Once again, I am waiting for a train that will take me from Lund and today feels like the right day to post the year list of 2008. It has been a weak music year and I do not think any album on this list would break into a revised version of last year's album list.
Records
1. Celestial - Crystal Heights
2. The Rosie Taylor Project - This City Draws Maps
3. Sons and Daughters - This Gift
4. The Narrative - Just Say Yes EP
5. The Indelicates - American Demo
6. Tilly and the Wall - O
7. The Charade - Keeping Up Appearances
8. Stars - Sad Robots EP
9. Monsters Are Waiting - Ones and Zeros EP
10. The School - Let It Slip EP
11. Like Honey - Leaves
12. The Secret History - Desolation Town EP
13. Cloetta Paris - Secret Eyes
14. Mates of State - Re-arrange Us
15. Forest City Lovers - Haunting Moon Sinking
Also good: Sad Day for Puppets - Just Like a Ghost EP, The Boy Bathing - A Fire to Make Preparations, Headlights - Some Racing Some Stopping, The Kid - Transient Blood
Songs
1. Monsters Are Waiting - Ones and Zeros
2. Celestial - Try to Understand
3. Hello Saferide - Anna
4. Celestial - Lonely Boulevard
5. The School - I Want You Back
6. The Indelicates - We Hate the Kids
7. Speedmarket Avenue - Way Better Now
8. The Kid - Mayhem Troopers
9. The Long Blondes - The Couples
10. Secret Shine - Vocie of the Sea
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Rip It Up 2008
A legend stood in front of us. I went over and introduced myself while the other guys thought about what they wanted to say.
- Are you Harvey?
- Yes, I am Harvey.
- Okay. Hi! The boys here would like to talk to you but they are too shy, so they sent me instead.
I spoke a little with Harvey Williams and complimented him for You Should All Be Murdered and I'm in Love With a Girl Who Does Not Know I Exist. Then I stepped back to let the rest of the guys, the real fans, have a chat with their hero. Harvey Williams then walked away. We saw him on the scene a moment later, sitting at a synthesizer. The music was always present at Rip It Up, just as in this anecdote, but my days in Värmlandsbro instead came to be more focused on hanging around with people.
Rip It Up showed its most beautiful side on the sunny Thursday, the day before the festival officially started. The clock had just passed five in the afternoon and I was lying in the grass outside the train station in Säffle waiting for my friends. We soon met each other and turned down a black cab that was more expensive than the regular price before we got a real taxi which drove us out to the festival area in Värmlandsbro. We installed ourselves at the campsite across the stage and then went to the nearby located bird lake where we watched the sunset.
I had been told that this festival was haunted by rain. The sky opened itself as on demand just in time for Friday's first live act The Dreamers. Another two Swedish bands played after The Dreamers, but the festival began for real when Harvey Williams went on stage at 9 pm. The realization that it would not sound as good live as on the record London Weekend lowered my expectations, but many people in the audience experienced their own romanticized illusion of legendary Another Sunny Day. It was a mediocre gig that did the old songs no justice.
Days played after Harvey Williams. Everyone in the crowd may disagree with me on this, but I still think that all of Days' songs sound the same, and it is unfortunately not a compliment. I do not like Days at all, they will never become a band I like, but it would at least be hilarious if they renamed and called themselves Days of Thunder instead. The Gothenburg quartet's show was like a weak track that precedes the album's great hit. I stayed in the crowd only to be certain to get a place in the front row for the next show.
Was something at Rip It Up good? It may sound like I thought everything was terrible but I did not have much to complain about apart from the rain. The festival meant reunions with dear friends and old acquaintances. It was also nice to meet new people. Music-wise my question would be answered only a soundcheck later, but I already knew that beforehand. The Bristol band Secret Shine lights up the dark sea which is overflowed by reunited, past it, former Sarah Records bands who have realised that there is a scene in Sweden for old British pop bands which had their best times fifteen to twenty years ago. St Cristopher is by the way the worst super-annuated former Sarah Records-band as they only have recorded shit except for the 19 year old song All of a Tremble. Secret Shine is different and they still have a desire to develop their sound. Secret Shine played an intense live set with Adored and Voice of the Sea as the strongest songs before they concluded with Loveblind which by far was the best (all categories) at Rip It Up. When the next band The Ruling Class had finished their show one hour layer, I went to my tent on a camping shrouded in fog.
I understood on the Saturday afternoon that Rip It Up showed its best side in the evenings. In daytime the water in the bird lake was coloured like a disgusting shade of green mixed with gray. Gray was also the colour of the asphalt on which we sat when Darren Hanlon opened the Saturday's gigs. It would had been really nice to sit on grass instead. Now I instead came to think about how strange this place was for being a festival area. At the end of the asphalt, though, Jörgen and Renee's record store Fractiondiscs was temporarily stationed under the roof of a party tent. That made me feel at home.
The shows on Saturday were a bonus as I still was lyrical about the Friday night. Pocketbooks and Twig were good, but I felt sorry for The Clientele who got their show ruined by rain and I really longed for an indoor club when all the umbrellas stretched dangerously in every direction. I was very pleased with the Saturday, despite the extremely amateurish sound checks which destroyed The Tidy Ups' gig, when I crawled into my sleeping bag to get some sleep before returning home the following day.
Rip It Up 2008 was a cozy festival with nice people and good food. The best thing was perhaps that the arrangers had the good sense to keep the festival short. It was very great to come home to my real bed and a proper bathroom after three days in the wilderness.
- Are you Harvey?
- Yes, I am Harvey.
- Okay. Hi! The boys here would like to talk to you but they are too shy, so they sent me instead.
I spoke a little with Harvey Williams and complimented him for You Should All Be Murdered and I'm in Love With a Girl Who Does Not Know I Exist. Then I stepped back to let the rest of the guys, the real fans, have a chat with their hero. Harvey Williams then walked away. We saw him on the scene a moment later, sitting at a synthesizer. The music was always present at Rip It Up, just as in this anecdote, but my days in Värmlandsbro instead came to be more focused on hanging around with people.
Rip It Up showed its most beautiful side on the sunny Thursday, the day before the festival officially started. The clock had just passed five in the afternoon and I was lying in the grass outside the train station in Säffle waiting for my friends. We soon met each other and turned down a black cab that was more expensive than the regular price before we got a real taxi which drove us out to the festival area in Värmlandsbro. We installed ourselves at the campsite across the stage and then went to the nearby located bird lake where we watched the sunset.
I had been told that this festival was haunted by rain. The sky opened itself as on demand just in time for Friday's first live act The Dreamers. Another two Swedish bands played after The Dreamers, but the festival began for real when Harvey Williams went on stage at 9 pm. The realization that it would not sound as good live as on the record London Weekend lowered my expectations, but many people in the audience experienced their own romanticized illusion of legendary Another Sunny Day. It was a mediocre gig that did the old songs no justice.
Days played after Harvey Williams. Everyone in the crowd may disagree with me on this, but I still think that all of Days' songs sound the same, and it is unfortunately not a compliment. I do not like Days at all, they will never become a band I like, but it would at least be hilarious if they renamed and called themselves Days of Thunder instead. The Gothenburg quartet's show was like a weak track that precedes the album's great hit. I stayed in the crowd only to be certain to get a place in the front row for the next show.
Was something at Rip It Up good? It may sound like I thought everything was terrible but I did not have much to complain about apart from the rain. The festival meant reunions with dear friends and old acquaintances. It was also nice to meet new people. Music-wise my question would be answered only a soundcheck later, but I already knew that beforehand. The Bristol band Secret Shine lights up the dark sea which is overflowed by reunited, past it, former Sarah Records bands who have realised that there is a scene in Sweden for old British pop bands which had their best times fifteen to twenty years ago. St Cristopher is by the way the worst super-annuated former Sarah Records-band as they only have recorded shit except for the 19 year old song All of a Tremble. Secret Shine is different and they still have a desire to develop their sound. Secret Shine played an intense live set with Adored and Voice of the Sea as the strongest songs before they concluded with Loveblind which by far was the best (all categories) at Rip It Up. When the next band The Ruling Class had finished their show one hour layer, I went to my tent on a camping shrouded in fog.
