Usually I’m not too fond of too much techno/dance music at once (although with some exceptions) – but I think the events in Duisberg over the weekend deserve some attention. Yet again, I’m postponing the already promised post on classical and hiphop/R’n’B – and also a spark of inspiration from Friday to do a Josh Groban theme. So sorry if you’re disappointed, but this is how it is!
As I said (or at least tried to express earlier), I’m not too good at techno/dance. But here are a few of my fave dancables with an inhumanly steady groove:
Five For Comemorating Tiësto: “In My Memory” (watch/listen @ YouTube)
— “Face me, sitting in my memory/Hold me, I remember […] I feel uneasy, under this thing/Thoughts away/The heavenly” – I’ll let the lyrics speak for themselves. Tiësto performed during the Love Parade.
Röyksopp: “What Else Is There? (Trentemøller Remix)” (watch/listen @ YouTube)
— I’ll let the lyrics speak for themselves.
I remember this one from the start of my studying for my higher preporatory exam (HF/secondary school/high school); we were planning on making an acoustic version of it in the extracurricular music class, but never made it that far.
Fatboy Slim: “Right Here, Right Now” (watch/listen @ YouTube)
— as in: There is nothing like the present when standing in an overcrowded crowd.
I still remember Fatboy Slim from my days of next to constant MTV, and later on the Roskilde Festival. A handful of tracks of the Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars album was considered for this entry – among them “Drop the Hate” (… Aw, heck: watch/listen @ YouTube. Drop the hate, forgive each other!).
Basshunter & DJ Mental Theo’s Bazzheadz: “Now You’re Gone” (watch/listen @ YouTube)
— …
Found by neat cooperation between vague memory and checking up on Sash!, having forgotten Basshunter’s name completely, but remembering “Boten Anna”. I was certain that I had known another version of “Boten Anna”, a version I thought I had heard before “Boten”, but… *sigh*… Admittedly, I must have heard the commercial for Crazy Frog before any other version – “Now You’re Gone” came after, as far as I’m informed by now.
Sash!: “Adelante” (watch/listen @ YouTube)
— “Porque la vida es corta.”
Again, doin’ some diggin’ from my MTV-days of the late 1990s.
The Top 5 most played on my portable music player is as of right now: 1. “Slow Me Down” (Emmy Rossum) 2. “Teardrop (LP Version)” (Massive Attack) 3. “Come Around” (Timbaland feat. Mia) 4. “Stay” (Emmy Rossum) 5. “Give It To Me” (Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake)
Got any reactions? Suggestions? Requests? Comment/reply away!
Okay, so I thought I would have done a political FF as my next move – but then I came across the front page of Twitter, revealing yet another laughable tweet from my favorite mainstream big shot proffessional scribbler, warbler, and ivory tickler all-in-one these days, Josh Groban (of course, my not-so-mainstream ditto is Anders Filipsen).
When it comes to blogging, Josh has a tendency to vlog when there are more than one thing to mention – and not only does he upload the video to his Vimeo vlog, but he adds it as a blogpost as well (thus I don’t add the link to his vlog around here, unless I have to link to a specific video (say, if I need to point out something about stocking up on canned goods – and you’ll only have to see the first 23 seconds to get it)).
And yes, you can also find him on Twitter. Go to @joshgroban to follow him.
Twitter topic for today…Intelligent Design Vs. Evolution. GO! <runs behind wall made of 140 bricks or less> about 3 hours ago via web Source: @joshgroban
I was just watching Letterman, and although it’s usually only on a week’s delay, they had a rerun of an episode from March starring Jennifer Aniston. This episode contained a bit and a top 10 on Twitter – so I thought I would check up on it.
Secondly, the Roskilde Festival ended on Sunday – so Monday (or at least sometime this week) would actually have been the proper day/week to start stalking following their planning yet again.
I think there is no doubt that David Letterman wasn’t too into in Twitter to start with – but finally gave in – so now rumor has it that he’s occasionally gives it up on the Late Show’s Twitteraccount, @Late_show.
Here he is, giving it up for the first time:
The Roskilde Festival is well over this year – and for you who were in contact with me around this time know that I didn’t go, contrary to what I said earlier this year. Finances were in question – being a student saving for a trip to New Zealand really tightens up the personal economy.
