There's a lot of Crunchy news today

Just a few quick updates to kick off another flurry of activity... Hopefully I'm back for good, but with the way the new blogger is going, who knows? A lot of the news that seems to be coming my way at the moment seems to be Crunchy Frog related for various reasons, so here's an update...

Firstly, the new Wolfkin vid is available to watch online. It;s well worthj a look...all moody and black and white... Maybe you won't be as terrified as I was when I spent an afternoon watching that and a Powersolo vid...That, however, was mainly because it was during a storm and various power surges meant that things blew up and the power dimmed and fizzled when they were on... (By the way, both Wolfkin and Powersolo have been nominated for P3 awards, so good luck to them..)

Sadly, after an elongated period of inactivity, the fantastic Superheroes have broken up... Word has it that a new band has been formed out of the ashes

After losing Camilla (more on that later), the fantastic EPO-555 have recruited a new keyboardist. You probably all know that, but having heard the reworked version of Grislappan (due out on 7" in January with their track from DMDK- A Danish Tribute to Depeche Mode, and another track that slips my mind..) you really won't be diappointed....

Talking of EPO-555, there's some pretty cool news of a related project coming tomorrow...

In other special announcements, Crunchy Frog are throwing what is going to be an amazing Christmas show at Vega in Copenhagen featuring a cornocopia of the label's best. For one night only (and I think they mean this) the fabulous Sterling, Powersolo, EPO-555 and Wolfkin will be joined by non danish bands Heavy Trash (US) and The Tremolo Beer Gut (DK/S). All of this will be supplemented by the best Crunchy DJs and a few special guests spinning the records all night long... I know I'm going, so maybe I'll manage to catch up with one or two of you there...

And that's just the Crunchy Bands... I'll keep you updated with more of the news later, but, in the meantime...

Death By Kite...

It's like a tight-rope walk, innit?

What?

Life...

I like ignoring most of the bulletins I get. But I couldn't ignore this one.Death By Kite are one of those bands I've had in the back of my mind for a while, but haven't yet covered for whatever reason, but a conversation I had earier today about tight-ropes (don't ask) reminded me that they'd just been signed to Quatermain records, so I'd better cover them before they release anything... The other reason was Ihad a great Myspace bulletin idea to tie in with them...

Death By Kite combine a pop sensibility with alternative harmonies and rock noise. A little bit of everything into the pot using the correct measures means that the broth doesn't boil over, and that the high wire act keeps its balance. Am I talking nonsense? Probably. Death By Kite combine the best of everything into a unique sound that you should go and listen to (rather than reading this)...

Scared of Heights

Hiroshima

More available on Myspace and website

I'm not asking you to sell your soul to the devil today. Nor am I asking you to dance. Instead, I'm asking you to walk the line. Take tight-rope walk between cold war punk, noiserock and indie. You might just like it.

P.S. If you've not yet joined us on Myspace, then go and do so. We produce supper-witty bulletins, dontcha know...

Wolfkin...

I really can't tell you what they sound like... they might steal your soul....

So, kiddos, my original post about Wolfkin was banished into the netherworld of blogger, where it was chewed up and spat out until it resembled a string of nonsense letters in a universe where the letter "q" does not exist and the € symbol is freely used, so I'll have to write it again. Not that I mind, as I like Wolfkin. A lot.

Crunchy Frog's newest signings recently released their debut album in Denmark (I have a feeling that it's out in November in some other territories, although, as ever, you can buy it from Vibrashop), and sound like Tiger Tunes swallowed a bee and decided to become an Americana-Roc-Pop orchestra whilst simultaneously employing two male singers and a dirty drum machine and watching Cinema noir. All whilst accompanied by synths and memories of the '60s guitar pop they heard in the womb, the nights they spent dancing in cemetaries and remembering that, yes, there is room for humour... In short, they're fabulous.

Already voted 'best debut album in 2006' by the Crunchy Frog team of scientists (and who are we to disagree with such a well-mannered achingly hip team?), Wolfkin's "Brand New Pants" (is it just me, or is the Southern British English meaning of that actually pretty pervy when you think about it? Maybe it is just me and my inability to think in either American-English or Northern British English..) will soon become an essential record to cheer up the rainy Autumn afternoons ahead...

A Vacant Heart

Wolfkin, then...Go on. I dare you. Dance with the devil... you might just like it...

Website

Myspace

EDIT 4/10/2006, 12:21pm.. Go and vote for Wolfkin on Liga here if you're in Denmark..

