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Andra kvartalsrapporten 2012.

White Denim. Foto: Press-bild av okänd.

En gång i kvartalet brukar jag lista de låtar som hamnat i mitt musikbibliotek och som sedan har lyckats fånga mitt intresse till den grad att jag tagit mig tid att betygsätta dem med stjärnor i iTunes. Betygsystemet ser ut så här:

5 — låt jag kan tänka mig att lyssna på när som helst
4 — mycket bra
3 — bra
2 — dålig, men på en bra platta
1 — skit, ta bort ur biblioteket vid nästa rensning

Dessa är låtarna som hittat in och fått en fyra, Heartbeats och My Baby Just Cares for Me har sedan gammalt en femma. 43 av de 57 låtarna finns på Spotify, dock ej alla:

Alabama Shakes — Heavy Chevy

En av årets hittills bästa skivor står förra årets sydstatsrockupptäckt för, men det klarade vi av i första kvartalet. Med LP:n får man en fin sjua med den här låten som kör över det mesta!

Alt-J (∆) – Breezeblocks, Fitzpleasure, Matilda, MS & Tessellate

Fantastiska Alt-J (∆) fick mig att gå ner i brygga när Way Out West bokade dem och jag började leta reda på allt de gjort. Till slut kom albumet som innehöll många gamla favoriter som man nästan lyssnat sönder då. Nu, några månader senare, känns det aktuellt igen. Ni såg väl att vi gjorde en intervju med Gus från bandet? Vi ses väl i kön till klubben de spelar på?

Beach House — Myth, Wild & Lazuli

En av årets mest eftertraktade bjöd på några goingar. Jag har inte fallit fullkomligt dock. Extremt svårt att toppa Teen Dream.

Beck — I Just Started Hating Some People Today

Beck släppte en sjua på Jack White vars bas är country men som leker med nåt screamoaktigt och avslutas med nån go’ 60-tals-pop. Härligt att du leker igen, herr Hansen!

Best Coast — The Only Place

Man vill ju flytta till Kalifornien när någon kan älska en stat på detta vis. Pepp på Way Out West här!

Black Lips — O Katrina! & How Do You Tell a Child That Someone has Died?

Black Lips spelade på Primavera och de här är fortfarande deras bästa låtar.

Blitzen Trapper — Skirts on Fire

Blitzen Trapper släppte en kass cover på Hendrix Hey Joe. B-sidan var betydligt bättre. The Band of the 21st century.

Bobby Womack — Please Forgive My Heart

Släng din streamade rip av Frank Ocean åt helvete, det här är årets r’n’b.

Cat Power — Ruin

Efter sex år kommer äntligen Chan med nåt nytt. Och det låter verkligen nytt. Det tog mig lite tid att ta till mig fullt ut, men nu är jag otroligt peppad på kommande LP:n Sun. Den enda andra låt som vi har fått ta del av är Cherokee som man kan höra 17 minuter och 15 sekunder in i det här avsnittet av världens bästa podcast: All Songs Considered på amerikanske NPR.

Chromatics — Into the Black, Kill for Love & Lady

Chromatics börjat sitt album Kill for Love med en fullkomligt fantastisk elektroversion av Neil Youngs Hey Hey My My som de väljer att kalla Into the Black och när den är slut kommer titelspåret igång med ett jävla drag. Man vill ju bara dansa. Gillar ni filmen Drive kommer ni gilla Chromatics, det var nämligen delar av bandet som gjorde soundtracket till just den rullen.

Daughn Gibson — Tiffany Lou

En amerikansk crooner. Me like.

Death in Vegas — Silver Time Machine

Jag peppade Primavera med Death in Vegas, men såg dem aldrig då de krockade med nåt. Det här var i vart fall bästa låten.

Dirty Beaches — Sweet 17

Rockabilly-inspirerad galenskap. Sånt gillar vi. Ni såg intervjun vi gjorde med honom, va?

Eight and a Half — Go Ego

Kanadensiska skivbolaget Arts & Crafts är hem till kollektivet Broken Social Scene, som sägs ha blivit broken for good. På bolaget finns många av deras andra projekt. Eight and a Half är trummisen Justin Peroffs projekt med Dave Hamelin och Liam O’Neil från The Stills. En skiva jag borde lyssna mer på.

