Human After All

Fuck you I won't do what you tell me (Epson)!

2012-02-22T14:59:00.000+01:00

I'm currently locked in a fight with my Epson printer which claims that two of my BRAND NEW ink cartridges are empty... It won't even let me print documents in *black and white* without buying new *colour* cartridges. WTF?! In the words of Rage Against The Machine: "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!". Printers are the lowest of the low when it comes to capitalism gone bonkers (see below).

I'm fighting my own little fight vs. this capitalistic corporation and I shan't surrender! To help me vent my anger I'm blasting this hard-hitting (albeit slightly weird) remix of "Killing In The Name Of" by SebastiAn (featuring Stephen Hawking it would seem...? *ba dum tsss*).

Also, I thoroughly recommend you have a look at this documentary on this exact kind of issue where corporations deliberately manufacture products to last shorter than they normally would. It's fucked up I tells ya!

Here's to love

2012-02-15T22:30:00.002+01:00

Today I woke up to the best news possible. My sister Sara and her boyfriend Jacob got engaged on Valentine's Day in New York. I could not be happier! They truly are an amazing couple and I am so happy to have Jacob in our family. I send them all my love and best wishes for a long and happy future!

In celebration of their engagement I share with you Martin Solveig's "Boys and Girls" (feat. Dragonette) to represent the pursuit of love and the fruition thereof. (And who knows, the video might be a realistic representation of how the proposal happened...!)

Get Freeky

2012-02-02T04:02:00.000+01:00

This is a new video from the ingenious Die Antwoord. I remember all the fuss when these guys first came on the scene. It seemed everybody was more interested in figuring out whether they were "real" (in which case most people probably thought they should have been locked up in an asylum) or some sort of art-performance-stunt-phenomenon... (in which case they were still fucked up and people generally thought they should be institutionalised).

I didn't pay much attention to them to be honest. But then a mate played me some of their videos, mainly because he thought they were hilarious (and they are! Check out their other videos) but he also admitted that he thought the music was genuinely good, if you actually gave it a listen...! And the more I listened, the more I liked it. And I bought the hole package. I think they're hilarious, funny, scary, insane, creative, and downright sexy in some weird way... Especially the girl, Yo-Landi Vi$$er. I can honestly say I "finks she's freeky and I like her a lot".

So whether they make you laugh, cry, cringe, frown, dance, or be sick: please, just enjoy this brilliantly insane video by Die Antwoord.

The world needs more dancing people

2012-01-26T19:48:00.000+01:00

Have a look at this video. If it doesn't bring a smile to your face then your cyborg-metal-brain-and-heart can probably not compute and you should do an Arnold-in-Terminator 2-exit right now.

I personally plan to pull off a dance stunt like in the video on my last day of my job here in Norway. Then I'll be heading down to Copenhagen where you'll find me on the dance floors working these moves...

The unpredictable predictability of the hivemind

2012-01-20T02:48:00.000+01:00

Thanks to the internetz it's so much easier getting attention nowadays, especially (and specifically) for independent artists, smaller companies, and your average Joe who happens to have a video camera (or just mobile phone) and an average knowledge of how to work a computer, all you need to put that stuff on youtube! Is it a good thing, though? Are we sacrificing quality for quantity? I don't think so. I say keep it coming, people will select what they like, despite the powerful influence of the allmighty hivemind. People have been given user-friendly tools which allows everyone a shot at getting their 15 minutes of fame. Question is, will you impress the x factor panel consisting of THE FUCKING WORLD?

Guess I'm just thinking out loud about the "virality" of internet phenomena. To prove my point I want to share a video with you, Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To know" which I think most of you must have seen by now because it has blown up on youtube getting (as I write this) over 45 millions views. When I first saw it, it had under a million views. I remember thinking "Wow, this is a fucking good song, more people should hear this". By the time I started sharing it with friends it had gotten over 2 million views and from then on it just sky rocketed. This little indie artist from Australia who had been diligently working on music for years was embraced by the internet and awarded with internet superstardom. (He definitely deserves it, fucking awesome music)

And here's another thing (rather wordy blog post this time, shouldn't be blogging in night time), with this being a blog about house music I'm posting a rather good remix of the song that I found. It's a predictable thing in this time of electronic music that every big hit song seems to be remixed to death. When I started digging house music I thought I was tapping into some underground music scene, that I would have to attend gigs in dingy, sweaty close down factories and warehouses to "get my dose of the good stuff". But instead house music exploded all over the scene and became mainstream! Here I was thinking I was being alternative and then I'm just like any other little hipster kid, loving what is trendy. Was this just a coincidence or was my mind subconsciously following the unspoken commands of the hivemind? I wouldn't like to think so but I'm just not sure damnit!

But what I can say is this: It doesn't matter. I like house music because I like house music. I like what I like because I like it (that makes sense, doesn't it? Again it's the middle of the night). And I know I like this (predicted) remix of Gotye's brilliant song. Hope you do too.

The day I lost a friend... acquaintance... person.

2012-01-16T18:00:00.000+01:00

While looking at my facebook wall on the morning of my birthday, yesterday, I incidentally noticed that I've got 270 facebook friends. Now, I guess I speak for everyone when I say that most people wouldn't be able to name all of their facebook friends. A lot of them are simply acquaintances. But what I thought was really funny was that during the day my number of friends had decreased from 270 to 269. Of course I have no idea who. My "birthday" probably popped up on someone's news feed and they thought "Even.. who's Even? Oh that guy? And I'm still friends with him? Nah...". So whoever you are, distant facebook acquaintance, this track is for you.

Christmas house

2011-12-23T13:06:00.000+01:00

I wanted to see if there actually existed christmas themed house music out there on the interwebz, perhaps some decent remixes of christmas classics. Turns out there are A LOT of utterly abominable amateur remixes of pretty much every christmas song you can't think of... (they're all on youtube, look it up if you appreciate poorly ejay-mixed techno). Instead, I'll share with you a couple of old school house tracks that at least have Christmassy titles, and one track that can be tenuously linked to winter and, thus, also Christmas *cough-farfetched-cough*.

The first two "old school" house tracks are by Le Knight Club, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo's side project when he's not rocking the world with Daft Punk. Although they might not induce that Christmas spirit in you, they at least have Christmassy titles!

The last track is one I heard on the radio yesterday (played by the brilliant DJ Friendly). I'm preeeeetty sure "Red man rising" has something to do with Father Christmas perhaps...? (I told you the link would be tenuous) But at least it's by someone calling themselves the Futuristic Polar Bears and that's a bit Christmassy, right? Right...? Anyway, it's an awesome track in my opinion. So with these tracks I would just like to wish everyone a very merry christmas and an awesome new year! Feliz navidad and all that. Yay!

House of the seasons

2011-12-15T16:45:00.001+01:00

Thanks to the Hype Machine (yet again), I discovered this house duo called TWR72. What's cool about them is that they have released an EP called simply "1991" (as an homage to old school house music) consisting of three tracks dedicated to the seasons of summer, autumn, and winter (why spring is left out beats me).

I love this kind of house music. This sort of generic, monotonous, hypnotic, rhythmic music that makes you just want to close your eyes, nod you head, move onto the dance floor and forget about the world a bit. The tracks are all available from beatport if you're interested in buying them.

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Norwegian Vinter in Hollywood

2011-12-09T22:06:00.002+01:00

As a matter of fact, Norway has got some good electronic artists as well. One diligent and highly skilled house artist who I've been following for some time now is Alexander Vinter, or Vinter in Hollywood as he calls himself. Actually, his dubstep name seems to be Savant... I'm confused now... My point is he's good!

Unfortunately, house music still gets undeservedly limited attention on the Norwegian music scene, although it is on the rise. I definitely feel Vinter in Hollywood is one of our artists that deserves more attention. Perhaps I'll blog some more later about other Norwegian house maniacs. In the meantime, though, enjoy Vinter in Hollywood's (or Savant's) remix of a song by a Norwegian band called Montée.

Flaws under black squares

2011-12-08T15:35:00.000+01:00

Stumbled upon this gem on The Hype Machine. I guess you can't call it house music (although it's begging for a banging remix which undoubtedly will pop up on youtube before you can say "someone should make a remix of this tra... Ah, there we are") but it is a lovely little electro tune from an English band called Bastille.

I'm not usually one for electronic tracks with singing all over it, but Bastille being an indie band the lyrics are alpha and omega. And I've got to say these lyrics are quite sweet. Here's their official youtube video. Don't ask me why it's covered by hundreds of seemingly pointless black squares (it's probably one of Bastille's flaws, ey?? *ba dum tsss* Sorry...), but you can cross them out and somewhere beneath them is a video of some kind. Enjoy.

Justice Medley - A Cappella house music?

2011-12-07T11:54:00.000+01:00

Check out this video of a guy who does an a cappella medley of Justice's last album Audio Video Disco. Pretty impressive and fun to listen to. Btw, I'm going to see Justice in Manchester in February. Can't wait!

Noel Gallagher

2011-12-01T12:39:00.000+01:00

So this weekend I'm off to Copenhagen, Denmark, for a gig with my lifelong hero, Noel Gallagher. Now, why would I write about this old Rock'n'roll gaffer on a blog that's supposed to be about electronic music? Noel Gallagher's all about guitars, organs and that old psychedelic, bluesy sound of the 60s and 70s, right?

Well, if you remember the 90s you might recall that England had a very prominent electro music culture that crept from the depths of cellar- and factory parties into the bright strobe lights and spotlights of night clubs and mainstream charts. In his coked-up 90s world Noel Gallagher readily admitted his penchant for house music, despite being looked at as a spokesman for guitar music. He actually did some collaborations with electronic artists, some more or less well-known than others. Three of which I will present to you here.

The first one from 1997 was with Chemical Brothers on a song called Setting Sun. The track contains samples from The Beatle's "Tomorrow Never Knows" and lyrics by Noel. The track reached #1 in the UK hit chart.

In 1998, Noel did yet another collaboration with The Chemical Brothers on a track called Let Forever Be. I remember being dead fascinated by the video in this one. And of course the cracking drum loop.

Noel's last electronic collaborations of the drug fuelled 90s was a slightly more obscure one. This time he lend his rock'n'roll superstardom to drum-n-bass and jungle artist Goldie. Goldie was known as a DJ, electronic music artist but also an actor in the James Bond movie "The World Is Not Enough" and Guy Ritchie's "Snatch". The track is a lot harder and rawer than the chemical brothers stuff. I'll let you decide whether or not you fancy it. Anyways, I'm off the Denmark to see Noel play some GUITAR!

This phenomenon called Skrillex

2011-11-20T00:30:00.000+01:00

What is it about Skrillex? Everyone seems to love and/or hate him, he's become an electro-superstar-phenomenon before he's even released an album?! I think the intrigue lies in his eclectic, hyperactive, schizophrenic mix of different electro genres. The way he can send you through so many different styles in one track, it's as if he connected his brain into his computer and let it record his mind while he was listening to five different stereos at once.

Personally I'm very intrigued by this fascinating cute/handsome/rocked-out little electro whizz kid. Dubstep can be a bit too much for me, I don't really care for it all that much, but even I can't deny a good track if the melody and the beat and the "everything" is just right. Like this Skrillex "oldie" which is MY favourite track of his...

I've been beating my self up for missing out on Skrillex last summer when he played Parklife in Manchester (I was busy watching Grandmaster Flash) so I am very excited to hear that he will be playing at the Hove Festival next summer! He has even sold out a massive gig in Oslo already. There's no end to Skrillex's ascent into to electro heaven.

What is your opinion on this electric imp? Do you like his intense sound or does all the hype put you off?

Justice new sounds

2011-11-09T17:03:00.000+01:00

Of course I have acquired the new album from Justice!! Fans have been dying to get their hands on Justice's new material since Adidas gave us a tease of the first single "Civilization" in their big production commercial earlier this year. This album has been 4 years in the making. It's been waiting on the horizon, like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... Does it contain golden doubloons? Will Gaspard and Xavier have us dancing like leprechauns?

Their first album † ("Cross") brought some of the craziness and edge back to a French house music scene that seemed to have mellowed into a something mum wouldn't be too averse to listen to in her car on the way to work. House music is supposed to be something that kids listen to in an underground club, in the basement with your mates, while high on alc*[GOD & LIFE]*gs (Blogger auto-censorship?), not something that they play in movie theatres before the movie starts. So Justice brought back the playfulness, the loudness and the attack of a garage band that hasn't yet succumbed to the polished sounds of mainstream music.

So what have they done for their second album "Audio, Video, Disco"? Have they tried to surprise the house music scene again with a new progressive step forward? Or played on the same strings, cementing the "sound" of Justice? I offer my own humble mini-review...