But now that it’s over, it’s just about time to obsess about what’s going to happen next year. First of all, you can sign up for the newsletter (which I did a few years back).
You can do this by registrating on their website – link to registration form – where you can opt in on both e-mail newsletter and text messages on your phone. And not to worry if you haven’t worked as a volunteer – this is also an option in the drop-down menu as I write. Second of all, you can subscribe to the RSS newsfeed.
I found the link on the front page, but here’s the link directing you straight to the feed. You can also dive right into the news archives at the website (where I found the link for the newsletter). Third of all, check out the blogs on the website! Übercool! Last, but not least, check them out on Twitter. You can find the festival itself on @orangefeeling – and you can check out relevant posts by going for the keywords #RF10 and #RF11.
First of all, I promised to do a Brocktour-themed Music Monday. The idea was really to round up the bands I remember from the Rock Services in Brorson’s Church – and given that it has been a couple of months since then, and the latest passed Friday was the last Rock Service of the season, not only is there a bigger number of bands to pick of – it’s a perfect occassion to pick up on it.
Starting out with the Brocktour (Brorson’s Rocktour) theme, I picked from what I remember from the Rock Services and Tours throughout my two years in Brorson’s Church:
Five Brock-bands never escaping my memory LIPS (www.myspace.com/thelipsdk)
This is one of the two first bands I remember experiencing at a Rock Service. Actually, it’s the first one I remember clearly – perhaps mainly because the activity coordinator at the time, Loa, who was also on my first Brocktour (which was last year), is the singer of the band. The present activity coordinator, Ulrich, who was on my second tour (which was this year), is on the keys in the band.
They have a sort of dance/disco-quality to their music – and in spite of not being too crazy about too much reminding me of the 1980’s music-wise (with very few exceptions – I think I’ve been environmentally damaged in both directions), I actually like it!
Niepoort (www.myspace.com/niepoort)
Niepoort was the band who joined us for the Brocktour in 2009. It’s the first time I remember experiencing the accesability of a band like I did, although I often sensed it at other Rock Services with other bands. You just seem to get a better sense of people if you spend more time with them, I suppose.
As for their music, I remember them using a tiny megaphone to sing through at one of the songs, which gave a pretty nifty effect. Besides that, I find that the lead singer (Gustav Niepoort – another Dane with a Dutch last name!, I love! ;D) has a voice I’m not really sure how to describe, although I love it. Take a listen – can anyone help me coin a description?
Black Rose Trick (www.myspace.com/blackrosetrick)
Black Rose trick was with us at our latest Brocktour – and how great it was to experience! I’ll never forget blogging, tweeting, sorting photos, or napping to the sound of Guitar Hero in the salon in the back of the bus.
Listening to their recordings, they sound more ambient than they do live; albeit still having an ambient-like sound even then. Also, they do have some good hooks in their songs – which we were more than likely to be singing along to every night.
A Road to Damascus (www.myspace.com/aroadtodamascus)
In the end of March this year, our activity coordinator was down with a concussion. Our usual Reverend was off duty for some reason. And the band which was supposed to play had cancelled. But we were in luck – we had a previous temp taking the place of the activity coordinator, Reverend Asser Skude (who is known for his work for homeless people and running for Bishop of Copenhagen back in 2009) to take Per the Reverend’s place, and a voluntary who had a connection to A Road to Damascus, who were able to bring their energy to the Church.
And what energy! During a Rock Service, the band is situated in front of the altar, which is on a raised platform with two steps down to the floor of the rest of the Church. Not only did they perform from the platform, but also jumped down in front of it. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced so much energy from a band performing at any service in Brorson’s before!
Turnip Greens (www.myspace.com/turnipgreens)
I was really impressed with their sound – being really south state/R&B/country/blues-y; I never heard that in Brorson’s before, making Turnip Greens standing out in my memory for a long time to come.
Five songs never escaping my memory White Pony: “Falling” (Watch @ YouTube)
I remember this song from the 2009 Brocktour. One of the volunteers couldn’t get it out of her head – especially the “There’s only one right side, and that’s the downside…” part – and she had to bless us by playing it out loud… Black Rose Trick: “Black Water” (Listen @ MySpace)
This is one of the songs I was talking about in the space above – although some of us would by the end of the tour end up telling them to get the damn bird out of the water and get on with it.
