Pastries, Pepper and Canals is a lovely MP3 blog based around the best of Danish music, past, present and future, written from London. We had a club for a while too, but are too overworked to continue it for now...
Unfairly overlooked by pretty much everyone in favour of its larger neighbour Sweden, here's our (free and legal- we don't host any of the MP3s, BTW...) attempt to make amends for the fact that Jantelowen is thriving within the Danish music scene...
It’s funny when you’ve been meaning to cover someone for a while (believe it or not, I have a huge backlog of half-written nonsense in the back office of this thing, most of which will never see the light of day…) and then someone suddenly contacts you and says that they’ve been thinking of you too… All a bit of a love in, I guess, but the story goes like this...
Once upon a time there was a band called Cartridge who lived in Århus. They were in the process of recording a dazzling new album to set the world on fire (but you’ll have to wait til January to hear it) and wanted the fairy across the sea to hear it. The good fairy Tinkerbell had been hiding for a bit too long and was pretty uncontactable (though she now has this newfound invention called a
) so the lovely lads asked the good fairy at the bottom of the garden and she had nary an answer. So they trawled the net and found a way to tell her about this astounding thing they were doing.
“Thank God for Myspace!” they shrieked “Dear Tinkerbell, tell us, can we enchant you?” “Sure you can!” she replied, chomping on a chocolate biscuit “Try your worst!”
And so they went to the woods, and Tinkerbell fell under their spell. Do you want to go to The Woods too?
I don;t have much time today- called away to the middle nowhere as I have been. With that in mind, I'll leave you with 2 gems that have been in my inbox for AGES and speak for themselves.
The first is Efterklang who's latest offering was out last week, and who are playing all over the place at the moment- inclusing a lovely London show (come and say hiiiiiiiii if you can work out who I am... I should say a special thanks to the lovely Ben at the Leaf Label for this one)
The other one is from our friends Oliver North Boy Choir (I know I've talKed about them millions of times...but...well.... I LOVE them!) Actually, it's the precursor of ONBC doing one of my fave songs ever... But maybe Ivan from the band can put it better than I can!
"...There's a small gift attached :-). It's a cover of OMD's "Enola Gay" we made in 2001, when we were still called Pierre. We wanted to include it on one of our future singles, but our old harddisk broke down, so we couldn't master it. So now we're giving it away to blogs which have written about us + our mailing list exclusively..."
So it may not be new, but it's something special....
Oh, it's a digression but I'll plug it anyway.... If you fancy popping over to Oslo for a while in 2 weeks, then take a look at ElektroStat. Not Danish, but fab all the same, and I'll be there :)
Dúné- john wayne vs. mary chain at Danish Music Night (I can only assume that this is referring to the sold-out night at this year's Popkomm in Berlin?)
We may not have had a Summer this year (Festival season- including Roskilde- was a total washout, as you all know...)
Jacob Faurholt and Sweetie Pie Wilbur- We Like Snow
...but maybe Summer's about to arrive in the middle of November. Jacob Faurholt is releasing his new album in the next few weeks, and it looks like it's going to be a good one. Maybe it'll even get rid of the cold weather that seems to have descended (on this wee corner of South East England, anyway).
We have to admit that we love Jacob Faurholt. There's something very charming and Scandinavian about the lalalalalas in "Back Home", and something very naïve and endearing about the whole thing. Of course, though, you need to make up your own minds...
Whilst we’ve (hm…I mean “I’ve”) been busy (oops, I almost wrote busty, though I’m that as well) running around the festivals gawping at the boys, it turns out that Aalborg’s finest boys have been in the studio recording songs with Sir Ebbe of Frej (all round decent bloke and beer monster, judging from Roskilde…though I was dressed like a Bulgarian hooker at the time…don’t ask)for our delectations. They’ve created a veritable smorgasbord (I know, enough already on the clichés) to feast upon.
Minor Changes- live in Aalborg
Starting Low, Aiming High, I’m Surprised by You, Shake off a Weight and 619 are pieces of wonky pop perfection as you’d expect from Charlie. Don’t believe me? Download two of them here, and get the rest from their Myspace for a limited time…
Related to yesterday's post, Lava lead singer and writer THOBAY K gives us the lowdown on what's what...