Pato

We might know him as Pato...but his grandmother still calls him Martin...

Back to some kind of reality now, after a brief hiatus due to falling in love, breaking my foot, techniacl problems and all manner of other strangeness... Yesterday's post reminded me of Roskilde, and the fact that I hadn't really said anything about Pato yet... It's not normally my "thing"- I live in somehwhat of an indie bubble, as you may have guessed- but there's something about Pato that makes you want to dance

Formerly a member of the late ska-punk band Furillo, Pato managed to take Roskilde 2006 by storm. On as one of the final acts of the evening, the crowd were dancing, laughing and singing- not something you see too often in the wee small hours in the Pavillion, when the small acts are pitched against some of the behemouths. Normally, there;s a few drunk guys and a guitar, but the Pato (and his band) seemed to be having just as much fun as the crowd, creating an infectious energy that meant, whoever you were, you couldn't help but dance...

I'm not going to even bother with trying to wrote a bio- go check out his bio on Myspace, as its all put far more succinctly and wittily that I could do it... In the meantime, here a link to his website, and a couple of MP3s:

Two Fingah Salute

Blood Bath

Pato, then. Move your feet and dance, cos that's what they're made for...

Bleepy Happy Summer music...

...to mark the end of Summer as the hail stones rain down...

Pato- Bad Situation

Tiger Tunes- Foolio

Popmak- Oh la la

Plok-Snickerpuss

Wolfkin- A Vacant Heart

Tiger Baby- Girlfriend

Enjoy!

Downtime

PPC will be down for a day or two why I try to work out why you guys can't see the most recent posts. It sucks, I know, but I'll be back as soon as I can, and I might even treat you to a mixtape...Keep on keeping on my darlings...Kiss kiss..

Oh dear...

After a week of battling with the blog (and the people who host it) I think we've finally managed to sort out the problem (though we were forced to get rid of a few posts that didn't appear along the way- sorry if that was you, you know who you are, and we still love you, and will write a lovely piece about you on many many blogs...) New posts should start coming from tomorrow (I hope!)Ta all, and thanks for your kind words and patience...

Ouch..

Damn it. I've had to take all posts from the last few days down... for some reason they've been corrupted, and I don't think any of you guys could see them anyway...

**Back up soon**

I promise...

Charlie made me happy...

Apologies for the somewhat enforced absence- I was in Copenhagen for part of the time (and, having heard a sneak preview of the new Nephew album, I can tell yoiu it's pretty darn good) and then trying to teach myself to walk again (don't ask, but it involved falling down the steps in Ideal Bar) for the other part...

It'll be something of a double-header this weekend- new releases by Charlie, Don't Surf, and Wolfkin...

Charlie, Don't Surf's debut EP "How Turkey Turned into Being A Monster" is every bit as good as you'd expect it to be (not that they bribed me by flattering me or anything...actually, I think I'd love them just as much aif they didn't). Collecting together the favourites that I've been raving about for some time- "Friends of French Art", "Breakthrough" et al, the 5 track EP is well worth taking a look at (if only to say that you've got a copy of the CD they released before they were snapped up by a big label...)

Unfortunately, you've missed the contest to win the EP on "Hits In The Car", but that doesn't mean that you should go and buy it now from here for the bargain price of just DKK50 or EU8 now.. I promise you won't regret it

And Wolfkin? Learn about them tomorrow...

Hell Is In Hello...

Anothe rone of those bizarre update stylee posts- this time to do with Charlie, Don't Surf's Rasmus Hedeman's solo project, Hello is in Hello. Although similar to Charlie, Don't Surf's lofi noodlings, Hell is in Hello is a much rawer 4-track sound...

The tracks are all self-produced demos, with Rasmus playing all of the instruments, with a slightly more bedroom recored fell (Ho hum...this could be because they are all bedroom recordings...Enjoy!

Well worth a listen...

Building Goodbyes

I'm Your Toy

More tracks available on Myspace

BSBTA

You'll have to excuse my brief absence- I've been a bit busy pretending be a happy goth, watching London's euivilant of the bizarre Chav love that seems to be sweeping mainland Europe and watching dwarf hardcore bands (don't ask) to write for the past few days...

Today, it's more of a label thing...

