I can honestly say I'm not sure what I've done this week, but I must have done something as it's been a week since I last wrote anything here. As always I've done a lot of writing over at Frekvens and I've been out visiting people and partying, but it doesn't exactly feel like enough stuff to fill out an entire week. But unless there was a glitch in the old matrix an entire week has actually passed and I must have filled it out with something more than lying about the house that I just don't quite remember right now.

But this week is going to be action packed, baby! Tomorrow it's all about David Eugene Edwards and Sufjan Stevens at Voxhall, which I think will be interesting. I don't know a lot about Edwards, 16 Horsepower or Woven Hands, but apparently he's pretty great, so I'm curious to see what the fuss is about. But I'm even more curious to see the oddly named Sufjan Stevens, who by all accounts is quite the character. They're also bringing along someone called Br. Danielson, who I haven't heard of, so it could be a fairly interesting night. I have some other stuff planned this week as well, but the thing that'll fill up most of my week is the Spot Festival, which begins Thursday night with a sort of Pre Party. Thursday night will feature a bunch of the people who'll also play later at the actual festival and some other stuff, so it's more like a teaser than an actual part of the festival. But I'm going anyway to see Sondre Lerche and Teitur and just to hang out and see what's happening.

The good people at Universal were kind enough to send me a copy of Teitur's "Poetry & Aeroplanes" recently, which I'm actually listening to right now and it's pretty good. It's one of those nice, mellow, acoustic, singer/songwriter albums similar to quite a few records on my shelf. He has a bit of a Peter Stuart thing going and sometimes he sounds a bit like Sting and generally the songs are very pleasent with the occasional surprising lyrical twist. I saw him open for Ron Sexsmith a few years ago and at Spot two years ago, so more than a few of the songs on the record were familiar from the first listen, which is always nice. For some reason though I seem to like the songs he's written himself the best as opposed to the ones he's written with Jeff Cohen (who wrote Crazy for this Girl with/for Evan & Jaron), but maybe that's just a coincidence. I've been listening to Scissor Sisters as well (which I got with the Teitur album) and I'm actually getting into them as well. There's a definite Elton John (pre Lion King) thing going on, but there's also a touch of Grace Jones and Frankie Goes to Hollywood and a lot of other stuff, so they might be an interesting choice at this year's Roskilde Festival.

But inbetween the concerts and writing reviews and all the other stuff I also need to start getting stuff ready for our coverage of the two big Danish festivals. And this is also the week where I need to find a new place to live. So if you know someone who is willing to rent out an apartment (size, prize, and location is less important right now) here in Aarhus drop me a line as once again I'm looking at imminent homelessness. So much like Alice Cooper I'm also looking for a girl with a gun and a job/and a house with cable!

My brother found this link today to a website, which points out the similarities between Nickelback's How You Remind Me and ironically Nickelback's Someday. Stuff like that is always fun.

I also enjoyed the interview with Ice-T in The Guardian recently, which is a fun read worth checking out if you haven't already seen it.

"Water the root and enjoy the fruit" was a sentence uttered by acclaimed filmmaker David Lynch Saturday night at a Q&A session where he and quantum physicist John Hagelin explained how transcendental meditation was the way to achieve world peace. First off, I should probably mention that I'm about as spiritual as a brick and as open to ideas of karma, healing, auras, and reincarnation as a Nazi. But I went anyway as I honestly just wanted to see David Lynch and also the fact that he brought along a scientist intrigued me. I was expecting Lynch to lay out these New Age ideas and then the good doctor would use rational arguments and flow charts to show how it wasn't as crazy as it sounded. Unfortunately, Hagelin was more of a whack-job than Lynch, so it didn't quite work out as I had hoped.

The overall theory was that everyone in the world is connected via some sort of matrix of brainwaves and if enough people practice transcendental meditation their positive vibes will influence their surroundings enough to help cool down conflicts leading to the end of all violence and war. So in order to do this Hagelin is setting up meditation centers all around the world, where people are meditating away hoping their inner peace will rub off and create outer peace. This is all fine and good, but what really rubbed me the wrong way was the way Hagelin kept insisting that his theories are based on academic facts without doing anything to prove this. The guy has a very impressive resumé, but is now a professor at Maharishi U (I kid you not) and ran for President twice for the Natural Law Party, which has apparently swallowed up the remains of (or at least parts of) Ross Perot's Reform Party. But I could forgive him this if he had just shown us anything remotely resembling tangible evidence, but alas that did not happen.

