A Weekend In The City.

For a long time, I've wanted to focus on one of the, in my opinion, most interesting things in music: The album. As much as the music listener of today is more and more likely to download his music track-by-track, if he even does pay for it, I still find the conceptuality and composition of albums intriguing. It interests me, how albums are put together - how the tracks are position through the record, and how they affect the overall composition of the album, as well as each other accordingly.

I'm gonna start this running feature off with one of my favorite albums, Bloc Party's A Weekend In The City, from 2007. This was Bloc Party's sophomore effort, and reviewers and critics alike were very divided on it. Most agreed that it wasn't at all the same as the very energetic and very tightly knit guitar-oriented indie of the much acclaimed debut, Silent Alarm. But while some reviewers dismissed A Weekend... as an inadequate and incoherent mess, others delightfully embraced Bloc Party's courageous creation of a concept album in the midstof one of the album-format's toughest periods of crisis.

For a concept album it is. A Weekend... deals with numerous issues immediately surrounding Kele Okereke and his contemporaries' lives in the heart of metropolitan England. While the lyrical universe of Silent Alarm was often diffuse and metaphorical, A Weekend... often sees Okereke express himself in a very forthright manner. Mostly though, it is the lyrics' close alliance with their surrounding music throughout the record, that consolidates A Weekend... as not only guys with guitars, but guys with a point to be heard.

A Weekend In The City can be quite easily and relevantly divided into three parts. The first four tracks, ranging from opener 'Song For Clay (Disappear Here)' through 'The Prayer', are a collection of frantic and hectic songs, trying to fight the dilemmas and issues that loom around the corner for every a city dweller. This part of the album is dominated by heavy drumming, layers of synthesizer and an overall attempt to shove through the entire ordeal with pointy elbows.

The trio of songs in the middle of the record - 'On', 'Where Is Home?' and 'Kreuzberg' - marks a turn of events. There is a completely different presence and intimacy to these tracks, but also an urgency, most profoundly expressed on 'Where Is Home?', Okereke's grand outcry against discrimination and racial violence. Okereke himself is one who has bridged this gap, being a Black man in the predominantly White industry that is rock music. These three middle tracks are where it's at. In stead of trying to fighting problems with fists, Bloc Party now resolves to a different strategy. The entire mix and closeness of especially Okereke's vocals on 'Kreuzberg' are in stark contrast to the menacing drums and claps of 'The Prayer'.

The final three tracks have a much more serene nature, and at first glance display a feeling that this too shall pass. The lyrical universe reverts from dealing with drugs, violence, neglect and failure into dealing with the romance and idyllic coquettery of Sundays with your loved one, before squeezing out one last scream of anguish - albeit a graceful one - on the suicidal closer 'SRXT'.

'Uniform' is, in many ways, the centerpiece of the album, and connects to either and neither of the three parts. It is a long (the longest track on the record) and meandering story about the ignorant youth of today. Its comfortable and harmonic first part marks a change in ambience to the four tracks preceding it, yet from 2:27 onwards, aggressive drums and guitar squeaks display a return to the sense of alarm and urgency, albeit in a much more lyrically constructive way than on the album's initial songs. Musically, 'Uniform' is perhaps most akin to some of the latter tracks on the album, being the closest A Weekend... comes to the instrumentalisation and sound of Silent Alarm. 'Uniform' in this way becomes a crucial track, and as it comes to a close, the monolithic riffs and soli have again given way to pensiveness.

There is one track on this otherwise very complete album that sticks out like a sore thumb, and that is 'I Still Remember'. I simply cannot comprehend just exactly what made Bloc Party include this track, which wouldn't deprive the album of a thing. It sticks out especially as it is surrounded by four of the strongest and most persistent tracks of the album. The albums finest few minutes are when the cringeful and unforgiving 'Where Is Home?' concludes with its exigent and raw guitar-riff, and gives way to the blissfulness of 'Kreuzberg', that creeps under your skin, and silkily beguiles and embraces you with its unambitious splendor. It is no secret that this is one of my favorite pieces of music. There is something incredibly uplifting to the fact that simplicity can be so grandly captivating and beautiful as it is on 'Kreuzberg'. It fills me with peace, hope, trust and curiosity.