I understood on the Saturday afternoon that Rip It Up showed its best side in the evenings. In daytime the water in the bird lake was coloured like a disgusting shade of green mixed with gray. Gray was also the colour of the asphalt on which we sat when Darren Hanlon opened the Saturday's gigs. It would had been really nice to sit on grass instead. Now I instead came to think about how strange this place was for being a festival area. At the end of the asphalt, though, Jörgen and Renee's record store Fractiondiscs was temporarily stationed under the roof of a party tent. That made me feel at home.
The shows on Saturday were a bonus as I still was lyrical about the Friday night. Pocketbooks and Twig were good, but I felt sorry for The Clientele who got their show ruined by rain and I really longed for an indoor club when all the umbrellas stretched dangerously in every direction. I was very pleased with the Saturday, despite the extremely amateurish sound checks which destroyed The Tidy Ups' gig, when I crawled into my sleeping bag to get some sleep before returning home the following day.
Rip It Up 2008 was a cozy festival with nice people and good food. The best thing was perhaps that the arrangers had the good sense to keep the festival short. It was very great to come home to my real bed and a proper bathroom after three days in the wilderness.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Half year summary 2008
Records
While waiting for the train which will take me north, I take the opportunity to finish my half year summary. Sons and Daughters top my album list. The introductory song Gilt Complex defines the entire record just as Lust in the Movies set the bar for The Long Blondes' debut album Someone to Drive You Home.
Tilly and the Wall's opening six minutes on the new album O sums up the band. It is possible that it will change if I listen more, but I now feel that O quality-wise is more consistent than the band's previous records. And did I say that Pot Kettle Black is wonderful? Speaking of reliability, Mates of State delivers as usual. Their fifth album Re-Arrange Us is not as good as the brilliant Bring It Back, but still a given on this list.
1. Sons and Daughers - This Gift
2. Tilly and the Wall - O
3. The School - Let It Slip EP
4. Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
5. The Rosie Taylor Project - This City Draws Maps
Also good: Cloetta Paris - Secret Eyes, Sad Day for Puppets - Just Like a Ghost, M83 - Saturdays = Youth, Headlights - Some Racing Some Stopping, Ally Kerr - Off the Radar.
Other
This year's best news is that Kathleen Bracken plays with Those Transatlantics again. Beyond that there are many other music-related things which made me happy. Some old and some new. I come to think about this right now:
Aberdeen (band)
Minipop (band)
El Perro del Mar (concert at Mejeriet)
Bruce Springsteen (concert at Nya Ullevi in Gothenburg on July 5)
Katie Goes to Tokyo - Big City (song)
Sad Day for Puppets - Hush (song)
While waiting for the train which will take me north, I take the opportunity to finish my half year summary. Sons and Daughters top my album list. The introductory song Gilt Complex defines the entire record just as Lust in the Movies set the bar for The Long Blondes' debut album Someone to Drive You Home.
Tilly and the Wall's opening six minutes on the new album O sums up the band. It is possible that it will change if I listen more, but I now feel that O quality-wise is more consistent than the band's previous records. And did I say that Pot Kettle Black is wonderful? Speaking of reliability, Mates of State delivers as usual. Their fifth album Re-Arrange Us is not as good as the brilliant Bring It Back, but still a given on this list.
1. Sons and Daughers - This Gift
2. Tilly and the Wall - O
3. The School - Let It Slip EP
4. Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
5. The Rosie Taylor Project - This City Draws Maps
Also good: Cloetta Paris - Secret Eyes, Sad Day for Puppets - Just Like a Ghost, M83 - Saturdays = Youth, Headlights - Some Racing Some Stopping, Ally Kerr - Off the Radar.
Other
This year's best news is that Kathleen Bracken plays with Those Transatlantics again. Beyond that there are many other music-related things which made me happy. Some old and some new. I come to think about this right now:
Aberdeen (band)
Minipop (band)
El Perro del Mar (concert at Mejeriet)
Bruce Springsteen (concert at Nya Ullevi in Gothenburg on July 5)
Katie Goes to Tokyo - Big City (song)
Sad Day for Puppets - Hush (song)
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Open Your Heart
There is still much left to write about 2007 before I sum up the first half of 2008.
Arcade Fire needs no presentation. I am writing about them only now because I heard the song The Well and the Lighthouse as late as this spring. Arcade Fire were not unknown to me, but the sound on their debut album Funeral did not appeal to me. I therefore never cared about their second album Neon Bible. Imagine my surprise when I heard The Well and the Lighthouse by chance. Incredibly good. Remember where you read it last.
This whole genre called indie rock is quite unknown to me. Los Angeles-based Earlimart are said to belong to the same genre but I am already familiar with their sound. That is probably because Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray are from California. Answers and Questions stands out as by far the best track on the album Mentor Tormentor released last year. You can listen to the whole album in good quality here.
In Los Angeles, we also find the hippie quartet Lavender Diamond which plays folk/pop with piano. Open Your Heart is a very beautiful track on their debut album Imagine Our Love.
Swedish Blind Terry also base their music on piano. They sing about burning down the school, but the hit When Prefab Sprout Wrecked My Mind deservedly receives the most attention. Blind Terry would have fit in well in the Rip It Up festival line-up, but they will play at this year's Emmaboda festival instead.
Taste of Honey sound promising with their sweet song Sylvia Said. The same can be said about Susanna Brandin's acoustic music project Winter Took His Life. Listen to When You Said You Headed Home! With the even longer album title You Know What It's Like to Be Alone and Shut Down we have a female counterpart to Sufjan Stevens.
In our neighbouring country Norway, we find Dylan Mondegreen which sound very much like their compatriots Love Dance. You can listen to their entire debut album While I Walk You Home at lastfm. In summer t-shirt weather, British Little Name also charm us with For the Attention of and especially Tracy and I.
Last out is the Minnesota band Gospel Gossip which is the city's main export since the hockey team moved to Dallas. The album Sing into My Mouth, another debut album, wanders between shoegaze and pop with many different sound images. Three short tracks, around a minute each, are reminiscent of What the Snowman Learned About Love, the introductory track on Stars' album Heart. Shadows Are Bent is the best song on Sing into My Mouth. Listen at the band's website and lastfm.
Arcade Fire needs no presentation. I am writing about them only now because I heard the song The Well and the Lighthouse as late as this spring. Arcade Fire were not unknown to me, but the sound on their debut album Funeral did not appeal to me. I therefore never cared about their second album Neon Bible. Imagine my surprise when I heard The Well and the Lighthouse by chance. Incredibly good. Remember where you read it last.
This whole genre called indie rock is quite unknown to me. Los Angeles-based Earlimart are said to belong to the same genre but I am already familiar with their sound. That is probably because Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray are from California. Answers and Questions stands out as by far the best track on the album Mentor Tormentor released last year. You can listen to the whole album in good quality here.
In Los Angeles, we also find the hippie quartet Lavender Diamond which plays folk/pop with piano. Open Your Heart is a very beautiful track on their debut album Imagine Our Love.
Swedish Blind Terry also base their music on piano. They sing about burning down the school, but the hit When Prefab Sprout Wrecked My Mind deservedly receives the most attention. Blind Terry would have fit in well in the Rip It Up festival line-up, but they will play at this year's Emmaboda festival instead.
Taste of Honey sound promising with their sweet song Sylvia Said. The same can be said about Susanna Brandin's acoustic music project Winter Took His Life. Listen to When You Said You Headed Home! With the even longer album title You Know What It's Like to Be Alone and Shut Down we have a female counterpart to Sufjan Stevens.
In our neighbouring country Norway, we find Dylan Mondegreen which sound very much like their compatriots Love Dance. You can listen to their entire debut album While I Walk You Home at lastfm. In summer t-shirt weather, British Little Name also charm us with For the Attention of and especially Tracy and I.
Last out is the Minnesota band Gospel Gossip which is the city's main export since the hockey team moved to Dallas. The album Sing into My Mouth, another debut album, wanders between shoegaze and pop with many different sound images. Three short tracks, around a minute each, are reminiscent of What the Snowman Learned About Love, the introductory track on Stars' album Heart. Shadows Are Bent is the best song on Sing into My Mouth. Listen at the band's website and lastfm.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Review: The School - Let It Slip EP
Placed as tenth and eleventh on my year list of 2007, Let It Slip and You'll Never Notice Me were both fantastic up beat songs by previously unknown bands. The School and The Garlands have both released an EP this year, but that is probably the only thing that still is common in the respective bands' careers.