BSBTA is a Copenhagen based DIY label worth writing about for just for the fact that its acroynym stands for Bloated Beer Sasquatch Theatre Audio (a fantastic name for a label if I ever heard one!) . The fact that it has a fantastic subscribers series of CD-Rs (split into a “pop” and “un-pop” subsection) is a bonus, as is the fact that there’s connection with the wonderful DIY collective KaninKanon…

I’ll leave you to explore the site here, but here’s a sample in the meantime…

Younolovebunny- King Fresh

Leisure Alaska

If Beck came from Finland and played noise rock...

Video for "Hey There Mr"

Apologies for the lack of post yesterday- my internet connection died, and I've had to spend hours reconfiguring it... I promise y'all that normal service will be resumed...

I was intrigued by an email I received from Leisure Alaska last week about their video for "Hey Mr"... For various reasons (falling in love, trying to find a new job, other things being in the way...) it slipped to the back of my mind...until now, that it. "Hey Mr" is a truly amazing piece of film taht you really should sit and watch (several times) and then share with your friends (it's on Youtube, folks)

As for the music, my favourite song has to be the Dawn of The Replicants-esque (UK readers may remember them for the fact that they released an EP a month some years back...Their recent comeback hasn't been amazing, but I'm talking about the glory days of "Radars" and "Mary Louise") "Transistors in my mind"... As ever, though, I let you decide...

Transistors in my mind

Hey there Mr

Return of the Power

If you like Leisure Alaska, go and say hi on their Myspace (worth it just for the crazy background..), or check out their website...

Green Pitch go rock?

Erm..... not quite.

A news story today, I think (my connection keeps dying).... PPC faves Green Pitch have a side project called "The River Phoenix". In contrast to the gentle lilting sounds of the Ace of Hearts, The River Phoenix are more a rock band influenced less by the quiet sound of water trickling, and more by the

The new album's due to be recorded later this month, but, until then, take a look at their Myspace for more info, and to hear a few of the early demos...

If you're in Copenhagen saturday the 7th of October, they're playing with Veto at Pumpehuset, and all over Denmark...

EPO-555

You'll have to excuse my....floatiness today, my dears, but I think I might be in love. And EPO-555 have been the soundtrack to my long-distance affair...

Le Beat's on fire video

I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't even concentrate at all. My stomach's full of butterflies, my ear is sore (from a four hour conversation) and I'm trying to remember how to speak German. And it's all been soundtracked by a copy of EPO-555's "Mafia" that he sent me.

Originally, tonight's post would have been headlined with something like "EPO-555-the godfathers of Dexter Fox and the Mafia", but I really can't be doing with that now- my brain is full of mush and sweet dreams of my beloved.... The sound of EPO-555 is amongst the sweetest around, perfect for lying back and daydreaming ot the harmonies that only Danish bands can do so well....

Le Beat's on Fire

EPO-555 are music to fall in love to. Just go and listen, before we have to send the boys in....

Myspace

Website

The Autumn leaves fall off the trees...

Here's a beautiful third weekend treat from the archives of Hits in The Car. I'm going to start compiling these myself, but if anyone has any suggestions (or wants to compile one- actually, that might be a good spin on things!), get in touch!

• Made Of Buildings - The Previews At The Movies
• Tiger Baby - Girlfriend
• Portland - Let Me Get What I Want
• I Am Bones - Building Hospitals
• Figurines - The Wonder
• Gravy - Meltdown
• Carpark North - Transparent And Glasslike
• Sparklin June - The Warning Sign
• Larsen & Furious Jane - Tourist With A Typewriter
• Neon Machine - On What Deserted Island With No Hope Of Rescue Is This?
• Anubia - Goodbye Now
• Swimm TV is TV - Crush
• Heartbreak Disco - Ice Floes
• Sepiamusic - Stone

Enjoy!

Tiger Tunes...

I guess in retrospect, I should have seen it coming forward....

I seem to be having a week where all I want to listen to is irresistably dirty sing-along electro-pop, and the irresistably catchy Tiger Tunes seem to fit into that perfectly, snuggling in between Superheroes and Kids of The Ranch (and going pretty damn well with the indiepop stylings of 1234 and Charlie, Don't Surf too) Angry Kids of The Word Unite is an danceable anthem for the disaffected new generation (and, so I found out earlier, reasonably popular with fussy 8 and 9 year olds...don't ask how I know that...)

Tiger Tunes any band who can sing about a "fuck machine", "she knocked my teeth out, she stole my shoes.." , and, with a Beckish sensibility, sing "if we get thirsty, we'll drink sad champagne", and suddenly youknow you've just heard one of yours... Tiger Tunes are a lot like the friend that you have , who, with their eagle eye for picking out the absurd in the ordinary, constantly has you in giggles...

