Jónsi.

The guys from Sigur Rós are supposedly currently on a break to spend more time with their families. So in the meantime their frontman Jónsi is releasing a solo album in march. From the sounds of it, it seems like the lyrics are going to be in English, rather than Icelandic or the own language of Sigur Rós, Hopelandic. The single "Boy Lilikoi" bears the same spherical sound as Sigur Rós, but now has lyrics that most people actually can understand.

Jónsi - Boy Lilikoi

Ghost Society.

Ghost Society are a new Danish shoegaze/dreampop/noisepop band. Their debut album was released this monday and it's called The Back Of His Hands, Then His Palms. It's a very fine effort - athmospheric, well-produced pop songs with added swirly guitars and synths. Of course, comparisons with the amazing and legendary My Bloody Valentine cannot be avoided, but Ghost Society is not just pure shoegaze. My favorite tune here is Isolated, and although it might lean towards the more traditional shoegaze sound, there's something more to it. Check it out right here:

Midlake.

The waiting time is over - finally, you can get a listen of the brand new Midlake album, The Courage Of Others. I haven't really listened enough to it to give you a profound review of the album, but so far, I think it's damn fine.

Stream Midlake - The Courage Of Others
(Be quick - this stream only lasts until February 2nd)

Enjoy!

The Besnard Lakes.

Well, this might be old news, but The Besnard Lakes have a new album coming out and you can download the tune Albatross from their website for free. The reason I didn't tell you a week ago was because I didn't find it very interesting, but Albatross has really grown on me. It's very athmospheric, kind of "noise pop light". Not the amounts of noise you'll find if you listen to My Bloody Valentine, for example. Dreampop, that's what this is. And it's a pretty brilliant tune!

Stream The Besnard Lakes - Albatross.
(Or right-click and save this link).

The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night is out March 9 on Jagjaguwar.

Cheers!

New Caribou.

Hey there.

It's no secret that Caribou made one of the most interesting records of 2007 with Andorra. Sunny, psychedelic pop with both electronic elements as well as organic, hand-played psych pop melodies. And now it's time for a new one! It's called Swim, and the first single is called Odessa - it's not as sunny and summer-like as Andorra but it is indeed promising! Actually, it's a quite fantastic pop tune.

Download Odessa for the humble charge of your email adress.

Enjoy!

Essential earcandy: Ryan Adams.

Oy!

Now I'm kicking a new thing off! It's called Essential Earcandy, and it's an opportunity for us to tell you and bit about the artists we love. I'll start with Ryan Adams.

Ryan Adams is a brilliant rock/alt. country artist. Things started in 1994 in the alt. country band Whiskeytown which he left in 1999 after two fairly criticly acclaimed albums, Faithless Street and Stranger's Almanac. After Whiskeytown disbanded, Adams went on to pursue a solo career.

The first Ryan Adams solo album was called Heartbreaker and it was released in 2000. It's a country album without much rock influence but already here, the songwriting is amazingly good. Despite favorable reviews, the album never became a commercial succes. This album is really worth giving a go if you're into alt. country like Wilco. Tunes worth checking out include Come Pick Me Up, Oh My Sweet Carolina and To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High). Oh, and it was guested by Emmylou Harris.




Only a year after the release of Heartbreaker, Gold saw the light. And what a record - I consider this being Adams' masterpiece. A perfect blend of alt. country and rock - from the raw, kickass Enemy Fire to the beautiful ballads, the piano-driven Sylvia Plath and When The Stars Go Blue and to the AMAZING guitar track, Nobody Girl, which becomes a juicy, fantastic, bluesy jam. This is really a masterpiece and it's now recommended by me to..... Well, everyone. A must have, in my opinion. Also, this album was actually quite a succes in Scandinavia, climbing into the top 10 in both Norway and Sweden.