The same audible aggressiveness isn't there this time around. It was probably evident from the start if their first single Civilization was anything to go by. They sound softer and more "pop" than on their first album and because of this reviews and opinions have been varied. Some people probably expected them to raise the house music bar once again but it seems to me as if Justice have made an album that they have wanted to make without concern for causing any kind of special impact or surprise. Just a solid, well produced album with strong tracks which stick.

And I think they've done it right. As a fairly new fan I wasn't sure what to expect. I absolutely loved †, but then again that album is what it is. It seems Justice have aimed for a different direction this time around. The sound give you the feeling of listening to 70s and 80s rock and pop, whereas also paying homage to inspirational sources as Air and Italian disco music.

Some people might find this album a bit more "boring" than the first album simply because it doesn't scar your eardrums and rip into your temporal lobes in the same way that † did, but I've found that I appreciate Audio, Video, Disco for what it is. It's got those songs that stick, make you hit the repeat button and turn the volume up. And surely that's a sure-fire sign of a good album?

Have a listen to one of the tracks that instantly became one of my favourites.

WTF part two

2011-10-26T08:38:00.000+02:00

The characters in this video are such dickheads...

BIG BAD WOLF duck sauce from caviar on Vimeo.

Wonderful WTF

2011-10-18T15:10:00.000+02:00

Here's a musicvideo from someone called DyE, signed on an esoteric little record company called Tigersushi Records. The video for DyE's new single "Fantasy" is out, and it's a wonderful piece of "WTF?". Seriously, it's awesome.

DYE "Fantasy" Official Video by JEREMIE PERIN by TIGERSUSHIRECORDS

Yuksek - audio, visuals, wearables

2011-10-11T13:42:00.000+02:00

The French DJ Yuksek released the album Living On The Edge Of Time this summer. Like a solid artist Yuksek brings everything to the table. Not only is he a handsome devil...

... But his last single Always On The Run is a blinding party track AND the video is awesome. (Let's get tattoos and go live a reckless life in the desert!)

"Always on the run" - YUKSEK from Savoir Faire on Vimeo.

And better yet, Yuksek has even got his own online shop which offers clean, simple, unpretentious, yet really cool-looking clothing at a cheap price.

Yuksek is in my opinion a true artist.

DJ Kittens

2011-10-08T20:20:00.000+02:00

If you're a DJ and you should completely run out of ideas or inspiration, one option could be to resort to the principle of randomness and see if something (a beat, a motif, a line) pops out at you. This guy, for instance, resorted to his kittens for help. Did it work?

Mr. Oizo brings the... noise-o....

2011-10-06T12:47:00.000+02:00

*Ba dum tsss!* My apologies for that terrible pun in the title...

Just wanted to update you on Mr. Oizo's upcoming work. Ed Banger records announced on their twitter that "Mr. Oizo is back" and included a link to Mr. Oizo's soundcloud. The track is called "France7" and it's sounding crispy and synthetic. Like you're listening to a computer thinking out aloud...! At the end of the track there's a part that might resemble a French version of dubstep. I think the track is very interesting and cannot wait to hear the rest of the album!

MR OIZO / FRANCE7 by oizo mr 3000

House with a swing

2011-10-06T01:01:00.000+02:00

So when doing my usual perusing of the internetz for more house music I stumbled upon something called "electro-swing". It's a genre of house music and the name is sort of self-explanatory. Electro-swing (or swing-house) is a wondrous mixture of old 20s-40s swing, jazz, bop, charleston, you name it + house music. The product is highly amusing and dance inducing. Actually, you'll probably recognise the sound as the megahit "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP was heavily inspired by it.

Have a listen to some swing-house!

If you like what you hear and want to hear more you could check out reddit's own swing-house page for ideas and inspiration.

Yellow furry fellow and a hell of a night

2011-09-30T20:54:00.000+02:00

Remember this guy??

I nostalgia'd so hard when I rediscovered this video thanks to my newfound love of house music. Who can forget Flat Eric and that iconic head bobbing? And that weird "voice"... To me it sounds like he's 'speaking' in speech-bubbles... without speech... Do you know what I mean?!

Anyways, what I wanted to tell you is that the brilliant DJ behind "Flat Beat", Mr. Oizo will very soon be releasing a new album! I'm sure sure whether or not Flat Eric will make a reappearance for this album, but that doesn't mean the music isn't going to be awesome. The album is going to be called "Stade 2" and is apparently coming out "very soon". In the meantime here is a teaser of the first single of the new album "Douche Beats". Interesting...

Mr. Oizo - Douche Beat (Preview) by iRaFuuNka

Another thing I wanted to tell you about is an upcoming clubbing event in London that has one of the most insane line-ups I can imagine, if you're into house music (No Mr.Oizo unfortunately...). The event is called "Together Winter Music Festival" and is held at the Alexandra Palaca in London on November 26th. So many of the DJs that I've grown to admire and love are going to play there... Sebastian, Simian Mobile Disco, Pete Tong, Grum, Death In Vegas, Vitalic, etc... In the same venue, on the same night! It's insane!! I need to go there sooooooo badly. Anyone up for it??

Check their facebook page if you want more information.

Interstella 5555 - The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem out on blu-ray

2011-09-27T15:00:00.000+02:00

We all remember Daft Punk's timeless classic album "Discovery". You probably also remember the reoccurring theme in the music videos of the singles. That's because Daft Punk teamed up with anime- and manga creator Leiji Matsumoto to produce a feature-length animated musical with the cryptic title "Interstella 5555 - The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem". The film is a visual realisation of the album with every track being an 'episode' in the movie. And now this excellent piece of movie/animation/music/art has been released on Blu-Ray (Yay!).

The story revolves around a band of four famous musicians from another planet that get kidnapped by an evil manager who aims to make them the biggest band and product on planet Earth.

If you haven't seen this movie yet I wholeheartedly suggest you do. Even if anime isn't quite your thing the music from the Discovery album is itself worth a revisit, being riddled with house music gems worthy of hitlist #1 spots in any galaxy. Check out the trailer for yourself!

New track by Surkin

2011-09-26T15:52:00.000+02:00

French electro DJ Surkin made his latest single "Ultra Light" available for download today via beatport.

If you haven't heard about Surkin before I thoroughly recommend you check him out. Why not start with the track in question.

And another one of my favourites, "Radio Fireworks"

French house + American dubstep

2011-09-25T20:07:00.000+02:00

Producer, remixer, and electro artist SebastiAn released his debut album "Total" in June this year. After the debut single "Embody" we've heard little from the enigmatic artist as he's kept himself busy touring. But here the other day American dubstep/'complextro' wonderboy Skrillex posted his remix of SebastiAn's track "Love In Motion" on his official youtube channel. The original track and remix has been released exclusively for download on beatbox.

Here is the original by SebastiAn.

Then Skrillex takes SebastiAn's Prince-inspired 80's track and sends it surfing on a rainbow through an 8-bit galaxy with the occasional dubstep-disruption in the electro space-time. Much to the delight of Skrillex fans on youtube. (Sadly though, much time seems spent arguing about whether or not SebastiAn's album cover is "gay!"...)

If you want to read more about SebastiAn you can read this (rare) interview from The Block

A new direction and a tribute to DJ Mehdi

2011-09-23T22:14:00.000+02:00

So... I've been thinking, pondering, ruminating, contemplating... Well, actually not that much. I've just decided that I'm going to change my blog into a blog about house music, which I love dearly as some of you might have realised by now. I shall no longer tire your eyes with the wordy ramblings of my inner voice, but rather just please your weirdly shaped ears and highly developed temporal lobes with throbbing bass and thudding beats uncovered by yours truly in the jungle of house music and electronic music. Ah, simple bliss!

I would like to start off this "new" direction of my blog with a tribute to DJ Mehdi. A French DJ whose music I just got to know and love before he so tragically passed away after an accident. I am SO grateful and relieved that I got to see him perform live before he died (as I have written about here)

DJ Mehdi was signed to Ed Banger records who also houses several of France's and (in my inexperienced opinion) the world's most skillful DJ's and electronic artists. I have presented music videos by DJ Mehdi in previous regular "Friday music" blogposts. Here is yet another gem, "Pocket Piano"...

When I saw DJ Mehdi live he was one half of the DJ duo "Carte Blanche" which he formed with English DJ Riton. The accident which lead to DJ Mehdi's death happened while celebrating Riton's birthday. Riton posted to this beautiful tribute video to his blog. Rest in beats, Dj Mehdi. God wanted you at his party.

"Kiss and Fly, Mehdi" from Ryder Jack Susman on Vimeo.

The Hove Festival, day 3: Swedish sway and rainy rave

2011-07-01T14:28:00.000+02:00

The bloggers are everywhere at Hove. In one of the portaloos I found this little scribbling:

Roughly translated: "Dear toilet blog! Linkin Park is going on stage now, so gotta run!!! Pee you later!!". Oh, blogger, you so fuuunny. Kinda cute, though.

The third day of the festival turned out the wettest one. It rained pretty much nonstop which does put a dampener on things. Spoilt, posh Norwegian kids aren't used to coping with damp and muddy circumstances in a little tent. You might think I'm slagging them off, but I'm not, because I'm one of them. And that's why I'm not living in a tent this year; I'm too spoilt and wimpy. But the festival mood prevails and conquers all misery and pessimism; and, lo and behold, there was partying even on the third day! Much thanks to our geographical neighbours, the Swedes.

The first artist to get the crowd dancing in the rain was Swedish rapper Timbuktu who is massively popular in Norway. I arrived at the main stage area halfway through his gig as the rain was pouring down, just to find a massive field of bobbing and swaying ponchos and raincoats. On the stage there was a massive party with Timbuktu admirably doing his best to keep the mood of the audience up. And it worked surprisingly well, but for the most part it looked like people had reclined into their ponchos and held individual parties in there, like mobile tents.

Next up was DJ Quik, which was kind of a weird booking. When he was due to come on there were about 2-300 people scattered across that main stage area which can hold 15 000. It looked empty. I'm guessing big shot hip hoppers from the States are used to bigger crowds than that. They looked reluctant when they finally decided to show up on stage almost half an hour late. DJ Quik is (after what I was told) somewhat of a legend within the hip hop world, having worked with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the lot. A photographer from the Norwegian hip hop website kingsize.no said it was quite a random booking to put him on the main stage in between Timbuktu (who is massive in Norway and was bound to get a big crowd) and Big Boi (who is a much more main stream and well known). Anyway, DJ Quik did an excellent job working the small but very dedicated crowd that was there.

Big Boi was up next. As one half of the super duo Outkast, Big Boi was a far bigger name than DJ Quik, which was easy to tell by the growing crowd size. Him and his co-rapper (or whatever you call it?) was doing an awesome job getting the crowd jumping. He also had a massive fellow from his crew walking around in the front pit picking out girls from the crowd to join Big Boi on stage. The awkward bit was that it was quite apparent that neither of them were older than 18. Most of them didn't even have wristbands that allow you to get served alcohol. Still they were given exclusive access wristbands by the bodyguards when they came off stage, a wristband that gives them access to certain parts of the backstage area and the oppotunity to buy spirits, which isn't sold elsewhere in the general festival area. This did NOT go down well with the resident festival security. It doesn't require much imagenation to realise that Big Boi was probably looking for some company for an afterparty. Bunch of charmers.

Didn't I tell you yesterday no more crappy concert pictures from miles away? Here's one anyway. It's Robyn.

A girl watching Robyn from someone's shoulders. Why is everything so much more fun when you're sat on someone's shoulders?

Bring on another Swede to save the day. And by saving the day I mean take it to the moon and blow it up with electronic fireworks and music-induced virtual ecstasy pills. Robyn knows how to make a party. She looks like a little blond school girl (with an amazing sense of fashion) who all of a sudden goes absolutely mental with hardcore aerobic-exercise-boot-camp-aggressive-kickboxing-acid-rave-techno-moves when the music starts. Sexy as HELL. Somehow she manages to be charmingly cute and innocent but with an attitude that would make even one of the festival security-gorillas cower. She literally had 15 000 people jumping up and down, doing overly ambitious aerobic moves in ponchos, and she stole the heart of thousands of boys, including mine. Her band as well, four super skilled electronica musicians, two on keyboard and miscellaneous computer equipment and two on electronic drum kits. Together with a hypnotic display of lights and visual effects the Norwegian crowd was completely and wholeheartedly in her hands. It came as no surprise that every reviewer gave top marks. Which brings me to an important point...