The band are currently on sabbatical, but are making music in various other guises, including Marybell Katastrophe and Qlauz. Of the tracks that I'm offering you, "Kids of the Word Unite" is a pop anthem of the highest order for the disaffected youth, with the kind of "oh fuck it, just do it" attitude that's essential for a great night on the town. Foolio is the funnest Summer hit that never graced the airwaves in your part of the world, including an infectiously catchy "lalalalalala" ending.... Enjoy, my dears, and then, when you realise this isn't enough, go and buy the album...

Angry Kids of The World Unite

Foolio

Tiger Tunes have ways of making you sing. They have ways of making you dance... why resist them any longer when it's this glorious?

Myspace

Website

Kids of the Ranch.....

They may not seem like great dominatrixes..

I ummed and ahhhhed over including today's act, but in the end, the fact that half of the duo lives in Copenhagen (and the quality of the music) won me over. You might remember that I mentioned Kids of The Ranch briefly yesterday (during a rant of some kind...) so here's your chance to hear them....

Kid of the Ranch are a duo- Imri and Elin. Imri is currently living in Copenhagen where she goes to school in a great big castle, takes hot baths, does some video editing and writes a lot on her computer. Elin, on the other hand, is currently living on the other side of water in Malmö where she is apparently giving books to the poor and spending time in her studio/saloon making woods out of felt...

Indeed.

"Indie Boys are Neurotic" is a genuinely great slice of dirty garage pop , which because it includes the lines "Come to me you bad bad boy/ come to me and feel" and the chant (in skipping-rhyme style) "I might not seem like the great dominatrix/ I'm just another restless soul lost in the matrix" deserves to be on anyone's playlist..

"Sow A Seed" should have been the theme to the best 1980s Twin Peaks spin-off that never was, while "Superiority To Keep" is angular jaunty lo-fi which sounds like it's using instruments from a nursery that are being thrown down the stairs. Yes, that good...

Indie Boys are Neurotic

Superiority To Keep

Sow A Seed

For Christ's sake go and listen before I scream....

Myspace

Website

1234...

1234 sound like Charles Bukowski getting into Diana Ross and the Supremes and deciding to write indiepowerpop songs instead of poetry....

...and who am I to argue with their own description of themselves?

Of all the bands I've written about, 1234 seem to be recommended by a hell of a lot of people, but no-one really seems to know much about them... Maybe that's due to their lack of website and smewhat sparse Myspace profile. Pretty much all we know about 1234 is that they're based in Copenhagen and that...well... there are 5 of them. Sometimes, I guess, it's better to let the music to speak for itself, and it more than does....

"Saddest" is, quite possibly, one of the best pop songs I've heard in a long time, whilst "Demons", which is full of jangly guitars and handclaps went down a storm when I premiered it whilst DJ'ing at a friend's party in a particularly trendy part of London (along with Charlie Don't Surf's "Breakthrough", Swedish/Danish band Kids of The Ranch's "Indie Boys are Neurotic" and Norwegian band Gestapo Bitches' "Danish Boy" which deserves a link just because it's about...ermm...Danish boys)... I really can't argue with their own description of themselves (why meddle with a description that good?) so I'll let you take a look for yourselves:

Demons

Saddest

Coltrane

Judo (Tomorrow's a Long Time)

They've got ex-Hefner front man Darren Hayman (who I very occasionally cross paths with in London) in their Myspace top 4 (and, if I remember correctly, supported him on one of his Danish shows)... if they can create anything like the amount of devotion that Hefner did (and believe me, I saw it all first hand) then they'll go as far as they deserve to go.Unfortunately I arrive in Copenhagen the day after they next play at Rust, which means I won't get to see them...

Sadly my (frankly quite appalling) Danish doesn't go so far as being able to translate the Soundvenue piece about them.... They've also been selected by Liga as a tip for the future, so it's worth watching them...

Go and take a look at their Myspace, join the cult and be transported away in the time it takes to say 1...2...3...4...

Junior Senior..

Move your feet... you know you want to...

The Youtube obsession continues- go shake your coconuts to this...

