You say goodbye... I say hello!

Thank you, now go HERE! -> http://raabogalarm.blogspot.com/2011/12/rab-alarm.html

Canadians vs. Canadians, + Spleen U. rebooting.

Caribou

Junior Boys' new album, It's All True has been one of my very best electronic purchases this year. Caribou's Swim was one of my best electronic purchases last year. What happens when the two team up?


Well, listen for yourself - Caribou has remixed 'You'll Improve Me' off It's All True for the forthcoming single release, and it's a fucking treeeeat! It's one of those long, meandering remixes that isn't so much about the dancefloor, it's just more of a purely eargasmic refix. Yeah, Canada's really got it going.


Spleen United were talk of the town a few years back here in DK, and they're finally back with their third full length in January. Things have been really quiet around the band, and they've seen outfits like Turboweekend somewhat conquer their niche of indie electro to bop your head to.


Their new single is on the loose now, it's called 'Days of Thunder', and you can jump on it over at P3! It sounds pretty sweet, and very familiar, probably due to Bjarke Niemann's signature voice - definitely related to their sophomore album, Neanderthal, but even more upbeat perhaps. I can't really make out whether or not Spleen United will win back the prominence they had back around 2008. Funny thing is, since then, I've really jumped aboard their debut album, Godspeed Into The Mainstream, which is decidedly more slow moving than its successor. They probably won't go in that direction though.


We're listening to Sufjan Stevens right now - the only guy who can make an EP with a runtime of almost an hour. Crazy lad. The EP is All Delighted People, which was sort of a preliminary maneuver leading up to last year's The Age of Adz. Check out 'Djohariah' for good measure.

Remix Saturday!

Jamie xx.

Oi! I'm in remix-mode these days - there are really so many gems to find out there, if you know where to look!


A good place to look is with Jamie xx, who hits the nail insanely on the head sometimes, as with this new rework of Radiohead's 'Bloom'. Jamie's original rework for the TKOL RMX 1234567 series wasn't very exciting, but this one is really massive! There isn't much left of the original tune though, but who cares. The link also contains a pair of seriously hard ass remixes by Anstam and Nathan Fake.


Another good place to look is at Belgian masters Soulwax, whom I dug up slightly for a party recently. They did a sweet mix of 'DARE', off Gorillaz' second album, Demon Days. 


A third good place to look is with French producer and remix wizz Yuksek, from whom I found this lovely remix of Mali duo Amadou & Mariam's 'La Realité'. It's off the 2010 Amadou & Mariam Remixes album, which really contains some nice mixes!


I guess everyone noticed James Blake dropped a new tune today, 'Curbside'. Perhaps not everyone noticed that it's actually pretty sweet. I've never been fond of Blake, and usually ignore whenever he plagues the blogosphere with his minimalist wank. But this is good enough.


Finally, Real Estate did a Take Away Show performance of 'Green Aisles' while they were in Paris for the P4K get-together recently, which I think you all should check out. I'll give word on their new album, Days, soon btw. Peace out.

Exciting collabs and side projects!

Nicolas Jaar.

I'm so epic shit at digging up new stuff these days, it really bugs me! I've got all other kinds of things in the air, which is really nice, but it sorta makes being on the fore of new exciting music difficult.


Anyway, Nicolas Jaar wagged his always cool little tail today, with a new EP called Darkside, a collab with Dave Harrington. Jaar does very little wrong, and this is pretty cool, with a wee guitarre... Sounds very much like something Trentemøller could have made, which, remember, isn't the worst thing in the world. Listen to it over here at Gorilla vs. Bear!


In the non-collab zone, can't help thinking how Heavenly Beats remind me of Jens Lekman. Just check out 'Faithless'. In case it reminds you of Beach Fossils too, don't wonder - it is one of the dudes from Beach Fossils...


Oh, and how about this for a potentially mind-blowing, trans-atlantic collab? Hot Chip haven't exactly been buzz band of the year for some time, but here, a few of the Chips team up with Pat Mahoney, drummer of now-defunct kings of NY, LCD Soundsystem, on their new project New Build. On 'Misery Loves Company', both the Chip and the LCD influence are very obvious, and if they cut it right, their debut EP, due 2012, could be a real slam dunk.


Mahoney isn't the only one of the LCD posse on the radar right now. Nancy Whang, along with The Juan MacLean is featuring on this epic Holy Ghost! cover of Ministry's 'I Wanted To Tell Her', themselves part of the DFA crew. Jus' one big, happy family...


Also, I bought tix for darling Leslie Feist's show in Copenhagen in March, which is gonna be epic! Also, new Sigur Rós album coming up, what an effing treat, especially if that means they're coming our way soon too (Roskilde, perhaps!).

Why "Mylo Xyloto" rhymes with "No no, no no no."

Mylo Xyloto. What the fuck does that mean, you might ask? Well, I guess only Chris Martin knows, like only he and his posse know, just why we needed this fall from grace from an otherwise pretty stable pop-rock outfit.


I know it's tough burger to compare Coldplay to general tendencies in indie, as they have always had sort of an askew relationship with all the cool shit. Even so, one could say that pathos has had some sort of a revival as of late. Like chillwave, and the fact that everybody are falling on their bums over M83's new album.


I have always had a troubled relationship with unsubstantiated pathos, which easily becomes empty calories. My profound hate for Band of Horses is a good example of that, and look what Muse did to themselves on The Resistance!


Mylo Xyloto seems to be another case of bona fide band gone mainstream, the bad way. Mainstream the good way was what they did on A Rush of Blood To The Head. Mainstream the bad way, meanwhile, is when it constantly hits you like a jackhammer, how much this album smells of commercialism and an absolute void of new creative ideas. Just listen to the four-on-the-floor beats that are nauseatingly present on this record, as foreboded by the ominous lead single 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall' (oh, dear, how touching!), and, to draw the parallel backwards, by the hideous title track off 2008's Viva La Vida.


Mylo Xyloto is a daunting affair to look at, with carnevalesque artwork and a 14 tune strong tracklist, but three of these tracks are less than a minute long, and none clock in at above 5 minutes. All right, track length isn't necessarily a indicator of quality, but this sure suggests the aforementioned creative void.