THE FLOOR IS MADE OF LAVA: Our national anthem, our holy bible and the song of which the band took its name from. It’s the first song we wrote and the last song we mixed in the studio. It’s about being better than the average Joe, have more fun than everybody else and speaking whatever’s on our minds. If the album goes gold, I gotta have Sonic The Hedgehog tattooed on my arm. But it wouldn’t surprise me if I had it done anyway.
PICK UP A SHOVEL: I met this really dumb girl who were so pathetic, that I just had to write a song about people who needs to get it together, and get it fuckin’ going. Later, when I bumped into this goofball, which I’m sure was her boyfriend, I had it all. I was totally stoked when I got the chorus together, so I spend my night, pissed out of my mind, running all over town, screaming the chorus at people. I think it was Christmas 2006.
DO YOUR SISTER: Simon was bitchin’ about a friend of his, who had a thing going on with his sister. I’ve always thought that all these rules where you’re “not allowed” to make out with friends of friends, or friends’ sisters, were totally bullshit. So me and Simon spend all night discussing the whole issue, and I kinda wrote the lyrics out of the discussion. Later, I heard the expression: “Why fuck a stranger, when you can fuck a friend”, and it just fitted right in there. It also gives the song a whole new meaning, I think. Besides that, it’s just a really cool thing to say. Thank God for lousy redneck movies on late night telly.
HO: This song is dedicated to the girl at the disco, the club and the prom who everybody wants’s to make it with. She so fine that everybody want’s to get in her pants. That’s what her life is all about – teasing all the young boys, like everybody else would have done in her place. Then one day she meets this dude, who is so cool and so cold, that she’s interested in more than just a one-night stand. Oh by the way, that’s “the dude” singing this song. It took us about 3 months before we got the song and the arrangement right, and Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani really played a huge part in writing it..
HAPPY MONDAY: I really wanted to make a happy song, because the two we wrote before this one were kind of surly and grumpy. I decided that the song was to be called Happy Monday, inspired by the band Happy Mondays. It was the last song we wrote for the album, and it was actually written while we were mixing the other songs. The pace of the song is considerably slower than the rest on the album, and we’ve already talked about going in that direction regarding the next record. The interlude, which ends this song, is called Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?! A song which was never completed due to the fact that it sounds like…well Arctic Monkeys! We also thought that it was kinda funny to name a song after their own song and their EP. Alex Turner was busy being a rascal or something, so Mr. Liam O’ Connor were kind enough to lend us his voice.
SUCKER LOVE: Now if I might take a little liberty here, this is a masterpiece. The chorus is about a fool, a relationship and a blowjob. All happening at the same time! I think most people find it irritating when friends or girlfriends are too sensitive and sticky-icky. But the funny thing is that you actually kinda like it. Yeah, I know. Nobody likes a wordsmith so I’ll get to the point. This song is about instability which is, when you think about it, the cornerstone in any relationship. The blowjob analogy wasn’t really my intention, people listening to it have come up with it themselves.
TANGO IN MY TUMMY: This is the ultimate drinking tune! I would really like to make a video for this one. It should be about a low-life cop who get’s coffee for his donuts, a beer for his lunch, and a scotch for his dinner. Then he goes to this joint where he screws his regular girl at the toilet. Man…I really like those kind of people. The thing about this song is that there are some parts in this song, which all of us (in the band) can relate to, one way or another. I know that Simon really likes the lyrics and the story of the song. Ace digs heavy on the Ac/Dc-like trucker backing vocals. And me? I think I just like the whole damn thing really! It’s more or less an ode to The Boss.
5-VICE: For a long time I didn’t know what this thing was about. It was written by request of Ace, who wanted to write a song where one camouflaged drugs with candy. Strange right? But somewhere in the writing process I found out that I wanted it to be about just not giving a rat’s ass. The interpretation of that is for anyone to decide. It’s without a doubt this song that I want a 4th grader to analyze. It contains so much mumbo jumbo that only a kid would understand it. But like most of our songs there is a subliminal message. I’ve just forgotten what it is.
TOLD HER I’M FROM COMPTON: You know, the best punch lines in life are those you just can’t explain - you just know what they mean. There was this guy who wrote to us on our Myspace, that he had told this girl that he was from Compton. Apparently he made it with her. So there you have it. Oh and by the way, this song has nothing, and I repeat nothing to do with any damn sparrows. “Suck on this barrel, you can ride my Camaro”
YOU AIN’T A BITCH (BITCH): I understand why people would think this is a chauvinistic hate-song to some punk-ass bitch. It really isn’t. What it really is about is how big an asshole you can be to one another in a relationship. I’m a dogg and she’s a bitch. We are equally good/bad to one another. But of course I’ll blame it on her when we’re having a fight, just like she would blame it on me, if it was her who’d written the song. In other words, I’m just saying it like it is. Nobody calls each other honey or sweetie pie in the middle of a fight, right?
