Lars and the Hands of Light
So far this year, catching up on releases from already known artists have proven to be more than enough for me. Then I came across Lars and the Hands of Light's "Me Me Me", and had to check out their debut album "The Looking Glass", released January 25th on Crunchy Frog. You ought to do the same.
Catchy indie pop is what comes to mind at first, but there are other genres beneath the surface. Electro elements come into play now and then and other times you feel like you've been brought back to the 60s. Already mentioned first single "Me Me Me" has true hit potential, and the album has plenty more to offer in the hit department as well as tunes in need for a second spin before they catch on. A good addition to the roster of excellent Danish music for sure. Looking more into the background of the band it turns out lead man Lars actually was guitarist in Junior Senior (another Danish success story). You can easily dance to some of this, or just sit still and enjoy the groove. Check out the video for "Me Me Me" below.
Top tracks of 2009
To sum up the year now behind us I also created a Spotify playlist to go along with it. If you're lucky enough to be using this fabulous piece of software go here to get it. If you're not? Well here's the tracklist. I have to admit I was much more of a track listener than usual in 2009, simply because playlists and mixtapes are the way to go when you play most of your music in the car. I even managed to find a few desirable tunes on the radio which is the only way to enjoy music while working in an office. 2009 had a lot of beauties to offer - hopefully 2010 will bring more!
Eels - Fresh Blood
Wilco - One Wing
Fictionist - Fist
The Veils - The House She Lived In
Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
The Peekers - Meet You In Produce
Navigators - Wall Of Stone
Metric - Blindness
Jonathan Johansson - En hand i himlen
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Runaway
Bishop Allen - The Ancient Commonsense Of Things
Death Cab for Cutie - Meet Me On The Equinox
Chairlift - Bruises
Mew - Beach
The Swell Season - In These Arms
A Place to Bury Strangers - In Your Heart
Odawas - Swan Song For The Humpback Angler
St. Vincent - Actor Out Of Work
The xx - Night Time
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
Dead Man’s Bones - My Body’s a Zombie For You
Röyksopp - The Girl And The Robot
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
Nouvelle Vague - Master And Servant
Twiggy Frostbite - Chimera
Sivert Høyem - Going For Gold
Viva Voce - Devotion
Lightning Dust - Wondering What Everyone Knows
The Hidden Cameras - Walk On
Papercuts - Future Primitive
Datarock - Amarillion
The Big Pink - Velvet
Lily Allen - F**k You
Neko Case - People Got A Lotta Nerve
Soulsavers - Unbalanced Pieces - Featuring Mark Lanegan and Mike Patton
Kent - Töntarna
Engineers - Clean Coloured Wire
Big Bang - Swedish Television
Animal Collective - My Girls
Conor Oberst - Big Black Nothing
Engineers - Song For Andy
Malajube - Casablanca
Florence + The Machine - Kiss With A Fist
The Antlers - Sylvia
The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
Broken Records - Until The Earth Begins To Part
The Low Anthem - Charlie Darwin
Air France - No Excuses
Bat For Lashes - Glass
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter
HAPPY 2010!
What you really should be doing on a Thursday night.
For the love of God (or whoever)! Are you not watching Parks and Recreation yet? If you are I really apologize for screaming, if you're not... well I'm not. Apologizing that is.
Maybe you're one of those people who gave it a try during Season 1 and found it mediocre at best, then left. Your loss - because Season 2 was like one gigantic comeback without leaving in the first place. What started out centered around a pit possibly becoming a park, has turned into a hilarious character centered thrill of a ride to nowhere - and I love it. Movies or TV shows about nothing has always been a favorite of mine, because most people don't live in a world where people are haunted or lives have to be saved every damn day. If the foundation is right (good writing), a little help (good actors) is all you need to turn a collection of hilarious situations into a row of quotable quotes that will leave you "crylaughing" for days.
I never watched The Office full time but have been known to watch a bit of SNL now and then, and I probably never would have decided to give this show a try if it wasn't for Amy Poehler. As the incredibly awkward, gullible and gutsy Leslie Knope she is really shining. I've never doubted Poehler's comedic timing, but some of the stuff she's done on Parks and Recreation this season has definitely given Tina Fey and the people on 30 Rock a reason to lock up their Emmys (well... it's not that kind of price). Whenever I feel down I'll just watch that wonderful Best of Amy Poehler on SNL special, and laugh myself silly before nearly dying when she starts jumping around in the role of Kaitlin. Besides Poehler keep an eye out for Aziz Ansari in the role of the quite mysterious mastermind Tom Haverford.
The writing is quick, the cast is extremely talented all around, and the fact that it's a show not trying to be anything other than a simple half hour comedy is quite refreshing. You're not supposed to do anything else than watch and laugh, and that's quite often the only thing you really need on a Thursday night.