The Garlands' self-titled EP was another Swedish contribution to the Cloudberry Records catalogue. The four tracks are all fine, but it would had been more interesting if Roger Gunnarsson and Christin Wolderth instead wrote a new hit.
Liz Hunt's The School are new label mates with Camera Obscura and Lucky Soul on Elefant Records (Lucky Soul also release their records on their own label Ruffa Lane Records), which is funny because these were the bands I came to think about immediately the first time I heard Let It Slip in the end of last year.
The EP Let It Slip was released on June 16 and lives up to all expectations. The EP balances on the thin line between crystal clear sound and overproduction, ends up at the wrong side a couple of times, but still gets away with because Liz sings the way she does. The title track is rearranged with beautiful backing vocals and strings, but the third song I Want You Back is the on which knocks me. I Want You Back really begins like a fairy tale with the line Once upon a time. I know when the music stops that this is the best song of the year so far. The EP ends in the best of manner with I Don't Believe in Love, a beautiful song about miserable love with a narrative that shifts between two different voices.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Pretending to see the future
In November 2006 the news reached me that legendary Shelflife Records, the record label which had become my favourite one in less than a year, would start releasing records again. Shelflife's founder Ed Mazzucco was ready for the difficult second catalogue.
I looked forward to Shelflife's comeback with joy, but I feel greatly disappointed now that I have listened to the first five releases of the new LIFE1000 series. I soon realise that the old LIFE catalogue was made of bands that were unique "once in a life"-gems gathered under one roof. I need to accept that the old bands were much better and still give the new bands a chance. I see potential in The Ruling Class. At the same time, I can not help but wonder why the band's development has stood still since the demo of Umbrella Folds was posted on their myspace last year.
The key words of the new catalogue appears to be "talented but boring". You can not live on old merits forever, not even if you once were the best in the world.
I looked forward to Shelflife's comeback with joy, but I feel greatly disappointed now that I have listened to the first five releases of the new LIFE1000 series. I soon realise that the old LIFE catalogue was made of bands that were unique "once in a life"-gems gathered under one roof. I need to accept that the old bands were much better and still give the new bands a chance. I see potential in The Ruling Class. At the same time, I can not help but wonder why the band's development has stood still since the demo of Umbrella Folds was posted on their myspace last year.
The key words of the new catalogue appears to be "talented but boring". You can not live on old merits forever, not even if you once were the best in the world.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Monster
What kind of music do you listen to?
A common question that means different things to different people. I previously tried to explain how my favourite pop bands sound, but now I will just give one answer in the future: "I listen to music that either tells me something or hits that I can dance to on a Friday night.
You Say Party! We Say Die! play elegantly arranged punky pop that brings thoughts back to fall 2005 and Tralala's debut album. Not quite as good, but still lovable. My favourite song is probably Monster in fierce competition with Like I Give a Care.
A common question that means different things to different people. I previously tried to explain how my favourite pop bands sound, but now I will just give one answer in the future: "I listen to music that either tells me something or hits that I can dance to on a Friday night.
You Say Party! We Say Die! play elegantly arranged punky pop that brings thoughts back to fall 2005 and Tralala's debut album. Not quite as good, but still lovable. My favourite song is probably Monster in fierce competition with Like I Give a Care.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Global Fussball
The 2008 European Football Championship begins on Saturday and I want to say a few words about my relationship with the beautiful game.
I was seven or eight years old when I started playing football. My story begins several years later. I grew up with the Swedish football show Tipsextra which broadcasted English football. I dedicated the Saturday afternoons to English top football unless I played a match myself. There was something incredibly fascinating about football which really appealed to me, but I had not chosen a favourite team yet. Some people would say that it is unhealthy for a Swede to develop emotional ties to an English football club, but those who say so do not understand that admiration even in its most idealised form can be limitless. Arsenal FC of London was my first love.
In spring 1993, Arsenal played the FA cup quarter final against Ipswich. Arsenal's captain Tony Adams came out with a bandage around his head. Ipswich took an early lead, but Tony Adams scored a decisive headed goal on a corner. Blood came through the bandage, but it was worth it as the ball had found the net. Tony Adams became a hero for me at that moment, and later scored another important goal on the way to the FA cup triumph. My interest in Arsenal got more intense during the 1997-98 season. I have been a proud supporter and followed the team in prosperity and adversity ever since then.
My football interest should had lasted all my life, but the spring of 2008 made me question the meaning of being a football fan for a long time. Many people think it is childish to blame the referee and believe that things even out in the end of a season. With some distance to the season, I can only say that such opinions are naive bullshit. Things do not even out during a season because that is statistically unlikely.
In the summer of 2007, the prospective league winners Manchester United spent more than £50M on transfer fees for new players despite having bank loans of hundred of million pounds to pay off. Arsenal on the other hand showed a positive balance sheet in the same transfer period. I may be biased, but this is something unique to Arsenal thanks to the vision and integrity of our manager Arsene Wenger. While other top clubs buy established superstars from lesser clubs for amounts higher than £15M, Arsenal generally recruit young players, often for prices below £2M, and then give them both playing time and confidence in their abilities. This environment allows several of our players to develop into superstars.
After a brilliant first half of the season, Arsenal had taken the lead in the league with a five point gap down to the second placed team Manchester United. It could have been, and should have been, an eight point gap after the league game away to Birmingham in February. Our striker Eduardo (who during the season scored goals like this) had gotten his leg broken after a mad tackle by a player in the oppposite team, and our players looked shaken in a way I have never seen them before. Our young midfield conductor Cesc Fabregas, who has been regular in Arsenal's starting line-up since age 17, looked like he had seen a ghost and all of our players were obviously scared to challenge for the ball after that. That was a very human reaction, but we (the Arsenal players on the field) somehow managed to pull ourselves together and turn a 0-1 deficit to a 2-1 lead. The tragedy occured in the 93rd match minute when referee Mike Dean incredibly blowed for a penalty to Birmingham. Dean somehow spotted a foul where neutrals noticed a fair and correct tackle by Arsenal's left back Gael Clichy. I would like to add that supporters of rival clubs felt that this was a referee scandal and absolutely horrible. Officials have certainly made mistakes before, but the last straw was when it was repeated two league games later against Middlesbrough. The Arsenal striker Emmanuelle Adebayor got a correct goal ruled out as offside although the ball came from a defensive player of the opposite team. The Middlesbrough player accidently set Adebayor free with an unfortunate backward pass (the offside rule simply means that a free kick is awarded to the defending team when the attacking player is on the wrong side of the last player of the defending team - not counting the goalkeeper except for special cases - at the very moment a teammate in the attacking team passes the ball forward. A player in the attacking team can never be offside if the pass comes from a player of the defending team, ie the opposite team). Another two league games later we met Chelsea and took the lead 1-0. Then two Chelsea players were offside by over a meter (which is very much in this context) when a pass from a Chelsea player set one of their strikers free to score. The goal should had been ruled out as offside but stood anway. The officials' mistakes in those crucial games cost us seven points in the battle for the league title. In the end we ended up four points behind the prospective league winners Manchester United. Sour grapes, said the fox.
The dream of winning this year's Champions League ended when the officials robbed us in the quarter final against Liverpool. Arsenal had a crystal clear penalty situation in the first leg turned down whereas Liverpool were awarded a penalty after a situation with minimal body contact in the second leg. Achievments such as 19-year-old Theo Walcott's world class run across the whole field counted for nothing after the referees gave decisive decisions against Arsenal. Again. In defense of the European referees, we do not have a story with the referees in Champions League and I regard the decisions in the quarter final of Champions League as bad luck only.
I know that I am a bad loser when it comes to football, but I have followed Arsenal closely for more than ten years and still not experienced anything like this spring before. I have of course seen individual matches with shocking referee decisions, but not a whole serie of games with highly dubious and very decisive calls against Arsenal. On the last day of the league, Manchester United's central defender Rio Ferdinand covered a shot with his arm in his own penalty box. According to the rules and normal refereeing, it would had been a penalty for the opposite team and a red card for Rio Ferdinand. Manchester United and Rio Ferdinand, however, got away with it. It was now obvious to me that some of the referees were heavily biased and I seriously came to think about how rigged this year's Premier League was. Referee scandals occur each year in Italy, and several clubs across Europe have also been found guilty of being involved in referee scandals and corruption. Why could it not happen in England? It was a rethorical question if anyone wonders.