IKEA DID A JOB ON YOU: This song is about being powerless and unable to cater for peoples needs. It’s about MTV culture, Feng Shui and Extreme Makeover Home Edition. It’s about reviewers, the crowd and girlfriends/boyfriends who are total assholes. I really think that the line “Fuck with me on this one and I’ll fuck you right up” is one of our best. It’s so wonderfully hysteric in a drama queen-like way – which is my way of saying that you can’t and mustn’t take anything I write seriously. The title of the song is the kinda thing you wanna say to somebody who’s really disappointed you – right before you slam the door. Just like Happy Monday, this song contains an interlude which is actually an outro in this case. The outro , and the interlude for that matter, is referring to album title. It is “Fruit” or filler or whatever you wanna call it. Come to think of it, it might be my favourite track on the album.
In a bit of a name dropping exercise, we’re going to tell you that the adorable SuperTroels (aka Troels from Veto) told us to watch these guys a while back, and, as a result, we sent our spies to see them at a very early gig in London last year, where we were mightily impressed.
The Floor is made of Lava on Tabu TV...
Sadly there wasn’t anything much around to share with you at the time, so we kept our eyes peeled and hoped for rain (as it were). And lo and behold, I opened my email on a wet and windy October evening last week, and what did I find?
That’s right. A lovely, shiny MP3 version of their brand spanking new album. Stytzer’s got there before me with a load of the MP3s, but it’s well worth repeating them, as they’re so fabulous. I can only repeat Hits in The Car’s order that you need to BUY BUY BUY! In the manner of all great things, this is something that you’ll buy and wonder how you ever survived without it. Not convinced? Then try a taster…
...and another band we've been adoring during out self-enforced hiatus.
Sounding like a particularly dirty wrestling match between a stoned 1970s garage-rock turned synth band and any number of your favourite bands in a trash can (excuse my Americanism) with early Bis cheering along, they're as hard to describe as anything we've ever heard. Infamous in Copenhagen for their riotous party spirit, Snake and Jet finally released their first alum (X-Ray Spirit) on insanely beautiful coloured vinyl recently. In case you haven't guessed, we love it
Beautiful in a way that only Danish boys can be, (*ahem*… I'm sure you know what I mean…), the band consists (surprise surprise) of Snake and Jet aka two skinny boys named Thor and Thomas. Together they make up a fabulously beaten up combo playing drums, samples, hammond organ, vintage synths and eclectic/electric guitar. They look cool. They sound cooler. Can your feet afford to dodge the Bullit (yes, I know, it's a bad pun!)?
So. We’ve been away for a while. It’s not like we haven’t been going to gigs, listening to music, or even listening to music. We’ve just been…*ahem* busy, and lazy sods who haven’t done musch but work all Summer. So apologies for that, slap our wrists, and hope you decide to come back to us. We’re back with a bumper package of intrigue, mystery and excitement over the next few days- also known as gorgeous new songs from Charlie Don’t Surf (produced by EPO-555’s fab Ebbe Frej), a long-overdue Roskilde review, some bits and bobs from our favourite spurting volcanoes The Floor Is Made of Lava, something special from Efterklang, and enough hyperbole to make your heart explode with joy. So stick with us…we love you, so put on those dancing shoes, and dance to the beat of our drum!
In the meantime, I bring the grand news that Factory45 have been signed by the lovely guys at TigerSpring, who, apart from being one of the nicest management/booking etc etc companies on Earth, are also one of the nicest labels!
Factory45- "Peggy Sue" live at Pumpehuset
They’ve been kind enough to release the tides of the dancathon that is Supermarkets onto the web once more. Of course, I’d suppose they'd also love it if you went to see them at one of their various shows...
It's just been confirmed that, in association with http://www.lostmusic.co.uk, PPC is going to Roskilde Festival this year to sniff out the best and brightest new acts!
We can't guarantee that Tinkerbell won't drink far too much Tuborg and Gammel Dansk and forget to file, but you'll definitely hear about the best and brightest of new acts- both Danish and international. With the likes of Copenhagen's 1234 and Slaraffenland playing the warm-up, and Choir of Young Believers and the Kissaway Trail amongst the up-and-coming acts in the main festival, there will be a cornucopoia of stuff for all of you to feast upon.