Take a look at Leslie's attempt to be anything else than innocent in this clip from episode 2x10 "Hunting Trip", which was one of the best episodes of Season 2 so far.
Visit Parks and Recreation's official site over at NBC.com, become a fan on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter if the other two options are too much work.
Sharing is easy
Sharing music is easier than ever before.... So here's a chance for you to check out one of the albums I purchased today; AM's wonderful "Side by Side - Duets, vol. 1". I love duets that aren't cheesy. Included are covers of "I'll Be Your Mirror" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".
AM is one of those thesixtyone discoveries. Like what you hear? Check out 3 additional acoustic versions here. I ended up buying "Future Sons & Daughters" as well.
I never imagined…
Here I am... typing a blog post into something that was not coded by myself. Who knew it would come to this? A strong believer in learning by doing, half of the joy in having a blog was always the process of designing it, coding it, changing it, and THEN posting useless crap. Those days are over - I bring you the new and improved reflectism.net; the wordpress edition. It isn't all that bad.
The amount of posts has decreased over time, with a few peeks here and there. It takes time and energy and lately I've noticed features I wish I had that would make the process a lot less time consuming. My old site did in fact have an admin system with ability to do quick edits on posts as well as other features I developed over time, but redesigning yet another site was more or less out of the question. Simply put - I needed a fresh start. Something to get my mind back on track and into blogging again. About ANYTHING. These days I go months between each time I look at a simple line of php code, which means the road back to the level of making another site felt too long. Customizable wordpress became my salvation.
All the old blog posts are here, freshly cut and pasted for your pleasure. The syntax and layout might not look the best on some of those old posts, but I just wanted to bring them along. 4 years of mix tapes, best of lists, reviews and news. I noticed the amount of posts where not at all too much for me to handle, which means I've been sloppy. Part of the reason: an admin system that simply wasn't good enough. The other part: ehm... time? At least I'll be able to save some time with wordpress!
So... coming up in the future: Most likely a whole bunch of mix tapes of various kinds (themed now... done with the monthly stuff), a good portion of relevant news, and since 2009 is slowly but surely coming to an end - a list of the best albums of 2009. In addition this site is no longer reserved for music related stuff, which means I might throw in some other fascinating stuff too. That's right - I do care about other things...
Sound of summer
This was reposted in its original form during the launch of the new Wordpress blog in October 2009. Original comments made to this post back in the day (if any) are reposted at the bottom.
Summer of '09 is officially over, yet it feels like it never even arrived. I guess monthly mixes are over - too much work. Here are some tracks that got me through summer of 09. Not that I needed help getting through it or anything...
1. "Flora" by Viva Voce
"Rose City" (Barsuk, 2009)
2. "One Wing" by Wilco
"Wilco (The album)" (Nonesuch, 2009)
3. "Clean Coloured Wire" by Engineers
"Three Fact Fader" (Kscope, 2009)
4. "Blindness" by Metric
"Fantasies" (Metric Music International, 2009)
5. "Favorite Love" by The Peekers
"Life in the Air" (Park the Van, 2009)
6. "Chimera" by Twiggy Frostbite
"Through Fire" (Despotz, 2009)
7. "Work All Day" by Portugal. The Man
"The Satanic Satanist" (Equal Vision, 2009)
8. "Renegade Silence (feat. The Rhythm Method)" by Sebastien Grainger
"Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains" (Saddle Creek, 2008)
9. "Awkward Kisser" by Telekinesis
"Telekinesis!" (Merge, 2009)
10. "Caffeine & Sleeping Pills" by Blindfold
"Faking Dreams" (Cinepop, 2009)
11. "En hand i himlen" by Jonathan Johansson
"En hand i himlen" (Hybris, 2009)
12. "Boredom" by LoveLikeFire
"Tear Ourselves Away" (Heist or Hit, 2009)
13. "Runaway" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"It's Blitz!" (Interscope, 2009)
Download mix [23.5MB 64kbps .mp3 - length 51:29] (Right-click, "Save as")
Metric news
This was reposted in its original form during the launch of the new Wordpress blog in October 2009. Original comments made to this post back in the day (if any) are reposted at the bottom.
Metric's upcoming album "Fantasies" is now available for pre-order. It's available in 4 different packages ranging from the big one with all the extra stuff to the simple digital download, more info here. I went for the "Hardcover Digipack + Digital Download" pack, which means in addition to the 3 track download I got today, I'll be able to download the album on March 31st.
The 3 tracks that everyone pre-ordering gets is the album version of "Help I'm Alive", an acoustic version of "Gimme Sympathy", and a cover of Pink Floyd's "Nobody Home" with Jimmy Shaw on piano + vocals.
