Soft, sweet, big, slow, lovely Oslo

It's always a strange feeling coming back to this city that I like to call my home. The moment the train comes out of the tunnel right outside the city, it's like my shoulders fall down from under my ears and I start to relax. It's a little bit like meeting an old familiar friend that floats against me and takes me into it's arms and says "Welcome home, are you ready for new adventures and sights?". For me Oslo is more than anything a feeling, and now it's the lazy, slow, big, soft, sweet feeling of the summer city that meets you.

The feeling also brings with it all them memories I have of this city. The way the light falls on the buildings in March (low and almost like a flash light), the way the cars, trams, buses and people struggles through the first snow, the silence in the city on my way home on a late evening, the empty streets of Easter, the rumble of tourists from all over the world that is a sure spring sign, and the view of the city and all the green of Hovedøya and the leaves in it's parks in the autumn, when the whole city breaths out after a hectic summer. Oslo for me is one of the most beautiful places in the world and equals for me the beauty of the Norwegian mountains I have seen this week.

Some days I hate the random people of this city, but mostly I truly love them.

The mother and the little kid with the dog at Oslo s: the kid looses the dogs lead and walks giggling after it, while the dog goes slowly after the mother, before she turns around sees what's going on and gathers together child and dog and we all laugh together.

The affectionate father with his little kid on a bus that makes a sound like a seagull, which makes us all turn around and the father says laughing:" No, I am not torturing him!" which makes us all laugh.

The bus driver who decides to give us all a guided tour and wishes us all a happy day. The man that at 22 o'clock on Wednesday in February decides to bring a canoe into the bus, and makes us all giggle and smile a bit.

I love it when little things like this happen. It makes me love the people and the city.

I love the nature, the silence and the mountains of Norway. But Oslo, Oslo is my home, where I feel like myself.

Fran Healys first singel from his solo album

I have for months been awaiting Fran Healy of the band Travis' new solo album. As followers of this blog will have noticed, I am huge fan of Travis. I think I might be just as big fan of Andy Dunlop's guitarsolos as Fran's writing skills though. They have been a little up and down the last years too, I think, though I really liked their last album where they went a little back to their rock'n'roll roots. Anyhow I was eager to hear Fran's new song, but at the same a little prepared that it would be a bit boring maybe. And yepp, I am sad to say, but I was right. It's a very cute little pop song, but not particularly catchy, the lyrics seam quite random and a bit boring, and yepp I really miss the sound of the rest of the band. It's just quite frankly a little blend. I don't hate it, but it doesn't give me a little kick like a lot of Travis songs do. Let's hope there are other stuff to come from the album that I will like better or/and that Travis will come back soon. I am sure they will and sometimes you have to try something else to see what you are missing ;)

Here you can judge for yourself:
http://www.spin.com/articles/exclusive-song-travis-fran-healy-goes-solo

Fran is also writing a quite amusing little blog and he wrote about trying to fill inn for Tom Cheplin of Keane the other day. Very well written. Here.

Modeselektor and Thom Yorke - The White Flash

This is a song I have been listening to a lot lately. It has some of the greatest drums and bass I have ever heard in my whole life. What is also very clear to me is that Thom Yorke has listened a lot to Modeselektor when he made his solo album, and at the same time it's quite clear that he must at some point has been involved with the process of writing this song as it sounds a lot different from most other Modeselektor stuff and somehow a bit Thom Yorkeish. To summarize: it's a great result of a great collaboration. I have tried to listen to Modeselektor a lot after this, but somehow it's not the same without mr. Yorke. Guess it is the magic touch somehow. Well, enjoy.

Spotify link and Youtube: