The green buses of Malmö are coming through washed by a soft drizzle. The cobbled streets and the falling autumn leaves breeze a shade of melancholy in me. The gray skies, the wet grass and the wet sand paths in the park, and the brown brick buildings around Kyrkogatan have definitely made me feel to be in the right place. The weather reminds me of my hometown. Anna plays me Los Saicos in her little lovely flat, reminiscing that day when we sang their songs in a playground in Chinatown, NYC. I just arrived to the city of diversity, meetings and possibilities, crossing the Oresund sound. I could have done it faster if I crossed swimming. Delays in Copenhagen. We walked to her place and made the same old joke about “peruker” stores: “oh! look, a Peruvian store!”

Anna smokes a cigarette first. Then we can plan. I won’t be able to make it for dinner at Debaser Malmö. I’ve been invited by Daniel to DJ there at his So Tough So Cute club. Anna plans going for a kebab. There is a kebab joint in Amiralsgatan. The clerk is not very friendly or perhaps he doesn’t speak any English at all. I thought all Swedes did. The fries are very good though and that makes up for his behavior. They have some special seasoning. The kebab is alright, I ordered schwarma kebab with tahini sauce, but it seems tahini is not known in Malmö. To drink, a diet coke, or a cola light, as it’s called here.

The walk to Debaser takes around ten minutes. We pass by Folketspark and a Kommun store. I will visit these two places the next day. From outside Debaser looks like a house, a regular one story house. Inside it is a really nice club. Very spacious, which means not that friendly to indiepop, unless, you are Camera Obscura or some other band that has crossed the line between being and indiepop band and making indiepop music for the masses. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Just keep your values right.

There are two bands playing tonight too. The support band is from Denmark and they play some catchy pop punk. I don’t know the headliner, but it’s American, so I assume it is a hipster band. The singer has a peculiar haircut. I don’t get to see much of any.

Most of the time at Debaser I spend it outside, in a nice biergarden/patio. There are a couple of egg ball chairs around. You can see some couples giving them a very good use. There are some other cleaner sofas around. Some tables, some chairs, and a very friendly atmosphere. I’m sitting there with Albulenë, Anna and Maja. I talk to them in my broken Swedish. I’m told I speak like a Finnish. “Jag är finsk och jag äter fisk” I answer. They laugh.

I meet Toby from Girl Alliance. What a nice guy he is. I tell him he has to play London Popfest, or Indietracks. I ask him about the gig he did in Hamburg, on the Heidi boat. He says he is working in new songs. I look very much forward to them.

Jennifer is taking care of the DJ deck. She keeps playing good stuff. Sometimes Daniel comes in and plays some sixties songs. The crowd seems more pleased with sixties than with indiepop. Clearly there needs to be a revolution in Malmö. I could give it a shot. I’d love to give it a shot. I play perhaps 4 or 5 songs. At this moment I don’t remember what I played.

My friend Hanna arrives too. She is the sweetest, she’s made me the nicest mix CD ever. I don’t receive many of them. When I ask for one, people love answering a very polite: “but you’ll know everything I’ll put on it”. That is not true at all. See, Hanna put me some Robyn for example. It’s fantastic!

I also see Rebecca sipping some fruity liquor. She tells us all about her latest flame. She is so passionate about it, and she is looking forward to him cooking pasta on Sunday for her. Hope it went well. She keeps going on that he was raised catholic.

There’s a very young Rebecka in the crowd too. Her god is Woody Allen. She impresses me immediately by talking to me about Mario Vargas Llosa, Peru’s most known writer and intellectual. She has read “La Casa Verde” and “La Tía Julia y el Escribidor”. Then we talk about movies. And she knows and likes Whit Stillman’s work. She runs into the dancefloor when “Lola” starts playing.

At 3am we decide to go home. We are invited to an after-party but I prefer resting to be fresh the next day and go sightseeing. I wanted to walk with her home, but she prefers going to the after-party. It is too late to retract, Rebecca has given away the three umbrellas she had.

We walked fast down the pouring rain. Brainy Rebecka, Sam and me end up in a telephone booth. She gives me directions on how to get to where I’m crashing the night. I really didn’t need it. I know this town by heart. It’s just the beginning.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen 
Girl Alliance – Straight to my heart (Så Tuff Så Söt)

First of all, thanks to all the people that have been patient and still visit this blog. Thanks to everyone that sent me emails asking whatever happened to the blog. To those who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, well, thanks for visiting it now.