I pity music reviewers. Miserable, arrogant, and intentionally pessimistic human beings. I picture them walking round the festival area from gig to gig with a frown so negative it has become a frozen permanent grimace. There is a paradox with giving gigs a bad review, especially at festivals. My point is, who cares? If someone went to a gig they didn't think was any good they will probably just go watch another gig or go sample the delicious festival cuisine. People are positive and happy during a festival and they sure as hell won't let a disappointing gig bring their mood down (unless it was a bad performance by their favourite band). But it seems this is the insidious task of the gig reviewer, to spread scepticism and negative criticism: "Hey, don't forget to be critical and negative about the performances you watch. Don't have fun ALL the time". Personally I don't think people mind that much if they see a gig that wasn't to their liking As I said, they'll probably just go do something else. Instead, it is annoying and disappointing to be reminded or told that a gig was bad. So why are they spreading this negativity? People were having fun, drinking and dancing along regardless of poor sound quality or unimposing presence by the band. Unlike YOU, Mr. Gig Reviewer who probably were stood on you're own, being cynical and angry at the world, exchanging snidey remarks with your colleagues on twitter. It must be really depressing being sent to gigs for free (gigs that someone else probably would have sold their kidney to be at) being forced to endure music that isn't exactly to your personal liking. You know what? Next time you're doing a gig review and you realise that you don't like the music or the band much, go back to your little shed and send out another one of your journalist automatons who might actually like the music and do a positive gig review. People like hearing enthusiastic positive account of gigs!

Just a little rant there.

Today is the last day of this year's Hove Festival. I'm looking forward to seeing Mars Volta, Kaizers Orchestra, and Deadmau5. I'll be going to Spain for a week tomorrow, but hopefully I'll manage to do a little blog about the last Hove day soon. Thanks for reading my blog, and please leave a comment below!

Hove, day 2: What you see is what you get.

2011-06-30T15:47:00.000+02:00

I find the festival atmosphere quite charming, with people being slightly inebriated, excited, happy, and generally silly. I think people become who they really want to be when they're a bit tipsy. People like being sociable, happy, merry. It's just that we let sobriety tether these moods usually. But during a festival, these qualities bloom and prosper. A week of fun and frolic, and some quality music. No wonder people pay the frankly ridiculous price for a full week ticket.

Day 2 of the Hove festival started of in a weird way. My friends recommended I come along to see an art performance. Now, I'm the kind of person who gets a bit sceptical when I hear the phrase 'performance art'... ("Oh no, pretentious, eccentric, spaced-out hippie art?"). But I convinced myself to drop my arrogant prejudices and tag along. I was also convinced by the share number of people who were present. So as we entered the forest where the performance would take place, we were met by this sight...

Eerie and mind-blowing performance art

The woman you see hanging from the tree (apparently by her own hair?!) is the artist, and the people sat in the trees are musicians playing saws...! Then this spine-chilling and ethereal music started playing, as the performance artist (Tori Wrånes) was singing along in an operatic manner while the saw blades were playing. It was mesmerisingly beautiful. If performance art can be this awesome, consider me a convert. Thanks to my good friend, Signe (you are now involuntarily mentioned in my 'zuper blawg') for dragging me along.

Das ist Signe.

Music-wise, the second day of the festival was 'my day'. Kasabian's first gig ever in Norway, the return of The Strokes (have they played Norway before? Thorough blog research...), and Brandon Flowers' solo project. I'm a fan of all of these bands, so I was just looking forward to some good gigs with music that I knew would be solid.

Kasabian finally arrived in Norway.

Kasabian's first gig was convincing in my opinion. It was about time they played Norway! I loved seeing Tom Meighan's arrogant British swagger on a Norwegian stage. Unfortunately, the sound was rubbish. For the main part of the concert all you could hear was bass drum and bass guitar, almost no snare or guitar or electronic sound effects. It really put a dampener on Kasabian's usual pompous and strong sound. Especially their more electronica heavy songs suffered. But their performance was solid. The best bit was when Tom Meighan thanked the Norwegian crowd for being awesome and did the sign of the cross. Funny man.

Next on were The Strokes. I read in the music press that there is murmurings about trouble within the band. But so what? Who cares? Of course, I don't want to see The Strokes break up again, but why focus on trouble in paradise prior to a gig that so many fans are looking forward to? Journalists bug the hell out of me. Anyways, the gig was awesome. The Strokes are awesome. Julian is sexy as hell (despite his slightly Elvis-chubby appearance) and a great laid-back rock'n'roll frontman. The way he talked to the crowd between the songs, leisurely asking how they were doing, letting them know what was going on on stage, changing mics, even stopping a song because he forgot the words. Perhaps not very professional in a conventional sense, but it was all just so laid-back and cool. You almost felt like you were present at a slightly rusty comeback-Strokes rehearsal.

The (casual) Strokes

Then there was the Las Vegas charmer that is Brandon Flowers. He comes across as such a shy, humble, polite and lovable person. His movements on stage are almost a bit awkward and stilted, but at the same time he exudes a stylish arrogance and confidence that only a rockstar can. I love how he makes the crowd feel appreciated and included in the concert. A true master of the stage, even own his own without the bigger presence of The Killers. He even did a guest appearance during Bright Eyes' gig later on, which made the otherwise calm and swaying Bright Eyes fans go absolutely crazy.

Now, as you're looking at the pictures in the blogpost you're probably thinking the same as I am: Rubbish. Sad to say, I don't have a fancy blogger's SLR camera, only my crappy camera phone. But it's not just that. Gig pictures in general are quite uninteresting to watch. As I was snapping a blurry photo of the Brandon Flowers gig with the intention of including it on my blog, this 18 year old girl say to me: "Are you taking a photo of a gig? How old are you? You know those pictures are going to turn out shit anyway, so why don't you put it down and enjoy the gig instead?". Touché. She was right. A picture of a stage in the distance with artists looking like single pixels is not especially interesting for anyone who wasn't there to see. It's not even satisfying for yourself to watch later on! It doesn't capture any of the magic or atmosphere of when you were there. It's nothing but a feeble 'proof' that "I was there!". And so what? You know you were there, and so do the people you want to share it with. So for the next festival blogpost I shan't spam you with blurry gig photos, but rather try a take pictures of... Other stuff...? Like these guys:

My friends Kai Olav, Mari and Erling. They love clapping.

The Hove festival, day 1: Stumbled upon treasure

2011-06-29T15:31:00.000+02:00

My humble little hometown of Arendal hosts one of the biggest music festivals in Norway. Since it's in my Hometown I usually go every year. This year's lineup was not particularly interesting for me personally, except for the second day when Kasabian, The Strokes, and Brandon Flowers will be playing. However, I want to tell you about the first day which wasn't really looking that interesting to me... Until I found out that one of my favourite DJs was playing.

I like the mood in festivals. People are happy, smiling, laughing, dancing, drinking, and just generally having a good time. Of course there will always be idiots, arrogant pricks, overly drunk yobbos, and a lot of people who seem more preoccupied with looking good than having a good time. But you've got ignore these people, put a smile on your face and keep on dancing. Or drinking. Or festival-ing. The lineup on the first day was perhaps meant to hit a younger, more 'emo' audience with All Time Low, 30 Seconds to Mars and nu-metal heroes Linkin Park as headliners on the main stage. The stage where I was stood most of the day because I was 'working', ushering photographers in and out of the gap in front of the stage during concerts. The view was good, shame the same can't be said about the music.

But then I had a look in the Festival's own newspaper. A 'band' called Carte Blanche was playing the closing gig at the smallest stage. The face of on of the 'band members' immediately caught my eye. Fucking DJ Mehdi! The DJ whose gig I had missed out when he played Manchester at the Parklife festival! Carte Blanche wasn't a band, it was a DJ duo with DJ Mehdi and a British DJ called Riton. So off to this concert I ran, skipped and jumped, giggling like a little girl who had just been kissed by Jared Leto.

About 200 people were there. Everyone else was watching Chase & Status. They missed out, big time. Proper, proper, world class house music from one of the best DJs in the world and this other British fellow who I had never heard of before, but Oh lawd, he knew his stuff. No one in that tent was standing still, it was impossible not to dance to the music coming out of those speakers. They even had dancers! Two girls who came on now and then to spice up the live show. I know what you're thinking, dancers on the stage sounds a little cheesy, tacky, 'techno club in the 90's-ish', but somehow it wasn't. They did all the funny 80s/90s funny dance moves that people in the crowd hopelessly tried to copy, but they also showed of some real skill with both handstands and dancing on roller skates. It sounds silly, and it was but in a good way. Sort of inspired by the music video from their first single:

Carte Blanche and their roller skating dancers. DJ Mehdi in white, Riton wearing black.

Robot dancing never went out of fashion

The masters at work

I know I'm biased since I'm such a sycophant for French house music, but this truly was a good gig. I seriously doubt you would have been able to be at that gig and not dance (unless you were one of the testosterone-overdosed security guards who kept watch in front of the stage but seemed more preoccupied with pointing at people in the crowd giving them menacing frowns). You know you've seen a good gig when you leave with the feeling that you don't need to see any more bands or artists. For all you care the festival could just finish up and close down. And you're smiling so much it hurts your face. Just listen to this:

But I AM looking forward to today's lineup... Stay tuned for more biased gig reviews.

It's now or ever...

2011-06-27T14:21:00.000+02:00

I'm quite lazy. I often give myself the excuse "I'm going to do it, but later when the time is right and I've got more time on my hands". The problem is that a time like that never comes. There is never a time when I think "Now I've got time to do that thing (or all those things) which I promised myself I'd do". Even worse, whenever I get a free slot in my "busy" schedule, the motivation which I had at the time when I thought "I'd do it later" is gone. And I do nothing.

So many times have I been lying in bed unable to sleep and suddenly come up with a (ostensibly) brilliant idea. Did I write it down? No, I thought "I'd work on it tomorrow. This idea is so good there's no way I'll forget it". Next day it's gone. It's weird how after 26 years I still do these things, even though I know the outcome. I know the ideal thing to do is act on an idea as soon as possible or at least write it down. If not I'll never do anything about it.

As I'm writing this I'm sat in my childhood home in Norway thinking about loads of stuff I should be doing. Working on my applications for education next year, writing a CV, try to learn a new music making software I've acquired, play the drums, work out... Some of it is important business, but some of it is just hobbies! And still I struggle to muster the motivation to do stuff? What's wrong with me?? Perhaps I'm thinking too much about it...? Less thinking, more doing?

My point is the 'right time' you are waiting for might never come because there's something else you'll be preoccupied with. So try and act on an idea/a chore/an assignment/whatever as soon as possible or at least put it down in your schedule or diary. Or blog for that matter... Because this is just as much an admonition toward myself as it is potentially a reminder to you. Now, I'm off to... Do stuff.

Time for some 'Ed banging

2011-06-17T16:43:00.000+02:00

I know I am forever banging the drum for French house, but what can I do? It's like when someone has just fallen in love; they won't shut up about their new 'perfect partner' - kind of charming, kind of annoying, but in the end it's passion and enthusiasm. And these are good times if you are a fan of French house! (If you're not you should check it out; it makes for cracking party music). Ed Banger Records (which I have blogged about before) are currently releasing a wave of awesomeness on the world of electro music with releases from SebastiAn, Breakbot, and the slightly more exoteric and popular Justice. Here are some examples of how the "French do it better"!

I've already talked about SebastiAn in other blogposts, but I recently bought his album 'Total' which was released on the 6th of June. SebastiAn has been a producer, DJ and remixer for years and has only now released his own debut album. And what an awesome album it is! Electrorgasm! (A bit of journalistic neologism for you there. I do apologise...). The way he plays around with samples, melody lines, string sections, and distortions is just mind boggling. It's dark and twisted, it's pompous and feel-good. It's ear candy! ("Life is like a box of chocolate..." and so on). In the blogpost I've linked to in the first paragraph you can find his first single 'Embody', but I thought I should share with you another track of the album which I very much like: 'Love in Motion'.

Breakbot is another DJ on Ed Banger records who also is getting ready to release a proper album, but information is still sparse and vague. However, his track 'Fantasy' which was on an Ed Banger compilation album already in 2010 has just been released with a new music video, fuelling the speculations of an album release. Breakbot's music can be described as sort of feel-good disco. And the new video is truly funny, charming and sweet. Such a good track too.

And then there are the Titans of electro, Justice. Their latest single 'Civilization' has already been played lots on the radio. It also appeared in an extended Adidas commercial prior to the official release. I love this track and I cannot wait for the album! Now the official music video has been released, adding further symbolism and depth to the pompous and awesome (in the literal sense of the word) sound of the track. I think the video is kind of sad in a way. Check it out for yourselves.

Chicken soup? Some facts about the seafood industry

2011-06-06T18:57:00.000+02:00

Every year as many as 73 million sharks are killed for their fins. That's 200 000 sharks EVERYDAY. Their fins are simply cut off and the shark is dumped back into the ocean to die. The reason for this ridiculously high number of shark deaths is the deeply rooted luxurious and medical status shark fin has the Chinese culture, but also an increased interest for exotic Eastern cuisine in the Western world. The funny thing is that shark fin on its own is completely tasteless. The taste comes from hours of boiling with ginger, spring onions, an chicken stock. I'm sorry (actually I'm not) but HOW RIDICULOUS IS THAT???