I can live with 'Hurts Like Heaven' as a nice, feel-good opener, even if it's as musically nutritious as the portion of mac and cheese I just ate. But 'Paradise'? Holy fucking Christ, what is this?! The melody is as bad as anything, the lyrics are complete nonsense, and the music is utterly boring.


I guess melody is the main theme on this record, or rather, lack of melody is. There's nothing that really sticks with you after listening to it, perhaps except for 'Major Minus', which is one of the few strong tracks, along with 'Us Against The World' (again, oh dear!) and 'Up With The Birds', which are pretty, sound a bit like something off X&Y or A Rush of Blood..., but still utterly forgettable. Then there's the Rihanna collab 'Princess of China', which, sorry, wasn't a good idea. It's not a question of bridging rock music and mainstream pop, it is a perennial pseudo rock band becoming mainstream, again, the bad way. It's not two talented musicians joining forces, it's not art. It's a money machine, and it's no advantage that the song sucks for real either.


I know it's nice with all the $$$, but really, if there's so little creative juice left in the tank, guys, it's OK to call it quits. LCD Soundsystem did so, and so did The White Stripes. Parachutes and A Rush of Blood... speak for themselves, many were hard on X&Y, but it wasn't as bad as people make it, and Viva La Vida actually was a pretty decent try in the direction of inventing a bit of a wheel. Mylo Xyloto is as bullshit as the title suggests. Coldplay have gone from being a humble middle-of-the-road band with stellar melodies and lyrics, to being a middle-of-the-road band trying to sound grand, but they fail, and fall hard on their little asses with this record. Back to the drawing board.

With the wild wolves around you...

Bon Iver.
((c) Martin Rosenauer - rosenauer.dk)

Justin Vernon has come a long way since back then, in ye olde hunting cabin, of which the indiesphere has now spun many a tale of a love lost. Even so, 'The Wolves', in all its simple majesty, was the highlight of a generally spotless Bon Iver concert in Copenhagen yesterday.


Vernon, now the leader of a nine-man army of multi-instrumentalists, now has to exist somewhat on a middle ground. He has rapidly outgrown the intimate surroundings, in which For Emma, Forever Ago fit so perfectly, and so has his music outgrown the man-with-guitar simplicity, in stead becoming an ornately orchestrated affair of man and machine.


I read a critical review today, which seemed to revolve around the melodies drowning in the arrangement and heavy instrumentalisation at the concert yesterday. I do not agree. If you had heard For Emma, Forever Ago and nothing else, yes, you would have been shocked and disappointed, but you've got to allow a talented musician to evolve. Right from the get-go, 'Perth' opened the set ever so powerfully, and all through the concert, on tunes like 'Blood Bank', 'Minnesota, WI', 'Holocene' and 'For Emma', the brass and percussion really got aired out. 


I am a big admirer of, when very many people on a stage each play very little, making every little timbre of every little instrument important, and Bon Iver had a massive tour de force of just exactly that yesterday. From 'Beach Baby', which was a surprising, but very welcome, addition to the set, through 'Hinnom, TX' to 'Wash.', where the band seemed to be balancing almost soundlessly on the knife's edge, before tripping slowly into the next tune. 'Wash.' especially stands out on Bon Iver as the simplest, but one of the prettiest tunes.


Speaking of the two albums opposed to each other, I could have wished for more of For Emma, Forever Ago, and I've been thinking all day that yesterday really confirmed the notion that Bon Iver just isn't quite as good. It's more flourishing musically, but For Emma, Forever Ago is just pure magic, and as such, even though Vernon let himself take center stage on 're: Stacks' and the aforementioned 'The Wolves', I missed tunes like 'Flume' (WTF?!), 'Lump Sum' and 'Blindsided'.


Even so, this was really a concert of the ages, one that left me empty, speechless and slightly dumbfounded.

Stellar shows and sublime sound.

Kashmir.
((c) Christian Hjorth - hjorth-photo.dk)

About a week ago, I was lucky to be at two stellar concerts, both of which are sure to be defining musical moments of this year for me.

When Kashmir announced a month and a bit ago, that they were gonna perform their iconic and defining 1999 album The Good Life in its entirety, I just had to go, and me and a few of my mates were lucky to grab tickets within the four-and-a-half minute span they were on sale. The Good Life hasn't been as instrumental to me personally as its successor Zitilites has, but as I often make clear, I am a huge fan of the album format, and The Good Life is more of a concept and more of a whole than Zitilites is.

Another treat was the fact that many of the tunes on The Good Life haven't been performed live for ages, if ever. That made it quite an easy task for Kashmir to satisfy the rapturous crowd, in concentrated delivery of gems like 'It's OK Now', 'New Year's Eve', 'Mudbath' and 'Gorgeous', tunes, which have been iconized by an entire generation of Danish music enthusiasts. The truest highlight however was the emotional/uplifting pair of 'Lampshade' and 'Graceland', each in their own way core tracks on The Good Life. The former is probably one of the most laconically well-written songs I know of, while the latter really sparked the band's fame.

If I were to point out one bad thing, it was the encore. I had really anticipated something special here, but what we got was in effect tunes that we've all heard live a hundred times before. Sure, 'The Aftermath' and 'Surfing The Warm Industry' are both among my favorite tunes, but really, in a crowd of dedicated fans (remember the sellout time of less than five minutes), who hasn't heard those tunes at least a handful of times live? Kashmir could have done anything, played anything from their catalogue - OK, we've all heard 'Vote 4 Dick Taid' and 'Leather Crane' live by now, but this could have been a massive chance for them to play rarer tunes like 'Rose' or 'Cellophane', or even just 'Melpomene' or 'Petite Machine'... They should have done so, in my opinion.

Coincidentally, I went back to Koncerthuset only three days later, for the Jens Lekman concert orignially scheduled at  Jazzhouse. Now, Koncerthuset isn't exactly the most street and urbanely chic place on earth, but, being a multi-million dollar building, it does have some of the best acoustics around.


Lekman, to be honest, is also one of the best performers around. He started off slowly, but what an amiable and gracefully humble artist. Lekman balanced perfectly between humorous yet deep little stories, his fabulous material, which worked fine with just him, his big, fat, ginger drummer and, later in the set, his sampler. Finishing off with a powerful, unplugged version of 'Shirin', Lekman made his way through old and new material, with a good distribution from both Oh You're So Silent Jens, including a Swedish version of the beautiful 'Julie', Night Falls Over Kortedala and the new EP, An Argument With Myself. One could have wished for tunes like 'Maple Leaves', 'A Postcard To Nina' or 'Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo', but the set was way sweet, and Lekman was too!