Firstly, let me apologise for the fact that I've been incredibly quiet lately- a cataclysmic combination of personal catastrophes, work insanity, travel, a crappy laptop and a wonky internet connection (somehow changing providers has totally buggered the wireless connection I rely on to do these things, and the connection on the desk top isn't any better...) I can only apologise to all of you- especially those of you who've emailed to check I haven't died or anything... I'll be sporadic for a wee bit longer...
It's not often that someone gives you something for free, but there's a bit of an outbreak amongst Danish bands at the moment...
Tiger Baby have decided to give away the whole of 2006's pop classic, "Noise Around Me". I've always thought that it's a great album to get hyped up to if you're getting ready for a big night out, or a running album. Not that I ever go running at all- I'm FAR too much of a workaholic to do that- but, personally, like the idea of pounding the streets and working up a sweat with "Girlfriend" thumping away on my ipod in an almost romantic way... Will never happen, though...
We've written about our lovely friends in Wolfkin a few times, but for the first time they;ve given us an MP3 to give to you all as a special present...
Low numbered vinyls 1-20 stolen! We strike back with the alphabet and hope to gather some money to save a piece of the rainforest!
As you may have heard and read many times by now our new release Under Giant Trees is numbered and limited to 4500 cds and 1200 vinyls in total. Tony from The Leaf Label had requested from the vinyl factory that the ones numbered 1-20 where to be put in a marked box - in retrospect this proved to be a bad idea. Apparently somewhere between the factory and Leaf's UK distributor this box has been nicked by some fast running hooligans! So if you ever see these vinyls somewhere do let us know!So right now, lurking somewhere, someone thinks they have the 20 most exclusive Efterklang records in their possesion. But they can think again! Luckily for us there has been printed too many sleeves for the vinyl. So now we have made a handlettered edition. We have taken 29 vinyls from the high numbered sleeves and given them a new home in a lettered sleeve. The whole alphabet is there inclusive the three Danish extras æøå. We and Leaf have kept some of these for our personal collections and family, but via The Leaf Labels ebay page we are going to auction 10 of them! They're going to be listed on eBay, one per day for 10 days, from today (April 26). As a special bonus, each of these 10 copies will include a card signed by each of us (if anyone can be bothered). The 10 letters will be d, i, j, q, u, w, x, z, ø and å In a karma balancing exercise to make good on behalf of the thief of the first 20, we've decided to give all the proceeds from these auctions to charity, and what could be more appropriate for Under Giant Trees than supporting the dying rainforest? The money will be used to buy a piece of untouched rainforest to secure its preservation. The purchase will be made through
Thursday, April 19, 2007
We;re so happy...some of our fave bands are playing at Roskidle 2007...
It's obviously going to be one of those weeks. I've written about Rumraket, but never their band Slaraffenland , until a recent conversation I had with the lovely Adam and Sara of Hometapes from whom Rumraket have licensed the recoprd within Scandinavia (It's on Hometapes elsewhere)
It always warms my heart when people care so much about what they're doing that they say great things about the people they're working with. Take this for example:
"...They are absolutely lovely people...we just had the opportunity to go on a five show mini tour in the US with them ending up at SXSW in Austin, Texas. It was so much fun...."
Maybe I'm just soft-hearted... As for Slaraffenland? Well, I'll let you make your own mind up, but, in my (humble?) opinion, they live up to what's been said. So go! Download! Now!
The lovely folks at the Leaf Label have given us an Efterklang MP3 to give to you all as an Easter present (by the time this goes up, it'll be post-Easter, but hey... I'm at the big old capitalist land they call the US for a little while (I go back to London tomorrow) so I apologise for the somewhat sporadic posts- it's...5 am on a Sunday, and my body thinks it's 10am...
Somehow, I don't think that Efterklang need any introduction to any of you, but I'll give you a brief spew of information anyway... In a short sentence: Efterklang are purveyors of sonic soundscapes for the masses and the geniuses (or should that be genii? I knew I should have paid more attention in latin class...) behind the Rumraket label (covered here). So there. Just download it, Ok??
(It may be limited edition until I can work out how to do it when I don't have a link...)
