2010

The music year 2010 has been a brilliant time for softpop but otherwise left much to be desired.
I had really big plans for the blog this year, but the lack of posts is obvious now that there are only a few hours left until 2011. It is what it is and my lesson is to not promise more than I can hold. I still have the ideas I mentioned one year ago, but this time the plan is to post when the inspiration comes back.

Records
1. Very Truly Yours –Things You Used to Say
2. Allo Darlin - Allo Darlin
3. Katie Goes to Tokyo - My Naked Heart
4. The Soft City - The Soft City
5. Sambassadeur – European
6. The Jezabels – Dark Storm EP
7. The Secret History –The World That Never Was
8. Stars – The Five Ghosts
9. Will Driving West – The Breakout
10. Standard Fare – The Noyelle Beat

Also good: Minipop - Automatic Love EP, Now Now Every Children – Neighbors EP, The New Pornographers – Together, Säkert! – Facit, Seapony - Seapony EP

Songs
1. Katie Goes to Tokyo - Before You Fell in Love With Her
2. Sambassadeur - Stranded
3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Say No to Love
4. Standard Fare - Love Doesn't Just Stop
5. Allo Darlin - Dreaming
6. Very Truly Yours - Your Funeral
7. Shrag - Rabbit Kids
8. Allo Darlin - My Heart Is a Drummer
9. Trembling Blue Stars - Cold Colours
10. Katie Goes to Tokyo - The Apartment, The Cat and The Dress
11. Minipop - Into the Night
12. Betty and the Werewolves - Paper Thin
13. The Jezabels - Sahara Mahala
14. Forest City Lovers - Minneapolis
15. Wild Nothing - Summer Holiday

2009

The year list of 2009 is finally complete and it is clear to me that my listening has been concentrated in a few albums. Lacrosse top the album chart, followed by a big gap down to second placed The Jezabels. When I listen to Bandages for the Heart it almost feels like the time before internet.

2010 will probably become a sort of comeback for the blog. I have some ideas I want to carry out, and it will be a very interesting year here on the blog if everything goes well.

Records
1. Lacrosse - Bandages for the Heart
2. The Jezabels - The Man Is Dead EP
3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (LP)
4. Strawberry Whiplash - Picture Perfect EP
5. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
6. The Afternoon Naps - Parade
7. Joy Formidable - A Balloon Called Moaning
8. Grand Archieves - Keep in Mind Frankenstein
9. The Starlets - I Wake Up Dreaming
10. Burning Hearts - Aboa Sleeping

Also good: The Fauns - The Fauns, Headlights - Wildlife, State Broadcasters - The Ship and the Iceberg, JJ - JJ no 2, Immaculate Machine - High on Jackson Hill, God Help the Girl - God Help the Girl


Songs
1. Lacrosse - Come Back Song #1
2. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction
3. Camera Obscura - French Navy
4. The Jezabels - Disco Biscuit Love
5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Stay Alive
6. Grand Archieves - Oslo Novelist
7. The Starlets - To the Winter Park
8. The Jezabels - Be a Star
9. Burning Hearts - I Lost My Colour Vision
10. Strawberry Whiplash - Celestial
11. Ohbijou - Wildfires
12. Sally Shapiro - Miracle
13. The Besties - Man vs Wild
14. Metric - Sick Muse
15. Anna Järvinen - Äppelöga

The Jezabels - Disco Biscuit Love

Kylie Minogue and fellow countryman Nick Cave were deadly serious in the 1995 duet Where the Wild Roses Grow. It may well be the most beautiful moment in Australian pop music.

Ten years later, Melbourne band Architecture in Helsinki charmed concert audiences all across the Western world with shows based on the records Fingers Crossed and In Case We Die.

