NEUNUNDDREISSIG

"Ezra Furman is a guy you want to know all about. That's why when the Internet was recently invented (ca. 2008?) Ezra snapped into action and began his two-year preparation of his blog. On this blog he will include every single thought that crosses his mind, all the songs he likes, all the bands he likes, all the songs he makes up, and everything he writes including poems prose and grunts.Basically it's just about music and poems. Probably just music actually."

 

 

 

Maybe that short introduction has already raised your curiosity. Ezra Furman does not usually perform solo but with his band, the Harpoons, which formed in 2007. And you probably know one song quite well: Take off your sunglasses. It was released with the harpoons and includes a slightly off-tune harmonica which becomes even more off-tune live.

Albums so far include

Banging Down the Doors (2007)

Inside the Human Body (2008)

Mysterious Power (2011)

The Year Of No Returning (2012)

In The Year Of No Returning, Ezra goes solo and shifts easily between rock, heartbreak tunes and sugary pop, sometimes even within one song. And the thing that really caught me is his voice. Maybe not all the songs are gems, but some are really worth listening to.

For something raw, check out That's when it hit me.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  is angry and intense,
Sinking Slow - starts real slow, develops into an epic piece with 60s borrowings, and the new single Are you gonna break my heart offers haunting music, lyrics and of course THE VOICE.

And that's it already. Maybe I'll be able to write something more elaborate after Christmas. Until then, just some suggestions. ^^

ACHTADRIESSG

My Heart Belongs To Cecilia Winter

Be honest. How many indie bands from Switzerland do you know?

Lovebugs?

Truth Is

Favez?

Closet Astronaut

Or

My Heart Belongs To Cecilia Winter

Eighteen

2006, Thom Luz, Betty Fischer and Kusi Gerber met in Zürich. They started to perform together and soon found their own sound.

In 2010 they released their first album “Our Love Will Cut Through Everything”, bringing up comparisons with Arcade Fire or Death Cab For Cutie.

I'm in love with a mountain

Playing in front of “a junkie and a dog” wasn’t enough for them. They started touring through France where the album was a great success.

In 2012 they have now released their second album Midnight, Midnight.

Departure and Arrival

Scott Matthew visited them in the studio and took part in their song “Battle Cry”.

Emotions, love, hate, life, death – everything comes together in this wonderful piece of music. Check it out.

SIEBA-UND-DRIESSG

The Wilderness of Manitoba

Canadian 5-piece folk band. Here is a sample of a great performance from their new EP:
Forest City love


They toured a lot last year in the US and UK, also earning a standing ovation at the 'End of the Road' festival. Lots more touring and festivals in Europe this year. Often upbeat, folk-indie with wonderful music and harmonies, surely one to watch out for in the near future. Here is their newest release from their album (Island of Echoes, out soon in Europe), out now in US/Canada!

'Echoes'


Here is also the full performance from our beloved KEXP radio:

Let the music speak for itself :)

Enjoy and let's hope there is more to come from these guys...

SECHSADRIESSG

Miner

A short entry because not much can be found about this band (but only for now I’m sure).

Golden Ocean

Justin Miner was the lead singer of a band called “Fight From Above”. But at a certain point in his musical career he realised that this just wasn’t it. So he decided to do this:

“I built a little studio in my home from parts cobbled together on Craigslist and recorded just about everything in a small bedroom in Silver Lake, slowly going mad between flashes of inspiration and Pro Tools crashes. I spent two weeks listening to nothing but Neil Young. I bought a tambourine. I have more shakers that you can shake a stick at. I taught myself the banjo. I wrote the first quarter of twenty songs, then threw away seventeen of them and wrote five more. I recruited other Miners and friends to sing and stomp. I read Kerouac and wandered California's central coast seeking enlightenment in the redwoods, meditated in a room filled with other musicians in West Hollywood, then roamed Central America and listened to no music at all except the sound of the Caribbean. Then, as if by magic, I realized I was almost done.”

(Taken from his entry on kickstarter.com)

What do we have now: a band called Miner with an amazing first EP “Hey Love”.
I have read that some people see them between The Avett Brothers and The Lumineers. Not a bad place to be. :-)

Hey Love

So come on, keep on “mining” and you will find some jewels in the future.

P.S. Free download of “Hey Love” on their homepage:

Miner

FÜNFUNDDREISSIG

A brief late night entry, just thought it was worth noting: A recent Haldern discovery, TEAM ME! from Norway, has achieved the title of earworm of the week (dict. tells me that's really alright!) today.

It took them a while, tho. I remember not being too impressed when checking out some of their songs before this year's Haldern Pop. Then, I remember a beautiful summer day, a couple of beers and TEAM ME! - on stage in bright sunlight, animal make-up on their faces and the overall feeling of being young, being not too serious but still addressing ancient human emotions. Joy, energy, orchestra all in one. Plus there were tons of balloons soon to be released into the blue summer sky. Perfect! When listening to their songs, you feel like chasing these balloons and trying to keep them up in the air once again.

Now summer has drawn to a close, and TEAM ME! are still there - a good one, I guess.

To catch some of this summer's happy tunes, check out  dear sister haldern pop 2012.

Wikipedia tells me they have only existed since 2010, thanks to a Norwegian music competition in which they scored the 2nd place - before Kvelertak. Their debut album, to the treetops, was released in 2011. Now, their music does not compare to Kvelertak at all - it's fresh, light pop, catchy tunes and, as said before, a feeling most of us would have had, or still have, when they were in their late teens or early twenties. Just the thing you need to fight the upcoming autumn depression, I'd say!

Here's another nice set from Haldern's famous lake sessions,   show me.

...hmm, and another one, nice video to accompany this summer's mood: Patrick Wolf & Daniel Johns. Beautiful! If you want the full Haldern Set, here it is.

And finally, the song that has caught my attention today: With my hands covering both of my eyes I am too scared to have a look at you now.

Enjoy!

PS: They do remind me of some band, I just can't place it right now - any suggestions?

VIERADRIESSG

First:

Hey Clown

Read the following dialogue between Todd A. (he actually is Firewater) and an Israeli immigration officer, found on Todd A.’s blog:

He: Why did you go to Pakistan?

Me: To see the country and record some drummers.

He: Why did you have to go to Pakistan to record drummers?

Me: Because that’s where Pakistani drummers live. I also went to India. (He
wasn’t interested in this.)

He: What is your home address?

Me: Well, I don’t really have one, actually. I’m currently living in Bali.

So This Is How It Feels

He: Bali? In Indonesia? (Big Mistake Number One: Indonesia is primarily a Moslem country)

Me: Yes, but most Balinese are Hindus, if that’s what you were thinking.