The song is still on their page at the time this entry is published. Black Rose Trick: “By the River” (Listen @ MySpace)
This one, though, I believe was the absolute favorite of the giv-et-år medarbejder (give a year employee) and I – singing along to the gorgeous “oo-ooh, a-ah-a-ah-ah, oo-ooh, aa-ah…”-hook. I still get into the spirit of the Brocktour when listening to it.
The song is still on their page at the time this entry is published. Black Rose Trick: “On My Knees” (Listen @ MySpace)
Not only one, but two catchy “ooh”-based hooks was on the live version of this, as the lead singer had taken over the melody in the end of the song. But what caught me was the subject of being on one knees in front of a “Majesty” – which was the only word I caught of the song to start with, thinking of the higher powers as Majesties. And it still pops into my head for no reason whatsoever every now and then.
The song is still on their page at the time this entry is published. A Road to Damascus: “Sweetheart” (Listen @ MySpace)
I have to admit that I was trying to find the song by Niepoort where Gustav was singing through the tiny megaphone – but couldn’t find it (so much for the song not escaping…). And again – ARtD to the rescue! This is not because they’re second to anyone – they are second to noone – they’re just that good (proven by the fact that I remember their energy and performance over the circumstances of the service they played at).
What strikes me about the song is that its vibe is opposite the vibe I got from the performance at the Rock Service – and yet it’s the one of the three on their MySpace page that illustrates their performing enery during the service.
The song is still on their page at the time this entry is published.
Etta Cameron Homage
Etta Cameron hat a decent part of gospel history in Denmark – even collaborating with one of the first idols of mine, Stig Rossen. Although I think I prefer gospel with her kind of voice, she did have a decent talent for jazz as well – proven in this video I found on YouTube.
There is a translation of what she says below the video.
“The music has been like medicine to me. I was so young when my mother died, and that was not that long after my father. And when I was very, very, very sad or scared, because I was alone, I just sang. No matter if it was jazz or it was gospel or blues or whatever. It’s something that I have always appreciated, and I always will. But it has meant medicine to me. Really. It was big, has always been big to me, the music.” – Etta Cameron.
Taped on Copenhagen Jazzhouse, aired on TV2 Charlie.
The Top 5 most played on my portable music player is as of right now: 1. “Slow Me Down” (Emmy Rossum) 2. “Teardrop (LP Version)” (Massive Attack) 3. “Come Around” (Timbaland feat. Mia) 4. “Walk This Way” (Aerosmith & Run DMC) 5. “Stay” (Emmy Rossum)
Got any reactions? Suggestions? Requests? Comment/reply away.
As you can see, a little bit has happened here and there.
I’ve changed the theme (=Wordpress-lingo for look or skin) of the blog a couple of times, and now I have found something I think will last for a long time to come: a theme both pretty and random enough for what I intend with the blog (…the wonder that is an organized mess).
Besides that, I’ve been organizing the links of my Follow Fridays, so in addition to the usual Blogroll (which also includes a couple of blogs I need to introduce to you in a following Follow Friday or two), I added a Twitterroll (with all the people I believe you should be keeping an eye on on Twitter) and a Podroll (with all the podcasts I believe you should know so far – of which one link, De Sorte Spejdere, leads to a 404/Not Found, but I would find it odd NOT to have it there. It can be found through iTunes, though – plus one that I will have to introduce later).
Something else I need to do is to make a menu (OH YES! The new theme is custom-menu compatible! Yay!) – something with the links/categories I find to be important and odd enough NOT to be left in one of the boxes in the sidebar. So far there’s only “Home” (directing you to the blog) and “About…” (leading you to the page about me). It’s gonna be good!
Besides that, I need to
fix a better way of making a gallery (flickr sucks, I couldn’t get all of the pics from the Brocktour up), and speaking of which…
finish off the last part of the Brocktour (there are a couple of bits and pieces in my mind I want up here).
dust off some of the drafts I’ve got lying around here… Somewhere… Where’s the damn hatbox?!
