Merry Christmas...

This will probably be the last post before Christmas, so time has come to wish regulars, occasional readers and anyone else, who happens to pop by, a Merry Christmas!

I don’t think I’ve watched one full episode of this year’s Christmas Calendar Pagten, but nonetheless I’m looking forward to it every day just to be able to hear the fantastic title track Uden Hinanden.

Danish music site BandBase.dk has published a list of the 25 most popular artists of the past decade and obviously it’s thrilling to see favorites Entakt finishing second overall. Then in the same breathe they published a post stating that the band is (sort of) splitting up and then (sort of) reassembling the pieces. What this means exactly I don’t know (and apparently the band doesn’t either), so your guess is as good as mine!
+ Vinterbrud

Matinée Recordings just mailed that they are shipping my order today! Hey mr. postman! Hurry up!

US indie pop act (one-man project) Fireflies offers his new Covers EP as a free download. I've mentioned times and times before that I'm no fan of cover versions, but the 7 recordings included on this EP are simply brilliant.
+ Walk On The Moon (Asobi Seksu cover)
+ Walk On The Moon (Asobi Seksu original)

Assembly line...

Spleen United has re-launched their webpage. I cannot really figure out if there's supposed to be a deeper meaning to it, except showing a few short and rather fuzzy video clips and providing us with some external links. Reload the page (press VIII) and a new clip will pop up (I believe there’s a total of 5 different ones). I know complaining has sort of become my trademark, but I’d much rather have a less fancy and more informative site instead (obviously) including a few free downloads (remixes, covers or something like that)! The band will soon be playing a few dates in the US (check their Myspace for exact dates), and just like the previous time the band spent some time “over there”, I strongly recommend that you go see them.
+ Running Up That Hill (Kath Bush cover with The William Blakes)

I've heard some rather trustworthy rumors that Northern Portrait has finished the recordings of their debut album Criminal Art Lovers. But still, these are just rumors; nothing more!
+ Crazy

Obscure Sound has posted a lengthy review, probably containing more words than I’d write in a month, of the soon to be released UltraChorus debut album Ultra-Def. First promo track of the album Words Kept Talking was an instant favorite way back in March, so nice to learn that the rest should be equally great. If Mike’s review is to be trusted of course!
+ Words Kept Talking

BandBase.dk track of the day is Robin Parts by As In RebekkaMaria. The song is based upon Symphony No. 2 by Danish composer Carl Nielsen and is this month's featured remix at mixtoverdener.dk.
+ Robin Parts

Chris is doing a great job getting his blog Music Of The Moment back up and running. Today's post on Scottish trio AirSpiel is well worth reading.

The new album Whatsinsideswhatsoutside by Bodebrixen will be released on Monday. According to this newspaper article, the album will be free to download from the band's webpage in an attempt to attract more listeners.

...paused...

Shorties...

Despite massive complaints blogger still hasn’t reinstated Music of the Moment. Instead Chris has reloaded the blog himself now using Wordpress.

A trio of news from glorious indie label Shelflife Records:

The CDEP+7" The Imperial School by Horse Shoes has now hit the stores. It's a limited edition release, so hurry up ordering your copy!
+ The Imperial School
+ Changing Winds

On October 27 the label will release the debut album It Hertz! by UK electro pop duo Katsen. The tracks on the album constantly switches back and forth between being catchy then playful, which immediately made me think of the OMD album Dazzle Ships.
+ Where Nobody Can Find Us

The last piece of news from Shelflife made my heart beat just a little bit faster of sheer excitement; “We're planning new releases for Days...”. Days! Hopefully you do recall this incomparable and totally ingenious indie pop quartet from Gothenburg? Anyway this is absolutely phenomenal news and something I’ve been eagerly awaiting for a long, long time! Rather unfathomably the band’s debut CDEP+7” Downhill hasn't been sold out(?).
+ Simple Thing
+ Downhill

UK newgazers Sennen has recorded a cover of the New Order track Bizarre Love Triangle. Obviously it’s not better than the original (I seriously doubt I’ll ever hear a New Order cover better than the original), but nonetheless the band’s rendition of the song is excellent and the noisy guitars add an extra dimension that suits the track just fine! Taken from the band's forthcoming EP Destroy Us.
+ Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order Cover)

Elise And The Guardian Angel by sadly overlooked Danish indie/americana/multi-inspired singer Mushi is track of the day at Bandbase.dk.
+ Elise And The Guardian Angel

Shorties...