3 sweeet new albums I bought recently.

Era Extrana.

I've had a really strong few weeks buying new music, which pretty much fell in a dry place, since, bar Junior Boys' new one, I really hadn't added anything noteworthy since Bon Iver in June. I'll try to briefly talk you through three of these albums, which I think are really contributing in 2011 slowly becoming close to par with 2010 in the sweet-new-releases category.

I haven't really been all up to speed with all the chillwave/dreampop/whatever stuff, that has been so dominant this year, like Washed Out for example. I guess, valuing lyrics very highly, I have a hard time appreciating outfits that make Thom Yorke sound like a storyteller. When the music is convincingly well crafted, though, I do jump aboard, such as with Neon Indian's new album, Era Extrana. There has been an influx of bands as of late, synth-pop acts with a common denominator sound I would describe as being rooted in an N64-generation, i.e. young kids (mainly dudes) that grew up playing the Nintendo 64 through the '90s. I hear a lot of resemblance to some of these video games in the sounds and timbre of the likes of Neon Indian, Ford & Lopatin and a few others, but Neon Indian manage to couple it with pretty damn sweet melodies, such as on 'Polish Girl', 'Hex Girlfriend', 'Suns Irrupt' and 'Arcade Blues' - genuine pop tunes, and not the ethereal insanity that some of the other stuff in the genre sounds like!

Christopher Owens of Girls has really taken me aback lately. I figured his first album, Album, to be sort of what he was capable of, but newly released Father, Son, Holy Ghost has everything a good indie rock album of 2011 needs! Happy-go-lucky opener 'Honey Bunny' gives way to an interesting and eclectic mix of noisy rock-n-roll'ish outings like 'Die' and 'Vomit', and sweet pop tunes like 'Alex', 'Saying I Love You' and 'Magic', before closing with the soft couplet of 'Love Like A River' and 'Jamie Marie'. A really well crafted album through and through!

Last up, Leslie Feist has firmly established herself as the alternative music scene's affable queen with her new solo effort, Metals. From the get-go, Feist shows more musical gut and muscle on the drum-heavy 'The Bad In Each Other', a pattern also recognizable on 'A Commotion'. Generally, she has never been one to invent the wheel, but there's no need to, when she's such a consistently strong songwriter - I challenge you to find anyone not moved by the strong and beautiful 'Graveyard'! The Reminder was less jazzy than Let It Die, and Metals is even less so. The jazz influences are replaced, in part, by a slow-moving funkiness, such as on 'How Come You Never Go There', and general timbres closer to middle-of-the-road indie pop, but the main purpose of the music, as always, is to facilitate proper working conditions for Feist's darling, dulcet voice, which carries yet another sweet album for her, all the way through to the simple and beautiful closer, 'Get It Worng, Get It Right'.

Back to blog! With King Krule.

What up kids? So, after this hiatus of a month and a bit, mostly due to being busy doing other stuff, and after much consideration over what to do with - or maybe to ditch - this blog, I finally decided I can't do without it. A combination of a few real sweet concerts as of late (I'll tell you 'bout those soon enough), sweet new albums aplenty, after a period of severe drought (I'll tell you 'bout those soon too), and of course the imminent descent of everybody's fave-new-artist Bon Iver on Copenhagen, spurred me to get back to the blog!

Just to drop a few things in this revitalization post, I'd like to tell you about King Krule, formerly known as Zoo Kid. I've seen his weird and kiddy-looking ginger face on Pitchfork's frontpage more than once lately, and finally decided to check it out. What, you might think, is the big deal with a London 17-year old massively hyped by the 'Fork? Well, deal is, he's pretty damn good at doing his thing. For all the wannabes trying to emulate The xx one way or another, this guy does a pretty good job of applying his fellow Londoners' signature timbre, without becoming a copycat. Try and give a whirl to 'The Noose of Jah City' or 'Out Getting Ribs'!

Lana del Rey has been on everybody's fucking lips as of late, and while I haven't properly dug into her, 'Video Games' has been played quite frequently here, as both my dear flatties are obsessed with it. Just thought you should know... Although not as much as a few years ago, I'm still often a retard regarding female vocalists, but this is OK.

The old 'Gum has as much of a listomania as I do, and in anticipation of the new Coldplay record, which I'm still waiting on the mail man for, they did a list of Coldplay-covers, on which I stumbled on this immensely funky take on one of my Coldplay faves 'God Put A Smile On Your Face' by Mark Ronson, featuring The Daptone Horns.

Happy Thursdays, and welcome back!

You didn't think they made it like this anymore!

Girls.

I know it's the year of retro in indie, but who had seen a 9.3 Girls-album coming? Well, here it is, Father, Sun, Holy Ghost. I haven't heard it in its entirety yet, but judging by tunes like 'Honey Bunny' and 'Magic' (which isn't on Youtube yet, go fetch it on Grooveshark!), it is at least partly well-deserved! Really looking forward to getting into the whole album and hearing what the fuss is about!


A bit in the same alley, although more 80's tinged, is Summer Camp, with this sunny tune called 'Better Off Without You'! Really kitsch, but worth checking out!


Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, one of the coolest women in music nowadays, is back in business with her third full length, Strange Mercy. She has always flown slightly under my radar, but 'Cruel' is just bloody amazing and catchy as shit - one of the best new tunes I've heard in a long time!


Speaking of saints, I went to a flea market today, and came home with a few CDs, among them St. Germain's Tourist. That was pretty cool - as 'Rose Rouge' examplifies. Also in the electronic department, this is The Golden Filter and 'Mother' - pretty dark, but really sweet, and featuring organs!


Finally, I heard 'Midnight City' off M83's new album, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (these Frenchmen sure have a thing for epic album titles...) the other day, and realized I had neglected mentioning it. I had a very short M83 craze this winter, with acclaimed album Saturdays = Youth, and this is very catchy, and not all too nauseating (as M83 can sometimes become) - actually, it's pretty radio-friendly, and could become a minor hit.


Speaking of radio-friendly, did you lot hear Coldplay's new one? Well, don't feel bad about it if you didn't, it's horrible...

It's All True... and bloody works!