Here's a video from Washington Post about the issue, and if you want to you can read the original article yourself.

Thankfully, activists are trying to confront and deal with the industry which is rapidly growing due to a increasingly wealthy Chinese population in addition to the interest for exotic cuisine in the Occident (the west). What scares me is that a growing world population is putting more and more strain on food resources which is particularly problematic with oceanic resources. An increased demand for seafood and fish due to a healthier dietary focus in the wealthy Occident opens economic possibilities for Asian countries where these resources can be harvested more amply, not to mention cheaply.

For example, food like scampi is a popular dish in Britain as well as Europe and America. It says 'scampi' on the menu, but it is highly likely that what you get served is prawns. Real scampi is actually a kind of lobster called (believe it or not) Norway lobster which is quite exclusive. Instead, you're likely to be eating king prawns in your 'scampi dish' - king prawns that are cultivated in shrimp farms in Asia. These farms are responsible for grave impacts on natural habitats.

To get an impression of the impact we have had on the resources in the ocean, have a look at this article from the Guardian. The infographic might be somewhat confusing considering the choice of colour, but I think you can appreciate that the fish stocks are heavily depleted. Did you know that during the 20th century the amount of predators in the ocean was reduced by 90%? And think about how much tuna is consumed everyday in Britain alone, not only in cheap sandwiches and jacket potatoes but also in increasingly popular, healthy and trendy sushi.

Personally I find these facts disturbing and they are that reason why I went from being a pescetarian to being a vegetarian. I'm not trying to convert anyone but I think it is important make people aware of the impact our eating habits have on nature's resources so that they will perhaps think twice the next time they order food.

Thankfully, there are forces at work (like Ocean2012) who work to stop overfishing and destructive fishing practices. I'm not saying the world needs to stop eating fish, but we NEED to stop eating cheap seafood which is caught or farmed in uncontrolled and potentially illegal circumstances, only to satiate a perpetual demand for seafood. And for the love of God, don't eat shark fin soup. It's fucking chicken soup...

Sunny Friday

2011-06-03T19:30:00.000+02:00

Finally a bit of summer! At last it feels like the summer is really coming on. For those who are finished with their academic or professional duties it is a chance to enjoy the weather and appreciate the freedom. Others are unfortunately still revising or doing work, which means they might not be able to enjoy the outdoors as much as they'd wish. But that doesn't mean you cannot get in the right summer mood! All it takes is some summer music; music that makes you dream of white beaches and good times. Here are three summer-inducing musical suggestions.

The first track is by Thomas Bangalter who released his own material outside of Daft Punk on his own record label Roulé. Both Thomas and Guy-Manuel's extracurricular music is quite different to the Daft Punk music as it is more pure house than a pop track. It's as if the tracks are designed to be mixed and DJ'ed with. Some might think of the tracks as quite repetitive, but I'll quote a youtube-DJ who said about french house: "It's your favourite parts of the song on repeat". Couldn't agree more. Plus, you've got to love the opening on this track, especially considering the title. Makes me thirsty.

The next track is one I found on the French Express website. It's a track by a band from San Francisco called Social Studies which has been remixed by an LA based DJ calling himself Plastic Plates. He has remixed their song 'Body language' into a proper beach party track.

The last track is by Chris Malinchak, French Express' wonder boy. In my opinion, all of his music evokes a yearning for long summer nights, unnecessarily ornate cocktails, and beach parties. This track is his last release. Just look at the Baywatch-like, California-in-the-90s video. Bring on the summer!

One week in Manchester

2011-05-31T15:04:00.000+02:00

Last week was a good one. I've realised I haven't told you much about "my life in Manchester", but there are a couple of reasons for that, though. 1. This blog was never meant to be autobiographical; 2. This last semester (when I started my blog) has been remarkably uneventful, considering most of my time has been spent reading and working in university. However, last week I finished my last exam! This means I've finally got more time to look around and focus on other stuff that's going on. These are some of the things observed in Manchester last week, by yours truly.

Remember last Saturday when the world was supposed to end? Well, there's a group of (fundamentalists) Christians who have been preaching about this in Market Street for quite some time. I don't know whether they are part of Harold Camping's following or if they follow their own agenda, but it's clear that they have seen one 'end ' or another coming for a long time. They rarely catch anyone's attention, though. Everyone just seems to pass them by, probably taking them for some crazy group of doomsday Christians. Except for a little group of kids. A little group of teenage protesters who find entertainment in standing next to them and shouting retorts at everything these Christians shout. You may call it childish, but it is no more childish than those Christians are eccentric and aggressive. Last Saturday I noticed that the group of kids had started wearing Justin Bieber masks as well. Here's a picture of the doomsday Christians with a Justin Bieber-masked kid next to him. (You'll have to forgive the poor picture quality as I took the picture with my mobile phone as I was rushing past).

Justin Bieber on the left, Manic (Market) Street Preacher on the right.

Not a very good picture. Here's one with added red ring so you can spot the Biebz.

"...And I was like Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, ooooh..."

I think it's fair to assume that everyone took Harold Camping's doomsday prophecy with a pinch of salt. Still, the shelves in Marks&Spencer's on the Sunday (the day that was never meant to be!) seemed to indicate that a lot of people had taken a "better safe than sorry" stance and stocked up on food. You know, just in case... Either they must have thought "If I don't get chosen by Jesus, I'm still going to try to outlive this apocalypse! Better stock up!" or "If I get chosen I'm sure heaven's a long flight away. Better stock up!". Or perhaps the anticipation of doomsday or no doomsday make people hungry.

Get your doomsday ready meals now! Don't be hungry when you come to heaven or get left behind!

My beloved Manchester City finally won a trophy for the first time in 35 years (!) when they beat Stoke in the FA cup finals. Of course, this had to be celebrated! The streets of Manchester turned sky blue as fans gathered in the street to cheer on a parade with City players and City heroes. Good times.

What also happened this week is that I finally saw real Morris dancing!! This bizarre spectacle is an old English traditional dance. You might wonder why I've wanted to see this? The reason is I just find it hilarious because it's so fucking weird. Just look at it!

According to wikipedia, they're not sure of the origins of this form of dance. I have my own theory, though. I believe that in the old days when societies were few and scattered, small villages would have designated 'guardsmen' or gate keepers who they would send out to scare away predators or unwelcome strangers. These guardsmen would wear bells on their legs for enhanced effect of loud noise, and also carry a stick for waving and potential mêlée battle. However, as societies grew it was inevitable that some villages would bump into each other. The conflicting villages would then send out their guardsmen with bells and sticks to chase each other away. However, these guardsmen were used to their opposition (usually just a wayward animal looking for food) turning around a fleeing just by the loud noise of the bells. Neither of the guardsmen had ever before experienced actual physical combat or an enemy that didn't flee. Hence, they clashed into each other in the middle of the field (or rather, a 'moor') and the men, not being used to direct confrontation, proceeded to jump and run around each other, bashing away with their sticks, rather incompetently and feebly. The spectacle of men with bells on their legs and sticks in their hands not hitting a single target rather than the other mens' sticks, must have been an entertaining one for the villagers watching. From that day on, the villages decided to join forces and relegate their inadequate guardsmen to entertainment dancers, or Morris dancers.

Scratch my eardrum!

2011-05-27T21:25:00.000+02:00

When it comes to music I always used to be a 'rocker'. The more guitar, the better. Sounds were meant to be organic, pure, and "real". Even though all rock music uses distortion and overdrive effects to create their sounds, it didn't matter as long as the sound came from a guitar. That sound was unmistakable.

My intrigue for electronic music has always been lurking in the back of my minds, but my "rock'n'roll neurons" have fervently denied any acknowledgement of anything that isn't played by humans. But as I've mentioned before, that all changed drastically when I hit a musical drought and coincidentally went to see Tron: Legacy in the cinema, and had a spiritual awakening evoked by the Lords of electronica, Daft Punk. Hallelujah.

For me, there is something about the way those digital, synthetic noises seem to 'scratch your brain'. It's the best way I can describe it, a "brain scratch". It's like one of those itches or self-inflicted scratches that is ambiguously itching and therefore annoying, but at the same time nice and, for some reason, intriguingly pleasant. When I hear a sound like the one I'm trying to describe (I will give you examples) I imagine a 'sound' literally scratching my eardrums and consequently my brain. It is the weirdest and nicest and most fascinating feeling. A feeling to which my rock'n'roll-fibres have finally let me succumb, in a relieved sigh of musical bliss.

My "rock'n'roll-genes" and love for real music will never let go. Therefore, I love (and always have) electro artists/DJs who manage to take samples from other artists and create a brilliant electro track, or simply remix a pop tune (French electro artists are particularly known for their ability to use samples and create completely new and different sounding tracks) But at the same time I like listening to some electro that is very synthetic, distorted and 'raw'. So this weeks tracks are about that 'raw', hard electro sound.

First off is, rather fittingly, Daft Punk's hit track off the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. The sounds they created for the Tron universe fits perfectly with the dark, digital world of the Grid (the computer created world). What I love about this track is how all the sound are so synthetic and digital sounding. The 'hi-hat' sounds like someone is tapping on an electric wire! It all sounds very 'electric' if you ask me. What I also love about Daft Punk (except for EVERYTHING) is their exquisite 'solos'. The way the melody theme just goes mental during the song is so bloody brilliant.

This week's second track is from another famous French electro duo; Justice and their brilliant track Waters of Nazareth. This track starts out with what sounds like just annoying noise, but it quickly breaks into a hard-hitting rock/electronica extravaganza. Justice of course are known for their rock-influenced electronica and heavily distorted sounds. I particularly like how they keep a relatively clean and organic sound on their beats (drums) whereas the melody is spewed out by a distorted sound, so dirty that it makes you want to have a shower. Love it.

So yeah, you know how much I like Daft Punk. I don't mean to intentionally inundate every blogpost with how much I love them or force their music down your throats (or ears). But I need to share this track with you. It is actually a remix by SebastiAn (who I told you about last week) of Daft Punk's "Human After All". Daft Punk have actually called this remix the best remix they have ever heard of their music, and that's pretty special I think. Then again, SebastiAn is a bloody genius. He's got a very heavy sound with very 'raw' effects, some of them literally sounds like he's plugging his equipment in. I think it's brilliant how he manages to incorporate that into his music. Anyway, enjoy this expert remix of the track that named my blog.

Vendredi musique

2011-05-20T17:35:00.000+02:00

"French do it better" is an expression that keeps popping up on the different music related websites that I browse, and with good reason: The French DO make a lot of insanely cool electro music. This week I want to share three tracks with you, all from French artists. The music videos are also some of the best/funniest I have ever seen.

First off is a track that's not so much electro as it is rock. I'm usually not a fan of electronic rock as I feel in most cases 'electro rock bands' will drown the pure organic sound of rock instruments in a mess of distorted synthesizer noises and electro beats. It almost feels like they're trying to hide the fact that they're not that good... But sometimes, very rarely (when the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars...?), electro and rock seem to come together in perfect symbiosis. This French band (at least I think it's a band) Poney Poney have got a rocking tune which is made even better with simple and subtle electro effects. You'll know what I mean when you hear it. Also, the music video for this track is really funny and original in its simplicity.

Ed Banger Records is a French record company that is home to many famous electronic acts such as Cassius, SebastiAn, Justice, DJ Mehdi, Uffie, etc. It is run by Pedro Winter, who until 2008 was Daft Punk's manager. Needless to say, this record company is suffused with electronic awesomeness. Therefore, I must share with you some tracks that have been concocted in the magical cauldrons of this electro factory extraordinaire. First off, a DJ called SebastiAn and this lovely lovely music video for his track Embody.

Finally, a track by DJ Mehdi called Signatune. This version is has been given the Midas Touch of the electro deity that is Thomas Bangalter - one half of Daft Punk. The song is quite dramatic and almost a bit sombre, which is conveyed brilliantly by the exquisite accompanying music video. However, this does not take away the awesomeness and power from the track, which is made even 'rawer' (and more awesome in my biased opinion) by Thomas Bangalter's remix. I recommend you turn the volume up a little bit more and enjoy the track.

Music. It's Friday.

2011-05-13T21:21:00.000+02:00

For this week's blogpost I tried to find some profound quote about music to use as a headline. They were all too cliché, so I typed 'music' into youtube to see what came up as the first results: Fucking Rebecca Black is one of the first videos...??? Doesn't bode well for the industry, does it? (I'm 26 and already I hear a voice in the back of my head going "Bloody kids and their music...")