The eagerly awaited Mew album No More Stories is out today. I’m probably one of the very few, who has yet to listen to it, but I’ll snap up a copy, as soon as the working day is over. Reviewers seem to adore the album and the average rating of the 7 reviews compiled by Gaffa is 5.6 stars out of 6.

Indicater Records has a new (download only) compilation out. 19 indie pop/rock tracks for €8 seem more than reasonable to me; especially if the other 18 songs are of the same caliber as this promo track by Irish trio Sweet Jane.
+ Sweet Jane – Blackboots and Blackhearts

You’ve probably already streamed the new The Pains of Being Pure at Heart track over at Pitchfork? It can be heard at Myspace as well, if you (just like me) happen to be no fan of Pitchfork. I’m really not a fan of streaming either! But the song is mighty fine though.

Californian electro pop duo Electric Valentine offers their new single Beat Drop as free download. It’s taken from the duo’s debut album Automatic (out tomorrow August 18) and is a fairly catchy yet rather harmless pop tune.
+ Beat Drop

My inbox is one big mess and I’m once again reading, downloading, listening, deleting etc. And yet once again I’m equally amazed and frustrated how much junk is mailed to me.

Is today’s BandBase.dk track of the day irresistibly catchy or simply one of the cheesiest pop songs you’ve ever heard?
+ The Chop Chop Family - You Used To Be So Indie

BandBase.dk – Track of the Day...

I have spent quite some time today checking out various tracks which at some point have been selected “track of the day” at Danish music community BandBase.dk. The daily track is usually picked by commander editor in chief Rasmus Ardahl, who does a fine job to secure that as many genres and artists (signed vs. unsigned) as possible are being covered. This obviously means that not all tracks are equally enjoyable for persons with a limited music taste like mine, but there is still plenty of music to explore, as this feature/service began for more than a year and a half ago. Below a few of the songs I’ve found (or in most cases refound) and enjoyed today including a few comments for each tracks.

+ The Boombox Hearts – Extras, when you’re ready, please (track of the day August 12, 2009)
Featured in this blog not so long ago, but nice to see the band getting some recognition at BandBase.dk as well.

+ Windermere – There’s a Sun (track of the day May 19, 2008)
The band’s sophomore album No One Wins was my favorite album of 2006 (back in those days, where I actually bothered making those lists), but 3 years on we are still awaiting any news on a follow-up.

+ lastbandalive – The Mexico Of Europe (streaming) (track of the day June 6, 2009)
This is by far my favorite song of the moment, but sadly only available for streaming. The band consists of 3 (I believe) former members of The Alpine and apparently a 6-track EP is ready, which I’m currently working to get my hands on.

+ La La Naïve – Not Just Things (track of the day October 18, 2008)
In their own words La La Naïve is "Toy Piano, Glockenspiel, synths, beats and fantastic melodies". Add playfulness with a capital P to the mix and you have a pretty good description.

+ Under Byen - Af samme stof som stof (track of the day July 26, 2009)
Not just a community for the up and coming, and more established names like Under Byen can be found at BandBase.dk as well.

Bjarke Niemann – Champions of the Wild Side...

The artist’s name might not ring a bell, but if I add that he’s more known as the one fronting Spleen United, you hopefully have some kind of idea, what were dealing with here. Champions of the Wild Side is not the first sign of a solo career in the making, but a result of his participation in the MixToVerdener (mix two worlds) project, which has been set up by Danish Radio P2, Danske Bank and BandBase.dk. Every month a sample from a classical piece is picked by a jury and made available from the MixToVerdener website for everyone to download and remix. This month’s sample (I believe) is taken from Pictures at an Exhibition by Russian composer Modest Mussorgskij and aided by this and a sketch for a song already written, Bjarke Niemann has produced a fascinating and melancholic track. Spleen United fans might find it a little too poppy and not quite faithful to the band's trademark darker sounds, but I can only recommend that you give it some listens and let this beautiful piece sink in. Then it won’t take long before you’ll be hooked!
+ Champions of the Wild Side

This, that and a whole lot more...