Friends — I’m his Girl

Friends skiva landade och det är fortfarande singeln som sticker ut. Tänk er ett härligt ESG-inspirerat gäng live, kan vara värt att köa till på Wow.

Gold Panda — Quitters Raga

Belle & Sebastian gjorde en till Late Night Tales och valde bland annat den här sköna sitar-samplade låten.

Grimes — Vanessa

Jag hade faktiskt missat Grimes innan hennes fantastiska album Visions landade. Men då fick vi gjort en intervju i vart fall. Vanessa är en fantastisk låt från hennes split-ep med d’Eon. Videon som hon gjorde själv är inte dum den heller.

Hush Arbors — Coming Home

Den här hittade jag nånstans och föll handlöst. Har inte fallit lika mycket för resten av skivan dock.

Iggy and the Stooges — I Got a Right

Den här gamla bootleggen hade försvunnit ur biblioteket. Ordningen är nu återställd.

Kindness — Gee Up

Fantastisk låt med kul video. Live är de dock inte så roliga att du vill ställa dig i kön för dem.

The Knife — Heartbeats

Deep Cuts hittade tillbaka in i biblioteket. Även om Heartbeats är enda låten jag älskar från den skivan. Både den självbetitlade och Silent Shout är dubbelt så bra.

Liars — No. 1 Againt the Rush & Brats

En efterlängtad skiva jag verkligen ska lyssna mer på. Dessutom har Matmos gjort en fin remix på No. 1. Jag håller tummarna för en bokning av Wow här i veckan…

Lower Dens — Alphabet Song & Brains

Fantastiskt från Jana Hunter & co. Värt att köa till på Wow.

M. Ward — Me and My Shadow & The First Time I Ran Away

M. Ward spelade in sin senaste skiva på en rad olika orter, i en rad olika studios med en rad olika musiker. Det är dess svaghet, de här två låtarna är, till skillnad från singeln Primitive Girl, några av de som är så bra man förväntar sig att M. Ward ska vara.

Nina Simone — Mood Indigo & My Baby Just Cares For Me

Jag brukar lyssna på en Nina Simone skiva jag inte hört då och då. Mest för att jag inte vill dränera hela den källan i ett svep. Från Little Girl Blue är det än så länge endast dessa två klassiker som jag bemödat mig att betygsätta.

Spiritualized — Hey Jane, Little Girl, Too Late & Freedom

Efter en fullkomligt fantastisk spelning på Primavera lyssnade jag nästan sönder den här skivan. Topp fem hittills i år.

The Stone Roses — Ten Storey Long Song

Jag peppade inför Hultan. Hur var Hultan? Jodå, de två första dagarna var det väldigt lite folk och ett band per dag jag verkligen ville se; Stone Roses och The Cure. Så vad gör man när man inte har massa band att se? Jo, man dricker. Så jag kommer ärligt talat inte ihåg speciellt mycket från de där spelningarna. Lördagen var det däremot skitmycket folk och massa bra band. Bat for Lashes och Errors var nog allra bäst! Men nån fjortis snodde min mössa på Justice. Buhu.

The Tallest Man on Earth — To Just Grow Away

Kristian Matsson släppte ännu en vacker platta. Jag skulle dock vilja att han låter frugan Amanda (Idiot Wind) vara med mer.

Tennis — Deep in the Woods

Bra Tennis!

Tortoise — DJed & Glass Museum

Klassisk postrock håller än!

The Wave Pictures — Stay Here & Take Care of the Chickens, Spaghetti & Long Black Cars

En av världens bästa textförfattare har gjort det igen. Och bättre musik än förra plattan på det. Lovely.

White Denim — Transparency, Heart From Us All, You Can’t Say & Shake Shake Shake

Lars tipsade om det här bandet när vi gjorde en podcast inför Primavera och jag måste än en gång tacka honom för årets bästa upptäckt. Ett band som har roligare, är skickligare eller mer älskvärda än White Denim har jag för tillfället svårt att se framför mig. Live jammar de i 20 minuters-set. Divine. Se om du har möjlighet, innan dess kan du skaffa alla deras plattor. Fantastiska saker allihop!

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Primavera Sound 2012.

Sleigh Bells, photo: Robin Olsson

Sleigh Bells, photo: Robin Olsson

Since there aren’t any Swedish vowels on this keyboard I’ll just do this in English, otherwise I would have to tell you about “Navel”.

