♫ Intertwine – So What

Maybe I should swap the living room concerts for bed room concerts. Today I’ve discovered this dreamy music of Norwegian Tarjei Ekelund. Hopefully more of this will follow. 

Since I am so bad at describing music styles etc. I just took this text of their website: ‘Intertwine is a Norwegian electronic / ambient act. Layers of dreamy vocal and trumpets, recorded in various bedrooms around the world, blend with crisp drum machines and funky basslines, weaving a nordic, melancholic and catchy pop.’

The band consists of Tarjei Ekelund (voc / keys), Aleksander Berg (bass) , Ruben Nesse (drums)


Intertwine – So What

I Blame Coco – It’s about to get worse

There’s a dark side living in my bloodline
And there’s a shark line fishing by the poolside
Sometimes I disguise discomfort with a white lie
But you figure me out, you figured me out

I want this and I want it now
I need it and I need it now
Just one kiss and I want it now
I feel it, I feel it

I’m reaching out, are we gonna sink or swim?
I’m hibernating under your skin
I’m petrified, I am losing everything
‘Cause I want what you have

It’s about to get worse
It’s about to get worse before it gets better
It’s got to get better, it’s about to get worse
It’s about to get worse before it gets better
I hope it gets better

I feel overwhelmed by this surprise
I’m gonna win a prize tonight if I don’t cry
Now that you’ve recognized there’s a problem
It’s about to get worse, it’s about to get worse

I want this, I want this to work
I need this, I need this to work
Not one tear will fall in your hands
It’s just a feeling, a feeling

I’m reaching out, are we gonna sink or swim?
I’m hibernating under your skin
See I’m so petrified, I am losing everything
‘Cause I want what you have

It’s about to get worse
It’s about to get worse before it gets better
It’s got to get better, it’s about to get worse
It’s about to get worse before it gets better
I hope it gets better

Lift up my eyes and replace my mind
I hope you will fall
I hope you’ll fall in love with me again

I’m reaching out, are we gonna sink or swim?
I’m hibernating under your skin
See I’m so petrified I am losing everything
‘Cause I want what you have

It’s about to get worse
It’s about to get worse before it gets better
It’s got to get better, it’s about to get worse
It’s about to get worse before it gets better
I hope it gets better

♫ Lydmor – Trust Tour 2013

Probably it was with Bottled in England in Melkweg 2012 and later at Nordic Delight Festival in Utrecht in 2013 that I saw Jenny (Rossander) perform live and fell in love with her fragile voice. That’s when I started following her on Facebook. Then suddenly this movie showed up in my timeline.. I just hád to respond. I sent her an e-mail straight away.

This is how it all started..


While I was biking through Vondelpark towards a concert in Melkweg I got a reply from her within an hour. Confirming she was coming over to Amsterdam to play in my living room. Surreal! That got me a bit hyper. More e-mails followed with all the logistics etc. 

I started to invite the friends of whom I thought they might appreciate this the most (since none of them knew who Lydmor was..). Luckily they were open to the initiave and trusted my taste in music. That was also a great opportunity to put my very diverse group of friends together. They normally don’t get to meet that often.

Jenny’s arrival on Saturday was a bit chaotic as her keyboard got lost on the flight so we immediately had to improvise. Luckily we first went to Leiden for her first living room concert and there we met a guy who was nice enough to borough her his keyboard for the show in my house. 

The concert had a very nice intimite feeling as we were only 20 people or so. I only knew the two friends I had brought with me. And for some reason I also had the feeling knowing Jenny already, although we had just met half a day ago. Someone arranged a piano so we had a beautiful acoustic set. A dark December night turned into a very magical one. People drinking glühwein and having this christmassy atmosphere. 

She covered this song from her boyfriends’ band Helmet Compass. 

Drugs In My Pocket


This is more or less what she wrote about it in Danish (blame Google Translate if it’s complete nonsense)

“I flew to Amsterdam on Saturday and was picked up by Alexandra, who had booked me for Sunday. She drove me to Leiden, where I played an acoustic show for a group of 20-30 people. Most of them were physicists. We were hanging out for a long time and drank beer and talked. I like people who are engaged in “geeky” things. I drove back to Amsterdam with Alexandra, she put on dreamy music, and for a time we drove, without speaking, while urban lights flew by in the night. Intimate moment with a stranger. 