The blog was down from July 30th to August 19th. The server where the blog was hosted crashed. There was a server failure. This is not that uncommon. What is uncommon is that it took so long to be restored. Actually, it was never restored in that server. I changed servers, I changed hosting companies, and restored the whole blog manually, post by post. I couldn’t restore the comments though. Thus, there are no comments on any posts in the blog now. This makes me very sad because there were some GREAT comments, great stories being told by band members, and some discussions and disagreements on many of my rants. But well, who is to blame? The name is Cool Handle Hosting. You know, if you google them you’ll never find a bad review about them? They seem to be the best in hosting services. Seems it’s all a facade. They are truly crap. You can’t imagine how nightmarish this has been. Emailing them all the time asking them for updates and they barely answering me “thanks for your email, we have forwarded it to our admin” time and time again. I called them on the phone and some clueless guy would answer me. No help whatsoever. So yeah, never host your website there because their technical service is utterly bad. And their customer service is even worse.

Good thing is that the blog is back, right?

But then I’m going to take a big break from September 1st to September 14th. When I’m back I’ll start to document this year. I miss doing that. There hasn’t been much time this year. It’s been like a roller-coaster year. Lots of trips, meeting old friends, making new friends, buying lots of records, trying new food, releasing more records, and learning lots of gossip. There have been really difficult months, like the one that is about to end. Where not only the blog was down, but had so many arguments with friends. Also many friends have left town this past month making Miami a desert. Lots of work, little time. Rough times. This break just comes in handy.

Where am I going?

First stop is Berlin. There I will attend the Indiepop Days festival that is organized by the lovely Let’s Kiss and Make Up gang. I will DJ on Saturday night and on top of that I will see many bands that have passed by Cloudberry like Zipper, The Felt Tips, The Sunny Street and Stars in Coma. I also look forward to Bart Cummings (from Cat’s Miaow) solo set. This should be magical. Especially that Saturday night at the Disney-looking Water Tower (yes, that’s the venue!!). Hanging out with the same people that made last October’s Hamburg weekend one of the best times of our lives, we expect to match that but in Berlin. This time we’ll celebrate my dearest Kat’s birthday and that alone is also such a good reason to be there. The memory of walking Prenzlauer Berg with her on a chilly autumn afternoon in Berlin while she is pushing her bicycle around, and  then stopping to drink beer, sitting on the sidewalk among dead leaves, it’s just brilliant. And this has to be repeated. And also repeat the schnitzel and those tall hefeweizen beer glasses for three euro!! ha!

Second stop is in a little seaside town, in the Baltic, called Scharbeutz. Not much happens there, just visiting my mom. I’ll have a little rest I hope.

Third stop is Malmö, Sweden. Half of my good Swedish friends seem to live there for some reason. I decided to pay them a visit. And I will have the chance to DJ two days in a row, on Thursday and Friday. On both days I will be joined by Jennifer behind the decks. String Bean Jen for many indiepop people. For me, Jennifer, maybe Jennifercita. Ah! Best of friends. So I’m sure we’ll just play the best indiepop tunes. If you happen to be in Malmö, definitely come. Where in Malmö? Okay, Thursday it is at So Tough So Cute. and Friday at Don’t Die On My Doorstep. If you click on the links, you’ll be teletransported to the facebook event page.

Fourth stop: Copenhagen. We are going to be here on Saturday, Jennifer and me, to be tourist and to Jennifer to enjoy bicycles or something about bicycles. I still don’t know what the bicycle part is all about, but she always associates Copenhagen with bicycles. I just want to walk around, have beer, walk around, have beer. And take touristy photos! The little mermaid anyone? It should be fun!

Fifth stop is back to Berlin for just a day. I really don’t want this day to come: a day to say goodbyes.

To leave August behind, to start traveling again, is what I wish for now. September’s not so far away.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen 
The Field Mice – September’s Not So Far Away

The first time I had cloudberry jam was not so long ago. It was a quiet afternoon in the borough of Hammarby, Stockholm. A late breakfast actually, must have been around 4 p.m.

No hangover. Though we were up till the waking hours. Last night we went to see play The Andersen Tapes at Debaser. It was their debut gig. I don’t remember if we talked or not after arriving home. We had free tickets to get Carlsberg pints at the club. It was three nights since I had proper sleep. The big white couch has never been so irresistible.

Clearly it wasn’t my idea. I’m devoted to diet coke for breakfast and waiting for lunch. But as a good guest I couldn’t refuse even though my kitchen skills were going to be proven. I was handed a blueish bowl and some unknown steel object that might have been taken out from a surgeon’s kit. I think it’s called a whipper, but I’m not sure. The plan is to make Swedish pancakes. Pannkaka. Pour evaporated milk on the bowl. Whip it!

