I don't feel like saying much these days. Feels better to just look and listen.

Efterklang: Cutting Ice to Snow


Efterklang - Cutting Ice To Snow from Rumraket on Vimeo.

Mimas: Beneath the glad sunbeam

Mimas - The Worries

So I got Mimas - The Worries, a while ago. So I should write something. As far as I know it is hardly out in Denmark, and I got it in the mail with a cute handwritten note by Daniel in the band.
Some of the tracks I have already listen to a thousand times, before they made the cd, but I can't seem to get enough, even now. Opening is the beautiful Treehouse, almost certainly made for the purpose of opening. Mac is nicely energetic. Dads is one of the main pieces on Worries in my opinion (and probably in their own opinion, considering the chant in it). The quiet trumpet bit with the kids in the middle makes my skin crawl. Why in the world not? changes the mood of the cd. Now it's darker, more serious. Keep quiet and Beneath the glad sunbeam are favourites.
It is no wonder that this record had to be made in the UK, it is much too big for DK, but also too weird, bloody and pretty.
Thank you - come again...
Soon!

AU - RR vs. D

Rokland

Stormland is another one of these fictions that take a very critical stance on modern life. Maybe it is just a coincidence that I seem to be reading these lately - or maybe this is merely what I focus on when reading them. I'm a slow reader, because I tend to wander of into other things in my mind. This means that I also relate fiction closely to my own life and the way I see the world. But who doesn't do that?

These two Swedish girls (age 15 and 17!) are called First Aid Kit and do a brilliant cover of Fleet Foxes. Their own stuff is also very nice.

Mimas

I recently preordered Mimas' "The Worries". They are one of my favourites of late and the preview "Dads" on myspace is brilliant.
So you preorder it too, please :) So we can listen together...
Also I did finish that book, mentioned earlier, but I can't be bother with what to think or write about it right now.

Mirador

#67 Efterklang - Mirador
by lecargo

Beijing 2008

Seems these Olympic games will be a huge disappointment from a Danish point of view.
Men's handball, the most followed of the Danish atlets, barely won their first game yesterday.
So I will enjoy some music instead.

I have been getting back into the amazing stuff from E Bird

Also this morning I have just been listening to the latest preview of one of my favourite bands Mimas - Dads
It seems so long until October 6th, but I wait in eager expectation.

I might post on a book I am reading - once I finish it. "Stormland" in Danish or "Rokland" in Icelandic by Hallgrímur Helgason.
By saying this - I am forcing myself into finishing it.
All I can say now is that it, ironically, is about a unemployed gymnasium teacher.

It's alive!

For sure it seems like this blog has died. There are lots of excuses, but none of them quite cut it. So the few readers I have had so far, might be gone by now.
But if you are still here, or quite new to my blog: I urge you to check out the latest from Danish Choir of Young Believers, "Under the moon", who will debut 1. of September.
"Under the moon" is quite different from what I have heard so far, not quite as "big and loud", but it also has this special COYB melancholy feeling to it.
If you are quite new to COYB please check out the rest as well. "Next Summer" is getting lots of airplay on Danish national radio P3, which is nice, but lately their playlist has been quite numbingly dull and repetitive.

Also Tiger Tunes are sharing some interesting demos and stuff at their HP.

More americana

I swear it's a coincidence that I only seem to write about American music lately.

It's bad for the trade balance, but since the Americans are in recession and the Danish economy is at it's peak - it's only fair and sensible to promote American music.
Fleet Foxes is minimalistic music from Seattle. I like White Winter Hymnal, weird when it is 20 Celsius outside I guess.
Go listen, please.

Daytrotter
Tangledcord

I'm not big on commercials, anyone who has ever watched television with me would know that. The reasons are obvious, but once in a little while something clever or beautiful turns up on in this annoying part of our lives. Warren Ellis made the music or score or whatever they call it.

