The Tough Alliance - Lund September 29

How the hell could I stand in a queue an hour for two posers who leave the stage after four songs? I knew what to expect but was still mad at the band. The Tough Alliance were at the peak of their career and provoked us. Koka Kola Veins was a hit, the rest was shit.

A year later, The Tough Alliance visited Blekingska for the third time. I did not get to hear anyone in the queue saying "the world's worst live band" this time. I soon came to realise that more things had chanced. The DJ booth contained two boys who were doing their best to kill the evening with terrible music, but they did not succeed. The club was full of people, and I was full of alcohol when it stroke me around midnight that it would be a good idea to move to a better position before the show started. There were hoards of people and I pushed my way forward to an empty space one meter in front of the scene. In some strange way, I stood at the front of the crowd when the gig began. I looker around and noticed that many people in the audience had never been at a pop club before.

The atmosphere was full of expectations when The Tough Alliance played at Blekingska one year ago. Yesterday was strange. The audience was not particularly interested in music and The Tough Alliance themselves seemed moderately interested. A bunch of brat girls stepped up on the stage during the first song. They would not had noticed the difference between a casting for Idol, and Eric and Henning in The Tough Alliance anyway. Unfortunately, they refused to leave the scene. The gig was thus terminated after two and a half songs due to safety reasons. I do not remember which songs they played. The arrangers at Blekingska could certainly had done a lot of things differently, but they were right to stop the show. It would be idiocy to continue when they no longer could gurantee the safety of the audience. The "gig" could be summed up as a tragicomedy in one very short act.

The DJ boys started to play their music again. A girl soon asked me if Tough Alliance would go on stage again. She looked like a kind person so I did not say that they had gone out smoking only to play another hour, followed by a gig with Embassy and after party in Malmö. Instead, I said the only sensible thing there was to say - The Tough Alliance are not coming back.

And so it is. TTA is an internal joke which has grown too big. Koka Kola Veins meant a lot once but that time is long gone now. One hit wonders. Goodbye TTA, I will not miss you.

The Autocollants - Four and a Half

Four and a Half is only 48 seconds but still the best track on The Autocollants' collection Why Could Not Things Just Stay the Same.

Shelflife are generous and offer a free download of this record at their website.

Overtaken!

The number of concerts in the Lund/Malmö region is more than enough for a pop music overdose, but you could always get more. I asked myself a couple of weeks ago whether Lund was on the verge of being sidelined as a concert scene. I have now seen Debaser's autumn program, which is a key that can not be argued against. Lund and Malmö can not match the concert scene in Stockholm any longer when it comes to the more well-known bands. We get to see many bands, but Stockholm always seems to be the first priority.

Langauge of Flowers' first concert in Sweden was at Debaser in Stockholm (on January 13, 2006).
Lucky Soul's first concert in Sweden will be arranged at Debaser in Stockholm (on December 1, 2006).

I really want to defend the promoters at Mejeriet and Blekingska in Lund, but the short version is that no one is interested in setting up a show with Lucky Soul. That is the bitter truth.
Furthermore, Mates of State (spring 2005) and Sufjan Stevens (spring 2004) have both already played played in Lund, so I can understand that they are not the highest priority for the promoters. I must learn to discover bands in time.

In the end, it is still quite unncessary to whine about the concert scene in Lund. I do not believe that Lucky Soul, Mates of State or Sufjan Stevens even at their best shows ever would be near Language of Flowers' wonderful concert at Mejeriet in Lund on May 27 this year. Please come back, I miss you!

I still miss you
sometimes I do
sometimes I do

The Sunny Era - Saturn Blue Smoke

The Sunny Era have posted four songs from their debut album Lost Connection on their website. Their best song is not found there though. Saturn Blue Smoke is something as unusual as a male vocals song on this blog. The revolution continues tomorrow with house mixes.

Lucky Soul will play in Stockholm on December 1

Lucky Soul to Sweden!

I am especially happy for Psymon who told me about Ali Howard's wonderful band. I will not afford to go to our capital city and it really breaks my heart because I was more than happy to trade away all shows this autumn for this concert and you probably think that it is pathetic to build a future on a single concert and you are free to feel so but then you have not understood anything at all because there are bands which are worth taking a bullet for and Lucky Soul are a band to die for and this show would change everything. Everything.

I have learned that boys do not cry so I will try to get myself together, but it is so hard. Please someone, give me a dream to build a life on. Just give me love.