So I've got three new gems of GOOD music that I want to share with you this week. First off is a new song by Grum, a DJ from England. It says on his wiki-page that he is known for "liking crackers and snacks"... Weird. Can't remember whether I've blogged about him before. No harm in repeating his name or music, though, because he's good. He debuted last year with his album Heartbeats (check it out) and is not shy to admit his admiration for the Gods of electro, Daft Punk. A source of inspiration which is quite apparent (Daft Punk's Television Rules The Nation) in his new remix of Urchins' "Xylophobe":

Urchins - Xylophobe (Grum Remix) by GRUM

The second track is by a DJ collaboration between The Magician and a guy called Yuksek. Together , they call themselves Peter and The Magician and their first track is "Twist", which I heard in a DJ set by U-Tern. I really like this track. Makes you want to do the Robot - 80s style. Haha.

The last track I'm going to share with you this week is a track my good friend Chris told me about. He stumbled across it in a Halo gameplay montage on youtube!?! Usually gameplay montages are set to some nu metal or hardcore trance or some other angry genre of music. Never GOOD music (or very rarely). This track, though, is an absolute gem. The band is called Vacationer, which is damn fitting because this song makes me want to leave everything behind and just go to a desert island and just lie on the beach and do fucking nothing. The song is even called "Trip"!! I think you'll get what I mean when you hear the song. Enjoy.
(PS! You can download the song for FREE on their website)

Friday Friday...

2011-05-06T20:42:00.000+02:00

...Gotta get down on Friday!
Sorry about that. I'm not going to torment you with washed-up internet phenomena Rebecca Black. It's not even funny. And besides, this blog post is all about GOOD music.
Like I do every Friday, I'm going to introduce you to music I'm listening to at the moment. Hopefully it's something you haven't heard before (even though I've blogged about all the artists this week earlier) and that you might even enjoy listening to!

First off this week, the Australian duo of which I posted a song last week: Bag Raiders. They're awesome! They're fairly new on "the scene" (why am I trying to make myself sound like a veteran? I'm even newer on "the scene"! Jeeez...) and have only released one eponymous album so far, last year. I recommend you check them out. Here's one of my favourite tracks of their album:

Second song is also from an artist which I have posted before. Robotaki, the 19 year old kid (am I old?) from Canada. He is truly genius when it comes to remixing tunes. This was the first song I heard of his and I immediately fell in love. Hah! How pertinent considering the title of the song...

Last song this week is from the iconic deities of electro music: Daft Punk. The track is called "Teachers" and for a good reason. The lyrics simply consist of a list of all their idols who inspired them to start making music. I can think of no cooler way to honour your sources of inspiration. I know I discovered a lot of DJ's simply from listening to the lyrics on this track. And such an awesome track it is as well. Enjoy and have a good weekend!

Royal Friday Music

2011-04-29T17:05:00.000+02:00

You're probably busy sipping gin while wiping your tears with the Union Jack to the British national anthem and the much longed-for Will and Kate kiss! Yes, 'tis a glorius day and a cause for celebration. And if you're planning on celebrating the big event with a party later on, then I've got some musical suggestions for ya! Perhaps the title of this blogpost is somewhat misleading considering none of the songs have a royal theme. Nevertheless, they are cracking.

First up is a remix from a new DJ I stumbled across, called U-Tern. The song is called Let Me Out and it's by what I presume to be a band called Grand Theft, and some girl called Alexi Turner.

Grandtheft - Let Me Out feat. Alixe Turner (U-Tern Remix) by U-Tern

The next song is also a remix made by some Australian DJs calling themselves Bag Raiders. They've remixed the song "I Won't Let Go" by British synthpop duo Monarchy. In my opinion they've made it so much better in the way that they've combined an old-school 90's sound with a more modern sound.

The last song is not electro music, but rather awesome hip hop from the veterans Beastie Boys! The music video for their newest single is epic. If you haven't already seen it you're in for a treat. Unfortunately, the Beastie Boys also became victims for what seems to be the usual trend in the music industry: someone got hold of their unreleased material and leaked the whole album on the internet. Consequently, Beastie Boys decided to make their entire album available on their website. But I suggest you show them your love and dedication (if you like their music) by buying their album when it gets released. And in the meantime you can enjoy their latest music video and see how many celebs you can spot.

Friday in the 90's

2011-04-22T19:37:00.000+02:00

So it's finally Friday again! Yay, weekend! Don't know why I'm cheering... No rest for the final year students! But, of course I'm happy all of those of you that can enjoy the beautiful weather and a nice relaxing Easter holiday (How bloody magnanimous of me to be happy on your behalf while I'm sat crying in front of a computer).

Anyways, I'll give myself some time off to share some music with you. I've gone back some years for these one. Turns out the 90's gave us some brilliant club music! I love going back to that decade to rediscover all the forgotten gems. For example this one: The Bucketheads with The Bomb (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind). Turns out "The Bucketheads" are in fact only one DJ from New York named Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. He's a DJ veteran now working under several pseudonyms and he's had several singles, but I believe this is his most successful one:

Everyone know who the Chemical Brothers are. They've also been around a looong time and given us some quality club music. I've always been a fan, but I've only really heard their hit singles. So I decided to listen back to their first album Exit Planet Dust from 1995 and, lo and behold, 'twas awesome! The first track Leave Home just immediately draws you in to that electronic rock'n'roll club dance I-don't-know-what-to-call-it-but-it-is-brilliant. Here it is:

For the last song we'll leave the 90's and move into the early naughties (00's). Mint Royale is a big beat electronic music (same genre as the the Chemical Brothers) act from Manchester (Yay, Manchester!). In 2002 they released this gem of a track which I immediately fell in love it the first time I heard it. And not only is it an incredible tune, but they also made a brilliant music video for it which featured some of my favourite comedians: Michael Smiley and Nick Frost (from Spaced, Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) and Mighty Boosh geniuses Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding! The video is very much representative of how I react when I listen to this song in my car.

When scientists strive the charlatans thrive...

2011-04-21T21:05:00.000+02:00

I believe in science. By that I mean, I prefer knowledge to assumptions. But, that statement is in itself fallacious as I said "I believe in science". After all, that's all I can do. I choose to take the words of the scientists as the truth - considering I haven't checked all the data myself. The general gist of a new discovery is simply presented to me through some scientific journal, or rather a magazine or newspaper article.

But “believing in science” does hold water, because if I chose to I could find all the data and methods of how a scientists attained a piece of evidence - in detail! It’s a scientist’s duty to report on every step of the process he needed to take in order to arrive at whatever theory he might wish to investigate. He cannot simply say "Hey! I found a new elementary particle!" and then not tell anyone how he found it. A theory will not be accepted by the scientific community if it hasn't been verified by several other studies and strict testing (the term “scientific community” is often used, although I personally find it a bit exclusive and elitist. But the unfortunate reality is that ordinary people don’t all have the “critical filter” which all scientists are inclined to have. More on this later). So all science is well accounted for. Or at least it should be!

It amazes me to find article after article in newspapers that tries to defy well established theories. Of course it is a good thing that even well-known theories are tested - after all they are only theories - but it would (and should) take a hell of a solid piece of evidence to knock a theory of its throne. The plight of modern science is that modern technology accelerates so fast that it’s impossible for even the keenest minds to keep track of it all. Instead, we prefer to have our science read, digested, and presented to us in a simplified way, for the most part by journalists. One of the drawbacks of this is that journalists can be quite sensationalistic and more interested in selling papers than presenting what's necessarily true. Hence, we get presented with a lot of novel, weak, and spurious science that may contradict established science and, thus, give the impression that "what you thought was true isn't true after all!" and almost give the readers a sense of fear.

I know I sound like a "dinosaur" in the way that I seem to be defending the already established theories and almost defying any new evidence. But let me emphasise that I am very much a supporter of developing, falsifying and verifying the theories we already have. After all, that is the quintessence of science and the only way science can move forwards. The issue is that the science we "laymen" and "mere mortals" are presented with is often the science that provides sensationalistic and catastrophising headlines, instead of sound and solid facts. The proof of this is ample in any newspaper you might read.

Take for example the opponents of climate change. The case of climate change and global warming is thoroughly accounted for through massive amounts of data and well-established evidence. Yet, there are people out there who claim it’s not caused by mankind but a natural occurrence. A few years back, the opponents gloated over an e-mail by one of the leading climate change investigators that indicated that the evidence proving global warming had been meddled with. This was taken as evidence that the entire global warming argument was a fabrication and a “lie”. The first journalist who reported on the email was a Daily Mail journalist. In a documentary, the famous Nobel prize winning scientist Paul Nurse interviewed the journalist only to discover that the journalist had not read any of the journal proving global warming himself, but rather had them broken down and presented to him. The fact that the evidence we get presented in newspaper articles is read and then broken down into “gists” through several links in a chain of journalists and investigators is frightening. This might imply that the “evidence” we are presented with is nothing but a mutated shadow of the original evidence presenting only a fraction of the data. Yet, this is the evidence non-scientific people are presented with and potentially choose to believe. As it turns out, the original e-mail that sparked the entire debate simply said that the data had been manipulated so that it would be easier to understand for non-scientists. Talk about snowball effect. The debate was an important reminder for the “scientific community” to be more open about their research. It is, in my view, imperative to decrease the gap between the scientists and normal population. It might hopefully lead to fewer misunderstandings in the future, and potentially a more enlightened society.

If you want another example, I recommend you read this Guardian article about the anti-nuclear activists. They seem to base their anti-nuclear evidence on spurious and weak facts, but gain a lot of support because people tend to think about Hiroshima and Chernobyl when they hear the word “nuclear”.

The habit of having scientific knowledge presented to us by journalists in such an accessible manner has led to people being readily susceptible to "scientific nomenclature"; a fact that charlatans all around the world have long realised and exploit to the full. Here the other day, I read this article about a company in the USA that sells "real water". Ordinary tap water apparently isn't safe enough anymore, according to "Real Water", which have enriched their super-water with electrons... "Electrons you say? Why, this sounds like proper science to me! You know, with all the chemistry and physics and atoms and whatnot... Take my money!!!"

You may think that my sarcastic imitation of an Average Joe might be a bit over the top, but the fact of the matter is that Real Water (and SO many other companies like them) actually manage to convince their customers that it’s true and people are literally throwing money at them. They've even got usual celebrity-support which of course validates the product way more than any proper scientist could. The same marketing strategies are used by homeopaths, quacks, and fraudsters all over the world. All they care about is exploiting your gullible ignorance (and fear) in order to make money! They fabricate facts that sound scientific to trick you into believing that their product will "save you". And I can think of no worse insult to the name of science...

So my point is this: Be critical of all science and "evidence" you get spoon-fed through papers and magazines or whatever. Don’t simply accept a fact for a fact, but ask yourself how did they find this evidence and arrive at this conclusion. If not, they'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

The curse of the autopilot

2011-04-16T14:26:00.000+02:00

I'm not usually one to lose stuff. I've got good routines on where I put my stuff; for example my wallet, my keys, and my mobile phone (the compulsory modern "trinity"). Our brains are wonderful machines that can keep track of astonishing amounts of information while doing or thinking different things - for example, moving papers around the desk or putting your iPod on that shelf for a minute while finishing seomthing else your were doing. Normally, our "autopilot memory" works just fine and we find whatever item we need in the last place we left it.

This is probably what your autopilot's office looks like in the brain. A looooot of stuff to remember and keep track of.

But sometimes our autopilot experiences some glitches. You're simply moving back in memory to pick up the keys where you just left them a few seconds ago, only to find that they're not where you supposedly left them. You retrace your steps in your memory only to find there's a black hole in the "storyline". Your brain, however (or perhaps a guilty memory that discovered its errors before you did and tried to cover it up all nice and neatly), has filled this gap with some generic, habitual "movie clips" of you putting the keys "there"... You know; "in that spot where you left them". But they're not there!! The only thing you can do is keep checking your memory for clues, but your memory was the one to fail in the first place! There is no backup, except for you memory! And when that fails, then what?

"Hold on... You're not a real memory, are you? Where's the post-it note with Even's wallet?!"

It happened to me today. I was walking round town, had breakfast in a café, visited some shops, and then went food shopping in Tesco's. All of a sudden, just as I'm about to pay for my groceries, I discover that my wallet's gone. And this is pretty much how my internal dialogue unfolded; a dialogue I think can be applied to any occasion where you normally trusted autopilot fails...

