Great stuff over at Gorilla vs. Bear + new Junior Boys!

Seapony.

What up? I've been meaning to post this the past few days, but I've really been busy and drunk, so I haven't really had time yet.


Anyway, my mate Peter pointed me to the awesome, Austin, TX based blog Gorilla vs. Bear some time ago, and I must admit I'm really digging it. It's very American oriented, but they've got a steady supply of nice indie and electronica, and they're often sources for even mighty Pitchfork.


Last week, they posted three interesting artists - John Maus for example, 'Believer' is a cut from his new album. Interestingly enough, he's also a political philosopher...


Seapony mightn't be a philosophress, but she's damn sweet! And she's from Seattle, which is pretty ace too. Check out the lovely 'Dreaming' and 'Blue Star'. It's leaning towards lo-fi, but it's very well produced nonetheless, which wins me over.


Purity Ring is a bit in the alley of the above-mentioned Maus, and also of exciting new Canadian outfit Austra. Check out 'Lofticries'. I'm actually not sure whereabouts they're from, but my guess would be Sweden, judging from the accent.


Oh, and I almost forgot, Junior Boys released a new cut from their forthcoming album It's All True. This new one's called 'Banana Ripple', and it's somewhat unexciting, but I figured I'd mention it, since this is one of more highly anticipated albums of the coming months.


I've had to sell my ticket for Sufjan Stevens this Sunday - bugger! I have to work back over here in Jutland on Monday morning, so unfortunately I'll have to skip it. That's shit. What's not shit is I just got three new albums today, I'll tell you lot more about them soon enough!

Yeah, that was fail...

Digitalism.

Yeah okay, it's pretty ace that on a Tuesday where my weekly tunes seemed kinda old and uninspired, both Digitalism and The National spin out new tunes within minutes of each other, without me noticing it. Fail, but not as fail as this.


Anyway, Digitalism's new one's called '2 Hearts', and is a cut from their forthcoming sophomore effort. I was pretty into their debut record Idealism, which I felt got much too little notice back when it came - it seemed to have a hard time escaping the shade of Justice. The new one's pretty sweet, and very recognizable (in fact, it bears an enormous resemblance to Idealism standout 'Pogo'). Gonna be interesting, and I could wish Roskilde would book them, although it's not exactly the electronic program that's lacking in depth...


The National are purring again too, this time with 'Exile Vilify', which is off the soundtrack of some video game. This is a band that just keeps squirting out sweet tunes, but I must admit as an album-addict, these b-sides and drip-drop releases sort of wane from my attention.


Bon Iver (<3 <3 <3) has released some info on his coming album, which is to be eponymous (what the fuck's going on with that anyway, can't you lot come up with some titles??) - there's the cover, which, as I guessed, is the same as we saw on the video montage that came along with the taster we heard last week, there's a tracklist and a sweet little essay about the album. Anyway, she's out in June, bring on the excitement!


Now I'm gonna get drunk, catch ya lot!

Tuesday tunes: Late love.

Girls.

Sometimes tunes need time to simmer and boil a bit, before they're reached the exact temperature that makes them break through the wall. Today, three of my four Tuesday tunes are such slow-burners, that I've finally cast my love on this past week.


Girls are sometimes very lovely. So are Girls from San Francisco, especially on 'Lust For Life' from their highly acclaimed (9.1 on the 'fork) 2009 debut, Album. It's just a nice, less-is-more piece of guitar-driven indie.


It took me a while, but I've finally warmed to Toro Y Moi's fantastic 'New Beat', which made me listen to his new album, Underneath The Pine, which in turn disappointed me slightly. Alas, but the aforementioned tune is really one of the most universally joyful tunes I've heard in a long time!


OK, this is real old shit, but this past week I've been raving to 'The Lovecats' by none other than The Cure. Supposedly this was originally somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek mocking of everyone thinking Robert Smith & co. were a bit too emo (all right, the word emo didn't exactly exist back then. Serious, then?). Anyway, it's a wonderful tune - it almost makes you wish you were in love!


The newcomer here, and perhaps actually the most relevant artist to really hype, is Ólöf Arnalds. Since she appeared among the very unexciting smaller names on this year's Roskilde poster last Tuesday, I've spent a bit of time checking her out. Her recent album is called Innundir Skinni, and is tender, aloof and a bit good old-fashioned weird, but the title track, 'Innundir Skinni', is really likable, and, given the meagre level at this year's festival, I just might end up giving her a go...

Three hearty, warm albums!

