Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 9

Ron Sexsmith - Maybe This Christmas

Ron Sexsmith's wonderful little song "Maybe This Christmas" cuts right to the heart of the matter, namely that this Christmas is a time for opening our doors to people we have lost somehow, that it's a time for forgiveness and reconcilation. It's a very sweet, and perhaps a bit naive, little song. It was released in 2002 and written specifically for a compilation album of the same name, also featuring tracks from Coldplay, Bright Eyes, Neil Finn and others, and was followed by two more compilations titled Maybe This Christmas Too and Maybe This Christmas Tree.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 8

The Margarets - "Christmas In A Northern Town" 

Today's entry in my musical Advent calendar has become one of my favourite Christmas songs, now being four years old. I wrote this last year, and every word is still true: 

"Christmas In A Northern Town" is perfect pop melancholia, a beautiful ballad that's one of the best Christmas songs ever written by a Norwegian band. 

Also, what you'll see is only two fifths of the now sadly disbanded group, Alex Rinde on vocals, songwriter Rune Berg on guitar. Merry Christmas to both of them.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 7

Taylor Swift - "Christmases When You Were Mine"

In seemingly a very short time Taylor Swift has become one of the biggest stars on the planet. At 22 (23 in a few days, her birthday is December 13). "Christmases When You Were Mine" featured on her EP Sounds Of The Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection released in 2007, when she was 17 years old. It's co-written by herself and a few others, noted songwriter Liz Rose among them, but the fact remains that Taylor Swift is an incredibly talented singer/songwriter, and "Christmases When You Were Mine" is a beautiful song.

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Katzenjammer, Ben Caplan and The Trondheim Soloists - Fairytale Of New York

It's hard to do a credible version of "Fairytale Of New York", the 1987 The Pogues/Kirsty MacColl Christmas duet. Nobody really come close to the spite of Pogues singer Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl as they trade lines shouting insults at each other. There has even been a version "translated" into Norwegian sung by Helene Bøksle and Vidar Johnsen that is just awful.

But finally a newly recorded version gives the original its due respect and deference, and it's actually not bad. It's not great, but it's pretty good, OK? Now... Katzenjammer is a Norwegian group of international renown, famous for the number of instruments they play that they also like to switch while on stage. Ben Caplan is a gruff-voiced Canadian singer/songwriter doing the role of Shane, and The Trondheim Soloists is a Norwegian chamber orchestra, also of a certain international repute. At the request of Norwegian streaming company WiMP these people have attempted to do a semi-classical version of "Fairytale Of New York", and it works. The video is a bit problematic as the Katzenjammer girls keep smiling and laughing, despite the song's lyrical content, but at least they seem to have fun and that spirit lives on into the actual recording which, as I said, is pretty good. I will always return to the original, but this is an interesting take on what has become a true Christmas classic.

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Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell - Hanging Up My Heart

Old Yellow Moon could very well be one of the most exciting records of 2013, what with it being a collaboration between old friends and colleagues Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. Crowell was a member of Emmylou's famed Hot Band in the 70's, and since then they have both enjoyed successful solo careers. February 26 is the release date for the 12 track album, where four of the songs are Crowell originals. The rest are covers, including this excellent take on Hank DeVito's "Hanging Up My Heart".

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 6

Christina Perri - "Something About December"

Christina Perri, a young American singer/songwriter known for the song "Jar Of Hearts" that featured in a Glee episode and for "A Thousand Years" written for one of the Twilight soundtracks, has just released a Christmas EP called A Very Merry Perri Christmas. The lead track on it is "Something About December", a sweet but maybe not too memorable a song? That really remains to be seen, but I actually do like this. I think it's a beautiful song, very sentimental, but it's celebrating Christmas, and that's what gets to me. Here's to Christina Perri then!

