when I first found out, that it would sound, and I do like it a lot. I translated the Danish titles easily enough, but other than that, I don’t really know what he’s saying, and I don’t mind keeping it that way. I’m happy with simply the sound.
(stream four tracks)

6. Silly Killings – Said the Shark
Silly Killings is Said the Shark’s second album, and it’s just as pretty as -- and far more pessimistic than -- their first. The stand-out track is, without question, Shaky Heart. The songs have a very distinct, very sad, sound -- bells or chimes in, I think, at least half of the tracks, maybe more. It’s not just the bells that make that sound, but the combination of those and the instrumentation and Maya Saxall’s unique voice (she lives now in Denmark, but is originally from Canada). Even so, every song is different from the one before; nothing is overused or overdone. The music is so good, and the lyrics are, as well. My favorite, from Miles and Miles, with vocal duty shared with a J Mascis-sounding guest: you just can’t build a picket fence around miles and miles of home -- so good. You have to hear it.
(stream three tracks + others)

5. Starfucker – Starfucker
It’s important for me to clarify a few things. Starfucker got a really bad review on Pitchfork, and I’ll admit I do agree with parts of it. Yes, if you’ve seen Starfucker live, their album is something of a letdown in comparison with the show. But really -- does any album, by any band, ever come close to matching the intensity and excitement of their live show? I really don’t think so. Pretending I have no idea what the band is like live, the album comes out sounding very good. No, it’s not dance-y music with neon and day-glo and Mardi Gras beads; it’s more like studying music (that’s what I did) that also happens to be catchy. But it’s also very lonely, sort of drifting, and Josh Hodges’ sadly effected voice (which I wrote about last year, too, when I put his former band Sexton Blake’s Hungry Heart on the songs list) does it just right.
It's not a perfect album; I like the second half a lot better than the first, and the fourth quarter a lot better than the third. The last song, Isabella of Castile, is particularly beautiful -- I know you have to go, but I want to keep you to myself, like a dream, I can tell, we’ll never be alone -- I just can’t imagine any other voice -- or even band -- doing that.
Pitchfork called this album introspective and detached, like that was a bad thing. I don’t think it is.
(mp3 -- German Love)
(stream full album)

4. Saturdays = Youth – m83
Okay, everyone has heard and loved this album already. So I’m not going to say much about it. It should be clear, of course, that Kim & Jessie is not the only good song on the album. What’s less clear is what my favorite song is or should be -- largely, they all blend together; this is much more a cohesive album than a collection of individual songs. This could be just one big thing.
I like the shoegaze feel and the spaciness and distortion, the swells and waves, and the sort of vagary. But I also like that it sounds kind of like these creepy monastic choral recordings one of my sociology professors used to play -- and that in this context that slight creepiness is a good thing.
(stream full album)

3. Recordings 2008 (EP) – the Big Pink
The word I was searching for was swirling. All Leslie speakers and distorted guitars and echo-y, pleading vocals. If this EP were more than seventeen minutes long, I might die. This is perfect in so many ways, and I really cannot understand why more than 428 people (according to last.fm) have not listened to it. Thank you.
(stream three tracks + others)

2. More Modern Short Stories From Hello Saferide – Hello Saferide
I went back and forth so many times with this one; it’s been in the number one spot just as long as, if not longer than, it’s been number two. And if I could have two number ones, I would. As it is, I put More Modern Short Stories here because of Sancho Panza and 25 Days, mostly, because I had to pick some reason -- but I’m not going to talk about what I don’t like. This is still a really great album. (I mean, even my dad likes X Telling Me About the Loss of Something Dear, at Age 16.) The music is wonderful -- no handclaps, sadly, but it’s more advanced than Introducing… Hello Saferide, really fleshed out -- and Annika Norlin was nominated, not surprisingly, for a Swedish Grammy for songwriting. There may be a few songs I’m less fond of, but the others more than make up for it, acoustic and electric, and all different degrees of heartbreaking, like my favorite, Middle Class’s wishful, never to be fulfilled promise: And then I’ll be happy, I swear. The album title is fitting, because Hello Saferide really is a wonderful storyteller. Every song brings a wide-eyed gasp.
(mp3 -- Anna)
(stream full album)

1. The Midnight Organ Fight – Frightened Rabbit
As I said before, I had a terrible time deciding between my number one and number two. I was tempted to put Hello Saferide here, because I love her as a person, and I don’t feel that way about Frightened Rabbit, but what I do love is their album, and in the end, this is an album list. The Midnight Organ Fight is unimpeachable and pretty much flawless. There are no bad songs. The lyrics are brilliant and both the music and singer Scott Hutchison’s voice are perfectly suited to them. There’s pain here -- real pain -- and it’s conveyed so well, time and time again. The emotion is honest -- almost too honest to be bearable. The album skates just on the edge between disaster and excellence, and when it falls, it falls on the right side. I really liked Scottish pop for a long time; this is the album that made me love it. I can’t even pick a favorite song.
(stream full album)

--DL--
Gobbledigook (Sigur Rós)
Tomorrow You'll Be Forgiven... (Jesper Norda)
German Love (Starfucker)
Anna (Hello Saferide)

Ingen radio

So. There is currently no snow in the air or on the ground. Thus, I went ahead and walked all the way over to KPSU -- with my computer, which is not exactly a bag of feathers -- only to find that, while I got into the building just fine (my access badge still works) the fire doors to the basement were locked tight. Terrific. Since I know of no other way to access the basement or the sub-basement, where KPSU is located, there will be no show this evening. I’m sorry. I was really looking forward to this one, too.

There will also be no shows for the next two weeks, because I will soon be leaving town -- unless, of course, we finally get the massive snow and ice storm people keep shutting things down in preparation for. Maybe I will do a best of 2008 show on January 2, 2009, when I come back -- if I make it back, and if I manage to get in to the station. In the meantime, expect my 2008 albums list tomorrow or the next day, and, probably, since I will get bored, another post or two at least.

Besked

It's been snowing on and off all morning, but so far doesn't seem to have stuck. At the moment, I'm still planning on going in for the show -- which will be my favorites of 2008 -- tonight, but if the weather takes a turn for the worse, I may change my mind. In case anyone (alarmingly) checks this thing more than once a day, I'll try to keep you posted.

Even though there were several other, far more pressing, things I should have been doing, I spent the morning deleting all my deep links and mp3s no longer offered as free downloads by the artist and/or label. Since I went through the entire archive -- almost two years' worth, and for the first six months or so, I was apparently living in fear of the RIAA, as I refused to host any mp3s myself -- there were quite a few. But I think I got them all. I love cleanliness and order.

Now I will go do something productive -- like actually plan my show.