All right, I'm long overdue in telling you all about one of the - unexpectedly - best albums I've bought this summer. Subject is Junior Boys' fourth full-length, titled It's All True. Junior Boys' quality template remains pretty unchanged, but if it ain't broke, you know, there's no need to fix it. And on It's All True, the Canadians have proved that the well of slick, funky, indie-electro topped by Jeremy Greenspan's smooth voice isn't empty yet.


It all kicks off with the delirious 'Itchy Fingers', which is pretty fast paced compared to the duo's previous work, but nonetheless highly catchy. Classic mellowness however kicks in already by second cut, the beautiful 'Playtime', which is in the mold of a tune like 'When No One Cares' from So This Is Goodbye, two albums back (I'm sorry, I still haven't gotten around to hearing Begone Dull Care, the band's third album, thus this post will be devoid of references to that album...), and a bold tune to move all the way up to the second spot. Greenspan generally shines on this album, and on a tune like this in particular.


There's a general warmness to this album, much more so than to the aforementioned So This Is Goodbye, which is at times startlingly frigid. There's a bit more funk, a bit less sterility to this album. A tune like standout 'Banana Ripple' pretty obviously, but also cuts like 'You'll Improve Me' or 'Second Chance' are lusciously swag. A tune like 'The Reservoir' on the other hand, is all icy, staccato synthesizers and inimical beats, and 'Kick The Can' is as industrial as it gets.


Finishing off in style with a brilliant closing pair, consisting of the beautiful 'ep' and the aforementioned, epic and ridiculously funky 'Banana Ripple', while sticking firmly to their guns, Junior Boys have proven that their tight and classy electronica still has raison d'être in the otherwise hazy and fashionably sloppy indie world of 2011. Which is reassuring.

Brand new from Toro y Moi, Röyksopp et al!

Toro y Moi.

Toro y Moi has contributed one of the absolutely most enjoyable tunes for me this year with 'New Beat' off his sophomore album, Underneath The Pine. Now he's ready with a follow-up EP titled Freaking Out, and a few cuts are available now. Most interesting is the funky 'I Can Get Love', available over at Gorilla Vs. Bear. Another tune is 'All Alone'. The EP is out September 13th.


Röyksopp really have only declined since their mammoth debut album Melody A.M., which coincidentally has its ten-year anniversary in about a month. Since then, through three studio albums, the Norwegians have struggled to reiterate their legitimacy on the crossroads between ambient and house. I gave them a chance though on this new tune, 'Shores of Easy'. It's pretty chill, but a bit long, honestly.


Glass Candy's italo/balearic sound is pretty far removed from what we're used to hear from the 8Pacific NW, but 'Warm In The Winter' is a really elite cut in this genre - please go check it out!


I mentioned Purity Ring last time around. They're releasing a split EP with Braids, whom I really think you should check out - 'Peach Wedding' is gonna be on that EP, and it's pretty sweet!


Finally, I stumbled over a brilliant old remix I had all but forgotten. It's on Apparat's Things To Be Frickled, and it's a remix of 'Schallstrom' by Thomas Fehlmann. Those Germans are bloody wiz at ambient house!

A mishmash of new, intriguing stuff!

Jamie xx.

Oi kids! I've been bloody busy these last weeks, and have had less time to blog than I could wish for. I hope that'll change with getting into a daily routine - right now, things are starting to fall into place for sure.


Anyway, I just wanted to point y'all in the direction of some exciting new stuff! First of all, I packed my stuff yesterday to the sound of Jamie xx' BBC Essential Mix. He's really one of the most intriguing electronic artists these days, and this mix is just genius - never really has a low-point.


I have yet to comment on 'Fall Creek Boys Choir', the much-anticipated co-op between James Blake & Bon Iver. To be perfectly honest, it doesn't really intrigue me. It sounds very much as one could've expected - a bit too much Blake, a bit too little Bon Iver. Honestly, it seems as a tune the two hyped lads did just for the sake of it. James Blake's sound was startlingly original when he appeared, but now it's become very predicable, and you'd really wish he'd dare think a bit outside the box he's put himself in once in a while.


Damon Albarn, of Blur and Gorillaz fame, has an extremely intriguing project coming. It's called DRC Music, and if you know your country codes, you recognize DRC as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The coming album, Kinshasa One Two, was recorded in Kinshasa, birthplace of outfits such as Konono #1 and Kasaï Allstars, and judging from the three tunes on the project's Soundcloud page, this could become quite big.


While we wait for the rebirth of The Knife, plenty of artists this year (Battlekat, Austra) have tried to satisfy our thirst for dark, female-fronted electro. Lately, Purity Ring have been all over the blogosphere with excellent cut 'Belispeak', which personally reminds me a bit of Danish-based RebekkaMaria.


Finally, a trio of interesting new albums came out last week. I haven't bought any, as I'm broke as fuck these days, but I'd like to point you in the direction of a pair of Pitchfork 7.2s, both in the dream pop/chillwave department - that's Swedish outfit I Break Horses' (EPIC band name by the way) Hearts, out on Bella Union, pretty much on the crossroads between Wild Nothing and M83, and Active Child's You Are All I See, which is a bit more ethereal and R'n'B-influenced. The third album had flown completely under my radar - that's Kiwi kids Cut Off Your Hands' second full length, Hollow. A band that lives up to the difficult distinction - especially among indie-pop outfits - of being both NME hype band and Pitchfork darlings. For good measure, please check out the delicious 'Oh Girl' off debut album 'You & I'!

Powerful, but misplaced in suburbia.

(c) Rasmus B.S. Hansen - terranaut.dk

Apparently it's a theme for Arcade Fire to place the stops on their tour for now year-old The Suburbs in - well, the suburbs, obviously. Despite the glaring inconvenience in having to mosey 7000 people to the suburbs, it also meant that a band very complex and detailed in sound were forced to play in a velodrome. Not only is the mood in sports-arenas-turned-concert-venues often dull as grass, but the sound really suffered as well, which was a shame. The vocals were almost consistently too low in the mix, as were the guitars, that much too often drowned in drum and bass, almost like were it a Foals-gig.