Being a fan is a lifestyle. Key matches can throw you between indescribable happiness and sadness in less than a minute. We have the camera technology to correct referee mistakes which occur when the game is too fast for the human eye, but we do not use this technology for some stupid reasons. I feel very bitter about the fact that Arsenal did not win any title this season when we actually deserved to win the league if the referees had treated all teams equally, but you have to move on. And I do that here and now. The world has never been fair so why would football be?
It took me several weeks to get over it, but I know I will follow my beloved Arsenal from the first second of the next season. Football is a wonderful sport and another great tournament begins on Saturday. Let us live for the beauty in the world (but if you hear someone yell referee bastard it may well be me).
I was seven or eight years old when I started playing football. My story begins several years later. I grew up with the Swedish football show Tipsextra which broadcasted English football. I dedicated the Saturday afternoons to English top football unless I played a match myself. There was something incredibly fascinating about football which really appealed to me, but I had not chosen a favourite team yet. Some people would say that it is unhealthy for a Swede to develop emotional ties to an English football club, but those who say so do not understand that admiration even in its most idealised form can be limitless. Arsenal FC of London was my first love.
In spring 1993, Arsenal played the FA cup quarter final against Ipswich. Arsenal's captain Tony Adams came out with a bandage around his head. Ipswich took an early lead, but Tony Adams scored a decisive headed goal on a corner. Blood came through the bandage, but it was worth it as the ball had found the net. Tony Adams became a hero for me at that moment, and later scored another important goal on the way to the FA cup triumph. My interest in Arsenal got more intense during the 1997-98 season. I have been a proud supporter and followed the team in prosperity and adversity ever since then.
My football interest should had lasted all my life, but the spring of 2008 made me question the meaning of being a football fan for a long time. Many people think it is childish to blame the referee and believe that things even out in the end of a season. With some distance to the season, I can only say that such opinions are naive bullshit. Things do not even out during a season because that is statistically unlikely.
In the summer of 2007, the prospective league winners Manchester United spent more than £50M on transfer fees for new players despite having bank loans of hundred of million pounds to pay off. Arsenal on the other hand showed a positive balance sheet in the same transfer period. I may be biased, but this is something unique to Arsenal thanks to the vision and integrity of our manager Arsene Wenger. While other top clubs buy established superstars from lesser clubs for amounts higher than £15M, Arsenal generally recruit young players, often for prices below £2M, and then give them both playing time and confidence in their abilities. This environment allows several of our players to develop into superstars.
After a brilliant first half of the season, Arsenal had taken the lead in the league with a five point gap down to the second placed team Manchester United. It could have been, and should have been, an eight point gap after the league game away to Birmingham in February. Our striker Eduardo (who during the season scored goals like this) had gotten his leg broken after a mad tackle by a player in the oppposite team, and our players looked shaken in a way I have never seen them before. Our young midfield conductor Cesc Fabregas, who has been regular in Arsenal's starting line-up since age 17, looked like he had seen a ghost and all of our players were obviously scared to challenge for the ball after that. That was a very human reaction, but we (the Arsenal players on the field) somehow managed to pull ourselves together and turn a 0-1 deficit to a 2-1 lead. The tragedy occured in the 93rd match minute when referee Mike Dean incredibly blowed for a penalty to Birmingham. Dean somehow spotted a foul where neutrals noticed a fair and correct tackle by Arsenal's left back Gael Clichy. I would like to add that supporters of rival clubs felt that this was a referee scandal and absolutely horrible. Officials have certainly made mistakes before, but the last straw was when it was repeated two league games later against Middlesbrough. The Arsenal striker Emmanuelle Adebayor got a correct goal ruled out as offside although the ball came from a defensive player of the opposite team. The Middlesbrough player accidently set Adebayor free with an unfortunate backward pass (the offside rule simply means that a free kick is awarded to the defending team when the attacking player is on the wrong side of the last player of the defending team - not counting the goalkeeper except for special cases - at the very moment a teammate in the attacking team passes the ball forward. A player in the attacking team can never be offside if the pass comes from a player of the defending team, ie the opposite team). Another two league games later we met Chelsea and took the lead 1-0. Then two Chelsea players were offside by over a meter (which is very much in this context) when a pass from a Chelsea player set one of their strikers free to score. The goal should had been ruled out as offside but stood anway. The officials' mistakes in those crucial games cost us seven points in the battle for the league title. In the end we ended up four points behind the prospective league winners Manchester United. Sour grapes, said the fox.
The dream of winning this year's Champions League ended when the officials robbed us in the quarter final against Liverpool. Arsenal had a crystal clear penalty situation in the first leg turned down whereas Liverpool were awarded a penalty after a situation with minimal body contact in the second leg. Achievments such as 19-year-old Theo Walcott's world class run across the whole field counted for nothing after the referees gave decisive decisions against Arsenal. Again. In defense of the European referees, we do not have a story with the referees in Champions League and I regard the decisions in the quarter final of Champions League as bad luck only.
I know that I am a bad loser when it comes to football, but I have followed Arsenal closely for more than ten years and still not experienced anything like this spring before. I have of course seen individual matches with shocking referee decisions, but not a whole serie of games with highly dubious and very decisive calls against Arsenal. On the last day of the league, Manchester United's central defender Rio Ferdinand covered a shot with his arm in his own penalty box. According to the rules and normal refereeing, it would had been a penalty for the opposite team and a red card for Rio Ferdinand. Manchester United and Rio Ferdinand, however, got away with it. It was now obvious to me that some of the referees were heavily biased and I seriously came to think about how rigged this year's Premier League was. Referee scandals occur each year in Italy, and several clubs across Europe have also been found guilty of being involved in referee scandals and corruption. Why could it not happen in England? It was a rethorical question if anyone wonders.
Being a fan is a lifestyle. Key matches can throw you between indescribable happiness and sadness in less than a minute. We have the camera technology to correct referee mistakes which occur when the game is too fast for the human eye, but we do not use this technology for some stupid reasons. I feel very bitter about the fact that Arsenal did not win any title this season when we actually deserved to win the league if the referees had treated all teams equally, but you have to move on. And I do that here and now. The world has never been fair so why would football be?
It took me several weeks to get over it, but I know I will follow my beloved Arsenal from the first second of the next season. Football is a wonderful sport and another great tournament begins on Saturday. Let us live for the beauty in the world (but if you hear someone yell referee bastard it may well be me).
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Chick Habit - Rip It Up
I can lie for hours and listen to this song on repeat. The end is fading into the intro and I really love that transition.
Rip It Up is also the name of a festival in July, running for the second year in a row. This time the lineup appeals to me and I clearly consider to get a ticket. Who can say no to a weekend with pop music in company of good friends?
But do not play Rip It Up by Orange Juice! Do not play Orange Juice at all. They are rubbish. And if anyone is wondering, the April March song with the same name as the band of today's post is just horrible.
Rip It Up is also the name of a festival in July, running for the second year in a row. This time the lineup appeals to me and I clearly consider to get a ticket. Who can say no to a weekend with pop music in company of good friends?
But do not play Rip It Up by Orange Juice! Do not play Orange Juice at all. They are rubbish. And if anyone is wondering, the April March song with the same name as the band of today's post is just horrible.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Lost in Translation
This is so sick that I do not know what to say. The Japanese edition of Lucky Soul's debut album The Great Unwanted can be purchased at Cduniverse.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monsters Are Waiting - Ones and Zeros
Brittle Stars reunite in a few weeks for their supposedly last show ever, but I can already name their successors. Monsters Are Waiting do have a different sound, but their beautiful song Ones and Zeros sounds like a more poppy and upbeat Brittle Stars.
Go to Monsters Are Waiting's myspace and listen to a cover of I Wanna Be Adored and the less immediate but equally lovely song Ha Ha.
Go to Monsters Are Waiting's myspace and listen to a cover of I Wanna Be Adored and the less immediate but equally lovely song Ha Ha.