After a release of demos and unreleased recordings in 2002 called Demolitions, 2003 saw the release of Rock N Roll which, as the title indicates, is a rock 'n roll album. Throwing his country influences over board, this album was more of a straightforward rock record, but not lacking great tunes. From the U2-ish falsetto disco rocker So Alive to the angry, dirty Note To Self: Don't Die (here found with an amazingly stupid anime video!) over the opening tune This Is It, this album is an absolute blast as far as what concerns guitar driven rock songs. The album recieved a mix of brilliant and lousy reviews and wasn't as much of a commercial succes as Gold. Still a fantastic album, though, this is a highly recommended album too!

Only a year after the release of Rock N Roll, Adams released the highly criticly acclaimed Love Is Hell. It was somewhat of a return to his alt. country origins. Still proving his amazing skills as a songwriter, tunes as the opening epic Political Scientist, the country-rock-ish title tune and the cover of Wonderwall are all absolutely fantastically brilliant. The style of Love Is Hell sound like something between Gold and Rock N Roll which is indeed a great thing. You might begin to see a pattern here, but - this IS highly recommended.


In 2005, Adams went into a new period. He started releasing albums as Ryan Adams & The Cardinals and 2005 resulted in 3 new albums from Ryan Adams. Ryan threw almost everything called "rock" away and went on to release 3 alt. country/folk albums. In my opinion, these are not really as interesting as the ones I've already mentioned, but here you go:

Cold Roses was the first release in the new "series" of Ryan Adams albums. Like the other two albums from 2005, Cold Roses recieved fine reviews in music media but the commercial succes was (like Gold) mostly limited to Scandinavia, reaching number 8 in Norway, number 9 in Sweden and number 31 in Denmark which indicates that Scandinavians have good taste in music which is also confirmed in my post about Norway. Sort of. Easy Plateau and Let It Ride (here live on Letterman) are actually both fairly fantastic tunes from Cold Roses.


Second album in the row was called Jacksonville City Nights. Again, fine reviews were plenty but commercial succes was lacking and this one didn't reach any top 20's on the charts except for, uhm, Norway and Sweden. The style of Jacksonville City Nights leans a bit more towards traditional country. As always, The Cardinals are an amazing backing band, groovy and tight as hell. Amazing musicians. Actually, I think you have to check out at least one of these albums out just because of The Cardinals.



29 finished off Adams' incredibly busy 7 months. Reviews were mixed and commercial succes was almost non-existing, not even reaching the charts in Norway and Sweden. (!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!!!!!!). Maybe people became a bit fed up with country-Adams here, I don't know. Still, as on all Ryan Adams albums, good musicianship and good songwriting is present here. 29 (maybe as the only Adams album) leans a bit towards folk music, too.




After the 3 country albums, Adams waited for 2 WHOLE YEARS before he released a new album. Escaping a bit from the traditional country music, 2007 saw the release of a new album.

Easy Tiger was a bit of a return to the rock inspired sound that had inspired some of his earlier albums, Gold in particular. This one is a mix of what Adams has done this far - Halloween Head is an amazing rock song (including Adams shouting "guitar solo!" right before a keyboard solo), and Oh My God, Whatever, Etc. is a beautiful acoustic guitar ballad. Tears Of Gold is pure country and The Sun Also Sets is a blend of it all. The album was well recieved by critics and had great succes for a Ryan Adams album reaching number 5 in Norway, number 7 in the US and number 10 in Sweden. The Cardinals are present on every track here.


Cardinology from 2008 is the latest offering from Ryan Adams. Again, it's a mix of rock and country and with magnificent songwriting and good musicianship included. The album might have been somewhat of a breakthrough for Ryan Adams in America, reaching number 11 on the charts there. Highlights include the fantastic single Fix It, the rocking Magick, the beautiful Sink Ships and the fine Cobwebs. A good, solid effort is what this is. Sadly, this album might be the last we'll hear from Ryan Adams in quite some time.



Also, you'll find lots of demos from Adams, including the Pinkhearts sessions, which are rock and incredibly fun. For example, check out Fuck It.... I Broke Your Cat.