Yndlinge sange af 2008

First, a few things to keep in mind:

I don’t listen to a lot of new music, and what I do listen to is not very diverse. These are probably not the best of the year; they are my favorites of the year. Also, unlike many other blogs/websites, I will not repeat artists -- otherwise these lists would be even more homogenous.

Even with all the rules I set for myself, I had a terrible time narrowing this list down to ten, and then, once I’d finally managed that (actually, as you can see, I didn’t), I had just as much trouble putting it into order. The numbers -- 1-10 -- really don’t mean a whole lot.

These are my ten favorite songs that didn’t appear on one of my ten favorite albums:

Except I have two honorable mentions:

12. 7-11 (from the album By-The-Numbers) – the Postmarks
7-11 is a cover of a song by the Ramones, but it sounds like the Shangri-Las. That should be recommendation enough. To be honest, I don’t know why I’m so attracted to this. I was never a huge fan of girl groups, and this sounds, from the ooh-ooh-las to the string instrumentation, exactly like a sixties girl group song; everything is spot-on. My inability to pinpoint just what it is that I like is probably the reason this is an honorable mention instead of being on the list proper. But then again, maybe that uncertainty is what makes me like it.
By the way, if I ever hear the original Ramones version of this song, I will probably have some kind of a seizure. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must sound like.
(stream full album)

11. In the New Year (from the album You & Me) – the Walkmen
The first time I heard this song, I had already pretty much decided on my top ten songs -- but this is so good I decided to tack it on at the last minute. Lately especially, I’ve gotten to really like year songs -- and this, lyrically like many of the others I know -- is bittersweet; looking forward, but tinged with unhappy memories. Even with all its competition, In the New Year probably wins best lyrics of 2008 for me; I would love to quote them all. And sonically, it’s fascinating. I don’t know what those instruments are -- maybe just a really awesome organ? -- but wow. The song starts out like an electric Bob Dylan ballad and retains touches of that sound throughout, but it quickly grows into a tortured yet soaring, crashing, almost anthemic thing. It’s almost off balance, but it hits just right.
(stream)

Now, the actual ten:

10. Travel as I Wait (from the album The Anger) – Tomas Halberstad
I can’t quite place what I like about this one, either. It doesn’t sound much like the other songs on my top ten. I think what I like best is the sound. This is just one guy, but the vocals are layered on thick (and the voice and lyrics go together well) and there are so many little hints of different instruments, many of which you rarely hear elsewhere (by which I mean in other music). This strikes me as a very Swedish song, but it’s also very unique.
(mp3 -- also available at tomashalberstad.wordpress.com)

9. Godzilla vs the Island of Manhattan (with You and I Somewhere In Between) (from the album I Worked on the Ships) – ballboy
This is a silly love song that’s serious. It could mean so many things. Every time I listen to it, I think of a new one.
(stream full album)

8. Two Skylights (from the album Hurry Up and Thrill Me) – Southern Belle
I did a fantastic write-up for Hurry Up and Thrill Me, and then realized the entire thing was about Two Skylights. Not only is this my favorite Southern Belle song (unfortunately, it sounds very little like the rest of their album; I’m reminded more of Ross McLeron’s solo work), but it’s also one of the most appropriate songs I’ve heard in a long time. Even the name -- which doesn’t appear anywhere in the lyrics -- is very fitting. I first heard Two Skylights this spring, and it’s a good spring song -- a bit morose, but also hopeful -- or even a summer song -- uncomplicated and, dare I say it, somehow very pure. You can hear their youth.

7. How Did We Forget (from the album From the Valley to the Stars) – El Perro del Mar
This is such an old-sounding song. My grandmother would love it. I love it, too. The first time I heard it, I knew -- this song was made for vinyl. I can imagine it most, in fact, as a scratchy record with a skip in it, the same loop playing over and over. Of course, I’d keep my record in pristine condition, if I had one, but this is one of those songs that would still sound terrific with a bit of dust and a few scratches. To add character, though it has plenty of that already. Yes it’s slow and yes it’s repetitive and yes it’s true it doesn’t really go anywhere, but something about it is -- God -- just gorgeous.
(stream)

6. Arrows (from the EP Favors and Fields) – Einar Stray
This is a really pretty song -- layered, beautifully orchestrated; delicate; soothing. Instrumental for nearly the first two minutes, Arrows has that Icelandic sound -- think Seabear, think Múm -- despite Einar Stray’s being from Norway. I don’t know much about Norwegian music, but if the rest of it sounds anything like this, I’ll be listening a lot more.
And I will refrain from being jealous because this is so good it’s beyond me. Yeah, jealous -- because this guy (not band -- one guy) is eighteen. I’m amazed.
(mp3 -- also available at nrk.no)

5. I’m a Lady (feat Trouble Andrew) (from the album Santogold) – Santogold
I didn’t like Santogold at first, and once I started liking her, I still didn’t like this song for quite a while. It’s different from my usual fare; poppier somehow (though I have no idea what genre this belongs to). And, of course, it’s catchy as hell. I appreciate it, though, especially the changes in pitch and inflection. The production is good, too. Not to sound too technical, though -- I’m a Lady is (in my opinion, at least) a perfectly executed fuck-you. And it’s a versatile one -- it could go so many ways. That kind of thing is hard to come by.

4. Lucky (B-side from the single Neo Violence) – the Tough Alliance
The lyrics (which are not the Tough Alliance’s own; it’s a cover) are not the most brilliant. I don’t really know what this song is about. Listening, I pay more attention to the sound. It’s floaty and ethereal and, as I wrote before, “sounding as if they’re shouted down a long tunnel, the vocals are echo-y, far away, perhaps almost all the way gone… To me, it sounds kinda like a memory.” That’s still what I’m most likely to think of with this song -- a memory, a lost childhood, or maybe just a dream from a childhood I never had. Definite melancholia.
(mp3 via Pitchfork)

3. Lovesong (B-side from the single Weekender) – Oliver North Boy Choir
I wrote about this one before, too – “It’s the right kind of love song -- one for the broken-hearted. I guess nearly all (good) love songs are somewhat broken-hearted, but this one seems even more so. It’s perhaps what happens when you’re still in love, but don’t want to be, kind of; the lie that you need to tell yourself, even though you know it’s not true.” There’s only one thing I’d like to add to that. It’s slow and delicate and lovely enough, instrumentally, but it’s the lyrics that really kill. Once I tried to listen to this ironically and it just didn’t work. It doesn’t want to be, but this song is totally a lie. And that makes it even more painful, and even more real, and an even better song.
(stream)