On other news... can ANYONE help me out with Roskilde tickets? It's frustrating as hell to have to wait and see until the start of May whether they've accepted my proposal, when the line up is sooooooooooooooo good. If anyone wants to try to catch up with me at sometime during this year's drunken fun, just drop an email or whatever....
Sometimes I wish I was a donkey so I could kick myself.
I hate being a latecomer to the party!
Kind of Girl are another band I've been meaning to write about for a while- and their lovely little electronic press kit and cheeky message just spourred me on. Unfortunately Hits in the Car managed to get there a good many times before me (it appears that they're one of Stytzer's favourite bands...), and they've also been covered by Music of the Moment and Powerpoulist too (see the sidebar for links)...
They've all said it better than I can, so just go and listen to them ...
Again, you'll ahave to excuse my tardiness- I'm writing this from a cafe somewhere in the brave new world... My laptop has finally died (again- can Dell really not make decent power adaptors?! That's the fourth in a year- and it's ALWAYS the adaptor...) so ..well...excuse my absence. As soon as I'm back home and I've managed to sort it out, it'll be business as usual. *sigh*
Anyway, a lot of news. PPC favourites 1234 are playing at Roskilde :) Damn. For some reason downloads are disabled on their page (does this mean they're about to sign for someone? Hm. I have absolutely no evidence to support that, BTW..)
Talking about people signing, Crunchy Frog (Oh why, does noone else feed me lovely info? I'd like it a lot..) have signed Snake and Jet's Amazing Bullitt Band (yet another band I've had a half-written post on for a while). They've been floating around the Cph scene for a while, and have been recomended by various people in that time. I have to say, though, it was entirely unexpected- normally you can smell a whiff, or you hear something on the rumour mill... All the same, though, they seem to be a welcome addition to what is already a prety damn good label- read the news here. Can't find any MP3s, but there's streaming audio of demos etc here...
Anyway, my time's running out, so I'd better say sayonara, and, if you like, see y'all at Roskilde this year (would be MORE than happy to meet any of you...haha)
Argh. I don't have more than about 2 seconds to write this, as I'm on a business trip.... I'll leave you with the third of Liga's very, very fine podcasts ( click here, or get it from itunes if you're in Dk) and tell you that it featues...
Supertroels - You Are Always Harmony Boys - Highway Child Kirsten Ketsjer - Eat The Cow The Floor Is Made Of Lava - Sucker Love Slaraffenland - Polaroids The Sibling People - Johnny The Villain The Late Parade - My Spies
There's at least 2 on that list I've been meaning to cover fro some time, so watch this space when I'm less indesposed...
On another point, I just bought my flights for Roskilde- it'll be my fourth. If anyone wants a moment, I'll be more than happy to scare them with my festival "look"!
It's been a busy few weeks in which I've not even hadtime to think about writing, never mind actually do it, so today's a bit of a catch up! Apologies that I've not been about it appears that travelling so much for work (and, of course, my near-enough-monthly trips to Hamburg)has taken it's toll. I promise not be so slovenly in future...until next time.
Factory 45-local disco star (live at pumpehuset)
Anyway, our friends from Factory45 have started their own blog here. It's part English/part Danish (depending on who's writing) and is well worth a look... On another Factory45 tip, they're releasing the heavenly Supermarkets as a single sometime in the future. Well worth a listen:
Long-time PPC favourites Charlie, Don't Surf are currently on (the band who Tinkerbell swears have to make it, or she'll give all this up)are currently on tour in Germany and the like- more details here. Shame they had to cancel their Gruner Jaeger date in Hamburg, as Tink has friends (and her paramour...) who live just around the corner. Literally...
Charlie Don't surf- Shake of a weight (live at chokoladefabriken in Aarhus)
Of course, this isn't an excuse for us to tell you to download the new song the put up a while back, is it? Of course not...although it would be terribly rude not to include it...
Still No Signs (update: apparently this doesn't work due to Myspace being silly and seemingly disabling the link to download facility... Download it from their Myspace site here)
I also forgot to tell you that they were selected to take part in the Coca Cola itunes podacsty-type thing some while ago...We don't normally advocate the health-affirming properties of Coca Cola, but in this case, as it'll make you smile (always good) and bop (did I really just say "bop?) in your front room... Details here. Of course, there are still a few copies of their brilliant self-released debut EP available here for the bargain price of 8 euros or DKK50...