Epic 'Sunday' is another strong and life-affirming track on this album, mostly carried by its magnificent lyrics. But not exclusively, as it does require some sort of musical elegance to make lyrics as simply and precisely put as these, seem as strong and relevant as they do. And 'SRXT' is, in many ways, a typical closer. It deals with the gloomy issue of suicide, and could be seen as a slightly disconsolate way to finish off the album. But this track too hits home when Okereke explains: "If you want to know what makes me sad/well it's hope, endurance and faith/a battle that lasts a lifetime/a fight that never ends.", before dismissing the track and the album off into an epic instrumental finale, only to be interrupted by Okereke's voice and Gordon Moakes' glockenspiel bringing A Weekend In The City to a close.

While being a bit of a dystopy, the first part of the album is in many ways the most musically interesting. 'The Prayer', apparently one of the last songs to be finished for the album, kicks off with stomp-clap rhythms and hums, and is by far the track that distances itself the most from Silent Alarm in style, and points towards the increased electronic and big-beat influences of Intimacy, which was to be released a year and a half later. 'The Prayer' is one of the most vivid tracks on the album, and spins your head through images of drug-fueled raves, dark club-corners and dancing, sweaty people. It is also one of the few parts of the album, where Russell Lissack's distinctive style and use of pedals comes forth (at 2:54). 'On' is, with its lyrics, electronic drums and heavy use of samples and synths, very closely related to 'The Prayer', almost like a slightly quieter, darker and more ruminative big brother.

One of Bloc Party's great strengths is their high level of musicianship, which is perhaps one of the key reason why the change in focus from Silent Alarm to A Weekend In The City was mourned by many a critic. Other than guitarist Russell Lissack, it is very often the impressive work of drummer Matt Tong, that elevates Bloc Party from the rest of the indie posse. A good example on this album is 'Waiting For The 7.18', perhaps the world's most epic ode to commuting. Here, Tong's drumming gives the chorus and the outro an incredible energy and drive, very fittingly expressing the narrator's urge to one day leave the insanity of the stuffed morning-rush hour Tube behind and drive to Brighton on the weekend.

The talent of Bloc Party's musicians is also very distinct on opener 'Song For Clay (Disappear Here)' which is, perhaps alongside 'Kreuzberg', the albums strongest track. A very courageous, almost unison vocal intro leads the way, but the climbing synths indicate, that something else is boiling, and when the imperative drums of Tong and the magnificent riff of Lissack enter, 'Song For Clay (Disappear Here)' takes off, and becomes one of those tracks you just cannot hear too loudly and too often. The entire composition of the very distinct backing vocals, the clamant bass line, the guitar squeaks and the altogether splendid 'East London is a vampire'-bridge makes this one of the strongest openers heard in a long, long time.

Bloc Party's more extensive use of synths and crooked samples, such as the cut-and-paste radio sequence of 'Hunting For Witches' and the tapping of a guitar pedal on 'Uniform', reveals a band that has spent a lot more time in the studio this time around, and as opposed to Silent Alarm, which was developed live, A Weekend In The City is, for better or worse, a much more planned effort. It does kill some of the spontaneity evident on Silent Alarm, but richly rewards the listener with what is arguably Bloc Party's best album - definitely the most discussed and polarizing one. Through the conceptuality of the lyrics, the composition of the album, and the unique character of every track, my subjective perception renders discussion unnecessary. This is an extraordinary piece of work.

Electro-reggaedub from Geordie country!

Alright, reggae isn't exactly my area of expertise. But throw in some electronic beats, electroklash-ingredients and hints of dubstep, and it's totally my cup of tea! One who does that is Riton & Primary 1 from Newcastle. Check out 'Radiates' - cool beans, innit?

Yannis and his polyrhythmic posse Foals have released the video for the first proper single off Total Life Forever, which will be out in May. It's called 'This Orient', and it's cool. There seems to be a bit more noise here, compared to the very cleanly and clinically mixed sound of Antidotes. I'm looking very much forward to hear, how the entire album will be brewed together, as there is a bit of a way between this track, and the formidable 'Spanish Sahara' with its stunning video, which has been floating around for some weeks now.

Back in my own back yard, I really try to keep up with what's doing in Danish indie, but I must admit that Shout Wellington Air Force have flown somewhat under my radar. Their debut album Clean Sunset will be out next week, and you can stream it in its entirety right here. It's very artful, and resembles Oh No Ono slightly. They could be a hot tip for Roskilde. One other very artful Danish indiepop-outfit that have already confirmed themselves for this summers orange bash is The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. One track of theirs which is really good is 'Golden Age'. I just looove that voice - so sexy!

