Daniel Kvammen - Du fortenar ein som meg

En av debutplatene jeg gleder meg aller mest til for tiden er Daniel Kvammens Fremad i alle retninga. Høsten 2013 ga den unge Geilo-mannen ut vinylsinglen "Ingen vega utanom"/Alt for mykje tå altfor lite", raskt etterfulgt av den digitale julesinglen "23. september". Under en forrykende konsertopptreden på Øyafestivalen i sommer viste Kvammen at han og bandet er noe adskillig mer enn Bjella 2.0 med et utsøkt sett med noe som kan beskrives som dritfet countryrock på hallingdøl. Og nei, det låt ikke som Hellbillies heller. "Du fortenar ein som meg" er noe helt annet enn det igjen også, en låt han spilte på Øya, men som nå har fått et nytt, supercatchy poparrangement. Om den breiale tittelen sier Kvammen følgende: - Vi lever i et samfunn hvor alle skal fremstå som tilsynelatende vellykkede, og "du fortenar ein som meg" virker for meg som en virkelig 2014-aktig ting å si. Men dette er først og fremst en låt om to relativt dysfunksjonelle parter i en relasjon.

Det er en drivende god kjærlighetssang, umiddelbart fengende, og den ble A-listet på NRK P3 i dag. Vi har fått lov å dele den "hemmelige" Soundcloud-linken til låta en uke før release som er mandag om en liten uke. Albumet Fremad i alle retninga kommer, hvis alt går etter planen, 13. mars. Nedtellingen begynner nå!

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The Postal Service - Nothing Better

American electronic pop band The Postal Service released one wonderful album, Give Up, in 2003 on Seattle's famed Sub Pop label that used to be home to Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and others during the grunge years of the late 1980's/early 1990's. A very different band than any of those, it was based around singer Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab For Cutie fame) and producer Jimmy Tamborello (of Dntel and Headset) with Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) appearing as background singer and keyboards player during live performances. The album is filled with amazing pop songs, and the duet "Nothing Better" has rightfully been likened to Human League's "Don't You Want Me". The female voice belongs to solo artist and former Tattle Tale member Jen Wood, and she trades lines with Ben Gibbard's protagonist who refuses to realize their relationship is over whereas she has long since given him his final chance. Sad, but hauntingly beautiful.

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Talk Talk - It's My Life

"It's My Life" is one of the most original pop songs of the 1980's, in some ways an unexpected hit, in some ways understandibly so. Although not a megahit it did fare well, and has since become a classic, even covered by Gwen Stefani's pop band No Doubt in 2003. The title track off Talk Talk's second album, "It's My Life" was released in 1984, featuring a wonderful video by director Tim Pope who also worked with The Cure, The The and others. It shows singer Mark Hollis wandering around in a zoo, interspersed with Richard Attenborough style shots of animals in the wild. The song is a pop masterpiece, the result of exquisitely crafted songwriting and with a totally brilliant arrangement, epic and in some ways big, but at the same time mysteriously down to earth. Listen to the instrumental break starting at around 2:30 and you'll know what I mean. There is absolutely nothing wrong with "It's My Life".

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Sade - It's Only Love That Gets You Through

To say that I eagerly awaited Lovers Rock , Sade's 2000 album, would be an understatement. This is a singer/songwriter I truly cherish, and Lovers Rock was her first new release in eight years. Spearheaded by the wonderful single "By Your Side" it's my favourite album of hers along with the 1984 debut Diamond Life, full of exquisitely beautiful songs. Those are the best words to describe "It's Only Love That Gets You Through", the album's closing track that is not much more than a whisper of a song. These are four minutes of rare beauty. By the way, she left us waiting for another ten years before we got another album, Soldier Of Love, so who knows when there will be a new one...

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Henning Kvitnes - Alt jeg vil ha

Jeg skulle nok lagt ut Henning Kvitnes' nydelige og håpefulle "Alt jeg vil ha" på nyttårsaften eller deromkring, men den funker strengt tatt fint når som helst, til tross for at låtas "handling" utspiller seg på årets siste dag og det påfølgende års første natt. "Ingenting varer evig, men i natt så har jeg det bra", synger Kvitnes mens han klamrer seg til sin kjære med ønske om at det kan vare litt lenger. Sangen er hentet fra 1991-albumet Veien hjem og er en av mine absolutte Kvitnes-favoritter, og dette er en mann som altså har veldig mye fint på samvittigheten. Få norske låtskrivere er i stand til å skrive så klokt - og enkelt - om den ofte så kompliserte tilværelsen.

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Pixies - Here Comes Your Man

Pop hooks like those found in Pixies' 1989 single "Here Comes Your Man" are rare to come by. Immediately catchy, it's one of those songs that once you've heard it never leaves you. Lifted from the band's second album Doolittle, it's an alternative pop classic of the highest order. Nuff said!

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Imperiet - Cosmopolite

Svenske Imperiet var et av de sikreste livekortene på 80-tallet da de gjorde stor suksess både hjemme og her i Norge. Jeg så dem flere ganger, og det var alltid en stor opplevelse. Litt mindre stas var det da jeg som fersk journalistspire skulle intervjue dem, og Joakim Thåström og de andre bandmedlemmene oppførte seg drit arrogant og på ingen måter sympatisk overfor en nervøs 20-åring på sitt sjette eller syvende intervju ever. Man blir som kjent mer hardhudet ganske kjapt, og i ettertid bryr det meg mildt sagt lite at de oppførte seg som de gjorde. Sånn er jo dessuten rock'n'roll, og jeg er stadig fan, både av Imperiet og Thåström som soloartist. Her er "Cosmopolite", den desidert beste låta fra 1986-albumet Synd. Klassiker så det holder!

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Ry Cooder - Yellow Roses

In 1976 Ry Cooder released his stunning covers album Chicken Skin Music, on which he revisited nine classic American songs, ranging from the blues of Leadbelly to the timeless soul music of Ben E. King, giving them sundry arrangements from acoustic blues to New Orleans jazz. "Yellow Roses" is a slow country song first recorded by Hank Snow in 1963 as far as I know, written by Ken Devine and Sam Nichols. A beautiful performance that lasts for an impressive six minutes.

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Supertramp's Crime Of The Century - an essay

Supertramp's 1974 album Crime Of The Century was the British band's breakthrough album, their make-or-break album in fact. Founding core members and songwriters Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies had indeed disbanded Supertramp prior to the recording, but on the strength of a handful of new songs, decided to give it one last go. Wise move, as it turned out.

I have written about the album for Universal Music that released a two CD deluxe edition before Christmas. In Norwegian unfortunately, but if you're interested you could always look up our old pal Google Translate. Then there's also the album to listen to, of course. That works splendidly without my musings.

Read the essay here

 

Nina Simone - Tomorrow Is My Turn

Nina Simone recorded "Tomorrow Is My Turn", an English translation of "L'Amour C'est Comme Un Jour", a song by Charles Aznavour, Marcel Stellman and Yves Stéphane written for the 1960 French film Le Passage du Rhin, for her 1965 album I Put A Spell On You. Beneath is an amazing, intimate live version that takes the studio recording's tempo down a few notches, more closely resembles Aznavour's original French version and shows the song's potential way better. Both versions are of course very good, but this live clip is simply stunning - it's Nina Simone at her very, very best!

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