The love of my life

Florence + the Machine's debut album, Lungs, is without a doubt the love of my life, and I shall never love a man with equal intensity and passion. It is hands down the best album I have heard since Californication in 1999. The entire cd, without any exceptions, is just so effing beautiful, and her voice is just to die for. I can't stop listening to it.

And I feel I have to mention my favourite double-cousin, Daggis, for introducing me to this beautiful band =) Don't know what I was doing for the two months from it was released and I was introduced to it!

Right here, right now

Just to make a quick update, I'll give you a list of what's most played on my phone as well as my itunes right now. Fun, right? :)Probably won't be any surprises, mind you.

Clutch - Electric Worry
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
King of Leon - Crawl
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
White Lies - To Lose My Life
Alanis Morrissette - These R the Thoughts
Superfamily - I Could be a Real Winner
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
Kings of Leon - Revelry
Pink Floyd - Hey You
Kings of Leon - Manhattan
Killers - All These Things That I've Done
Iron&Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth
Whitest Boy Alive - Keep a Secret
Snow Patrol - Make This Go On Forever
Incubus - I Miss You
David Gray - Destroyer
Killers - Jenny was a Friend of Mine
Lady Gaga - Poker Face

Ok, I'm gonna stop there... GOOD selection of music! AHH!

Ode to the motherland

In the spirit of this glorious weekend with Norway winning, nay, OWNING the Eurovision with Alexandre Rykland and "Fairytale", and today being the national day of my beloved country, I find it appropriate to dedicate a post on my blog to this country that is by far the most spectacular on earth. 

Besides the fact that Norway is blessed with wild and stunning nature, an amazing health care system and ridiculously beautiful natives, it is also a country of astonishing musical talents. I am not speaking of the dimwits who composed Hompetitten and the likes, more in direction of bands like Postgirobygget, Madrugada, Kaizers Orchestra and Kings of Convenience. They're all extremely capable musicians who write great lyrics, perform with impeccable enthusiasm and deliver a 120% every time, in everything they do.  In true Norwegian spirit.

Postgirobygget write and sing in their mother tongue, but their is no less enjoyable for foreigners. I suppose you'd say it's primarily summer music - it evokes feelings of vacation, midnight sun, barbecues and guitars. Some of their best songs include "Bohemen leve", "Sløv uten dop", "Idyll" and "Lei av å bli lurt". Their best album by far is "Melis", and I recommend it to anyone who has the slightest interest in anything resembling good music.

Madrugada is the most popular band to emerge from Norway in a long, long time, and have had particularly great success in Denmark, Germany and Spain. Their music is dark, melancholy and powerful, their lyrics are just enchanting poetry, and Sivert's voice is the best you've heard since Freddie Mercury. True story. The first album, "Industrial Silence" together with their last, "Madrugada", are by far the best ones. Fantastic songs include "Majesty", "Beautyproof", "Shine", "Hour of the Wolf" and "New woman/new man". Oh, and so many more. Now, I've met Sivert on a couple of occasions, and it seems he's kind of a dickwad. That doesn't impair his genius though, and as long as you don't speak to him, you will keep loving him forever.

Also the fact that he's ridiculously fit. Sigh. Oh, and their guitarist Robert Buraas died in...2008? Sad times, he was also in another great Norwegian band, My midnight creeps. He's on the left.

Now for an institution in Norwegian music history. Kaizers are a fan-friggin-tastic band who don't just sing in Norwegian, but in their oh so charming southern dialect. They play a massive organ, wear gasmasks and bang on hubcaps and those large things that bums make fires in. Random? yes. Amazing? OHH yes. They do the most unreal live shows, and are probably the best live band in Norway. In 2007 they played the Orange stage at the Roskilde Festival, and there were soo many people there - the space in front was practically full! Which was pretty cool. The concert was amazing, and Janove had complete control of the crowd. Cause that's just how he is;) And I don't think he's a dickwad, which helps! Their album "Ompa til du dør" is without a doubt the best one, and grrrrreat tunes include "Ompa til du dør", "Kontroll på kontinentet" og "Dekk bord". This is something you aaaall should definitely check out.

