Thee Power Of Twee

(a small note, that came to after the post) It is now the year 2006. One of the things that I regret about last year was that I did not buy a new chord to my headphones! It is now 12pm and I was in the middle of a film and right now I can not even hear myself think with the rockets and bombs and what not. I hope people are drunk enough to pass out or run out of these explosives so that I can continue with my new years eve (and no, I am not a cynical and bitter person hehe).

I had thought about making a list, then I thought that I had to put time into it and go through all my records to find the ones that were from 2005. So I dropped it. I felt that there was no need for it. But now there is, I can not keep it inside anymore. Not since I got hold of particular record, that very record is playing right now. It will be my #1 for 2005 and I will tell you why. But before I write some words about it I will write about the other lovely records that I have bough this year. Here is a small list, in no particular order, they are all my #2.
The year of 2005 with theepoweroftwee:

Celestial – s/t (the one that starts with ”Lace como”)
The first song starts with some lovely classic indie tunes. Lovely guitars and lyric-lines like ”she´s a victim of her time / how can sorrow be a crime” and ”like a feather in a hurricane / every effort seems in vain / lace como in her heart”. And ”Lace como” is in my heart! The EP continues with what I right now think is the best song by Celestial, ”Nothing happens; twice”, there is not many words to be said about it. It is great and should be played at clubs and in the homes and minds of poeple. If you like pop that breaths the air that the ”Sarah”-pop took from you, then this is worth a listen.

Decoration – Don´t disappoint me now
In my mind there is not that much good music coming from the UK these days, but that may be the fact that I live in Sweden and we get so much good music back home. But there is still music from the UK that can be very good, unless they fall into some kind of NME-trap or something. But Decoration go on a path of their own, releasing a record on the leading indie label SL. The 7” took me by suprise, so I bought the album. But I must say that I was a bit disappointed, but since that day the album has grown on me with every listen! So that is why it ends up here on my list. If you like a bit of accent and a (at times) David Gedge like voice. Classic lineup with two guitars, a bass and drums, and music that sounds like a mix of Ballboy and Wedding Present. A group I would love to see live!

Ultrasport – Nothing can go wrong / Red Carpet – The Noice of Red Carpet
Since there is not so much good ”pop” coming from Finland (if you don´t count Cessna, 22-pistepirkko, Cats on fire and a few more), it was for me a fun year with Quince-records. First Ultrasport and then Red Carpet. They kind of sind alike, but with Ultrasport being a notch better. No offence. They are both great. It all started with me getting my fingers on a copy of ”Hey! Where´d the summer go?”, a Humblebee-recordings compilation, on it was Ultrasport – ”Sharing secrets” and it was instant love for me. Well, what more is there to be said, when the album came I played it on repeat and then I played ”The boy that never lied” on repeat and so on… Red Carpet is still quite new to me, but the first song ”My first goal!” sets the pace, a pace that is held along the whole album. Solid, good.

Cats On Fire @ CosyDen
Thought that it would be fitting to continue with finnish pop. I have heard people say things like ”…it must have been like this when people saw the first gigs The Smiths did”, and it is something in the likes of that. The gig at CosyDen was good, people sang along, they played extra songs. The atmosphere was great, people were nice, and the music was as good it ever could be. At least that is how it felt then=)

CosyDen (RIP)
That Cats On Fire (should add that All of my brothers girlfriends also played that night) was the first and the last band to play in the apartment. An era is dead, or is it just born? It is still remains to be seen.
Well, pay a visit to the homepage and see/read for yourself.

The Honeydrips @ Sommaren i city
Continuing with gigs, we went to see Khonnor and it bugged me that it was the same night as The Honeydrips. Especielly when I had read and heard that Khonnor would be crap live. So I mailed ”Sommaren i city” and asked when it would start, it turned out that I could make it to both. And he kindly added that ”khonnor is a punk who shouldn´t play live”. After about 1½ song into the gig I came to think about something that Nick Hornby wrote, if it sucks you can go away. So that is what we did. We headed to the subway and made it to see The Honeydrips dance the whole gig. You would have had to be there to understand it so I will not write anything else, oh yeah, he makes great music and he can play live! Not like the punk Khonnor.