After embarrassing myself trying to make the evaporated milk denser and leaving all cooking responsibilities, the pancakes were eventually made. Huge pancakes. I did serve the table though.

I was explained how this works. You get the pancake and you put some of the cream I just tried whipping on. On top of that I had to spread some jam. Choices were this time raspberry and cloudberry. Then you roll it. After having some sort of burrito, you use fork and knife to cut it. It’s so easy to get full with them. I could have only 2, she had 5. And she is still skinny. I guess it’s a Swedish thing. Or maybe there’s something in the milk.

You wouldn’t guess that I preferred the taste of raspberry, right? Well, I did. I’m not at all a sweets person. I barely eat candies and I avoid any sort of pastries. What I’m trying to say is that I wasn’t too fond of the raspberry’s cloying taste, but my taste buds could handle them better than the cloudberry jam’s strong taste. I guess it’s an acquired taste.

I’ve been staring today to a cloudberry jam pot I have on a shelf next to many 7″ sleeves. It was a gift I was given long time ago, just as I was starting the label. I wonder if it’s time to open it and start practicing to acquire the taste. Moving to Sweden is always an option.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Acid House Kings – Swedish Hearts

A couple of months ago I was asked to write a small travel diary from my time in Berlin. It was for the Japanese magazine Cookie Scene. As it was entirely translated and published in Japanese, I thought sharing the original English version here.

Schönhauser Allee U-Bahn station is noisy. The train’s wheels screech, the crowd bowls over the stairs, hasty pedestrians finding their way throughout Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. I’m there, a bit lost, my German language skills are not the best, I’m a bit shaky and tired after two sleepless nights. First one traveling all over the Atlantic. The second one at a Camera Obscura gig, and then at an after-party at Club King Kong. I look around the station for a familiar sign. Up and down, left to right, the people, as shadows, flicker. My bag is a bit heavy, I carry around 20 CDs for the DJing night. I have big expectations, I have a great arsenal of indiepop tunes.

I’m meeting Uwe and Olaf from Firestation at Uwe’s apartment. It’s a bit cold outside the big avenue. I pass by a Mediterranean restaurant called Alhambra. I pass by a tattoo shop. I never liked tattoos. I ring Uwe’s. The door opens and I go up the stairs as if I knew them by memory. I had been there last year, but it seems ages. Great! I meet Uwe again! a BIG hug! This is serious, I’m at the indiepop master’s place. I go through his records. I rummage. I choose around 10 records I want to get from him. I could choose a hundred, but my budget is a bit tight. Then Olaf arrives. We are going to get some Eastern European food at a new place around the corner. When we get there, it’s full. We go to another restaurant, and we like it. They have chicken. We like chicken. The three of us order chicken. On my European trips, I always enjoy going to eat out with meat eaters, usually it’s always vegetarians, and that is always a turn off when I want to appreciate food. Anyways, food is great and we drink these huge glasses of beer. I’m secretly feeling proud. I ordered my food in perfect German, or at least the waitress understood me clearly.

After getting up to date, gossiping about indiepop, the latest bands, the latest trends, which records we are releasing next and so, we leave the restaurant in search for the enigmatic Schwalbe. Uwe usually DJs there, and he has told me many stories about it. Sometimes the polizei comes and asks to turn the volume down. I hope not this time. After a fifteen minute walk on a chilly autumn night, we arrive. It’s a pretty place. The lights are not that bright, and there’s a poster pasted at the door stating I’m DJing. Feels good. I don’t get many chances to DJ in Miami. No one knows indiepop here. I meet Andi from the Pop Assistants who will also team up with us on the DJing gig. He is very nice and friendly. The Pop Assistants are like a booking agency, they bring superb bands to Berlin. I meet the owner of the place too. She asks me if I want beer. Of course I want beer! And I get it for free!! I get a Becks. Not my favourite, but you never complain about what’s free. At around 10pm Andi starts DJing. I’ll go after.

I start my “hit parade” with Second-Hand Furniture’s “There’s Nothing to Celebrate”. Instantly a lot of people come by and ask me what is it! It’s such a wonderful song to dance, so no wonder! Now Care’s “Flaming Sword”. I notice people enjoying it. Catchers’ “Cotton Dress”. Typhoon Saturday. Some Kirsty Maccoll. And I continue playing my favourite songs. I’m on my element. It feels great. And the beer keeps coming. And the laughs keep coming, and all the popkids are enjoying the night. My heart beats tunefully. Berlin is mine for a couple of hours. I’ll be back in ten days, but I won’t DJ here anymore.

