Wednesday, July 30, 2008

La Vida No Loca - Coldplay analyzed by

We write about music we love and The New Yorker writes about music as a study of interest. And they've just done a great piece on Coldplay with a squirt of subtle sarcasm. Is Coldplay warm milk or just quietly dependable?

Listen to this:
For the band’s second album, Martin started singing in free-floating slogans. “Am I part of the cure? Or am I part of the disease?” is a line from “Clocks,” perhaps the group’s loveliest song. The music evokes the song’s name, revolving around three circling and falling piano arpeggios. The payoff comes when Martin stretches out the words “you are” in a falsetto sung over the piano figure. You are what? Go figure, and I haven’t the slightest idea what is going on with the “tides” and the “clocks” in the lyrics. Doesn’t matter. “Clocks” is a big-budget “Ooh!” with lots of pretty lights—it works. At the end of the song, Martin repeatedly sings, “Home, home, where I wanted to go.” There’s the only part you need take note of—an essentially conservative sentiment, and probably a comfort zone for a guy who grew up thinking he wasn’t particularly cool and lost his virginity at the age of twenty-two.

I was all for Parachute back then, but this band is just so vague. As Pitchfork puts it: "A grandma-friendly, Radiohead-normalizing, disarmingly polite rock band led by a man who sounds like he's still yearning for puberty"

Friday, July 25, 2008

Cut Copy synth mp3

Due to a sunny day this entry might not contain linkage for quality music! Well, at least I havn't made up my mind about Cut Copy, but they score points for being from Australia and making me think about old days in '95 when I was backpacking the dusty outback listening to Silverchair, Los Del Rio, Savage Garden, Shaggy and Fugees. What a mess!

Cut Copy does synthpop/rock and samples the sounds from the 80's and 90's very well. The band is signed to the record label Modular Recordings, home of Wolfmother, The Presets and New Young Pony Club.

I don't really know about this synth-wave thingy. It can be really corny, but sometimes I'm just up for dirty bass-lines and 80's synth. I'm liking 'Hearts on Fire' (Youtube below). It’s kind of schizophrenic yet somehow still cohesive.

You can catch Cut Copy 080808 in Lille Vega, Copenhagen.

By the way: back then we drove a Ford Falcon, 1972, 6 cylinder, 3.0 l. It was punished for 15.000 km. Best concert we saw was Silverchair and Primus live in Brisbane. Worst experience: car broke down at gasstation 250 km south of Alice Springs. Best Experience: Captain Cooks backpacker in Cairns. Best price: Jug of beer 5 au$.



  • Hearts On Fire (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)
  • Wednesday, July 16, 2008

    Dr. Do-owww-ohhhh-oggg Fate mp3

    The oddballs in Dr. Dog has a new album - FATE - out in a few days time. I've took it for a spin and will do it again.

    Dr. Dog is one of these D.I.Y bands using lo-fi recording techniques and has a complete I-don't-care attitude towards current trends. It's all very pop 60's in it's sounds and sounds quite a bit like the Beatles. So if you like The Fab Four (of course you do) then this is recommended. It's quite charming. Also check out their nice MySpace-enviroment.

  • Dr Dog - The Ark
  • Dr Dog - The Old Days
  • Dr Dog - Hang on (from Almost Famous soundtrack)
  • Dot matrix Radiohead + Google + Laser

    Radiohead + Google + data visualization + lasers. Radiohead and Google release the source code for the amazing "House of Cards" video. Including a short documentary on how it was made and a license that allows remixing.

    "House of Cards" was "filmed" using lasers insted of cameras. No lights either. Just data.

    Radiohead and their technical team continues to impress me with their innovative shit... I obey your work of art. Timeless.

    You can view the video, watch a short documentary about how it was made, interact with the video in 3D, download some of the data, and download an iGoogle theme and gadget - all at http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/

  • Radiohead - House of Cards


  • Thursday, July 10, 2008

    Roskilde flashbacks....!