He: If I what is what I was thinking?

Me: Never mind.

Get Out Of My Head

He: Where are you coming from?

Me: Istanbul. I went there to spend New Year’s with my girlfriend’s family. (Big Mistake Number Two: Girlfriend from Moslem country)

He: Your girlfriend is Turkish?

Me: Yes, but she is not religious.

He: You don’t have a home address?

Me: No, not really. (Big Mistake Number Three: Homeless) I stay in hotels. (I should have lied here and given my mother’s address in New Jersey) I used to live in New York, but I left. I’ve been traveling the world for 2 years.

He: Why did you leave New York?

Me: Well, honestly, I got sick of it. New York is too damned expensive. And then when Bush got back in, I got really depressed so I decided to leave the States.

Borneo

He: You don’t like President Bush?

Me: Actually, I think he’s the worst president we’ve had during my lifetime. (Big Mistake Number Four: Bush-hater)

There was a long pause while he considered my answer. Then he said, “Please wait here,” and got up and left the room.

Three Legged Dog

What do we learn from this little dialogue? Todd A. resp. Firewater is political, straight forward and open minded for all countries, religions and musical inspirations from all over the world.

They released their seventh album “International Orange” this year. We got what we expected. A musical, cultural and stylistic mash-up. The sound of Firewater includes folk, jazz, ska, klezmer, gipsy and a whole lot of rock and punk.

A Little Revolution

This fall they will come to a place near you – go there and enjoy.

Tour dates here:

PLACES TO BE

And now: Dance. :-)

DREIUNDDREISSIG

A good number for Frank Turner – whohow.  He’s an English folk-/punk-singer-songwriter, ex-million dead singer and has released 4 albums so far, each of which is brilliant in itself:

Sleep is for the Week (2007)

Love Ire & Song (2008)

Poetry of the Deed (2009)  

England keep my Bones (2011)

In short: catchy, sing-along tunes as well as sad, emotional songs  and choice lyrics which convey feelings, topics and questions anyone in the process of growing up (whatever that means) is concerned with at some point, I guess.  And all of that with a pinch of irony, and heaps of heart-felt fun. Plus he seems a really really nice guy.

The best way to get a real impression is to go see him live. So far he’s the most honest, down-to-earth singer I have ever seen, and I believe he is thoroughly enjoying his shows and not pretending any of this. And that’s what sparks the audience…Awesome! And there's a good chance he'll be playing a show somewhere close by - solo or with his band, The Sleeping Souls - He's doing more than a hundred gigs a year and literally constantly touring the world.

But let Mr Turner speak for himself – a short collection of my favourite songs - and lyrics. I tried to boil it down, but that turned out difficult - just as difficult as trying to write a feature as announced, that's why I chose this approach. ;)

Topics, Life and Stuff

“I'm young enough to be all pissed off
But I'm old enough to be jaded.
I'm of the age where I want things to change
But with age my hopes have faded.
I'm young and bored of being young and bored -
If I was old I could say I'd seen it all before.
In short, I'm tired, and in short I'm probably fired.
If the revolution doesn't want me I don't give a shit.”

(Once We Were Anarchists)

 

“I'm not as awesome as this song makes out
I'm angry, underweight and sketching out
I'm building bonfires on my vanities and doubts
To get warm just like everybody else

So why are you sat at home?
You're not designed to be alone
You just got used to saying "no"
So get up and get down and get outside”

(Reasons not to be an Idiot)

 

“None of this is going anywhere -
Pretty soon we'll all be old,
And no one left alive will really care
About our glory days, when we sold our souls.

But if you're all about the destination, then take a fucking flight.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell,
But we'll have all the best stories to tell.”

(The Ballad Of Me And My Friends)

 
“Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old
All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold
All the kids are talking slang I won't pretend to understand
All my friends are getting married, mortgages and pension plans
And it's obvious my angry adolescent days are done
And I'm happy and I'm settled in the person I've become
But that doesn't mean I'm settled up and sitting out the game
Time may change a lot but some things may stay the same

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up"

(Photosynthesis)

 

"Well a teacher of mine once told me
That life was just a list of disappoints and defeats
And you could only do your best,
And I said "That's a fucking cop-out, you're just washed up and your tired, and when I get to your age I won't be such a coward"
But these day I sit at home, known to shout at my TV
And Punk Rock didn't live up to what I hoped that it could be
And all the things that I believed with all my heart when I was young
Are just coasters for beers and clean surfaces for drugs
And I packed all my panflets with my bibles at the back of the shelf
[…] Oh but once we were young, and we were crass enough to care
But I guess you live and learn, we won't make that mistake again, no
Oh but surely just for one day, we could fight and we could win
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible

[…] Let's be heroes, let's be martyrs, let's be radical thinkers
Who never have to test drive the least of their dreams."

(Love Ire And Song)

“So to the heart, to the heart, there's no time for you to waste,
and you won't find your precious answers by staying in one place,
by giving up the chase.
I face the horizon, everywhere I go.
I face the horizon, the horizon is my home”

(The Road)

 “And here's what we believe: before we get bored, let's be inspired,
let's ignore the applause and set the theatre on fire,
fight every war like the drunks in the choir,
put our art where our mouths are: Poetry of the deed.
So enough with words and technical theses,
let's grab life by the throat and live it to pieces.
We can choose, we can change,
and if we don't, we're just afraid of living life
like we're loved and in love and alive
to all the things we could be if we just believed
that life is too short to be lived without poetry.”

(Poetry Of The Deed)

“It's clear we're getting older and it shows.
Work weeks make us weary now and school's a distant memory
and it's easy to ask questions of ourselves, like:
where it is we're going now and what we have to show for all the sunny days
shut up in the shells of expectations of our ultimate directions,
and the stations that we should have reached by now,
when we haven't read the script and our tender wings are clipped,
and we're scared we might be letting someone down.
So we listen to these heartbreak songs when nothing's really wrong,
and we smile when we're asked and say we're fine.
But we're drifting through our middle days,
creeping into middle age, setting in our ways...”

(Dan's Song)

Failed relationships and shit

"I'll only ever have myself to blame
These failures shift and save me in the night
Like a fever I can't break try as I might
Wake me darling I need you take me home
But I know in the end redemption is mine and mine alone
So if each of us is made of a tally of mistakes and successes
Then the hour in the restaurant makes my score less than impressive
If each can be redeemed with the courage by which he confesses
So darling I miss you, your music and your musk and your kisses
I don't think I can do this..."

(Redemption)
 

I never know which song I should play her -
Each melody is a memory of a not-forgotten failure.
So when I get out my guitar tonight to do what I do,
Remember, I probably didn't write this song,
No I certainly didn't write this song,
No I never, never wrote a song for you."