Uwe takes over the decks. He tells me he has to always start with Aztec Camera if not, things don’t go right. He gets a bit nervous before DJing. It’s strange for me, he always DJs, he should be totally used to! But he isn’t, and that’s the charm of it. I sit next to the decks, on a large couch with my friends. We take photos. We try some dance moves. We dream of me staying in Germany. I still dream about it, wonder why there are stupid immigration laws. Shouldn’t we all be free to choose where to live and where to work? Borders are unnatural. They are an artifice, they are absurd. But we are not angry or disappointed. We are happy, indiepop is beating and the night is ours.

I get one more round at the decks. I would lie if I say I remember what I played. It’s quite late and beer has been flowing like the Rhein river. Then Uwe takes over again. In a blink of an eye it’s already 4am and I need to go. The party could have lasted longer, maybe till 6 or so. But I have a plane to catch. I’m leaving at 8am to Stockholm. I have a DJ adventure there this same day. It will be my third sleepless night but I feel fine. Energized. I’m living an indiepop dream. I leave the Schwalbe sad, I wish I could have hang out more with the Firestation guys. But I’ll see them again on my way back. It’s farewell but it’s not goodbye.

The chilly night has become warmer after such a party. I walk towards the closest U-bahn station. The streets are noiseless. It’s a clear sky and the moon squashes me. Berlin has inspired me. I just count the days when I’ll be back. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can stop indiepop.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Strange Idols – Berlin

2010 has been so busy for me that, aside from preparing a couple of interviews, I haven’t had much time to update the blog.  At my workplace, at the newspaper, we’ve been working extra hours because of the Haiti earthquake and the Super Bowl that’s happening this weekend. On top of that I still have some freelance job to take care of, some website for a shopping mall. Yes, I’ve been totally swamped. I’ve always liked working under pressure and with tight deadlines so that wasn’t a problem. What was worrying me was that I didn’t have much inspiration, first to write on the blog, and second to finish the fanzine. I had finished it some weeks ago, but then I had second thoughts about an article, and decided to write something totally different instead. So here we go. It went to print on Monday. So hopefully that will be out at last.

Some weeks I’ve been working 7 days, and the rest 6 days. I wish I could update the blog more often for the 5 or 6 people that read it. But don’t despair. I do have good news that don’t include the word work. I booked a flight for the New York City Popfest in May, and also a plane ticket for Indietracks. You’ll get to see me a lot this year. Terribly sorry for that.

I get to work riding the bus. Usually takes me around 25 minutes. I live in this big island called Miami Beach, at the southern tip, which is commonly called South Beach. Everyday I walk across Flamingo Park and then four more blocks till I hit Alton Road. The bus stop is on the other side of Alton Road. It’s some green bench with no cover, so if it rains, good luck. There is not a pedestrian cross to get to the other side either, but I still cross the heavy traffic avenue. I just need a little patience till it’s clear for crossing. Then I calmly wait for the “S” bus while I listen the latest CD I’ve got on my cd-player. I know, I know, I still haven’t got around to get one of those iPods. That’s one of the few things I don’t care about modernizing myself. I mean, what’s the point? Having an iPod usually means the destruction of the “album” format. Who the hell listens a full album, from the first song to the last one, on their iPod? No one.

When I arrived to Miami the bus fare was US $1.25. It didn’t change for years. When the gas prices skyrocketed a couple of years ago they changed it to $1.50. A couple of months later they decided, let’s take advantage of the commuters and ask for $2.00. It’s a ridiculous price for the service.

Picking up old Cuban women on every corner, greasy muscular guys that seem to have escaped from Gold’s Gym, the thirsty construction workers hiding their Natural Ice on Burger King cups, the Hassidic Jews from the Hebrew Academy with their particular attire, posh girls with bright polished toenails from the renowned Miami Ad School, the smelly homeless with their human-size backpack, and European tourists with Hawaiian tees on their way to “Jungle Island”, the S bus runs steady till 5th street where we turn right and take the McArthur causeway towards downtown.

We have around 3 million people in the metropolitan area. And we have one public rail system that is a joke. It doesn’t connect Miami Beach with Miami, which lies in the continental area, on the Florida peninsula. It goes nowhere but to Dadeland mall. And it costs $2.00 to ride on it, the infamous Metrorail. There has always been talks about expanding the rail service, making it go at least to Miami International Airport. Supposedly this will happen by 2014. We’ve always hoped that we’d have a train on Miami Beach, at least some sort of monorail, something to get from here to there. From the library on 19th street to my favourite schwarma spot on 10th and back to Lincoln Rd to the movie theatre.

