me icon

you need to listen to this. so far all i know is that me icon is an electro duo, london based italians, that sergio is singing and that the song is awesome! sergio said so here, and i happen to agree with him. the song is "me gadget".

what's going on?

my new look accompanied by the lyrics to the fabulous song "going blonde" by juliana hatfield. enjoy.

Na na na na na na / Baby baby baby / I don't want nothing / Means I want something / Millions of diamonds / Sparkling and shining / Singing stupid songs / I'm going blonde
Bleaching my brain / I dig the pain / Firing squad pointed at the sweet spot / I'm turning myself on / I'm going blonde
Never want to be forgotten / I'm speaking American / I need some attention / Tell you my problems / What's going on / I think I'm going blonde
Na na na na na na / Na na na na na na
Baby baby baby / Baby baby baby
Na na na na na na na na

some more cranes songs

here's some proper videos by cranes. alison shaw has such a beautiful voice, and i love how the sound is so dreamy. cranes is the perfect band to listen to when it's dark and you hide under your covers and you can't sleep.



"beautiful friend" from loved (1994). here's also another great song from that album, "shining road".



"tomorrow's tears" from wings of joy (1991). also from that album is "adoration", yet a beautiful song, found here.



"inescapable" that was a bonus track/ep released during the wings of joy era.



"jewel" from forever (1993), although the video/single version of the song sounds a bit different than it does on the record. according to allmusic it's because robert smith remixed it. not surprising considering the cure brought cranes as their opening act on their '92 world tour.



"everywhere", also from forever.

cranes still releases albums, the last of which is self-titled and came out in october of this year. but i haven't heard it yet. i'm mostly in love with the music they made in the 90s and there's a huge nostalgia button that gets pushed in me whenever i hear their songs. a lot of their greatest songs can be found on their 2-cd ep collection, vols 1-2, so pick it up.

tangled up

i was just listening to old cranes songs and "tangled up" came on and i fell back a few years and rediscovered how beautiful this song is. unfortunately there's no video made, none that i can find anyway, so you'll have to make due with a live performance from october this year. before you push play, light a few candles and turn out the lights. enjoy.

my time in america pt 2,5

more pictures of food from my u.s. trip has been requested. enjoy!

dave made me dinner the first night. too bad most of the garlic wanted to stay in the pan :(

lunch at a vietnamese / chinese restaurant in downtown salt lake city. those things in the middle of the table there, they were sooo good! they had cream cheese in them and they were fried. mmmmmm.

arby's mozzarella cheese sticks in all their delicious glory

kate's butter nut squash soup. yum!

lunch at the mediterranean market & deli. i have eaten better paninis in my life but it was ok. the store did have arborio rice so they're forgiven

donuts!! (i was in america after all..)

this is NOT how mexican food looks and tastes in northern europe, but although this specific portion (in cedar city) wasn't my favorite, the one i ate in slc a few days later was really good! though i'm sorry to say, dave, i don't appreciate it like you do.

the salmon burger in las vegas

my time in america pt 2

it's a fact that i enjoy food a bit too much for my own good. good food. i'm not a fast food junkie, i'm a good food junkie. and i don't eat meat. so, with little more knowledge than your average european about american food culture (meat, fast food, large portions, obesity) i have to admit i worried a little bit about how i was going to be fed my two weeks over there.

let me tell you, the worrying was totally uncalled for. although they do seem to have more preservatives and salt in their pre-prepared food than here in sweden, pretty much everything i ate was enjoyable. here's a top 5 list, starting with a taste orgasm;

1. coffee milk shake and salmon burger at blt burgers in las vegas. this milkshake is to die for! now i totally get the conversation in pulp fiction about the $5 shake (although if i remember correctly, this shake was $6, but inflation hits even $5 shakes). the burger was also great.

yes! it was this good! i swear!

2. sweet potato cannelloni at the red rock in park city, utah. O. M. F. G!

3. dave's mom & husband's delicious salad with homegrown vegetables and japanese pears (i hope i'm getting this right, i was too busy enjoying it to really pay attention).