2. Oh! You Pretty Things (from the album Life Beyond Mars: Bowie Covered) – Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone made my list last year, with their sophomore album The Bird of Music. They released a remix album this year, but I didn’t like it. What I did -- do -- like is Oh! You Pretty Things, a weird, vastly slowed-down cover from an even weirder tribute album. My favorite part, I think, is the last minute and a quarter or so, which is instrumental and sounds like a lullaby, but I really don’t know what it is about this song that makes me so like it. Perhaps it’s something about the slightly fuzzy organs, the echo, the three-part vocal harmonies… I don’t know. I do know that it’s good, though. And, even as much as I like David Bowie, Au Revoir Simone have got him beat on this one.
(stream)

1. In a Jar (from the album Best of Bakers at Dawn) – Bakers at Dawn
If I were asked to choose a favorite new artist for the year, it would easily be Bakers at Dawn. In a Jar is only one of my favorite of his songs (and its not even one of the ones where he sounds exactly like Elliott Smith!). It’s short and demo-y, very raw. The lyrics aren’t terrific (although, admittedly, the voice pretty much is), and the guitar isn’t all that special. Two other instruments appear briefly, though, and while they’re oftentimes background, almost indistinguishable from the guitar, both lend the song an interesting texture, and all of it fits together perfectly. It sounds good -- really good.
Other songs may be catchy, may appeal to some fleeting sensation or resonate only among a select few, may hit and then fade quickly away. It’s rare that a song comes along that doesn’t do any of those things, but is instead simply and in its own right a good song. In a Jar, I think, does that. This song is gonna last.

--DL--
Travel as I Wait (Tomas Halberstad)
Arrows (Einar Stray)
Lucky (the Tough Alliance)

Bedste ti musik-beslægtede tinge fra 2008

10 Best Music-Related Things of 2008 -- I think that's pretty self-explanatory. No actual songs or albums included here.

10. Attending the Roskilde Festival. I guess it would be pretty lame of me to not put that on here.

9. Discovering some really wonderful stuff on albums/by bands I thought I hated. I’m thinking of two songs in particular: Heartbeats (video) (thanks Rasmus), from the 2006 album Deep Cuts, by the Knife (who I otherwise can’t stand), and The Twist, from Metric’s (still pretty blah) album Grow Up and Blow Away, originally recorded as their unreleased debut in 2001, and officially released for the first time early last year.

8. Becoming friends with Arya Imig. (I needed another one, and if that’s not music-related, I don’t know what is.)

7. Turning 21. (This would be higher on the list if I had actually utilized this even once.)

6. Seeing VEGA. All wood, all original (from, I believe, the 1950s), acoustics that I could tell -- even without a band in it -- would be beautiful. Possibly the most perfect venue in the world.

5. Rock camp kids. I worked briefly with two different groups this summer, doing sound, and as jealous as I am of these thirteen-year-old guitar virtuosos and shy seventeen-year-old singer-songwriters, I’m even more pleased by their talent. No matter how terrible they might sound (usually not so much so), any band whose members are visibly underage gets a plus in my book and a smile on my face.

4. Starting to like garage rock again. To explain this, I should explain my listening history, which is a bit weird. I’ll try to be brief: the first band I remember listening to, when I was VERY young, was the Beatles. The sixties and seventies have always been present. When I was a little older, I listened to mid-nineties sugary alternative pop, which gradually turned into alternative rock of the embarrassing sort by middle school. Midway through high school I convinced myself to like punk rock (PS Josh I never liked the Casualties) and this persisted through my first year of college. In my second year, I began studying Danish and listening to Danish streaming radio, which begat my current love of indie pop and twee.
With each new period, I suppressed the ones before it. Of course, there was always some overlap, both forward and backward -- I’ve liked Sigur Rós since I was about sixteen; I still occasionally listen to the Distillers -- but largely, previous tastes were eradicated. The sounds of the sixties, while still floating, annoyingly, around the peripherals, took the hardest hit. But in the past year or so I’ve been realizing more and more that many of the bands I like most are heavily influenced by music from that era, and I’ve been able to appreciate again the simultaneously jangling and fuzzy sound. Still, it’s only in the past few months that I’ve begun to really enjoy garage rock and psychadelia -- both new and old -- without feelings of derision and guilt, and I’m so glad for it.

3. These emails... Yeah, right. Like I am really going to let strangers read my mail.

2. Being in a position to take these photographs. It’s not actually the pictures that I care so much about -- it’s where I was standing. And what I was hearing.

1. Doing sound for bands whose singers run their vocal mics through guitar pedals. As far as I can recall, this has happened twice -- first with Andy Combs and the Moth (Let’s Ride – mp3) and more recently with Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk (full set – mp3) -- and it sounds awesome. Both the bands and the way the vocals turned out are really different, but wow -- people should do this more often. It’s only rarely that I make my own copy of a live recording, but I did that in both these cases, and I’ve listened to them over and over and over.

Best (favorite) songs and albums will be here soon.

--DL--
Let's Ride (Andy Combs and the Moth)
Live on KPSU (Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk)

Ærefulde omtaler?

While I wait for a couple mp3s to upload, here is yesterday’s playlist:

1. Warm Hands – An Horse
2. Tonite – Jarvis Cocker
3. Tell the King – the Libertines
4. Drama Queen – moi Caprice (DK)
5. Heartbeats – the Knife (SV)
6. The Squirrel and the Pine-Cone – Girls Love Rallie (DK)
7. Seconds Away – the Legends (SV)
8. Mom and Dad – the Bear Quartet (SV)
9. Relay Race – Billie the Vision and the Dancers (SV)
10. The Room, Tarzana – the Radio Dept. (SV)
11. Fish and Shark – Jonas Game (SV)
12. Love No (Delorean Remix) – the Teenagers
13. Soundwaves – Attention Now! (N)
14. Let’s Go Hunting – Blue Horns
15. Oh My God – Ida Maria (N)
16. Dance, Dance, Dance – Lykke Li (SV)

The past two shows (yesterdays and Wednesday’s) I tried to play songs I liked from 2008, but which for one reason or another probably won’t wind up on my forthcoming best-of lists.

The hour following mine (as well as Live Friday, to a lesser extent) also features a bunch of songs/albums which I had not previously heard (Lykke Li’s Dance, Dance, Dance should be included in that list) but that have been popping up on other people’s best-of lists this year -- including my personal favorite of those, the Walkmen’s In the New Year, as well as almost the entirety of No Age’s album Nouns.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (12. december)

Sluttet

Ikke med radio, men med min slutprøver. Og måske også, for en gang, med skole. Jeg er så træt af, alt jeg læser, måtte jeg snart hoste op igen. Hvis skribenter tænker og mener halv af alle tinge vi skriver og siger om dem og deres historier, den hader jeg alle af dem. Det er kun for meget -- og det kan jeg mere...