Popaganda in true Luger spirit
Sometimes a press release is enough to open a circus. The non-profit music association Popaganda decided to sell out and invited Sweden's most disgusting booking agency named Luger. Without having to change clothes, the latter soon found themselves comfortable in the roles of clown and monkey.
The free (no entrance paid by the audience) Popaganda festival was held on the campus in Stockholm in late May 2001 to 2006. The Stockholm University Student Union (Stockholms universitets studentkår, SUS) financed the festival whereas the association Popagande were responsible for the arrangement. The last Popaganda festival was held in May 2006 and offered the audience live shows with artists such as Mew, Frida Hyvönen, Final Fantasy, and Hello Saferide. I would had gone to the Popaganda festival that spring if it had not overlapped in time with the opportunity to see my beloved favourite band Language of Flowers at a real indoor stage at a place with amazing sound (I just described the venue Mejeriet which is located in Lund).
The negotiations between SUS and Popaganda stalled in October 2006. The two project leaders at Popagande left their positions. Officially, they said that their salary issue was not resolved. The association Popaganda was more direct and referred to frictions with SUS. SUS responded by replacing the locks and blocking the pass cards of Popaganda's office in the student union building. The conflict was on. So much for six years of collaboration.
SUS moved on, threw out the pop music and arranged Re:publik, a "broader" festival, the following spring. Re:publik's line up may not have impressed any music fan, but the reduced artist fees resulted in a more balanced budget and less risks. In one way, I can fully understand SUS's intention. As a festival arranger you surely must dare to lose in order to win, but it still feels insanely gratuitous to defend a potential budget loss of hundred of thousands Swedish crowns (SEK), as was the case if the festival was ruined by bad weather. Popaganda also moved on and started a free club at The Southern Theater (Södra Teatern) instead.
In an interview a few months ago, the SUS President spoke about Popaganda:
- I think it is fun that Popaganda continues even without our involvement. There are few free festivals and it feels good to have been building up a free festival such as Popaganda. I do not think they are going to start cashing in on the brand. It is only positive if someone else is willing to secure the supply for the students, says Stockholm University Student Union President Edith Ringmar.
I read somewhere that Popaganda's project leader wished SUS good luck with Re:publik. Just when relationships were improved, at least in public, the bomb was released:
The association Popaganda and Luger have initiated a collaboration that allows Popaganda to resurrect, monitor and evolve its existence in The Festival Sweden. A new venue will host a late summer party of large dimensions, namely Eriksdalsbadet in Southern Stockholm.
On August 29-30, it is time for the sequel that breaks the original.
Suddenly it appears that SUS and Popaganda were cut from the same cloth. What happened to the ideals? But Luger is the worst. This new festival will not, despite the name, have much in common with the old Popaganda festival. My first thought was that Luger just complimented Way Out West with a newly promoted Way Out East 2. There are not many things left of the festival formerly called Popaganda. The 18-year age limit is replaced by a 13-year limit, the non-profit collaborator (the student union) has been dumped for a strictly business relationship, and the date is moved to late summer.
On closer examination it turns out that Popaganda 2008 will be held on the weekend that the free festival Pop Dakar was held the last two years.
Somehow Luger still managed a piece of art. First they broke an unwritten rule in The Festival Sweden by scheduling their festival Where The Action Is on the same date as another festival, then they put their teeth into Popaganda. Only one thing is clear, this will be difficult to beat.
By the way, El Perro del Mar's gig almost two weeks ago was wonderful. Somewhat surprisingly, I Can't Talk About It was the best song of her concert set. But I was a little disappointed that the admission fee of 185 SEK was not reduced. The event was promoted as a live package with both Lycke Li and El Perro del Mar, and only one of them came to the venue (the right person though). When I got home I was reminded that Mejeriet had booked the show via Luger. Curtain down.
The free (no entrance paid by the audience) Popaganda festival was held on the campus in Stockholm in late May 2001 to 2006. The Stockholm University Student Union (Stockholms universitets studentkår, SUS) financed the festival whereas the association Popagande were responsible for the arrangement. The last Popaganda festival was held in May 2006 and offered the audience live shows with artists such as Mew, Frida Hyvönen, Final Fantasy, and Hello Saferide. I would had gone to the Popaganda festival that spring if it had not overlapped in time with the opportunity to see my beloved favourite band Language of Flowers at a real indoor stage at a place with amazing sound (I just described the venue Mejeriet which is located in Lund).
The negotiations between SUS and Popaganda stalled in October 2006. The two project leaders at Popagande left their positions. Officially, they said that their salary issue was not resolved. The association Popaganda was more direct and referred to frictions with SUS. SUS responded by replacing the locks and blocking the pass cards of Popaganda's office in the student union building. The conflict was on. So much for six years of collaboration.
SUS moved on, threw out the pop music and arranged Re:publik, a "broader" festival, the following spring. Re:publik's line up may not have impressed any music fan, but the reduced artist fees resulted in a more balanced budget and less risks. In one way, I can fully understand SUS's intention. As a festival arranger you surely must dare to lose in order to win, but it still feels insanely gratuitous to defend a potential budget loss of hundred of thousands Swedish crowns (SEK), as was the case if the festival was ruined by bad weather. Popaganda also moved on and started a free club at The Southern Theater (Södra Teatern) instead.
In an interview a few months ago, the SUS President spoke about Popaganda:
- I think it is fun that Popaganda continues even without our involvement. There are few free festivals and it feels good to have been building up a free festival such as Popaganda. I do not think they are going to start cashing in on the brand. It is only positive if someone else is willing to secure the supply for the students, says Stockholm University Student Union President Edith Ringmar.
I read somewhere that Popaganda's project leader wished SUS good luck with Re:publik. Just when relationships were improved, at least in public, the bomb was released:
The association Popaganda and Luger have initiated a collaboration that allows Popaganda to resurrect, monitor and evolve its existence in The Festival Sweden. A new venue will host a late summer party of large dimensions, namely Eriksdalsbadet in Southern Stockholm.
On August 29-30, it is time for the sequel that breaks the original.
Suddenly it appears that SUS and Popaganda were cut from the same cloth. What happened to the ideals? But Luger is the worst. This new festival will not, despite the name, have much in common with the old Popaganda festival. My first thought was that Luger just complimented Way Out West with a newly promoted Way Out East 2. There are not many things left of the festival formerly called Popaganda. The 18-year age limit is replaced by a 13-year limit, the non-profit collaborator (the student union) has been dumped for a strictly business relationship, and the date is moved to late summer.
On closer examination it turns out that Popaganda 2008 will be held on the weekend that the free festival Pop Dakar was held the last two years.
Somehow Luger still managed a piece of art. First they broke an unwritten rule in The Festival Sweden by scheduling their festival Where The Action Is on the same date as another festival, then they put their teeth into Popaganda. Only one thing is clear, this will be difficult to beat.
By the way, El Perro del Mar's gig almost two weeks ago was wonderful. Somewhat surprisingly, I Can't Talk About It was the best song of her concert set. But I was a little disappointed that the admission fee of 185 SEK was not reduced. The event was promoted as a live package with both Lycke Li and El Perro del Mar, and only one of them came to the venue (the right person though). When I got home I was reminded that Mejeriet had booked the show via Luger. Curtain down.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Sunny in Lund
The venue Mejeriet writes on its website that Lycke Li is temporarily ill and can not sing for a week. That suits me perfectly since the mentioned Li does not have the luck to be honored a visit by yours truly any more times.
However, I really look forward to see El Perro del Mar who thus becomes the evening's main act. Last time I saw her in Lund, El Perro del Mar outshone The Concretes fronted by Victoria Bergsman high on valium. Tonight El Perro del Mar will, very deservedly, be the center of attention. I hope she looks forward to it as much as I do.
As I am writing this, the sky is blue outside my window while I am eating breakfast at the computer to start the best weekday of all.
However, I really look forward to see El Perro del Mar who thus becomes the evening's main act. Last time I saw her in Lund, El Perro del Mar outshone The Concretes fronted by Victoria Bergsman high on valium. Tonight El Perro del Mar will, very deservedly, be the center of attention. I hope she looks forward to it as much as I do.
As I am writing this, the sky is blue outside my window while I am eating breakfast at the computer to start the best weekday of all.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Minipop - Like I Do
Tricia Kanne walks into my world. She has decided to stay here. I will not let go of her. She won my admiration the moment I heard Like I Do at Minipop's website (Ask Me a Question is played first but just click the arrow above the title to change track).
