It’s hard to imagine that in only a 2-hour plane journey away from the UK’s north lies a festival so remote and eclectic, so free and so friendly, so well catered for and yet so lacking in all the usual mudfest ned-infected turnoffs to be found elsewhere. Basically a festival so… un-British. The Norwegian fjord-ick surroundings of Tonsberg again played host to Slotsfjell - a laid back yet high tempo mix of metal, hip hop, shoegaze indie, and just about every other genre ones mind could conjure or invent. The festival is now in its 8th year and again ...

Magnet / Pharrell / Snoop - Lay Lady Lay (dj erb Remix)

Of the, what seems like infinite, covers of Bob Dylan's 'Lay Lady Lay' this sleepy rendition is one of my favorites. Magnet , Norwegian songwriter Evan Johansen, teams up with Irish  folk hero Gemma Hayes to reinvent Dylan's country tune and turn it into a dream-like procession. The addition of brass and string accompaniment provide that extra layer of refinement, something the original lacks. MP3 Magnet w/ Gemma Hayes :: Lay Lady Lay

Download audio file (laylady.mp3|titles=Magnet and Gemma Hayes - Lay Lady Lay (Bob Dylan Cover))

"Modern Drift" - Efterklang      Beginning with compelling, quasi-minimalist piano lines, structured around two related melodic motifs, and brilliantly integrating strings and horns with electronics and percussion, "Modern Drift" is more composition than song. Consider this a good thing--a way of bringing some of classical music's attractive complexity into pop music's attractive brevity. Everybody wins. We just have to work on the fact that they only seem to be able to do this sort of thing in Scandinavia.      I suggest listening to this song four or five times in a row just to let it begin to make sense in ...

Το Radio Beans συνεχίζει την πορεία του και ελπίζουμε η 13η εκπομπή να μην είναι και γρουσούζικη. Σε αυτό το ραδιοφωνικό μας πόνημα ασχολούμαστε με τις αγαπημένες μας διασκευές που έχουν ηχογραφηθεί κανονικά και με το νόμο στο στούντιο. Η δουλειά μας ήταν εξαιρετικά δύσκολη γιατί καμμιά εκατοστή κομμάτια μας βομβάρδιζαν παρακαλώντας μας να τα εισάγουμε στο tracklist. Λυπούμαστε αλλά μόνο τα συγκεκριμένα χώρεσαν, τεντώνοντας μάλιστα τη διάρκεια του Radio Beans μια ώρα πάνω απο το συνηθισμένο. Την επόμενη φορά θα έχουμε live διασκευές, πράγμα που σημαίνει περισσότερα δράματα, διλήμματα, και τραγούδια να μας χτυπούν την πόρτα στις 4 τα ...

History making Norwegian electro poppers Casiokids are set to return to the UK, with a host of dates being confirmed ahead of their new single. There's not much new ground to be broken in British music. From Billy Fury onwards, the nation has led the way with weird and wonderful pop acts. Yet Casiokids have found a new niche, releasing the first single in the UK to be sung entirely in Norwegian. The snappily titled double A-side 'Grønt lys is alle ledd/Togens hule' came out last year through Moshi Moshi's always impressive Singles Club. Going to show ...

Όταν ξεκίνησε το blog που διαβάζετε αυτή τη στιγμή, λίγο περισσότερο από δυόμιση χρόνια πριν, η αρχική ιδέα που είχα για τον τίτλο του δεν είχε τίποτε να κάνει με το αγαπημένο μου ομώνυμο τραγούδι. Παίρνοντας τον τίτλο από τη θαυμάσια ταινία του Todd Verow , σκέφτηκα ότι θα ήταν πολύ καλή η ιδέα της ανάρτησης ενός καταπληκτικού τραγουδιού σε ημερήσια βάση, σαν ένα "σφηνάκι ευτυχίας" στη βαρετή μου καθημερινότητα, και, στην ιδανική περίπτωση, στην καθημερινότητα των αναγνωστών του blog.. Το όνομα ήταν βέβαια καπαρωμένο -και μάλιστα από κάποιον Έλληνα αν θυμάμαι καλά- οπότε αναζήτησα αλλού την έμπνευση και.. the rest ...

I made this playlist a while back, and I've enjoyed it way too much not to share it. It's made up completely of modern tunes that are, to my ear anyway, in some way inspired by the Beach Boys. In some of them, it's just the percussion that does it for me, in others its the harmonies or the production techniques - some are more overt than others (The Explorer's Club and Panda Bear), but a few of the subtler ones are real stand-outs as well (the breakdown in "Quiet Houses"). This started out as a sort ...

Some lovey-dovey songs for your Valentine's Day! Tom Baxter - Better Said the Whale - The Light is You Spektor">Regina Spektor - Samson Iron & Wine - Naked as We Came United States">These United States - First Sight Magnet - Lonely No More The Love Willows - Falling Faster Slow Club - When I Go Thomas Dybdahl - U Noah & The Whale - 5 Years Time

Here are three things I love: 1) Bob Dylan in general 2) Jeff Tweedy 's lilting voice 3) everyone's favorite choral chamber pop group, Foxes">Fleet Foxes You may have heard that these three things were combined in glorious fashion this summer as the latter two covered a song by the former during their recent tour together. Now, they're offering an mp3 of that little bit of magic for FREE over at Wilco's website - all you have to do is pledge to vote in the up-coming election (click here to go and do it) . Classy on just ...

It is my opinion that Stars is worth driving over 2 hours to see, which is exactly what I did on Saturday when they played the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. I haven't seen them live since the fall of 2005 when they opened for Death Cab at the Tabernacle (also on the Saturday before Halloween). At that time they didn't seem to be very well-known among the showgoers in my general vicinity, but quite a few people were buzzing after their performance. They've certainly become more well-known in the past 2 years, so I was expecting a ...