Even (me): Fuck! Where's my wallet!
Brain (reason): Take it easy, man, you're usually on top of this, you've probably just put it in another pocket or in the bag...
*Checks every pocket and bag*
Even: It's not here!
Brain: What? That can't be right... Ok, ok, I got this... We haven't been many places today, we can easily retrace our steps. I'll just check with Memory. Memory!
Memory: Oh hi, there! What's up?
Brain: Can you give us a résumé of today's events?
Memory: Of course I can! First we had a lovely breakfast at that nice café, then we went to Urban Outfitters to try on some jeans, saw that cute girl, she was nice, should've asked for her number... then we went on to American Apparel, tried on a few more clothes, really helpful staff there by the way... and now we're here at the counter in Tesco's paying for some food! All in all, a lovely Saturd...
Brain: Where's our wallet?
Memory: ...day morning! Wait, what? Why, it's in your pocket of course!
Brain: No it isn't! Where did you leave it?
Memory: How strange... Well, if it isn't in our pockets then it must have fallen out of our pocket in the fitting rooms in American Apparel.
Brain: Right, let's go check. We need to go back to every place we've been today.
Legs: Wait, really? Will that really be necessary? Do we really need that wallet?
Brain: YES! Yes, we do! It's our fucking wallet! Money, bank cards, ID, everything!
Memory: Relax, legs, it's in American Apparel, I'm sure of it. Won't be a long walk.

*Goes to American Apparel. Asks everyone. No wallet to be found*

Memory: Oh... That's weird. Well, then surely it's in the fitting rooms in Urban Outfitters. I'm certain of it!
Legs: You bloody idiot... Start paying attention to what you're doing!
Brain: Shut up and get going! You're sure it's in Urban Outfitters, memory?
Memory: I'm positive! It's the only place it can be. I'm pretty sure I remember leaving our jacket on the floor in the fitting room, it must have fallen out when we left.

*Checks fitting room in Urban Outfitters. Not there. None of the staff has seen a wallet.*

Memory: Oh dear... That can only mean we've lost it. We've either been robbed or it has fallen out of our pocket somewhere along our tracks.
Legs: Ah well, too bad, let's go home!
Brain: NO! We need to check the café we went to this morning!
Memory: Why? It won't be there! I distinctly remember putting in our pocket when we left. I'm certain! The wallet's gone... It's probably been stolen.
Legs: Yes, it's probably stolen, let's just leave it.
Brain: Shut up! Get going! We NEED to check!

*Goes to café*

Even: Have you found a grey wallet in here by any chance?
Memory: Oh Even... I'm sorry but this is pointless... Just accept that it's gone...
Guy at counter: Yes! A grey one? You left it here this morning.
Memory: Wait, what...?
Brain: Fucking YES! Sweet Lord Jesus, what a relief...!
Memory: But.... but... When? How? I... err...
Even: Thanks brain! Now take me home!
Legs: Already on our way...

My genius/idiot brain doesn't deserve this much luck... Trust your autopilot, though, he usually does a bloody impressive job. However, if he screws up, trust your reason. And make sure your body cooperates.

Friday rhythms

2011-04-15T20:39:00.000+02:00

It's finally Friday yet again! Weekend!

I want to share three new songs with you - indeed, this shall be a weekly thing (let me know if you like it or not). The songs are yet again of an electronic/disco variety, as it is the only music I listen to nowadays... This week I've chosen some "groovy" songs for you - as a drummer, a good groove is my weak spot, my kryptonite.

We start of with a classic! I remember this one from the good ol' 90s - a decade where a lot of good (and a lot of crap!) club music was made. This one is from Blue Boy, a Scottish DJ, and this was pretty much his only mainstream hit. I remember being completely mesmerised by the groove of this song at the time, and I still am. It's got that sexy, suggestive, funky, confident rhythm - something you can listen to while walking down the street and suddenly makes you feel ultra-coooooool and start strutting, haha.

Next one is from Le Knight Club. This is Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo's little side project with a friend called Éric Chedeville. Their songs seems very "designed" to be easy to mix in with a DJ-set. It's not disco pop tunes like Daft Punk, but just good grooves that they've looped. "Gator" is my absolute favourite. When I hear a groove like this it's like I don't want it to stop. It could go on forever! (The same can be said about this (unofficial) music video...)

Last, but not least, my favourite groove of them all: The intro bit on Daft Punk's "Face to Face". In my head this groove just clicked. It is a "complete" groove, in my ears absolutely perfect. This song immediately caught my attention as I had never heard it before when I bought the Discovery album. It is definitely my favourite Daft Punk track. Hope you like it too. Have an awesome weekend!

(PS! Please, feel free to give me your suggestions for songs you think I should check out!)

"You are what you is"

2011-04-14T23:44:00.000+02:00

Quote: Frank Zappa

It is said that language and thought are closely interlinked. For example in physics, if one were to attempt to explain some astrophysical or quantum mechanical phenomena, our vocabulary simply fails to grasp the essence of what is going on. But doesn't this also mean that our minds falls short of comprehending the phenomena? In psychology, the most elusive, intangible, and consequently incomprehensible phenomenon is that of consciousness - the feeling of "being me" and how "I" experience the world around me: "Selfhood".

I know I'm in there somewhere!

When psychologists, philosophers, and even neuroscientists try to discuss the phenomena it usually leads to all sorts of confusion and subsequent debating. They simply can't decide on how to operationalise the bloody thing! I say "thing", but it feels very abstract to be called a "thing", don't you think? In this day and age where physicists are able to explain almost everything in the universe - even things we didn't (don't?) think existed! - there seems to be an increasing demand for "hard evidence" within all fields of science. Philosophising about abstract objects simply won't do anymore. With increasingly advanced technology people want to know, and have the possibility to find out, exactly what's going on. Physicists want to measure the temperature of a star ten billion light years away, or find out what sort of quarks are inside the nucleus of an atom. Neuroscientists want to pinpoint the area of your brain that makes you like the smell of bananas, or makes you feel in love, OR holds the answer to your consciousness!

When scientists talk about phenomena that we cannot observe and which are abstract or hypothesised, they tend to reify it. Reify means treating an abstract concept as something concrete. And they do it with consciousness. One popular idea (it seems a bit ambitious and almost futile to call them theories) about consciousness is the "Cartesian theatre". This comes from good ol' Descartes' idea about the body being the physical entity of a human being, and the mind being the "mental" part of us; our immaterial soul which interacts with the body. Hypothetically, according to this idea, all our perceptions and experiences come together at one point in the brain, as if being monitored and experienced by a little "mini-me" who also makes decisions and commands us further.

Yourself: Worst movie director ever.

This "theory" has long since been discarded as purely philosophical, but still serves as a good analogy because, after all, it feels like this might be the case...! Most neuroscientists today, however, (because no one listens to psychologists or philosophers anymore) opt for some sort of accumulation theory, where all the brain processes in our head together make up our consciousness. Of course they have already tried to pinpoint the "me" in people's heads using neuro-imaging, but whenever they think they've found something the philosophers pounce on them and it usually turns out they've simply described "attention" - again. You can't really blame them, though. After all, attention seems very conscious doesn't it? Think about it: Are you conscious now? Are you aware of that you are aware? So when you weren't thinking about it earlier, does that mean you weren't aware or conscious? Were you passed out...? Ok, so when you woke up, I bet you were still pretty sure that you were you, right? Explain to me then, how the hell did you do that??

Do you see how perplexing this thing is? Wonderful isn't it? This blogpost obviously cannot lead anywhere as there is no natural conclusion to be drawn. I could of course present you with lots of different theories and research, but I'm not going to spoon-feed you like a child, or rather force-feed you like some foie gras goose. After all, my mind is a bit tired after all this thinking and pseudo-philosophising. If you find yourself being all confused and perplexed now, frustrated about what is what and who is who (are you really you?), just do like this guy:

Damn straight!

Friday sounds

2011-04-08T16:48:00.000+02:00

It's finally Friday! I thought I'd share with you some music to get you ready for the weekend and for tonight. As I've mentioned in a previous blogpost I recently "discovered" (on my own part) Daft Punk. Subsequently, I've developed a penchant for electronic music, and here are some of my favourites at the moment.

DCUP is a Australian producer, DJ, and remixer. He is most famous for his collaboration with the Australian duo Yolanda Be Cool on their international hit single "We No Speak Americano". However, he has got some awesome music of his own (way too few songs in my opinion) and here is one that I particularly like.

The second song is from a 19-year old (!) Canadian kid, calling himself Robotaki, who is a master at remixing popular tunes. In this one he has remixed a track by a famous French electro artist called Kavinsky, and in my opinion he made it sound far better than the original.

The last song I will share with you is from a record I remember listening to years ago - back when I didn't even like electro or club music! This sends me down Nostalgia Lane: In the summer of 2001, my sister was in charge of this outlet store for this "cool" fashion shop. I was hired as a shop assistant (my first real job!) and I remember this was one of the records we used to listen to in the shop. We knew it backwards and forwards. Good times.

I was a bit apprehensive about listening to the album again, thinking perhaps it would be a bit dated, but it is truly a brilliant album with an awesome and timeless sound! Dimitri from Paris is a famous French DJ and producer, and he definitely knows his stuff. This track is the first song of the album and it definitely captures that "smooth and suave" mood of a Friday night in a fancy bar, hanging out with friends, drinking cocktails, mingling, flirting, and all the other cliches that goes along with the perfect night out. The album is after all appropriately titled "A Night at the Playboy Mansion"... So this one is dedicated to my lovely sister, Sara (check out her beauty blog!) and I wish you all a lovely weekend!

Tune - The Anthology, chapter 3

2011-04-04T22:04:00.000+02:00

In this part we struggle to get gigs in Oslo, rehearse incessantly, record another demo of songs that too long, and join a band competition that lets us play the hippest stages in Oslo.

Our first little demo/EP got us some news gigs. Gigs were few and far between, though. It usually took months before we got another gig. Progress was slow and that's not what you want when you're in an aspiring band. Perhaps we weren't looking well enough. But then again I can't say Oslo was (or is!) making it easy for new bands. We were all doing different things on the side. Education first and foremost, and part-time jobs which you need if you want to live in such an expensive city and play in a band as well. We were rehearsing once a week, but when you've got course work and your job to worry about on top of everything, it leaves frustratingly little energy and time for the music.

I was still writing new songs, although I wouldn't say I was super productive. I was very picky about the songs I wrote and a most of them never saw the light of day. A few of them I would introduce to the band and we would try them out together. It is so much better to have a band to play your music. I would write the chords and the melody and lyrics, and have a few ideas about lead guitar and bass. But it was the band that took the songs and made them awesome. Espen and Arngeir were brilliant at coming up with ideas on their own instruments and in that way bring a whole new dimension to the song. I always wrote the melody and guitar with Lars' voice in mind. On the demos I would do a half-hearted howling/screaming version of the song; Lars would then pick it up really quickly and sing the song superbly as it was meant to sound. Me being the song writer, the others where waiting for me to bring new material to the rehearsing room. But due to my fastidiousness with my demos it usually took a while for me to introduce a new song. Instead, rehearsals became sessions where we would play the old songs over and over again, much like a setlist for a gig.

After a while we had played all the smaller venue in Oslo, the little places that would give amateur bands a chance. There seemed to be a marked boundary, or threshold, between the little places where any band could play, and the more "hyped" places where only the bigger bands could get gigs; Bands that had released an actual CD, got a review in a paper or magazine, or were considered "cool enough". We weren't too keen on circulating and treading water in the same amateur venues which we'd already played. We were too ambitious for that. We wanted to play the big venues simply because we felt (or should I say "I felt") that was where we belonged.

We decided to record another demo. We got in touch with Jonas Kroon who had mastered our first self-produced demo. He was an aspiring producer and studio engineer and booked us into a studio that some of his friends had built - in a barn. We decided on three new songs which we recorded so much more quickly and efficiently than last time. Jonas knew his stuff. Jonas was excellent at making us relax and performing at a high level - considering we weren't experienced studio musicians. The tracks came out brilliant. Beyond what I thought they could sound like. At this point we had gotten quite skilled at producing the sounds we wanted, owning a lot of equipment and different guitar effects and such. But Jonas made us sound like pros. He made us sound as big as I was imagining we were sounding in my head.

With this demo our aim was to get even bigger gigs. But not much happened. It was a busy time for us with education and jobs and whatnot. We were treading water again. We were now rehearsing twice a week and were getting more and more serious with our sound and musicianship. But one thing is playing in the rehearsal room. We knew our songs backwards and forwards, but everything changes when your on a stage. It's a different dynamic and the presence of an audience makes the troupe on edge. I loved the exhilarating euphoria of the nervousness crossed with excitement, but it was too far in between gigs. Which meant that we weren't getting enough live experience, something every band needs and craves. To bring a new dimension to the band, Arngeir suggested we bring his younger brother as an additional keyboard player. The demos had showed us that some keys could do wonders with a song. So Gjermund was in.

One of the most discouraging things about this demo-business was that it wasn't getting us gigs. We handed in our demos to many events or concerts that asked bands to submit demos and be selected. However, we never got chosen. It was as if we were playing the wrong kind of music. The kind of pop-rock that wasn't "niche" enough for the indie crowd of Oslo. It pissed me off, because I genuinely believed (and still believe!) that we had some great songs. And not only that; we also knew how to PLAY! Too often did we see bands playing the cool venues where we wanted to play, and these bands would pound away at their instruments like five year olds destroying a sand castle. Or playing one guitar string at a time is also considered "cool" by the indie sycophants. You might argue that the music is more important than the musicianship, but fuck me... I can appreciated that argument, but I also know that I enjoy watching musicians who know what they're doing, and they're doing it well.