I managed to give both Beach House and Gorillaz' respective new albums a few spins, given that they're now both coming to the Animal Showgrounds this summer. The former is really chilled. It doesn't seem to have the same durability throughout the album as some of its shoegaze/indie-folk contemporaries, but definitely in the mix for my sake. The latter hasn't impressed me quite as much, however they will still be high on the list come July, mostly due to their unique live show. Of yesterday's world music announcement, I've only had a rad at Mexican Institute of Sound, which sounds promising, but I am always slightly skeptical when it comes to ethno-electronic fusion bands taking their stuff to the stage. It's seldom as party-starting as they would like. My main world music-tip for this summer is still Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar.

Just been listening to OK Computer. My god what a marvelous piece of work.

MGMT flash muscles and well-known recipes.

Prolific psych-poppers and spearheads of the brooklynization of modern contemporary indie, MGMT, are about to release the followup to their very widely acclaimed debut, 2007's Oracular Spectacular. The new album is called Congratulations, and is now available to stream full length off the band's website!

I must admit that Oracular... has really lost pace with me, and although Congratulations starts really well, the two first tracks being awesomely energetic, it seems that the band now and then dwindles into the dragging ballads topped by horrid vocals that we know all too well. There are some other cool tracks, such as 'Brian Eno', so all in all, Congratulations to me seems to be a 50/50 album (like its predecessor was).

English IDM-giants Autechre released their tenth album, Oversteps, today, and the reviews I've seen so far have been very positive. I haven't listened to the whole album, but I think it may well be in my next batch of records!

But, but... The big news today, in Denmark anyhow, can't of course be anything but the fact that Roskilde announced Gorillaz for this summers festival. I know it's easy to say, but I have seen this one coming. It's the major headliner that Roskilde has been missing - it spans music lovers across almost every genre, and it's a very exclusive name, as Gorillaz are only playing a few festival gigs this summer. Definitely a scoop! Coincidentally, I got a hold of their album yesterday, alongside Beach House's Teen Dream. I'll try and give them both a few spins as the week rolls on.

Now for a few track hypes. I stumbled across Grafton Primary's name on quite a number of festival line-ups back when I was in Australia, and I got reminded of them today. 'Hold Her' sounds a bit like Soulwax, a bit like Danish outfit Turboweekend, a bit like Goose, and a wee bit like a lot of other stuff. It's quite cool! I do think they use the same midi-bellsynth as my band Kinetics do in our track 'Dark Walls'.

I've been listening a lot to Phoenix lately, especially 'Armistice', which is a jewel of a track. I really love the final part of it. A perfect way to finish off a wonderful album. Hot Chip are out with a new single, 'I Feel Better', off their latest album. The video is hilarious.

Finally, I had a really confirming experience of how much it takes to make electronic music work live. Band Ane, who played here in Aalborg two days ago, couldn't. It was such a boring press-play-on-laptop show, that was completely devoid of intensity. Too bad.

Remixomania.

As the Roskilde-announcement of two days ago didn't really excite me that much (although Wild Beasts does have an interesting twang to it, which might, just might, herald a passing by), I decided to postpone my preliminary priorities list a week or two.

In stead, I'm gonna get started on something I've wanted to do for a long time, which is digging for cool remixes. And I'm gonna start off with focusing on French pop-rockers Phoenix. One of my favourite tracks of theirs is 'Lisztomania', off their wonderful newest record, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix of yesteryear. I've managed to find a few enjoyable remixes of this particular track. This is an Alex Metric-remix, which incorporates both the bridge and the signature guitar-riffs in a cool way. This Yuksek-remix is a bit more dancefloor-oriented - very clear French house connotations here. I don't really like how this remix completely rids the track of its beautiful harmonics, however it's pretty cool anyway, especially how it works out around 1:40. The end of the remix reminds me very much of Justice. Yuksek has done a number of other interesting remixes, including this suave remix of Gorillaz' 'Stylo', and this one of 'Never Miss A Beat' by Kaiser Chiefs.

Back to Phoenix, and what could be construed as being their breakthrough single, 'If I Ever Feel Better', off their now ten-year-old debut album United. The Buffalo Bunch did this remix, which is (a bit annoying at first, but) really catchy, and faithful to the groovy nature of the original. It does get a bit long in the tooth though.

Moving a few albums forwards in the Phoenix discography, we find the charming power-pop of It's Never Been Like That, from 2006. A really good remix off this record is the 25 Hours a Day-remix of 'Long Distance Call'. True to the instrumentalisation of Phoenix, this is a really awesome remix - it's almost as good as the original.