Better write this before I collapse... I didn't go to bed until 6 am this morning because of a paper due...
I only have two recommendations. Why don't you listen to the new stuff from this band? I don't know if you have heard of them they are called Coldplay or something like that?
No, really I want to give attention to the band "AU" from Portland in the US of A. Börneblogger introduced me with the track RR vs D. that is no less then bliss of piano, singing, clapping and tooting. I am won over, I will no longer put up a fight... Perfect for spring in Denmark. I am going to put it on my stereo and drive my neighbours mad.
Second up is new stuff from Slaraffenland claiming to be a machine and who am I to disagree. You make up your own mind what to think.
Stay jolly. A.

AU
Slaraffenland

Efterklang and Morgenthaler

Morgenthaler redeeming himself by making this Efterklang video.

Princess

I am a big fan of the comic strip Wulffmorgenthaler, made by Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler. (click the strip to read the text, unless you have very good eyes)
So I had my hopes up last night, when I had the opportunity to watch Anders Morgenthaler's animated film Princess. Sadly it was a let down, the grotesque, morbid and sometimes ironic comment on society of the comic didn't translate into pictures in motion.
Morgenthaler wants to show us how pornography, child molestation and prostitution - which is one and the same in his world, is very bad - made by bad men and exploiting women. On the other hand we have violence in the style of maybe Kill Bill, preformed by a Christian on the rouse of revenge (very odd combination), but is otherwise not given the ability to show emotion. The story is filled with cliches, barely has any surprises in store and made me laugh in places I clearly shouldn't have.
Some call it a necessary and shocking film, clearly they live in a world where media doesn't show this harsh reality. I have no need for poorly explained violence and emotional simpletons, Hollywood have them in plenty.

cats and cats and cats

You like post-rock?
You like cats and cats and cats - happiness for lola.
I wish all their songs was like this one, but they are not. :(

The Alpine

These indie poppers have a new album out in Denmark 16. of april called ”There’s Only So Much You Can Do" - but you can get the first single right now. They claim there is some serious message in it, but it seems to get lost in the happy, clapping music...

Back to basics

Lately I have been going back to basics = acoustic guitar. For a change I am out of DK and Europe!
First of all The Dodos. I love how a guitar, drum and passionate vocals can be all you need.
Secondly The Acorn.
Thirdly Grand Archives.
And also Iron and Wine.
These north American bands have some fell to them that can't be matched in Europe, god heavens we try! (pronounce with a fake British accent). All these bands seem to have found THE sound of acoustic America in their own way. And I am sure they kick ass on stage.
This will be a weekend with work and maybe board gaming with the boys, so don't count on anything from here until perhaps Monday. I have no idea how most people read blogs, but I would recommend using a reader, like google's reader. It has changed my life - and saved me lots of time.
Take care, who and wherever you are. A.