South Beach is the only area in Miami that has pedestrians, that is pedestrian friendly. Everything else in Miami is only car friendly, just like most American cities. The city acknowledged that and implemented these 25-cents-fare little buses that circle South Beach that makes it more or less manageable, though waiting for them takes forever. But to get to downtown Miami, where I work, I have to take the $2.00 regular bus which is usually a headache.  I can only dream that a train will be built one day connecting our island to the mainland. How long will it take me to take this dreamy daily train to work? Perhaps 5 minutes!! I’m so close! This would be so perfect, my daily train. I really look forward moving to a city with trains. New York, Berlin, London…

Or Gaubretière près de La Roche sur Yon? Where?! That’s where The Little Rabbits are from. A French band that penned the fantastic “The Daily Train” tune that was released on a compilation called “Contrasens” in 1991. It was released by the FNAC, which is like a Borders store but ten thousand times better. But let’s stop ranting and complaining, now enjoy this fantastic tune that is a classic for Japanese indiepop fans!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
The Little Rabbits – The Daily Train

Remember to support your local mailorder. Remember that physical records are prettier and more valuable than a mp3. Remember that indiepop is alive, it’s not a cold little digital file. Indiepop is not to be caged in your ipod. And if you forgot about how inspiring it is, here are two stories to keep believing!

Pebble Records

The United Kingdom has been blessed with a new indiepop mailorder and it’s called Pebble Records. It’s also a label and they have already signed Sarah legends The Orchids and the best new band according to Twee.net poll: The Cavalcade. What is good news also, is that both bands have albums and singles to be released this year!

Behind Pebble Records there is a nice chap called Michael who is a hardcore indiepop lover. How do I know that? Well, he owns the demo of the Ruth Ellis Swing Band. I mean, on my book, that’s WOW! Also I find it funny that years ago, in 2007, I bought some records from him on ebay, some Waltones and Wishing Stones 7″s. I bet he doesn’t remember, I only found about it today while going through old email. But something that is for sure, is that since that time he was doing a fine job sending well-packaged records. That I do remember.

The idea of Pebble Records is mostly to centralize indiepop in UK. To create a store that caters the indiepop hungry, same as what Fraction Discs does in Sweden or Vollwert in Germany. It’s surprising there wasn’t a store like this in UK, as it has the most bands and probably the most indiepop fans than any other country in the world. So Pebble Records is here to fill that gap and so far they are doing it in a brilliant way.

It has been not that long since they opened. It was on mid-November with a clear intention and idea:

Pebble Records is an indiepop and electronica label and mailorder based on the South Coast of the UK. As a mailorder we want to bring the UK a fantastic selection of worldwide labels at sensible prices and the best of UK music to an international audience. If your favourite band or labels not here let us know we love hearing new music! Everything on the website is in stock for fast delivery (usually posted within 1-2 days). As a label we will release records by bands we love and think you will to.

At the moment they have a fine selection of records by different labels including Matinée, Slumberland, Hugpatch, Susy, LTM, This Almighty Pop! and many more. Sweet!

Indiepages

Did you notice that Indiepages is back! It’s been many months since Chris decided to have a break. I missed his weekly reviews, his nice webshop and of course, the demo of the week. Things were very quiet at the indiepages site, only the message board was up and running. Don’t know if it was some sort of new year resolution but Chris is back. Back in top form, with more energy and more ideas for running his fantastic page, which won this years Twee.net poll award as best indiepop page. It’s true that he won’t be doing as many reviews as before, but that’s fine, we can all live with that, right? I see some doubtful faces now. Okay. What about if I say that he will be so busy running a REAL, a physical, store in his own Seattle. A RECORD store. Weren’t all record stores closing down? Well, maybe, but here’s one that is opening!

Here’s what Chris has to say about it: “Why the sudden (and seemingly crazy) decision? Well, there’s a high-end stereo shop in a great location here that has a subdivided second floor which they’re renting out to small businesses and artists for very un-Seattle prices (a little over a buck a square foot per month!). Besides myself, there’s a death metal-themed record shop, a clothing boutique, a second-hand record dealer and an artist that uses her space as a studio. The whole thing’s pretty cool, actually! It will be a record shop and mailorder that will be committed to:

• Selling records from bands/labels that we like & admire to the pop kids in Seattle and online.
• Putting an emphasis on helping smaller bands & labels from around the world that don’t otherwise have much distribution outside of their own area.
• Offering everything at a very low markup since we have barely any overhead; we find it much more important to introduce people to great music than turn a profit!
• Having fun doing all of this, of course!”