 

Ok, I'll do a quick one on Kings of Convenience as well. They're actually quite popular over here, as well as Erlend Øye's other band, the Whitest Boy Alive. Now, Kings of Convenience's first album, "Quiet is the new loud", is like the quietest, chillest, beautifullest, amazingest, relaxingest album ever. It's so,so,so,so nice and fantastic, and I shall NEVER tire of listening to it. Their voices are superb and work together in perfect harmony, and their songs can condone any mood, happy or sad. The best songs are "Winning a battle, losing the war", "Failure", "Summer on the westhill" and "The weight of my words". Fantastic shit, I love it <3 

Eyes open

Hi. Stevie and I didn't have a song, but we did have an album - Snow Patrol "Eyes Open". At least as far as I was concerned, this was our album. I'm writing this cause I know Stevie won't read it (although I secretly hope he will), and it's a wee chapter on how some people, incidents or events in your life can destroy music that you used to hold dear. Just like it can work the other way. I guess it's 50/50 both ways, you meet people and experience things alongside music that makes you connect this specific piece of music to these good experiences - and then you have someone or something that you share something nice with for a while, but then it turns into poo, and the music and songs you had and connect to this person or time, is turned into poo as well. And everytime you hear it, you think about these sad and stupid things, and it makes you, well, sad. Or maybe angry. Weird, isn't it? And sadly, when these sad things occur, it's not the fucking up of relationships that bother me, it's the fucking up of a good song or even a good band! You absolutely love this song, it used to be your favorite fucking song, and suddenly you can't listen to it anymore without swearing or fucking crying! Bullcrap... Can anyone relate to what I'm saying here!?

I know no one reads my blog, which is kind of sad, and kind of good cause then I can write these stupid things without anyone ever knowing:)

Well, anyway, this cd, Eyes Open, is just amazing. It's the only good one Snow Patrol has, I reckon. The last one is shite! The first commercially succesful one, Final Straw, has a good song on it, Run, it's actually great, but then Leona Lewis raped it. I wish that girl would just stick to what she does best - being quiet. I mean, did anyone see what she did to Janis Joplin's "Summertime"!? Disgraceful.

I'm actually going to bed now, was gonna stay up and listen to some songs I missed, but the second I started they got me in an unusually bad mood, so I switched them off. Sad times. I used to loooove these songs. But someone ruined them for me. Thanks alot!!! Well, what can you do. Ups and downs and all that. Tomorrows a new day, maybe I'll give them another listen:)

Good night, people:)

(The songs raped by Stevie include Chasing Cars, You Could Be Happy, Make This Go On Forever, Set The Fire To The Third Bar, Open Your Eyes and Finish Line. Great friggin songs)

Coldplay + Richard Ashcroft = Pure brilliance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPGTdDohGl4

Just look at this. It's religious. Why the hell can't I post Youtube vids on here??

22.03.2009

Right now, on this fateful morning (does it still count as morning at half one?), I'm listening to Stevie Wonder..."Superstition" right now. That song is so friggin awesome, I can't believe I ever forgot about it! I can't help but sing so fucking loudly, thank fuck I'm home alone. My poor (or blessed, depending on how you look at it) flatmates have to put up with my strange/eccentric/awesome music all day and night. I think they secretly like it. I learned something new yesterday - if you burn yourself on the stove, put a slice of potato on it straight away! That way, you avoid the nasty blister:)

The reason I'm blogging today, is because I just sat down and created a new playlist on my itunes, with new awesome music I've just discovered, old albums I'd forgotten about, and just some timeless classics. One album I completely forgot about for a while, is Keane's first, Hopes and Fears. What a fucking amazing album! You have Tom Chaplin pre-drugs, writing the most gorgeous lyrics, and his voice is just to die for. I wasn't too keen on Keane (hihi) when they emerged with this cd in 2004, but then, later that year, I saw them live at the Quart festival in Kristiansand - and they are just sick on stage! Oh my god, Tom Chaplin sounds a gazillion times better live than he does on the cd, not too many can pride themselves with that! (Matt Bellamy, Springsteen, Sivert Høyem)

Also on this playlist of mine, are some songs from an Irish bird called Laura Izibor, who I discovered in Glasgow with Camille when she was supporting John Legend. I bough her live EP off itunes, and it's really good, she's got a great voice, and some really soulful tunes. She's also got that one song on PS: I love you, Carousel, which is really good, you'll probably recognize it if you've seen the film. Together with Laura comes Lily Allen (last cd, amazing) and John Legend (last cd, amazing), that was like out great Glasgow weekend.