Did I miss anything??…
Ah, well. I’ll think of it if I did. Though I do know that I got a bit of inspiration for a following Follow Friday (besides whatever is on the blogroll)!
Oh – and I might have to mention to you that due to skipping a Monday, the theme I was teasing for recently isn’t up for Music Monday tomorrow, but next week instead.
While researching YouTube for an upcoming Music Monday (which is due on the 28th of June – a week and a half from now), I found this video:
If you’re curious or just guessing, yes, the blogpost I’m doing for the 28th has something to do with classical music – but that’s just half of it. The other half is more hiphop/R’n’B-esque. Seemingly weird to you? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see!
If you want to cut the latest and go straight to the last of the Brocktour, click here.
On Friday, we had the last Rock Service of the season in Brorson’s Church. The band was Turnip Greens, playing a very Southern kind of rock; very bluesy. They were, IMHO, one of the few bands that have been radically different from the rest of the lot I have heard live at the Services. Sure, I can tell the bands apart when I have to, but most of them are ususally one big blur.
This was also the first time I have ever worn a portable mic in my life. I think this came from having to deal with a presentation with two exercise bikes in front of everything, the two guys exercising having to use the portable mics anyway. So instead of having to deal with the extra cords/wires/jacks for the usual prayer mics when pulling the (heavy!!!) bikes aside, we (who read the prayers) just took over the mics as soon as the presentation was over. And just so we’re clear – using portable mics for the two individuals reading the prayers is GENIUS; no having to think of how to hold up the prayers and tilt your head in order to be able to READ the prayers AND having the mic catching the sound properly. Just attach the mic as you did when it worked through dress rehearsal, unmute it (it would be stupid and highly disturbing to the rest of the crowd NOT to mute it throughout the rest of the Service), and wham-bam-boogie – vi kører.
Having Per the Reverend back as the preacher was a true gift. In spite of him being the preacher through Easter, I had almost forgotten how he looked in his cassock and ruff; he’s been off duty for the Rock Services of March and April, plus the monthly morning service in May – and I haven’t been able to attend the very few services there has been in between (there are few enough for me to actually spend a lot of time in Jerusalemskirken in between without missing out on much in Brorson’s; most of Brorson’s services are at the most monthly or annual, depending on the occasion, not weekly). Seeing that Jerusalemskirken is a Methodist church (where the ministers either look like smurfs when dressed in their blue cassock and white stole for their regular morning service or are dressed slightly more informal for their second Sunday service), Per in his black cassock and white ruff was a divine sight!
We had visitors from Herning, a town in Jutland, who left us this wonderful message:
Super good service!! We enjoyed it! You rule! And keep doing that! God be with you! With love Herning ❤ P.S. Hope you see this
Catching up on the last of the Brocktour, we had our last Service in Skt. Nikolai Church in Holbæk. In my opinion, it was one of the greatest Services of that tour. You could argue that it was because it was the last one, that it was the only one on Zealand (the rest being in Jutland), and the worst had already happened (you may remember me cursing over the confirmands in Løgumkloster over Facebook). But I don’t think those are the actual reasons why.
I remember a description given by one of the others; that the last couple of back rows in the church were confirmands with their usual hormones – topped off with Red Bull. Yup, you can only imagine the noise they were trying to make; you might think it would be Løgumkloster all over again. But first of all, Skt. Nikolai isn’t as huge as Løgumkloser. Second of all – as soon as they started making noise, the rest of the congregation (including confirmands, I believe) litterally hushed loudly at them – every time! – and they stopped. I LOVE them for doing that, hushing down the rascals! Love. love. love!
Besides that, we had the same arrangement with the Sacrament/Holy Communion as we did in Løgumkloster; seeing that at least Løgumkloster is one of the biggest churches around (Skt. Nikolai isn’t the biggest, but it isn’t small, either), we had two stations with two reverends each serving bread and wine. Besides our own Reverend (Per), we had three other Reverends coming in from the local and neighboring perishes. In Skt. Nikolai, I remember receiving it from at least one Reverend (if not the two of them) from the neighboring perish (Tveje Merløse Church/Perish) – and I was surprised by how sincere he was. Not saying that other Reverends aren’t sincere, but I think it can quickly become a habit when having to say “This is the Body/Blood of Christ(, shed for you)” a humongous number of times every so often – and this Rev was jawdroppingly sincere and convincing, not just repeating a line. That gave me a great, positive energy to go up and read out the prayers shortly after, and that was the best read of prayers of the entire tour, no question about it.