But the demo turned the attention to an important thing about our songs: My self-indulgent Noel Gallagher'esque song writing. Arngeir hinted that quite a lot of my songs were too long. This was something I had never thought of as I would write the songs as it sounded in my head and that was that. However, two of the songs we had recorded for our second demo were six minutes long! Not exactly radio-friendly durations... I defended myself by insisting that it was how they were meant to be. However, the band persuaded me to let Jonas edit them and make shorter versions. I'll admit I was both angry and sceptical when I heard the new versions for the first time. They were totally different songs. But the others liked it so we went with it (Later on I would grow to love the new edits).

With our new and improved line-up and setlist we entered a band competition, which actually didn't require a demo, just that we pay an entry fee (No recognition of musicianship - just the content in your wallet...). The competition involved three stages which, if we got through, would let us play at a bigger venue for the every stage. A ridiculous amount bands entered. Some bands that seemed to have been formed in someone's garage two days before, and bands that had been playing around for some time. Slightly demoralised by previous competitions and demo-judgings, we didn't exactly fancy our chances, but nevertheless it was another opportunity to play.

To our surprise we got through to the next stage, the so-called semi finals, which let us play a small but reputable venue where a lot of respected national and international bands had played. This was a great experience for us and it showed on stage. We played one of our best gigs. And to our surprise, we were voted through to the finals, which were held on the "coolest" stage in Oslo: Rockefeller. A venue that could hold 2500 people and served as a benchmark for any upcoming band: fill Rockefeller and you knew you had it made. Of course, we weren't playing Rockefeller in that way; we were in a competition with 20 other bands and had only 20 minutes to prove ourselves. But that didn't matter to us at this point. All that mattered was that we were finally going to play a big stage, on which so many of our idols had played, and on which our band was meant to play. This was the sort of stage and venue Tune was meant to play - that had been my aim and ambition since we formed the band. I didn't care if it wasn't our own gig: Our 20 minutes on that stage rocked! Espen delivered, Arngeir delivered, Lars owned the stage, and I was buzzing. The best performance we had ever done - period. Alas, it would also be our last.

The songs from the demo (edited versions) are available on our still existing facebook page . Hope you enjoy them

Tune at Rockefeller:

Walking to the sound of my favourite TUNE... Part 2

2011-03-29T01:09:00.000+02:00

This is the second part of the story about the band I played in. In this part we start playing gigs and gain the praise of our friends. The military causes an unwelcome interruption, before we join up in Oslo and continue our quest to be the band that we felt music needed.

I remember the first time we played together. Not as a band, this was before we even decided to form a band. Lars and Arngeir suggested Espen and I join them for a weekend at Arngeir's house. They lived in this big, old, beautiful house outside a small village in Norway. Arngeir had been playing a lot with his brothers through his childhood, and hence they had a lot of equipment which we could use. We basically spent two days just playing together (sometimes in the nude) and make some simple, rough recordings with the help of Arngeir's brothers. Good times.

When Rubens Araba, and eventually Tune was formed, it was exhilarating. Finally I was playing in a proper rock band with my mates! And I discovered that I could write songs. The initial idea had been that everyone would contribute to the song writing and bring songs and ideas into the group. Some of our first songs were written this way. But whenever I wrote a song I tended to do all the bits on my own. I decided what the chords would be, the melody, the guitar, the bass line, and everything. It was as if I had this piece of music that I wanted my mates to help me perform. Lars obviously had a better voice than me which made my songs far better. Espen also had a couple ideas for songs and so had Lars. But eventually I became the main songwriter of the band.

We started playing these concerts which the music and drama department of our college put on once a month. We quickly got our friends' recognition which is inestimable in the vulnerable beginnings of a band. I loved every moment of it. Soon we started playing gigs outside of school as well. Not very often, but time and again there would be an event or gig on that invited amateur bands to play. This is something which I still to this day think is far too rare in Norway in general. But we were relishing every chance we got to play. Although my internal Noel Gallagher'esque ego was not enjoying being just one band on the list of so many other bands. My mind was fixated on the grandiose idea of having a mass following of fans and be able to fill vast venues and even stadiums. But shyness and humility tends to put reality-accepting tethers on such ideas.

After finishing music college, both me and my brother had to do an obligatory spell in the military. I ended up in the King's guard which was based in Oslo, were both Lars and Arngeir also had moved to study. I did one year of military service and moved in with Lars. Espen, always the more pragmatic one, continued his military career for another six months before we nagged him to become a civilian and join us in Oslo so we could get the band started again. We were in the capital of Norway, the metropolis where we would finally get discovered by the big record companies! At least my ego told me so. How deluded.

We got a rehearsal room in a party venue/pub of an MC club, which was handy concerning security of our equipment. We rehearsed some new and better songs and set out to get some gigs. Oslo had a limited number of bars that would allow completely new amateur bands to play, providing they got enough people to come and watch. I say "allow", but in reality we had to pay. Most venues seem to work by this policy: We had to use the resident PA (sound) system and for that we had to pay, about £100. It was up to us and get as many of our friends to come, and we decided ourselves if we wanted to take an entry fee which we would be allowed to keep ourselves. .But it rarely covered the bill for the PA system. Ridiculous. Such an antagonistic attitude towards new bands! If we played a venue we would most likely recognise all the faces in there, unless they were friends of whichever band we split the gig with (a split gig would provide more people and potential fans). Other people turned in the door, no one could be bothered listening to some amateur band which music they probably didn't like either. I can't say I think of Oslo as a very warm place socially speaking. This wasn't going to be easy. Turns out I was right.

Espen was studying sound engineering at this school which specialised in music, drama, engineering, and everything else related to entertainment. They had a studio which they let the students use for free. This gave us the opportunity to do our first proper studio recordings! Having a demo meant it would be easier to get gigs and also attention from record companies and producers. We recorded three songs on which Espen did all the mixing, with minimal studio mixing experience. Lars Andreas, a friend of Arngeir who was already a semi-professional musician, provided keys on the songs which made them sound so much richer and well-produced. Lars knew this other musician who recommended a producer/studio technician fresh out of the LIPA academy in Liverpool called Jonas Kroon. He mastered the tracks making them sound even bigger and better. Tune was finally proper band with gig experience and now a demo!

And this is what I leave you with for now: I actually found a website for amateur bands on which we posted our songs and where you can still listen to two of the tracks. When I listen to these song (I haven't heard them in years) my body literally starts to tremble. It's hard to explain how euphoric and emotional I get when I hear those songs and think back to those days. I know I'm making it sound like it was ages ago when in reality it's about five years, but somehow it feels very distant. I cannot possibly explain to you how important these songs are to me, simply because of the memories I associate with them. I hope you enjoy them.

Tune's first gig in Oslo!

The poster I made with pictures from our first gig which we subsequently used as a promo poster for all our gigs and cover on our first EP.

"Change is such hard work"

2011-03-23T23:56:00.000+01:00

(Quote: Billie Crystal. Yep, weird source, I know)

While surfing the web I discovered a picture posted by someone on reddit.com, a social news forum, where people share whatever they want to share with other. This particular picture really hit me (I'm sorry I don't have the name of the creator):

Now, you might look at the picture and think nothing special about it, and that’s ok. Perhaps I’m just deluded and overgeneralising a bit, but I think everyone can, at least to some degree, recognise the feelings this picture conveys. The feeling of wanting to do something, but not finding the motivation to do it. “I really should get up off this couch and do some sit-ups” or “I should probably work on that assignment”, all the way to “I should get out of bed” and even “I should do something with my life”. But somehow, the little motivation spark plug in our brain isn’t firing, and thus you just carry on with what you were doing.

I think a lot of people can look at this picture and think “Get over yourself. Just get off your arse and do something with your life! Quit whining and just DO it! Everyone has days like that, but they get over it and so should you!” In fact (and to my naïve surprise) that was the general feedback the picture got from the other users on reddit.com. Only a very few people showed the creator of the picture any sympathy.

Well, I for one can identify with the picture, and I guess that’s why it hit me so hard. I recognise the hopeless feeling of wanting to do something, but failing to muster the motivation and consequently carrying on in the same repetitive pattern; a sort of vicious circle. Now, as I said, the sentiment this picture communicates can be extrapolated to failing to muster motivation for doing the dishes, but such a feeling might also lead to depression. I’m not depressed, thankfully. But I think we can all agree on that everyone has days or periods where everything feels difficult and downright dismal. Most of us eventually find a way out of this vicious circle of misery, but for others it might be much harder.

My issue is with the people who try their best to help by saying aforementioned “Get up and do something!” Having experience periods or milder and more severe hopelessness myself, my point is that this sort of “support” helps very little. The very quintessence of the problem is that the person cannot seem to turn things around and do something about their life (or the dishes…). Therefore “just do it” only leads to walking in circles:

“I can’t do anything”
“How about you Just DO it?!”
Well, that helped… Like ringing the doorbell when no one’s home.

On the other hand, I completely see where the “consolers” are coming from. It’s easy once you have gotten out of a hopeless situation, to stand on the other side of the (metaphorical) mountain and go: “You just got to get over it and do this and do that! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!” You might even give them the exact same advice you followed or tell them to do whatever you did. I’ve done so several times myself, but I’m not sure whether it helps directly. I think the revelation has to come from within yourself. It's YOU who are down in the dumps and it's YOU who need to get out. You know you have before, but it might be difficult and even irrelevant what helped the previous time. It might help talking to someone, writing it down, or you might like getting advice or just a “push” in the right direction from other people, or you might just climb that mountain yourself. Whatever you did, remember no one did it for you. Support is always good, but YOU took those necessary steps. YOU got out of the couch and YOU turned things around. Thus: You are awesome. So if you’re struggling a bit at times, you know there is a way out. The important thing is to not give up.

As a conclusion I would like to share with you a clip which I stumbled upon while writing this very blogpost. It is a beautiful video which is made by a guy called Luke Rudkowski for a website called wearechange.org. The website isn't that pertinent to what I've been talking about, but the video is a poignant reminder of locked-away interpersonal social nature. I thoroughly recommend you watch it.

Much love.

(NB! If you have any comments whatsoever, whether you disagree or agree with me, feel free to leave a comment!)

Walking to the sound of my favourite TUNE... Part 1

2011-03-21T20:59:00.000+01:00

This is the story of how I discovered Oasis and subsequently decided to become a rockstar. It shall be told in parts as I want to tell all the parts of the story and consequently it is quite long. It is also a bit esoteric, in that I think it is only interesting for people who know me or the band. In this first part I tell of how I endeavoured to play music forever. I play drums for a Christian choir and go to music college where I meet my future band members.

I used to play in a band. We called ourselves TUNE, which frankly I think is a good band name. It's got brevity and a bit of "punch" to it. I like short band names, not tenuously long “see-how-much-weirder-and-arbitrary-we-are-compared-to-everyone-else-that-are-weird-and-arbitrary” indie band names. Also, it’s what people say when they hear a good song. Just: “Tune!”. Very Mancunian. Yep, a lot of it has to do with my past as an Oasis sycophant.

I think I was fourteen when it happened. I had already been playing the drums since I was about seven, playing along to Beatles tapes. But lately I had stopped playing. I even considered selling my drums at one point, but my mum wouldn't let me. Thank God for that.. I mean: Thank MUM for that. Anyway: I was fourteen and I was sat waiting in my brother’s car and decided to pass time by checking out his cd’s; two of which were Oasis’ (What’s The Story) Morning Glory and Be Here Now. Step inside Even’s pubescent head: “Oasis, ey? Oh yeah, they’re the ones that did Whatever and Wonderwall. I remember them, got some good tunes. Well, at least the…HOLYFUCKINGHELLIHAVESEENTHELIGHT!!!” It was a mindgasm. My brain ejaculated through my eyes, salty tears of joy and wonderment. From then on it was ALL about the music. I say “music” because I didn’t (don't) want to be perceived as a sycophant. But in reality it was all about Oasis.

My twin brother, Espen, also got into Oasis. Of course this meant I had found a Liam to my Noel. Or vice versa, I hadn’t decided who I wanted to be like the most. I played the drums and he played the guitar. The unfortunate thing was that we lived in the small suburb to a rather small town and we didn’t know anyone else who played music, let alone Oasis music (yep, at this point I'm still too close-minded to embrace the larger movement called britpop).