Last year, Ryan Adams told that he would stop making music for quite some time. Very, very sad news since I think that all these albums prove Adams as a fantastic songwriter and a talented musician. Releasing 9 albums of new material and of this incredible standard is simply just impressive. Luckily, Adams has indicated that he will reform his old band The Finger with Jesse Malin.

The Mad Trist.

Dutch band The Mad Trist just released their debut album, Pay The Piper, yesterday. And it's an absolute blast! It's a brilliant mix of stoner, pop and rock - it's catchy, twisted and it's hard rocking. I recalled a bit of the mighty Queens Of The Stone Age, Sugar Army and maybe a hint of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club while listening to this. Some of the tunes here are amazing and doesn't sound like a band releasing their first album - it's so well-played, it's confident and it sounds like these guys have played with each other for a million years. This is some of the best I've heard of '10 - definately up there with Spoon and OK Go. Highly recommended for lovers of good rock music!



The Mad Trist - Silver Lines.

Cheers!

The Knife.

The Knife is back. With opera! And not just some kinda rock opera stuff, but no, real opera.

Tee Dreijer siblings made the music for an opera called "Tomorrow, in a Year" at the Royal Danish Ballet last fall, a play about Darwin's theories. Now they're sharing the goods with a new double-album! According to The Knife, this album contains live field recordings of sounds and noises from the Amazon jungle. Sounds great.

Get a preview of the album by giving them your email here:

The Knife - Colouring of Pigeons

Stream Beach House / Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Hey.

I'm hereby declaring today "album stream day". Just found two streams of brand new full albums from Beach House and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Beach House

Hyped indie dream pop act from Baltimore release their third record which some people declared "best album of 2010!" in November '09. That makes perfect sense.

Stream Beach House - Teen Dream.




Charlotte Gainsbourg

The daughter of French pop legend Serge Gainsbourg has teamed up with Beck who has co-written and produced this one. This one is a quite interesting listen, actually.

Stream Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM.

Have fun!

200.

Visitor number 200 gets............. Cake!

Scroll down to the very bottom of this page to see what number you are and if you can claim cake.

Rock 'n Roll lookalikes: Jack White and Peter Hayes.

So, these guys (?) basically IS the SAME GUY.

On your left, you see White Stripes songwriter and guitar hero Jack White.
On your right, you see Jack White when he calls himself Peter Hayes and plays in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

The smart reader will notice that I swapped their places for the last one.

I hope you can use this for....... Something.

Cheers!

Franz Ferdinand and Marion Cotillard do Lady Dior.

So! Franz Ferdinand and French actress Marion Cotillard join forces on a new tune, The Eyes Of Mars, for some Dior campaign. Marion Cotillard can actually sing, as we heard in La Vie En Rose where she was Edith Piaf. She suits their style pretty well, actually. Have fun!



Cheers!

The Gift.

Trent Reznor is fucking genious. No two ways about that. Now, Nine Inch Nails and fans have collaborated to make this live DVD about their last tour, Lights In The Sky Tour fro 2009. And now, they are releasing it for free! Trent Reznor is VERY good at releasing things for free. If you like what you see above, here's some download links:

Download in a thousand different ways from the NIN website.

Oh, and highlights in the above clip for me:

11. Vessel - stunning visuals right here.

18. Wish - always a killer, this one is no exception.

26. Echoplex - just.... Just look at that. That's AMAZING what he does in the start!

30 Hurt - a classic. Reznor just knows how to play this in the most heartbreaking and beautiful way.

R.I.P Jay Reatard.

Oy!

On January 13th, Jay Reatard passed away, totally unexpected. Now you might be like "Oh, Jay Retard xD xD xD" and we'll be like "hey man, that's not fun".

Jay Reatard, or Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., was a garage punk musician and busy as hell. A quick count from his discography on Wikipedia gives us 68 albums, compilations and 7"s. That's pretty damn much for a 29 year-old. Some of it is pretty damn good and Jay Reatard was on the edge of a breakthrough, I think. Shame for him to die at this time (if any time is a good time), but he left us with shit loads of brilliant, fantastic garage punk rock songs. Enjoy, and rest in peace, Jay.







