Tusmørke søvn...

Den nye video til Hit The Twilight Sleep fra Death Valley Sleepers er lidt af en psykedelisk billedcollage...så den må vel siges at klæde sangen helt perfekt...

Lidt løst og fast...

Det er bedre at skrive på dansk. Meget bedre! Indholdet er forventeligt nok ikke forbedret en tøddel, men det her fungerer bare bedre (nemlig så!)!

Min mailbox er fortsat spændt til bristepunktet. Bliver interessant om sprogskiftet medfører en reduktion i antallet af indgående post. Håber det nok lidt!

Gisp, ryste osv. Apropos mails. Den første mail med den første julesang er allerede landet. Hader generelt julen og alt hvad den står for (tjek lige den svada her), men intet er som bekendt så skidt…og julesange (samt gløgg, æbleskiver, juleøl og -frokoster) er jo unægtelig traditioner, som det er svært ikke at holde af.

Er omsider hoppet med på Spotify vognen; hvilket vel sådan cirka er omtrent en mindre evighed siden alle andre gjorde det? Virker dumt for der er da unægtelig tale om kærlighed ved første blik!

Har blandt andet lyttet til en (perle-)række af Northern Portrait numre og fået abstinenser af allerværste slags. Hvorfor, HVORFOR, (og så med FED) HVORFOR skal vi vente så utilgiveligt længe på nyt materiale?


Imødeser det nye Junica album The Celebration med seriøs spænding. Der er en lille teaser video her og albummet kan forudbestilles på iTunes. Det fatter jeg så ikke lige det store af; hvorfor forudbestille et album som skal downloades? Ikke desto mindre skriver Nik Brinkman nogle helt fantastisk iørefaldende popsange, hvilket man ved selvsyn (eller hedder det selvhør?) kan konstatere ved at lytte til Junica debut ep’en eller albummet Infinity (som kan downloades kvit og frit) af duoen Psychic Powers, hvor Mr. Brinkman udgjorde den ene halvdel.


Skulle man kede sig lidt i aften, kan man jo altid slå et smut forbi Stengade og se Death Valley Sleepers. Dette kan kun anbefales. Bandet har for resten en ny video på trapperne, men den vender vi tilbage til når den dukker op (og napper én af ældre dato i stedet).

 

Shorts...

A few more hours and it's weekend. Though I hardly drank any alcohol, I'm still trying to recover from that trip to London.

Think I've listen to the I Like Trains track I posted earlier today at least 30 times. It really is that fabulous...

Because a few of you said so, I actually bothered and gave the new album by The Shins a few listens. No exactly impressed, but promise to invest more time in it!

Musik I Lejet keeps adding new interesting names to the line-up and recent additions include Stoffer og Maskinen and old blog favorite Jonas Breum.
Kærestebrevet by Stoffer og Maskinen

The self-titled debut album by Death Valley Sleepers is now available from iTunes. Need to get myself a copy, but will have to do it from home (no iTunes at work). Quite curious to hear the end result and if it's been possible to improve the demo versions...
Small Town Bells by Death Valley Sleepers 

Finnish electro pop trio Sleeping In Airports shares two new tracks on SoundCloud.
This Used To Be My Home by Sleeping In Airports

Shorts...

Just a couple of quick ones...

Check the line-up for this year's NYC Popfest and start drooling...looks pretty good don't you think!?

The new Sleep Party People track Chin is doing terribly on the Hypem Popular chart. Go heart it please! Musically I think they've move on quite a bit since the debut (A Dark Good Heart was a nice first step), but the (trademark?) vocals make the band very recognizable...perhaps a little too recognizable?
Sleep Party People - Chin

The new Blue Foundation single Lost is pretty nice, though it does sound as if they are returning to their trip-hop roots. Not exactly a fan of that!
Blue Foundation - Lost F. Sara Savery (Prefix Premiere)

Into My Mind, the debut single from Death Valley Sleepers is now available through iTunes! Not sure if this ended up being the final version (anyone?)...
 Death Valley Sleepers - Into My Mind

Shorts...

Been working on a new blog...in Danish. Not really sure why, but I probably just need some fresh air or something. Check it out if you like.

Vote in the annual Matinée fan club poll. Not that many releases to choose from, but the few ones put out this year were good ones!
+ Champagne Riot - Moonstruck

Here’s a brand new (and darn good) demo track from The Sexual Outlaws.
+ Night Of The Living Bachelors

Death Valley Sleepers announced yesterday that the debut album will be out in April next year on Playground Music.
+ White Noise

Check this track by Under Electric Light that somehow didn’t make it onto the debut album.

