Cocteau Twins, Fifty-fifty clown, off the Heaven or Las Vegas album, 1990.

Santigold. Go (Featuring Karen O – of the Yeah yeah yeahs)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtxlCsVKkvY

That’s right: Daddy Cool. Who’s your daddy?

My wife came home the other day, thrilled to have reacquainted herself with Emilíana Torrini on the radio, a singer/songwriter whose CD I remember she bought some ten years ago. It went right into the CD player on arrival, which, honestly was quite a pleasant surprise. So much of the late [...]]]>

My wife came home the other day, thrilled to have reacquainted herself with Emilíana Torrini on the radio, a singer/songwriter whose CD I remember she bought some ten years ago. It went right into the CD player on arrival, which, honestly was quite a pleasant surprise. So much of the late 1990′s music sounded more or less the same, I suppose, which is probably why we really didn’t pay much attention to her at the time.

She sounds like something in-between Stina Nordenstam and Björk, fragile, yet aggressive, when appropriate.

What neither of us knew, is that she’s in fact Icelandic, which is a bit of a coincidence, as she had to step in for fellow Icelander Björk, who backed out due to pregnancy, singing Gollum’s song in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the ring epic. On seeing her full name, Emilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir, it all makes sense, of course.

But I’m digressing. Torrini’s chill out denomination is highly questionable, to say the least, but much of it easily passes as chill-out, with a definite air of the 1990′s about it.

Even though chill out is generally considered a thing of the mid-nineties, I beg to differ. Here’s an old favourite of mine, The Art of Noise’s Robinson Crusoe (1989):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=09BYP0a-6oI

I apologise for the absence of visuals. However, this tune is perhaps more in line with the late 1980,s easy listening revival. Remember that?

Anyway, along came the 1990′s, with its Buddha bar concepts, coffee bars and chill out all over. There was no avoiding Air, and we all ran for the latest Sigur Rós CD’s. Damn, there’s Iceland again.

But above all, Air:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=etKAzG6UXhI

Or Morcheeba or Boards of Canada or Groove Armada or Belle and Sebastian or Café del Mar or… Dunno where to begin, really, but I think I’ve come to appreciate it all again. If you’d like to rediscover it, too, I can recommend The AOL radio’s (well, CBS radio, really) Relax Trax (choose from list).

Photo: Emiliana Torrini (Wikipedia)

There’s no Christmas without those familiar songs, carols and tunes, now is there? So I thought I’d help you get in the right mood with a collection of tunes I’ve put together over at Finetune. Have to warn you though; the playlist is evolving continuously, starting with 55 various tracks, and [...]]]>

There’s no Christmas without those familiar songs, carols and tunes, now is there? So I thought I’d help you get in the right mood with a collection of tunes I’ve put together over at Finetune. Have to warn you though; the playlist is evolving continuously, starting with 55 various tracks, and I honestly can’t say where it ends by the time Christmas is over.

I do hope, however, you will find that it’s a diverse compilation, catering for every possible taste in music. Please pop out the player (function visible once you start play) and continue visiting other websites. I’ll make sure to include the compilation in the sidebar, too, replacing the early December retro tracks.

By the way, I shot the picture on top with my mobile, expecting a very poor result. Turns out I was positively err… disappointed.

Edit: Turns out that work, Christmas preparations – and Xmas itself took up most of my time, leaving me unable to work on the playlist, let alone putting it in the sidebar. Sorry.

I ran across an old acquaintance (depicted here) just after leaving a meeting in town this afternoon; a brilliant musician I haven’t seen in years, standing by the fountain behind the National Theatre with what looked like a digital thingamajig in hand.

Knowing me I never pass an opportunity to share a few words [...]]]>

I ran across an old acquaintance (depicted here) just after leaving a meeting in town this afternoon; a brilliant musician I haven’t seen in years, standing by the fountain behind the National Theatre with what looked like a digital thingamajig in hand.

Knowing me I never pass an opportunity to share a few words in transit, so I headed in his direction for a word or two, exchanging the usual pleasantries, and “oh, so you still live in the hill behind the school” and all that. All very superficial. We were never that close.

Turns out the thingamajig was for recording urban sounds from the crowds – and a number of gypsy “musicians” lined up in front of respective tube entrances, for added ambience, he said, interrupted or ruined, I don’t know which, by yours truly.

If you’re a regular at the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra’s or the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra’s concerts (not sure where he plans to use it), be warned of an out-of-place “Ahoy there, you old fiddler you” in the background. That would be me.

And if you read this, Terje, I’m sorry if I blew a secret project or something. I’m in a terrible bad blogger mode these days.

I know it isn’t much, but considering I’ve never been much of [...]]]> Man, have these last days been busy. To such an extent, in fact, that taking care of basic chores, such as shaving in the morning, have been put off in order to squeeze in as much work as possible, resulting in this:

I know it isn’t much, but considering I’ve never been much of a beard guy, this is nothing short of deplorable, I tell you, resulting in numerous remarks, even from Cocteau Twins, it would seem. Well actually, this post is an excuse for sharing the Twins’ Bluebeard (although there doesn’t seem to be much mentioning of him in the lyrics), which explains the above tint. Great song, fabulous visuals. And you just have to love Liz Fraser’s angelic voice:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqEYJnIWgeE

Oh, by the way: That dreadful facial hair? Gone now. It’s Sunday, with ample time for shaving – and Cocteau Twins.