Men, radioprogrammet fra i onsdags -- det var godt, og bedre fordi jeg havde endnu sluttet min sidst slutprøve. Her er min spilleliste:

1. And Sleep al Mar – Au Revoir Simone
2. La Strada nel Bosco – Jens Lekman (SV)
3. Exit Bag – Andy Love (SV)
4. The Sweetness of Air France – Taken by Trees (SV, SV)
5. English Music (Destroyer) – Cake on Cake (SV)
6. At Some Point – Bakers at Dawn (SV)
7. Junk Bond Trader – Elliott Smith
8. Mind Blindness – Dirty on Purpose
9. Explosions – the Mary Onettes (SV)
10. Black Pearl – Death Valley Sleepers (DK)
11. You Don’t Dance – Lupus (DK)
12. Den Støjende Tid – Lampshade (DK)
13. Going to Where the Tea Trees Are – Peter Von Poehl (SV)
14. Young Turks (Disco Pusher remix) – Au Revoir Simone
15. Stay (Just a Little Bit More) – the Dø (F)

Og næste onsdag (17. november) skal jeg have min “Bedst af 2008.” Jeg har ikke endnu bestemt, om jeg skal spille yndlinge sange eller et sang fra mine yndlinge albumer, eller hvad... men det skal altså være et meget godt program -- det skal jeg nyde, i det mindste.

Jeg elsker “bedst af” lister -- ikke kun mine eget. Men jeg er ikke særlig godt med at lytte til nye musik, da albumerne kommer først ud, og så mangler jeg meget af årets bedste plader -- men den, i december, men denne lister, kan jeg finde ud af, hvad jeg skal prøve for næste året...

Så skal jeg faktist skrive tre lister i år -- en for sange, en for albumer, og også en af den ti tinge som var, synes jeg, bedste musik-beslægtede tinge for mig i året. (Den sidste er kun fordi jeg vil gerne skrive den; den må du ikke gerne læse.) Jeg synes, albumlisten er meste vigtig, så skal jeg sætte den op her sidste, måske næste torsdag, efter radioprogrammet. Andre to lister skal kom før den, måske i morgen og sondag, men jeg ved ikke.

Og også, efter programmet næste onsdag -- 17. december -- skal jeg igen til hos min forældre, så skal der ikke være radioprogrammer igen før januar.

Du må download Jens Lekmans sang La Strada nel Bosco, som jeg kan godt fordi 1) han synger på italiensk, og 2) det kommer fra en EP hedder You Deserve Someone Better than a Bum Like Me. Fantastisk.

English (short version) -- Next Wednesday’s show (that’s 17 december) will be my “best of 2008” list. I haven’t decided whether I’ll play my favorite songs, try to represent my favorite albums, or what, but it will be good. Since it’s a Wednesday, I’ll be talking again in Danish (perhaps a little English, though, but perhaps not), but I will post in the next week or so three “best of” lists -- one for albums, one for songs, and one called “The ten best music-related things of 2008,” which may appear as soon as tomorrow.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (10. december 2008)
La Strada nel Bosco (Jens Lekman)

Ekstra tid...

Back in Portland again and ridiculously busy.

Last night -- two radio hours, covering for Sound Judgment. The playlist is on the KPSU website, as are podcasts for hours one and two. Don’t expect a bonus Ashtrays, though; I played all of three Scandinavian artists. An okay program, though.

December’s upon us already, and I’m starting to think about my year-end lists (which will hopefully be completed a bit earlier than last year’s). Right now I’m listening to the new EP from the Fine Arts Showcase. It’s really good. And free.

More later.

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.

Ikke mere kæledyr

If one of the CD players hadn’t stopped functioning halfway through, this could have been my best show yet. Even so, it will, I think, go down in history due to my playing the Spot Magazine “Everything Pets” underwriting spot back to back with the community calendar advertising (unbeknownst to me) a Halloween showing of the film adaptation of Pet Sematary. Oh yes.

I also talked a bit about some interesting articles published in the most recent issue of a magazine I don’t usually (okay, ever) read, the American Conservative. (You, too, can join in doing something completely in contradiction with all previous political activity -- read the articles starting here.) Anyway, the editors asked eighteen contributors to write short essays on who they’re planning to vote for and why. If the results of this “survey” -- of people, remember, whose opinions are recognized by the readers of a nationally circulating magazine, and who are considered far enough to the right to be allowed to write for it -- are at all indicative of how the upcoming election will turn out, well, I’d say that’s very good.

A recap of what I said on the show: Of the eighteen, four were so displeased with their options that they plan to abstain from voting entirely. Two others, who plan on giving their votes to write-ins, might as well. Four more votes will go to third-party candidates. That leaves eight, and five of eight American conservatives support Obama. (PS -- the three who plan to vote for McCain are all reluctant.) Again -- oh yes.

Here is the playlist, which was mostly normal but with a vampire song and a mention of pagan holidays thrown in, just in case.
1. Hate to Say I Told You So – the Hives (SV)
2. Minua Ollaan Vastassa – Regina (F)
3. Blah Blah Blah – Say Hi to Your Mom
4. Current Acids – Shout Wellington Air Force (DK)
5. Piazza, New York Catcher – Belle & Sebastian
6. King Canute – the Kabeedies
7. Invisibility Trick – Stars in Coma (SV)
8. Le Beat’s on Fire – epo-555 (DK)
9. Mouth – No and the Maybes (DK)
10. I Wish You’d Stay – Club 8 (SV)
11. How Did We Forget? – El Perro del Mar (SV)
12. Leaving You Behind – Hello Saferide (SV)
13. Asleep – Juni Järvi (SV)
14. Locked in Tight – the Flaming Stars

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (31. oktober 2008)

En rigtig post!

Spillelisten!
1. Yes this is My Broken Shield - the Deer Tracks (SV)
2. I Know You Sleep - Bang Gang (IS)
3. Something New - Bakers at Dawn (SV)
4. Romance on Drugs - Little Jimmy Reeves (DK)
5. Drown them Out - Viva Voce
6. Avec - Dazzle Ships (DK)
7. For Lovers - Wolfman featuring Peter Doherty
8. Icecold Kisses - Ostrich (SV)
9. Ways to Dance - Kite (SV)
10. The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
11. Love Doesn't Last - Broder Daniel (SV)
12. Heartbeats - the Knife (SV)
13. Sovereign - the Duke Spirit
13. Bachelor Kisses - the Radio Dept. (SV)

Funny how one song can change the tone of the whole set, and you go from 'For Lovers' to 'Love Doesn't Last.' I'm talking, of course, about the new Bang Gang single, I Know You Sleep. It's from his third album, Ghosts from the Past, and admittedly the only track I've heard from the new album. But -- even though it sounded kind of flat and processed through the KPSU speakers when I played it on the show tonight -- I Know You Sleep pretty much puts the songs on the previous album (2003's Something Wrong) to bed.