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Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five

R.I.P. Dave Brubeck. The jazz master died today at 91, which is a respectable age to say the least. He would actually have been 92 tomorrow, but sadly that was not to be. There is no denying Brubeck's genius, and "Take Five" is his crowning glory. I wrote this little piece about it in June last year: Some of the best five minutes of jazz ever released, "Take Five" is the Dave Brubeck Quartet's 1959 masterpiece, written by the band's alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and featured on the album Time Out. This is the epitome of cool, or more precisely, the best reason there is for jazz being cool at all. It's also highly influential. A true classic!

The version you'll see performed here is from 1964.

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New music from Fleetwood Mac before tour starts

2013 sees the return of Fleetwood Mac to the road as they embark on a 34 show American tour from April 4th to June 12th. No new album is as yet forthcoming, but in an interview with Billboard Stevie Nicks lets slip that the band has recorded three new songs in Lindsey Buckingham's home studio in November. Two of the songs, "Sad Angela" and "Miss Fantasy" stem from sessions Buckingham, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood held earlier this year, while the third is described by Nicks as "an old Buckingham Nicks song that, really, we can't either one of figure out why it didn't go on the record".

Read the full story here.

Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 5

Pet Shop Boys - "It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas"

"It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas" is Pet Shop Boys' commentary of the many travails of Christmas that can befall us, whether it's the lack of snow or how gifts and money overshadow the actual message of the holiday. It's a fantastic song, the first successful attempt probably on a hi-NRG Christmas song, and boy does it succeed! It gets you in the mood, reminding us of what is good about Christmas, and as is customary with Pet Shop Boys, it's dead catchy. "It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas" was first released as a fan club only single in 1997, but was re-recorded for inclusion on the 2009 EP Christmas. The version below is from the excellent 2010 DVD Pandemonium, filmed at the O2 Arena in London on December 21st, 2009.

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2012 - the year in music - listen to it here

2012 has been a very good year for music. Distribution has never been better, with the swift ease of the Internet whether you want to order physical copies of your favourite albums or just need to download songs or albums to be happy. Social media has further helped struggling (and not so struggling) artists to reach an audience, as the whole structure of the music business is changing. For better or for worse still remains to be seen, but the acquisition of music - physical or digital - has never been smoother.

Kristina Train

This year I have heard a lot of good music, and as usual my two lists differ tremenduosly. My album list is the more "serious" of the two, mostly reserved artists that have been around the block a time or two, concentrating on the album format which despite hasty predictions from many, still is intact. And of course it is. Why shouldn't a songwriter or a band wish to write and record a song cycle? It doesn't have to be conceptual, but the actual album as idea with a start and a finish will most likely never die.

So there you have my album list, filled with "old" people like Bill Fay who has returned from a 41 year long hiatus, Bobby Womack (18 years since his last album of original music), Kevin Rowland who's returned with Dexys (13 years after his last solo album), Beachwood Sparks (11 years), Leonard Cohen (8 years) and Donald Fagen (6 years).

Sirkus Eliassen

The other list is comprised of songs, what used to be called singles, and the average age of the artists here is quite another. The list is mostly reserved hits, but with a few good album tracks thrown in for good measure. As a lover of true pop music, I never tire of listening to new songs from the pop charts, and this year people like Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5, Icona Pop and The Vaccines, D!3 and Sirkus Eliassen, Petra Marklund and Carly Rae Jepsen have all rocked my world. 

Below you'll be able to hear why and how. Of my 50 favourite songs I have blogged about 36, and I found YouTube entries for the rest apart from three. Simply click on the link to each song, and you'll see a music video or at least hear the song. You can also access 48 of the 50 songs in a WiMP playlist. As for the albums list, you'll find a link to a WiMP playlist featuring one song from each. All 30 of these are of course very good.