Feist.

I got a few new (old) albums this past week, and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts with you. I am amazed how albums from the 00's keep creeping up on me, and I've realized I'm gonna be backwardly discovering that decade for many years to come.

This time around, it's the wonderful Leslie Feist. I've had her most recent album, The Reminder, since December, and I must admit that in spite of the initial excitement, it has waned on me somewhat. Now, however, I've gotten a hold of its predecessor, Let It Die from 2004, which has impressed me greatly. There's a lot more warmth and more of the wink in the eye that suits Feist's velvet voice so greatly. I'm digging quite a number of tunes off it - 'One Evening' and 'Leisure Suite' are pure porn, 'Inside And Out', 'When I Was A Young Girl' and 'Mushaboom' are really groovy, and much more musically interesting than the often minimalist sound on The Reminder. And 'Let It Die' itself is a bitter and beautiful reminder that things can go wrong. A classy album!

Moving further towards the present, I'm starting to embrace the soon-to-be imminent arrival of a new album by Bon Iver. If you haven't, be quick snap and check out the teaser he's laid out on his website - sure sounds promising! Anyway, which better way to prepare for the most interesting release this year, than to give his 2009 EP Blood Bank a few whirls? I actually am not sure why I haven't done so before now. I guess it's some sort of fear of contact, because For Emma, Forever Ago is so sacred. Anyway, whereas the aforementioned is about the cold, Blood Bank could fittingly be described as being about the warmth that gets you through it. There are only four tunes on here, but they're like a four-headed monster of soothing bliss. 'Blood Bank' is Vernon at his story-telling best, and what a pretty story. 'Beach Baby' is a biting reminder of the sentiments that spurred For Emma, Forever Ago. 'Babys' is a delicate piece of forward-looking hopefulness, and 'Woods' is just a piece of meditative beauty!

Finally, I've at long last had my Efterklang revelation! I've seen them live and been very impressed by it, but somehow, I've never really embraced their ornate and artful indie-pop in its recorded versions 'till now. My mate Johan was over last weekend however, and he brought their last album, Magic Chairs, which I must admit is a true pleasure. I had it in my headphones sitting by the fiord with a big-ass hangover last Sunday, and it was really a tour-de-force through true musicianship. It's hard to point out specific highlights, other than perhaps 'Raincoats', which has a slight (probably unintended) rhythmic kinship with Radiohead's '15 Step'. 'Harmonics' and 'Alike' are also very impressive.

Initial thoughts on the preliminary 2011 Roskilde line up.

Arctic Monkeys.

So, one of the most interesting press conferences of the year for me came and went, with me cursing my internet connection for bailing on me constantly - what a joy!


Anyway, roll the drums - I must say I am a bit disappointed with the poster so far this year, but I concede that there are a lot of names that might be interesting when they're explored a bit more. I guess it can't always be as easy as it was last year, where the line-up more or less looked like had I myself been booking. But then again, 2010 was fucking ace, and won't be beaten until Sigur Rós, Jamiroquai, The Knife, Daft Punk and Manu Chao all show up at the same time.


First of all though, I'm extremely pleased to see Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes included among the headliners. I regretfully missed out on the former in 2007, queuing for Muse (I don't regret queuing for Muse though), and I just hope their new album, Suck It And See, will be on par with their three former ones. In any case, there's a good chance Arctic Monkeys will be way atop my list this summer, they are after all one of my favorite bands, and although I don't have the same relationship to them, The Strokes won't be far off. Did you lot by the way check out Arctic Monkeys' new single, which surfaced yesterday? Be sure to do, it's called 'Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair'!


Regarding the other headliners, M.I.A. is the one that excites me the most - it's gonna be very interesting to see what she'll pull off on (presumably) Orange.


Otherwise, the tendency that strikes me the most this year is the startling abundance of world music acts. Now, I am totally in favor of Roskilde embracing almost every genre known to man, and it is easily one of my key arguments when defending Roskilde in a discussion. But still, I do think the number of African and Latin American acts is just a wee bit over the top this year - I mean, we are still predominantly a rock music festival, aren't we? Whether or not I'll check any of it out will totally depend on the band schedule. An interesting part of the African field though is Dane Frisk Frugt, who garnered bloody rave reviews for his album last year.


On the other hand, the emphasis on hip-hop and heavy metal this year doesn't bother me much. Both the hip-hop and especially the metal enthusiasts are big cohorts of the audience in its entirety, and given that they had to live with last year's indie overload, I guess it's probably deserved that these genres each get a pretty fair share of the program this time around. I must admit though, it narrows my field of potential concerts somewhat.