Chris has named the store Jigsaw Records. Does that name sound familiar? That was the name of his old label, one that released beautiful records by Rocketship, Cessna, Poconos, Leslies among others. Now it’s not a label anymore but a fine record store! One that will open quite soon, March 13!

So at last, the US will have a fine and fair mailorder. How much we’ve missed that. I know it wasn’t in the US exactly, but since Poppolar went down, there hasn’t been a good indiepop store on the web. This are the good news we’ve been waiting here for so long! Thanks again Chris!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Nixon – Bedsitters of the World, Unite!

Back in Altona City. It was around 3p.m. when Kat and Laura joined us at the vegetarian Indian place. By at time: everyone had tasted the infamous Becks beer with lemonade flavour which was good and refreshing, we’ve had the best of laughs and we were almost done with our food. So after finishing our fake gyros, fake hamburgers and fake everything else, the London crowd wanted to get some rest before The Sunny Street gig that was happening later that night. Pretty understandable, but a bit sad because I would have liked to spend as much time with them as possible.

They parted their way to the rock-n’-roll hostel, and the rest of us went walking to Nana’s place. Well, not all of us, rebels as they are, Kat and Laura went there by car. But they had a good reason to do so: as soon as they parked on the shallow street they got out of the trunk a mountain of Jever beer. My eyes were sparkling. They said it was “for the whole weekend”. Of course…

Time for coffee for the girls, time for Jever for the boys. We have Grab Grab the Haddock on the background. We are all so in love with the CD cabinets our hosts have. Eating a slice of baguette, opening each cabinet, full of surprises, finding out the next CD to play. The windows facing the backyard are open and it’s getting a bit chilly on this autumnal evening. Perhaps that makes me pick “Stardust” by Sea Urchins. Wild Grass Pictures and the wind blowing in while we are having a bit of more bread, beer and chorizo. Quite glorious.

The evening goes on while playing more records, flicking through old zines and admiring the tape collection Andreas’ has. Sohfas demo, Sedgwicks demo, Turquoise Trees compilation, Corrupt Postman compilation, etc, etc, etc. Suddenly it’s time for us to head to the Hasenschaukel, the beautiful venue where The Sunny Street will be playing and I’ll be djing. Time to put shoes on. Then a sweater and then on top of that a jacket. Get the CDs I’ve prepared for the night and some Cloudberry 7″s to sell.

It’s nippy outside while we wait for the bus. Happily it doesn’t take that long to come and Nana buys a group pass. We are in the indiepop bus! Turning right, turning left, a couple more blocks up, then turning here and there and we arrive close to the Hasenschaukel. We have to be there early for the sound check and well, to get familiar with the DJ decks. I ask Nana how many people she think will come. She says around 50. I’m getting a bit overexcited as we get near to the place. As soon as I get in I realize this place is enchanting! The dolls hanging over the tables, the dim lighting, the beautiful wallpapers, everything so carefully adorned. It’s like a little dollhouse with a fairy tale decoration. On the far back there’s a huge blackboard where it’s written: Cloudberry Records. My heart skips a beat. Immediately I turn my eyes right, where there are some booths and people having dinner. My heart stops for a bit. It’s my dear friend Jennifer! She is there talking with Ian and Christos while they enjoy their pasta. It’s brilliant to see her again! It’s been many, many months! And of course, we start talking, and gossiping about my trip to Sweden, and about Berlin, and about whatnot. Happiest moments.

Matthew is already getting his stuff together around the decks, getting prepared to dj. He has brought, all the way from UK, his vinyl records on steel carrying cases. Quite courageous! I’m so afraid of spinning vinyl when djing! Anything can happen to them! Then I meet the owner (or was it the manager?) of the Hasenschaukel, who happens to be very attentive and sweet. He offers me some tickets to get some free beer. Immediately, because these things can’t wait, I ask for a huge hefeweizen. I look over the decks and see Rémi and Delphine setting up their instruments. The stage is small but at the same time very cozy. It looks like they will play at a living room as there’s a chimney on the wall. Inside the chimney there’s a tv that shows nonstop a small fire. Maybe preparing us all for the warmest and heartful-est indiepop gig this year; the one that The Sunny Street will be playing in just a matter of minutes!

