M Ward @ Peace & Love 2012

 "The little things you say and do
make me want to be with you"

How can you argue with that?

M Ward - Rave On

10 great albums from 2011

Getting this out there a little late, I know. But I’ve been really busy trying to be a dad and also trying to be an engineer. I wish I had listened to more albums of 2011. I’ve been trying to catch up now in January, so if I were to wait with doing this list its likely it would change. But but, that’s neither here nor there. On with the list! (Oh, and I haven’t bothered rating them. They’re all great.)

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

You shouldn’t be surprised since it’s my favorite artist and this latest album was awesome. I would've included the live album unless I counted it a little unfair since some of the songs are the same.

Veronica Maggio - Satan i Gatan

I feel like I should say I’m embarrassed to put this commercially successful pop-princess among my top 10. But I am not. I think it’s a stellar album with a nice mix of happy and sad, both feeling equally real and relatable. Lovely voice. Nice production by Christian Waltz.

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

I will say it’s not as shockingly amazing as the debut, but its fantastic.

Bright Eyes - The People's Key

It’s all in the first guitar riff. Love the Bright Eyes.

Jonathan Coulton - Artificial Heart

The wonderfully hilarious and nerdy JoCo is doing it for real this time. I [artificial heart] this one!

Florence and the Machine – Ceremonials

Massive, grand, stunning.

Dan Mangan - Oh Fortune

A new discovery for me, singer/songwriter Dan Mangan is a welcome addition to my stable of guitar playing males.

Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind of Fix

BBC change it up and although it sounds very different from Flaws, its another really satisfying release.

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

Swedish sensation. Saw her live as well in 2011 and love-love-loved it.

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

Well, honestly I havent listened to this as much as I would have wanted but I’m pretty sure it is one of my 10 favorites.

---

If you want the whole list as a Spotify playlist it’s HERE

So, had I been a more active listener in 2011 I think PJ Harvey and Tori Amos would have been included….

Now it’s time for daddy to clean-sleep-getup-gotowork

//Peace

Aye, Scotland!

Time for another little list of tips. Since I have a soft spot for Scots and their music, here are a top five of awesomeness:

- The Blue Nile with the album Hats was imprinted on me as a kid and I wont bother analizing why I find it great. When I listen to it now it so obviously comes from a different time. That sound is such an early nineties thing, but the songs are, to me at least, timeless.
- The Twilight Sad I've pushed for before so I will just say that they have an album coming out early 2012 which I am really looking forward to.
- King Creosote is someone I'd describe as creative and uneven. The album Bombshell is an exceptionally sweet treat for the ears though without much experimentation going on. Just solid songs and fun, honest lyrics.
- Frightened Rabbit, with the album Midnight Organ Fight, are beyond amazing. Just listen to it. Lyrics are sharp and grimy at times, beautiful at other times. Great singer. Fantastic music.
- Finally, Mogwai. Staying on top of their game and making instrumental music that never gets dull or repetitve. Stellar.

Here are the links:
http://open.spotify.com/track/5QdCF787uW936z4VVwxoqP
http://open.spotify.com/track/18Z7Ehcka2EmyD1ugCimvQ
http://open.spotify.com/track/73DeoMexuW8pe79TbhSyAP
http://open.spotify.com/track/6CLeKKBEbzeCLZuT8qj3F0
http://open.spotify.com/track/3aJwMPwAwlFZLn2gpn3oPV

I lost teeth and gained wisdom

"I lost teeth and gained wisdom"


Bretón – The Well

(another shot from my IKEA death star experiment)

Love the underdog

Here my next top 5 (not in order). Let's call it Top 5 artists that deserve a larger audience (well, I think.. I am of course writing from my Swedish perspective and maybe elsewheres they get what they deserve)

Ani Fuckin Difranco: The definition of indie who's lyrical genious is baffling. She's got a ton of amazing stuff in the back catalogue. Here's just one.
http://open.spotify.com/track/4CRwUrxl1d2OY0ESytmD3W

A Fine Frenzy. Redhead with sensational voice and great songs. Her two albums are among my most played and even though it's real easy on the ears I've never heard a note played on the radio etc.. I think she might be releasing something new in a while.
http://open.spotify.com/track/67FFfz4XGUhgU4cBNGmliy

Jeff Harms. A lo-fi multitalent with great voice and a soft, sweet sound. Fun, smart lyrics.
http://open.spotify.com/track/4rNGsMRNYmvpRTc9b8tYlG

The Twilight Sad. I'm gonna make a top list of scotish artists soon and I will push for tTS again. I think they're amazing, but then I have a thing for the accent. A bit rough and noisy, but give it a few listens and I think you'll come round. I recommend you start with downloading their free acoustic ep by signing up for a mailing list at http://thetwilightsadblog.blogspot.com/.
Or listen to this; http://open.spotify.com/track/5s8T7OGQeKYanhmG4ma4gv