Your covers blown

I came to think about cover songs I never get tired of. Some of my favourite covers are listed below, but I do not rank the songs this time. Covers should be fun. Pretensions are saved for future posts.

Eva Cassidy - Over the Rainbow
Introducing this list with anyone else than Eva Cassidy would be like forgetting Dennis Bergkamp while you are talking about great football players. First, you buy the compilation Songbird. Then you play the tenth track Over the Rainbow. 3:19 into the song is heartbreaking. I could fill this entire list with Eva Cassidy, and not a single song would be a filler. After you have dried your tears you may as well continue with Fields of Gold (by Sting) and cry some more. Then Kathy's Song (by Simon and Garfunkel). Eva Cassidy is for us who believe that music can be larger than The Embassy and their laptops that froze just in time for the encore at their so called "concert".

The Maybellines - This and That by Acid House Kings
Say Yes If You Love Me is fantastic, but any band can make one hit. It is therefore ironic that a cover song made me understand the greatness of Acid House Kings. After further listening, I realised I had discovered two good bands at once.

Sambassadeur - La Chanson de Prévert by Serge Gainsbourg
The soundtrack of spring 2005 is still played with pleasure, with "skip track" on the remote within reach. Sambassadeur made half a record to love forever.

Pet Shop Boys - Always on My Mind
If I made ​​you feel second best, I'm so sorry, I was blind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
 
Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
Satisfied

I do not know the whole story behind Always on My Mind, but I know it was recorded by Elvis and that he never did justice to the song. When I think of Pet Shop Boys I think of two songs, It's a Sin and Always on My Mind. The DJs at the discotheques should play Pet Shop Boys more often.

Saint Etienne - Kiss and Make Up by The Field Mice
Some people have made up their mind in advance and already decided to hate. There is no point in trying to reason with people who call Saint Etienne "worthless, braindead euro which only worked because the girl was hot". It is their loss. Saint Etienne is the only British band from the mid-nineties I still listen to a lot today and that is hardly a coincidence. Kiss and Make Up is a brilliant cover of the sleepy original by The Field Mice.

The Arrogants - Shellshock by New Order
It is unusal that good covers do not sound more or less just like the original. Shellshock in this version sounds so much The Arrogants that not even the most hardcore New Order fans would recognize it. That is good for me as I adore The Arrogants while I rate New Order as a good band only.

Kathryn Williams - Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
You don't really care for music, do you?

Laura Watling - Sunday Came and Went by The Castaway Stones
Laura Watling is perhaps the new Amelia Fletcher of the 2000s. This comparison may sound stupid to most people, but to me it is ingenious here and now.

The Shermans - Plastic Bouquet by Tara Emely Needham
I really need to find the original. The Shermans' version sounds like music to grow up to in a nursery. That is of course a compliment.

Belle and Bebastian - Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son by France Gall
Sorry ... Sorry if my French was bad.
Ohh lovely Isobel, you have nothing to apologize for. Unlike France Gall, you can sing this song.

The Lucksmiths - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
Everyone will sooner or later come to a time in life when one discovers The Smiths. The Smiths have not been and will never become the most important band in my life. In the same way I stopped listen to The Cure, I have also left The Smiths behind me.

The Lucksmiths cover reminds me though about what I saw in The Smiths. No other band can describe a miserable night out better. And this version brings a new meaning to the lyrics. I have always wondered if they were about a very good friend or love.

Honorable mention for their good effect on a dance floor:
Blondie - Hanging on the Telephone by The Nerves
Supergrass - Some Girls Are Bigger than Others by The Smiths

We Are Soldiers We Have Guns - Songs That No One Will Hear

Malin Dahlberg. The name belongs to the carrier of one of the world's most beautiful voices. Malin is perhaps Sweden's most talented pop musician.

Laurel Music is Sweden's best band. I can not write a text about Malin without also mentioning Laurel Music. Listen to Make Believe once and you will understand. It has been very quiet on Laurel Music for a while. Mr Angergård of Labrador Records does not want to say when Laurel Music's new album will be released. Instead, he decorates his record label's website with promotion for his own boring band The Legends. Priorities Labrador, priorities!

Malin is involved in several bands. We Are Soldiers We Have Guns originally started as Malin's own solo project for songs that did not fit Douglas Heart (another band of hers). Based on the band description, it is clear that We Are Soldiers We Have Guns mean a lot to Malin. She plays with Joakim Rosén in a band which has become much more important than being a project for songs that were left over.