Soon the place is packed. The chit-chat of people is no longer a shy murmur but a loud bedlam. The cigarette smoke hovers everyone’s heads and the bar tenders keep pouring beer. Perfect timing for Jörg Winzer to show up. Great to see you again my friend!

to be continued

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
The Voltarenes – Altona City

“Why is it so few girls that play in bands and why is it so few girls that release their albums on their record labels? Wherever I turn in the music industry is it always a majority of men. The men is a strong majority in the record labels, the majority that book bands and are club owners are men, the dj:s at the clubs aremost often men and even when it comes to write a blog about music you rarely see nothing else than a competitive man.” – transcribed from the Don’t Tell Me That zine by Pierre Sparf

On December 19th there was a fantastic gig in Jönköping, Sweden. That day I was dwelling at home because I was so jealous of all the people who attended. From first-hand accounts, I know it was a great night. But you can already tell by the bands that played there, right? Bikeman, Leaving Mornington Crescent, Horowitz, G.O.O.F., Kronprinsen, Burning Hearts, Strawberry Fair, My Darling YOU! and The Margarets. What a lineup right?

All of this wouldn’t have been possible by the passionate Pierre Sparf who used to run the Don’t Tell Me That club. Yeah, I say used to run because this gig was the last of them all. Now the party has gone to a better life. This last show was called the Christmas Popfest and among the freebies you’d get when attending, was a compilation CD-R with the bands that played at the Don’t Tell Me That club during the 2 years it was championing indiepop. Also it was planned to give away a fanzine to all the attendees, but Pierre ran out of time and he couldn’t get them printed. BUT DON’T DESPAIR! Happily he has been very nice to share it with me, and letting me upload it for everyone to read it.

So here you are, enjoy:
View and Download at ISSUU.

As far as I know, the title for it was: “Don’t Tell Me That!: The End of a Love Story That Never Existed”, and there was a pink cover for it, which I guess was never finished. I know Pierre is a bit shy about his English, but I think his message gets across and that’s what matters; it’s a great read, mind you. He has put together a lovely and inspiring 28 page e-pamphlet that includes an interview to Horowitz and the decade’s best album choices from a couple of people. But the center pieces, the ones written by Pierre and Rebecka Ahlberg, are the ones that should not be skipped. Both of them are a call to arms, a fierce shout asking the female music geeks to stand out. They want to overthrow the “patriarchy” of the scene, reform it.

They raise some very valid points, and I’ll discuss them later on a future post, because both articles deserve to be commented and analyzed. Why? It’s not that often that indiepop people question and show their politics to the world. I wish it happened much more, but most people, not only in indiepop, just don’t care. These are topics that are “too much” to be thought and talked. “Why get into an agitated discussion if we can just talk nonsense about last night party?” That’s always the attitude, never confrontational. But I’m grateful that Pierre and Rebecka show their true colours. Grateful for their fight, for believing in our scene. Give it a read now, and think, wonder, enjoy, digest it, and make your own conclusions, or maybe hate it and disagree with it. But don’t feel cold about it, that would be unfair, I know you all are hopefuls and dreamers. And if you are up for it, comment it here. And all the best of lucks to Pierre on his future indiepop endeavors.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Feverfew – Politics Down the Esophagus

We line the streets. Hamburg is ours. We walk down Wohlwillstraße. It’s a cold and chilly morning. Looks like the ashen sky wants to shower us. The cobbled streets are humid and slippery for the unwary pedestrian. After deepening into St. Pauli’s heart, after crossing the Reeperbahn district, the noise disappears. The traffic around this area is very light. It’s Saturday after all.

The city tour is headed by Nana and Andreas. Nana has planned and organized for us the whole weekend in detail. I’ve been around last year and walked in between these same buildings, breathed the same Elbe breeze. The grocery stores with their fine selection of beer, the Fritz Cola signs, the döner joints, they are all still there.

By breakfast time they have all arrived: Rémi, Delphine, Ian, Christos and Matthew. After some rolls, chorizo, juice and coffee, we are all ready to walk around the free and Hanseatic city. Click, click, click. The cameras start shooting photos as soon as we are out of Nana’s place. Rémi runs towards the swing that is 10 steps away. Back and forth he goes. Delphine joins giving him a push. Everyone laugh and laugh. The whole weekend will be the same. Nonstop laughs.

Matthew is awed by the city, by the architecture, by the statues. Christos and me talk gossip, indiepop gossip. Rémi talks to me in Spanish, I talk to him in French. Nana and Andreas walk over clouds in front of us. Ian, and his Newcastle accent, joins the gossip session. We do carnage.