The US election is finally over and since this is not a political blog, I really ought to refrain from posting a comment on the outcome. However I find it rather difficult not to, though all I’m going to say is that (in my smalle part of the world) the light at the end of tunnel is shining more brightly than it did the day before yesterday.

One Weekly Gun was worried if the racial issue would end up being the deciding factor of the election. Luckily it turned out not to be.
+ God Bless the Dubious

Received a mail yesterday promoting the new album Revolutions by UK electro act Melnyk. Found the attached promo track rather monotonous and boring, so really no point in spending more time on that one. However in the same mail was a download link for Melnyk’s remix of the Division Kent track In The Headlights (from the album Gravity). And this is a master example of what a remix should be like, as Melnyk has done wonders and turned a fairly good track into a uptempo, catchy and absolutely contagious one.
+ In The Headlights (Melnyk Is Behind The Wheel Remix)
+ In The Headlights (original album version)

Feel like doing a remix and being part of competition? At BandBase.dk (in Danish only I’m afraid) you can download the stems for I Walk Proud by Laid Back and read more about the competition as well.

Danish indie/alternative rock band Ciao Transizta has finished recording their new demo EP Murder by the Lefthanded Harlekin. It's available as a free download at BandBase.dk. I first mentioned the band in December 2006 and just like back then it does take some time getting into these new songs. But I expect it to be quite rewarding, once I get passed the first hurdle.
+ Go On Call The Mayor

Hari and Aino as well as Play People will soon be releasing 7" singles on Cloudberry Records. The A-sides are free to download, and both them are glorious pop tunes.
+ Hari and Aino - A Considerate Kind Of Home
+ Play People - Goes Out

On the road again...

Am going to Jutland tomorrow morning in a work related matter and the fact that I will have to spend 6 hours alone in the car (3 hours back and forth) isn't exactly the most encouraging thing I can think of. At least I should have plenty of time to listen to some of the CD's I've bought recently and if the weather is fine the view from the bridge is always fantastic.

Is it possible to eat the words you've written? My judgment of the new moi Caprice album was premature to say the least. The album still lacks those catchy tunes of its predecessors, but according to an interview with the band found in the recent edition of Soundvenue all the catchy tunes were deliberately left off the album. Instead the band focused on producing a more "complete" album and now that I've spent substantial time listening to We Had Faces Then, I think they've accomplished just that.

The first review of the debut album by The Holiday Show has surfaced. The album certainly isn't the most groundbreaking you'll ever lay ears on, but the rating (two out of six) is downright ridiculous.

An English and a German version of BandBase has now been launched.

New track by One Weekly Gun.
+ That One

BandBase...

As mentioned yesterday you no longer have to be a registered user at BandBase (formerly known as MyMusic.dk) to be able to download any songs, so I thought I should do my utmost to continue promoting this fine new initiative. Especially since Myspace sucks so bad these days and has (permanently?) closed the source to lots of free downloads. So if you're interested in Danish music or great music in general, BandBase works as a brilliant alternative. I know it's in Danish, but nonetheless it's fairly simple navigating your way through the site. Only complaint is that the tagging of the songs are pretty bad, so you might have to do a little work yourself following each download. Here's "mixtape" featuring just a few of the many, many great songs you can find there (left click to download or use the YourFileHost links).
+ Ehlers/Thejsen - Art of Loneliness (YourFileHost)
+ Entakt - Kunsten At Slippe Taget (YourFileHost)
+ Leisure Alaska - Present Yet Unseen (YourFileHost)
+ Skywriter - Craving Utopia (YourFileHost)
+ VETO - You Are A Knife (YourFileHost)
+ Windermere - Trailer Park (YourFileHost)