The video was released about a week ago, I think, and I have to wonder if it was timed for Halloween. Even though I've never seen a B horror film, the I Know You Sleep video reminds me of a B horror film, complete with creepy sound effects, blue screen driving scenes, vicious dogs, and -- I don't want to give too much away, but -- a guy with too many sharp teeth, and the requisite heroic rescuer guy in the car, played, of course, by Bardi Johansson (the man behind Bang Gang) himself. What I won't give away is the ending, but it's... interesting.

At first, the song and the visuals seemed really incongruous, but upon further reflection, they go well together. Even the song's title begs for a creepy horror film to illustrate it. Otherwise, I mean, people might get confused and think it's a romantic song to be played at weddings (but seriously, Every Breath You Take?). It's got nice sentiment, though. I cannot breathe; I need you here... Hmm.

ALSO -- My Friday show falls on Halloween. A lot of other DJs this week have been doing themed shows; should I follow suit? I played a vampire show a couple months ago; I could do that again. Or I could just play the Knife for an hour. Or just do normal. Any requests? Suggestions?

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (29. oktober 2008)

Sidste tre programmer

I dag, jeg har kun links. Du kan måske allerede se, men jeg har ikke tiden, og jeg er nu nok ligeglad. Undskyld.

Fredag, 17. oktober: playlist -- podcast
Onsdag, 22. oktober: playlist -- podcast
Freday, 24. oktober: playlist -- podcast

I aften

Distinct possibility that there may be no show tonight. The sewers have ruptured or something, and the bottom half of the building KPSU is in is roped off with caution tape. Even if they get the pipes put back together by this evening, sewage tends to flow downward -- you know, with gravity -- and since the station is located in the sub-basement, I'm kind of thinking... don't get your hopes up.

Jeg bekymre mig

After several weeks of sleeping under all seven blankets in so cold it still felt like camping, the radiators in my building have finally been turned on. The noises they are making sound like my apartment is going to blow up. I'm really scared. If you don't hear from me after this, you'll know what happened.

For sent igen

I'm trying to get everything all caught up, which will probably never happen. Here, though, are my missing playlists.

Fra i fredags (10. oktober):
1. Feelings. Getting Stronger in the Night - Moneybrother (SV)
2. Loaded Gun - the Charade (SV)
3. Where Birds Don't Fly - Club 8 (SV)
4. She Says It's Alright - the Rentals
5. The Gray - Daníel Ágúst (IS)
6. Two Skylights - Southern Belle
7. Lund - Hello Saferide (SV)
8. You're So Great - Dreamboy (SV)
9. Feels Like Drowning - the Lost Patrol Band (SV)
10. Wooden Heart - the Duke Spirit
11. I Know a Place - Jay Reatard
12. Exit Bag - Andy Love (SV)
13. ADHD - Jonas Game

This show was interrupted by a fire drill between tracks 4 and 5. I put the automix on, and I don't know what played then. It messed up my playlist. I think the show wound up okay, though. I didn't mind to play so exclusively Swedes.

Spillelisten fra i gårs (15. oktober):
1. I Grunden er Afgrunden Grunden - Thunderbear (DK)
2. Undefined - Bakers at Dawn (SV)
3. Looking at You is Like Looking at the Sun - Juni Järvi (SV)
4. Suffer for Fashion - of Montreal
5. Ex Lion Tamer - Wire
6. The Beat Dies - the Raveonettes (DK)
7. Lost in You - Tiger Baby (DK)
8. Today - Agata & Me (DK)
9. Summer Sun - Batte (NO)
10. The Sweetness of Air France - Taken by Trees (SV, SV)
11. Going to Where the Tea Trees Are - Peter von Poehl (SV)
12. Crooked Spine - Sambassadeur (SV)
13. Vinterbørn - Under Byen (DK)

Yesterday I also guest-hosted My Secret Crush (the 10 o'clock show) in Zach's absence. This show consisted mainly of me starting out by ridiculously embarrassing myself, followed by a redemption of sorts with 40 minutes of good Scottish pop. If either of those things sound interesting to you, you can find the playlist or stream/download the show via the KPSU site.

This reminds me, also -- today's featured artist over at It's A Trap! has members who are both Swedish and Scottish, or something like that. I haven't listened yet, but that kind of combination has got to be pretty alright.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (10. oktober 2008)
Ashtrays Podcast (15. oktober 2008)

Den her sang behøvede ikke at have et remiks

I spent an hour this morning trying to get Firefox AK's myspace page to load, and once it did, I wished it hadn't.

Let me explain. I guess that when you have a great song like Anna, you're eventually going to have to let somebody remix it, and who better than a member of your own backing band? However, if I'd been Annika Norlin (otherwise known as Hello Saferide) I might have been tempted to kick Andrea Kellerman (otherwise known as the aforementioned Firefox AK) out of the band when I heard her remix of Anna.

To be fair, it's -- for a remix -- relatively (and blessedly) short, clocking in at 2:55, and I'll admit that it has improved a bit with repeated listens. But this -- the original -- was a song that couldn't have been improved on, and it's also not a song that anyone should ever dance to -- or at least not dance to in the remixed fashion, if you know what I mean. Occasionally, putting electro beats under sad songs works; here it does not. Despite what I said about the remix improving after a few listens, this is not something I want to hear. Ever again.

And it's not just the beat, it's the lyrics. The original Anna is beautiful and heartwrenching (and would be even without the music), but in the remix, half the lines are gone, and the lyrics are destroyed. I just don't know.

On her website, Hello Saferide writes that the remix breaks her heart -- I have to wonder if she really means that in a good way.

Usually, Firefox AK is an artist I can either take or leave. I enjoyed Once I Was Like You; wasn't too fond of Winter Rose. And, of course, she was the other voice on Hello Saferide's Long Lost Penpal -- no complaints there. There are very few artists who are so hit-or-miss for me -- usually I just give up. The Anna remix is definitely a miss, but hopefully whatever she comes out with next will be more along the hit side, because Firefox AK really is an artist I'd like to like.

Download the original version of Anna, or stream the remix here.

--DL--
Anna (Hello Saferide)

Spillelisten!

Typed this up last night during the show, then forgot to post it.

Spillelisten for 8. oktober:
1. Life's A Beach - Studio (SV)
2. Ball & Chain - Social Distortion
3. Something Nice - Stina Nordenstam (SV)
4. Europa - Entakt (DK)
5. White Noise - Death Valley Sleepers (DK)
6. Arrows - Einar Stray (N)
7. Heartbeats - the Knife (SV)
8. Skin of the Night - m83
9. Adrenaline (Darkboy/TAT200 Remix) - Oliver North Boy Choir (FN, DK)
10. Travel as I Wait - Tomas Halberstad (SV)

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

I dags ord er nedslået

As if it couldn’t get any worse... Today, It’s A Trap! announced that Hello Saferide will play not just one but two shows in New York later this month -- one of which, to add insult to injury, will be free. As of now, I officially hate everyone who lives in New York.

Her website is down again, though. Perhaps that means she's adding west coast dates?

I uges' spillelister

Onsdag, 1. oktober:
1. Bear Quartet International Airport - the Bear Quartet (SV)
2. You Make Me Weak at the Knees - Electrelane
3. Hands Remember - Seabear (IS)
4. Det Kommer Bara Leda Till Nåt - Säkert! (SV)
5. Shoreline - Broder Daniel (SV)
6. Paris 2004 - Peter Bjorn & John (SV)
7. Tonight I Have to Leave It - Shout Out Louds (SV)
8. Noisy Summer - the Raveonettes (DK)
9. Seconds Away - the Legends (SV)
10. Keep it Down - the Worn-Out Virgins (DK)

--

Fredag, 3. oktober:
1. Hoppipolla - Sigur Rós (IS)
2. Not Enough - Maria Timm (DK)
3. I'll Be Fine - Bertine Zetlitz (N)
4. I Love You, You Imbecile - Pelle Carlberg (SV)
5. Hej Då Karolin - the Honeydrips (SV)
6. Saintly Friend - Said the Shark (DK)
7. Lion Tamer vs Tigers - Echo is Your Love (FN)
8. Because Trees Can Fly - Lampshade (DK)
9. For Once In Your Life Try to Fight For Something You
Believe In - moi Caprice (DK)
10. Love and Nostalgia - Friday Bridge (SV)
11. Stop in the Name of Love - Bang Gang (IS)
12. Comforting Sounds - Mew (DK)

Næsten alle bands, fra begge dage (minus kun Friday Bridge, Maria Timm, moi Caprice, og the Worn-Out Virgins) har været spillede sammen med the Bear Quartet på mit program før nu. Interessant.

Også, i gårs, spillede Sigur Rós i Portland. Da jeg gik hjem fra mit dansk klasse, gik jeg forbi koncertpladsen, og set jeg ikke dem, men deres to meget storre busser, og også en hel semi af deres udrustning. Jeg vil hellere har set dem -- eller hørte dem -- men det kunne ikke være. Jeg håber -- og jeg er sikker -- koncerten var godt for dem som var der. Men jeg skulle har været der i stedet.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (1. oktober 2008)
Ashtrays Podcast (3. oktober 2008)

Undskyld

First of all, I must apologize to everyone who has emailed me in the past few months, and whose messages I have not attended to. Secondly, I apologize for not keeping this blog regularly. There are reasons for these things, but they are vague and some are pathetic and others make sense only to me, and to make a long story short, I'll just say things have been a bit of a struggle of late. I'll never be the most prompt or reliable correspondent, but hopefully things will get better...

As to the playlists from last week's shows, due to both the amount of time elapsed since then and the lingering malaise, I'll refer you again to the KPSU archives for Wednesday and Friday. Both shows, I thought, were pretty good, although not without a few technical blunders caused by a new board which I am unfamiliar with and greatly dislike. I'm sure it was very expensive and, in the long run, I'm sure it will probably serve me well, but right now it reminds me of Barbie accessories.

On a radio-related note, denzions of PSU and the surrounding area may look for me in an upcoming issue of the Daily Vanguard, in which my photo may or may not appear; there was a photographer in during my show Friday. I'm very likely slouching, and it was time to do laundry, so I was dressed in -- for me -- rather an unusual way, and I probably look very, very much like a boy. Terrific. But perhaps they'll use a picture of someone else, or just run text.

Anyway, happier notes:

The new Hello Saferide is out; if you haven't heard it yet, do so. Mp3s are available from Klicktrack, CDs from Razzia (or, in the US, It's A Trap!), and vinyl will be out, in limited edition, 10 October from Hot Stuff.

Tomorrow the second half of Eardrums Music's four "CD" fall sampler will be released. The first half came out last Tuesday and is available for download. Check Eardrums tomorrow for part two. Should be good. Lots of Scandinavian music (although, to my estimation, not as much, or at least in as high a percentage, as on the summer sampler). Favorites from the first half included Slumber, by Norwegians Herostratos, and 7-11, a Shangri-Las-sounding Ramones cover performed by Floridians the Postmarks. Everything fits, I suppose, under the "pop" umbrella, but there's something for everybody, from shoegaze to bubblegum to almost hard rock to twee. Just don't let Volume 1's saccharine-sweet opening track scare you away.

Um... what else? I also haven't been reading much about or listening to new music lately. A few weeks ago, Oliver North Boy Choir released a cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain's Teenage Lust. I wish I'd written about this in a timely fashion... If you haven't heard this fine version already, it's available via the JAMC Covers Project. I think they did a very nice job with it -- Teenage Lust was always one of my favorite JAMC songs, and ONBC made it their own while still staying very true to the original. You can hear both bands clearly, which is cool. I often shy away from covers of songs I already like, and I've actually heard some bad covers of Teenage Lust before -- even the Mary Chain's own Desdemoana mix is absolutely awful -- but ONBC did real well. Now they're working on a new EP, Tonight, which will be released sometime in November.

And -- finally -- did I mention the new Hello Saferide album is out? I'm sure I did, but once more can't hurt. I am fully in love.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (24. september 2008)
Ashtrays Podcast (26. september 2008)

Radio fra i fredags

Today is my day off and I slept in until 9:30, then lay in bed with my eyes closed for another fifteen minutes because I was cold. Later I’ll do laundry and dig an extra blanket out of my closet to keep me warmer at night.

Right now I’m working on sorting all the songs in my iTunes according to whether they are radio-friendly or afflicted with curse words. This is a project that will probably never be done. So far, I’ve made it to the Acid House Kings.

Here is Friday’s playlist, as promised:

1. Young Love – Moto Boy (SV)
2. Look at the Sun – Bang Gang (IS)
3. Hey Indian – Nils Gröndahl and Oliver Hoiness (DK)
4. Godrevy – Patrick Wolf
5. Get Sick Soon – Hello Saferide (SV)
6. The Strawberry Festival – Oh No Ono (DK)
7. Mere af det Samme og Meget Mere af det Hele – Under Byen (DK)
8. Couleurs – M83
9. Glósóli – Sigur Rós (IS)
10. From the Valley to the Stars – El Perro del Mar (SV)
11. Maundy Thursday – Air France (SV)
12. Petite – Pierre (DK)
13. Calvi – Sambassadeur (SV)

Perhaps it’s not immediately obvious, but a lot of the songs were instrumentals. Later I had a dream in which another DJ told me that he’d listened and thought the set sounded like I was dead. I think it just sounded relaxed. Anyway.

If you missed Sound Judgment last night and want to hear more of me talking in English (and playing a lot of non-Scandinavian stuff, music I wouldn’t normally play on my own show) you can find the playlist here and download or stream the show (two hours' worth) here.