This Lungo Maltese-remix of 'Lost and Found' is a bit in the alternative category, but very interesting nonetheless. This is another remix that tends to loop too much around the same few ideas though. The original is a somewhat overlooked track, and definitely one of my favorites on that particular album.

Speaking of favorites, and moving back to the present day, closer 'Armistice' is truly the hidden gem of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Well-known Oregonian musician and producer YACHT has done this trippy remix of it. Phoenix themselves have also done an enjoyable acoustic version.

Not surprisingly, Animal Collective bring home the bacon in this bunch of remixes. They've merged 'Love Like A Sunset' I and II, into this cool remix. It's not a floor-filler, but it's a very interesting interpretation indeed.

Finally, one of my current fave bands Delphic have done a remix of 'Fences', also from Wolfgang..., which I just had to include, even though it's terribly boring. 'Fences', for whichever reason, is one of the most remixed tracks off this album. I guess you need something to work with (yeah, you get it, I'm not crazy about the original). That's for not always having to finish on a high note!

A few Tuesday-tips.

Once again, I've got a few tracks that are on the move for me presently. Quite convenient, as this is one of those weeks where I've sort of lost a bit of pace on what's the new black. Anyway, one of those mentionable tracks is (still) 'Spanish Sahara', the lead single off Foals' forthcoming album, Total Life Forever. This is really gonna be one of this year's most exciting releases in my book.

Not much of a Gorillaz-aficionado, I have really warmed to 'Stylo', which of course is the lead single off Plastic Beach. This track is more catchy than anything that has hit mainstream radio for a long, long time. It works under so many circumstances - by itself, as background music on TV, radio, soundtracking something. Just an amazing, amazing track.

I really need to get some new records soon (high on the list is The Knife, Vampire Weekend and Florence + The Machine), but this draught in new investments has given me opportunity to dig a bit deeper into some of the stuff I rarely listen to, such as Sigur Rós. I love their album Takk... from 2005, and lately I have really gotten into ( ) (from 2002) as well. Especially the third track, which is really really god damn beautiful. I heard some of their recentmost album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, which is very interesting as well. They're probably my ultimate live experience wish, but they are sadly on a hiatus at present.

Junior Boys is another band I've gotten around to as of late. I want to point out 'Count Souvenirs' as a very beautiful and very representative piece. And last, but not least, I've been tripping frequently to 'Acolyte', the epic title track of Delphic's oft-mentioned debut release of this January.

Tomorrow I might do a bit of Roskilde-babble, probably including a preliminary priorities-list.

We sure have come a long way...

... since the conformist anti-sophisticatedness and musical agnosticism of them Gallagher Bros.' (and others') heyday in the nineties. Sure, there are still a plethora of acts as mainstream as Ikea, perhaps in an even more nauseating way, but we do also have bands like Dirty Projectors, whose curiously titled album Bitte Orca of yesteryear scored an impressive 9.2 on Pitchfork's review-meter, and several other very favorable reviews. It's funny how reviewers tend to topple each other in being the first to praise the next wave of awkwardness, kitsch or downright uaestheticness. I mean, look at Jens Lekman: The man can barely sing in tune, let alone in English, and he still garners rave reviews everytime he picks his nose. Even I have developed a liking to his silly lyrical universe. Now they're Roskilde-bound, these Dirty Projectors, alongside HEALTH, Beach House and, albeit still unofficially, LCD Soundsystem, an ode to the fact that Roskilde is still alone on its pedestal in the upper echelon of Danish music festivals, for whomever it may concern, and a discreet but precise slap-in-face of the upstarts in Skive and at BeatDay.

Bitte Orca is one of the most interesting records I've heard in a long time. Not beautiful, but interesting. It's like an incomprehensibly avant-garde piece of art that begs to be rightfully placed among Monets and Gaudís, but at the same time stands out like a sore thumb in its undefinedness and inaccessibility. Opener 'Cannibal Resource' reminds me of Battles with its syncopated rhythms, cacophonous yelps and the odd untimely skronk. I love syncopated drums, and even more so, I am a big fan of skronks and other atonal and industrially-sounding noises, but still, Bitte Orca's main relevance for me will probably be the fact that I am likely to hear the masterpiece performed live.

