New single - Amund Maarud - Dirty Laundry

I grew up in a fairly small community in the Norwegian countryside. A classic case of everybody knowing everybody. As a kid I was part of the local children's theatre group which meant that we would go around and have little plays on openings of shopping malls, homes for the elderly and anything else that was on in the area. Lots of singing of the local community songs etc. Being such a little place, you would also know of the other local cultural acts of the area. One of them was two brothers and their father who had their own little band, and quite surprisingly for someone in the countryside of Norway in the 90's, they played blues. These kids where a few years younger than me, but all ready then I remember them being brilliant. They where also somewhat mysterious. These guys came from an to me almost unknown place far north into the woods of our community, they even had a different dialect.

As time past they grew and it's been a thrill to follow how Amund has grown and gotten better and better as a songwriter, singer and last, but not least, as a guitarist, almost always backed by his brother Henrik on the drums. I am sure the father brings out his bass occasionally still.

Blues has never been my favourite musical style. I dig the soul and honesty of it, but it usually drives me a bit crazy after a few songs, because it tends to be the same chord progressions again and again. Nevertheless I was thrilled when I saw that Amund had a new single out and curious to what he was doing now. And wow, I was surprise, amused and baffled! Not only has he managed to keep the gritty, dirty lovely bluesy style, BUT he has developed and mixed it with rock in a brilliant arrangement. The verses start up with a classic bluesshake, and refrain suuucks you right in and makes me think of the greatest moments in Jack Whites music and somehow also Arctic Monkeys at it's best. And just when it's on the verge of getting a bit boring, there are brass and there is guitar, oh there is fantastic guitar. It's like for the first time we can see the soul and heart of the artist. This gives me the chills, this is quality, this is great. I am so looking forward to hear the rest of the album!

The video for the song Dirty Laundry is also quite striking and extra heart-warming. Gritty, strange and makes me think of David Lynch and the series Carnivale. At the same time it is heart-warming, because this is the environment I grew up in. Recognize the hills and barns. It's been a long time since I have gone: "wow, this is something" after hearing a song for the first time. And this, this certainly is something good. Enjoy!

(wow. just realized that the video is filmed by an old classmate of mine. This just keeps getting better.) Dirty laundry on Spotify

Frontwomen - Gwen Stefani and Shirley Manson

For some reason I had no idea that No Doubt where releasing a new album so I was pleasantly surprised when I found it late last night. Not brilliant, but quite good poppy, I thought. This morning I decided to look for a clip for "Stand and deliver". It's growing on me, that song, and I wanted to pass it on to a friend of mine. What I found, made my eyes fill up with water; two of my favourite frontwomen on one stage. There are few that have such presence, energy, uniqueness and are so much themselves as Gwen and Shirley! Feel that energy, darn it, wish I had been there!Didelly qua qua!


(I think there will be more about the No Doubt album later, it's really growing on me. You can listen to it here.)

Arts and crafts: Knitting, crocheting and audio books..

Yesterday I went out and bought the biggest ball of yarn I have ever seen. I got the pattern from the fantastic site Garnstudio. It's a Norwegian site who give out free patterns for all kinds of things for knitting and crocheting and they even tell you how expensive the yarn will be. I had a look through the page for a woollen jacket, since we are moving to a colder part of Norway and I intend to walk to work every day, I need something warm. So, I decided on this one. To my surprise I saw that one just need ONE ball of yarn for it, and I imagined it had to be pretty big, and my oh my, it is! You can see the colours and the size below. The last years I have also started knitting very loosely for some reason, the pattern says that I should use nr 6 in knitting needles, and I had to go all the way down to 4,5 to get it to not be in elephant size. But now I am on my way. It's so fun to knit with multicoloured yarn, you feel like something is happening even though you are just knitting back and forth.

Another project for this summer is a blanket for our bed, it's crocheted in long rectangular strips and than put together in the end. This is the first of the strips. I doubt that I will be done this summer, but the pattern is quite easy, so I can do it quite fast. Nice to do while watching tv for instance.