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

Sund dømmekraft

Tonight from 10 pm to midnight (Pacific time), while Arya is out of the office, I will be hosting Sound Judgment. You can listen at 1450 am in Portland, or at kpsu.org.

I'll post Friday's playlist once I figure out what tonight's is going to be.

NEJ...

Hello Saferide is coming to the United States in October but she is skipping the West Coast. I am so upset I could use swear words. Or shout.

Or cry. Which is probably what I'll do.

Please come to Portland, Annika. We love you here.

Ingen elskov

This morning while perusing the Forkcast (to see how many of the artists’ names I actually recognized (not very many)) I found a really disturbing remix of the Teenagers’ song Love No. It was mixed by Delorean, whose name is very similar to that of a Portland band, and I didn’t realize until later that they weren’t. I think that if this confusion hadn’t been the case, I wouldn’t have bothered. Why? I like the song, and I didn’t really know if I wanted to see what a remix would do to it.

I said it was disturbing, and I guess I don’t really mean that in a bad way. I think what unsettled me the most was the fact in the remix, Delorean removed all the unkind, unhappy, not in love lyrics, retaining only the constant refrain “Are you in love?” I think you have to have heard the original version for the significance of this change to really sink in -- but even if you haven’t, five and a half minutes of this sad, isolated voice (because in the remix, that’s largely how it sounds) asking whether you’re in love, even over a dance beat, is just… I don’t know. I didn’t like it for the first minute or so, then -- quickly -- it grew on me. And I became even sadder than before. This is one remix I will never dance to.

The Teenagers’ original version of Love No is sarcastic to the core, and when lead Quentin Delafon asks “Are you in love?” it’s a joke. In the remix, it’s plaintive, almost a plea; he really wants you to say yes. The song is still called Love No, though -- maybe because he’s already been told no, and now he’s trying, again, to see if maybe he can get the right answer, even though he knows it’s futile, but maybe just once…

I’m listening to the original again now, and must say -- as much as I like the Teenagers’ unadulterated (had to say it) version, I think the remix is even better. At least it hits me more.

If you do the Pitchfork thing, you probably heard both of these ages ago, but if not, you can download the remix, and stream the original at myspace.

--DL--
Love No – Delorean Remix (the Teenagers)

Spillelisten

Here’s Wednesday’s playlist, even though nobody cares.

1. The Tape – Working for a Nuclear Free City
2. Everything’s Gone – Bang Gang (IS)
3. I Want You – Mugison (IS)
4. Examinor – epo-555 (DK)
5. Norman Bleik – I Was A King (N)
6. Your Name Here – the Bear Quartet (SV)
7. Styrke – Lis Er Stille (DK)
8. Teenage Lust – Oliver North Boy Choir (DK)
9. Pet Grief – the Radio Dept. (SV)
10. Downfall – Resplandor
11. Get With the Program – I Am Bones (DK)
12. Watery (Drowning is Just Another Word for Being Buried Alive Under Water) – A Sunny Day in Glasgow
13. Springtime – Rumskib (DK)
14. Everything You Say – the Legends (SV)

I was going for kind of a shoegazey set -- or as much so as I could -- and today will most likely contain at least a fair amount of instrumental tracks. I’m in a weird mood lately.

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (17. September 2008)

Ikke normalt

I don’t usually write posts like this, but today (perhaps due in part to my annoyance with the weather) I wanted to. I’m sorry in advance. And I’ll put yesterday’s playlist up soon.

I will admit I’m guilty of it too: downloading mp3s which seem interesting, listening to them once, perhaps twice, and then abandoning them to the dark folds of my iTunes library.

But every once in a while, on a day like today, I go through said library and find things that I can’t remember but vaguely, and play them again, and am intrigued (probably again) -- and then I even go online to further investigate the band.

Today’s case in point: The Echoing Green, who are actually from New Mexico, which is probably partially accountable for my negligence of their music. I found a song of theirs called Seaside, in the iTunes comment box of which I’d written “sounds so familiar.” (I do things like this when something reminds me of something else but I can’t remember what.) With a repeat listen, I got a total M83 vibe -- and from not just the instruments but also the vocals. A beautiful blend of shoegazeyness (I’m sure that’s not a word) and pop and Cure-esque depression.

I was beating myself up for missing out on this, and then I went and found their myspace (don't do it), since their real website hasn’t been updated since 2004. While the myspace selection of songs is perhaps not representative of their whole catalog, it’s also generally true that bands put their best songs up on there, isn’t it? Here’s what I think of those six:

1) Sanctuary – Awful. And as soon as the girl starts singing, it sounds like Evanescence, which is even worse than… anything.

2) Blind – Sounds like a bad Nine Inch Nails song. Usually I (surprisingly enough) like Nine Inch Nails. But this is really bad.

3) Seaside – See the previous, laudatory, description. This sounds completely different than their other songs. If you told me it was secretly another band, I would believe you.

4) Here is the House – Not bad. Sounds a lot like Depeche Mode. A bit overlong -- getting overdone toward the end.

5) Flame – Most of it does not stand out. However, while I’m not saying she has a bad voice, it would sound a lot better if the girl did not sing. The further this song progresses, the more it sounds like something from the eighties, perhaps one of the ballads performed by a hair band. (Oh, but now it’s got a 90s-era Madonna beat.) And it ends poorly. Despite all this, Flame is my favorite of the previously unheard songs.

6) The Story of Our Lives – You know how some bands use really obvious drum machines and it sounds cool? This doesn’t. It sounds like Depeche Mode again, and while I don’t particularly like Depeche Mode, their heyday was nearly 20 years ago. You get what I mean? Move on.

Overall, it’s not horrible (except Sanctuary) and I know at least one person who would probably really like this. But to me, it sounds like a cross between early (by which I mean 80s) electro/mope rock and this dancey, female-dominated genre of the early 90s that I never listened to enough to be able to properly describe. Maybe it’s rave music. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think that that’s probably what it is. If I listened to it for a long time, I would probably get to like -- or at least tolerate -- it more. But I don’t want to do that. Frankly, I'm embarrassed that if my neighbors walk by in the hallway, they might hear what I'm listening to and think I like it.

So -- great -- now Seaside is spoiled for me, and, if I’m particularly unfortunate, M83 will be for a while, too.

On the other hand, one less band to be upset about nobody having leaked their new album onto the internet yet. Only six days until Hello Saferide!

--DL--
Seaside (The Echoing Green)

Ekstra...