This being said, it is an exceptionally intriguing piece of work. Take 'Two Doves', which is beautiful (in a cheap way), but gets interrupted by noises reminiscing a bee through a vocoder. Elsewhere on the album, the assoication which comes the most to mind would be 'jackhammer' or 'rear-wheel driven car stuck in snow'. 'Useful Chamber' is the album's highlight, in a number of ways. It is so intimate it even has a Jens Lekman-kind of moment, but then it explodes in what I would most approximately describe as 'wakarrgzonkk!!'. Then it becomes beautiful in an annoying way, turns into something as repetitive as your generic hard house, and ends in another syncopated madness. Then, on the other end, you've got 'Stillness Is the Move', which has very deep soul and especially R&B connotations. What I do like is the fact that Dave Longstreth, the man behind Dirty Projectors, is the kind of man who yells into the studio: "Hey, let's try out what'd happen if we did THIS", followed by his warping his guitar into some kind of almightily strange sound. Dirty Projectors is very difficult to define genre-wise, other than the very vague umbrella of 'experimental rock', but in a sense, this is because Dirty Projectors does not apply the limitations of being in a genre. Everything goes, but in a constructive way, rather than a loud and cacophonous one. Nevertheless, this is probably not an album I will listen to time and again.

Of the other announcements, LCD Soundsystem is by far the one that intrigues me the most. Actually it intrigues me way more than Dirty Projectors. I'm a big fan of his last album Sound of Silver, and I'm very curious to see what this proper musical whizz has cooked up when he releases his new album in May. HEALTH seems somewhat strenuous, but nevertheless, I do tend to like guitarists who spend more time tinkering with their pedalboard than playing their guitars. I guess that's my synthesizer-heritage. Don't like the dancing emo-punker with bad instrument/location of crowd-orientation in this live performance of 'Die Slow', though. Beach House off Sub Pop is a really cool and chilled outfit, try 'Zebra', but boy is there a lot of indie-folk these days! They're definitely worth a look come June though. I had however hoped for the likes of Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend, both of whom filled the teaser-bill like the triangular plug in the triangular hole. Next week please announce Foals, thank you.

In other news, Caribou has put out this remix of Oh No Ono's 'Eleanor Speaks'. Very cool. And MGMT have let slip a track from their coming album Congratulations. I fear that this is gonna be an album I'm gonna love to bash.

What Troels Abrahamsen and a nice pair of jeans have in common.

Whoa, a lot of stuff suddenly piled up on my ideas-list, so I better be brief!

Foals are rapidly on their way with one of those very difficult sophomore albums. Following the trails of critically very acclaimed debut LP Antidotes comes Total Life Forever, which is out May 10th. However, we don't have to wait that long for the lead single, 'Spanish Sahara', which is out now! This is a very patiently building piece of music, and as such, the band has thrashed completely the well-known restless energy of Antidotes. In stead of being constantly surrounded by tapping guitars, Yannis Philippakis' somewhat opinion-splittingly fragile voice now nakedly caresses a long, unfolding track. I somehow had the idea that Foals would move a long way from the Antidotes-sound, and I'm very excited about the new record. Let's hope to see them at Roskilde!

Troels Abrahamsen, arguably Denmark's most hyperactive musician, is out with a new album, again. It hits stores on Monday, is called BLCK, and is already available for listening here. It's admittedly really good, but eventhough mr. Abrahamsen probably doesn't give a rat's ass what people think, and in all likelihood only releases these albums to channel his many creative impulses out of his brain and computer, it does hit me that there might be an upper limit of relevant output - especially in a genre like this. BLCK was supposed to be more towards hard house than WHT was, but, let's face it, these two records have got more in common than the hairdos of The Beatles. I mean, some of the tracks really are pretty good, but you just get the same feeling like when you buy your fourth pair of black jeans. They're really nice, and fit really well on your bum, but honestly, you don't really need them, because you've got three that are very alike already. I think it's probably a good thing that Troels is hitting the studio with VETO again soon.

A few other new records are relevantly mentionable. The Knife got exciting reviews on their new album Tomorrow, In A Year. They've got a lot to live up to, and I think some critics have that too much in mind. Especially because it seems to be an almost inaccessibly experimental album. It's sort of like discussing the aesthetics of 'Fitter Happier'. Pitchfork only gave it a 6.9, while Drowned In Sound gave it a whopping 10/10. I'm looking forward to hearing it. I heard The Kissaway Trail's new album Sleep Mountain the other day, and it seems pretty good. I haven't heard a whole lot of their stuff before, but they might be worth checking out at Roskilde. They do reminisce Arcade Fire quite a lot, though. Also, Two Door Cinema Club are out with their debut effort Tourist History now. Check out 'Undercover Martyn' - isn't that just facile, yet adorable? I think they're definitely in my next batch of records. So to may well be Does It Offend You, Yeah?'s new album, Don't Say We Didn't Warn You, although there's no date out on that one yet. They're playing in Århus late this month, hopefully I'll attend that.