Songs

1. Kristina Train – “Dream Of Me” 
2. Sirkus Eliassen – “Æ vil bare dans”
3. Petra Marklund – “Händerna mot himlen”
4. The Vaccines – “Teenage Icon”
5. Bruno Mars – ”Locked Out Of Heaven”
6. D!3 – “Barn til vi dør”
7. Bat For Lashes – “Laura”
8. Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX – ”I Love It”
9. Todd Terje – “Inspector Norse”
10. Lars Vaular & Sondre Lerche – “Øynene lukket”
11. Saint Etienne – "Over The Border"
12. Gotye feat. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used To Know”
13. Wild Nothing – “Nocturne”
14. Jessie Ware – “Running”
15. Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin – “Don’t You Worry Child”
16. Elton John vs. Pnau – “Sad”
17. Susanna Hoffs – “Picture Me”
18. Adele – “Skyfall”
19. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
20. The Wallflowers – "Love Is A Country"
21. Pet Shop Boys – ”Leaving”
22. Deadmau5 feat. Chris James – ”The Veldt”
23. Lianne La Havas feat. Willy Mason – “No Room For Doubt”
24. Mumford & Sons – “I Will Wait”
25. Soulsavers – ”Take Me Back Home”
26. Flowers And Sea Creatures – “Head First Then Heart” (Ytre Rymden Dansskola Remix)
27. Laleh – ”Some Die Young”
28. Ødelagte menneska – “Takk for maten”
29. Of Monsters And Men – ”Little Talks”
30. Thåström – “Beväpna dig med vingar”
31. deLillos – ”Tapetser meg i gangen før du går”
32. Narum – “Lyd i et gammalt piano”
33. Madness – “Never Knew Your Name”
34. Alina Devecerski – ”Det e dark nu”
35. Rune Berg, Ronnie MAG Larsen & Alex Rinde – ”Strangers In A New Town”
36. Michael Kiwanuka – “Worry Walks Beside Me”
37. Calexico – “Para”
38. LidoLido feat. Yosef & Timbuktu – “Turn Up The Life”
39. Bruce Springsteen – “We Take Care Of Our Own”
40. Blur – “Under The Westway”
41. Loreen – ”Euphoria”
42. Kathleen Edwards – “Change The Sheets”
43. Alabama Shakes – ”Hold On”
44. Frank Ocean – “Bad Religion”
45. Kråkesølv – “Stødig som en bauta”
46. Admiral P – “Kallenavn”
47. George Michael – “White Light”
48. Childish Gambino – “Heartbeat”
49. Jaa9 & OnklP – “Uten grunn”
50. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa – “Payphone”

Playlist of the songs in WiMP except Lianne La Havas and Adele

 Album

1. Bill Fay: Life Is People 
2. Dexys: One Day I’m Going To Soar
3. Saint Etienne: Words And Music By Saint Etienne
4. Bob Dylan: Tempest
5. Cody ChestnuTT: Landing On A Hundred
6. Kristina Train: Dark Black
7. Rune Berg: Hølå
8. Tracey Thorn: Tinsel And Lights
9. Narum: Sol og regn og ælt
10. The xx: 2.0
11. Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos
12. Dylan Mondegreen: Dylan Mondegreen
13. Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas
14. Paal Flaata: Wait By The Fire
15. Taylor Swift: Red
16. Michael Kiwanuka: Home Again
17. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson: Wreck & Ruin
18. Bobby Womack: The Bravest Man In The Universe
19. Wild Nothing: Nocturne
20. Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Psychedelic Pill
21. Kelly Hogan: I Like To Keep Myself In Pain
22. deLillos: Vi er på vei, vi kanke snu
23. Sigur Rós: Valtari
24. Richard Hawley: Standing At The Sky’s Edge
25. Susanna Hoffs: Someday
26. The Avett Brothers: The Carpenter
27. Rumer: Boys Don’t Cry
28. Beachwood Sparks: The Tarnished Gold
29. First Aid Kit: The Lion’s Roar
30. Frank Znort Quartet: Perler fra svin 

Link to WiMP playlist with one song from each album