Tricia Kanne is beautiful as a dream. Her voice reminds me of Stars' incredibly talented singer Amy Milan. A compliment that Tricia and her Minipop fully deserve. Listen to more songs at myspace.
Tricia Kanne is beautiful as a dream. Her voice reminds me of Stars' incredibly talented singer Amy Milan. A compliment that Tricia and her Minipop fully deserve. Listen to more songs at myspace.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Moonbabies - Take Me to the Ballroom
The Malmö band Moonbabies will play at Debaser in their home town on the second of May, and I will be there. I have a fantastic night to look forward to if they sound as good live.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Jan - Talk of Love
Today's blog post is about a 42-year-old singer/songwriter from Minneapolis who makes her living by designing invitations, menus, and other fine things for festive occasions. In her spare time, Jeaneen Gauthier is playing and singing in a band called Jan. The song Talk of Love from the EP Everything Must Go is as beautiful as the cover. The record label Guilt Ridden Pop is giving away the EP for a symbolic price of three dollars (postage paid if you live in the US).
Monday, March 17, 2008
Talulah Gosh - Talulah Gosh
Talulah Gosh's self-titled song was played at the club on my way home from the Friday I mentioned in the latest post. That was a very nice ending to an enjoyable evening. I wonder if Amelia Fletcher ever sang a better song. Perhaps Shallow on Heavenly's first album, but that would probably be the only one.
On youtube I found a video called "Cesc and the City". The video shows the world's best midfielder Cesc Fabregas in my favourite team Arsenal (that seems to go hand in hand) scoring against Manchester City at the start of this season to the tune of My Boy Says, assisted by the team's most intelligent player Alexander Hleb. The combination of a recorded video sequence from an Arsenal game and the sound of a Talulah Gosh song put together into a video clip must be extremely rare, but I prefer to watch the football videos without music after all. My beloved Arsenal are having a tough period in the league right now, but I support them in both good and bad times.
When I do not think about Arsenal, I plan for the summer and atumn. There is a lot of things to be done now. This will be a tough, but hopefully also rewarding week.
On youtube I found a video called "Cesc and the City". The video shows the world's best midfielder Cesc Fabregas in my favourite team Arsenal (that seems to go hand in hand) scoring against Manchester City at the start of this season to the tune of My Boy Says, assisted by the team's most intelligent player Alexander Hleb. The combination of a recorded video sequence from an Arsenal game and the sound of a Talulah Gosh song put together into a video clip must be extremely rare, but I prefer to watch the football videos without music after all. My beloved Arsenal are having a tough period in the league right now, but I support them in both good and bad times.
When I do not think about Arsenal, I plan for the summer and atumn. There is a lot of things to be done now. This will be a tough, but hopefully also rewarding week.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Signed Papercuts - Nothingness
Sooner or later, you come to believe that you already have seen all the bands you want to see. I went to Blekingska with my friend Anna last Friday to see Bridal Shop. By chance, we got to talk to a friend of the band after the show. She asked us what band we most of all wanted to see live. Anna had previously told me that Stars were booked for this year's Accelerator festivial. We both said that we wanted to see Stars live.
In recent days, I had a look at the flights and trains to Stockholm, only to realise that it would be too expensive to go there just for a concert with Stars. I hope that Stars will play at Vega in Copenhagen. Otherwise, I am not very interested in concerts this spring. I came up with the following "list" after I checked the upcoming concerts in this region:
March 28 at Blekingska in Lund - Friday Bridge
April 11 at Mejeriet in Lund - El Perro del Mar
I have seen both of them live before so this concert spring will certainly not bring me any major surprises. It would had been fun to see Marit Bergman again, but her concert is arranged by Kulturbolaget and I will not go there again. Firefox Ak is playing at Mejeriet in April and I like her music but not so much that I would pay 120 SEK in entrance. In that case I rather attend a gig with a small band that surprises me, like Signed Papercuts lit up a small stage on a cold December night.
In recent days, I had a look at the flights and trains to Stockholm, only to realise that it would be too expensive to go there just for a concert with Stars. I hope that Stars will play at Vega in Copenhagen. Otherwise, I am not very interested in concerts this spring. I came up with the following "list" after I checked the upcoming concerts in this region:
March 28 at Blekingska in Lund - Friday Bridge
April 11 at Mejeriet in Lund - El Perro del Mar
I have seen both of them live before so this concert spring will certainly not bring me any major surprises. It would had been fun to see Marit Bergman again, but her concert is arranged by Kulturbolaget and I will not go there again. Firefox Ak is playing at Mejeriet in April and I like her music but not so much that I would pay 120 SEK in entrance. In that case I rather attend a gig with a small band that surprises me, like Signed Papercuts lit up a small stage on a cold December night.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The Charade - The World Is Going Under
The Charade mix their third album Keeping Up Appearances. Meanwhile the world is falling apart. The most tiresome question for a while must be do you have Facebook?
Some people are not capable to communicate in the usual way with cell phone and email anymore. The epidemic known as Facebook is both the virus, the symptoms and the disease at the same time. On the other hand, Facebook is only a little child of its time that has grown too big too fast.
The first episode of the Swedish TV show Survivor (the Swedish version was called Expedition Robinson) aired in 1997, a few years after the Internet breakthrough. Of course, Survivor itself was never the great change. Survivor was just a TV show concept that aired at the right time and thus only serves as an example in this case. Sadly, the entire Survivor concept (at least in the Swedish version) was based on the not very appealing character trait of sacrificing someone else for your own benefit. More importantly, Survivor started a trend where the boundary between the private and the public loosened up.
Ten years later, we see the full effects. After Myspace, it was only a matter of time until someone else would take the concept further. A community has major flaws when it is the rule rather than the exception to have hundreds of friends. Allow me to raise a rhetorical question - who does have 735 friends?
In December last year I got an offer to be captured, if only for a moment, by the media world. The weekly young adult entertainment guide Dygnet Runt (in fact a Friday appendix produced by the newspaper Sydsvenskan) had sent an invitation to their photocall for people who "in the past year have made Malmö and Lund a little better, a little better looking and more fun to be in". One day I unexpectedly found such an invitation in my mailbox. I obviously got the invitation because I was the promoter at Blekingska's indie pop club Indigo last autumn. I stayed at home instead of going to a group photo that would reach hundreds of thousands readers. I can not say that the idea of mingling with the region's entertainment elite attracted me. Once I later got the newspaper in my hand, I noticed that 114 people had come to the photocall. The title was "The Chosen People". Either you are with us or not. Trendy or not trendy. It reminded me of my very early shool years and class mates who said "you are invited, you are also invited, but you may not come". I was very pleased with my decision to not go to the photocall when I saw that a number of media horny and incredibly annoying Nöjesguiden (another young adult entertainment guide) profiles were on the same group picture that I would had been if I said yes.
However, the purpose of this post is not to picture myself as conceited. It is rather a desperate cry for help, hoping to avoid hearing well we set up something, what is your facebook?
Until then, I listen to The Charade's new song The World Is Going Under which is a gem among all the pigs who are taking themselves too seriously while thinking they are the middle point of earth.
Some people are not capable to communicate in the usual way with cell phone and email anymore. The epidemic known as Facebook is both the virus, the symptoms and the disease at the same time. On the other hand, Facebook is only a little child of its time that has grown too big too fast.
The first episode of the Swedish TV show Survivor (the Swedish version was called Expedition Robinson) aired in 1997, a few years after the Internet breakthrough. Of course, Survivor itself was never the great change. Survivor was just a TV show concept that aired at the right time and thus only serves as an example in this case. Sadly, the entire Survivor concept (at least in the Swedish version) was based on the not very appealing character trait of sacrificing someone else for your own benefit. More importantly, Survivor started a trend where the boundary between the private and the public loosened up.
Ten years later, we see the full effects. After Myspace, it was only a matter of time until someone else would take the concept further. A community has major flaws when it is the rule rather than the exception to have hundreds of friends. Allow me to raise a rhetorical question - who does have 735 friends?
