5 things

5 music related things I intend to do 2011:

5. See The National
4. See at least 5 bands I haven't heard of as of today
3. Seriously consider going to a rock festival with Jo
2. Restart my old music club MMF
1. Listen to at least one new and one old album every week.

So what about 2010?

The National and Arcade Fire released great albums,and I also liked Weezer's record even though I prefer their previous effort. I discovered The XX, Fink and Troubled Andrew but their latest albums are from 2009 so I guess that doesn't really count.

I also missed the opportunity to see the Pixies in London despite having the evening off, just because I fell asleep.

Actually, that may have been last year... Never mind. Who's keeping track, anyway?

Dear Anonymous - this isn't your list

Open letter to Mr/Mrs/Ms Anonymous:

(What were your parents thinking?)

Yesterday I decided to list the top 5 things that didn't happen this year - for instance: #5. Sting didn't cover "My way" in a duet with Madonna to save the Sperm Whale, or #3. The remaining Doors didn't release remastered versions of the band's catalogue with dance remixes of "Light my fire" and "The end".

Then I ended up talking to a nice chap (Mr. P) who offered to give me a cd with his top 10 tracks for the year so that I could comment on his list. But, alas, I didn't get a CD so now, with a little more that one day left of the year, I feel a little lost. Then again, seeming lost is an important characteristic of my online brand.

One day left - tune in tomorrow....

Not Cocorosie

If you like Cocorosie you might like this too.

I promised not to

I promised myself not to write anything on the topic of Christmas music. Most new material is pretentious or just rotten, and a lot of the old stuff has lost it's flavour.

Besides, who will ever make a better Christmas song than Little Drummer Boy or Happy Christmas?

But, then I heard The Christmas Duel by The Hives and Cindi Lauper. The opening lines (I bought no gifts this year and I slept with your sister) and the Phil Spector inspired production just made my day!

U2 used to be rock.

I happened to notice that a friend's friend, on their profile on facebook, posted that they are fans of U2 and Ramazotti.

Shit.

When I was 15 I put my U2 tapes next to The Smiths, The Clash and The Cure. I was actually proud of being a U2-fan.

Now that I understand how U2 is affecting my personal brand I see no other solution but to throw away all my U2 stuff. Including my life size Bono doll.

Just one

I'm beginning to think that Anders only has that one shirt.

Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

Coldplay RIP

Coldplay. The band with enough spine, attitude and talent to take the spot as biggest band of the 00's ( as neither Radiohead or Oasis wanted to or managed to - in that order).

2000 - 2002 their music was, in my view, the perfect blend of harmony, guitars and craft.

After that they were (just) a big arena band, putting out album after album of well crafted, if not slightly uninteresting, tunes.

And (yawn) now, this:

PJ takes a trip

I've liked PJ Harvey ever since the mid-90's. Even loved.

Not sure what to think about this.

Elegantly smart, and just there.

Lovely Johanna treated me to a weekend in London. Among other things we saw the Parlotones at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Beautiful place and a great concert.

To me, the Parlotones feel like a cross between Coldplay and the Killers. Their live act is slick and elegant - they just feel smart. And front man Kahn Morbee sometimes sounds like Brandon Flowers crossed with Bono.

Their debut from 2007 feels less polished than the album they are currently supporting. Not sure which style I prefer. Definitely like this, though.

And, should they make it really big and get to play arenas around the world I can see this making a big impression on many young hearts:

One of their supporting acts - the Minutes, made a big impression on me. The Minutes deliver the kind of pure, uncompromising rock'n'roll that the White Stripes spoiled us with for a while. Felt like being run over by a truck. One minute there's nothing, the next minute they're just there.

The Minutes - Secret History from Krank Music Videos on Vimeo.

Smoke

This lady has got a great, smokey voice that mixes well with the driving beat of the drums in this song.

Get up and march!

Looking forward to the release of this. Big things are happening on November 29!

Morning Parade: Under the Stars

Duel continued

Recap

Anders has worn his Dylan shirt twice since my last move. I'm not sure exactly what he's trying to say.

Decided to up the game and wore my Lou Reed shirt today. Turns out Anders isn't at the office.