(Romantic Fatigue)

 

"You say “Worse things happen at sea”,
I say “Worse things have happened to me”.
Bitter eyes to the bedroom floor -
And we're not going to talk anymore,
We've got nothing to talk for,
And you've got nothing to be sorry for.
And I've got no one to care for.

This is the worst thing that's happened to me.
I guess worse things happen at sea." (speedy, angry version)
 

And my all-time favourite, if the walls feel like closing in:

“I keep having dreams of things I need to do
And waking up but not following through
But it feels like I haven't slept at all
When I wake to a silence and she's facing the wall
Posters of Dylan and of Hemingway
An antique compass for a sailor's escape
She says you just can't live this way
And I close my eyes and I never say
I'm still having dreams

And on the worst days
When it feels like life weighs ten thousand tons
I sleep with my passport
One eye on the back door
So I can always run
I can get up, shower, and in half an hour I'll be gone..." (I am disappeared)

And some positive outlook

"And I still believe (I still believe) in the sound,
That has the power to raise a temple and tear it down.
And I still believe (I still believe) in the need,
For guitars and drums and desperate poetry.
And I still believe (I still believe) that everyone,
Can find a song for every time they've lost and every time they've won.
So just remember folks we not just saving lives, we're saving souls,
And we're having fun.
And I still believe.

Now who'd have thought that after all,
Something as simple as rock 'n' roll would save us all."

 

“Because we write love songs in C, we do politics in G,
we sing songs about our friends in E minor.
So tear down the stars now and take up your guitars:
come on folks and try this at home.”

(Try This At Home)

To sum it up:

"It doesn't matter where you come from,
It matters where you go
No-one gets remembered
For the things they didn't do."
(Peggy sang the Blues)

ZWOA-UND-DRIESSG

The Head and the Heart!

A very cool band from Seattle. Typical indie-folk music combining traditional instruments and strings, with awesome scratchy vocals and great harmonies.

The harmonies really make this band for me, male and female vocals perfectly combined. Not very famous as far I I have heard, but they should be.
Here's a live taster from KEXP:

Cats And Dogs & Coeur D'Alene (Live on KEXP)


They have supported the likes of Vampire weekend, Iron & Wine, The Decemberists, Dave Matthews and the Walkmen!

Their single 'Rivers and Roads' was very popular and was used in some TV shows, including How I met your Mother...and one sports an awesome beard :)
Rivers and Roads


Two more great songs are:

Down In The Valley


Lost in my Mind


Sounds references for me include: Ben Howard, Mumford & Sons, Sufjan Stevens.
Enjoy :)

TRENTE-ET-UN

Well the past month I jumped overt the ocean and made my way to sunny South California. I hope I'll be able to discover many good bands around here to present on this blog.

To start with my American experience here is the band I wanna write about: Old Scratch. We were meant to see the Stone Foxes but they had a few intro bands so we never made it tosee them. However the first band is worth writing about. Old Scratch has a singer who has a voice like the guy from the Stereophonics and remembers a bit of the Black Keys. And he has a bow tie with white and red stripes! Very stylish :)

Really cool stuff, hopefully they'll make their way around many places ! Awesome live band.

Here is theie page to listen to their songs: http://oldscratchmusic.bandcamp.com/

DRIESSG

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Curious what we did the last month?

Well let us see:

Work, journey to Morocco, Haldern Pop, work….

Stop. HALDERN.

What can I say. This is the best festival in germany. Or europe. Or the world. :-)

The 29th edition of the festival was fully loaded with must see bands, newcomers and old loves. And this year it did not only “pop” it did rock.

Starting on Thursday 9th of August: I wanted to see: Willis Earl Beal, Jamie N Commons and of course Charles Bradley.

What I saw was: Emanuel & The Fear and The War On Drugs whilst queuing for the concerts in the Spiegeltent. And then right before entrance: let’s say my belly had some other imaginations for me. :-)

I enjoyed listening to Emanuel and also enjoyed TWOD. And my friends told me that Charles Bradley was just awesome. No surprise…

Friday 10th of August:

After a long night with some nice neighbours listening to Böhse Onkelz at highest possible volume I got up and tried to change into a human being again.

After coffee and a good swim in the lake the program began.

EFFI, White Rabbits, Dan Mangan, Ben Howard, Two Door Cinema Club, Jaga Jazzist.

Hear for yourself here:

ROCKPALAST

Other bands to mention: Zulu Winter, Daughter, Wendy McNeill, Oberhofer.

Exit Friday, tired.

Enter Saturday, wide awake.

Bowerbirds, Team Me, Grant Lee Buffalo, Boy & Bear, The Maccabees, The Afghan Whigs, Wilco

Other bands to mention: Arthur Beatrice, Alt-J;

Again:

Hear for yourself here:

ROCKPALAST

Sunday: tired but happy.

This years Haldern was a perfect festival. Nice people, very good bands, nice weather. Everything just like it’s meant to be. The post-haldern-blues is still here. But… SEE YOU NEXT YEAR.

NÜNAZWANZG

Haldern feature three:

How old are you? Do you know who Johnny Cash was?
Of course you know. But, do you know who Jamie N Commons is?

Born in Bristol, Commons moved to Chicago with his family at the age of six after his father's job transferred there. The first gig his father took him to was the Allman Brothers: "I have strong memories of strange-smelling smoke and the guy next to us howling like a wolf."

Nina

Returning to the West Country at 16 with a skewed accent, he taught himself the brass tacks of the guitar and, aged 18, moved to London to study music at Goldsmiths in New Cross.

For You To Learn

Singing the blues at 22 is a tough call. It's not just the baggage and breadth of the subject matter: you also need the right pipes and without them you risk parody.

Devil In Me

Fortunately Commons has them. After spending years trying and failing to imitate Gregg Allman, he found a substitute and the resulting sound is both rasping and lovely but inevitably studied, something he defends: "If I didn't think it was genuine I wouldn't sing in that way."

The Preacher

Can’t await the album. Give us some more blues Jamie!!! And thanks to The Guardian.

ACHTUNDZWANZIG

Today it's something special - thanks to Thank you scientist  and the depths of the internet through which I've come across this exciting new band, started listening and got hooked. The band comes from New Jersey, has 7 (!) members and plays roughly 20 instruments, among which are the trombone, saxophone and the flugelhorn (some career opportunity for you, Geri?). But be not misguided by this - it's progressive rock at its finest. When I started off listening to the band, my first impression was a strong Coheed and Cambria-resemblance. A few hours later, I guess that was mostly due to Salvatore Marrano and his vocals.