At the same time Metric makes yet another song available for preview on their website + myspace. If "Help I'm Alive" and the newest "Gimme Sympathy" are any indication the album will be sublime. With all these acoustic versions popping up I'm only waiting for them to announce the release of an acoustic version of the entire album. Or maybe I'm just dreaming.
Go visit Metric's myspace and Metric's official site. Now!
Fictionist – Invisible Hand
This was reposted in its original form during the launch of the new Wordpress blog in October 2009. Original comments made to this post back in the day (if any) are reposted at the bottom.
These guys were completely unknown to me until I ordered a CD from CD Baby and got "Invisible Hand" recommended to me. I immediately went looking for some tracks to preview because I simply can't stay away from the prospect of getting to know something new and great. 30 seconds later I had no doubts whatsoever.
Once in a while an album will seem like it appeared out of the blue and hit you like no other. Leave you with a smile on your face, your day just a little bit better, and fill you with a hope that you'll never ever grow tired of this magnificent album. "Invisible Hand" did that to me.
Hard to pin, Fictionist walk the fine line between pop and rock where no genre tag is even needed. The highlight is without doubt the guitar work. Some brilliant work that provides hooks for just about all of the tracks, making them recognizable but not tiring. The kind that saves tracks from becoming "just another pop/rock song". Beautiful solos of the ethereal kind, small riffs that carry the different portions of the song or add an extra element to the building vocals. I have a soft spot for build-ups and this album is packed with them. The kind that will leave you wondering when it will take off, and somehow end up taking you by surprise once they do.
Album opener "Noisy Birds" is definitely one of the highlights. It's the kind of song that travels all over the place in terms of mood and tempo, which is sure to keep it lasting for a long time. You want to be there for the ride, which is why it's the perfect beginner.
Songs like "Tightrope Hill", "Nowhere to Go", "Lovers Past", and somewhat "Uptight" take the more standard approach to pop/rock. On "Tightrope Hill" dullness is avoided thanks to a catchy bass line and shivering guitars, while "Nowhere to Go" sets the mood and carries you along all the way to the excellent turn of events around the 4 minute mark. After that you really have nowhere to go.
"Fist" keeps you on your toes throughout the first 3 minutes by changing pace numerous times, until it finally explodes after a last failed attempt at making you believe it never will. All the elements that make up a good rock tune is somehow magically put into this song.
The vocals are never excessive, always adding to the perfect blend of melodies - it drives the tracks just as much as the guitars, and the absence of vocals is especially apparent on "Wakes" which is the only weak spot on this album, although a somewhat fitting prologue to the grand finale. Album closer "Song For B" does the opposite and sets off into a ethereal whirl of sound not heard since Pink Floyd. The only appropriate ending for such an album. If not just to celebrate the guitar.
In other words it's all about the perfect blend. Mix that with a skilled group of musicians truly good at their craft, and you've got a recipe for success. It's only a matter of time. If you're going to buy one album in the first 6 months of 2009 let this be the one. I predict this will be the gem that will send shivers down my spine when I accidentally come across it in my collection in ten years (if I've managed to push it that far back in my brain by then).
Head over to CD Baby and order yourself a copy, after you've listened to some tracks on myspace.
Diana wrote:
I couldn't agree more! Fantastic CD.
Brit wrote:
You said it perfectly. I have fallen in love with this CD and can't wait to see what this band does next...
An attempt to organize…
This was reposted in its original form during the launch of the new Wordpress blog in October 2009. Original comments made to this post back in the day (if any) are reposted at the bottom.
So, I have the tendency to bookmark. Do I ever check back to see what I have bookmarked or am I somehow just waiting for the day where I'll need the name of THAT band I heard two songs from two and a half year ago? Hardly...
So, going through my bookmarks on delicious (great site btw) I found a bunch of artists under the tags "check", "music", "myspace", and "good". Because I also have a tendency to forget which tags I used the last time, and definitely what combination I used... It would be so much easier.
Lanterns rocks.
Stoney is quite gifted.
I've liked Memphis for a while, but I finally ordered "A Little Place in the Wilderness"!
Midnight Juggernauts make outer space sound appealing.
Giant Drag is anything but.
The Dreamers create perfect music for daydreaming.
Bon Savants make me kinda happy...
I fell in love with Agent Sparks all over again.
So... I'm keeping these bookmarks and ordering a few CDs. The rest is going out (a.k.a. wasn't all that good).
Ah! Glad that's done.
While I'm at it... You should definitely head over to Metric's official site and get a free download of an acoustic version of the first single from their upcoming album "Fantasies", the fabulous "Help I'm Alive". The album is coming April 14th and I can't wait!
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