I feel dissapointed. Was expecting more.

Need to buy some music.

Adiam Dymott "Miss you"

Thanks Andy!

A new vision

It just works.

The Moon Visionaries with "Mr Hollywood":

90's revisited

Can't imagine what these New Yorkers listend to in the 90's....

Well, whatever it was, I also listend to it.

My heroe

I had a crush on a girl in Paris in 1985. She listened to the Cure so they quickly became my favorite band.

A year or so later I actually started to like the music.

Today I consider them to be one of my Top 5 favorite bands. That is, if soon 40 year olds are allowed to have favorite bands. I consider the 1985 album "Head on the Door" to be one of the best alternative pop records of the 80's.

Anyway. This is what Robert Smith sounds like singing a bad song: Not in Love by Crystal Castles.

I've heard worse, though. Check him out in this duet with Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins).

Enough bad music?

Yes, it is Friday, but I'll give you this to feast on instead.

Coolest guy in the band

I've always thought of the base player as the coolest guy/gal in a band.

Partly because it appeals to my own ego. Singers and lead guitar players tend to get a lot of the attention while the base players hang out in the background, quietly content with a cigarette and a cold beer.

But mostly because the base sounds so cool. And many of the bands I learned to love as a teenager built their songs around strong, melodic hooks played on the base guitar.

One good example. Another. Don't get it? Buy better headphones.

Ah, those 80's...

Not 120 Days

This reminds me of a song by 120 Days:

Dead Skeletons - 'Dead Mantra'

Hammond minus Casablanca, again!

Albert Hammond JR's album from 2006 was pretty good. Or maybe, it just made me feel a little better about the Strokes only managing two good albums (one brilliant).

Just realized that he released an album in 2008 as well: Como Te Llama?

OK, I guess. Like this track.

Testify

CSI really makes a lot of other TV-shows look good. Many really bad TV-shows.

But every now and then they manage to squeeze in a good song. This is one good example (and it took ages to identify it):

Carney - Testify

Tuesday's trophy

Nice.

Listen.

The Mariner's Children

Arcade Fire meet the Waterboys?

Listen!

Cross dressing

I really like Bon Iver, but I hardly know what Kanye West actually does.

Is this intresting? Listen.

Rubber

Listen to this: Listen to this.

But make sure you are alone.

Midlife Crisis

I'll be turning 40 later this year.

[Pause for shock.]

Since I'm in no way portraying any of the typical signs of a midlife crisis [pause for laughter] I'm thinking it might be interesting to look at some musicians and see if any such crisis can be interpreted in their music.

The song Midlife Crisis by Faith no more is, I assume, about a midlife crisis.

Thing is, front man Mike Patton was 24 or so at the time the song was released. So maybe it's not. I've listened to it several times now and I'm not sure what it's about at all. A cold maybe, he seems to want a kleenex.

I guess I'll have to make a serious attempt at interpreting lyrics to find any real signs of midlife crisises.

Don't wait up.

2010

I feel out of tune.

So far this year I've only heard three new albums that I really like:

Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

The National: High Violet

Weezer: Hurley

So I figure I must be missing something. Dropped in at www.metacritic.com to see what's been ranked highest so far this year and found re-issues of Iggy and the Stones on first and second place...

Think I'll crawl back into my cave.

Duel

Anders wore a Bob Dylan t-shirt to work the other day. I responded by wearing a David Bowie shirt the following day (cover of Rolling Stone).

Still waiting for his next move. Stay tuned.

Fink

Fink – Sort Of Revolution

Been listening a lot to Fink lately. (Thanks Palle)

Apparently he used to do ambient techno trip-hop.

Uh, OK?

Start.

I tried, and failed miserably, to write witty and smart observations about parenting and management on my 5 month long parental leave a few years back.

Do I think I will do any better this time?

No. I just thought it might be fun to write down my thoughts on music. Might give me some structure, and with any luck I might help eventual readers to discover something new.

Not that I'm much of a prodigy. Yes, I knew Nirvana would change the music scene the first time I heard them (MTV Headbangers ball one Sunday evening long ago), but I also predicted that Yothu Yindy would change dance music.... Remember them?

I rest my case.