Oh. And here's a Reatard cover of a Nirvana song.

Enjoy.

Torsten Larsen.

Oy!

A very Danish man with a very Danish name has released a series of demos. Torsten Larsen fronts the band Larsen And Furious Jane, one of the most overlooked bands in Denmark. Larsen And Furious Jane do a really good job on playing their country-rock to perfection. This collection consists of 12 demos, and he gives them away to you for free! Classic lo-fi, stripped down and with beautiful songs.

Go and fetch it here!

Cheers.

Album Review: OK Go - Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky.

OK Go's new album is the first album release of 2010 I've really been looking forward to. That YouTube classic (The threadmill one!) led to some of a breakthrough for these guys - a well-deserved one, I'd say. This time they went in studio with Dave Fridmann - the man that helped Flaming Lips make Embryonic such an acid, fucked-up adventure of an album. And that can be heard - in a good way. OK Go have done their own thing - after somewhat of a breakthrough it would be normal to release an album of easy listening dull poprock songs (as Kings Of Leon did), but OK Go choose to make an album produced by Mr. Fridmann and let the first single be in 5/4. Brilliant. Now, about the album:

As I mentioned, Fridmanns inspiration and touch can be heard easily on Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky - you folks who have heard Embyonic will definately recognize some things here. But OTBCOTS is more accessible than Embryonic. But this thing doesn't have to be all about comparisons with Embryonic. So, goodbye, Embryonic-comparisons.

OTBCOTS is basically a pop album but it's more weird and twisted than anything they've done before. But oh, you'll find stunners and twisted beauty here (just like Embyon.... No, wait.) - the first single, WTF? mixes some rythm thing that sound like an experimental version of The Dead Weather with sweet falsetto vocals and album highlight I Want You So Hard I Can't Breathe is sexy as hell, well-written and mixes disgusting erotic pop with melodic pop and adds a little twist of something weird. White Knuckles, All Is Not Lost and Back From Kathmandu are almost in the same league as the before mentioned, and In The Glass finishes off the album in a most satisfying way. Lead singer Damian Kulash goes all in on Skyscrapers which I don't really get, and album low point End Love annoys me a lot, though.

All in all, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky is a really good pop album with a light touch of acid and weirdness some places - I think that calling it a light version of Flaming Lips (Embry... Hey!) or Of Montreal isn't totally wrong. They're not as far out as the two and that results in the fact that this is quicker and easier to love, but you won't get those absolutely amazing pop orgasms that FL and OM deliver sometimes. But if the words "pop", "weird", "acid", "catchy" and "fun" turns you on, you've got to check this out - you won't be disappointed, and I'm neither.

M.I.A.

Everybody's favorite Sri Lankan singer/mother just released a new song AND video on Twitter. I have not actually listened to it yet but I'm putting my trust into M.I.A., so here you go!

Dirty Projectors.

Hey there!

It's no secret - Dirty Projectors did a magnificent job on last year's Bitte Orca. Receiving huge critical acclaim and loads of indie street cred, 2009 gave Dirty Projectors some of a breakthrough. They did Letterman (FANTASTIC performance) and now they've done a brand new 7 inch. There's two tunes on it and you can get it for free right here:

Enjoy!

Treat.

Treat: A new tune from the brand new Liars album which is to be released in March.



Enjoy.

ShadowBoxer.

Hey there.

This brand new album is made by Frank Ziyanak, one of the most active people on the Danish music scene. Honestly, I haven't listened to all of this but, hey, it's free!

Download.

Peace.

Countries you didn't know you loved: Norway

Oy there.

New theme we'd like to kick off, it's called "Countries you didn't know you loved". Basically, it's focusing on one country and trying to spread the message about some bands from there that you (hopefully) don't know that much about yet. It's going to be cool! Lets get started:
Norway

Alright, kicking this off with Norway. Seen from the outside, a rubbish country: Shit food, shit loads of rain, and oh, some more rain. Famous for making a cheese called Mysost, it's brown (!?) and it's rubbish. Annoying folks in cotton sweaters. Rubbish. But FEAR NOT! There's a lot of great bands out there - most of them have got some kind of retro shoegaze sound, so that must be what characterizes the sound of this country. Maybe it's beacuse of all the rain.