It wasn't Arcade Fire's fault, however, that I went from the concert with somewhat of a good-but-not-great sentiment. The band is ridiculously well playing, and it's unnoticeable that they have been touring for a long time. Zest, energy and high musicality reigns supreme across the eight-piece outfit, and cute, beefy-armed Régine Chassagne is a pleasure to watch, both when she or-faces on the drums and when she dances like a joyous little girl front stage. Compared to when I last saw them in 2007, the band has become much better at navigating through the changing-of-instruments intermezzi that occur so often. This time around, it made the concert seem much less discontinuous.


The crowd was really pathetic, which resulted in obvious highlights such as 'Ready To Start' (which, in spite of the obviousness, was miscast as the opening tune) and 'Keep The Car Running' falling hard on the ground in the opening movements of the concert. About a third of the way through, the band bundled some of the darker tunes, 'Rococo', 'Intervention' and the beautiful 'My Body Is A Cage'. It worked pretty well, but also contributed in benumbing the crowd even more, so much that the powerfully and fiercely delivered 'Month of May' ended up as a parody, with an intense band opposing a passive audience.


Things didn't really take off until the impressive finish with 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)', 'We Used to Wait' and the tried and tested, but nevertheless excellent merge of 'Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)' and 'Rebellion (Lies)'. Coupled with 'Wake Up' and 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' as the encore, one could be forgiven for thinking that Arcade Fire should perhaps have spread their trumps more evenly, but considering how dull the crowd was, it would have been a waste of good material.


All in all, Arcade Fire played a spotless concert through and through, and only the surrounding elements kept the concert from being one of the true greats.

Delicious late-summer cuts!

Dent May.

Mmh, today I've dug up some really pretty summery tunes for perhaps one of the last real days of summer. I've spent most of the day oozing around in thrift stores trying to find summat to dress up with on Monday, and I'm sure as hell hoping it won't be as hot then as it's been today, because I'm gonna absolutely dehydrate then!


But let's embrace the summer while it's still going strong huh!? Here are three new tunes I found today, and I've spiced them up with a pair of old faves and a gorgeous new viddy at the end!


Dent May is on Animal Collective's Paw Tracks label, and here's a new cut from him called 'Wedding Day'. It's very funky and pretty 70s!


Digging through the Forkcast for the first time in a few days, I stumbled on Airbird, which is the solo project of Joel Ford of Ford & Lopatin, whose album I bought about a month ago. The kinship is pretty obvious, with 80s synths abound, but there's a bit more of a house'y beat to this tune called 'City vs. Mountains'.


Also on the Forkcast, I found Norwegian outfit Razika. Now, I'm pretty unconditionally fond of everything female that sings in Norwegian and Swedish, and 'Aldri' is another good example - really likeable!


Now, I mentioned I'd throw in a few old loves here. First of all, I've had a renaissance for Kings of Convenience as of late, and I feel like throwing 'Love Is No Big Truth' at you lot. This is one of this outfit's more up tempo tunes, uncharacteristically sporting a four-on-the-floor beat, and really a lovely song. Usually heralded less for their lyrics than for their general relaxing mood, I do feel that Øye and Bøe strike some sort of lyrical gold here, in a cynical sort of way.


A few months ago, I bought Girls' Album without much further fanfare (as I already had part of it lying around), because I was slightly disappointed by it perhaps. They're out with a new album soon however, which might be worth checking out, although they're right on the borderline of what I dig and diss in Californian music right now. 'Lust For Life' is a fucking massive tune though!


Finally, Bon Iver's second single off Bon Iver is 'Holocene' (c'mon man, why not 'Towers'??), and he/they just posted the vid for it today. It's very pretty, but also, sorry, a bit faggg... Go check it out anyway!

Tuesday electro treats!

Gavin Russom.

Oi lads! We're on the flipside of summer now, and it's time to get back to some real blogging! I'm sorry I've been somewhat off the circuit this past month or so. It's mostly got to do with spending my time traveling back and forth, but now I am almost settled in Copenhagen! Only have to move my stuff from one flat to another in a few weeks, and then I'm a vagabond no more. I will be busy though, this next month's time, as I'm starting at the University of Copenhagen soon, which excites me more and more and more!


Anyway, enough palliation! I've scraped together a handful of new tunes. They're all very electronic, which I guess is what's on the fore right now.


Troels Abrahamsen is slowly gearing up for his next solo release. What he has done under his own pen up until now has been of varying quality, but new tune 'You're Mine' is very promising. It's a lot darker and more house'y than most of the stuff on the WHT and BLCK albums, which is a welcome left turn. Go check it out at Soundvenue!


One of the few interesting releases coming up this fall is Mikael Simpson's Noget Laant, Noget Blaat album. The first single is called 'Hvor lander du?', and is up now - interesting news from one of Denmark's continuously most original and unique artists.


DFA old-timer Gavin Russom threw this mindfuck of a tune a few weeks ago, called 'Night Sky', and it's really rad. Yes, it goes on for more than 13 minutes, but it doesn't really get boring, and again, it really fucks your brain out!


I very rarely hype Dutch music - I guess most of that country is still stuck in techno, which is kinda weird, I mean, even the Germans have moved on - but Fabric contributor Martyn deserves some serious cred for this alluring b-side called 'Viper'. It's so dark I would almost describe it as sinister, but it really, really works!


Finally, and this is the true sweet treat of this post, Mr. Little Jeans has made this courageous electronic/ambient-like cover of the title track off Arcade Fire's formidable latest album, 'The Suburbs'. Arcade Fire comes across as a band pretty hard to cover, but I think this is a very successful try - it sort of keeps with the entire spirit of The Suburbs, while still being musically very far removed from the original. The raunchy vid is pretty nice to boot! By the way, I still haven't made up my mind on whether or not to go to their concert here in town in a few weeks. Remarkably, it isn't sold out yet, but it's very expensive. I think I will regret it into infinity if I don't go, so I guess it's just a question of convincing myself to act economically irresponsible once again...


I bought a batch of new records like a month ago, but I'll keep the jury out on it for a bit more. I'll be back to y'all about that later this week!

A year in albums, summer 2011 - 5-1.