We Are Soldiers We Have Guns do not scream for attention. At most, they whisper to us that they exist from a small ad in the indie pop fanzine Ettnollett. Songs That No One Will Hear appears on We Are Soldiers We Have Guns' new mini-album To Meet Is Murder which will be released later this fall. I will wait for it, Malin and Jocke. You do not let go when you find something or someone that lights up your life.

Songs That No One Will Hear

Good morning weathershow

good morning joan
did you wake up alone
did you dream you woke up happy
with a phonebook full of names
just forget about mary
she says everything's scary
she got locked inside her skin
get near her, she'll drag you in
i'd call on you if i could
if you were less like me i would
save you from this if i could
if i were less like you, god knows i would (save you from this)
spare us all this shit
but you're all just like me so i quit!
my name is yours
can i sleep on your floor
see, my heroes changed their minds
and i lost my numbers


Damn it was really bad last night. The Legends were boring, the dj played terrible music, and I did not feel at home at all at Blekingska.

The Feverfew - Goodbye Blue Monday

and you said yourself
that Im falling towards the sun
like I disguise myself
to make you forget I'm the one
like this was just a trap i built
and you are just a game i won
and I dont want to run

About being judged on something real

I have written very little about other things than music on this blog. That is a deliberate choice. There are already too many pointless "a day in the life" blogs. Today I make an exception.

For most people life is all about pretending. Some do not know, but that is how it is. Socialisation begins when a child expectantly goes to the first day of school. Many children understand the rules of the game this early. Others pay for naivism much later in life.

The culture sets limits. People are rarely allowed to grow. It is easier to kick than hold out a hand. The indie pop culture is sometimes nice (like when Friday I'm in Love is played at the pop club on a Friday night as the first song after a concert) but just as often disgusting. I remember when I was new in Lund and visited Club Indigo at Blekingska for the first time. A stranger came up to me and asked me a lot of things. After I said what I studied, he replied "you know, you do not belong here". Few are as socially stupid as this guy, but the idea of excluding people is very widespread among many sub-cultures in society. A genuine music interest does not suffice to be welcomed by the pop culture. You get judged on what bands you listen to, what clothes you wear, which friends you hang out with and God knows if you are not judged on what you drink as well. This may come out as bitterness, but far too many people you meet are idiots, like people who are completely serious when they state that a blond girl can not be really interested in music because of her hair colour. That is one example among many.
Life is not a game, we should have left high school behind and I do not care about where you buy your fucking clothes. Raymond and Maria said it best in their summer hit two years ago. Two Fridays ago, I met one or two people (depending on how you count) who made me believe in humanity again. It is the small things that matter.

This wall of text is a long introduction (it may not be an entirely logical one) to what I really wanted to tell. Tonight, I played football with my amateur hobby team (do not get fooled by the term "hobby team", the football is better than you think although it may not be attractive to watch from the side). We lost 4-1 but I still remember an incident from the match with joy. It will be hard to keep up for those of you who never played football yourself. Well, I was the goalkeeper of my team. Being keeper in football is one of the few things in life I can admit I am very good at, without lying and without having to humble myself. If it were not for the fact that I am only 166 cm, I probably would have been capable to be a keeper at a professional level. Now I can go only reach the bar of the goals for teams with seven players. Luckily we played seven against seven on gravel with goals of appropriate size for me.
Anyway, as seen from my perspective the opposite team plays a high cross from my right side directed to my left side. The ball goes in the air in a perfect line to an unmarked player who is approximately six meters in front of the goal line, positioned as wide as my left goal post. I move from the middle of the goal toward my left post while the ball is in the air. The highest priority is the area of the goal near the first post because the ball is likely to get there in the end, and because that is the corner I have to block. The player in the opposite team meets the ball with perfect timing and instead perfectly heads the ball toward my right corner. It is a given goal. I stand on the wrong foot, and as I said I am moving left. I see the ball fly past me high on my right side and then desperately throw myself after it (do not ask how that movement is possible when I stand on the wrong foot). I get a hand on the ball at the height of the bar in the middle of goal and see the ball go out for a corner kick. A sick and impossible save. You see them very rarely. I get praised by all teammates. Sincer praise and nothing they say just to be kind. Life is perfect for a few seconds. In the second half I hear a frustrated player in the opposite team say "it's impossible" after another good save of mine and he obviously means it is impossible to score. Very flattering.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I wish life were as uncomplicated as a perfect sequence in a football game, or as football in general. We are all equal on the pitch and we get judged on what we are doing. Elitism does not exist as long as everyone are fighting for the same goal. You win together and you lose together. The only thing that matters is what really matters. Not what clothes you wear or what bands you listen to.