In December last year I got an offer to be captured, if only for a moment, by the media world. The weekly young adult entertainment guide Dygnet Runt (in fact a Friday appendix produced by the newspaper Sydsvenskan) had sent an invitation to their photocall for people who "in the past year have made Malmö and Lund a little better, a little better looking and more fun to be in". One day I unexpectedly found such an invitation in my mailbox. I obviously got the invitation because I was the promoter at Blekingska's indie pop club Indigo last autumn. I stayed at home instead of going to a group photo that would reach hundreds of thousands readers. I can not say that the idea of mingling with the region's entertainment elite attracted me. Once I later got the newspaper in my hand, I noticed that 114 people had come to the photocall. The title was "The Chosen People". Either you are with us or not. Trendy or not trendy. It reminded me of my very early shool years and class mates who said "you are invited, you are also invited, but you may not come". I was very pleased with my decision to not go to the photocall when I saw that a number of media horny and incredibly annoying Nöjesguiden (another young adult entertainment guide) profiles were on the same group picture that I would had been if I said yes.
However, the purpose of this post is not to picture myself as conceited. It is rather a desperate cry for help, hoping to avoid hearing well we set up something, what is your facebook?
Until then, I listen to The Charade's new song The World Is Going Under which is a gem among all the pigs who are taking themselves too seriously while thinking they are the middle point of earth.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sambassadeur - Malmö January 25
In order to move on, you sometimes have to accept the phrase "kill your darlings". In exceptional cases, the darlings kill themselves.
Sambassadeur's Coastal Affairs was the best EP of 2006, but now I also know that Coastal Affairs was the beginning of the end. I adored and still love Coastal Affairs, but the EP inevitably brought Sambassadeur in a new direction characterised by a luxury and orchestrated sound. Last year's album Migration was a huge disappointment and another victim of the sterile, overproduced sound landscape which Jari Haapalainen and like-minded producers, in this case Mattias Glavås, have made their own. The Sambassadeur that are on tour this spring does not have much in common with the band I once fell in love with.
Last Friday, Sambassadeur played in Malmö in front of Southern Sweden's worst crowd on a stage that was far too big for the band. Nothing could save the gig under those circumstances and I should probably give up attending concerts at the venue Kulturbolaget. When Sambassadeur played New Moon as their first song I knew that the concert would be my definite farewell to the band. In all honesty, I had not expected anything else, but I wanted to be there to be sure.
Sambassadeur is not exactly known as a strong live band, but I still can not understand why you play live when you show no interest in the audience. The songwriting core of the band, Joachim Läckberg (guitar) and Anna Persson (vocals), looked uncomfortable in the spotlight in the center of the stage. The bassist Daniel Tolegård and the other guitarist Daniel Permbo stood on either side and at least made an effort. A band must realise though that something is wrong when their guest drummer is the most interesting person to watch.
Sambassadeur will certainly have more success in the future, but I am not particulalry interested when the production has become more important than great melodies. Sambassadeur wrote fantastic songs some years ago. Sambassadeur did not play If Rain, Dead Leaves or even Between the Lines at the show. The only song that really made me shine was my song - Marie. In the end, Marie alone made it worthwhile to take a Friday trip to Malmö after all.
Four out of Ten.
Sambassadeur's Coastal Affairs was the best EP of 2006, but now I also know that Coastal Affairs was the beginning of the end. I adored and still love Coastal Affairs, but the EP inevitably brought Sambassadeur in a new direction characterised by a luxury and orchestrated sound. Last year's album Migration was a huge disappointment and another victim of the sterile, overproduced sound landscape which Jari Haapalainen and like-minded producers, in this case Mattias Glavås, have made their own. The Sambassadeur that are on tour this spring does not have much in common with the band I once fell in love with.
Last Friday, Sambassadeur played in Malmö in front of Southern Sweden's worst crowd on a stage that was far too big for the band. Nothing could save the gig under those circumstances and I should probably give up attending concerts at the venue Kulturbolaget. When Sambassadeur played New Moon as their first song I knew that the concert would be my definite farewell to the band. In all honesty, I had not expected anything else, but I wanted to be there to be sure.
Sambassadeur is not exactly known as a strong live band, but I still can not understand why you play live when you show no interest in the audience. The songwriting core of the band, Joachim Läckberg (guitar) and Anna Persson (vocals), looked uncomfortable in the spotlight in the center of the stage. The bassist Daniel Tolegård and the other guitarist Daniel Permbo stood on either side and at least made an effort. A band must realise though that something is wrong when their guest drummer is the most interesting person to watch.
Sambassadeur will certainly have more success in the future, but I am not particulalry interested when the production has become more important than great melodies. Sambassadeur wrote fantastic songs some years ago. Sambassadeur did not play If Rain, Dead Leaves or even Between the Lines at the show. The only song that really made me shine was my song - Marie. In the end, Marie alone made it worthwhile to take a Friday trip to Malmö after all.
Four out of Ten.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Penny Century - Nothing Burns Like Bridges
Today I woke up by myself five to six in the morning. I will soon sit on my days off and eat breakfast four 'o clock at night if this sick thing continues.
I was wrong in my last post. It does not take an hour a day to travel between Lund and the city I yet do not have a relationship with. It rather seems like I should be happy if I can limit the travelling to two and a half hours a day. It is raining outside and I have yawned since I came home a couple of hours ago. A brutal contrast to the beautiful Monday which was the best day in a long time.
Everything is as usual at tweenet. Their visitors have voted for indiepop favourite things in 2007. The votes are now counted and the list about the best bands of the year is dominated by talented but boring ones. Who seriously rates Cats on Fire as the world's best band?
Julia Hanberg's Penny Century is certainly not the world's best band but still deserve some attention. Bizarrely, Penny Century got almost all their votes on tweenet's list from people related to their record label. I could have voted for Penny Century's song Nothing Burns Like Bridges from last year's album Between a Hundred Lies, but Penny Century seem to remain a band with great potential that do not get the recognition they deserve.
I was wrong in my last post. It does not take an hour a day to travel between Lund and the city I yet do not have a relationship with. It rather seems like I should be happy if I can limit the travelling to two and a half hours a day. It is raining outside and I have yawned since I came home a couple of hours ago. A brutal contrast to the beautiful Monday which was the best day in a long time.
Everything is as usual at tweenet. Their visitors have voted for indiepop favourite things in 2007. The votes are now counted and the list about the best bands of the year is dominated by talented but boring ones. Who seriously rates Cats on Fire as the world's best band?
Julia Hanberg's Penny Century is certainly not the world's best band but still deserve some attention. Bizarrely, Penny Century got almost all their votes on tweenet's list from people related to their record label. I could have voted for Penny Century's song Nothing Burns Like Bridges from last year's album Between a Hundred Lies, but Penny Century seem to remain a band with great potential that do not get the recognition they deserve.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Sons and Daughters - Darling
I woke up by myself well rested nine o'clock in the morning to a day off. Apparently, I am going to travel between Lund and Malmö the next ten weeks, and with that I say goodbye to one hour a day.
In total, I spent 1300 SEK directly related to my studies yesterday. The monthly bus card cost 640 SEK and the course literature was equally expensive. Surprisingly, I was still happy because I managed to "cheat" the system and come home with a CD album I almost got for free.
The Academy bookstore (Akademibokhandeln) hands out discount cards for which you collect stamps. Ten stamps mean that you can deduct 100 SEK when you buy at their store. Yesterday, I had for once remembered to bring my old half-filled discount card and reached ten stamps. I expected to get my discount but it would only be given at the next purchase. That is annoyingly stupid and it would not be possible to use the discount without buying things I do not need right now. I walked around in the bookstore, thought about it and then asked the cashier if I could use the discount on music CDs. That was okay, so I came home with Säkert's debut album for 29 SEK. What a bargain!
It is said that a new semester is an excellent time for a fresh start. I would actually feel that way if I could only get my apartment cleaned. The new year has started well so far. Let us celebrate with some new music. Sons and Daughters sound like Long Blondes in some songs. Sons and Daughter's latest album This Gift may not be as good, but the song Darling is wonderful. Listen at the band's myspace.
In total, I spent 1300 SEK directly related to my studies yesterday. The monthly bus card cost 640 SEK and the course literature was equally expensive. Surprisingly, I was still happy because I managed to "cheat" the system and come home with a CD album I almost got for free.