Camera Obscura @ Svenska Musikklubben
Sadly at a crappy place like Debaser. You could hear people talking everywhere during the gig. And that is one of the reasons why I do not like going there. But I made the best of it, I stood up front and sang along, and made it one of the best things I witnessed live this year. I should add that they are among my favourite groups… And yes, Tracyanne was just a sweet as you could ever have imagined (not that I talked to her, but I think you know what I mean).

Erland Oye @ Frukostpop
Since I helped out with the ”Frukostpop” I knew about the bands in advance (among them The Honeydrips, The Budgies etc. etc.) and I can tell you that Erland was not part of them hehe. He had come with The Polyphonic Spree from britain and he decided that he would like to play. But both the scenes at the festival (Emmaboda) were full, so they phoned Nicke who has the Frukostpop and that is how it came to. At a otherwise quite rainy festival the sun shone and Erland played and sang. People sat everywhere (about 200 people) and it was just lovely. Just thinking about it makes me warm.

Now to add some records that I come to think of right now sitting here (as I´ve written many times now, I didn´t go through the records to see which had 2005 on the back of them, so in reality this list should be 10-20 titles longer):
The Radio Department – ”This past week” CDEP
The Charade – ”The best is yet to come” CD
The Go-Betweens – ”Oceans apart” CD
Evergreen Days – ”Something we once had” CD-r
Her Name In Lights – ”Into the light again” CD
Annemarie – ”The Living model” CD-r
Tullycraft – ”Disenchanted hearts unite” LP

Right now it feels like I have to share the #1 spot. I could not do it in any other way. So here they are, the two records that got the tightest hold of my heart. I will start with the one that I felt had to share this spot:

Vashti Bunyan – Lookaftering
She released her first album in the seventies and this year she released her second one. One that has come to become better and better by every listen. Since I am a sucker for voices like hers, it was no suprise that I fell in love with it. But it is not just the lovely voice, it is also the music. It is simple, with not too big arrangements and pampy productions. It is just simply beautiful. In swedish I would say ”avskalat” but I can not come to think of an english word equalent to it. Well, right now I find myself listening to it daily, dreaming my days away.

The other one, the one that I felt was in a class of it´s own.

Penny Century – Instructions on how not to do it
I read something about this strictly limited 3” CD-r released by My Secret Garden, made in only 25 copies. After that I knew I just had to have a copy of it. And lucky as I was I managed to get my hands on one. Besides the music, I am also much into covers that are different. Practically covers that are everything else than the numb pieces of plastic that jewlecases are (there is no art to be put in that). And this is by far the best and most innovative among the ones that I have! It is a mini-dvdcase. The fact that it has been done in only 25 copies, that also adds to it all. I like limited releases. Well, enough about that. I think it was about a year ago that I got aquanted with the music that Penny Century made. But the songs that I heard then are a lifetime from this. I can not find words for how good this is. The nearest that I can come to think of is when I for the first time heard The Radio Department – ”Lesser matters”. All the five songs on it are great! They are all hits! They should be loved by everyone that have a decent taste in independent music. It should be written about everywhere, or maybe not. I feel like I want to keep this for myself. Like Popkompis felt with Radio Dept., they were his and now they are everyones. I do not even know if this is for real. Could such a good record have been made without the public ”indie-eye” noticing it? Well, if they do not notice it, I do not care. I have these five songs and they make my body fuzz with warmth everytime I play them. As I said, I can not almost understand how good this is. Now that I think about it (with the ep playing in the background), this is the only #1 of 2005. A pure work of art!