I think no matter how sick and tired I become of dragging things back and forth from different churches, setting up, taking down, etc., I’ll always end up going back on tour again – just because I end up remember the good things. If I get another chance of touring, I may just take it.
Tuesday presented us with a gorgeous piece of church – Løgumkloster Kirke; an old monastery church in the south of Jutland (kloster = monastery). It’s one of those churches I can walk into and feel the calm, no matter the denomination – just like Catholic churches of Southern Europe (just a note: Løgumkloster Church was converted to Church of Denmark after the Reformation back in the 1500s – Church of Denmark is Lutheran-Evangelical).
That being said, it seems that a tour can’t go by without a bunch of unmanagable confirmands. I know it’s just my second tour, but both tours have presented just that. The Reverend usually makes clear that we don’t applaud during the service itself, but the days the band plays encores, we can applaud the band during the encores. But the youngsters in Løgumkloster went contra – and applauded LOUDLY after just about every action during the service. Even when I said “Let’s be silent together” after the prayer, they could do nothing but yell… And applaud. *sigh*
I could bitch about spoiled brats and decent behavior, especially in a church, but I won’t. Well, maybe later, but not now. It’s just a waste of energy right now. The service went exceptionally well in spite of the unmanagables.
Afterwards, we drove to the hut we spent the night in, evaluated over a night cab, and I went to bed shortly after – and had surprisingly many hours of sleep, all things considered.
Apparently, I'm the only one going on caffeine. I honestly don't mean to decline alcohol. I blame my body and its cravings.
Tourbus view, Wednesday. Somewhere in Southern Jutland.
Monday went by in remarkable silence. I know I spoke of a special Music Monday that didn’t happen, but there are still mondays to come.
Coming to photos, I can see that my Flickr account is slowly crawling towards the 100 % usage (95 % so far). What I’m planning to do is to use my account on Photobucket instead – I’ll let you know when I do so; I promise to post links.
Last night, we were in Hove Church. We’re starting to remember what to do with things – routine is nice, things run smoother, and faster. Certainty and time to check up on more are bonuses of this. The backside is just that I, personally, feel like I should be doing something when there seems to be nothing left. Then of course, I pull out my phone and start taking pictures (thus all the pics of churches – there are more than the ones I uploaded), or just sit down and chill until someone asks for help.
What I (and others of the group) found amusing yeaterday is that we were referred to as “the Copenhageners” in the written schedule of the locals. Yes, we do come from a church in Copenhagen, but the irony is that the majority of us are actually from Jutland (where Hove Church is located).
Something else I noticed was the smell in the air. Now that we had thaw, the frost wasn’t present to hide the smell of fertilizer. I think that many urban individuals find the smell disgusting – and I don’t know why I actually like it. My theory is that I’ve spent just enough time in the countryside (incl. a year in a folk high school) to have it growing on me, to grow adjusted to its “face”; be it because I have good memories of the countryside, or because I became used to it (ya know, now that it was there anyway). I like it.
I turned in early (even before any Porto Cálem was in sight). I hoped to be up in time to be up in time to pack my shit in time for breakfast – but somehow I managed to snooze and ignore my phone’s alarmclock for about an hour and a half, and woke up hearing the activity coordinator of Brorson’s telling someone else that the bus was leaving in 20 minutes. Yikes! The policy is that we’re responsible of waking up ourselves, so I think it’s natural that noone woke me up.
now it’s late – I wrote the above before setting up in Løgumkloster, which was today – I’ll write the last notes now, and continue tomorrow.
Luckily, I managed to throw some clothes on my back and the rest in my bag and in my pockets, and make a couple of sarnies before hurrying out the door. Now I’m just looking forward to evaluate, mayhaps have a nightcab, brush my teeth, and turn in.
Rock'n'roll in the bus, Guitar Hero/caffeine style, on Tuesday night.
Unna's Blog of Total Randomness 