Her er spillelisten fra i onsdags:

1. I’d Rather Dance With You – Kings of Convenience (NW)
2. Exit Bag – Andy Love (SV)
3. Hungry Heart – Sexton Blake
4. Who Let You Come Out? – Agata & Me (DK)
5. Fljótavik – Sigur Rós (IS)
6. Dancing Behind My Eyelids – Múm (IS)
7. Mr. Beerbourineman – Oceano da Cruz (DK)
8. Hotel Room – Richard Hawley
9. This Moment – Under Electric Light
10. Blue & Green – the Little Hands of Asphalt (NW)
11. Subtle Changes – Sambassadeur (SV)
12. Anna – Hello Saferide (SV)
13. Stick to You – Billie the Vision & the Dancers (SV)
14. Tomorrow – the Concretes (SV)

Og fra i dag:

1. Because Trees Can Fly – Lampshade (DK)
2. Disappearing Act – the Bear Quartet (SV)
3. The Man Who Came to Stay – Babyshambles
4. At Some Point – Bakers at Dawn (SV)
5. I Won’t Ever Let You Down – Jackson (DK)
6. At Least I’m Honest – Tiger Baby (DK)
7. Fallen Snow (the Teenagers remix) – Au Revoir Simone
8. Hold On to Me, Baby – Air France (SV)
9. Ilotikaamme – Mikko Singh (SV)
10. Saintly Friend – Said the Shark (DK)
11. Better Days – Club 8 (SV)
12. Little Dance – Jesper Norda (SE)
13. The Twist – Frightened Rabbit
14. Fish and Shark – Jonas Game (SV)
15. Vi Kommer att Dö Samtidgt – Säkert! (SV)

Download Andy Love’s Exit Bag and Jesper Norda’s Little Dance. Both very good and mellow, albeit in different ways. Podcasts will be up later -- sorry for the delay, but there's nothing I can do; the KPSU archive is down.

Uh, well... In other, better, news, Avi (It’s A Trap!) confirms that the new Hello Saferide album will be released on vinyl, possibly as early as the CD/digital release; no more than a few weeks after. Cross your fingers for sooner rather than later.

Arya informs me that (in especially good news for those who, like me, couldn’t get the MSN video thing to work with their browsers) the Anna video is now up on Pitchfork. Mark Hogan does a better job of describing it the second time around, but not by much. At least in my opinion. Maybe, I think, the problem is just that he doesn’t know what it’s like when your heart breaks…

--DL--
Ashtrays Podcast (10. september 2008)
Ashtrays Podcast (12. september 2008)
Exit Bag (Andy Love)
Little Dance (Jesper Norda)

Næsten ny (kun en uge gammel)

Great. Now I have a Rod Stewart song stuck in my head.

It's actually not that bad, though. It occurred to me yesterday that I hadn’t heard anything from Au Revoir Simone, one of my favorite American bands, forever -- no tours, no new albums -- nothing. (Of course, to be fair, I hadn’t really been looking.) A quick myspace blog search revealed that they have been posing for magazine fashion spreads, running through a quick European mini-tour, and -- oh, yeah -- recording, in conjunction with fellow New Yorkers Disco Pusher, a cover of Rod Stewart’s Young Turks. You can’t download it, but there’s a stream over at myspace, and I’ve been playing it all day…

Another ARS thing I didn’t know: Heather (one of the girls) is studying astrophysics at Columbia University and has a blog about space/science. God I love this band.

Jeg elsker Anna.

God, just couldn’t wait. Hello Saferide is all over the news lately. Of course, her new album, More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide, will be out 24. September. The first single, Anna, was released about a week ago, and is now available for free via myspace -- or, on second thought, why don’t I just make it easier, allow you to avoid myspace entirely, and put it up here?

The new single earned a nice write-up on Pitchfork (reinforcing my belief that Marc Hogan is actually the only person who writes for Pitchfork; seriously, at least 95 percent of everything I’ve read on there was written by him), and has also been featured on a bunch of blogs… And now there’s a wonderful video, the saddest video in the world.

For a less-sad video, there is also a live one of Arjeplog, available on PSL. The write-up there is in Swedish, and since I miss translations, I translated it all. I did the last paragraph myself, because it had the most words I already knew, and then I sort of cheated and used google translator for the first part. Of course, google translator, while very useful, is not very good at grammar and sentence structure and things, and it also misses compound words quite a lot, so I still had to go in and fix more than half of it anyway. Well, I pretty much re-translated the whole thing. But it was fun.

Anyway. The wording here is still at times a little awkward, but now it at least all makes sense. And so, for those non-Swedish-reading devotees of Hello Saferide, here is a translation of the PSL write-up, in the good English that you can read:

/ Music With: Hello Saferide

We are very proud; today this will premier on ‘Music With.’

It is wise to prepare to expect no handclaps and hardly any acoustic guitars on the upcoming record, Hello Saferide let be known a few weeks ago. And certainly ‘More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide’ sounds more subdued and bleak than her debut. The shape of the sound is harder and one can clearly hear that it is the master Andreas Mattsson as the producer.

Annika Norlin wanted us to see each other in a church or in a churchyard. It was the latter. Therefore, yesterday we met in the forest churchyard (Skogskyrkogården) outside Stockholm to play in a PSL version of the new album’s last song, Arjeplog, a tune she wrote after she lived in, er… Arjeplog [it’s a little town in northern Sweden] for two weeks last spring. What did she do there? Got her driver’s license, of course.

It’s cute, and, while it’s not quite Anna, I do like the song. I also like that at one point, you can hear birds chirping in the background.

Finally, you can pre-order the new CD via Bengan’s. (No word yet on whether there will be vinyl.) As I understand it, pre-ordering will ensure that the album arrives at your home on release day. Which is less than three weeks away. OH MY GOD.

--

After a bit of quiet, Sincerely Yours put out a few new things last week. I’m beginning to get their pattern -- nothing, and then a whole bunch. It works.

Anyway -- a new Air France video, to go with the song Collapsing at Your Doorstep, from their most recent album. I never thought I’d contentedly spend four and a half minutes watching windmills, but I did. Normally I’m not a video person, but this is strangely good, in, as SY writes, a mesmerizing way.

Also out is a new three-track single from Nordpolen. The actual single, Vem Har Sagt, can now be streamed on myspace. If you have the patience to do so in thirty-second clips, the other two tracks can also be streamed through artful manipulation of the preview function at Klicktrack. Of course, you can also buy them.

What I’ve heard sounds like other stuff I’ve heard by Nordpolen, and like other stuff that has come out on Sincerely Yours. (Except that he sings in Swedish.) Good sound.

There is also a Nordpolen T-shirt. I find the design (look at it) very attractive. If more things in the world looked like this, I would be very happy. Of course, I don’t really wear T-shirts any more, and even if I did, with the current exchange rate, while Warren Buffet might be able to afford to buy things from Sweden, I certainly can’t. You would think IKEA could afford to pay me more…

--DL--
Anna (Hello Saferide)