The only possibility me and my brother had of playing music in a band with other people in our neighbourhood, was to join the local Christian choir. A gospel choir of little white kids. I played drums in the band and Espen ended up behind the desk, engineering the sound for the choir (he went on to be bloody good at sound engineering, something he still does on and off to this day). We had some really good times playing in that choir. I honed my playing skills a lot because the guys I was playing with were really good at what they were doing. But Christian Choir music isn't rock'n'roll, not matter how hard they try sometimes...

The time came for me and my brother to go to college. I applied straight away for music college. My brother, who has always been rather technically apt (hence, the instinctive expertise at sound engineering) was applying for some technical college, but applied for music as well, just for the hell of it. And we both got accepted! And if you believe in destiny, or horoscopes, or supernatural, divine interventions, then this incident was an example of all the planets aligning just right. For in music college me and my brother met two other guys with whom we would form a band: Lars, the natural lead singer; a grunge/britpop fan with an amazing, beautiful, awesome, and unique voice. And Arngeir; a classical guitarist with an incredible feel for music, who thankfully turned his energy to playing bass in the band.

We started off as "Rubens Arraba". A weird band name, sort of an internal joke. Long story short, Rubens is a painter who painted chubby angels and we used to joke about being chubby; and Arraba means four in Arabic or something - there were four band members. Later on, I would insist we change it (I tended to be a bit Noel Gallagher'esque at times and exert a bit of needless authority), and I suggested Tune, which they all went along with. I started writing songs, and soon we were on our way to illusory stardom...

Tune, from the left: me, Lars, Arngeir, and my brother Espen

Radiowipe

2011-02-18T20:58:00.000+01:00

I've got a radio show with my mate on the University of Manchester student radio station, Fuse FM. My mate's name is Chris and he is funny as hell. Much funnier than me; you know, in that clever way. I just provide the lunacy, absurdity, and general goofiness.

The show is called Radiowipe. The original idea was to do a spin-off of Charlie Brooker's ingenious Newswipe, but in a radio format. However, we've ended up with something quite different. It's a talk show of some sorts. We discuss weird stories and usually end up digressing and straying far from the original story, which I think is what makes it funny. As most amateur-student radio hosts, we started off very nervous and unsure, but still enjoying ourselves immensely. And we have grown and become a lot more experienced (at least in my view (ears?)) in the short time we've been with Fuse.

So far we've done three "seasons" or broadcasts, and the fourth broadcast has just started. Unfortunately Fuse FM haven't got all year broadcasts. Hence, they broadcast two months every academic year; a four week period in the autumn semester and another one in the spring semester.

So tomorrow Radiowipe is back on air! This will be our last season as Chris and I are both third year students. But we promise you that this will be our best season ever. We've got jingles and features and everything! So from 2pm till 4pm you can tune into 87.7fm if you're anywhere in Manchester and prefer the old-fashioned radio, or simply visit the Fuse FM website and launch the live player.

Chris in the studio. He doesn't usually look this suave and contemplative. Rather, he has a look of nervousness and panic, probably out of fear for what mistakes I will make or things I will say next.

This is me in the studio. I don't usually look like this, either. I'm just looking goofy for the camera. Usually, my look is one of vacuous, infantile, and blissful ignorance and excitement over being on the radio.

Digital Love

2011-02-17T23:47:00.000+01:00

Music. Whoever invented it was a bloody genius. Well done, you unknown caveman of yore.

I don't think there is anyone out there that would go "Music? Hate it!" It'd be like going "Food? Ew! Hate the stuff!" Yes, I know it's pretty bold of me to compare the need for music to something as principally life-sustaining as food. But considering how insightful, almost metaphysical, and consequently damn emotional, philosophical and bathetic (fitting word) the human race has become because of our big brains and that, I make that comparison with much conviction. After all, this is my blog. (And it is just a blog. Read a book if you want to prove me wrong).

No wonder people call music food for the soul. It can sooth you and stroke it's ethereal hand across your face, or it can lift you by the skin of your neck and make you go that extra mile. It understands you when you're feeling down, it screams with you when your angry, it smiles with you when you're happy, and it parties with you when you're going out. All of those things!

"What are you trying to tell us, Even? With your unnecessarily wordy blog post..." Well, I'm sure a lot of you out there listen to a lot of different music. You check your iPod and go "Yeah! That is quite a decent and eclectic list of music I've got there!" I think that about my list. But just recently I got that feeling that I was just so fed up with all of my music. There was nothing I could be bothered listening to. I even preferred leaving home without my music! So what to do? I needed a new musical shot of superdrugs.

Enter Daft Punk. Simple as this, really: Went to see Tron: Legacy. And I was hooked. No, not hooked: Lost! I was lost in the world - no, no world: UNIVERSE! of Daft Punk. Yeah I know, they've been around for years. People give me incredulous looks when I say I've just "discovered" Daft Punk. You probably remember "Around the world", "One More Time", "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and all those songs - they were played to shreds on all radio stations and TV channels. I know, I remember too. Just didn't care much for that kind of music at the time.

Talk about reorganisation! The musical neurons in my brain must have a must have taken a disappointed look at the dusty same old record collection and thought "We need to do something drastic." And they sent me rocketing into the Daft Punk Universe. Because it IS a universe. With Daft Punk you get the entire package. Everyone remembers the weird anime-like music videos of the previously mentioned songs? If you didn't know, they're taken from a feature-length anime movie called "Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem", which Daft Punk created together with anime creator Leiji Matsumoto.

I've seen it and it is frickin' awesome. There are no spoken words in the film; just the entire Discovery album played in its entirety. Work of genius, if you ask me (The unknown caveman would have been proud).

They did the same with their following album, Human After All (Does the name ring a bell? Yep, pretty much inspired the name of this blog). Electroma is quite an arty film, and I'm not one for arty films... Of course I had to check it out because of Daft Punk, and I must say it really made an impression on me. In Electroma, Daft Punk's music isn't played at all. Instead they've selected quite a varied list of songs to fit the speech-less movie.

"What is so awesome about Daft Punk?" you might ask. "I mean, they're alright, but why this sycophantic obsession?" For me, it's the attitude. Look at them. Their anonymous robot-like appearance with those super insanely cool helmets and leather outfits custom-made by Dior. Well, I'm sold. Many attribute their fame specifically to their helmet-wearing anonymity. It's that "want-what-you-can't-have" thing, isn't it? Also, I think those helmets evokes a sense of awe and mystery associated with aliens and space monsters and whatnot. It's fascinating and weird. They just look damn cool to me.

I mean, look at the Tron: Legacy premiere. Two anonymous robot people - in suits!!

(Daft Punk at the Tron: Legacy premiere. Thomas Bangalter (right) is all like "Yeah, I'm a robot and your puny gravitational forces don't apply to me and my space-robot-awesomeness so Imma just stand here all tilted like this. Deal with it, earth-flesh-bitches." And Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (left) is just like "Yeah, that's right space-robot-brother. You show those weird organic human-things how we do it." Awesome.)

They have a massive following of fans all around the world. Their live shows are rare and in SUPER high demand. Their last appearance was at the French band Phoenix's gig in the Madison Square Garden. I'll leave you with a clip from their surprise appearance. At approximately 2:55 the crowd goes wild - and with good reason.

"If I ever stop laughing, I'm dead"

2011-02-13T22:16:00.000+01:00

I love laughing. And I do it a lot (some of you who know me might have noticed). Hence, I love and I need comedy! It's one of my great passions in life. So that's what I want to tell you about in this blog post.

Mahatma Gandhi once said "If I had no sense of humour, I would long ago have committed suicide". Quite a gloomy thing to say about comedy, I know, but I totally see where he's coming from. One of my favourite comedians, Russell Brand, says that comedy and laughter is ultimately a distraction from our knowledge of the inevitability of death. In other words, we all know we're going to die some day, and this thought is forever present somewhere in our subconsciousness, making us ever nervous, frightened, pessimistic, dismal and downright sad - had it not been for comedy! (It all sounds very psychoanalytic and Freudian, but somehow still compelling, no? The previous blog post will tell you I am a sucker for pseudo-philosophy/psychology).

So we distract ourselves from the sad things in life with laughter and comedy. Think about it. When you laugh, when you truly laugh so hard that you're crying and your stomach hurts, you never think "Oh no, I've got work in the morning. Oh no, it's raining again. Oh no, I need to pick up milk on the way home. Oh no, I'm inevitably going to die." Everything that exists in that moment is the euphoric and joyous feeling of laughter. And it's the loveliest feeling in the world!

SO let me show you some of the people that provides a constant source of laughter (and distraction from death) for me. I'm well aware of that humour is a subjective thing, so some of you might not find it funny at all. But all I ask is that you give it a go.

Russell Brand is definitively my favourite comedian. I adore this man. He released me from my self-applied shackles of trying to be like Liam/Noel Gallagher when playing in a band in Oslo a few years ago (Just realised that such a sentence deserves some elaboration. It might serve as content for a future blog post). In other words, he made me realise I am actually someone who wears spray-on tight jeans, speaks with a loud and often high-pitched voice, and desperately seeks attention. When I tell people about Russell Brand I always recommend they watch his first DVD. Have a gander, why don't ya:

"In relevant news..." Mr. Brand will soon be on the big silver screen again with a remake of the Dudley Moore classic "Arthur" - a movie I love and thoroughly recommend. Russell Brand, after acquiring superstar status on the British isles, travelled to Hollywood to attempt to break America. As a fan of his stand-up I have been rather sceptical and not that convinced by his Hollywood movies, but Arthur actually looks really promising. Watch the trailer, it is full of Russell Brand-esque wit and hilarities. I'm really looking forward to this movie.

As an ending I would like to recommend someone who has been around in the British media for a long time, but just recently attempted stand-up. Many of you might know Simon Amstell from the pop quiz show "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" on which he served as a preposterously cruel and acerbic (yet, in my opinion ingeniously funny) host. In his stand-up, though, he shows a completely different and honest side of himself. It is quite touching to watch someone set himself up as so vulnerable and yet manage to make it funny. And not only is it funny; I've never learned so much wisdom from a stand-up show. I urge you to watch it and be amazed. Here is a taste:

Coulda woulda shoulda... Buddha

2011-02-10T20:27:00.000+01:00

This. This right here. This is the first post of my blog. Yet another blog. But this one’s mine. Oh yeah. And that means a lot to me.

You’re probably wondering about the title of this first blog post. Well, let me let YOU have a sneak peek into my mysterious mind… Wait, let me rephrase that. This blog will not offer you mere “sneak peeks”; rather, it will slash my abdomen and crack my cranium wide open and pour out my guts, feelings, wits, thoughts, heart, soul and brains all over your confused and bemused eyeballs. No holds barred. That’s what blogging is all about, riiiiight...?

“Coulda woulda shoulda” simply refers to the fact that this is something which I have wanted to do for a long time. It’s one of my little dreams and ambitions which, with this post, finally has taken that first difficult step towards fulfilment. I have a good few dreams and ambitions. Haven’t we all? But, sadly, we let the tethers of everyday life and mundanity restrain and curb them. After all, they are only dreams, right?

And that’s what the “Buddha” refers to. Many people probably go through life with dreams and ambitions about things they want to achieve – mountains to climb, sights to see, bands to play in, what have you – but still they end up old, perhaps without having experienced any of it. Does that mean they’ve lived a life in vain? I don’t know… yet. I think a lot of people end up finding happiness in completely different places to where they might have thought. That perfect life partner and your lovely children, that actually-quite-interesting-and-rewarding-job, those excellent work colleagues. And they let their happiness in their close surroundings guide their once-so-restless minds all content and nice through life. Totally Zen-like, man. Radical.

Hell, I might even join them! Sitting there in my rocking chair at the old people’s home, going “You might as well give up now, Even. Your foolish dreams will come to naught! Stop distracting yourself from what you should focus on! Getting an education, a job, a wife and some kids! (And a cat)” Well, sorry future-senile-Even, I just have to try a few things before I join you there on the porch. (Save a seat for me, though…)

I’ll be the first to admit that starting a blog doesn’t seem like a very ambitious “dream”. But I'm sure that those of you who know me well will have gathered by now that this weirdo isn’t going to settle for a 9 to 5 job behind some desk – perhaps meddling with people’s minds (I study psychology for those of you who weren't sure). But I needed to start this blog for my own sake. I have a personality that craves attention, and not only that: I crave sharing my experiences, my thoughts, my everyday life, my history, my world.

I know a lot of my friends will think of this blog post as quite pseudo-philosophical, wannabe-grandiloquent, and consequently pompous and a bit awkward. But this is who I am. I think even some of you might have guessed already. I am a closet lover-of-pretentious-pseudo-philosophy. Especially my own, mind you.

So deal with it! This is my blog! Excelsior!

(Next blog post won’t be long, hopefully. In the meantime, here’s a “bloggy” picture of me. Oh, and leave comments! Be polite though, you ruffian, you...)