Now finally, a few interesting tracks. This is 'Real Life' by Tanlines. They are from Brooklyn, like everyone else, and I really dig their sound. And this is Swedish The Radio Dept. and their very Swedish-sounding tune 'Heaven's on Fire' from their third album, Clinging To A Scheme, which is out on Labrador soon. They're coming to Gothenburg for Way Out West, joining a line-up of La Roux, LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A., among others. Sadly, I'll probably be in the wrong end of Europe at that point of summer.

Finally, one could argue that OK Go's music is as blandly anodyne as anything. Maybe that's because they spend all their time creating their groundbreaking music videos. We all know the treadmill-dance of 'Here It Goes Again', and these days, they're back with a whopping video for 'This Too Shall Pass'. Impressive.

Scandinavian rediscoveries.

It's always a good time for digging into your record collection, and dusting off some of the stuff you haven't heard for a long time (especially so, if you're broke as fuck, and can't really afford much in the way of new records these days, but that's another story...).

I've dug up a quintet of Scandinavian records, that I thought I'd point out. Three Danish, and two Swedish. All five of them have, at the very least, a few years on them.

Starting from the most recent, I've recently warmed very much to Spleen United's sophomore effort Neanderthal from 2008. While their debut record became a bit too diffuse at times, they really did hit the nail on the pin with Neanderthal. One of the gems is 'Dominator'. I remember it actually took me some time, before I realized that this is an instrumental track. There's nothing at all wrong with instrumental tracks; notwithstanding, they seldom hit home as massively as this one. I love the flicky, scratchy percussion sample, which is very unlike Spleen United's normally very machine-only sound. Of course I also have to mention '66', which is an absolutely massive, massive, massive track. I'm really looking forward to seeing these guys live again - soon, hopefully.

It's been quite some years now, since I got introduced to Aarhusian balkanists Analogik. They too are a really likeable live act, and their debut LP Søens Folk is snug as a bug. They employ various murky existences of the Danish reggae-dancehall underground to create their eclectic everything-goes'y balkan-sailor music, which is instantaneously likeable. Such as 'Farligt Monster' here. And 'Kringel'. Sadly, I can only find a live version of this one. On the studio version, there's a real dandy toothbrush-sample. Try and dig it up!

Heading across the sound now, I've dug out perhaps one of the oldest records I've got - it's Bo Kaspers Orkester's first record, Söndag i Sängen', from whopping 1993. This jazz-pop orchestra is really enjoyable. I love the nighttimelyness of 'Köpenhamn', which I can also only find in a live version. Hijo de puta, it isn't really my day. But anyway, this is a really nice album - the kind of stuff you can put on at almost any time of day, and it'll hit home.

Perhaps not needing much presentation is good old Joto Joto - spano-swedish singer-songwriter-vituoso José González (of Sony commercial fame...). I of course have to point out 'Heartbeats', which is a tune I've much enjoyed to chuck on after a big night out. It's been loooong overdue for me to mention it here, really. The whole album, Veneer, originally from 2003, and rereleased in 2005, is enjoyable business, like 'All You Deliver' here.

Finally, back to Denmark for the final gem, which is Marvel Hill. They emerged at the same time as VETO, Spleen United, Dúné, Oh No Ono and a hell of a lot of other promising, now established, Danish acts that in different ways reminisced each other somewhat, and as such, they sort of drowned in the wave, and never really made it big. Their debut record was Heartless Is More, and to be honest, it is still a favorite for me. I really like how they employ arpeggios and multiple synths, while still not losing their slightly rock'n'roll-ish edge. They've released another album since, which apparently had them thrashing their synths. I haven't even heard that one. For whichever reasons, neither of my two favorite tracks of theirs, 'Odyssey' and 'Trembling Hands' are available on YouTube, but they might be found on Grooveshark. 'Heartless Is More' is the only decent track I could find, sadly. But it's good.

Digging is good too. Watch out on the weekend for some constructive blues...