The huge island on the other side of the world has probably had more to offer than two admittedly very fond memories, but the Australian pop music landscape has always been a desert to me. I do not have a relationship with Australia's probably most acclaimed band The Lucksmiths, and it is telling that I only like the songs Camera-Shy and T-Shirt Weather when their recordings include eleven albums. I have never been particularly interested in Australian music, and it is perfectly logical that I did not bother to really investigate it. If I were to try to describe the Australian pop music scene, I would probably say "talented, but boring"

It is therefore so incredibly liberating to hear Sydney quartet The Jezabels invert my view of the world with disco-like piano pop which breaks my prejudices. The Jezabels make music to live to. Disco Biscuit Love appears on the band's first record The Man Is Dead EP which is absolutely brilliant all the way.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction

The Aislers Set's brilliant album The Last Match was released on Slumberland Records in spring 2000. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart bring out the carbon paper nine years later, release their debut album on the same label and get the breakthrough The Aislers Set never had.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart entered my year list in 2007 with their self-titled EP. The five songs were very similar in sound. When I heard the opening track This Love Is Fucking Right a night out at Blekinska the following spring, I jokingly said that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have recorded the same song five times - but it is okay as the song is quite good.

I find a common theme now that I read what others write about The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's debut album. Nostalgic descriptions picture memories of bands such as The Pastels, Popsicle, My Bloody Valentine, and Lush. Except for already mentioned The Aislers Set, I also come to think about Ride.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart know their indie pop history very well, but it strikes me after a dozen listenings through the album that they completely lack a unique sound. The self-titled LP is one of 2009's best records so far thanks to amazing songs like Young Adult Friction and Stay Alive, but The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are far too gifted to throw away their talent on ambitious cover records.

Those who are introduced to indie pop music by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will perhaps remember this album as one of the special records in their lives. For the rest of us it just remains a good album. There is something sad about the chorus of praise ignoring the obvious influences and the knowledge that copies all too often become larger than the originals.

The Popguns - Waiting for the Winter

Six weeks gone and not a word
this means the end

Wendy Morgan's desperate, unhappy voice was followed by jangle guitars through a fantastic upbeat melody. I was once again fascinated by the cirumstance that the most bitter insights often are told with the most uplifting and catchy pop melodies.

The Popguns hit me right in the heart on the very first attempt. Waiting for the Winter was their great super hit and the perfect introduction to the band.

The other eight songs on the debut album Eugenie followed the same line. Beautiful, sad and amazing Down on Your Knees reinforced that image. Eugenie was an emotional rollercoaster built by cynical, depressive lyrics about much more than failed relationships.

Much later I would discover that The Popguns made an even better song called Still a World Away. A song which inspires, gives hope and makes me dream. I will write about it another time. Until then, I just want to state that The Popguns was the best band of the 90's together with Red Sleeping Beauty and Belle and Sebastian.

2008

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

My 2007

Concerts
A really good concert almost always comes down to more things than the music. Sambassadeur have written my soundtrack (the tambourines are shaking but I don't hear the sound, it's my favorite song but I don't like the crowd) of many gigs that were spoiled by people who were talking during the songs. The crowd was horrible when Lucky Soul played at Debaser Medis in Stockholm on Friday, November 9. Lucky Soul played at Blekingska in Lund the following night. The office people who ran the student nation decided to overprice the tickets. I was not happy with that, but the concert was absolutely fantastic because all people who had paid an expensive ticket for the show came for the music rather than the booze. People jumped up and down crazily to the hits Lips Are Unhappy and Ain't Never Been Cool, but they were still completely silent during the quit ballad Baby I'm Broke. Wonderful!
This was very ironic since the crowd at the very same Blekingska talked constantly during Laurel Music's comeback gig only one week earlier. I saw Laurel Music in Copenhagen the following night. It was a very intimate concert with seats around tables for the audience. I had a totally clear view and everyone was quiet the whole time. Laurel Music's concert in Copenhagen will stay in my memory for life. Language of Flowers gave me another unforgettable night when I had the honor to host their last ever show.
The Magic Numbers end the concert year 2007 on Wednesday. I look forward to that gig but I do not think that it will manage to get a place on my list. The concert year has really been that good! I attended 16 concert nights this year, but I have not written any concert texts this fall. You were always on my mind, but I did not have the time to write.

1. Language of Flowers – September 21 at Blekingska, Lund
2. Lucky Soul – November 10 at Blekingska, Lund
3. Laurel Music – November 2 at Huset Magstreade, Copenhagen
4. Irene – November 2 at Blekingska, Lund
5. Au Revoir Simone – November 12 at Vega, Copenhagen
6. Strange Idols – October 12 at Blekingska, Lund

In addition to these concerts, I will particularly rembember the shows with Like Honey (at Blekingska as the support act for Language of Flowers), Air (at Vega the same night as Au Revoir Simone), and Säkert at Kulturbolaget in Mamö.