I have been thinking about the list. Should I do it or not? Do I have the strength to go through the records to see which are from this year and which not. At this point it feels like I do not have the energy for an effort of that kind. Though I will be making a list, whether it will be done today or not. That is yet to be seen. But, I just put on one of the top three records of the year, I am sitting here looking though the window seeing how the snow has covered the grey and made it all white. The snow is falling and the wind plays with the chrystals as they sail down to the ground. Christmas came and went, now it is new years eve. I am sick. Well, I have known for a while that I am sick. But now I am sick with fever and a sore throat. But in a way it is good, because now I have a legit reason for staying at home by myself on new years eve. I have bought two Woody Allen boxes and a Wong Kar-Wai box, so I will manage. Though I have watched most of the films during the last days. But I saved Annie Hall for this day. I started the day with it, it is just so good. And as I watched it today I noticed that one of my thesis here in life was in it! I had forgotten that it was in it. It is when Woody´s character walkes down the street and stops a couple. The couple looks like the people today, the ones brought up by television, the ones that are in reality shows and such, a modern couple. Fashionable clothes and fashinable hairdues, they are just about a notch above 1st graders who have just learned to write their names. Makes me sick. We have a lot of that kind of people here in Stockholm. Well, to get to the point, I have long thought about the fact of knowing things and not. Would I be happier if I had not read so many books, if I did not know so much about unnecessary things (though those things are kvintessentiell (did not find in a dictionary how to spell it in english) to me). Not that I find them unnecessary as such, just that people seem to do fine without knowing them, which I at times find hard to believe, they do not seem to need a reason for their wellbeeing, they just are.
So he says to the couple

-You look like a very happy couple. Are you? (then the woman replies)
- Yeah
- So how do you account for it?
- I´m very shallow and empty and I have no ideas and nothing interesting to say.
- And I´m exactly the same way.
This may be one of the things that I love about his films, at least the better ones. This is the type of films that I like, those who can make a good movie with great camera technique and film technique (the asians are great at this, it really makes it more like art) and then the ones that are well written and have a good dialog. Something we lack of in the times of commersialism. It is now worse than ever, it almost makes me sad. As I just read this post, it seems like I lift myself to a higher level, an intellectual. But I am not. But I would like to be. It is just that I spend too much time with my thoughts, and this is what I get out of it. Almost nothing.

Hello everyone! I hope that all is well with you and I hope that you have all had a pleasent christmas-eve.

I just felt like making a small post, since I propably will not be making any for a little while. The next one will be a small one (though it might end up being quite long), it will be a list of the year 2005 with me. Then it is off to the year of 2006, collage, a new city, new people, and most of all, new music. Oh, just remembered that I was suposed to make a post about something, though I have not found time to make it. But it will be done tonight. Happy holidays!

It is a one man constilation making lovely music in the bedroom with a guitar and a drum-machine. And if you ask me, it is great! I first got in touch with it at SwedesPlease and since that it has been playing a lot. Now he has released a nine track ep called
“A way to pass the time”

Peace in Our Time - “Everyone or anyone”

Peace in Our Time - “Life plays tricks on me”

Peace in Our Time - “Some people doesn´t know how to get what they want”

That was three mp3´s, #1, #5 and #8, from the ep. Hope you enjoyed them! And if you liked what you heard, make sure to check out his homepage for more songs. And music is my girlfriend if you like to buy it. Take care!

I am a huge sucker for sweet tunes with sweet vocals. Just like this week, I got an “gotta hear cats miaow”-thingie and had them with me where ever I went hehe. Now on a sunday morning sitting comfortably in my sofa just reading at different sites and listening to music in headphones, I got an urge for sweets.Just like a small child for sugar. One of the sites that I visited was Twee Pop Love!, there I read about a group called Murder Beach and one of the mp3s there just blew me away. It was all I needed to settle my urge and to give me a small rush. I like it when I find music from different countries than Sweden. Especially when it is good =) As the label that released their debut-album, last year, they are from Athens (at least that´s what I read at two different places). So I will propably spend the rest of the day looking up the other releases that they have made, bumbleBEAR, they could turn up to be just as good as HHBTM (happy happy birthday to me).

Murder Beach - “Could be sleeping”
As many of their songs, it is short. But just lovely. This is the song at twee.se that cought my attention. If you like to hear more, use the label´s webpage.
This is a picture of the group (would have been quite fun if it hadn´t been=) Over and out.