While crocheting and knitting I have since I was a teenager loved to listen to good audio books. I have not done it in a long while now, but the discovery of Ordflyt has changed it for me. It's almost like Spotify only with audio books! They have published a lot of classics for free, so yesterday I enjoyed a classic Norwegian "farmers drama" from the 1800's, kinda the Norwegian version of Jane Austen :) Today there will be more of Thomas Hardy's book "The Mayor of Casterbridge". Brilliant so far. Ordflyt is a Norwegian service, but there are sure to be something similar in English??

Have a good Sunday, good people. Soon packing and new adventures awaits.

Friday Fun: Ok Go - Needing/Getting

Since it's Friday it's time to post some fun to, while I am at it! Me and my boyfriend have become addicted to Ok Go during this spring. It all started with their fantastic videos, even though I had heard "Get over it" a long time ago and really loved that too. Thinking closer, that might have been because of the video too..

Here is the latest one so far: Needing/Getting. This features a very strange version of the song, so I will also post you a link to the original further down on the page. And listen to the lyrics. Ok Go's singer/songwriter was breaking up with this wife, and oh, how one can feel that. So sad! And the video itself? Just observe! All the sounds are made by the things around the car, I thought there was just some at first, but oh noo!

This song has gotten me through a lot the last weeks... It makes you want to suck it up and get out there again.

New Album: Maximo Park - The National Health

Thankfully a spare moment to write a little blog post. The last year has been full off work and studies and stress from one place to the other. Now my studies are over and I actually have three days of for the first time in longer than I can remember.

Hope you are having a good summer everyone. We had a fantastic 2 week summer as I was writing my latest assignments for my studies. When it went to over +30C in the appartment, my boyfriend started fanning me and kept serving me ice cubes constantly. I want that kind of weather now! Or maybe in the beginning of July. We are also moving soon, so I think there might actually be some posts in the "life" category too, soon.

So! To Maximo Park. Maximo Park snuck into my life maybe 7 years ago. I kept hearing their song (Going missing) on a local radio station again and again and loving it and wondering what it was. This was on the other hand one of these radio station that only tells their listeners once every hour what you have been listening too, and by the time they revealed that information the headphones were off and I was out of the tram and safe and sound at home. Finnally I found out what it was and since I have been a fan.

I loved parts of singer Paul Smiths solo album that came out a few years back, but very excited to hear a new Maximo Park album. They have a very unique energy and intensity that makes me want to jump up and down and go crazy to the music. The single from The new album with the same title, The National Health came a while ago and I instantly really loved it. On this album they have more electronic elements, sounding like 80's synths, but in difference to other bands (like on the latest The Editors album ) they mange to blend it seamlessly in with their angry rock guitars. So far I think my favorite track is "Hips and Lips" that does just that perfectly. Beautiful lyrics about not understanding the other person and the way conversations can be puzzling. I am working my way through the rest of the album and I also like it so far. I have a tendency to like a few things at the time and then move over to the rest after a while. :)

Also it feels like rock is back a little this spring, exciting rock, and it makes my heart skip with joy. (Latest Graham Coxon album for instance ) It is nice to hear some real will behind the music, that's the only way I can describe it :) Paul Smiths voice just sounds real, I believe everything he's singing too me. Also there are not only angry guitars on this album, it feels like they have explored the whole spectrum of emotions more. "Reluctant love" almost sounds like some Joy Division in the beginning only with a soft vocals that sounds like Kings of Convenience. "Write this down" sounds like more classic Maximo Park. "Banlieue" mixes synths and guitars brilliantly again. "This is what becomes of the borkenhearted" has a little of the Coldplay desperation and piano. "Take me home" is a cute little number about being out and wanting to go home with someone :) I quote: "There will be no prosponding, any of our emotions tonight. Take me home, I want you."

Wow, this album just keeps getting better and better.

 Enjoy the fantastic video for  "Hips and Lips". What a fantastic kid :)