Flammen og Citronen

Det er stadig svært at blive enige om hvad man skal synes som dansker om besættelsestiden. Det synes jeg i hvertfald. Tyskerne har det på det punkt vist, om ikke bedre, så i hvertfald enklere. Flammen og Citronen er en historie om... Ja hvad er det egentlig en historie om? Det er en historie om besættelsestiden. Det er en historie om modstandsbevægelsen. Det er en historie om at vælge mellem at fraternisere eller være fanatisk. Skal vi svigte vores følelser og idealer i nutiden for fremtidens skyld? På det seneste har vi fået et mere balanceret forhold til danskernes rolle i krigen. Der var mange danskere i tysk tjeneste, hvilket vi ikke skal hæve os over, idet det næppe var klart for alle disse mennesker helt hvad nazismen indeholdt. De levede i den sociale realitet, at der var arbejde og muligheder i at handle med tyskerne eller som professionel soldat.
Flammen og Citronen foregår i den sidste del af krigen, hvor den danske modstand bliver organiseret i en hvis grad. Når briterne og russerne er på vej, hvad skal man så gøre? Skal man blot se til, uden risiko for at man selv bliver dræbt eller uskyldige i en hævnaktion? Eller skal man gøre sit til at forræderne og de værste tyskere ikke går frit omkring, måske også efter krigen? Risikoen er at det samfund som vi ville bevare tidligt i krigen gennem samarbejdspolitiken går tabt i en militærundtagelsestilstand.
Flammen og Citronen kunne fortælle en enkel og autentisk historie om den danske modstandsbevægelse, men bliver til en stor fortælling om mange menneskers dilemmaer i de svære år, hvilket bliver en smule uklart og ikke rør ved ens sjæl, som denne del af Danmarks historien ellers "plejer" at gøre. Samtidig er flere ting forstyrrende, tilsyneladende skal F og C også være en actionfilm med en masse skyderi, i stil med I Kina spiser de hunde, hvilket er gjort flot, men står i skrap kontrast til de alvorlige temaer i filmen. Det virker en smule vulgært at stille spørgsmålet om "vi skal slå ihjel?", også bagefter lave en scene hvor folk bliver mejet ned. Det er som om vi lige skulle se en Rambo film mens vi nu var i salen.
Mads Mikkelsen spiller citronen, den ene, passivt aggressive og moralske modstandmand, hvilket han gør godt, men tilgengæld der også lige har en masse familieproblemer midt i krigen. En del af historien vi måske kunne have været foruden. Autentiske historier har det med at indeholde, for temaet, ligegyldige sidehistorier.
Thure Lindhardt er hans makker og fortæller i filmen. Fortællerdelen mener jeg er overdramatiseret og hans viskende stemme er direkte irriterende. Peter Mygind som bagmand og kontakt er helt forkert, idet han i mange år har spillet de bløde roller og er temmelig svær at tage seriøs når man er vant til at se ham i børnefilm, som loverboy i Nicolai og Julie, som en blød bøsse i tv2s hverdagsdrama og herimellem som storsmilende lottosælger i reklameblokken. Det er da klart at han skal kommandere rundt med hårdkogte partisaner. De to tyskere i castet (Christian Berkel og Hanns Zischler) får derimod danskerne til at blegne.
Jeg tror ikke at vi vant til at fortælle så store historier i Danmark og så prøver vi bare at gøre Hollywood efter, hvilket er lidt synd når det foregår i vores egen baghave.

The Dodos

How can something so simple, be so brilliant?

Analogik

Once and a while I am reminded not to think of music too seriously. After all music can touch all parts of your soul, not only the hurt. These guys certainly aren't very serious in such a way, which dosn't mean that they are shallow. Their strange "worldmusic" which mixes jazz, tango, hiphop, electronic music and tones of other stuff that will almostly make your feet move and put a smile to your face. Sometimes that is all you need, am I right? Thats logical - analogical.
I had to buy their first album last week. "Søens folk" (sailors - literally ppl of the sea) is a great album for both sitting down with your headphones listening to their cute soundbites and for putting on at a dying party that needs to lighten up and take to dancefloor. If you like efterklang or detektivbyrån you definely should check this out. Analogik

Night out

Saw "To verdener" (two worlds) in the cinema last night. I would rather see "No country for old men" or "There will be blood", but I had to agree with the mrs. It is based on a true story about a girl who is a Jehovah's witness, who has to choose between her family and a boyfriend which means being shunted from the religious community. In my opinion most films based on true stories tend to have miserable scripts. This is no exception, where there are too many unnecessary story details that clouds the main issues. The film is however saved by the young actors playing the main roles. Its interesting how the girl Sara depicts the mental trouble a person goes through in such an enclosed environment.

Icelandic beauty

I first heard Ólöf Arnalds on the Danish radio programme "De sorte spejdere" who did a broadcast last year from the Iceland airwaves festival last fall. Since then I have not been able to get her beautiful voice out of my head, even though I have no idea what she sings about. From what I first heard from the festival I got the impression that her music was very minimalistic and singer/ songwriter, but on her début album "Við og Við" her guitar and voice is accompanied by cello, harp and other instruments creating this angelic environment with her voice in the centre.
Myspace
Danish review diskant.dk

Electropunk among mellow students

What do you get when you take 80's or 90's beats, raw guitar and bass and screaming punk lyrics? You get Revl9n. I saw them last night at Studenterhuset in Aalborg. The lead singer brings a special energy to the stage, with her eccentric stage performance that captivates you, even though her singing isn't that brilliant in my opinion. Electro punk doesn't have a big crowd in Aalborg, a hundred at most were present at their performance - perhaps these swedes are used to a bigger audience? A few, maybe fifteen, took the floor dancing to the beats. The height of the concert was "Waiting for desire" with its easy recognisable synthesiser sounds. Their songs differ a great deal from each other, some being almost entirely electronic and others more punk. I would probably never have gone to this concert if I hadn't gotten the tickets for free, but I didn't regret seeing this very unique duo .
www.myspace.com/revl9n

Retrograd

Who wants to study, when you can write a blog instead...

Do you ever wonder how your life would turn out if you did something different earlier on? That is very a common thing to do. The Dane Henrik has a quite different approach in Torben Munksgaard's first novel "Retrograd". Instead of reliving his memories in his mind, like we all do, when we think about our earlier love and life, the middle aged Henrik convinces himself that his past life is not only in his memory. He believes that he can simply redo his entire life backwards.
Retrograd is a harsh commentary on the life of Danish bourgeois, tending to their houses, gardens, jobs and marriages.
Retrograd is also about being young - especially in light of adult life that romanticizes and exaggerates the young persons ability to "choose" ones life freely. Another theme is as almost hinted, one of modernity or late-modernity. Meanwhile Munksgaard gives us an open and (maybe to women) chocking insight in the male sexuality and its common perversions. Thought to action is only a short way for Henrik.
About the morals of the story, I think it is safe to say in the words of Kierkegaard, "life is understood backwards, but lived forwards".

Munksgaard gives us a humorous account of middle life crisis that might be hard reading to middle aged Danes, but a common conception among young Danes, who look down upon everyday life in Danish suburbia.

Change of plans

The day started nicely with a mail that said I had won two tickets for a concert this Friday.
Wahey! I had no idea what I had won.
Apparently it is a concert with Revl9n and Playboy-Marse, both from Sweden.
Playboy-marse is a DJ and Revl9n is some kind of electro punk apparently, who knew?!
That is all I know, maybe I should find out some more - or maybe not, I could go with fresh ears and eyes to this stuff. I am getting out of the cave and listening to new tunes.
The concert is at studenterhuset at 21oo hours. They still had tickets today and they cost 70 kroner and can be bought at location in the café.

http://www.myspace.com/playboymarse
http://www.myspace.com/revl9n

In other news, I read that the concert with Detektivbyrån, also at Studenterhuset, in April has been cancelled!
NO! ¤%#"/()&/% WHY?! "@#%&!/*

Also I have been getting into a Danish singer / songwriter Annika Aakjær, who has a very beautiful voice and some unique and ironic lyrics. Her album lille filantrop will be out the fifth of may. Mymusic.dk

Bellefast

This is my first blog on blogger so bear with me.
From time to time I DISCOVER new music on last.fm. Which means that I begin listening to what other people have been listening to for years... This project however seems to be relatively undiscovered, at least in the places I frequent. Got this of last.fm's recommendations. Actually I think it is the first time I found something really good there. The recommendation system on last.fm has never been a close friend of mine. Most of the time it seems to be weird stuff from the other users, while the automatic recommendations gives boring stuff I already heard about.
Bellefast is a danish one-man project by Mads Bjørn, who was in the band LIMF. I get the impression that there so far isn't any great plan to sell thousands of records or get airplay on national radio. It has been almost a year since the release of the EP "17:11", which holds a number of great songs, some of which remind me of Radiohead's In Rainbows album, maybe Radiohead got some ideas from this guy?... Try listening to "the state i'm in". It seems hard to believe that this stuff was made in this guy's own living room, and that he plays all the instruments himself. I like the blend of acoustic guitar and keyboard in a slow rhythm, which suits my mellow mood, ex. in "It Looks You Need a 5 minute break". Another thing that attracts me is the sound of his voice that has a bit Bowie about it.

Hopefully more will come from his hand soon.
Download the EP 17:11 and more here
Bellefast on myspace
It might be a while till my next blog, unless I find some new music. Next blog will be on a book I am reading, Retrograd by Torben Munksgaard. Might be in danish haven't decided yet. Until we meet again.