I also have a few Hendrix tunes, live of course, including Hey Joe, Fire, Foxey Lady, Little Wing and Star Spangled Banner live at Woodstock. Oh man - to have been there. Also, the new Bigbang (fantastic Norwegian rock band people, kind of 60's southern states kind of thing, sounds a bit like the Allman Brothers) album Edendale is great, I've only just started listening to it, but it sounds better than the previous one. Love it, gonna see them live this summer, can NOT wait.
A couple of random additions to the list; Cranberries with some all-time favourites (Linger, Zombie, Ode to my family, Dreams), Lady Gaga with Poker face (don't ask me why, I just find this song so ridiculously catchy), Manu Chao with Bongo Bongo ("They say there is no place for little monkey in this town", come on, you gotta love it), and Pink with Sober. I think it's a great song, and besides, she has sex with herself in the video - that's just impressive.

Ooh, another GREAT album a forgot for a little bit there, is the first Kings of Convenience, Quiet is the new loud. Such a beautiful, relaxing, totally chill album, with the most beautiful and sooting voices you have ever heard - they're actually quite famous over here. (They're Norwegian as well) So is this one guy's, Erlend Øie, other band as well, Whitest Boy Alive. Great voice, great stuff. I'm gonna wrap up here by posting a picture of Bigbang for your viewing pleasure, as well as pasting my entire playlist (it's not too long), so that some of you might be inspired:)

Alanis Morissette - Thank U
Bigbang - Play Louder, Isabel
Bob Marley - Sun is Shining
Brandi Carlile - the Story
Bruce Springsteen - the Rising
Coldplay - Lovers in Japan
The Cranberries - Dreams, Ode to my Family, Zombie, Linger
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I put a spell on you
Elbow - Grounds for Divorce
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses, No you Girls
Jimi Hendrix - Foxey Lady, Hey Joe, Fire
John Legend - Everybody Knows, This Time, Quickly, If You're Out There, Sun Comes Up, Show Me
Keane - Entire first album, Hopes and Fears + Crystal Ball and Spiralling
Lady Gaga - Poker Face
Laura Izibor - From my Heart to Yours
Lily Allen - Everyone's at it, the Fear, Not Fair, 22, Never Gonna Happen, Fuck You, Who'd Have Known, Chinese
Manu Chao - Bongo Bongo
Maria Mena - Just Hold Me
Modest Mouse - Dashboard, Fire it up, Invisible
Pink - Sober
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Snow Patrol - Make This go on Forever, Set the Fire to the Third Bar, Open your Eyes
Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm yours, Superstition, Overjoyed, Higher Ground

Legend-wait for iiit-DARY!!!

Camille and I went to see John Legend at the O2 Academy (formerly known as Carling Academy) in Glasgow, twas amazing :)
The night started kind of bad, cause the train tickets were ridiculously expensive, and so we spent pretty much all our money on those.. (some of us are on a budget!) The train was crammed, but at least it was the quick one, only one stop.
Then we got a taxi to the academy, and the line had an impressive speed, we were in in no time =)

Anyway, we had seats on the balcony, and placed ourselves directly in front of the stage. The support act weren't too bad, the first one was a rapper-dude going by the name of Von Anthony (!?), his band was good anyway - and then some irish lady I didn't catch the name of, but she had an afro and an amazing voice, as well as some really funky tunes, so yes, we like her!:)

By the time the legend himself entered the stage, I was so excited I swear I was about to come any second - but he was wearing a hideous outfit...Anyway, got over that pretty fast! Ahh, this man's voice is to die for. And he was on for two hours, did all the good songs, including Stay with you, which is like the most beautiful song I knooooow :) And he did the best tunes from the new album as well, and not too many from the second one, which was a good call, cause let's be honest, that one's not a very good album..

He's just amazing live, so I though it was a veeery good evening :)
And when he pulled the lucky girl of the evening up on stage, he managed to keep little-John down even though the girl was clinging and grinding like Beyoncé 2003-style...Good work!;) This photo allegedly shows Legend's bulging crotch while rubbing up against these girls, but I think the funny thing is how it's actually his belly that looks like it's been fed a beer or three too many :)

Bruce Springsteen, aka the Boss

I feel the urgent need to dedicate a post to this guy - first of all, he's gorgeous. I mean, the guy is 60 years old, and he's fit as fuck.. Good work. I wasn't a huge fan when my dad bought me and my sister tickets to the gig in Oslo last summer and practically forced me to go cause he couldn't (bummer!), but after that show I was SOLD. The presence on stage is actually amazing, the way he interacts with the audience, how he's so blatantly the coolest, most successful man on earth (pretty much...), and still so humble and, well, human.
And he played for three hours straight, no break or anything! He kissed a mom and her daughter, he picked up a 4-year old girl, sat her on his lap and let her sing with him (yes, she knew the words! "Two hearts are better than one, nanana..."), and he even gave his harmonica to some 8-year old ginger kid with glasses! Made his day, I'd assume! What a hero.