We end up at a street market. Vintage clothes, antiques, old dusty records for a couple of euros. We walk around. It’s packed. The smell of currywurst in the air captivates us. We walk past many people, we walk as a pack. Kids are running around and everyone is carrying an umbrella, reminding us that we could get soaked anytime soon.

Wohlwillstraße has the artiest shops and boutiques around. On the right side of the street is Eldorado, where last year I had the chance to dj. On the left side there are lots of thrift stores that we start visiting in order. Many of these shops are not at street level, I wonder why. They are at the basement level. I get the best postcard picture in one these stores: Christos wearing a huge pink woven hat next to a mannequin. Best of memories. Rémi, Ian and Matthew start trying jackets and blazers. I’m not the shopping kind of person, I can’t stand being inside for too long. I go out to the sidewalk and join Nana who is smoking a cigarette. It’s almost 1pm and we are all hungry by now. More walking to do. Now to an Indian restaurant where we will all have to settle for vegetarian food. I get a vegetarian gyros and a Franziskaner. I should have ordered the same as Christos, that tomato soup looked great.

A phone call: “We are here!”. The Berlin crowd has now arrived. The indiepop contingent keeps growing in exponential numbers every hour and we secretly dream of taking over Hamburg tonight. What await us is brilliant. The Sunny Street will play. Matthew, Jörg and me will DJ. And everyone will dance till exhaustion on what will be an epic night. Never to be forgotten.

to be continued

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Hey Paulette – I Will Line the Streets

From the top of my head, a couple of things I learned in Stockholm.

• My way around town:
  – Walk 2 blocks to Luma tram station.
  – Take the tram towards Alvik
  – Get off at Gullmarsplan
  – Take the subway (tunnelbana) towards the city (or Hässelby strand, Åkeshov)
  – Get off at Slussen or Gamla Stan
• But my favourite way to town was this small ferry that would take us from Hammarby Sjöstad to Södermalm. It even had some pillows for you to sit on and books to read. Sadly the ride takes around 5 minutes.
• The garbage pick-up trucks are little. They look like toys!
• Record stores still exist but most of them carry lots of crap. (which is not exclusive to Sweden, this is the worldwide norm, of course). I was recommended to check out Record Hunter and I couldn’t find anything worth there. But there is one fantastic place for indiepop lovers: Nostalgia Palaset. I found lots of rare gems (a Feverfew flexi, a My Favorite 7″, etc.) there that I bought and some others that I had to hide.
• Delicious Goldfish opens only a couple of days. I wanted to visit that store! Shame.
• That churches should be built on the hilltop. Makes a lot of sense. They look huge that way.
• There are some huge birds around town. Well not huge as a condor or even a pelican, but bigger than your regular pigeon. But they are the size of a chicken even though the idea of making rotisserie from them seems to scare the swedes. I can’t remember the name at the moment of this bird. It had some blue feathers, rings a bell?
• Twenty kronor are, more or less, what a half-liter Coca Cola costs.
• Making the line at the Systembolaget, not being carded.
• To count from 1 to 10 (ett till tio), though my Swedish skills have improved considerably since then. Now I can count till a hundred at least.
• How to order a subway ticket: the famous remsa. Worth for taking only 8 rides, though it has 16 spots to be stamped.
• People prefer texting over calling. Telia was the company giving service to my German sim card this time.
• It’s not unusual to walk around the streets and listen to ABBA. That makes the whole Stockholm experience complete.
• That people can be civilized even though there’s a manifestation/parade asking for Kurdistan’s independence. Hey, no smoke grenades!
• I’m not supposed to eat inside a bus. Had to hide my döner among my records! Still not sure what kind of meat was on it. Didn’t taste like lamb, that’s for sure. But it was quite tasty for a 4am snack.
• Everyone was excited and hopeful about the Sweden – Denmark game. They all came late for the party because of the game. But by then their excitement was gone, Sweden was virtually out of the World Cup (which would be later confirmed). Felt good to at last have some people that share the sorrow of having your national team out of the World Cup. It sucks so much!
• Trying to get the whipped cream to be a bit more dense. Ok. This I didn’t master.
• Pancakes with raspberry jam and cloudberry jam (plus that whipped cream!) are way too sweet! I was full with one! My fantastic host could easily eat 4 and look great still!
• Candy stores are quite common. You can find candies of every colour and sizes. These are Kajsa’s favourite affären, Godis, godis, godis.
• And of course, I learned that kyckling is all I need to know. Kyckling och potatis! Kyckling med curry! Yum!

I miss it. Crossing fingers that I can go again in 2010.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
The Seashells – Hide in Your Memory