Deadmau5.

The electronic scene, after a bit of an off year in 2010, is also back strong, and here are a few names I am very delighted to see. First and foremost, I missed out on Deadmau5 two years ago, and although I'm surprised he's back so soon, I'm gonna make it my business getting to see him this time around. Magnetic Man, although a bit toward the mainstream for the dubstep-connoisseur, is also a welcome addition, and will surely be the bomb. There are also a number of acts I'm gonna have to do some more research on, chiefly Gold Panda, DJ/Rupture and Matthew Dear.


A few of the past year's big hype names from each side of the Atlantic, James Blake and How To Dress Well, are also announced. I'm not really big into either of them, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna check out Blake anyway.


Then there's a lot of this these days pretty omnipresent Scandinavian pop. It's very amiable, but god do I miss some bite sometimes! I am however looking very much forward to The Tallest Man On Earth, whereas Lykke Li and Oh Land are slightly middle-of-the-road in my books, although I might check one or both of them out. Some other interesting names to check out from this corner include One Little Indian product Ólöf Arnalds, who seems very pleasant at first listen, and Swedish duo Little Marbles (Pavilion Jr.), although the latter might be disproportionately advantaged by the innate Danish desire to screw everything with two X-chromosomes that speaks Swedish...

Battles at Roskilde 2008.

So, what isn't there a lot of? Well, you guessed it - indie rock. This is where I'm slightly disappointed. I'm not gonna start to namedrop the plethora of acts that could have improved the line-up in this direction (OK, I will mention Arcade Fire), but there is indeed room for improvement. Luckily, this is one of the genres that often benefits from the drip-drop releases that are going to continue through the next few months. Still, Foals and Battles are gonna be very high on my list this year. I've seen both before, and especially Battles are gonna have a hard time topping their epic show in 2008 - it all depends on how their new album, Gloss Drop, pans out though. Foals is just one of the bands I've been digging most consistently through the winter, and I'm happy to see them included. Other than that, I've just ordered The Walkmen's well-acclaimed album from last year, Lisbon. I'm not big into neither Tame Impala nor Surfer Blood, and beyond them, the cupboard really is pretty bare. Room for improvement here, Roskilde!

Big ups for Austra, A Lull and Apparat!

Austra.

Shite, I ended up with a busy week on my hands after all, so I haven't really had time to update you lot 'till now - but as promised, here are a few very interesting artists who are on their way with albums this year!


Austra is this Canadian outfit fronted by godlike singer Katie Stelmanis. I really think they're gonna be massive, mainly because her voice is just rad. go check out 'Lose It' and 'Beat and The Pulse', which has got a pretty sweet vid to go with it too!


A Lull is from Chicago, and they're one of the plethora of bands appearing these days that have clearly listened to Battles' Mirrored-record more than once. 'Weapons For War' is a bit Yeasayer-like with tribal sounds, cymbals and xylophones, but it's a bit slower than many of its contemporaries. The album is out next week!


One of my favorite Germans, Apparat, has a slightly longer run-in to his new album, but it is believed to be ready this fall. He has just released a beautiful tune from it though, it's called 'Ash/Black Veil', and is one of those tunes that make you realize just how beautiful minimal electronic music can be - be sure to check it out!


One of my most anticipated releases this year is Hooray For Earth's debut album, and a new cut has just been released from it, it's called 'True Loves'. It's a bit darker and more psychedelic than what we've heard previously, and there is a clear Animal Collective inspiration.


My mate Johan was over this Friday, and brought me some new music - exciting! I'm gonna tell you lot about it as i dig through it!

Children of Battles and Crystal Castles, kuduro rhythms and news from France!

Justice.

Oi folks! I've got some really interesting stuff for you lot this Tuesday. I've stumbled across a number of interesting new tunes this past week, and I wanted to share some of them with you lot! It's mainly electronic. I guess electronic music shines in singles, indie shines in albums. At least that's how I feel, although I do cherish a few electronic albums very highly.


Anyway, Justice are back, and ready to fight the fact that their sound is unmistakably the sound of 2008 for many. The entire Ed Banger-posse isn't all that happening as they were back then, and Justice sound very familiar on new single 'Civilisation', which has been premiered in a sports apparel-commercial. Well then, we'll see how they fare this year, with their new album coming up ahead.