Thank you scientist are a lot more than that. Their website describes their sound as follows: "Progressive rock, jazz, fusion, classical, metal, psychedelic, 60s Pop and world music all seem to collide together at full speed, and the impact demands your attention."

Interesting? Right! Even more after reading about how their records came to be: The band have released an EP (The Perils of Time Travel) from which a few songs are featured on Youtube - check out Leave your light on, a brilliant song. Wanting to release a full studio album but not having been signed they decided to get their forthcoming (and now released) album Maps of Non-existent Places funded by fans.  And this actually worked out, so here it is: You can listen to the full-length album on the website for free. Youtube doesn't offer much at the moment, so this is the easiest way to get a better impression (c.f. above;)) and to listen to it in one sitting.

The album starts with a prelude and perfect acapella intro, only to switch to raw guitars immediately with the first song, a salesman's guide to non-existence. Here, you can already dive into the band's mastery of all different kinds of instruments and styles - after guitars, its vocals, trumpets and breaks which arebeing speeded up by drums to start over again - beautiful!

In most of the songs you can hear that all band members have been trained in classical and jazz music, a good example of that is feed the horses - atonal at first, the mixture brews and brews and changes to jazzy styles.

Still, this is music that needs to be listened to at a high volume - and you will need time for it. None of the tracks is shorter than 5 mins, Blood on the radio is even an epic 9 minutes, light inbetween, but keep listening, the guitar solo around the 7th/8th minute will blow you away.

I recommend listening to all songs, so I haven't linked all of them individually. If you want a teaser from that new album, My famed disappearing act  can be found on youtube.

So, what do you think? Coheed and Cambria? Or something new, thanks to Thank you scientist? And where does that weird band name come from anyway?

VINGT-SEPT

Today I found a great new channel to follow on VIMEO which is called "The Black Cab Sessions". My friend Astrid from Bogota posted this great video of  Michael Kiwanuka  sitting in a London Cab and singing a song. How fun is this to make a city tour and enjoy some great songs?

I made a list of some of my favorite bands who are listed there and dedicated to persons with whom I relate the band with. 

Click on the different links or simply browse the channel for more videos and enjoy! Cheers

Lykke Li - for Steffi reminding me of our trip in 2008

Winter Sleep - Mr. Hill introducing me to one of my favorite bands I never never never get tired of! Thanks for that!

The National - Mr. Dubé my concert buddy in Montréal seeing the National at Le National :D

The Ravonettes - Cameron suggesting me this Danish band whilst we were in Coppenhagen in Summer 2011.

Feist - Manu with whom I am sharing a nearly 20-year-old friendship and who is a huge fan of this Canadian lady :)

Laura Marling - Marit introducing me over the years with beautiful music through our monthly-cd-exchange. Laura Marling remaining one of my favorites.

The Kooks - Elli, because her eyes are always sparkling a bit more when "Seaside" is being played.

Fanfarlo - Geri & the Haldern Crew, because this band is one of those great Haldern Pop discoveries.

Death Cab for Cutie - Brun, a "lifelong" Death Cab for Cutie fan I reckon. Put it on his first mix cd for me.

Cloud Control - Sarah, always a lovely memory of the Bushstock Festival 2011 anf of course of you and the music of your hood ;)

Bombay Bicycle Club - Jassi introduced me to this awesome band in 2010.

Band of Horses - Kris because this makes me think of him no matter where he is.

Alela Diane - Judi since we shared this same type of music when I as in Canada and also to Lukas with whom I went to see a beautiful concert of this lady in a great location in Berlin, a church. Thanks for the acoustics!

Fionn Regan - Anto, because you love him so much :)

Jamie Lidell - Danyo reminding me of 2010 driving around in your car in beautiful Freiburg.

P.s.: And no this is not a ranking, simply the videos in the order I found them.

SECHSUNDZWANZIG

Today I get to do a short article on EFFI - first, it's a Haldern feature, second, it's Austrian and third it's perfect to pass the time waiting for summer and the desperately needed holidays. And to top it all off, the name EFFI is a reference to Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest, which for me as a German teacher is quite intriguing. ;)

There's not much to say about 1, except that I'm starting to look forward to this year's Haldern.

About 2: Thomas Petritsch is a singer/songwriter from Graz using electronic and acoustic instruments, and a large variety of those. Fortunately, he sings in English, and even better, he does so without a detectable accent (at least to me, this is something that always annoys me with German-speaking bands...).

About 3: Just check out Summer Sun to get a taste of happy tunes and refreshing simple, clear music.
For an even greater treat, check out Bye Baby and its video. I think the visuals are just ....cute.

Same is true for my favourite song of the day, Mars. Artsy stuff, but very childlike. I think his music has a childish, playful touch - and that's meant in a positive way. So, in case the sun and therefore summer have not yet arrived where you live, get a glimpse of the sun and listen to EFFI for a bit.

Which brings me to EFFI as a name again - as some fervent readers might know, Effi is not really what you'd call a light read. A stark contrast to the band!

His debut album is called Astronaut.

VINGT-CINQ

Just a short post from my side, which is not directed to some precific band or so, but which could fit to the Haldern mood though.

I am just working on a handbook for photoshop to leave in my office, and I thought that a bit of music in my left ear would be nice (my right one is fairly upset right now!).

Jumping from one video to another on YouTube I stumbled over a channel from KEXPradio. Lots of great live performance from "indie" musicians. Some where at Haldern, some may find their way there sometime.

Have a look at this endless library and enjoy maybe with both ears!

VIERUNDZWANZIG

...thanks Geri for keeping up the work, and especially for the last band!

Before we can get started on quality reviews of the upcoming Haldern artists,there's something I need to do: I used to be the biggest Smashing Pumpkins fan alive, and there was a time I would have torn anyone who didn't like them to pieces - and now I finally have no choice but to do this the other way around:

Billy Corgan (I refuse to call them the 'Smashing Pumpkins' since today they consist of guitarist Jeff Schroeder, drummer Mike Byrne and bassist/vocalist Nicole Fiorentino) sucks.

For those of you who are interested: The soon to be released new album Oceania can be pre-listened to at tape.tv. I've listened to it twice and nothing stuck. I never liked whatever happened after Machina, and that itself was borderline. I mean, I do like artists changing their sound and trying new stuff, but whatever Billy Corgan has been working on sounds like porridgy noise, bad drums, vocals that stick to the same pattern over and over again and guitar overload.