Your face in the skies...

Busy or not...have to post this one. New video from Death Valley Sleepers and a promise that an album is coming soon...

Sparks and flames...

Two quick thoughts on last night’s concert; it wasn’t a waste of time, but still plenty of work left before White Lies becomes a great live act. So don’t expect to see me queuing outside the ticket office to get tickets for their next tour. And despite my recent approval, the songs on Ritual are beyond doubt weaker than the ones on the debut, as the concert reached a completely different level (Bigger Than Us aside), when the band performed songs from To lose My Life.

Bumped into Tobias of Death Valley Sleepers at the concert and had a (real) quick chat. I obviously wanted news on the band’s debut album and it sounds like it’s imminent…
+ Black Pearl

Check this new track Every Spark Deserves A Flame by Danish synth-rock trio tung_nem. I’ve featured the band a number of times and it’s beyond me how they stay unnoticed.
Every Spark Deserves A Flame by tung_nem

Have to catch Sleep Party People live someday soon. Has to be an absolutely mind-blowing experience watching five “rabbits” performing music? Here's a live version of brand new (maybe even unfinished?) track We Were Drifting On A Sad Song.

Heartbreaking sound of joy...

Watch Death Valley Sleepers perform a wonderful stripped down version of Heartbreaking Sound of Joy. The band will be playing live at Drone (Copenhagen) on next Thursday (February 10).

News from the valley...

Stream premixes of three tracks from the forthcoming Death Valley Sleepers debut album below. Still no news on when and how the album will be released, but judging from the premixes the album will definitely be worth the wait.

Left Me High

Small Town Bells

Into My Mind

Shorties...

Stream the new (and rather dull) track Do You Love It by Mew over at Soundvenue. Included on the band’s forthcoming compilation album Eggs Are Funny.

The debut album Living and Growing by The Felt Tips will be out on Plastilina Records on November 15.
+ Dear Morrissey

Your truly was mentioned on last week’s Tuesday Podcast. Yay!!

Sounds as if the Death Valley Sleepers debut album is coming along nicely.

under electric light has “blend my love for The Beach Boys and my Shoegaze influences” on new track Waiting For The Rain To Fall.


Entakt frontman Jonas Villumsen has mailed that he'd like to share a track from his ongoing Greenland inspired solo-project. Expect that one to pop up here any time soon.

Here's the new video by Tears Run Rings for their beautiful track Divided.

Shorties...

Tilskuere (Danish for spectators) has a real nice post on Sarah Records/Television inspired Danish quartet Balloon Magic. Good to learn that the youngsters are heading for the studio to record some new songs.
+ Fell

Death Valley Sleepers has announced that they’ll begin the recordings of their debut album. Filed under “great news”.
+ Sweet End

Finnish indie popsters Delay Trees will release their self-titled debut album on September 29.
+ About Brothers
+ Cassette 2012

New track Pocahontas by The William Blakes is now streaming at Myspace. The band’s third album The Way Of The Warrior is out September 13.

Entakt frontman Jonas Villumsen has published a second track from his ongoing solo-project. Lovely stuff...as always!

Pete and The Pirates shares 4 demo tracks in exchange for your email address.

The Drums covers Arcade Fire. Interesting though the sound quality is rather poor.
+ We Used To Wait

Otur shares this remix of Compute’s Rushing, Slowing Down.
+ Rushing, slowing down (Otur Remix)

Bits and pieces...

Don’t know if anyone has noticed, but I’ve started to use the download links from the promo mails rather than uploading songs myself. Not that I’ve had any recent problems with IFPI, but for whatever reason I’ve suddenly become too much of a chicken to risk anything.

Death Valley Sleepers has a lovely and rather melancholic new track named Along The Canals streaming at Myspace. Because of the band’s growing popularity (thanks to that car commercial) the days of the freebies are over. At least for now.

Congrats to Albin from Sweden, who’s the lucky winner of the Ceremony - A New Order Tribute CD. Will try to ship the CD this weekend!

I’ve downloaded the 6 track Making Up A Changing Mind EP by Pretty Lights for free from the official webpage and though I still think this is seriously annoying (downtempo, jazz influenced instrumental hip-hop really isn’t my thing), I’m nonetheless drawn to it.
+ I Can See It In Your Face

Dad Rocks! is a solo project by Mimas frontman Snævar Njáll Albertsson and the forthcoming Digital Age EP will be the first ever release on new label Kanel Records. This is laid back, lo-fi, stripped down and really quite beautiful. The exact opposite of Pretty Lights, you could say.
+ Aroused By Hair

The 7” single Den Lille Havfrue by A Smile and A Ribbon will be out May 20 on Cloudberry Records. In case anyone’s wondering, the song title is Danish for The Little Mermaid.
+ Den Lille Havfrue

Check this fine video for This Vision’s Wherever I Run.