The cream of today's crop is perhaps mysterious outfit Just a Number 05272011, and their new tune 'Business'. It sounds like Crystal Castles mating with The Knife and Rainbow Arabia, and is really catchy, and changes ambience quite a few times in an interesting manner.


Ponytails sound like Battles with sprinkles of some of the more obscure tunes of MGMT's 2008 album Oracular Spectacular (which, coincidentally, I heard yesterday for the first time in a few years...). Try and take a listen to 'Easy Peasy', which is pretty nice!


Finally, I'm gonna give some big-ups to a genre I don't mention very frequently, namely the Luanda, Angola born-and-bred kuduro sound, by way of New York's Kingdom. I'm not normally big into ass-shaking floor fillers, but the big, filthy 'Stadium Pass' really moves!


Later this week, I'm gonna be back with a few tunes from acts that have got albums on their way this spring!

Still able.

So, I am relieved. VETO are still capable of firing up an audience. The concert yesterday was very well-played, and a powerful statement from a band still in peak fitness condition. It wasn't a fist-in-the-face concert the same way the ones on the Crushing Digits-tour were, obviously, because the composition of the material is of a different nature, but VETO skillfully managed to incorporate all of their three records.


Troels Abrahamsen was in top form, especially on 'Built To Fail', and it's a shame that none of the new songs take his voice to the edge like some of the older ones do, because that's where he's at his best and most earnest. Of course, some of the new tunes couldn't help but turn down the intensity a little bit, but they were spread cleverly across the set, and some, like 'Fell Into Place', which is dreadful on the record, actually grew a bit on me. Others, such as 'Spun' and 'Already Ready' were real party killers. I was kind of surprised that the band shot off both 'Built To Fail', 'Blackout' and a too slow version of 'Can You See Anything' pretty early in the set, leaving the latter part dominated by older fan favorites such as 'It's A Test' and the reborn 'I Brought The BBQ'. 'Spit It Out' was a bit of an anticlimactic encore, and is it really necessary to play both that and 'Duck, Hush and Be Still'? They're both beautiful tunes, but I could have sacrificed one of them for 'From A To B' or 'Shake', for example.


Nevertheless, people went crazy, and I was once again reminded just how amazing some of the tunes work live - powerful songs like 'Digits', 'Unite' and 'You Say Yes, I Say Yes'. It did however seem as though many in the audience came to hear the select few songs they knew from the radio, which is a matter of course when a once underground band makes strides into the mainstream. That also brings drunken sinks with little concert etiquette, whose loud and out of sync clapping you have to decipher the music through. But that's a price, and a fair one, to pay when quality music makes it big now and then!


So all in all, VETO haven't been excommunicated just yet, they're still able to throw a party like in the old days - just that it's now with a few breathers here and there. I guess we all grow old?

VETO, will you win me back?

When VETO released their second album, Crushing Digits, in 2008, it was crazy. Back then, I saw them live five times in less than a year. I've never worshipped anything more heavily, and all the shows were remarkable, each in their own way. But Crushing Digits was built for the road. Its fist-pumping, hands-in-the-air nature is made for raving crowds.


This time around, after a few weeks of gaping over the fact that Everything Is Amplified, VETO's third album, turned out to be exactly as boring as one had feared, I had sort of cast off the lads. Which wasn't easy, being as it's a band I've been following way back since before their first EP. It was like writing out one of your first loves from your life. But then my dear friend Maria went and saw them last week in Århus, and told me they still had it. That for all the less-than-exciting material on their new album, they still managed to come around it on stage. I read some reviews that said the same, and I saw a 21-song set list with even more from There's A Beat In All Machines than on the Crushing Digits-tour. 


Then on the spur of the moment, I bought a ticket. Which was kinda stupid, because my finances are seriously fucked these days (I just bought tickets for both Northside and Roskilde by the way). But I bought it, because reading those reviews and seeing that set list reminded me, just how powerful tracks like 'It's A Test', or 'We Are Not Your Friends' or 'Built To Fail' are live, and just how much I've missed it. So I'm going tonight to be convinced, or perhaps to be reaffirmed. I'll let you know.


In other news, Foals were just announced for Roskilde. That's pretty good, except for the fact that I already saw them in December, and, honestly, was a bit disappointed. There's a bloody good chance I'm gonna see them though, as Total Life Forever has been one of the most important albums for me the past year, and it's a good occasion to finally get some of my mates into it. In any case, it's bloody sweet with some indie finally, amidst the bombardment of afro-beat and heavy metal that has been this year's announcements so far.