Listening to the opener of Oceania, Quasar, led me to believe for a second that something had changed, but that was a second only. The worst part are probably the lyrics, I haven't double-checked and admittedly, I wasn't too focused istening to catch every word, but it seems to be about love. Using all kinds of clichees. There are two songs that one could listen to, and these are the ballads of the album. The celestials is a beautiful ballad with female backup vocals like a celestial choir (har!), not too overburdened with sound,Violet rays another love song and quite intense, and er...actually a song called Panopticon, which is of course an epic title - at least. ;)

DREIAZWANZG

Admiral Fallow is a Scottish musical group formed in 2007 by singer/song-writer Louis Abbott and based in Glasgow. They write and perform folk/pop. Their first album “Boots Met My Face” was released in the UK and worldwide in 2011.

Old Balloons

Their song "Squealing Pigs" was used on NBC's Chuck, featured in a commercial and was performed live on BBC television's Hogmanay Live 2011. In July 2009 the band headlined the T Break Stage at T in the Park festival. They have also played at the Wee Chill, Rockness, Loopallu Festival and Insider festivals.

Squealing Pigs

The band has supported many artists - including Guillemots, King Creosote, the Futureheads, Paolo Nutini, Frightened Rabbit , Belle and Sebastian, The Low Anthem. In 2011 the band played a UK headline tour and also attended Austin, Texas for SxSW 2011. Shows followed in New York. UK summer 2011 festivals included Glastonbury, Latitude, Cambridge Folk Festival, Green Man, and End of The Road.

Beetle In The Box

They co-headlined the HMV Next Big Thing Festival 2012 and are touring for their next album release 21 May 2012 of Tree Bursts In Snow. The band members are: Louis Abbott, Kevin Brolly, Philip Hauge, Sarah Hayes, Joe Rattray.

What a sound…what an album…what a band...

Listen, listen, listen!!!!!!!!

The Paper Trench

ZWOAAZWANZG

First feature of this years Haldern Pop bands:

Today: Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires

Its late in the evening, the sun is going down, we all enter the Spiegeltent and we have some cool music to listen to.

Enter:

Charles Bradley (born 1948, Gainesville, Florida), commonly referred to as "The Screaming Eagle of Soul",
is a funk/soul/R&B singer signed to the Daptone Records label under the Dunham Records division.
His performances and recording style are consistent with Daptone's revivalist approach,
celebrating the feel of funk and soul music from the 1960s and 1970s.
One review stated that Bradley "echoes the evocative delivery of Otis Redding".

The World (Is Going Up In Flames)

Charles released his debut album “No Time For Dreaming” in 2011 at the age of 62.
Can you believe that?

Before his musical career he had hard times: no jobs, no money, no home.
This is reflected in his lyrics.

“This world
is going up in flames
and nobody
wanna take the blame
don't tell me
how to live my life
when you
never felt the pain”

Why Is It So Hard?

And never forget: The golden rule is LOVE!

Golden Rule

See you all in the Spiegeltent!!!

OANAZWANZG

Aloha hey Welt da draussen,

Heute nur ein kurzer Beitrag da in einem Internetcafe verfasst.

Am Montag hatten wir die Freude "Band Of Skulls" live im Gleis 22 in Münster zu erleben.

Sweet Sour

Tja und was soll ich sagen: It blew me away.

Die Intensität mit der die drei ans Werk gingen, der harmonische und elektrisierende Gesang von Russell Marsden und Emma Richardson und der Sog ihrer genialen Songs erzeugten eine intime, intensive Atmpshäre.

The Devil Takes Care Of His Own

Wenn ihr die Chance haben solltet sie live zu sehen: hingehen, hingehen, hingehen.

Fires

Ah yes and for everyone with english mother tongue: Go and see the "Band Of Skull"!!!

Why? See:

Zhe Devil Takes Care Of His Own (Live)

ZWANZG

I feel the drums of my tribe
beating away in me

they are a hard long scream
a ghoul gangrene

i nibble stones for bread
yell no amen for me

they are this night
all just breaking glass

drums, i write you from afar
hear my pounding heart

“Wopko Jensma”

"And So I Watch You From Afar" are a three-piece instrumental post-rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The band consists of Rory Friers on guitar, Johnny Adger on bass and Chris Wee on drums. They write largely instrumental music with group vocals in parts; Rory writes a lot of the music, but they arrange and contribute to these songs in the rehearsal room as a three-piece to make them into finished ASIWYFA songs; it is an ever-changing process.

At the end of August 2011 one of the four founding members, Tony Wright, left ASIWYFA and now plays music in his solo project VerseChorusVerse.

They released two albums:

The one from 2009 was self-titled and contained great songs such as

Set Guitars To Kill

or

S is for Salamander

In 2011 they launched their album “Gangs”, which could enter the Irish charts, including songs like

BEAUTIFULUNIVERSEMASTERCHAMPION

or

Search:Party:Animal

They continue to play gigs all over the planet and their fan base is growing fast. You could join them. Enjoy and let us know.

And don’t forget:

If it ain't broke... break it

NÜNZEHA

Hey guys, today in german...

Neigst du zu Fernweh?

Suchst du Freiheit?

Bist du heiß auf neue Erfahrungen?

Liebst du das surfen?

Hörst du gerne gute Musik?

Dann schau dir „The Drifter“ an. Dieser Film von und mit Rob Machado ist zwar schon drei Jahre alt, aber seine Faszination ungebrochen. Rob war ein sehr erfolgreicher und bekannter Pro-Surfer.

The Drifter (Trailer)

In „The Drifter“ entflieht er der Hektik und dem Stress unserer Welt und begibt sich auf eine Selbsterfahrungsreise nach Indonesien. Immer dabei natürlich: sein Surfboard.

José Gonzàlez - Heartbeat

Mehr und mehr entgleitet er so der Zivilisation, findet sich selbst in der Einsamkeit wieder, und konzentriert sich nur auf das Surfen und Schreiben.

Die verschiedenen Surf-Szenen sind wirklich faszinierend schön, Rob Machado zeigt was er kann. ;-)

Dr. Dog - Heart It Races (Architecture In Helsinki cover)

Und der Soundtrack erst: Exzellent. Von den Black Keys über die Raconteurs, Iron&Wine, Tegan and Sara, Midlake bis zu MGMT und Yeasayer spannt sich das Spektrum.

The Shins - Sleeping Lessons

Aber: Seid gewarnt: Dieser Film weckt Sehnsüchte aller Art. :-)

ACHTZEHN

Last week, after having taught the topic 'growing up in Canada' for two weeks, I asked my 7th graders to draw a mindmap about Canada. Result: Canada is all about Robin from HIMYM, and 'everyone loves Nickelback'. The latter is a result of the textbook authors' desperate attempts to create semi-authentic material...but hey, WAIT! Canada has a little more to offer.

