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.

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.

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.

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Det Kommer Bara Leda till Något Ont - Vi Kommer Att Dö Samtidigt - 2006