Wednesday.
The festival started with a free gig for all at Arc de Triomf. It’s a very nice idea to have free gigs since a lot of the young in Barcelona can’t afford coming to the festival any more. When I was here for the first time, in 2006, Swedes were so rare that when I ran into José González he thought I was in one of the other Swedish bands, I’m from Barcelona. These days, 40% of the festival-goers are from abroad and you can hear Swedish everywhere.

The first act was Jeremy Jay at the packed park, he went by without striking any chords with me, after that The Wedding Present played their beautiful album Seamonsters, it was alright, but pretty much just another reunion show. The Walkmen were ok, but they seem to have had their hay day. Black Lips, who closed the park are always fun, but I prefer them on album. We took a taxi but still had to queue for an hour or so to get into the “secret gig” at Apolo with very good Chairlift, so-so Beach Fossils and boring Kindness.

Thursday.
Thursday means the first day at the beautiful Parc del Forum, last year it started with a wonderful gig with Spanish postrockers Toundra, it’s the best slot for Spanish bands since nothing else is playing. This year it was an electronic duo called Pegasvs, it was decent, but an hour later another Spanish band, Unicornibot, played the stage right next to it, they had tinfoil around their heads and played wonderfully bizarre music that made me think about Lightning Bolt, but they had a full band, this year’s Toundra, for sure! I went over to the stage right next to it, to check out one of the most hyped bands at the moment, Purity Ring, who were a girl in an old-school dress and a guy playing these strange lights, it was a strange but rather beautiful thing, I liked it, but went back to see another dose of Unicornibot and then onto boring Baxter Dury, whom I left to burn away in the sun. Way over at the Mini stage Friends were playing. No, no, not the Bert Karlsson bullshit, this was group of friends from Brooklyn who played a very nice ESG-influenced indie-disco, the singer Samantha Urbani sat on a security guard’s shoulders and sang a song moving around the audience. Fun with friends. After that the boring Danish kids in Iceage performed, I couldn’t really care less. I was mostly just waiting for one of my highlights, Grimes, who were to perform at the same Pitchfork stage. She had some sound problems but we had had just the right amount of beer to get to dancing. My friend Éric took the lead and took us up front and he was waving his flag in support of the Montréal protests, the flag wandered to the hands of Grimes’s brother who were dancing on stage with some other friends, it was a lot of fun.

When I saw this year’s lineup I was intrigued to see Death Cab for Cutie again, it’s been eight years since I saw them last, but then I made a podcast where Lars recommended White Denim, this rock trio from Texas. I ended up choosing them over Death Cab, who’s last album is quite dull anyways. The Texans had an extra guitarist along and the four of them jammed forever, it was great to see, really marvellous musicians! Then I saw the last song by Mazzy Star which was a lot louder than I thought it would be. Good stuff, then onto well-known and well-seen Wilco, who I was about to leave for Thee Oh Sees, but then Jesus Etc came on. You just can’t go then… The night continued with a dash of nicely done hardcore from Refused, a little of boring The XX, then some desert rock from lovely Bombino, dull rap from A$AP Rocky, a lovely set from Spiritualized with it’s mix of shoe-gaze and gospel. Then we closed the night with a little dance with Spanish electro-man John Talabot.