Being the perpetual smart-ass I started constructing questions in my head, which would underline how ridiculously naive these two seemingly intelligent men were. But I eventually decided against asking them anything as they seemed like nice enough people and I didn't feel the need to poke fun at them in front of a couple of hundred people (especially when I can do that here instead). On a positive note I'll say I was pleasantly surprised to find that most people were actually interested enough in what they had to say that they asked questions about meditation and peace instead of asking about the dancing midget or the blue key. Unfortunately, two Lynch buffs asked questions, which they'd prepared from home. But they were so nervous speaking in English in front of their hero their questions got completely jumbled and impossible to understand. The best question came from a guy, who was curious to hear what Hagelin's response to the attacks on September 11th would have been had he been President. Unfortunately, Hagelin only talked about how meditation could've prevented the attacks, but never actually got around to explaining how he would've hunted down Osama using the first battalion flying Yogi brigade.

I didn't learn a lot about the Transcendental Meditation organization, which has a center in Copenhagen, so I'm not really sure what kind of organization it is. But when Hagelin started talking about how we only use 5% of our brain powers and how meditation could help us get more focused and smarter I had flashbacks to a Scientology lecture I once heard. So it suddenly started reminding me of the 90210 episode, where Kelly Taylor unknowningly joins a cult and the movie The Wave. But as there weren't any valley kids in attendance, I very much doubt they were able to recruit any new members.

I'm sure meditation is a great way for some people to relieve stress and if you're calm you're probably a positive influence on your surroundings. But I don't have the patience to sit around hoping to reach Nirvana. So afterwards I decided to relieve stress my way by going on a bender with a group of movie people, who had also been at the Q&A thing. After a few hours I split and hooked up with friends at Sway and later went out to a club and met more friends. I had a great time, so I think the lesson we can take from this is you should do what works for you. I might only be trying to keep a leaf or two alive, while Lynch is watering the roots of the tree to make the whole tree survive. But right now I'm quite content to focus on the leaves, and quite frankly that gives me all the inner peace I can handle.

Normally, Wednesdays aren't too exciting, but yesterday was a very cool day. First I got a call telling me that our festival project was now rolling and things were being taken care of. I'm not sure how much I can talk about it yet, but it definitely means I'll be working as a journalist at both the Roskilde and the Midtfyns festivals this summer. Obviously, I'm very excited about this and I'll reveal a bit more once I know exactly what is going to happen.

Later I went to a reception at Filmby Aarhus, where I ran into a bunch of people I know and I managed to get an invitation to a Q&A session with David Lynch on Saturday. This is very exciting to me as Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks made a huge impression on me, when I was younger. I also really liked The Elephant Man, but when I saw it I didn't know who Lynch was, so I never really thought of it as a Lynch project in the same way as the others were. And it's only about a week since I watched Mulholland Drive, so that's a bit of a weird coincidence. Apparently, he's in town to speak about world peace with physicist John Hagelin, which I didn't know he cared so much about, but I think he'll talk a bit about his movies especially since the Q&A will take place in The Film City.

I was actually at the reception with my Mom and while we were talking a friend of mine came over. After he left I explained to her who he was and she remembered seeing him on television. She thought he was very nice in person, but had been appalled by the language he'd used on tv. I explained that he was just being himself, but I'm not sure that really helped.

After that I went out with a friend to see Danish acts Figurines and Jomi Massage. Figurines are this great rock band, who sound a lot like Built to Spill, but in a really great way. They played a bunch stuff from their "Shake a Mountain" album, but also played a few new tracks, which bode well for the future. I saw Jomi Massage a few months ago, where she played an acoustic show. But this time she brought the rock and played it rather loudly. It sounded a bit like old PJ Harvey, but I honestly didn't hear so much of the show as I was talking to someone throughout most of it.

Afterwards a bunch of us went down to Sway where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came. It was a really fun night and I got to get all music nerdy with my friends there, which is good fun if you can get it. The night ended with a lively discussion about James Last and Gheorghe Zamfir and Sway's owner winning a case of beer on a bet that James Last had written The Lonely Shepherd, which is one of those bets you only make at four in the morning. But he didn't win the beer from me, so I just thought it was funny.