I can not find a song which captures the feeling perfectly. The Arrogants - Nobody's Cool will do.

A Tribute to Linn

A month ago I would not had cried if someone stole Anna Ternheim's piano. I actually went so far that I wished she gave it to someone more talented. I had heard a radio stream of Girl Laying Down and I was extremely disappointed.

Today, I can only laugh at those thoughts. As if Anna Ternheim would stop writing great songs just because I felt bitter one evening. The record was already done and I was the only one with doubts. Separation Road has arrived and Anna Ternheim steals my heart. A piano and a voice. It sounds good on record and it will sound even better on stage. Most of all, I have been waiting for Calling Love, a pop song which according to the composer herself "should sound like you have the wind in your hair".

Nevertheless, it is another song which makes the last walls collapse. Something about the way she sings enthralls me. A Tribute to Linn is Anna Ternheim's most beautiful song. So far.

Welcome back to the big stage, Anna. Today is a good day. I have much more to tell about this album but that could wait for another time.

The best records of the 2000s

A good record is a good record. Albums, EPs and EP collections are all included on this list. The only requirement is that the songs on the records have to be from the 2000s. My favourite songs on each record are written in italics.


01 Language of Flowers - Songs About You
Shelflife Records, 2004
Where You Belong, If It's Not You, Who You're With, I Don't Care at All, Tara Mascara, Leaving, Summer's Been and Gone, Songs About You, Botanic Gardens, She's Gone Away

02 Laurel Music - This Night and the Next
Labrador Records, 2004
No One Wants Forever # 2, Dreams and Lies, No One Wants Forever # 1, Make Believe, Into the Blue, The Way Love Goes, Disappear

03 My Favorite - Happiest Days of Our Lives
Double Agent Records, 2003
The Happiest Days of My Life, Le Monster, Burning Hearts, White Roses for Blue Girls, Badge (Grace Under Pressure), The Suburbs Are Killing Us

04 The Arrogants - Your Simple Beauty EP
Shelflife Records, 2000
Lovesick, Lovesick (trashy live acoustic version), Nothing Good Will Ever Come of This, Let you Down, Costa Rica

05 The Snow Fairies - Feel You Up
Red Square Records, 2003
Tongue-Tied, Summer in Japan, Lovers in the Countryside, April Showers, December Love

06 Katie Goes to Tokyo - Katie Goes to Tokyo
Tap Your Feet, 2006
Until She Breaks, The Girl Who Ruined Your World, Unbelievable, Contemplation's Over, If It's Alright, Moving from This Town

07 Brittle Stars - Brittle Stars
Shelflife Records, 2000
Four Words, This Trip, Tripping Me Up, Afloat, You Went in Phases

08 The Shermans - Happiness Is Toy Shaped
Shelflife Records, 2001
Sad Kind of Life, Falling Out ​​of Love, Cindy Sherman, The Umbrella Song

09 Hello Saferide - Introducing ...
Razzia Records, 2005
I Thought You Said Summer Is Going to Take the Pain Away, Long Lost Penpal, San Francisco, I Don't Sleep Well, If I Don't Write This Song Someone I Love Will Die

10 The Essex Green - The Long Goodbye
Merge Records, 2003
The Late Great Cassiopia, Chartiers, Southern States, Lazymay


More favourite records:
Tralala - Tralala (2005), The Knife - Deep Cuts (2003), Stars - Set Yourself on Fire (2004), The Consultants - Work from Home (2005), Belle and Sebastian - Fold Your Hand Child, You Walk Like a Peasent (2000), Mates of State - Bring It Back (2006), Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside (2004).

The Consultants - Hollow-Bodied Evening

Once upon a time, I tried to pinpoint my favourite bands on a geographic map. At that time it had gotten into me that the best music came from the UK only. I never got far on the project.

If I were to try the same thing today the British Isles would be left relatively empty. Language of Flowers and Lucky Soul are both very lovely, but the world map would show many more red dots in America, especially in New York. My recent find from Brooklyn is called The Consultants.

The Consultants - Hollow-Bodied Evening

Not even the bad sound quality at myspace can ruin the magic of the song Calling the Embassy. Too bad the band has left this message to us:

"the consultants have taken an early retirement."

Myspace will tear us apart

I do not like Myspace. The people at the Swedish independent record label Service probably felt the same way when they described Myspace's deficits in an eloquent post one week ago.
I can understand that artists may appreciate Myspace as an online community which offers them direct contact to some of their fans. But I do not play in a band, I will not play in a band in the future, and I find Myspace just awful.