The Rural Alberta Advantage's band name pretty much sums up what they are about, and listening to them does give you an idea of what growing up - and living - in Canada might actually feel like. And that's best summed up in a quote from their myspace page:

"The Rural Alberta Advantage play indie-rock folk songs about hometowns and heartbreak, born out of images from growing up in Central and Northern Alberta. They sing about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, ice breakups in the spring time and the oil boom’s charm, the mine workers on compressed, the equally depressed, the city’s slow growth and the country’s wild rose, but mostly the songs just try to embrace the advantage of growing up in Alberta."

And mostly the songs have a unique quality to them that had me listening to them for a few hours on repeat. They're not your typical folk band, but have some pretty much straightforward stuff as well. And they excel in the art of speed changes (?) and surprising songwriting. The band have released two albums so far, Hometowns and Departing.

Frank, AB
is about a landslide. Listen to it and wait for the end - the vocals are heartbreakingly beautiful.

Four night rider
is about passion - and the raw energy of it. Great.

The ballad of the RAA
And all these things will pass
It's the good ones that will last
And right here what we've had
Is a good thing, it will last.

I just noticed I could post almost every single one of their songs. I won't. Only two more:

Don't haunt this place
a break up song that has all all the ups and downs in it. And still a positive vibe.

and finally (the only song from Departing so far)
Tornado '87 - once again about a tragedy. And still - amazing. That's the one that got me hooked, btw. Thanks, Geri! :) I doubt my 7th graders will be able to grasp the greatness of this band - I learned Justin Bieber is Canadian. Well. Fair enough. It's not all about Nickelback.

DIX-SEPT

I am a Jack Johnson fan for a very long time. I was very into his music when his first album was hardly available in Germany. This was back in spring 2003.

That same year the second album “on and on” came out. But it was not before “in between dreams” in 2005 he had his big break through worldwide. And when suddenly everyone knew about him and his guitar, that even the Berlin metro news would talk about him, something about his magic was gone. Don’t take me wrong: I still think he makes great music but something from the fascination is gone. “Gone going” just like Mr. Johnson sang. Of course the first albums are much better than the later ones. The first fans always know better, believe me!

I wondered if it was something about the age. The older you get, the more you become an adult, the more you lose of the fascination for things and the magic for them as well. I listened to great music in the previous years but not much touched me again in the same way.

Until now (of course!)! And this person actually reminds me a bit of Jack Johnson: he is from an island and is a surfer. His island is surrounded by cold waters and gets through long cold and wet winters, nevertheless his music has all the Hawaiian heat Jack was able to create with his simple hymns.

The mystery man is called Ben Howard. He is from Devon, UK and enjoys the company of his guitar too. However he has a more sophisticated recording with violin and background vocals.

I am probably not a fan from the first hours in that situation. Maybe it’s because I am getting older and I am not spending enough time listening to music in such depth as I used to do. Maybe Ben made me over think this all tonight and reminded me that some passions should not be left along the way.

I hope that the following appetisers will also give you this warm positive and energetic feeling in your chest just like in mine. If spring is taking time to arrive, my spring just arrived in my heart through my little earplugs and I imagine myself running between flower fields and dancing to the sunset!

That’s enough of cheesiness for today!
Peace!

SECHZEHNEINHALB

It's about time I posted something, but again it's not music related. A while back a Denish friend of mine shared a link that I found intriguing: A photo project by a graduate of the Denish academy for journalism, Astrid Dalum, titled 'Jeg er kvinde', which translates as 'I am woman'. She has been awarded the Scanpic prize and rightly so. Even without text, the photos showing women of all ages and shapes get their message across - it's about women and their relation to their bodies.The black and white pics capture the women in a very individual, touching way. And the bodies we're speaking of here are not your usual magazine pictures. Just have a look and see for yourself. It certainly left a lasting impression on me...

And if you happen to be able to translate or decipher some Denish, you will find that the accompanying texts also have a story to tell.

SEACHZEHA

Sometimes I hate people.

Well. Not people in general, just the fact that some of them can’t stop chating during a concert.

I can’t understand why you pay 12 Euros to see a show and then sit at the bar and chat all the time.

I mean: if you don’t like the music – you should have informed yourself BEFORE the concert – and if you are there: Show some f…ing respect.

So that’s enough:

The concert I’m talking about was “Son Of The Velvet Rat” in Spielboden, Dornbirn on Friday the 13th of April this year.

Are The Angels Pretty?

What Georg Altziebler and his band delivered was intense, powerful and touching.
They played nearly every song from their great new album “Red Chamber Music”.

From country and blues to mariachi, folk and rock, americana and gospel this album includes everything.

White Patch Of Canvas

“Red Chamber Music” was recorded in Nashville with Wilco/Uncle Tupelo drummer Ken Coomer in charge of production.

“Moment Of Fame” and “White Patch Of Canvas” feature Lucinda Williams as duet partner. Heartbreakingly beautiful…

…tell her you love her in the eye of the twister - tell her you love her in the eye of the hurricane - son of a gun - this is your moment of fame… (Song is not online so check out their homepage:

SON OF A VELVET RAT

Everything’s Calm (But My Heart)

…let's do like the sleeping stars - & not waste our lights - up in the blue skies - but wait for the night - wait for the night to shine…

Sleeping Stars

Enjoy!

FUFZEHA

Do you like rock music???

Kyuss, Foo Fighters and QUOTSA calling???

Listen…

Ribozyme is a Norwegian hard rock band formed in 1998.
It features progressive drum beats, emotionally strong guitars and an ever-changing vocal style.
It has been classified as dark, but not Gothic; angry, but not violent; sad, but not tearful,
not hard, but still heavy.
And that’s a quotation from a Norwegian music website.

They released their fifth album "Presenting The Problem" this February.

Let’s hear some songs. Turn up the volume.

(Zilch) (2001)
Invidia (2003)
Blacklist Mercy (2006)

Climbing Sidewalks

March Of Crime (2009)

One Day Worth

Presenting The Problem (2012)

Presenting The Problem

Tell me: How do you like them?

Rock on.

VIERZEHA

Diver from Austria

Thanks to my fellow mates Anna, Julia, Mihaela, Basti, Giann and Henrik i heard that they are awesome.

With their debut-Album “Kites” they start their personal “trip that never ends”. Folk near Young Rebel Set, near Fanfarlo.

Illusions

Now we can start the summer with their music:

Summer

The three guys are from Vienna. I’m happy to hear that Austria can still produce some real good music. They would use their songs for movies like “Garden State”, “The eternal sunshine of a spotless mind” or “Herr Lehmann”. So they have to be good.

The Theory (from their debut-EP)

Listen!

DRIZEHA

“The Australian band have taken the country by storm. By "Dark Storm" to be precise. After having supported bands like Tegan and Sara in the past and showcasing at One Movement Festival 2010 in Perth, the Sydney four-piece recently released their 3rd EP "Dark Storm" as a final addition to their EP trilogy which started in 2009.