I've been watching VH-1s Bands Reunited a lot this week and I just think it's a great idea for a show. Unfortunately, of all the shows I've seen (Berlin, A Flock of Seagulls, Squeeze, Kajagoogoo, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood) the bands I actually wanted to hear play (Frankie and Squeeze) didn't. The show I'm dying to see is the Extreme one as I was a huge fan of Extreme and especially Nuno Bettencourt. I've seen them live twice and I have all their records. So I would love to see them reunited, so hopefully that show will air here soon. I was thinking of other bands I'd like to see reunited and Thompson Twins came to mind. I wonder if they've tried getting Peter Gabriel back with Genesis, Dave with Van Halen, or the ultimate test - The Police. I don't know what their criteria is for selecting bands, but it would seem that 80s bands, where the members fought a lot are the ones they primarily look at. I hope they make a few more shows as the ones I've seen have been pretty entertaining.

Like most musically interested people in the civilized world we sought out a Morrissey release party yesterday and although the actual event could've been handled better there was nothing wrong with the music. We had a chance to listen to the album twice and the overall impression was that for once you could believe the hype. The sound seemed very contemporary and songs like Irish Blood, English Heart and The First Of The Gang To Die are as good as anything he has written in the last ten years. Other standout tracks include I Like You and How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel and it seems like once the entire thing gets a few spins it could turn out to be a smashing record. And it's just nice to see that once again lyrically he's not out to make any friends. So I preordered it right away and I got even more excited about his upcoming show at Roskilde.

And speaking of Roskilde it would now seem that I'll definitely be working as a journalist there again this year. There are a lot of details that has to be taken care of, but right now we've received order to go so to speak. So hopefully that'll mean I'll get to interview a handful of the most interesting bands playing the festival, which would be sweet. It also looks like I'll be attending the Midtfyns festival as a part of the same deal. Their program isn't quite as impressive as Roskilde's, but thankfully they've beefed it up a bit by adding The Delays to the lineup today. The also have Air on their bill, so I'm excited about seeing them.

In case you don't live around here I should probably mention that the Danish Crown Prince (you know the dude from that movie) got married today to an Australian girl. As a result the media has been going bonkers for ages now and it has culminated the last two days with around the clock coverage of anything remotely regal. The wedding preshow, the actual wedding, and the following dinner party is being covered by three Danish channels today. But one of them has taken a more Terry Wogan-like approach by hiring four Danish comedians to make fun of the dresses and the guests, who look inbreed. I watched a bit of their coverage, but as I have very little interest in the Royal Family I can't say I followed it too closely nor do I understand people's fascination with all of this. The way they're acting you'd think it was John Taylor and Renee Toft Simonsen, who were getting married (now there's something I would watch).

So instead of watching the royals get married I watched the semi-decent Love Actually as I would much rather watch actors pretend to be in love than watch real people really be in love. This way at least there's a few laughs for those on the outside.

But speaking of 80s icons I found this brilliant article about how Keane and Radiohead basically are ripping off a-ha. It's the best thing I've read all day.

This city has been treating me right the last couple of weeks. I haven't been on a blogging hiatus per say as I've been blogging a lot over at Frekvens. But between covering the Recession festival, watching football, going out, writing job applications, a spot of fine dining, and working on a new project I honestly haven't really had time to write anything here.

Because so much has been going on I'll only mention a few of the things that has happened. Obviously, covering Recession took a lot of time. Not only did I see nine concerts in three days, but I also had to get up every morning and write reviews. They're available at Frekvens in Danish (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) where you can find a lot of pictures from the shows as well. The definite highlight was I Am Kloot Thursday night. Singer John Bramwell reminds me of a cynical Neil Finn and musically they remind me of Tom McRae, which is great. I've been listening to their latest record quite a bit lately and it's really good. People keep telling me that "Natural History" is better though, so I might have to pick that up one of these days. I also really liked the German band Mountaineer, who played very laid-back acoustic indie, which was exactly what I needed Saturday night. I also saw Arab Strap Friday night, but I'd had a few drinks when they went on, so their moody and dreamy music didn't really do it for me. But the show was decent enough and they played at a volume where you could actually walk around in the back and talk to people, while they played.

Before the Arap Strap show I'd been out bowling with my new friends from The A-List. We then went for dinner after which I went out and saw Arab Strap and Bob Log III before joining them again at Sway. I was also at Sway Thursday night and on both occasions the music was great and the place was packed with familiar faces. So that's officially my new favourite hangout. But I'll get back to that later. This weekend I also went out to see AGF beat top-of-the-league team Esbjerg 4-1, which was pretty amazing. The weather was incredible and walking around town later that day it was obvious that between the game and the weather the whole town was just in a great mood.

