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