Now, Marie and I bought tickets for the concert in Dublin on the 14th of July...I am well excited, never been to Dublin before either, so that should be fun! Can't believe there were still tickets left, I mean, I only logged on to gigsinscotland.com like I always do to see what was new, and I saw Springsteen, and so obviously I called my sister. This was in the middle of the day, and the tickets had been put on sale in the morning. Now, we couldn't get any for Hampden park in Glasgow (which is just as well, cause there were only seated!), so we tried the one in Dublin, and we actually managed to get two tickets in the PIT...! SO impressed with that. We (my sister) paid a considerable amount of money for them, but it's gonna be SO worth it. That said, she insists that the gigs he does in Scandinavia are so much better than anywhere else in Europe - allegedly because he's got such a huge fanbase there, especially in Norway and Sweden, while in, say, France, he's not that big...Could this be true?
I think yes. My dear friend Camille, bless her soul, had never even heard his name before she met me. I can't see how this is possible!? Did she have one of those crazy-ass relatives who locked her in the basement for 18 years!?
I guess we'll never know. The point is, lucky for her she met me, so she now has the possibility to be educated on the Boss. Better late than never!

Key tracks: Streets of Philadelphia, Walking in Memphis, Dancing in the Dark, Hungry Heart, 10th Avenue Freeze Out, Two Hearts, Glory Days, Badlands, Born to Run... <3

Roskilde in my <3

Ahh, the summer is approaching. Yes, I am an eternal optimist. Ok, some of my life-long friends might beg to differ? Well, lately I feel very optimistic! And it's more fun than being pessimistic, or worst of all, realistic. So - summer. I am so ready for the festival banter!! Didn't go to Roskilde in 2008, and I swear, I've never regretted anything more. Honestly! I mean, Seasick Steve, Kings of Leon and Neil Young were there...What the heck was I thinking!?

2006 was the best summer of my life, I think - the first time I went. It was just me and Kristin, my best friend of almost 10 years. We arrived sometime around noon of opening day, and started looking for a spot for our tiny, orange tent that, as we would later discover, JUST housed two people. I think we walked for 3 hours - no luck! Granted, we only looked on the west side of camping, but to be honest, I don't think we were aware of the fact that there was an equally enormous east side across the bridge - but we couldn't find a single patch of grass anywhere. Then, like an oasis in the desert - we saw Rob and Kasper. Two angels, sent from God, disguised as, well...Freaks. Was that harsh? I mean freaks in the most positive sense of the word. They let us start setting up on the wee corner of their camp, just next to the pathway, with the showers and toilets as the closest neighbours. So we started setting up our tent. But the soil was, like, really hard...And we couldn't for the life of us get the plugs to stick to the ground. We tried sooo hard for like probably an hour, before Rob (short for Robert Geoffrey Knight, how british can you get?? Bless him) finally offered to help. What a gentleman. So when we were finally settled in (or...out - hihi) we got some beers (8 quid for 24 bottles, hellooooo), some tiny camping chairs, and sat down with our new found friends. They'd brought a gazebo as well as two other tents for their two friends who were coming later on (they all had one tent each) and so we had a real sweet camp going on there. As soon as the other guys, Bjørn and Alex, arrived, the camp became known as Camp International - and a shit load of other words as well - I can remember flute, banjo, (we were a musical group of people) not good with balls - and probably some other random bollocks we came up with while Kasper was humping his inflatable swan. Good times.

Well, maybe time to get around to the essence of the experience - the music. The lineup was just amazing that year, I can't believe the bands we saw for, how much is it,160 quid? I'm talking Bob Dylan, Roger Waters performing Dark side of the moon (religious), Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, the Strokes, Morrissey, Guns'n'Roses (well...Axl Rose with a completely new band, which was quite frankly shite, and they had to play for 3 hours...), Kaizers Orchestra, Phoenix, Kanye West (well, at least i saw 3 songs!), Scissor Sisters...Good times.
Now for the bands I missed because I hadn't opened my eyes to them yet (I know,embarassing), or I was just too shitfaced and/or pantsless to get off my ass... Bullet for my valentine, Clap your hands say yeah, Death cab for cutie, Deftones, Kaiser chiefs, Kashmir (most amazing Danish band ever, I swear), Lady Sovereign, Placebo, Primal scream, the Raconteurs, Sigur Rós, the Streets, Rufus and Martha Wainwright and Wolfmother.