I Was A King
Led by Frode Strømstad, these guys are on the very edge of a breakthrough. I recommended their self-titled album on my 2009-list and I still do. Beautiful and charming garage-pop with classic well-written tunes. Imagine 60's pop played by some 90's indie band like Olivia Tremor Control and then throw a little bit of garage in there, and you've got an idea of what this is like. Brilliant music.

Erlend Øye
I think that this guy might be the biggest personality on the Norwegian indie scene. Behind those MASSIVE glasses you'll find a talented musician with a very big range. From the disco-indie vibes of Whitest Boy Alive (more about them later), the acoustic and very relaxed Kings Of Convenience and to his electronic offerings as shown on his DJ-Kicks from 2004.


Serena Maneesh
Relatively young band, they've released one album and one highly anticipated album will be out in March on the legendary 4AD label, also known for such acts as The National, St. Vincent, Bon Iver, Deerhunter, The Big Pink and formely, among lots of others, Cocteau Twins and The Birthday Party. Oh, and they've opened for Nine Inch Nails and Oasis. That's talking about accomplishments. The sound is kind of noise-garage-pop with some German kraut-inspiration.

The Alexandria Quartet
If you just hear about The Alexandria Quartet you might not find them that interesting. This is amazingly catchy radio-friendly poprock and yes, it might be a guilty pleasure, but what a pleasure it is! Many people tend to reject this kind of bands just because they're not innovative or because they don't have that indie street cred, but this is just so incredibly pleasing. Instead of growing on you, it gets inside your head the first time you hear it. Think of a little more radio-friendly version of Feeder. And then check out Into The Light - instant love.

Maribel
It's not a secret that I fancy My Bloody Valentine and, to be honest, I think these guys do, too. But, then, everybody should. Maribel is a bit more raw and rocking than MBV ever was - that actually suits this kind of music, and tunes like Ecstatic and Deflowers are brilliant proof of that. Also, this was the second Norwegian album that I mentioned on my 2009-list.

Bigbang
Bigbang is a rock 'n roll trio consisting of 3 fantastically talented musicians. Not that much is brand new here, just good, old rock 'n roll music - even the ballads are stunners and amazingly well-written. Check out Too Much Yang from 2007, it's one of my favorite albums from that year and I still get happy when I listen to it - badass rockers as well as beautiful ballads. It's fantastic.

Le Corbeau
This is a side project of Øystein Sandsdalen, the guy who plays guitar in Serena Maneesh. It's dark, it's mellow and some of it is sung in French. Soaked in reverb and melancholy, you might want to call this a pretty depressing listen, but that's in a good way. I'd like to describe this as "noise noir" - it pretty much sums up what I think this is all about.

The Megaphonic Thrift
Alright I'm finishing the first leg of this brilliant theme off with The Megaphonic Thrift. They played Roskilde Festival in 2009 and these guys are on their way up, definately. The music is more dark and grungy and less shoegaze than most of the other Norwegian bands that I've decided to say some words about, but it's just as great. Just really good songs, throw in some distorted guitars and some good energy and you're there.


That's all from me this time, I think we'll do this monthly or something - it takes some time, but it's really interesting, actually, hope you guys can use it for something!

Cheers.

Teaser / Pleaser.

Hey there.

A little teaser of what I'm up to at the moment. It's a post, but a big one. This thing is sooooo sexy. It's the first thing that these guys play from their upcoming album. I actually posted this yesterday but I've realized that it probably won't get enough attention that way. Enjoy, there's nothing else to do.




Cheers.

2010.

