Johnny Cash's final recordings - an essay

Once again I have been writing an essay for Universal Music, this time concerning the release of the vinyl box containing all of Johnny Cash's American LP's, six in all. Helmed by producer Rick Rubin, these albums marked a new turn in The Man in Black's career, making him once again gain the respect as the amazingly powerful performer that he truly was, after his career was in the doldrums for a ten year period or so. The essay is written in Norwegian, so a dictionary or Google Translate will be of some help for those among you who don't know my language.

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Kjøtt - (Jeg gleder meg til) år 2000

Kjøtt var det soleklart mest toneangivende av de norske punkbandene som oppsto i skjæringa 1979/80. Med Helge Gaarder på vokal og en svært ung Michael Krohn på trommer, hadde bandet to markante og svært forskjellige låtskrivere fra dag én, og det var nok en av mange årsaker til at Kjøtt ikke hadde en spesielt lang levetid. "(Jeg gleder meg til) år 2000" var en av flere aldeles fantastiske låter på bandets eneste LP-plate, Op., som kom i 1981, og den var skrevet av Michael. Det er en seig rocker som mer enn antyder at han noen år senere kom til å starte Raga Rockers, og den dystopiske teksten bærer også bud om det som skulle følge. Fantastisk låt!

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The Smiths - This Charming Man

The Smiths is one of the bands that have made the biggest impact on me. Between 1983 and 1987 they released a vast amount of music, including four "proper" studio albums, three major compilations and a staggering 18 singles, most of them with one or two additional songs not to be found on the albums. The same goes for several of the A-sides, including their second single "This Charming Man", released in October 1983. It's still one of my favourite The Smiths songs, with Johnny Marr's trademark jingle-jangly guitar sound and Morrissey's wonderful wail. 32 years on, it still sounds fresh as a new dawn.

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Little Richard - The Girl Can't Help It

Jayne Mansfield plays the titular role in Frank Tashlin' 1956 movie The Girl Can't Help It, and revolves around the character Jerri Jordan and the apparent sexual magnetism that makes everyone yearn for her. Little Richard's title track is a saxophone-driven wonder, two and a half minutes of repetitive rock'n'roll at its finest, with a call and response theme that gets no point for originality but ten out of ten for how well it works. You can't help but love this song.

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Rival Sons - Electric Man

Californian rock back Rival Sons are the dumbest-sounding and coolest-sounding bunch this side of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, or, in the instance of "Electric Man" off their 2014 album Great Western Valkyrie, of The White Stripes. This is a song as cool and ballsy as it gets, a hedonistic rock song if ever there was one. I saw the band perform live at last year's Øyafestivalen and it was awesome. This video is pretty good too, so do enjoy!

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St. Germain - Real Blues

Who'd have thought? St. Germain, the French house/electronica artist named after one of the nicest Paris neighbourhoods there are (his real name being Ludovic Navarre), returns with new music, 15 years after his sophomore effort Tourist that racked up astounding sales back in the day when CD's actually was a commodity that could be sold to others than idiots like me. "Real Blues" is the first single off his self-titled third album that appears to be scheduled for an October release, and it's a funky, little tune with Malian instrumentation to go with the electronics, sampling the voice of the late, great blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins. A stunning track!

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Lady Gaga - So Happy Could Die

It's another Fabulous Friday, and I've just woken up to blue skies, sun and a beautiful view from my room in a hotel outside Pafos on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Unfortunately I will have to leave that behind today, but on the other hand I'm going back home to my beautiful wife, so I guess it evens out. Anyway, it being Friday and all, I have chosen a great song that mysteriously was never released as a single. "So Happy I Could Die" was featured on the Lady Gaga EP The Fame Monster (2009), that was released on its own as well as being bundled with her debut album The Fame as a deluxe edition. I think it's one of her very best songs, described by Wikipedia as Europop-influenced which I guess is pretty much spot on. It makes me want to dance, and so does the rest of my Fabulous Friday choices. Check them out here.

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My friend Ronnie and my visit to Abbey Road - who'd have ever thought?

Abbey Road. It's more than a studio. It's more than a Beatles record. It's definitely more than a zebra crossing. Abbey Road is the Holy Grail of musicians and music fans from all over the world. Abbey Road is the last stop.

So, who'd have thought I - a former music journalist from Norway - would ever enter the doors of the Abbey Road Studios in London? I know I wouldn't, but one day in April my telephone rings and I see it's my musician friend Ronnie MAG Larsen. Ronnie used to be in a fantastic band called The Margarets several years ago, but they sadly disbanded, even after having made what I term the best song recorded during the entire 2000's. That's the way it goes though. Ronnie has now made a record with a band called Giske which is basically three out of five parts Margarets, himself and singer Alex Rinde and guitarist/producer/songwriter Rune Berg. He tells me their upcoming record Carousel Magic Spell is to be cut for vinyl in Abbey Road Studios and do I want to join him? Do I ever? The thing is that Alex is seriously ill and unable to make the trip to London and Rune suffers from a fear of flying. Ronnie wants someone to share the moment with, and because his wife can't come thinks of me. To say I'm flattered is a huge understatement, and I immediately say yes.

So, on a rainy day in late April of 2015 Ronnie and I head towards Abbey Road in a taxi after a short pilgrimage to Soho Square where I want to show him the bench with the Kirsty MacColl quote that also seems part of the Margarets heritage just like The Beatles does. And just so this is clear: Without The Beatles, there wouldn't be any The Margarets or in turn any Giske, or any record to cut at this historic site.

Without further ado I leave the word to Ronnie who tells the story of The Margarets and Giske, and of our trip to Abbey Road where we met the engineering legend Sean Magee. He can tell this story so much better than I can, so there's nothing left for me to say here. If you can't read Norwegian it's too bad though, so I hope you're able to work Google Translate to your advantage.

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Sean Magee and Ronnie MAG Larsen

Flo Rida feat. Robin Thicke & Verdine White - I Don't Like It, I Love It

Florida rapper Flo Rida has got a new EP out called My House and current single "I Don't Like It, I Love It" is a fabulous song that genuinely screams of summer and good times, featuring vocal help from Robin Thicke with the added joy of the bass player from Earth Wind And Fire, Verdine White. It's a dead catchy song that marries hip hop, funk and pop music with summer hit written all over it, that should make dancefloors everywhere explode with joy.

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Jason Isbell - 24 Frames

Former Drive-By Truckers member Jason Isbell was the man behind one of the best albums of 2013, Southeastern, featuring a score of songs written and recorded after a stint in rehab with him noting "This time I want to remember it all". And it really became a memorable record, with songs like "Elephant", "Stockholm" and "New South Wales" among its highlights. He's currently preparing the follow-up called Something More Than Free for a July 17 release, and the song "24 Frames" that he put up on his Soundcloud page is a stunner, a brilliant country-rock song that bodes very well for the album.

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