Albums
Just as I predicted a year ago this year's best album was made by a band whose name begins with "L", but I did not know that (to me) unknown Let's Go Sailing would take me by storm.
Sambassadeur's second album was clearly the disappointment of the year. The single Subtle Changes promised much, but everything I loved with Sambassadeur was lost on the long awaited album Migration. I should really appreciate the record given that Anna sings on all songs except one, but Migration fails to shine despite more than 20 listenings. Sambassadeur have changed their sound and many people will like it, but I will never ever prefer the current pop orchestra sound over the magic of If Rain. I give Migration the rating five out of ten. I have not decided the rating of The Chaos in Order and it will not be needed either. A number one on a year list is greater than a numerical rating.

1. Let's Go Sailing – The Chaos in Order
2. Lucky Soul – The Great Unwanted
3. Immaculate Machine – Fables
4. Celestial – Dream On
5. Tupelo Honeys – Salute You
6. Stars – In Our Bedroom After the War
7. Palomar – All Things, Forest
8. The Afternoon Naps – Sunbeamed
9. Friday Bridge – Intricacy
10. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
11. Säkert! – Säkert!
12. Fireflies – Goodnight Stars Goodnight Moon
13. Irene – Long Gone Since Last Summer
14. Love Dance – Result
15. The National – Boxer

Also good: Au Revoir Simone – The Bird of Music, The Loose Salute – Tuned to Love, Cats on Fire – The Province Complains, Electrelane – No Shouts No Calls, and Blonde Redhead – 23.


Songs
In the end I had to give in and admit that Bobby Wratten wrote two of the best songs this year.

1. Trembling Blue Stars – Idyllwild
2. Lucky Soul – One Kiss Don't Make a Summer
3. Stars – Bitches in Tokyo
4. Celestial – Dream On
5. Stars – Take Me to the Riot
6. Northern Fields – Never Take the Beauty
7. The Strange Idols – It's No Fun
8. Trembling Blue Stars – November Starlings
9. Tupelo Honeys – The Return of the Weeping Man
10. The School – Let It Slip
11. The Garlands – You Never Notice Me
12. Club 8 – The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming
13. Let's Go Sailing – Sideways
14. Sambassadeur – Subtle Changes
15. The Secret History – Mark and John
16. Irene – By Your Side
17. Immaculate Machine – Dear Confessor
18. The Secret History – Our Lady of Pompeii
19. Penny Century – Nothing Burns Like Bridges
20. Jonna Lee – Dried Out Eyes
21. Säkert! – Någon Gång Måste Du Bli Själv
22. Like Honey – Telling Lies
23. Palomar – You're Keeping Us Up
24. Those Dancing Days – Hitten
25. Liechtenstein – Stalking Skills


2008
Laurel Music's new album is called Cycles and will likely top my next year list. In addition, Katie Goes to Tokyo, Like Honey, and The Charade release new album. And The Secret History will hopefully come to Sweden.

The School - Let It Slip

I never went to the Another Sunny Day and The Icicles show in Malmö. I am not overly sorry for that. For once, I feel there is an excess of good concerts in the region. This Friday, The Sunny Street and Punky's Dilemma come to Lund and that will be my last time in the DJ booth at Blekingska. I really look forward to that.

There seem to pop up small amazing bands everywhere all the time. Today's trip goes to Wales and Cardiff where we find The School, a mini-Lucky Soul who have listened to Camera Obscura. But why compare with other bands when the song Let It Slip speaks for itself?

Northern Fields - Never Take the Beauty

Yesterday I woke up and felt that life is wonderful. Exceptionally, this feeling not only persisted, but also strengthened today. Last night I saw that I had received an email from an amazing person whom I had not spoken with in a year. I met her today and it was nice to speak with her as ever. I was reminded of how good life can be.

On Friday, Laurel Music come to Blekingska and that will be so nice. And while I am living my dream, I listen to Northern Fields who have made this year's most beautiful pop song. It is named Never Take the Beauty and you can listen to it at the band's myspace.