More PPC friends- the ever reliable, dreamy popmeisters EPO-555, have also got news. They've released a lovely sounding new EP...Actually, on this occasion, I think the ever adorable boys (and new girl- welcome Tine, who replaces Linda, who replaced Camilla for a short while) put it much better than me with the following charming message:
The truth of the matter is that Mikkel "the Golden Voice" Hansen and Ebbe "The Golden Ear" Frej couldn't keep their dirty fingers from the electronics even though Mafia felt fresh as a virgin and time wasn't ripe to commence a new album. Instead this intermezzo has been made containing less acoustic instrumentation than ever and more electric 4-on-the-floor bass drum and juicy synthetic sounds than ever.
Whatever your local version of itunes is, it should be on there... It's also available via all of the normal outlets as well.
On a related point, the first Oliver North Boy Choir single is available to download now, which makes us very, very excited, as it's available on itunes in the UK, and we don't have to scour the whole of Europe (and, despite what you might believe, we often do that...well...Tink does that and makes everyone listen to it, as noone wants to give us anything. No sireeeeee!)! Despite PPC's protests that it's just not fair that they'll never play live, we're informed that it won't happen...unless the owners of the new Wembley stadium call them, that is... On that note, then, I guess we should say farewell, ciao, hej hej, bye and seeya. It's been fun. Until next time folks...
Ok...a little bit of a thing here.... Just who the hell are you all? I know a lot of you read this...silently, I guess, as you seem a bit scared to talk to us and send comments and emails! What do you want? What do you like? What do you hate? Who else do you read? What could we be doing better? How did you get here? Just what do hyggeligt and gemuetlichkeit really mean? How many packets of Tyrkisk Peber can anyone eat in one go without having to go to the toilet? (These are all important things to ask, dontcha know...)
We want to know about you. We love hearing from you, and we're actually really friendly. Don't believe what you've heard to the contrary. Feel free to send us stuff (email us for the address- we don't feel safe having it on the internet for various reasons)
Oh, and by the way, don't add the email address on the side to the sidebar to your Myspace. Tink was having a bit of a techy retard day when she set up the Myspace account, and had already used teh address on teb sidebar as it's her personal one. Instead, go to http://www.myspace.com/pastriespepperandcanals and add us there. Of courese, you can alwyas try to add Tink's personal one, but she tends to be a fussy fairy and doesn't add anyone. Ever. Unless she's either in love with them or they bribe her. And even then...
Methinks we should set up a Campaign to make Charlie Don't Surf play Roskilde.... Whaddya say?
For those of us outside Scandinavia/ the Eurozone, it appears things might just have got easier... I've just discovered the CD WOW! (choose your specific country) now stocks a lot more than it used to- they stocked a Sterling CD I was looking up! Woo!
To my detriment, I've been a bit rubbish and haven't checked my old e-mail account lately. If I had, I would have found a few lovely email from Rumraket (one of the friendliest labels in the world) and Efterklang. Shame on me.
Swarming- Efterklang
In order to atone my sins (and get rid of my post-curry awakeness...I knowit's not a word, but who cares... I don't have a pedant's corner y'know... ), and due to the fact that I've remembered how great they are (and how much they make me happy in a blissful kinda way) I thought I'd treat you all...
Jojo - live recording from Nalen, Stockholm nov 2005.
I have a confession to make, and I bow to Stytzer and Chris for posting so much good stuff lately...
Firstly, we have The Kissaway Trail. Freshly signed to the wonderous Bella Union (also home to Under Byen in the UK) and as sharp as ever (they used to be called Isles). Well worth seeing live too, if their recent London shows are anything to go by... Here's a track...
Now here's something that I've been meaning to cover for a while (sorry duck, I know I promised a long while back..) and was rudely reminded about by the track that appeared on a podcast a while back... Originally this started off about just Evil Death Machine, but then I realised I should cover Danish Girls (Yay! I love the name!) too...
Evil Death Machine is the...errr... evil genius that is EPO-555's lovely bassist Hans-Emil Hansen's (formerly of indie darlings Traening) solo project. Apparently his mission statement is "to make the best music possible". And he does. The Things I Stole is a night-time spent looking out of the window with the rain beating down and the heating turned high (of course, the lyric "..please break my arms if I reach my goal.." betrays something different altogether), whilst Pieces could almost be a Diefenbach/ EPO-555 collaberation with a simple melody, a preoccupation with lost love, and layered vocal approach.