Friday.
We were early to get our hands on Jeff Mangum tickets and hung out in Auditori with Nick Garrie doing his nice singer-songwriter album The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas. I almost fell asleep. I kinda tried to be honest. Laura Marling was more interesting and “Alas I cannot swim” gave me goose-bumps. After the gig the queues for Jeff Mangum were huge and I got really annoyed with people jumping it. After a while I had to realize this isn’t Sweden and the world (Sweden included) is becoming a really terribly egoistic place. Jeff Mangum was all by himself, just a few guitars, a chair and a mic. Todos. With this he performed most of his masterpiece with Neutral Milk Hotel, In an Aeroplane over the Sea. More goosebumps! Best grade you can get! After that there was one of the biggest clashes; I Break Horses and Lower Dens. I started with the Swedes, they were good but I went over to Lower Dens and came in the middle of the lovely “Brains” and thoroughly enjoy them. Then a little African Cubanese music with Afrocubism, loads of guys on stage. A nice rhythmic detour from the indie scene. Then straight into straight rock with The War on Drugs. It was very straight, not gay at all. The Cure were kinda boring, but we might not have giving them our ears’s full attention. We mostly attended our mouths with beer in the VIP section. The beer weren’t free anymore and I will probably not buy the VIP next year since the first “normal” tickets go for a lot less and I prefer to drink my beer where I can see the bands. I left a while in to go see Sleigh Bells who I really enjoyed, I was a bit intrigued to see if there was gonna be a live insane drummer or not, it was just a bunch of Marshall stacks instead but I loved it anyways, danced like a mad man. Went over to the clashing Dirty Three, had a beer and I totally loved the brilliantly alarm that was Some Summers They Drop Like Flies which closed their set. A friend had told me that I had to see M83, who I think has a good song here and there but live was kinda dull so I left after a few songs. Codeine were a lot better, sounded like Slint. Good stuff. SBTRKT were boring and I fell asleep to The Men. When I woke up Éric had texted me four times and he had been kicked out because of the flag, you see it’s a red square without any text so naturally people here in Spain won’t know that it represents a solidarity to the kids in Quebec, I can totally see it rings differently here. But he got in again when they found my booking in the computer. I’m glad he could come in and enjoy this festival’s best gig; The Rapture, they were totally amazing, I really love the bass player and highlights included “House of Jealous Lovers” and the track that stood out from last year’s album In the Grace of your love; “How deep is your love?” To answer that question is easy; very.

Saturday.
We hung out in the park for Dirty Beaches, who Éric did an interview with. It was a little slow and minimal, but hanging out in a park is always nice. I met a girl I made friends with when I gave her my Sufjan Stevens ticket to last year’s amazing gig in the Auditori. A little more sedative Nick Garrie again and some nice rock tunes from Obits. Bleached were the shittiest band I’ve seen in quite some time. Straight outta their mother’s basement where they spent an hour or two.

We went over to the Forum area and had the same kebab as the day before, we’re Swedish after all. Being Swedish I went to see Jeff Mangum play another, different, set. This time with more b-sides and rarities than before. Before that I passed by the dull Sharon van Etten and the equally boring Tall Firs. After Mangum I checked out Buffy Sainte-Marie, the indian singer most well-known for the classic track “Universal Soldier”. Her new approach was a lot more rock, but when she did her stuff from the sixties it was a lot more satisfying. All in all quite boring, though. Saw The Olivia Tremor Control perform “Jumping Fences” and then went over to Mini where almost everyone seemed to be watching Beach House. They’ve gotten too big, I liked them a lot on smaller stages and you know what you’re going to get so I went over to another gig where you know what you’re going to get; Shellac.
Their annual gig seems to always clash with something, I saw most of it where they performed two new tracks and it was the usual bliss that Steve Albini, Todd Trainer and Bob Weston gives us. When they did “The End of Radio” I jumped the fence and ran over to Chromatics and saw them do their last three songs. It was insanely packed. For the first time in Primavera history (at Parc del Forum at least) they sold out, 42 000 people were around this day, normally it’s around 30 000. Chromatics were good and closed their set with “Into the Black”, their beautiful cover of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey My My”. I finally understood where the VIP section at Mini was and I felt a bit awkward having a secluded area right by the stage. Yo La Tengo started a bit boring but came to and did great versions of “Mr Tough”, “Autumn Sweater” and the wonderful noise of “Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind”. The last went on for more than the normal 11 minutes I believe. Just lovely noise. On the way back I saw some of the old dudes doing the punk that is The Pop Group. So-so. Had two chocolate pancakes and hung out in the food court, checked out boring Neon Indian and bought a poster from a nice German before heading back.

Sunday.
Milk Music were a rocky bunch that didn’t catch my ears at all, Zacharias filmed the gig, though, so I guess he liked it. Girls Names were pretty nice and I liked the twee that is Veronica Falls. Then we wrestled in the park and I won over Zacharias in a sprint. Good park fun. We continued with orange fights instead of the packed gigs at Arc de Triumf. Finally there was truce and we saw a little of boring Yann Tiersen and the Morrissey-esque Richard Hawley. Took a perfect break for the rain with sangria. I still suffer from that, or maybe it’s the six days drinking that I’m suffering from. All in all, this was the less interesting Primavera I’ve been to, especially Saturday was quite uninteresting, I want to be blown away a few times more. Better luck next year.