About an hour ago I opened this page and logged in, I thought I would write about a song that I was mailed. But then I did not. But just now, about ten minutes ago I was sitting here and watching something, suprise, suprise, it was about music. And as often before, my thoughts started to wonder on paths of their own. One of the things that I thought, was that I would mail this person, who has inspired me a lot with her writing, I think she does not know it. But so it is, I just came to that conclusion right now, that is how impulsive and mindspread I am. But that was not the reason why I logged in, it was merely a path, a thought, that I tried to capture in words. Maybe in an attempt to make it more real, or just so that I would not forget it. Since it is a thought from my head, which would be difficult for you to understand, I tried to make a bit more universal and right on, so that you could make it a thought of yours. Or maybe something that would lead to a thought of your own. Or something… well this is how I scribbled it down, do have in mind that I wrote it just as it came.

I had to make it.
It was an urge,
a drive,
a strife for a primal instinct.

But it was not there to be,
it was merely a thought,
a little thought
in me.

I am not trying to be a poet of some kind, that was never my intention with it. So please do not misunderstand me. It is just as if I would have painted that thought, but since I was sitting here I chose to write it instead.

Since I am not the best “internetter” (if there even is a word like that), I have totally missed out to keep myself updated with Camera Obscura. Which is a shame considering the fact that I adore them. No, I love them!
They were here in Sweden earlier this year and at their gig here in Stockholm I got to hear a new song, and it was of course good. Since that day I have been waiting for the new album. And today I got my act together and read the news at their website and then I read this > < So now I am really waiting, if possible even more than before. This can turn out to be the record of 2006. And with a new fullenght they should go on a small tour, and hopefully visit Sweden. This time I might even get to hear “San Francisco song”, last time at the end of the gig I yelled “San francisco!!” and Tracyanne replyead, “it´s a nice place, you should go there”.

I wrote some words, words that I scribbled down just as they formed in my head at the moment. It is though something that I have been thinking about, that I have been wanting to write. Though in a much better way then it came out now, but here it is Några ord…
It is in swedish….

I have not written here for a while. Maybe I have been busy, maybe I have not felt like I had anything to say. But now I have a new computer and it feels like I have to say something. Not just for that, but also because I feel that theepoweroftwee has been standing still. Just like me.

But now for some fun news! thehelpmeplease, for those who has not noticed, has made a great new song. I dropped it in i post here earlier… But now it is on a cd, a free such. Consider it a christmas gift. It lookes like this:

thehelpmeplease - “hear the bells ring”

If you like to have a copy of it, just mail me and I will send you one. Merry Christmas (I think…)

Sometimes I escape.
I escape to a place where things have colour, where things are they way I wish they were, but still not predictable. Everything so unexpected, so, so,
so hard to explain in words.

It is a place where I enjoy being, there are quite a few of us there. We are all regular visitors. It is a place where I can meet wonderful people, not all joyful and full of life, not all well read and well spoken, not all like the kind… but all thoughtful and kind.
I must admit, sometimes when I spend time with my thoughts, which is most of the time, I can hear my thoughts going through things people have said, things people have done. Sometimes a line just pops up and I find myself searching for the conversation, the place, the time, the person, my thoughts pass by faster and faster. Sometimes it is something that has happened, I find myself searching my memory for that particular moment…
Then after a while I realise it was merely something out of a book, or a movie, most often a book. Sometimes I wonder why I find myself more at home in the world of books and movies than I do with real people. Could it be the fact that most of my friends still are in the world that I some years ago left. That most people that I meet really do not interest me all that much. They do all so often never have anything new, or in my mind, exiting to tell. Then there are times that I meet people, people who are more like me. People I actually like talking to, people who make me feel like I actually have something of interest to say. People I can just sit and listen to,
but most of all people I enjoy being with. Then when we part, and it all starts to sink in. I start wondering if they were just a part of my thoughts, if all was just a dream. But then I realise that it was all true, they were for real.
They were all part of the same world.