4. arby's mozzarella cheese sticks. i may not be a fast food junkie, but i am a cheese junkie, especially mozzarella.

5. the cheesecake factory's pumpkin cheesecake. i mean, just look at it!


honorary mention: kate's homemade butter nut squash soup was great! and it was my first encounter with butter nut squash, which is always exciting.

new template

sorry if i confuse someone but i'm so extremely tired of my template so i just had to replace it. this new one is not great, but at least it's not like the old one. i'll try and have it not be blue. we'll see.

maybe i can even force my sister to make me my very own soon. :)

UPDATE: that's better.

maribel

if you can't tell already, i'm going through my rss-feed and catching up on the posts on indie-mp3, and now i found yet another very interesting band i never heard before. norwegian maribel.

It's a sleazy slab of noisepop - coming on like The Jesus and Mary Chain rucking with The Cramps whilst trying to remind us how great the 1988 version of My Bloody Valentine were.

this is very true. it sounds great! so far it seems they've only released one single, taste the trash, but i hope they're to release more soon, cos i want more! i'll be keeping my eyes on them.

listen to them on myspace (4 songs).

UPDATE:
what the hell. here's the video, too. why not. :)

osni

go listen to french indie/shoegazer band osni's song "mon pistolet d'amour" (myspace link). someone's been listening to jamc a bit too much it seems ;) although, the other songs aren't as obvious and they aren't too bad.

the baltic sea

there's a sweet song about sweden by swedish/scottish band the social services called "the baltic sea" that i found on indie-mp3. the song is downloadable there but also listenable on the social services myspace. listen to it!

a piece of the lyrics go

Oh Sweden, I’m sorry to say that you’re tedious sometimes / Your natural beauty is unsurpassed, your children are healthy and ruddy / Your recycling facilities are second to none / You’re an ethical peace loving nation.

and then that no one smiles at her on the underground on her way to work. welcome to sweden.

late night humor

this is audio only but so damn funny you have to listen to it! henry rollins talks about a marilyn manson show in germany.

more japanese

there's now one more post on pretending to be japanese from yours truly.

today i'm recuperating from life. or, am trying to. my head is pounding. i don't know who i've pissed off but i swear i have a headache almost everyday now! it sucks. i hate pills.

awesomeness

yo, you need to get over to pretending to be japanese and read my first blog post there. i'm all excited! it's about the jesus and mary chain. go!

kent

for some reason, embedding for a lot of the kent videos on youtube is disabled, but i managed to find this video of one of my favorite songs by them, ff. (this is brought on by my realizing that this is why i liked verdena, their sound is a lot like kent's.) this song is from my favorite kent album, vapen & ammunition (2002).



ff was released as a double single with vinternoll2 that you can find here.

counting down for christmas

sunday i put up my christmas decorations, lit the first candle according to tradition and now i'm having my first glass of julmust for the season and despite the raining outside i feel peaceful and happy in anticipation. i'm hoping it will snow soon.

a tribute post

here's a video from italian band verdana, that sergio posted on pretending to be japanese in june and that until today i didn't even watch. what a shame! it's an awesome song and i'm posting it here so i'll never forget.

i have no idea what they're singing (about the moon perhaps?) but who cares, it sounds great :) here's luna.



thanks for the reminder!

always tired now

i can't really focus long enough to write anything substantial. i got a translated french novel from a friend that i started reading yesterday (original title Ensemble, c'est tout from 2005), by anna gavalda. (there's a movie too, but i haven't seen it.) so far i really like it but i sense a possible anxiety-ridden journey with this book. possibly mine. possibly camille's. there's something very french about it, and while it's seductive it's also neurotic. and i get so affected.

i've been really stressed lately, lots of headaches, stiff muscles and messy dreams, so maybe it's not the best of ideas. i want to get better, not worse. i had to put down paul auster's new york trilogy a few weeks ago cos it was so disturbing i got anxious just thinking about continuing reading it. it's brilliant but i'm way too unstable for it right now. i need to read something safe. maybe i should just re-read some of my less angsty favorites for a while. like hitchhiker's guide or something.