Henric De La Cour - Grenade

Grenade takes some heavy heavy Depeche Mode inspiration and runs it through a shoegazing filter to stunning results. Simply a great single. The B-side, a punky goth'ed up cover of black metal legends Venom's Harmony Dies is also cool. This delivered on clear vinyl with a great cover? Me gusta.

But the best thing is the video. It's a real contender for video of the year and takes one part corpsepainted synth-king and mixes him with some of Sweden's best beach-volleyball players for an epic standoff in Portugal. The result is brilliant.

Ahead of the Lana Del Rey curve...

My apologies if what I'm about to say sounds a tad hipsterish, but when it comes to Lana Del Rey I was way head of the internet. Already back in December last year I posted about her, and the magnificent Diet Mnt Dew, hoping she would resurface. It has been slightly surreal to see her blow up over the summer and become something of a phenomena. And slightly depressing as many comments seems more focused on her suspiciously large lips, her video aesthetic and her first release under her real name, Lizzy Grant, than the songs themselves. My stance is that I don't care if Lana is someone Lizzy invented because she wanted to, or if Lana Del Rey was invented with the help of managers and she's a "product" (Really? We're still going on about authenticity? It's 2011. Get over it). What I care about is that Blue Jeans sounds like a David Lynchian take on Chris Issak's Wicked Game. Video Games is an amalgam of pop culture in 2011 set to some stunning orchestration.

When Lana's first release was announced to be a 7" picture disc I instantly pre-ordered and today it reached me. Nearly a year and a half after falling for her voice, I finally had something tangible in my hands.

 

Nasha - Narsha!

Narsha's debut EP is a prime example of k-pop packaging going above and beyond the norm. Narsha is a member of Brown Eyed Girls, one of the biggest girlbands not associated to the three main Korean talent agencies (think "major labels"). She went solo last summer with a 7 track EP which came in an extravagant 7" sized package.

The bottom third is actually a slip-over that can be taken off in order to access the disc and booklet. Once opened up and the disc removed, this is what meets the eye. One golden booklet for lyrics/credits and one additional booklet for the photographic concepts.

Narsha plays around with gothic and religious themes in her artwork. One spread has her dressed up as a stylish nun, another as an enchantress who literally has feathers for hair (with smoke coming out her eyes), one as an innocent sultry redhead. The album-cover goes for an Alice In Wonderland vibe. She is a tempting witch or a white clad madonna. And one is just a feral birdlike creature. I wish I had a scanner so I could properly share more of the artwork, it really captures a gothic feel and sense of mystery, bewitchment and magic.

The feathers are a theme that goes through the entire design, in the video to lead track Bbi-Ri Bop-A Narsha even sprouts wings. Versions of other characters from the booklet also show up. Bbi-Ri Bop-A is my favourite k-pop single of last year, it's such a simple track but filled with atmosphere and small tweaks to keep it interesting. And of course the hook that sounds like someone casting a spell on you. It's an uplifting tale that lets us know that all our memories, all our sorrows can be erased. We just need to give Narsha our soul first... a cheap price to pay, if you ask me. If there wasn't a goth r'n'b-pop subgenre before, there is now!

Some sort of Advent Calendar! Day 1.

I am, once again, stealing a concept from the inspiration of this entire blog, Vinyl Richard, a blog in Swedish by a friend of mine. He's having an advent calendar where each day he lists one of his favourite albums of the year. My calendar will be slightly different. 2010 hasn't been an album year for me, sure there's been some superb albums that will get their due praise, but it's been a year when I've listened to more tracks and singles than anything else.

I shall start with one of my absolute favourite tracks of this year. From an artist who've yet to officially release anything, but I suspect she might have signed to Universal.

Lana Del Rey - Diet Mtn Dew


I love how she combines a dark noir atmosphere with a slight urban twist in the percussion. Her voice, strong and firm, yet thin as it slides over the music. The casual Lolita reference in the lyrics. Dark cinematic and the kind of tune I can play again and again without losing interest. Like someone took The Big Sleep and put it in a 2010 suit.

Outside of the random leaked track on youtube and a completely out-of-nowhere appearance on Mando Diao's unplugged album (hence my signed to Universal suspicions) I've yet to hear anything about when Lana will drop an actual album. I hope it will be soon, have after all been waiting since May.

I also made a woefully spotty Spotify list, which can be found here. As the list lacks all and any k-pop (among others) it's not really representative, but it'll do as a good complement to the songs I bring up on this blog.