To be or not to be cool...

Just a short follow-up thought on Peter’s comment from yesterday. To some extent I agree that selling your music to companies for use in commercials isn’t very hip or especially cool. However this is no longer the age of the Vincent’s and the Wolfgang’s where poverty and great art seemed inseparable and today you cannot really blame artists for making decisions having their bank accounts in mind. Basically meaning that if they cannot make a living by being musicians (writers, painters etc.), they’ll most likely have to find some “real job” instead to help paying the bills. So when an offer like this comes up (though I obviously don’t know how great an offer it really is), it is rather easy to understand why it’s accepted, as it could perhaps help pay next months rent. And judging from the number of visitors who’s ended up visiting this blog the past 24 hours while searching for Death Valley Sleepers; being feature in that commercial has meant some much deserved exposure for the band, and hopefully given (and continue to give) the band bunches of new fans. Which sort of makes this whole commercial thing an even better idea! Cool or not? I’ll let you be the judge on that, but if you ask me Death Valley Sleepers was and remains immensely cool. And no car commercial is really going to change that!
+ Left Me High (disabled)

Chevrolet vs. Death Valley Sleepers...

How freakin' cool is this?



+ Death Valley Sleepers - Left Me High (Disabled)

Shorties...

Death Valley Sleepers has mailed a brand new recording named Into My Mind. A psychedelic 60’s inspired tune, and of course it’s absolutely fabulous. Download all previous recordings from this post.
+ Into My Mind (Disabled)

The Ginger Ninja debut album Wicked Map was released last Monday and it’s an absolutely wonderful infusion of energy. An infusion I believe all us are in dire need of right now.

Speaking of Ginger Ninja. Remember to vote for Bone Will Break Metal for next week’s Tjeklisten!

For the past two weeks The Balcony by The Rumour Said Fire has topped the aforementioned list. When and how did the band become mainstream (hate that word)?

I have spent quite some time today listening to Trespassers. That’s the new album by Kashmir, in case you’ve somehow missed the news that it’s out today! Gaffa summarizes the reviews.

Found this track by duo Evelyn Evelyn in the mailbox. The story that the duo consists of two conjoined twin sisters seems a little far-fetched! But probably the first time I’ve been mailed a track sounding like The Andrew Sisters!
+ Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?

Safe Wat Ouy by No Blood In Bones is used as featured music in Vampire Diaries (Part 1) on Nylon TV!
+ Safe Way Out

Our Falling Snow...

Lots of nice words have already been written about the self-titled Sleep Party People debut album (exhibit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and deservedly so. Adding anything to this is virtually impossible, though I cannot help being a bit baffled that the term shoegaze has been mentioned a few times. The music is indeed both dreamy and introspective, but those trademark distorted guitar sounds are really nowhere to be found. Personally I like the “modified” “electronic shoegaze” term a lot better, as my first thought, when I listened to the album, was that it was closely related to an ambient Sigur Rós universe, focusing on creating atmospheric and beautiful sounds rather than on writing memorable melody lines. However upon further listens, I’ve numerous times caught myself humming various tunes off the album, thus adding another (interesting) dimension to my first impression, as well as prompting the question; what should this be called exactly? Playful electronic pop with an experimental edge perhaps or? To be honest I really don’t care and cannot be bothered searching for (or perhaps even inventing) a more accurate description. Instead I’ll stick to what I do know; that this is a gloriously beautiful album.
+ I’m Not Human At All

Blue Foundation shares the Zeds Dead Dubstep Remix of their track Eyes on Fire.
+ Eyes On Fire (Zeds Dead Remix)

Due to popular demand the post with download links to all (?) Death Valley Sleepers songs has been updated.

Various...

My to-do-list just keeps growing and growing, so time for some catching up!

I have promised myself that I need to come up with a better description of the music of Death Valley Sleepers. The new song is definitely more inspired by various 60’s bands than by The Raveonettes, so I believe time has come to re-discover my creative vein (if I've ever had any).
+ Turn Out The Light

Ginger Ninja doesn’t have an official webpage, but has a Myspace profile instead, which has just been updated. A clock is counting down the days (hours etc.) until the band’s debut album is release. Exactly 13 days, 8 hours, 51 minutes and 57 sec..no...56...hang on...55 seconds...oh well...a little more than 13 days left!!