I looked through the websites of my favourite bands. The Essex Green are perfect to illustrate my point. The Essex Green gave up their website and moved to Myspace instead. Gone is the The Late Great Cassiopia mp3 link. Gone is the option to view the album covers side by side. Sure, The Essex Green have pimped their Myspace page nicely, but it is not enough. There are too many things that I hate with Myspace:

1. I go to Myspace to get some news updates by my favourite bands (most of them refer to their Myspace pages as they no longer update their websites). Myspace greets me with a song that automatically is played in horrible sound quality. The feeling of the song that simultaneously is played in my media player is ruined. I do not want political propaganda in my mailbox. I do not want a program/script (or whatever it is called) to randomly select a song that is forced upon me. I would like to choose to listen myself, when I feel like it. I should not have to mute my media player just because I want to read some news updates on a band page at Myspace.

2. Myspace allows only four songs on each profile. The mp3 links at the band websites have often ceased to exist and it is no longer possible to listen to the songs the way they should sound. I listened to Katie Goes to Tokyo's Unbelievable at her Myspace page. I felt that the song had potential, but it really sounded dull compared to Until She Breaks. Then I heard Unbelievable on Katie's website and fell in love with the song. It may seem like a case of double standards to complain about the automatic playback at Myspace and then praise the same thing on Katie's website. In the latter case, however, the sound quality is as good as on cd and then you just say thank you and take a bow. Moreover, Katie's website allows me to navigate freely without having the music turned on or off suddenly. That is exemplary.

3. Myspace is ugly. The Essex Green have made an effort to get their page nice, but most bands stick to a standard template. Let us compare the website and the Myspace page of one of my absolute favourite bands, The Arrogants. Their website is true pop music love. The Arrogants allow us to download their first two EPs for free, they put up lyrics, and they upload several exclusive recordings plus cover songs by their friends. Their Myspace page on the other hand seems to exist more as a necessary evil. Admittely, I soften considerably when I hear Jana's voice when she says Nobody's Cool take five though.

4. Everything looks the same. I understand the concept, but it also makes everything aesthetically standardised. The Snow Fairies have really tried to make their Myspace page look fine but it still falls short. The Snow Fairies' website on the other hand feels truly special. To welcome the visitor with a big cover of the album Get Married makes a big difference. The Snow Fairies make one thing to separate themselves from everything that look similar on myspace...

5. Influences and sounds like make it all seem like a questionnaire. The Snow Fairies clearly give the best answers. But all the home, browser, search, invite, movies, email, blog, etc at Myspace disturb me.


Now you may wonder why I even care about Myspace if I hate the site that much. Would it not be better to avoid Myspace? Unfortunately, there are too many bands that have stopped caring about their websites while referring us to Myspace instead. I understand it when a band does not bother to update their website, but I become sad when they spend time on Myspace instead. Take a look at the websites of Belle and Sebastian, Language of Flowers, Looker, Lucky Soul, and Stars. They all show that Myspace can never replace a good band website.

Overtaken?

It may seem a bit unnecessary to whine about the concert scene in Lund. Above all Mejeriet does a very good job and there is no real reason to complain as long as they continue to set up shows with bands such as Language of Flowers and Architecture in Helsinki. However, I now notice that we miss out on both Mates of State and Sufjan Stevens, and it makes me sad. When I look at the respective touring schedules I realise that it would be difficult to add another city, but I still think it is a shame that the concert promoters in southern Sweden not have done more to bring them here.

Mates of State, October
19 Reykjavik, Iceland Airwaves Festival
20 Stockholm, Sweden Debaser
21 Berlin, Germany Lido
23 Amsterdam, Holland Paradiso
24 London, United Kingdom King's College
 
Sufjan Stevens, November
1 Dublin Olympia
2 Manchester Academy
3 London Barbican
5 Gent Voorhuit
7 Barcelona Casino L'Allanca
9 Paris Bataclan
10 Gloria Cologne
11 Amsterdam Paradiso
12 Copenhagen Vega
14 Oslo Sentrum Scene
15 Stockholm Berns
16/17 Reykjavik Frikirkjan Church

The Hidden Cameras come to southern Sweden, but Mates of State and Sufjan Stevens in particular were two of my concert hopes for this fall (of what was realistic, otherwise I would probably say The Arrogants and The Snow Fairies). Going to Copenhagen will not be an option because it is too expensive. Still Lund stands up well as a concert town in Sweden. That is a very poor mark to Malmö, Gothenburg, Uppsala, and Linköping. Debaser will open a venue in Malmö in March next year. It could hopefully mean that some of the well known bands that Kulturbolaget ignores soon may play live on a stage in my neighbour town.