For some reason I seem to have problems linking to the Myspace MP3s, so go here and take a look for yourself. There's also a few tracks on Last.fm (whih I know you all love a lot, as Myspace's MP3s are getting crappy these days)
Evil Death Machine...I don't think it's evil at all. In fact, it's actually pretty lovely, just like a night spent staring out into the darkness of a snowy night in the woods and knowing that you'll be alright the logfire's burning and you have a warm blanket. Or something.
Here's another one I've been threatening to do for ages... I've made my love of Wolfkin somewhat clear in the past (you'll have to rifle through the archives, but here is a great place to start) I know it's been a while, but hey, you want to hear what I have to say, don't you?
For those of you who don't know Hamburg too well (or at all), the Astra Stube is teh world's smallest venue. Ever. I didn't think that anything could rival the Betsy Trotwood in London, but this provides some serious rivalry. Wolfkin, though, were all the better for it, and the smell of cigarette smoke and beer in a room crammed with 80-odd people who could barely move (are you sure that was legal?!) and were anxious with anticipation.
Wolfkinare one of those bands who invite you into their own private world, and you feel all the better for entering it.
Although their backing singer and manager were both sick (I hope thy're both better now, poor petals) the boys managed to rip through "Brand New Pants" with the kind of relish that's rarely seen outside of hometown gigs. "These are all illusions" seemed to take on a new meaning, while "Brand new pants" had the crowd dancing away (it was nice to hear thst non-dancing is prevalent in places other than the UK, and that dancing is appreciated...of course, I'd never do that in the UK), and people at the back stood on chairs.... the set went FAR too quickly, and, after running out of songs to play, we were treated to an encore of several the songs they'd already played, with teh crowd retreating even further into their world.
Wolfkin, then, my dears. They really have to be seen to be believed. And even then, you might not be able to leave their pop-tinged magical world for a week or so afterwards, and you'll never, ever be the same.
On a pseudo-gossip magaine strand, I can also report that they're lovely, lovely, lovely, and can more than hold their own in the drunken rock clubs of St pauli... but that's another story...
Just as a quick aside, I'd like to thank Jan (and Kruemel) from Queenaboutmusic/Crunchy Frog for their help. I'm sure they know why. Never say I'm not transparent!
I know.. I know... I've been pretty crap lately, and there's a million and one things I should let you all know about! Unfortunately it's been one of those times when I've been hideously overloaded, and while I know I should have done the Wolfkin review and the Evil Death Machine/ Danish Girls preview I've been harpig on about for ages..well... I just haven't. It's not my fault. I promise. Both of those things will haveto wait, though, with the news that there's some new Tiger Tunes stuff! Ok, so it's not really new, it's more new-old, for we all know that they're all doing other things, but hey...who are we to argue?
Not much time aain, but our good friends at Liga have released another podcast of the finest new shebang...
Here's the listing...
Tobias Hellkvist - Step Aside (Efterklang Cover) Tomboy - 1.2.3. Evil Death Machine - Things I Stole Turboweekend - I'm Into You (James Braun Remix) 2nd Street - Code Red Agnes Obel - Avenue P. Jørgensen - Demo
It's interesting, as I've been meaning to cover Evil Death Machine for a long while- it's an interesting side-project from EPO-555's Hans-Emil... Something worth watching... It's worth a look...
I know, I know... I'm useless. Talking of the darlings at Liga (as I have in the past few posts...don't worry, the effect will wear off soon, although they do have fabulous taste) Kristian recommended Kirsten Ketsjer The Rock Band.
Part of theYoyooyoy art collective (which has been described to me as "..something strange and rare..." more than once..is it me, or does Denmark have a load of great collectives around at the moment? See posts passim...).
I don't have much time, so I can't really tell you too much, but the tracks are from the album "ffffoo k tsscch" (a fab name, if I ever heard one). If you want ot read any more, visit thir page here.
As ever, though, I'll leave the choice up to you...
I know I mentioned Factory45 before, but I think it;s time I gave them their own post- I noticed Liga's done something similar too- great obviously minds think alike...
Factory45 are actually a band I happened upon by chance, as I'd gone to Copenhagen the day before the guys when we were going to the big Crunchy thingy in December (which, by the way, was pretty damn fantastic, featuring, as it did, an EPO-555 performance with a heavily pregnant Camilla back in the breech for one night only, an stellar performance from Sterling, and a mind blowingWolfkin show). I'd arranged to see a friend DJ, got horribly drunk before they arrived, and then made my way to the venue. I hadn't really expected to see anything that even vaguely impressed me (to be honest, I was more interested in drinking myself under the table and thinking of ways to pretend that wasn't heartbroken to about the current love of my life, who was arriving the next day)
Anyway. I digress. Before I go into yet another gossip-column style rant, I'll get back to the Factory45.