The day after – show at Alexandra’s apartment in Amsterdam. First electronic show on the tour with a few tiny computer speakers. Another fantastic evening. Even a longer after party. Even more beer.

 I wish I could describe how it feels, Trust Tour. People are incredibly sentimental and happy when I play in their homes for them. It is so loving it all, and every evening when people go home, I get long hugs. It is very nice to feel that people get so much out of something that is so easy to do for me. I have little desire to use words like Karma and Good Energy. Lately I have felt very self-centered. Made my record, thinking about visual style for my band, planned my career. I have lacked the sense of giving. I am glad that the next month is in generosities theme. Whatever it may bring.”

I love the sentence about the intimate moment with a stranger. That’s exactly what it was. Such a gift to be able to describe a feeling so lively. 

When we got back home we stayed up all night and had good talks about life, love and so on. Pure bliss.

♫ Chromatics – Paradiso

As in love as I was with Chromatics before this concert in Paradiso, as in unlove I was after this totally uninspiring gig. They just didn’t seem to be enjoying the audience at all. Over even worse, they didn’t seem to notice so many people had come out to see them. Big desillusion because I had really been looking forward to it. Paradiso deserved quite a bit more than that! See for yourself at the playlist I made.

Lady



I Want Your Love

Into The Black

♫ Phosphorescent in Bitterzoet

Op een mooie voorjaarsavond zag ik het prachtige Phosphorescent in Bitterzoet. Ik was er al een paar jaar weg van maar ook voor deze band kon ik lange tijd niemand warm krijgen. Last minute moesten we dan ook nog een extra kaartje zien te bemachtigen en ongeveer twee meter voordat we bij de ingang waren, hoorden we iemand in de rij roepen dat er een kaartje over was. Prima plekje bovenaan de trap geregeld en genoten van het optreden. Altijd een groot nadeel van Bitterzoet is dat je dwars door de zaal moet lopen om naar de bar te kunnen waardoor het er altijd erg rumoerig is. En het Amsterdamse publiek is al redelijk asociaal tijdens optredens. Ik blijf dat vreemd gedrag vinden als je een kaartje koopt voor een optreden wat je (neem ik aan) graag ziet en vooral hoort.

Het werd nog een avond met een erg lange nazit in naastgelegen De Goudvis Club aan de Spuistraat. Uiteindelijk werd ons gevraagd op een bierviltje te schrijven welke muziek we graag wilden horen. Dat laat ik me geen twee keer vragen! Ben giechelend door het Vondelpark naar huis gefietst.


Song for Zula


Wolves


Down To Go


A New Anhedonia

♫ Als fan van Ludovico Einaudi bij DWDD in de uitzending

Wakker worden met een nogal vreemd telefoontje van ene Klaas van De Wereld Draait Door. Of ik fan was van Ludovico Einaudi. En of ik niet baalde dat het alweer niet doorging. Ik lag nog in bed en had geen idee waar het over ging. Hij bleek m’n telefoonnummer te hebben gekregen via mijn vrijwilligerswerk.

’s Ochtends had ik getweet dat ik me verheugde op zijn mini-optreden in het NRC café en dat het zo jammer was dat ik hem de vorige keer gemist had. Klaas vertelt me nu dat dit optreden niet doorgaat vanwege problemen met zijn vliegtuig in Wenen. Even later belt hij opnieuw en vraagt of ik eventueel ’s avonds in de uitzending kan komen als echte fan. Hij kan nog niks beloven want er zijn nog steeds problemen met het vliegtuig. 

Om een uur of 5 komt dan eindelijk het verlossende telefoontje en ik mag naar de studio komen. Er volgt nog een aantal instructies en onze plaatsen worden aangewezen. Het is er bloedheet maar uiteindelijk zit ik dan ook bijna bij Ludovico op schoot! Hij is met de motor vanaf Schiphol aan komen rijden, mag dan 30 seconden piano spelen en gaat er weer vandoor. 

Toch een leuke ervaring en gelukkig heb ik hem later wel een keer uitgebreid aan het werk gezien in de Anton Philipszaal in Eindhoven. En natuurlijk hilariteit alom dat talloze mensen me op tv hadden herkend waardoor mijn telefoon overliep.