The Academy bookstore (Akademibokhandeln) hands out discount cards for which you collect stamps. Ten stamps mean that you can deduct 100 SEK when you buy at their store. Yesterday, I had for once remembered to bring my old half-filled discount card and reached ten stamps. I expected to get my discount but it would only be given at the next purchase. That is annoyingly stupid and it would not be possible to use the discount without buying things I do not need right now. I walked around in the bookstore, thought about it and then asked the cashier if I could use the discount on music CDs. That was okay, so I came home with Säkert's debut album for 29 SEK. What a bargain!
It is said that a new semester is an excellent time for a fresh start. I would actually feel that way if I could only get my apartment cleaned. The new year has started well so far. Let us celebrate with some new music. Sons and Daughters sound like Long Blondes in some songs. Sons and Daughter's latest album This Gift may not be as good, but the song Darling is wonderful. Listen at the band's myspace.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Setlists and pop dreams
Among all the stressfull Friday nights at Blekingska last fall, I remember one conversation very well. The band Irene were preparing the stage for sound check. In the meantime, I was speaking to Tobias and Malin of Laurel Music about which songs they were going to play. Please don't show me the setlist, I do not want to know anything before the show, I said. Why not, Malin asked. Then and there I found it difficult to give a quick answer and probably said something stupid such as it gets more exciting that way without further explaining myself. It stroke me afterwards that this conversation opened my eyes. At that moment I became aware that there are so many different ways to experience a concert.
A great deal of my experience at pop concerts is the concept of being left unknown about exactly what songs that will be played and how they are arranged, in the same way that you do not know how things are going for your favourite team in the next match. It may seem a bit silly that this could impact the experience so much, but we both forget that when the favourite band plays our song.
As a promoter, I collected setlists from most, but not all, gigs at Blekingska last fall. It may be fun to look at them in the future. For the record, I add the setlists to this post as well. The dotted line separates the ordinary concert set from the encore.
Like Honey, September 21, 2007
New York – Tiles – Old Boy – Telling Lies – Five Minute Dream – Nothing's Right
--------------------
Airport
Language of Flowers, September 21, 2007
Where You Belong - Who You're With - Cat's Miaow - You're The One - Summer's Been and Gone - If It's Not You - Songs About You - Panda Girl - I Don't Care at All - Tara Mascara
--------------------
Botanic Gardens
Secret Shine, September 28, 2007
Oblivion – Lost Memory – Sound of Light – Deep Thinker – Hate You When You Smile – Adored – Stars in the Sky – Hit the Ground – Cafe Crash – Wish Coming True – Loveblind
Friday Bridge, October 5, 2007
Introduction de la Soirée – Le Satin S’empare – The End of the Affair – Literature – The Lady Julie – Armance L’Actrcie – Shanghai Shipping – Edward the Hedgehog – The Story of Agnes – Love and Nostalgia – 24 Hour Party People – It Girl
Strange Idols, October 12, 2007
Say Anything – Old Times – He’s Out Looking for Love – She’s Gonna Let You Down Again – X-ray Vision – New song – Intensions – Blue Espers/Berlin - It’s No Fun
--------------------
Ovanite Sensation
Laurel Music, November 2, 2007
The Way Love Goes – Dreams and Lies – Disappear – Northern Light – No One Wants Forever – Into the Blue – Sirens
(in Copenhagen the following night Laurel Music added Question Mark, Karma 2 AM, and another new song to the concert set)
Irene, November 2, 2007
The Game – Little Things – Looking for Love – Stardust – Seaside – Waterfront – End of the Line – September Skies – Only You – Baby I Love Your Way – June Is Flat – Little Lovin’ – By Your Side
Lucky Soul, November 10, 2007
My Brittle Heart – One Kiss Don’t Make a Summer – Ain’t Never Been Cool – Struck Dumb – Add Your Light to Mine, Baby – The Towering Inferno – Baby, I’m Broke – Gimme Love – The Great Unwanted – Heatwave by Marta Reeves and The Vandelas – Lips Are Unhappy
--------------------
The Killing Moon by Echo and The Bunnymen
The Sunny Street, November 30, 2007
Drawings – Blackberries – Morton and Claude – Kill You – Rainy Hearts – Comedians – Cyclists – All the Way – Greasy Crisps – Pottery and Glass
In some strange way, I managed to also get a setlist from Säkert's gig at Kulturbolaget in Malmö on December 1. I post that one as well, but I will not bring home any more paper pieces from concerts in a while.
Säkert, Kulturbolaget December 1, 2007
Och Jag Grät Mig till Sömns - Rotary - Stetoskop - Någon Gång Måste Du Bli Själv - Ditt Kvarter - Det Här Är Vad Dom Säger - Min Hemstad - Faller Isär - New song - Sanningsdan - Allt Som Är Ditt - Är Du Fortfarande Arg
--------------------
Det Kommer Bara Leda till Något Ont - Vi Kommer Att Dö Samtidigt - 2006
A great deal of my experience at pop concerts is the concept of being left unknown about exactly what songs that will be played and how they are arranged, in the same way that you do not know how things are going for your favourite team in the next match. It may seem a bit silly that this could impact the experience so much, but we both forget that when the favourite band plays our song.
As a promoter, I collected setlists from most, but not all, gigs at Blekingska last fall. It may be fun to look at them in the future. For the record, I add the setlists to this post as well. The dotted line separates the ordinary concert set from the encore.
Like Honey, September 21, 2007
New York – Tiles – Old Boy – Telling Lies – Five Minute Dream – Nothing's Right
--------------------
Airport
Language of Flowers, September 21, 2007
Where You Belong - Who You're With - Cat's Miaow - You're The One - Summer's Been and Gone - If It's Not You - Songs About You - Panda Girl - I Don't Care at All - Tara Mascara
--------------------
Botanic Gardens
Secret Shine, September 28, 2007
Oblivion – Lost Memory – Sound of Light – Deep Thinker – Hate You When You Smile – Adored – Stars in the Sky – Hit the Ground – Cafe Crash – Wish Coming True – Loveblind
Friday Bridge, October 5, 2007
Introduction de la Soirée – Le Satin S’empare – The End of the Affair – Literature – The Lady Julie – Armance L’Actrcie – Shanghai Shipping – Edward the Hedgehog – The Story of Agnes – Love and Nostalgia – 24 Hour Party People – It Girl
Strange Idols, October 12, 2007
Say Anything – Old Times – He’s Out Looking for Love – She’s Gonna Let You Down Again – X-ray Vision – New song – Intensions – Blue Espers/Berlin - It’s No Fun
--------------------
Ovanite Sensation
Laurel Music, November 2, 2007
The Way Love Goes – Dreams and Lies – Disappear – Northern Light – No One Wants Forever – Into the Blue – Sirens
(in Copenhagen the following night Laurel Music added Question Mark, Karma 2 AM, and another new song to the concert set)
Irene, November 2, 2007
The Game – Little Things – Looking for Love – Stardust – Seaside – Waterfront – End of the Line – September Skies – Only You – Baby I Love Your Way – June Is Flat – Little Lovin’ – By Your Side
Lucky Soul, November 10, 2007
My Brittle Heart – One Kiss Don’t Make a Summer – Ain’t Never Been Cool – Struck Dumb – Add Your Light to Mine, Baby – The Towering Inferno – Baby, I’m Broke – Gimme Love – The Great Unwanted – Heatwave by Marta Reeves and The Vandelas – Lips Are Unhappy
--------------------
The Killing Moon by Echo and The Bunnymen
The Sunny Street, November 30, 2007
Drawings – Blackberries – Morton and Claude – Kill You – Rainy Hearts – Comedians – Cyclists – All the Way – Greasy Crisps – Pottery and Glass
In some strange way, I managed to also get a setlist from Säkert's gig at Kulturbolaget in Malmö on December 1. I post that one as well, but I will not bring home any more paper pieces from concerts in a while.
Säkert, Kulturbolaget December 1, 2007
Och Jag Grät Mig till Sömns - Rotary - Stetoskop - Någon Gång Måste Du Bli Själv - Ditt Kvarter - Det Här Är Vad Dom Säger - Min Hemstad - Faller Isär - New song - Sanningsdan - Allt Som Är Ditt - Är Du Fortfarande Arg
--------------------
Det Kommer Bara Leda till Något Ont - Vi Kommer Att Dö Samtidigt - 2006
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