#5: Austra - Feel It Break
A lot of people these days have a problem with pathos. It might be just the general vibe of a period in history, where everything could runneth over in disaster any minute, to be naturally skeptical about thinking big thoughts, or applying big sounds to things seemingly trivial in the big picture. I am skeptical about empty pathos too (don't get me started on White Lies or Band of Horses!), but when pathos isn't empty, it can be goddamn beautiful, and that's how it works on Austra's incredibly impressive debut album, Feel It Break. There's asperity lurking in every bend of this album, but when it's tied together by jiving rhythms on 'The Future', and by Katie Stelmanis' angelic voice all throughout the record, but especially on 'Lose It', it really works. It doesn't have quite the obscureness and mystique of Silent Shout, but it comes pretty damn close, which itself is a feat. From the merciless drive of 'Beat And The Pulse' to the vulnerable and courageous closer 'The Beast', Feel It Break is one of the best things 2011 has given us yet.

#4: The Tallest Man On Earth - Shallow Grave/The Wild Hunt
OK, so the hands down biggest musical discovery I've made this past year has been The Tallest Man On Earth. In some ways, he sounds like something from deep in the Midwest, but now and then you can hear his Scandinavian heritage in his songwriting and lyrics - there's an outlook and perspective to it. His very distinctive voice may scare off some, but if you get around that, you get rewarded with some really impressive lyrics and melodies, such as on the debut's 'Shallow Grave', 'Where Do My Bluebird Fly?' and 'This Wind', and on 'King of Spain' and 'Kids On The Run' on sophomore album The Wild Hunt. The latter is a bit warmer and softer than the former, which, purposely or unpurposely, doesn't seem as polished, which serves to its advantage. There's more of an urgency to Shallow Grave, and you get the feeling that it's a bit more heartfelt, but The Wild Hunt is a highly enjoyable record on its own.

#3: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
One can really only bow down in awe and gratitude of Arcade Fire. With The Suburbs, the Canadians aim their megaphonic expressionism at an entire generation of suburbianites born and bred, and they do it bloody well - not only lyrically, where tunes like 'Suburban War' and 'Deep Blue' stand out, and evoke such a plethora of feelings and memories, but also musically, with a kick ass tune like 'Month Of May'. When they're at their best, Arcade Fire manage to unify their lyrical and musical talents and create pure and powerful magic. That's on tunes such as the wildly igniting 'Ready To Start', the beautifully melancholic 'We Used To Wait' and the magnificent, all-embracing and dystopic 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains', where Régine Chassagne's wail echoes that of an entire generation of originals forced to keep their mouths shut. The Suburbs is an impressive, but also frightening, ode to the suburbia which at once carries such vivid and cherished memories of childhood and dire reminders of the normalcy it often nurtures. It creates an urge to break out, to fight, to scream, and to throw in the towel all in the same instant.

#2: Treefight For Sunlight - A Collection of Vibrations for Your Skull
Part of making a list like this involves looking back at which albums one has actually heard a lot. Not because a lot of spins and plays on repeat are necessarily a quality, but some albums just end up being the soundtrack of a certain period, and that's how A Collection of Vibrations for Your Skull has ended up. Through the countless times I've put on the beautifully defiant 'You and The New World' on my iPod heading somewhere, through marvelous cuts like 'Facing The Sun' and 'Riddles In Rhymes' to the graver psychedelia of 'The Universe is A Woman' and 'Time Stretcher', this album just works all the way through. It's only slightly more than a half an hour in length, but this way, this young outfit avoids one of the most common pitfalls of debut albums - the songs you feel were tucked in at the end, just to give the album some length. Although keeping themselves within a certain frame, Treefight For Sunlight subjugate impressively many different timbres and moods beneath their formidable vocal work, which easily propels A Collection of Vibrations for Your Skull skywards.

#1: Bon Iver - Bon Iver
A gimme? Perhaps. Even though Bon Iver isn't as magic as its predecessor, there's no way I can picture any other album atop this list. Bon Iver could have gone in many directions from For Emma, Forever Ago, but the one he/they (I can't make up my mind on whether to surrender to the fact that most now refer to Bon Iver as a band...) chose, floats my boat pretty damn well. The combination of electronic experiments on a base of classic, acoustic timbres, topped with Justin Vernon's enchanting vocals is just marvelous. These days, I've fallen for 'Towers', which is formidably uplifting, but so is 'Michicant', and so is 'Minnesota, WI' too. Then there's lead single 'Calgary', and the crookedly intriguing 'Beth/Rest', the modest whispers of 'Wash.' and 'Hinnom, TX', and the pompous, riveting opener 'Perth', but above it all, 'Holocene' reigns supreme. The sheer beauty and potency of that tune rivals anything on For Emma, Forever Ago, and proves that Justin Vernon is among the most gifted artists around these days. Fuck how he hangs out with Kanye West, 'Holocene' displays Vernon at his absolute best, creating beauty out of simplicity, and making everything come together in a cascade of aural magnificence.

A year in albums, summer 2011 - 10-6.

#10: The Strokes - Angles
"Everybody's singing the same song 10 years." That's what Julian Casablancas sings in pivotal lead single 'Under Cover of Darkness' from The Strokes' long-in-the-making fourth studio album. Released almost a full decade after the iconic debut Is This It, few expected The Strokes to rebound from their slight misfire on #3, and a following five-year hiatus. But they have. In places, such as the aforementioned lead single, 'Taken For A Fool' and 'Gratisfaction', Angles delightfully flashes its kinship with the early Strokes-material, but the palette has been widened considerably, with forays into the eighties aplenty. What really ties this album together though is the general euphony. All the way from funky opener 'Machu Picchu' to pensive closer 'Life Is Simple In The Moonlight', this stuff just works. It sounds like a band rejuvenated, and that's a true pleasure!

#9: When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie
Danish indie has a considerable presence on this list, but it has taken time for When Saints Go Machine's second full-length, Konkylie, to win me over, as it did for debut album Ten Makes A Face as well. Konkylie almost constantly plays hard to get, and at times it does become a bit more far galaxies-like for my taste. But aside from the obvious highlights 'Church and Law', 'Kelly' and the brilliant closer 'Add Ends', a few of the other tunes are starting to make inroads, as is the album as a whole. This is indeed the kind of album you should listen to from one end to another. It still careens slightly in the middle, with tracks three to six being more or less forgettable, but Konkylie is more than anything an impressively confident record by a band unafraid to go their own way - even if there are pretty obvious Silent Shout-influences here and there...