A slightly lazy one today folks- after yesterday's post about Superheroes, I haven't been able to get Junior Senior out of my head and (as I mentioned yesterday) as the album was produced by Thomas T from Superheroes, I'm sure you can see the lazy connection. I had a great big spiel for you about how Junor Senior aren't quite as annoying as they may seem (annoyingly catchy, yes. Annoying, no. Yes, I know there was a Summer when they were ubiquitious, but let's forget about that....) but then my bloody laptop (complete with q key now, as you ask) crached... Grrrr. It had a great little session from one of the American radio stations and everything, but I can't seem to find it. Damn.

It's cold and windy outside, and it's supposed to be August- a hot, sunny month involving gallons of beer and heat that makes your pores scream. But it's not hot, and it's not sunny, and, I'm sure you'll agree that, while you might not like to admit to liking Junior Senior (they're what we call a Guilty Pleasure- for those of you who question my use of Caps, Guilty Pleasures is a club where you go and confess to liking stuff you're not supposed to and then dance the night away guilt free... only in London...) they sure do bring sunshine into your life... Junior Senior, to me, at least, mean the soundtrack to a few of the best Summers of my life, a couple of amazingly fun festival shows and hot balmy Summer days with friends...and that can't be a bad thing. Any band who can create a masterpiece of pop genius as good as "Take My Time" can't be all that bad...

They need absolutely no introduction to any of you, I'm sure, so here's a few songs to liven up a rainy morning.... Recreate a beach, put sand down on your floor, don a hula skirt and dance about. Go on. There's noone watching....

Coconuts (movie edit)

Happy Rap

We R The Handclaps

Move your feet

C'mon

There's a few Bizarre things around- just click that link. Not sure why it plays the theme to Cheers, but never mind... Their Website is under renovation, so visit their Myspace.

Junior Senior. Go on, admit it...you like them really.....

Superheroes...

They don't belong to the new generation...

Apologies for the lack of post yesterday- I guess Sundays are becoming an increasingly bizarre day of juggling recovery from Saturday night (in the form of sleep), trying to sort out stuff for job interviews, and listening (oh, and Myspacing) for more and more music to cover....And trying to find my lost passport. It pretty much takes up most of Sunday to whittle down the choices, and I've still not managed to thank all my Myspace friends yet... (I fear I'll have to give up personal comments for everyone soon...)

Anyway, it's a great one today. Posts here, here (I've been trying to remember how to speak Dutch- believe it or nor, I was actually pretty good at one point) and here (in Danish) reminded me that I really should cover Superheroes (something that I've had hidden in the back office since I started this..).

Fronted by the beautiful multi-talented (former?) wunderkind Thomas Troelsen (well known for producing Crunchy Frog label-mates Junior Senior), Superheroes are a 6 piece multi-talented band who produce pretty, danceable perfect pop music with an 80s synth vibe. According to various sources, they adopted the sound before it became wildly popular again... Heavy on irony and humour there's also a hidden intelligence, and the odd homage if you look hard enough for it...

Formed in 1996, and signed for one album by Crunchy Frog when Thomas T was just 15 (a deal that's been renewed a few times since), they've since had a few radio hits. In a time when pop music is homogonised beyond all recognition by marketing men (and I speak as a marketer myself, though not a music one) it's refreshing to see a band so free of the self-consciousness that seems to the the pervading attitude. Sometimes I wonder why we don't have more of this in the UK, and then I realise that it couldn't happen...

Unfortunately, they're another one of those bands who are currently making a new album, but...well, that doesn't matter if you need to catch up on what's come before, does it? Superheroes have been hidden somewhere at the back of my mind since their London show in October 2004 (just after I left the city for the suburbs... I haven't yet managed to get back, but I guess that's one for my other blog..)

Someone Else (from Superheroes)

Turn me on

Cool Girl

Johnny and I (from Igloo)

What's Going on

Nightmare

For a list of places to buy, and for more video and audio, visit here. Strangely, they don't seem to have a Myspace, though Thomas Troelsen does...

They're website's pretty fantastic too- full of bizarre facts, videos and the like- well worth a look. One last thing, though (and it's a peculiarly Danish trait) it's refreshingly unusual to read something like the below on a band's website (and actually believe it)...

We are trying to focus on the music and not all the glamour
that surrounds it. We of course did a lot of press to promote the album, but we try to cut down on this as we don't find ourselves that interesting. We like to record songs and we like to play live. And we love the fact that people enjoy our songs and shows.
That's enough for us.

Janteloven in practice? I think so.

BTW, Girl In The Cafe has a pretty good Danish-tagged selection here