    It's now four days since we came back from an almost perfect Roskilde Festival 2008. I've been trying to find out what I've been doing through four wild days, that seems to fly away when your in the middle of it. Proudly I can say, that I saw all bands on my guide to Roskilde except one. But I saw even more bands. But one thing that I missed this year was the big surprise. The newcomer that I didn't now before. Maybe because of the great number of really good bands I allready knew. But all in all a great festival - perfect weather, perfect camp and the never missing Roskilde spirit. Here's my favorite concerts this year:

    1. Neil Young
    Without doubt one of the greatest concerts of my life. A perfect balance between a setting sun, feeling, wildness, experience and a man that looked like he meent it, when saying that Roskilde is his favorite festival.

    2. Band of Horses
    Perfect festival-feeling at 4 in the afternoon.

    3. Yeasayer
    Very late, very drunk - but great all in all experience!!

    Unfortunately sound fucked up some concerts this year. It allmost killed Bonnie Prince Billy, before he got the sound and feeling right and saved the concert. And hyped danish rockers from Spleen United showed at 2 in the morning how you shouldn't handle a sound-breakdown. ("I gonne go backstage and have a beer????!!")

    Besides that we shaked our bootie at huge Solomon Burke's soul-greatest-hits-extravaganza, drank cool drinks at Radiohead and almost fainted in the big Chemical Brothers lightshow. What more can you want?!

    See you in 2009!!

    Saturday, July 05, 2008

    The energy of the essential - Cohen in Copenhagen

    Most of the Indie Laundry-boys attends Roskilde Festival right now. Jealous? Absolutly, but I hope they enjoy it fully - the rock, the sun, and that terrible first morning beer that makes the rest of the day worth while. Instead I'll attend and hopefully enjoy a great concert with a master of folk rock. I'm of course refering to Mr. Leonard Cohen. 'Cause tonight his well-reviewed world tour will hit down town Copenhagen, after another superb performance at Glastonbury.

    "Ring the bells that still can ring / Forget your perfect offering / There is a crack, a crack in everything / That's how the light gets in." Have beauty ever been served and told with such a simple, but tightful elegance? It might explain why Mr. Leonard Cohen's songs resonantes beyond time. But then again, that would be a horrific simplification of his art. Instead, go see him and get the feeling of why this man's work shouldn't be explained with humble words

    Wednesday, July 02, 2008

    Last minute guide to Roskilde


    7 hours from now I'm gonna take my backpack and walk to the train. Then it´s my 13th Roskilde Festival in 15 years. And I'm lookin forward as it was my first time. I've said goodnight to my kids and are again looking through this years excellent program. Only a few times before the odds have been so good as this year. Perfect weather. Great program. Brilliant plan. The best camp. So if the whisky and warm beers doesn't get my all confused - heres my tips for a perfect festival:
    Thursday:
    1930 - MGMT - Odeon
    2200 - Radiohead - Orange
    Friday:
    1600 - Band of Horses - Arena
    1930 - Kings of Leon - Orange
    2100 - Mogwai - Arena
    2230 - Grinderman - Orange
    0100 - Yeasayer - Pavilion
    0200 - Spleen United - Arena
    Saturday:
    1830 - Joan as Police Woman - Odeon
    2130 - Neil Young - Orange (notice he's got 3 hours!!)
    0200 - Black Mountain - Arena
    Sunday:
    1800 - Cat Power - Odeon
    2015 - Bonnie Prince Billy - Odeon

    It can't go wrong!!
    Have a great festival - and look forward to the Indielaundry festival-review!

    Tuesday, July 01, 2008

    Reys de Roskilde #2! Radiohead!

    SMS from icelandic girlneighbours in camp: "Your camp is fine. We take good care of it, yes. No worries.". We are relieved.

    Today I read a bunch of of reviews from Glastonbury on some of the bands visiting Roskilde. And on a Radiohead-gig in Manchester saturday.

    Bands from Glastonbury coming to Roskilde:

    Radiohead: 5 out of 6 (Manchester Evening News)
    MGMT: 6 out of 10 (The Guardian)
    Jay-Z: 9 out of 10 (The Guardian)
    Hot Chip: 9 out of 10 (The Guardian)
    The Ting Tings: 8 out of 10 (The Guardian)