Meet Lucky Soul

Meet Lucky Soul. My lips are unhappy withoouuut yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-ooouuu oooooo-oo-oh-oooooo!

It is unreal that music can sound this good. There is another video on youtube in black and white that also is fine, but I think the singer Ali Howard deserves colours.

I hope that there is an alert promoter somewhere that will set up a gig for them in Sweden this fall. My expectations on the album are very high. Lucky Soul's two 7" singles make me want to buy a vinyl player.

 (R) (R) (R) (R) (R)

Stars - Ageless Beauty (live)

Stars - Ageless Beauty live at Amoeba Records, November 2005.

The so called "owner" of this video does not want other people to embed it on their blogs. Watch the live video at youtube.


Adorable! Amy looks a bit nervous. Imagine how it would be to grow up with this kind of music.

Sufjan Stevens - The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts (live)

Sufjan Stevens (with "The Illinoisemakers") performing The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts live in San Francisco.

We are underground, we are underground, we are underground! The intro of this The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts live version sounds very much like Broder Daniel's Underground. How funny is that?

Sufjan Stevens comes to Copenhagen on November 12 and to Stockholm on November 15. Attend his concert if you get the chance!

Mates of State - Beautiful Dreamer (live)

Mates of State - Beautiful Dreamer at Amoeba Records, 16th August 2006.

My favourite track by Mates of State!

Here's an alibi
We love the voices don't know why
There was a time we lived in truth
Let's bring it back

Slowdive - Machine Gun (live)

I never thought I would see anything like this. The sound is ok as well. Until now some blurry photographs were the only things I had seen of Slowdive.

Slowdive's last show ever. Lee's Place, Toronto in Canada, 21st May 1994. The video is a cultural treasure.


Edited on September 20, 2012:
Replaced the dead youtube link.

The Charade - Monday Morning

A new day - a new disaster.

I wish that life was like a song by The Charade. And of course I am the sleepy person in this song.

Kilometers between us

I think that the Swedish band Sibiria is pure garbage, but I still had to rip the title of this post from them because it is so striking. Sometimes the distance becomes too much. One of the best people I have met in life moved too many miles away from me. We lost contact and it hurts when I get reminded. It is so easy to get stuck in the wheel of thoughts. I would had rewinded and played back my life from the age of 13 and changed almost everything if it was possible.

After I moved to Lund there was another person who lived very close to me. Everything was fine, but then suddenly one day it felt like there were miles between us. I can handle physical distance but not an emotional Berlin Wall. Speaking of Berlin, it would be interesting to know what happened to a few people that I met in Berlin in my late teens. All I had to do was pick up the phone and call them, but now it is too late. What is past is past. At this very moment I look at a calendar which temporarily makes me eager to move to Stockholm.

October 7: The San Marinos
November 4: The Charade

The venue is apparently called Club King Kong. The gigs can be mediocre with an ignorant audience, or they could become nights you remember for a very long time. Memories to carry through life which lasts even without blogs or diaries. It would be fun to be there to find out but it is not possible this time. Instead, I take pleasure in falling asleep to The San Marinos - We're Beautiful.

Separation Road

17 days left...

Anna Ternheim will perform her new album live at the radio show "Musikjournalen" this week, but I want to hear the album versions before I listen to that. Calling Love, 17 days left ...

The Shermans - Sad Kind of Life

The band biography at The Charade's website helped me discover two amazing bands. Red Sleeping Beauty give me everything I want from music. The Shermans are almost as good. The songwriting genius Mikael Matsson is the common link between the three bands.

Together with his wife Ingela Matsson (vocals and lyrics) and Christer Nilsson (bass), Mikael Matsson delivered one of the 00's finest albums. Sad Kind of Life is my favourite track on Happiness Is Toy Shaped.

Once again, I am speechless. I do not know where to start, as if I ever did. Wonderful song, wonderful album, wonderful band.

Los Romeos - Mi Vida Rosa

Sometimes lastfm amazes me. Last Sunday, an unkown girl from Spain sent a message to my shoutbox. She told me that you can vote on the new Los Romeos profile images. I had almost forgotten about Los Romeos and this beautiful song!