#8: Caribou - Swim
Caribou exists somewhere in the curious crossroads between indie - which is usually considered as music with instruments and stuff - and house, but you only have to listen to a track like opener 'Odessa' once to realize, that Swim has got all it takes to have both indie schmindies and club kids bobbing their heads in sync. Dan Snaith's velvet-like vocals, his catchy, persistent beats and his influx of acoustic percussion makes it almost band music - just listen to the multitude of timbres in 'Bowls', for example. Throughout the album, Snaith is tight as neoprene suit - perhaps not danceable, but definitely with his eyes and ears fixed on the club scene. It's the kind of album you lounge and enjoy a drink to, and enjoy the delicious and highly detailed production. At times balearically uplifting ('Sun'), at times fragile and emotional ('Found Out' and 'Leave House') Caribou has managed to carve out his very own niche and sound in the otherwise pretty crowded indie-electro crossover area, and with Swim, he is absolutely masterful!

#7: Young Galaxy - Shapeshifting
Back when I first reviewed Young Galaxy's marvelous, Dan Lissvik-produced third full-length, Shapeshifting, I made a point of how powerful northern countries like Canada and Sweden are in today's indie music world. To carry out that point, these two countries combined account for a full 6 of this year's top 20, with Shapeshifting as one of the absolute gems. The group employs the now so popular boy/girl vocals approach on this summery, at times almost Caribbean-tinged album, which revolves mainly around three completely astonishing tunes: The enchanting 'We Have Everything', the downbeat and lazily funky 'Peripheral Visionaries' and the crepuscular and mystic 'Cover Your Tracks'. The other tunes on the album, bar the weird closer 'Shapeshifting', are good too though, and make for a truly enjoyable listen through and through - an album of taut indie-electropop with equal amounts of pathos and chill.

#6: Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank The Cradle/Kiss Each Other Clean
These, the first and latest albums in Iron & Wine's discography, are very differently mannered, but are each a major part in my discovery of this artist this past half year - an interest ignited by a spellbinding show in Århus in February. New kid on the block Kiss Each Other Clean is more ornate and lengths more daring, with amazing grooviness, swagger and musical wit oozing throughout, and with highlights abound, such as 'Tree By The River', 'Monkeys Uptown', 'Rabbit Will Run' and the powerful closer 'Your Fake Name is Good Enough for Me'. Next to the charisma and width of Kiss Each Other Clean, The Creek Drank The Cradle is much more bare. But as is so often the case, the lack of big, boisterous ambience makes room for really delicate forays into Sam Beam's lyrical and melodic prowess, on gorgeous tunes such as 'Bird Stealing Bread' and 'Upward Over The Mountain'.

Sounds of 2011.5!

Gang Gang Dance.

LISTEN TO AND DOWNLOAD THE MIXTAPE HERE!


Oi guys and girls!


 It's been pretty quiet here on The Idioteque these past weeks, and my a-year-in-albums list is moving on ever so slowly. Part of the reason is I have been busy, and I've been moving back and forth from Aalborg and Copenhagen the past few weeks. Another reason though is that I've spent a lot of time doing my most ambitious mixtape yet - the 2011.5 mix, compiling all kinds of sounds from the first half of this year! It's finished now, and I think it has turned out pretty good! Let me just quickly talk you through it!


It can be sort of divided into parts, with the first containing some of the more established and mainstream (not in the derogatory way I usually use that word though) acts, such as Radiohead, The Strokes and The Streets. I had a hard time picking from Radiohead's The King of Limbs album, ending up however with 'Feral' which is the tune that intrigues me the most off it, and of course the brilliant 'Lotus Flower'. The two introvert The King of Limbs tunes are balanced by Iron & Wine's chill and groovy 'Monkeys Uptown'.


After this, the mixtape hits its most electronic phase, with Young Galaxy, Nicolas Jaar, Taragana Pyjarama and Austra. From here, we go into chillwave and 80s revival with Ford & Lopatin, key tune 'New Beat' by Toro Y Moi, and a bit of Rainbow Arabia, before segueing into straight out electropop with 'Kelly' by When Saints Go Machine.


The next part of the mixtape is more pensive and slow-moving, with Jamie Woon's 'Night Air', Elbow's 'Jesus is A Rochdale Girl', When Saints Go Machine's 'Add Ends', Bon Iver's 'Towers' and Arctic Monkeys' 'Love Is A Laserquest'. A true collection of gems. This is followed, perhaps quite abruptly, by the urban segment of the mixtape with Tyler, The Creator, SBTRKT and Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx, before finishing off blastingly with 'Glass Jar' by Gang Gang Dance.


Bon Iver recurs throughout. In addition to 'Towers', he sticks his face and falsetto in with excerpts of 'Michicant', 'Perth' and 'Holocene' at various points in the mixtape. Thematic, as Bon Iver is a good candidate to top my end-of-year list come December...