So.... 2010 is here, and although you will not be making "best of the year"-lists already NOW based on feeling (hint hint, Merriweather Post Pavillion), I think there's a lot to look forward to. Here's some of the albums I'm really excited about listening to:

OK Go - Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

January 12th (that's in 8 days, guys!), OK Go kicks off the year with their new album. I was really into their first two ones, so I'm kind of excited to hear this one. I'm not expecting a masterpiece here, just a really good one. The first single is already out, it's called WTF, and the music video makes you think just that. Oh, and it's in 5/4, which means you'll have to count to 5 instead of 4 to get the rythm. Brilliant video also, another stunner from OK Go. Check it out here!

The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack

Former known as The Muslims (?), these guys are finally debuting with their eponymous album. I haven't really listened a lot to these guys, since there's not a lot to listen to, but so far, I like what I've heard. Especially the tune Extinction is great and just really, really cozy. Very unpolished songs, kind of silly in a good way. Here's the video for Extinction.

Midlake - The Courage Of Others

Yay! Folksters Midlake finally decide to share this one with the rest of us and we're very happy they made this decision. I loved Trials Of Van Occupanther, so I'm stoked to hear that there's finally a new one coming out. Two tracks are already out for listening, and you'll find them both streaming somewhere at The Hype Machine. Especially Rulers Ruling All Things is a great, great tune. Yay!


Everybody Was In The French Resistance... Now! - Fixin' The Charts Volume One

Art Brut's Eddie Argos is my favorite not-quite-singer and now he's going to make pop music! This is so corny and lots of fun to listen to. I mean, this guy has NOTHING to say, but he says it in such a brilliant way! Not really anything out yet, so check out two of their tunes in shitty quality on MySpace. I like G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N (You Know I've Got A). Pure pop satisfaction.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tatoo

This might be the album I'm most excited about hearing in the first half of '10 - these guys have already done two rock 'n roll masterpieces and their latest, Baby 81, was such an amazing album, expanding their horizon a bit, but still filled with killer tunes. These guys are pure rock 'n roll energy and I can't wait to hear this. Still no singles out from this one (I'm shaking!), but don't worry, this is going to be great. Especially if we can all forget about that horribly meaningless 333-album from last year that's REALLY their latest. But damn, that was a baaaaad one. But it doesn't count as an album since there's no songs on it. (Ignorance - it's a great thing).


Liars - Sisterworld

I've already posted the first single, Scissor, on the blog and it's so amazingly good and it makes me happy everytime I hear it, it's just twisted perfection. Setting the bar very high for this album, but I think these guys can do it. Their latest was a fantastic one too, be sure to check it out. It's self-titled and from 2007. Scissor is still available for free on their website, make sure you get this one. NOISE EXPLOTION!

Also, these:

MGMT are going to release an album called Congratulations in Spring '10. We don't really know that much about it, but we know they headed to Malibu to record with an ex-member of Spacemen 3, and that sounds pretty damn promising.

LCD Soundsystem have a record that they're hoping to get out in April, but that's not official yet. All we know is that Sound Of Silver was absolutely brilliant, and if James Murphy and company just get anywhere near it, it's going to be worth a listen.

Gorillaz have a new one out, it's called Plastic Beach and EMI says that it's going to be released in March. Their first album was such a blast, the second was really, really good and I hope they keep their pace on this one.

Billboard states that Arcade Fire will release a lead single in early 2010 (I'm waiting RIGHT HERE!) and an album in May. Third masterpiece in a row, anyone?

Also, Norwegian noise-rockers Serena-Maneesh are planning to put out an album. Not much information here neither, but here's an AMAZING live performance of a new track. Promising!

Of course there's a lot more, and probably some that I've forgot, but we'll catch up with those later.

The Hickey Underworld.

Oy!

Today is music video day! Here's The Hickey Underworld, a fantastic band from Belgium delivering ass-kicking rock with so much nerve you can almost slice it. Also, this time they deliver one of the best (and scaring) videos of 2009 - this is well-made times a thousand. Enjoy - and although the video is breathtaking, don't forget to listen to the tune which is a blast, too. Go check this out on YouTube in full HD quality to get the best of it.




Oh, and happy new year!