The last thing I'll mention is that yesterday I went out to dinner at Hotel Philip, which is a hotel and restaurant owned by former Celtic FC player Marc Rieper. I'd read a couple of reviews which were extremely positive, so we decided it would be an interesting place to visit. I'm no expert on fine dining, but I thought the food was absolutely sensational. The place itself was very nice and the staff very friendly, so all in all it was a great night out. The best bit was the main course which was cockerel (or so I believe it's called) with veil bacon and squash potatoes. There was a sauce with it that would make your eyes roll with delight and generally the whole thing was just incredible. So I'd love to dine there again some day.

The last two weeks have really changed my outlook on this city. I was pretty much ready to blow this clam bake once and for all, but now I'm considering staying at least a bit longer. I've gone out a lot lately and when the sun and the people are out it's actually a great place to live. The only thing that is really missing here are the bands, who only play in Copenhagen, but other than that living here isn't so bad. And there seem to be a lot more going on here lately. Like on Thursday night when Sway are hosting a Morrissey night, where you can get a first listen at the forthcoming album "You Are The Quarry". Oh yes, we are so there! So besides hosting The A-List they also host other indie related events, which is a much needed initiative.

Last week I also had the chance to see The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which was surprisingly good in sort of an Indiana Jones way. I didn't know much about the plot, so I was pleasently surprised to find that it involved a Justice League of literary characters. The movie was packed with references to Wilde, Verne, Melville, Twain, Ellison, Shakespeare, Haggard, Stoker, Stevenson, Doyle, and since the bad guy is called The Phantom they obviously couldn't not take a stab at Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Oh, and if you go to University here you might want to check out the latest issue of Information & Debat. I haven't seen it myself yet, but apparently there's an interview with me on the backpage.

And this crazy rant about the joys of 90210 and The O.C. is the funniest thing I've read in a long time. I always love it when people get as crazy excited about tv as I do.

For once I had a really good weekend! Like I mentioned earlier the annual boat race was on Friday afternoon, so I went and hung out with a few people there. It always starts with these weird presentations of the contestants, where they arrive in everything from trucks to Harley Davidsons. This year wasn't quite as well organized or spectacular as previous years, so I spent a lot more time talking to people than following the event and I honestly have no idea who won the thing. Afterwards, some friends of mine and I made dinner, had a few drinks and just generally had a great time.

Saturday was May 1st, but instead of marching in the streets I went to the opening of Yelp, which is a new boutique downtown. It's owned by a girl I went to school with ages ago, but she's one of the few people from back then I still run into, so was glad to go see her new business. I wasn't quite sure where it was at first, but the 6'3" drag queen in fishnet stockings and a silver skirt outside made it easy to find. The shop sells funky t-shirts and funny gadgets and I'm sure it'll be a success, which would be really cool. Afterwards, I walked by demonstrators on my way down to the pub to see the boring 0-0 Arsenal game and then it was time to get ready for The A-List.

I was down at Sway before eight so I could familiarize myself with the decks and hand out a few flyers. The place was obviously dead at first, but quickly my brother showed up with a bunch of our friends and later a few more friends showed up. Eventually more people showed up, but even after I stopped DJing it was still a lot like being at my own private party. I knew a lot of people there, the DJs, and the bartenders, so there were familiar faces to smile at all night. The DJ bit went really well and it was sweet being able to play my favourite tracks for people who thought they were cool. A couple of times people even came up and asked about the stuff I played or were all excited, because I was playing something they hadn't heard in ages. And before I was even finished they asked me to play another set at the end of the night and come back and play again in July.

So a little after ten I played my signature tune (Chavez - Unreal is Here) and then it was all about partying and hanging out until around 2:30, where I got back in the booth and started playing more familiar stuff like Kings of Leon and Phantom Planet. It was really cool playing in front of a lot more people and I kept on playing until they pulled the plug around 3:30. Then they closed the place down and we hung out for a while and then went out for a final drink. So even though I was down there at around 19:30 I didn't make it home until after six the next morning, but you know what they say about time flying and having fun. Just for the hell of it I wrote down the setlist, so click on the "More..." link to see which tracks you missed if you didn't show up. Next time I think I'll bring a few more popular records, but still keep it indie and very American.

So Saturday night was fantastic and it was also really great that the day before the largest Danish music magazine, Gaffa, had written a really nice article about The A-List and Frekvens.dk. And to top of a perfect weekend we got press passes for the Recession festival, which means I'll be seeing and reviewing Arab Strap, I Am Kloot, Swell, and a few other bands this week. So this week should be really cool as well.

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