The mixtape includes parts of the tracks below. All recordings are property of their rightful owners, the artists and record labels. I do not own the rights to this music, no copyright infringement intended.
00.00: Gang Gang Dance - 'Glass Jar' (excerpt) (Eye Contact, 4AD Records, 2011)
00.00: Bon Iver - 'Michicant' (excerpt) (Bon Iver, Jagjaguwar Records, 2011)
00.24: The Streets - 'Outside Inside' (Computers and Blues, Atlantic Records, 2011)
02.41: The Strokes - 'Taken For A Fool' (Angles, RCA Records, 2011)
04.53: Radiohead - 'Feral' (The King of Limbs, self-released, 2011)
06.15: Iron & Wine - 'Monkeys Uptown' (Kiss Each Other Clean, 4AD Records, 2011)
08.30: Radiohead - 'Lotus Flower' (The King of Limbs, self-released, 2011)
09.12: VETO - 'This Is Not' (excerpt) (Everything is Amplified, Sony BMG, 2011)
09.36: Trophy Wife - 'The Quiet Earth' (excerpt) (Moshi Moshi Records, 2011)
09.47: Young Galaxy - 'We Have Everything' (Shapeshifting, Paper Bag Records, 2011)
11.22: Nicolas Jaar - 'Mi Mujer' (Space Is Only Noise, Circus Company, 2011)
14.12: Taragana Pyjarama - 'Ocean' (Taragana Pyjarama EP, Fool House, 2011)
15.25: Bon Iver - 'Perth' (excerpt) (Bon Iver, Jagjaguwar Records, 2011)
17.21: Austra - 'The Future' (Feel It Break, Domino Records, 2011)
19.19: Ford & Lopatin - 'World of Regret' (Channel Pressure, Software Records, 2011)
21.00: Toro Y Moi - 'New Beat' (Underneath The Pine, Carpark Records, 2011)
22.57: Rainbow Arabia - 'Without You' (excerpt) (Boys and Diamonds, Kompakt, 2011)
23.59: Niki & The Dove - 'The Fox' (excerpt) (Sub Pop, 2011)
24.17: When Saints Go Machine - 'Kelly' (Konkylie, EMI Records, 2011)
25.04: Jamie Woon - 'Night Air' (Mirrorwriting, Polydor Records, 2011)
27.27: Young Galaxy - 'Peripheral Visionaries' (Shapeshifting, Paper Bag Records, 2011)
29.32: Elbow - 'Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl' (Build A Rocket Boys!, Polydor Records, 2011)
31.13: When Saints Go Machine - 'Add Ends' (Konkylie, EMI Records, 2011)
33.37: Austra - 'Beat and The Pulse' (Feel It Break, Domino Records, 2011)
37.44: Bon Iver - 'Towers' (Bon Iver, Jagjaguwar Records, 2011)
40.29: When Saints Go Machine - 'Church and Law' (excerpt) (Konkylie, EMI Records, 2011)
40.33: Arctic Monkeys - 'Love Is A Laserquest' (Suck It And See, Domino Records, 2011)
42.34: Tyler, The Creator - 'Yonkers' (Goblin, XL Recordings, 2011)
43.11: Bon Iver - 'Holocene' (excerpt) (Bon Iver, Jagjaguwar Records, 2011)
44.48: SBTRKT feat. Yukimi Nagano - 'Wildfire' (SBTRKT, Young Turks, 2011)
46.30: Bon Iver - 'Holocene' (excerpt) (Bon Iver, Jagjaguwar Records, 2011)
46.54: Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - 'NY Is Killing Me' (We're New Here, XL Recordings, 2011)
47.24: Gang Gang Dance - 'Glass Jar' (Eye Contact, 4AD Records, 2011)

A year in albums, summer 2011 - 15-11.

#15: Søren Huss - Troen & Ingen
A lot of people were skeptical when Søren Huss reappeared on the big stage. After his original outfit Saybia slowly disappearing onto the happy hunting grounds of stranded whine rock outfits, and his wife tragically deceasing in a traffic accident, I guess most expected an unbearably whimpering album. In stead, Huss managed to pretty successfully channel his heavy emotions into a beautiful record. Not an album to hear time and time again, but a fine piece of earnest grief. For the first time in his recording career singing in his native tongue, Huss' voice and lyrics are the absolute centerpieces of this downright beautiful album, culminating in the cathartic and very powerful 'Et Hav Af Udstrakte Hænder' and the absolutely tear-jerking closer, 'Tak For Dansen'.

#14: Wild Nothing - Gemini
Gemini is truly one of the most uplifting albums I've familiarized myself with this past year. It's one of those albums you put on, and then your just drift away to somewhere really blissful - one of the albums where the tunes just seem to segue into each other, and you don't really spend all your time identifying them and analyzing them and attributing certain qualities or characteristics to them. Gemini is the sound of summer, of frolicsome and carefree youths chilling in the park. It's decidedly chillwave, but with a distinct dream-pop tinge, and a production very distant from lo-fi imperfection. Highlights are hard to point out, but the opening pair of 'Live In Dreams' and 'Summer Holiday' are very enjoyable, along with 'Our Composition Book' further down the tracklist.

#13: Radiohead - The King of Limbs
If you wanted to, you could easily focus on all the things The King of Limbs isn't. It isn't a parade of exorbitant flowers like In Rainbows, it isn't a fist in the face of dystopia and gloom like OK Computer and Amnesiac, and it isn't a daring left turn like Kid A was. In the Radiohead discography, this might end up as the quiet, mellow kid in the back, being none the less talented than its more outwardly siblings. However, after you've realized this album never explodes, never bursts with energy, never concludes anything, you begin to recognize what a bloody fine piece of musicianship this is. Tied together by Colin Greenwood's amazing work on his bass, The King of Limbs nervously skips along, constantly threatening to trip and fall in its intricate and complex structures, especially through the first half with 'Bloom', 'Morning Mr Magpie' and 'Feral' being madly polyrhythmic. Thom Yorke comes more to the fore on the album's key tracks, 'Lotus Flower' and the Pyramid Song-like 'Codex'. A very different, but awkwardly beautiful album.

#12: Feist - Let It Die/The Reminder
I still very clearly remember when I first became acquainted with Leslie Feist. It was driving our camper along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, on a very rainy day a few years ago. It took me some time to finally get a hold of her music, but after having been enchanted by The Reminder early this winter, I was completely blown over by Let It Die this spring (that's why both are listed). I can hardly picture an album more suitable for an evening with candlelights and sweet lovemaking than Let It Die. I mean, just listen to tunes like 'One Evening' and 'Leisure Suite'! On this album, Feist is also at times deliciously funky on 'When I Was A Young Girl', openly in love on 'Inside And Out' and obviously brokenhearted on 'Let It Die'. The Reminder is less highlightful, except for obvious standout '1234', but still a thoroughly decent crossbreed of jazz, folk and indie, shrouded in Leslie Feist's beautiful voice.

#11: Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See
I feel so sorry for all the fucktards who fell off the cart with Humbug, and who still think Alex Turner's lyrics are primarily about going out in Sheffield. They're not. While still being a hopeless romantic, Turner has at 25 become a guy whose quotes you want hanging on your wall, or featuring in your Facebook status. That's especially true for the back end of Suck It And See, with the three utterly exquisite tracks 'Love Is A Laserquest', 'Suck It And See' and 'That's Where You're Wrong'. These three tunes are instrumental in elevating Suck It And See to somewhere near the quality of Arctic Monkeys' three previous studio albums, because admittedly, there are dips in quality here. There usually are on a 12-track album, and boy don't I understand what the need for tunes like 'Reckless Serenade' and 'Piledriver Waltz' on this album was. Balancing between sixties swag and occasional garage and even heavy-inspired rock-outs, Suck It And See is nonetheless an absolutely acceptable fourth album by a band rapidly carving out their very own spot in UK indie history.