Wow...Did I miss more bands than I saw? Looking at this lineup again I want to cry cause I missed to much amazing shit - but then again, the bands we saw were just so amazing. And the weather - everyday was 30 degrees, we were walking around practically naked (some of us anyway), we had lasagne and chocolate milk every morning (some more than others...), we met some fantastic people (Kasper, Rob, Bjørn and Alex, you guys are fecking awesome) and we almost bough a ukulele. Man, another thing I regret! 2009 I'm getting a friggin ukulele!

Ok, that's it for the nostalgia. I could write the same amount of words, if not more, about Roskilde 2007, but to be honest - I can't be bothered right now. Promise I will soon, though! Posting a picture of the most awesome camp at Roskilde 06, CAMP INTERNATIONAL <3

Appologies

Quick correction in order here - Annika doesn't really like James Blunt and Apocalyptica. She just said so a couple of times, but it is aparently not the case. So let me rephrase - it's not that Annika listens to bad music, it's more the fact that she is completely clueless about the essential basics! I'm talking about anything from before the 90s. Anywho, Annika I love you, and you appreciate David Gray, so all is well! <3

Party tunes

I felt this was an appropriate first category to my blog. I was at the gym today, and various cheesy dance tunes kept popping up on my ipod. Now, I only have a shuffle, so I don't really have any control over what goes on there. Ok that's not completely true. I soberly and intentionally put Cascada with "Everytime we touch" on there. But oh, do I regret it today. Must remember to remove.
The reason my post is called party tunes, is because the songs you listen to when you are under the influence, usually are quite different to the ones you would listen to while, say, cleaning your room. This is at least the case with me. The music I play when I'm drinking, is so horrifyingly bad that most of you would reconsider all previous perceptions you had of me. I'm talking Bonnie Tyler ("Bitter Blue"), Backstreet Boys (all of it), Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff, Twenty 4 Seven and, worst of all, Lady Gaga. These songs are so BAD, but oh, sooo GOOD when you want to get your drink on. I'm not gonna play Hendrix or Doors or Chili peppers at a party, is creates a completely different mood (the two first ones, brilliant stoner mood)

I guess I am writing this to make myself feel better - because on some level, I do feel guilt when singing along to Beyoncé and Bon Jovi when I'm drunk. Music is my religion, and I shouldn't let these half-arsed, no-talent-whatsoever, half-naked, slightly retarded people contaminate my system. Byt - when you're drunk, it's ok. It is actually ok. Because, if nothing else, you are hopefully not alone at this party, and you will have to compromize. And odds are two or more of your friends are gonna beg for Britney's "Womanizer" - and you don't wanna be a party pooper.

Now for those of you who listen to this music while sober - I have nothing to say to you.

Introduction

Dear all,

how truly delighted I am that someone took the time to offer this humble blog of mine a short glimpse. I am creating this blog for two reasons, 1) my own entertainment, and 2) for those of my poor friends who are not as enlightened as myself when it comes to music, and who might appreciate a few tips from a (still humble) expert. Now, let me just say one thing - I don't appreciate and therefore don't listen to rap, hip hop or r'n'b. So these genres will not be included in my music education blog. Let's not forget the first and most important reason I am writing this - my own entertainment.

Now, I feel like dividing this blog into different chapters, if you will - Norwegian music, 60's, 70's, 90's (screw the 80's), artists, concerts...Whatever I feel like :)
So if anyone finds that this blog is funny, interesting, educational or just stupid, and therefore that this blog is worthy of their time, feel free to keep up :) I'd feel honoured.

As a conclusion of this introduction - I would encourage anyone who reads this to correct me if or when I am mistaken on any point, I am in fact not the flawless genius I appear to be. I am only human, and can make mistakes like anyone else. Sorry to disappoint all of you who have this glorified image of me, but I will try not to let you down. Also, I would mainly like to dedicate this blog to my dear flatmate Annika, who classifies James C**t (sorry) and Apocalyptica as...music... You need salvation, and I am here for you:) (
Don't get me wrong, Annika listens to some good music as well, but she needs to get the basic principles right)

So - that's it :)