Free Loan Investments - Bomb the Bourgeoisie

Today I was downtown in Lund. My plan was to make an appointment at the hairdresser, but I also took some time to cross the central square in order to see how the political parties prepared for the upcoming elections.

I could not stop laughing when I noticed that The Centre Party (Centerpartiet) had their representatives at another address. Were they afraid of competetion? I could not help but walk past the representatives of The New Moderate Party (Nya Moderaterna) either. It was of course the same old ideas hidden behind a new name. An old lady working for that party actually started talking to me. She gave me a bunch of brochures. One of the brochures had the following message written on the front.

"A Better Sweden.
For Everyone."

I asked how that went together with their planned sale of The Lund University Hospital, The Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg and The Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. I got the answer I do not know much about that and I do not really understand how they plan. But please look at this instead, it is our manifest!

I then went home where I was met by a staircase decorated with hundreds of paper shreds that all embodied fragments of election pledges.
I understand that it is easy to get tired of all the betrayal and lying, but the elections soon take place and we determine our own future. I know what I have decided.

If you like today's song, you should also check out If You Leave by the same band.

The Positions - It's Ok, It's Alright

A week ago I posted a song by The Snow Fairies. Tonight feels like the right moment to snatch another mp3 link from the same collection that Firefly appeared on. The Positions' contribution to Excellent Online's excellent love song collection Flirt outshines The Snow Fairies' cover of Firefly and that is one of the finest compliments I can give a soft pop band.

Once again, thanks to Excellent Online who helped me find this band. If I had heard The Positions' debut album Bliss last year, it would probably be among the ten best placed albums on the year list. Bliss is really that good.

Like Honey and The Lucksmiths - Lund September 3

It is a new autumn. I am back at the concert venue Mejeriet. I meet an acquaintance already on my way up the porch and feel at home. I slip through the doors and wonder what the arrangers have come up with this time. The bar is on the right side, but first I have to pay the entrance. There is merchandise on another table on the left. It feels like there are tables everywhere. Moreover, there are a lot of people for being just one hour after the doors have opened. The closet is closed, I think I am late and I am worried about the order of the live acts. Tonight's DJ Kajsa is kind and lets me put my shoulder bag behind her table. I then meet my awaited friend Elisabet and everything feels better immediately. The Lucksmith's friend Fred Astereo goes on stage shortly afterward and I get happy because that is the band order I was hoping for. At first I was doubtful, but I soften eventually. The guy knows how to tell a story and it has been a while since I laughed at a concert. When he plays a few nice songs at the end of his show, it is easy to forget that he is just a support act for the support act.


A girl walks past me and says hello. I do not recognise her, and do not respond because I think she is talking to someone else. She walks toward the stage and I wake up from my day dreams. I have seen her before. Sandra Svensson plays organ and synth in one of my favourite Swedish bands. I saw Like Honey live in the summer at The Möllevångs festival (Möllevångsfestivalen) in Malmö. You may not believe me when I write this on a rainy and windy September night, but it was certainly one of the summer's finest days. It was also one of the strangest shows I have been to. It would be a shame to say that it was good. The indoor venue left a lot to be desired, the sound was bad and I wondered why the hell you put a gig at 5 pm on a Saturday night. There were about 30 people in the crowd. The arrangers served juice. I thought I was at a kids party until Like Honey started playing. It was not a good performance, but I still fell for two things - the charm and singer Johanna Cromnows' wonderful voice which always makes me listen. I went home from Malmö very confused and a little disappointed that summer day. As I think back on this show Sandra walks back to her band and I silently count to myself one, two, three, four, five persons I recognise. I have a brief chat with Johanna and Sandra before the gig. They are in a good mood, just like me. The Lucksmiths headline the advertisement for this Emma's House night, but I know that LIKE HONEY will brighten my Sunday evening. This will be a great night, I think before it is time to move to stand at the front line of the crowd.

- We will play all of our songs in chronological order tonight, Klas says. I think to myself "that is a lot of songs, but that would be so great". And although Unexpected opens the show, Like Honey do not play all their songs.
There are whispers between band members between songs and the order does not seem entirely certain. I think I realise what I was missing during Friday's concert, a little room for spontaneity. Johanna really shines when she sings Airport and the rest of the band seems to thrive equally well. The sound is very loud and I should have brought my ear plugs, but I do not want to distance myself from the scene now. I may not know much about music in technical terms, but I know I love this voice. Like Honey are playing several new songs, and it bodes well for the new album. Especially Homesick with Klas on vocals sounds really good and has both a lovely melody and a drive in the song. Like so many other songs. I do not get to hear my favourite songs For a Reason or Sad Song but I am still not the least bit sorry. It is hard to be upset when not a single song feels like a filler. It is hard to be disappointed when a Sunday evening feels like a Friday.