Call him Rasmus Kellerman or Tiger Lou. In my opinion the coolest singer/songwriter out of sweden. Great arrangements and studio work. A totally overlooked genious. And if you have a chance to catch him live, like Nike; Just Do It. Here he is in a great video (w crappy quality) http://youtu.be/4Nps8w2HkMU

AntiPop Consortium. I know it's a top FIVE, and I suspect you all are into guitar-based music but when it comes to deserving a bigger audience I can vouch for ATP. Spearhead hip hop, which takes time to love but it is Oh So WORTH IT. When they came to play Stockholm there were some 50 guys and gals in the audience which I could hardly believe. Best kept secret. Oh, and they're on Spotify both as Antipop Consortium and Anti-pop Consortium (sigh..) Here's a taste: http://open.spotify.com/track/3rIJdvgxWOzhGOxhlq4mRW

GoodTube

Probably my last update for a while, it's time for a vacation! This time it's a YouTube theme with a few awesome artists. Julia and Jay I found before either of them had released their albums and I must say it was with varying success they transferred from their own bedrooms to the studio. Nevermind, just want to highlight the greatness of the medium for artists to reach out with their music. Julia Nunes recently had unprecedented success in selling her new album BEFORE IT WAS RECORDED using the KICKSTARTER concept. More on that here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/254268679/julia-nunes-would-be-nothing-without-me
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdCiIKie21s

I also want to bring your attention to a few cool channels that record beautiful videos of good artists and put them up for free, namely the Watch.Listen.Tell, Station Sessions and Zeit Online: Rekorder.

Enjoy. And enjoy summer. I'll be back in a month or so.
/PO

Julia Nunes:
http://youtu.be/Mbiql_-H4KU
Jay Brannan (fast forward to 2:40 to skip a long talking session)
http://youtu.be/eVuhdIK2E7o
Lucy Rose (Station Sessions)
http://youtu.be/Eo6aSFYgtjY
Lykke Li (Zeit Online)
http://youtu.be/5_7GpjWTxDg
Dry the River (WatchListenTell)
http://youtu.be/J4EoNZQ0reI

_Rabbit Will Run

We've all lived in grace at the end of the day
And we've armed all the children we thought we betrayed
And I still have a prayer, but too few occasions to pray

(The fantastic Iron & Wine @ Debaser, Sthlm, Sweden 2011-02-02)
More here

Oh, The divorces!

She's great. She's back. She's Tracey Thorn. Go listen to her album here.

A girl with a bird she found in the snow

A girl with a bird she found in the snow

---
And on an informative note Spotify have recently removed some of my favorite albums so some past links may not work anymore.. Boo and hiss. It is an annoyance that agreements with record labels and artists seem to be subject to random changes without information.

>:-(

For this reason I feel I should tell you that there are alternatives to Spotify, albeit being on more shaky legal ground and I have no idea if the artists get anything for being listened to. Check out grooveshark at www.grooveshark.com. It's free and it's commercial free. I just figured out how to share tracks from GS so I'll be starting to do that from now on when Spotify fails..

Take care

Peace on earth

P O W

And we can dance like open windows in the evening air

And we can dance like open windows in the evening air

for something

I'm almost done
and the fine line between
this and some dream
is that I sold my soul
for something
i could never give

People climbed into the night like cool wells

People climbed into the night like cool wells
Shiny bottles in their hands
Drinking their new selves
They say it's their true selves

i hate this place i hate this crowd

it's cold in here
the music is too loud
i hate this place
i hate this crowd

All clothed in black

What once was clothed in white
Bears the bruise of a burden

If you just hold in your breath

If you just hold in your breath
'Til you come back up in full
Hold in your breath
'Til you've thought it through
You fool

Shooting up the ladder

You're pink you're young you'e middle-class
they say it doesn't matter
fifteen blue shirts and womanly hands
you're shooting up the ladder

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Mid-sweet-talk
newspaper word cutouts

They made it past the enemy lines

They started out beneath the knowledge tree.
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences,
And, marching along the railroad tracks,
They smile real wide for the camera lenses.
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines.

There'll be no comprimising

Cold, no heat on the horizon
guess I'm cold
there'll be no comprimising
cold
cool
cold
stone cold


(This is an old favourite of mine from the great Tears for Fears... enjoy)

They scour the earth for the things they saw in your tiny little hands

They raise you up like a God onto your tiny little stand
Until their faith, once like a rock, is ground up turning into sand
They scour the earth for the things they saw in your tiny little hands
You see, they're old enough to dream but just too young to understand
Gabriella, was this all part of your plan?