Hurt Me

The song "Hurt Me", lead single of their second EP "She's so hard" (09/09) was an instant success in Australia as well as in Europe also thanks to heavy support of Australia's radio station Triple J who place a strong emphasis on Australian unsigned bands and alternative music and have become very influential on local record companies in the past.

Easy To Love

Vocalist Hayley May's style reminds us of Kate Bush and Florence (and the Machine) yet is truly unique. Expect irresistible deep, dark and mysterious pop hooks that will stay with you from the first time you listen.”

Posted on Krasse Kresse on January 17th, 2011. Former blog of Nathalie our “ghost writer”. :-)

Nothing more to say to that. Except: “The Jezabels” are wonderful. Some would say they are too “kitschig” and too emotional, but that’s their way of making the world a better place.

Endless Summer

And now it’s here: Their first album. Called “Prisoner”. The Jezabels take us as prisoners and never let us go again. The band plays with romantic themes: death, longing, love, naturalism.

Go out and dance on a summer meadow. Enjoy the sun, listen to music.

Catch Me

DOUZE

First my deepest apologies for making my début on this blog only now... The reasons are uninteresting and definitely not fitting on this music blog.

So who gave me the little kick to finally write something down?

The Paper Lions! Never heard of them before! Me neither! I just stumbled over a video of them via Facebook via YouTube (our happy social media!Yeah!). For once those seem to be of good use!

I listened to a couple of their songs tonight and they just fit to my current mood: spring has finally arrived, the warmth is resting on my skin and the birds are replacing my alarm clock in the morning!



A few words about that band: they are Canadian! Hurray! I spent a few months in that awesome country and I am pleased to post a few more bands in the near future from there.

For today I think Paper Lions represent the country well.

And for a little touch of humour here another video from the band:



A plus +

ELF

Heard again and again and again…

One of my favourite bands is “Long Distance Calling” from Münster in Germany. Some people declare their music as Post-Rock, they themselves see it as Instrumental-Rock.

Into The Black Wide Open

On each of their studio albums, there is a song with a guest singer.

With John Bush (Armored Saint, Anthrax):

Middleville

The most important influences for Long Distance Calling are post-rock and progressive rock bands such as Isis, Tool, Mogwai, Dredg and Porcupine Tree.

2007: Satellite Bay
2009: Avoid the Light
2011: Long Distance Calling

Black Paper Planes

The song Arecibo (Long Distance Calling) was named after the town of Arecibo in Puerto Rico, the observatory there is the second largest radio telescope in the world. On 16 November 1974, the so-called Arecibo message was sent to potential aliens into space. For this reason, the band's name was hung on the song title.

Arecibo (Long Distance Calling)

Turn up the volume!!! And if you have the chance to see them live: DO IT!!!

ZEHA

“Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the southern region of Andalucía. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain, neighboring Portugal (where it is known as gaspacho) and parts of Latin America. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its refreshing qualities and cold serving temperature.”

Massive Illusion


Ah yeah. With garlic please. :-)

No. Gazpacho is a norwegian band best consumed when you are in the mood for “classical post ambient nocturnal atmospheric neo-progressive folk world rock”.

Missa Atropos


Jan-Henrik, Jon-Arne and Thomas started the band in 1996 (yes I’m that old), bringing us their seventh album called “March Of Ghosts”.
Without the backing of a major label, Gazpacho is one of many bands now utilizing the resources of the Internet to create word of mouth promotional opportunities. This allows the band to still manage to release an album a year with total artistic control over their compositions and distribution.

Black Lily


Their music has been labeled to be a mixture of A-ha, Radiohead, Marillion and Porcupine Tree. Sounds weird, maybe it is. But just enjoy the music.

Outside
A yellow moon gives away the night
To morning sun that watches us,
You lay your hand in mine
It's good, so good
Feel the starving light of this day
Can't you?
We know it's good

Over the cities under the stars
Through the volcano surf a river of fire
Hunting with tigers in the grass in the fields
Surfing on rainbows climbing the trees
Winter is never…

Winter Is Never


Remember: Winter Is Never.

NEUN

Things are slipping my mind too quickly, therefore a brief report on last Wednesday's gig at the Gleis, probably one of the best clubs around (and that's not only Münster) when it comes to indie music.

On the menu: Swimming and The Megaphonic Thrift - I was lucky and won free tickets. Not much to say about swimming - I only listened to a few of their songs, nice enough, a bit of electronic sounds, atmospheric. Check out a couple of their songs on youtube, e.g. Island in the Sun

The Megaphonic Thrift put a lot of energy on stage, despite the small crowd at the venue. The Bergen-based Norwegians consist of 4 guys and a girl, with a female/male voice. Starting most of their songs quite slowly they eventually create a soundwall that kind of blows you away, especially at the volume they chose. :) They've got a phenomenal drummer (I think), a driving bass and a more noisy attitude to songwriting than most indie bands at the moment. Thus, their songs start slowly and sort of develop...interchanging harmonic and disharmonic tunes, a gradual increase of guitars and driving drums and all of a sudden, you feel teleported back to the 90s and some great moments in alternative music.
Undertow is a good example of that. Having been the greatest smashing pumpkin fan for most of my life, I found quite a few similarities.

A band calling one of their songs Acid Blues certainly does not lack self-esteem. That song has - once more - a driving energy, and if I'm not completely mistaken that was also the song the band decided to end their show with - including experimental feedback (is that the term you use when you place your guitar close to the amp?) which lasted for hours. My ears will definitely remember.

Since I never listened to that band before, I can't shake the feeling tho that a lot of their songs resemble each other strongly - maybe that changes when you're familiar with their songs?

ACHTE

We Are Augustines – but why?

Because the two masterminds are born in August, that simple. Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson first had a band called Pela, but due to problems with their record company and some familiar issues they decided to start a new project.

Here they are – coming from Brooklyn, New York – bringing us the finest Indie Rock on their debut album “Rise Ye Sunken Ships”.

"The old man turned and scratched his chin
He said "Son I wouldn't know where to begin, but your daddy's gone,
he's gone down south.. It was all he would talk about""

Juarez

It’s packed with intense, pure and electrifying songs, bringing out the roughness of songwriting. It was produced by Dave Newfield, best known for his work with Broken Social Scene.

"On a park bench sat a crimson beating heart
and behind him the girls played double dutch in the park
The sun began to burn his snow white skin
I guess your either headin' somewhere or endin up somewhere..."

Book Of James

This is their first single released in the UK.