The Lucksmiths enter the scene 20 minutes later. They are talented but I also think they are damn boring. You will probably hate me for this statement but after Camera-Shy was played as perhaps the tenth song, there was no reason for me to stay. I take my bag and walk out into the night with my friend. At the porch, there is a group of friends with two acquaintances of mine. I say goodbye to them and goodbye to Mejeriet for now. I turn around and know I will be back soon. This is my home.

Concert ratings:
Fred Astereo - Six out of Ten
Like Honey - Nine out of Ten
The Lucksmiths - Six out of Ten (if it is okay to rate a concert I left before it was over)


Setlist Like Honey (subject to mistakes, half the list might be wrong):
Unexpected
November
Airport
Homesick
Telling Lies
(Old song)
New York or Let It Pass
(New song Klas starts singing and Johanna ends beautifully)

I can not give you a correct setlist because I do not remember, but it is okay as the experience as a whole was greater than the individual songs. As it can only be at really nice concerts that touch the heart.

Red Sleeping Beauty - Make Me Smile

Red Sleeping Beauty is the best Swedish band ever. That probably also means the world's best band.

You always knew how to make me smile.

Skypark - Morse Code

I do not remember the 90's was as beautiful as this...

Sambassadeur - Lund September 1

The tambourines are shaking but I don't hear the song
It's my favorite song but I don't like the crowd

I came to Blekingska, hoping to hear Marie and If Rain. The audience was, for once, quiet during the songs and it made me happy. Still, I managed to ruin yesterday's concert myself.

Sambassadeur played at Blekingska an October night two years ago. I was there, and I really hated the crowd for showing the band such poor respect. Neither sooner nor later has a concert become so destroyed by annoying, talking people who primarily were out to get drunk as hell. I can understand the need to drink booze, but it is so unnecessary to spoil the pleasure for other people.
Yesterday, most things were as usual at Blekingska. I met a lot of acquaintances, but I did not go out to experience There Is a Light That Never Goes Out. I was there for Marie and hopefully this fall's best concert. I had high expectations. I was welcomed by Red Sleeping Beauty's wonderful song Stupid Boy. The club was full of people but it was no problem to get a place at the front row. Apparently, people only care about that when the band is called Tough Alliance or Le Sport.

I got confused when I looked at the scene. I counted to a female singer and four men. I had always thought that there were only four band members in Sambassadeur. Evidently, the drum machine was replaced by a man who seemed to have a good time behind his drum kit. If Rain started the show and I should had loved it. It was the autumn's first concert and one of my favourite songs, but I still felt that I missed something. I started to get nervous about the concert, but all doubts disappeared when the crowd became silent for a moment and always waiting for something more to come opened the evening's second song. New Moon is always pleasant to hear and it was so sweet yesterday when Anna sang like i believe in you du-du du-du-du. Claudine from the latest EP Coastal Affairs completed a fantastic start of the show.

The right conditions were there, but I did an incredibly stupid mistake. The band had put out a setlist on the floor. It is of course a common thing to do, but setlists never use to be visible to the audience. I could not help but peek at the setlist. After that, it did not feel as great as it should when Anna said that they would play French pop, but in English.

Marie has been more than a song for me this summer. The lines you know we were scientists, every conversation was a test have been a support every time I doubted myself. In the recent summer, it suddenly struck me one day ay work, when I was reading the acknowledgement of an article, what Sambassadeur meant with do you have the time for me, do you still believe in Pierre and Marie. The couple Curie would had been honored. Played at Blekingska as the sixth song, Marie was not as great live as on the EP. It is probably impossible to recreate the same magic. Marie was anyhow the best song of the night and that is still a good enough mark.

Between the Lines was received very well by the audience. Ice and Snow is also a favourite song of mine, but Sambassadeur could had performed it better. Then a rather weak ending followed, but it did not ruin the show. It could had been a wonderful evening, but I do not know why it just became "nice". I did not actually recognize Anna's appearance, but she was of course the same singer of the very same band which I fell in love with a spring day two years ago. Now Sambassadeur go into the studio and it is only a matter of time before I fall again.


Seven out of Ten

Setlist
If Rain
New Moon
Claudine
In the Calm
Dead Leaves
Marie
Between the Lines
Ice and Snow
Whatever Season
Kate
One Last Remark