The French pop band Dionysos. My music has been feeling a bit stale this last week and I was in desperate need of some fresh tunes.
Check out this site as well for some great live concerts at Vega in Copenhagen. "Push the Envelope" by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour is especially sensational.
LA BLOGOTHEQUE : A French website with links to intimate, impromptu concerts by amazing musicians. You don't have to speak French to navigate it, just type in the name of the band you seek to see if any recordings have been uploaded. This one, featuring Andrew Bird, gives me the chills right around 9:35. He plays all the parts. He is a brilliant man. And all of those lucky Parisians get to sit on the floor at his striped, socked feet and witness it first hand.
T.ruffles : A happy little blog by Karey Mackin and Mary Ruffle. Twice a day, Mary posts a photo and Karey follows it later with a charming subtitle. Comme ceci:
Cheesy Danish pop via Johnny Deluxe. The first person to pick out the American pop culture reference in these lyrics... gets one "you made it through the semester" cocktail. compliments of the girl who kicked some serious ass this semester, and couldn't be happier that its over.
Can't get ENOUGH of these darling, Danish songbirds. I play with the idea of this pixie-cut for weeks every time I'm anticipating a haircut. But once I'm sitting in that salon chair, I never lose more than a couple inches. Someday...
Last night, I assisted in CU's DIS orientation and chatted for an hour about my blissful, Danish semester. Copenhagen has been on my mind all day. The city that I am striving for.
This song pulls at my heartstrings for so many reasons. It was originally penned by Hans Christian Andersen during the Danish Golden Age: a stodgy, gangly, ethnic Dane who embodies Danish national identity and everything wrapped up in feeling Danish. He is the most well-known and stereotypically Danish Dane that has ever walked the streets of Denmark. Here it is performed by Isam Bachiri, a famous Danish rapper who was born in Denmark of Moroccan descent. In interviews, Bachiri describes his attachment to Andersen's piece and his desire to perform it as a response to the white-blonde Danes who constantly pose the question, "Hvor kommer du fra?" ... "Where are you from?"
He responds by singing Andersen's song: "I Danmark er jeg født, der har jeg hjemme"
"In Denmark, where I was born, where I am home."
1st Verse "I Danmark er jeg født, der har jeg hjemme, (In Denmark, where I was born, where I am home) der har jeg rod, derfra min verden går; (where I have roots, where my world spins) du danske sprog, du er min moders stemme, (Danish language, you are my mother's voice) så sødt velsignet du mit hjerte når. (in my heart so sweetly blessed) Du danske, friske strand, (You, fresh Danish beaches) hvor oldtids kæmpegrave (where old-fashioned gravestones) stå mellem æblegård og humlehave. (stand between apple farm and hops garden) Dig elsker jeg! - Danmark, mit fædreland! (I love you, Denmark, my fatherland)
Not only does his beautiful voice give me the girly giggles, but his interpretation and presentation of Andersen's piece brings up so many issues pertinent to modern-day Europe. From where does one derive their national identity? An attachment to the land? The blood in your veins? A sense of common values? Where your parents were born? Is the EU a threat these identities?
These are questions that spend far too much time rolling around in my head. Where would you say your national identity is rooted?
The lead of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, I first encountered Mette on the stage at RUST nightclub in Copenhagen. This Danish band has a funky pop-rock, big-band feel and impressed Apple so much that they used "Around The Bend" in the Ipod Touch commercial back at the end of 2008. Mette's stage presence is fantastic: she moves like a little fairy and that HAIR. That hair is outrageous and I love it. What a darling little woman.
Ah, you inventive Scandinavians. You never cease to amaze and amuse me. Wouldn't the spontaneous discovery of a musical staircase instantly brighten up your day?