It was during Local Disco Star that, actually, I realised these kids (can I call them that? I have no idea whether they're younger than me or anything..) had something going on. I mean, I've been in rooms full of kids bopping (ha! That word is somewhat under-rated, I think, along with nifty).
Nitemare is a 1950s salsa lounge style tune meets 1980s vocalist with a 2000s twist (honestly, as incredulous as it sounds), Supermarkets is a funfair romp about...er...supermarkets (if only my trip to my local Tesco was so grand), while Local Disco Star is a countrified anthem with a catchy indie-style chorus and a tune that will stick in your brain for days. Best of all, though, is the delicious line "..So I roamed the streets and I roamed the bars, dressed as the local disco star trying to find a girl to smoke my big cigar.." Now maybe I'm just dirty minded (and it's often been said, especially in response to Jelly Beans, Jelly Babies and 69 Tragic Love Songs...) but is there some kind of naughtiness behind the innocent facade?
Excuse my chattiness...for some reason, Factory45 are a lot like 1234 and Charlie, Don't Surf... (who, although I haven't yet told me, were the catalyst to make me start writing this)they make me want to scream from the rooftops, and dance and sing until I fall asleep happy...
Factory45, then. If there's any justice, they'll be more than local disco stars...
A few things before we get back to business (almost) as usual (although the post may be a few fewer, now that I have a grown up job once more...)
Liga (the world's nicest music show) now have a blog. Go visit here , and, if you're anything like me, have fun trying to decode what the hell's going on as your Danish is so appalling. Alternatively, wow yourself with the fact that their music taste is pretty much the same as mine... BTW, if anyone does want to send anything, either email for an address, contactus via Myspace or leave a comment. I apologise to anyone I've missed lately- you have to remind me... I would suggest smoke signals, but somehow that might ot be an option...
One or two quick shouts: Factory45 really are the cutest thing to come into my life since Charlie, Don't Surf (who deserve a huge thank you for all their help and encouragement). I managed to catch them playing the meatmarket that is Lades in December (the same night that I managed to get horribly drunk with a lot of Swedes before going to see Lasse Lyngbo for Diefenbach DJing...if you want to hear that story, though, I think you'd probably better look at my other, more secret blog when I get round to it...), but the nonsense about the template's held me up lately...
One last thing: Ebbe Frej from EPO-555 is officially up there with my favourite people of the moment. No quibbles. Anyone who can put up with my drunken, broken-hearted slurring deserves a medal...
One last big thanks to The Modern Way 3.0 (in Turkish), Music PL.Pt and the ever amazing Hits In The Car... Oh. One last thing- you got something to say? Do you want to contribute? Then come on in, a girl can't live on Snegle alone you know...
I know, I know... we've been away for a while... It's not my fault. Honestly. The only problem is that Blogger have been messing around, and it;s been causing problems, and then my laptop decided to go to teh DNS server ithe sky...
If anyone has any ideas on how to sort out a wireless DNS server, then I'll love them forever...
Feel free to send me review copies or provide any links to MP3s etc- I can't guarantee inclusion, but it'd be great to hear what you think, and what you think I should be covering...Just contact Tinkerbell by using this form or emailing sweetshopavengerz at gmail dot com... MP3s are for evaluation purposes only. If you like something, please support the artist and go and buy it! BTW, I don't host any of these MP3s, so when the host decides to kill the link, that's it... I will remove any link if asked to do so by the work's originator..
All rights, and copyright retained. If you want to reproduce anything featured, or have any questions regarding the content of this website, please contact the blog. Thank you.
Just let me know...whether it's by smoke signal, carrier pigeon or a message in a bottle... On second thoughts, a comment, myspace message or email usually might be better...
So. We’ve been away for a while. It’s not like we haven’t been going to gigs, listening to music, or even listening to music. We’ve just been…*ahem* busy, and lazy sods who haven’t done musch but work all Summer. So apologies for that, slap our wrists, and hope you decide to come back to us. We’re back with a bumper package of intrigue, mystery and excitement over the next few days- also known as gorgeous new songs from 
