AOTW 27, 2008: Bert Jansch - The Black Swan

This week I have chosen the latest album from the great Scottish folk musician (Her)bert Jansch. Some of you might know him from the band Pentangle, which he was a founding member of.

The Black Swan is not his best album IMO, but I have listened to it quite a lot the last months. This album has a tendency to bring back some good memories for me and since the last couple of months have not been too great in my personal life I have listened to it more than usual.

My three favorite songs are:

• Hey Pretty Girl
• High Days
• Watch the Stars

“Watch the Stars” is also featured on Pentangles Sweet Child album from ‘68. The Black Swan version of this song features Beth Orton on vocals together with Jansch. She also sings on some of the other tracks on The Black Swan album.

Expect more from Jansch on my AOTW series!

AOTW 26, 2008: Television - Marquee Moon

Apart from programming and climbing I really enjoy listening to music. From this day on I will try to present to you an (A)lbum (O)f (T)he (W)eek, every week. The albums will be picked from my collection.

Since I spend lots of hours every week listening to all sorts of stuff I thought I could share some of it with you. Well … not share as in letting you download the music from my blog … but share the name of an album (and artist) that I think is worthy of the ATOW award so you can pick it up from your favorite music store! I won’t write huge reviews but I’ll do something as simple as presenting my own personal favourites of the songs on the album. If you for some reason follow my advice and buy the album I’m presenting (or perhaps you already have it in your collection?), feel free to comment on what you think about it and if you (dis)agree with my own personal favorites, let me have it!

The first AOTW award goes the brilliant Marquee Moon album, by Television. Some regard them as one of the founders of punk rock. I regard them as makers of music full of win!

My three favorite tracks on the album are:

• Friction
• See no evil
• Torn Curtain

Thats it really… :) If you haven’t gotten around to ordering the album yet, you have failed miserably! Happy listening!

Edit:
Dave (who added a comment here) has written an article about why he likes this album so much. Read the article at his blog.

Ticket to the Neil Young concert

The concert sold out in less than one hour but I managed to get a ticket (at least I hope so). I ordered online and got a confirmation on the order in my mail, so I think all is ok. :)

Machine Head in Oslo as well!

Machine Head will be playing in Oslo this year as well! November 10th they will be playing on the Slipknot tour in Oslo Spektrum.

I have seen Machine Head at Rockefeller in Oslo every time they have been there (5 or 6 times I think) but they skipped Oslo last time they were in Europe (after the release of The Blackening). It will be awesome to see them play stuff from that album live! I think The Blackening is by far the best album they have made.

Too bad they are playing at Spektrum though. I have been to allot of shows there and I have been disappointed every time! The sound always seem to get f*cked up there. Hopefully Machine Head will be able to do something about it…

It seems that Slipknot is headlining the tour. I saw them play in Spektrum as support for Slayer some years ago. I like some of their music but they were really boring live. I guess my expectations was too high… Maybe it will all be better this year! :)

Neil Young in Oslo

Neil Young will be playing at Oslo Spektrum in Oslo the 11th of August! Looking forward to it! Last time he played in Oslo at Oslo konserthus I was there with a friend and it was simply amazing. The concert was acoustic and we had seats in the middle of the front row. A night made of win! I hope the one coming up will be good as well, but since it’s in Oslo Spektrum I’m not too optimistic.

Kambodsja

Kambodsja is a band from Norway playing “Hardcore with a twist of noise rock, indie, and metal.” (from their myspace page). With influences like Converge, Mike Patton, Sonic Youth and Refused (to name a few) it can’t go wrong.

I work with the drummer and bought their album “Marionette You Are Mine” the other day which turned out to be a kick ass album. If you haven’t checked them out listen to some of their stuff on myspace.

Nine Inch Nails and Tool

Saw Nine Inch Nails at Øyafestivalen in Oslo yesterday and it was absolutely amazing. It was the first time I saw them live and I really hope I can see them again some other time. The highlight for me (and probably many others as well) was “Head like a hole”.

The sound was amazing the whole show and they had some pretty cool lighting. I was hoping for “Something I can never have” but they did not play that one.

Tonight I am going to see Tool and that will probably be amazing as well.

edit: Took some rather crappy pictures of Nine Inch Nails with my cellphone that I just uploaded.

Korn @ Norwegian Wood

Yesterday I saw Korn at Norwegian Wood in Oslo. The festival started with Enslaved, then Evanescence, and then Korn. I was there with some friends from work and my neighbour.

I was there last year as well to see Korn, but they cancelled and Turboneger played instead which was a major bummer.

Korn was great live, and they also played an excerpt from Metallica’s One which was what I was hoping for. :) They played a new song that is supposed to be on the new album that is coming later this year or something.

After the festival we went to a party with a company that we (at work) work with and stayed there almost all night long drinking beer and having a nice time.

The Blackening

A couple of days ago Machine Head released their latest masterpiece; The Blackening. I have seen MH live 7 times and I can’t wait to hear some of The Blackening live. I have been a fan for many years and this album is in my opinion their absolute best! The opening track “Clenching the Fists of Dissent” lasts for about 10 minutes and is a killer opening track. Some other songs worth noting is Aesthetics of Hate, Slanderous, Halo and Wolves. If you like Machine Head you will probably like this album (if not, well … shame on you!) so run to the store and pick it up!

Valentourettes on Rockefeller

Last Thursday I saw Valentourettes on a sold out show on Rockefeller in Oslo together with a friend from work. This was the last show featuring Vidar Rugset on vocals and the show was awesome! I took some pictures using my phone and will post them as soon as I get them over to my computer.