They got recognized by a greater audience through the amazing snowboard movie “The Art Of Flight”. (I could write a story just about this outstanding piece of art, even as a non-snowboarder)


Art Of Flight Uno

Art Of Flight Dos

And this is the song from the soundtrack:

"Well there goes my girl
Into the chapel
Now she's walking down the aisle
And it feels just like a mile
And I shake shake shake like a leaf
And I'm lyin' lyin' lyin' through my teeth
I got a pocket full of handshakes
And it don't mean nothin'"

I want to see them live. Do you?

SIEBNEINHALB

As announced, something else: It's still not the Frank Turner feature which I haven't gotten round to just yet, but as usual, FT has written some lyrics that fit today's entry: I face the horizon everywhere that I go - I face the horizon, the horizon is my home (the road)

Being somewhat stuck here with my job, I don't get to travel as much as I'd like to, but I have just come across a beautiful homepage that soothes some of that longing.
veoelmundo means 'I see the world' in Spanish and shows fantastic travel photos, one picture a day, and I really like the idea of getting a glimpse of faraway places once a day. Also, the pictures are really good, as far as I can tell. Today, it'S Morocco, and the vibrant colours make me look forward to Istanbul in May. I admire people who have the guts to start something new, like the guy who started the website and apparently left his job as a lawyer in Australia to spend his time travelling and taking pictures. So...It's not all about music!

SIEBNE

„Ante Up“ – „Hang It Up“ (Listen and know.)

Shake your moneymaker, shake your booty and shake what your momma gave ya.

We are celebrating the second album of The Ting Tings.

Yeah exactly: the guys (Katie White and Jules de Martino) who brought us party anthems like “That’s not my name” or “Shut Up And Let Me Go” back in 2008.

That's Not My Name

Now they bring us their second album “Songs From Nowheresville”. It’s the ominous, difficult second album.

It took them four years. They first tried to record it in Berlin – but they trashed a nearly finished album because they didn’t like the songs.

And now?

We have “Hang It Up” – a nearly typical Ting Tings song.

Hang It Up

They try to experiment more with electro and even ska. I like that song “Soul Killing”.
Especially the “bed sports” sample. :-)

Soul Killing

On the deluxe version you can find “Hands” – they song that was in between the two albums.

Hands

So how is it? I like their experiments. Some songs grow with listening, some really ruin your nerves.

Check it out for yourself!!!

SIX

Heute mal auf Deutsch: Tanzen ist ein ganz gutes Stichwort für das am Samstag im Gleis in Münster stattgefundene Großereignis namens Bauchklang live.

So groß war das Großereignis dann gar nicht, da noch lange nicht ausverkauft - umso mehr Platz zum Tanzen also! Aber dazu sollte es erst spät kommen...Vorband waren Active Child aus den USA, ein Ein-Mann-Projekt bestehend aus Pat Grossi, der chorale Klänge mit Synthie-Sounds kombiniert - und noch Unterstützung von Drummer und Harfenspieler mitbrachte, um das Gleis in eine tranceartige Atmosphäre zu tauchen. Wunderschön, fließend, melancholisch - Hanging on ist hierfür ein schönes Beispiel. Gegen Ende kam dann auch noch etwas Bewegung in die Menge, die dann auch lautstark Zugabe forderte - leider vergeblich. Active Child wären definitiv was für's Haldern, nachts. Spät. In einem halbleeren Zelt. Eher Wunschdenken, leider.

Als Bauchklang die Bühne betraten, dauerte es auch einen Moment, bis die Diskrepanz zwischen der Atmosphäre der Vorband und dem nun einsetzenden Beatsspektakel überwunden war - aber dann war alles gut. Ich hab immer noch nicht ganz verwunden, dass das tatsächlich alles mundgemacht war - abgefahrener Scheiß, tatsächlich. Und das Konzert hat meine lange brachliegenden HipHopGene wieder geweckt - die Jungs haben eine unglaublich gute Stimmung gemacht, lokale Beatboxer auf die Bühne geholt und einfach gefeiert. So auch das Publikum - ich habe niemanden beobachtet, der nicht zumindest mit dem Kopf genickt hätte. Wirklich tanzbar... Und eine wirklich sympathische Band, obwohl sie Ösis sind :) - das haben sie gekonnt ausgespielt, indem sie sich in ihren Ansagen gleichwohl über uns Deutsche unbd sich selber lustig gemacht haben. Die Zugaben waren denn dann auch reichlich... Schön war's! Und noch ein Pluspunkt für Österreich! :)

FÜFE

Clap your hands and say :“Blaudzun“. Then start dancing and singing. And finally let your mind float into beautiful places.

Flame On My Head

This happened to me when I was listening to the new album of Johannes Sigmond aka Blaudzun. Heavy Flowers is a masterpiece of singer/songwriter art.

Coming from the Netherlands and being very well known there, he now starts to take over the rest of the world.

Heavy Flowers

Maybe you can check him out on some festivals this summer.
Haldern maybe??? Definitely Lowlands.

VIER

Feeling a bit under pressure! Haven’t come across anything new and good recently. As much as I dislike the fact that I have to work, I always enjoy the time it takes me to drive to school. The joys of commuting – I really love driving my car ( I haven't got an electronic donkey yet) and listening to music.

After reading about their gig at the Haldern Pop bar last weekend, I checked out You say France & I Whistle – nice enough and I imagine seeing them live is heaps of fun, but to me they sound too much like Los Campesinos. Which in itself is not bad if you feel like jumping around to shrill female (and male) vocals, staccato guitars, electronic noise and musical bling-bling in the background. Don’t let song titles like ‘When lovers die’ mislead you – a lot of feel good party potential there.

Speaking of song titles, I’m also not too happy about the lyrics. It’s a Swedish indie band, and maybe I am prejudiced in some way ever since Friska Viljor spilled out some horrible lyrics, but but lines like ‘ I always want to fuck ‘cause there’s nothing wrong with my potency’ (Prom Queens) really turn me off. Even though songs like OMG prove that most of it is probably meant ironically. I like listening to songs that tell a story, have a message, deeper meaning. That’s why I find it difficult to listen to something that makes me want to pull my hair out.

Now, You say France & I Whistle’s happy tunes certainly relieve a lot of tension, and some exceptions to the rule like ‘Second thoughts’ are quite enjoyable. I don’t know why they just don’t sound right to me. Must have something to do with the fact that their music doesn’t seem to stick. And that it's not that original in terms of genre, Los Campesinos did quite a good job there already. Maybe it's also related to the time of year, I'll doublecheck soon, once winter is over.

Until then I keep listening to the brilliant Frank Turner to cheer me up. And beware, I am planning on doing a huge feature of him some time soon!

PS: If you have a spare ticket to one of their shows, I wouldn't mind seeing them live, tho!