So far information is sparse, but new Danish indie pop festival Copenhagen Popfest will take place from April 16 to April 18.

French band Exsonvaldes are giving away a brand new track from their forthcoming album There’s No Place Like Homes.
+ Everything I See

And though they split up some time ago, Swedish band Kamera shares a remix of the track Asleep.
+ Asleep (Prada Means No Harm Remix)

News from the Valley...

Following Christmas and New Year’s where the flow of interesting mails stalled completely and the number of visitors to the blog nosedived (can something already incredibly low actually nosedive?), things have finally started to heat up again. The past 24 hours a string of interesting mails have arrived, but since this is the time of year, where I’m actually worth my salary at work, keeping up with it all is quite a challenge. But I’ll try to work my way through everything step by step and hopefully I’ll eventually get around checking it all out. First out is this brand new recording by Death Valley Sleepers, and as always it’s a great joy to hear news (any news) from Mr. Winberg and his project. All regulars are probably familiar with (and fans of) Death Valley Sleepers by now and if you hoped for any surprises or changes, you’re bound to be disappointed, as Turn Out The Light follows smoothly in the wake of previous recordings. So for the billionth time I'm going to use that old description (cliché?) that Death Valley Sleepers sounds like The Velvet Underground meeting The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Raveonettes, as it remains quite accurate and therefore can see no point in trying to come with something better. Though I do have to "borrow" a quote from Facebook, where someone used the phrase “timeless spaciousness”, which describes incredibly well how 5 decades of inspiration are blended together in the music! Should you happen to enjoy what you’re hearing and want more; holler and I’ll re-post some of the older recordings.
+ Turn Out The Light

Various...

Quite unusual this, but I've spent this morning listening to the radio. And DR Barometer is, hands down, by far the best radio station in Denmark. Go check the playlist if you don't believe what I'm telling you! Kent, Michael Møller, Bright Eyes, Morrissey, you name it. They've got it all covered! And while typing this beauty is on...
+ Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree

Speaking of radio. Heard Bad Romance by Lady Gaga on DR P3 while having breakfast this morning and my ridiculously small brain simply refuse to understand how and why a song this awful is getting any airplay!

Been waiting for this and finally there is some news from Matinée Recordings! Tracks from the new releases can be streamed at Myspace. Time to start preordering!

Great music just can't be stopped! mp3hugger features Death Valley Sleepers.

I’ve tried getting into Efterklang a number of times, but so far without any luck. However new track Modern Drift, taken from the forthcoming album Magic Chairs, is pretty good, so perhaps this will be time? But apparently fans of the band think that the song is too mainstream, which probably explains why I like it? Blast! Life is complicated!
+ Modern Drift

New album Bear Life by NY indie pop band The Ballet is out now!

+ The House on Fire

Held up by a banana...

Being the provincial nerd I am, I obviously know close to nothing about Copenhagen nightlife. Nonetheless I’ve always believed that it was all covered. This meaning that whatever music you were into, you could always find some bar or night club playing your favorite records. So when I learned about the Banana Hold-Up club night and their ambition of playing “a beautiful mix of indiepop, twee, c86, britpop, yé yé, sixties pop and northern soul”, I didn’t think it would bring anything new to the table. But apparently I was dead wrong, and judging from the number of people showing up Saturday evening at Jolene Bar, one could easily be convinced that Copenhagen has been in dire need of a club like this. From around midnight (I believe) and until we left at 1.30, people were queuing outside, which has to be the best stamp of approval anyone can think of? Knowing my taste in music, it can hardly surprise anyone that I enjoyed the evening immensely and when Slight Return was followed by Happy Hour, She Bangs The Drums and moments later Ready Or Not, I learned that drinking beer, while smiling from ear to ear, is virtually impossible! Add to this that I finally got to say hello to Tobias (Death Valley Sleepers), Caspar (Champagne Riot) and Danielle (one of the organizers), as well as being updated on Northern Portrait by Stefan, and the evening was pretty darn close to perfect. I’ve “borrowed” a picture taken by Danielle for the post (more pics), and if you look closely, you'll see yours truly on the right in the back with his back (lots of backs) turned to the camera, deeply engaged in a philosophical discussion with Mr. Champagne Riot. Or maybe we were just exchanging drunken thoughts? I honestly cannot remember! So you pick whatever scenario you think is the most likely.
+ Champagne Riot – The Champagne Anthem
+ Death Valley Sleepers – Seaside
+ Northern Portrait - Crazy