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!

Banana Erectors - s/t

Hey, remember when this was supposed to be a blog about my record purchases and artwork? Well, we're back on schedule with a post about Banana Erectors. If the cover didn't give it away, Banana Erectors worship on the altar of Ramones. They're a female fronted Japanese punkrock band that released their only album in 1999.

In the booklet every member gets a page to introduce themselves. Among other details we find out their stage names, real names, gender, real jobs, hobbies (except for ROCK'N'ROLL), favourite colours and of course favourite band (except for RAMONES). Guess which member worked at a factory and who was an optician! I also dig the yellow CD-case, lets take the Banana metaphor to its fullest!

They do a few covers and some originals. The best original tune is "Fed up with high school days", which is far from a masterpiece but still a fun enough diversion.

Top 21 albums of 2010!

Why 21? The answer will become clear at the end of this list.

1: Basia Bulat - Heart Of My Own
In 2010 no album had a stronger opening track than Go On. No song was more beautiful than The Shore, or more enchanting than Heart Of My Own. No melody soared like Gold Rush's and nothing broke my heart quite like Once More, For The Dollhouse. Simply put, Basia's strong but quivering vocals, her autoharp and violins, the feel of Canadian wilderness and old folk music knocked me over and despite being released last winter, nothing else have come close to taking its spot on this list.

2: The School - Loveless Unbeliever
Splendid joyful indiepop/ 60s girlband revival. Like the best Pipettes songs, but without the kitsch packaging.

3: Masshysteri - Masshysteri
Too punk to be indie, too indie to be punk. Absolutely superb powerpoppunk with deadly melodies and lyrics. Might also have the best cover-art of the year.

4: Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
Laura continues being the worlds oldest 20 year old. And ups the folk side of her singer/songwriter.

5: Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Equal parts 70s metal and occult doom atmospheres baptised in unholy pop. Huge melodies.

6: Marina & The Diamonds - Family Jewels
Not a robot, a woman filled with opinions and thoughts that she eagerly shares. Even the rare moment when she falls on her face becomes interesting.

7: kent - En Plats I Solen
kent steps out, sees the sun and goes lighter, brighter, more personal again.

8: Säkert! - Facit
A step down from the debut, but no one writes Swedish lyrics like Säkert!

9: My Chemical Romance - Danger Days
Sparkles like Bowie in the morning sun.

10: Hurts - Happiness
Epic synthpop of epic epicness.

11: Robyn - Body Talk
Song for song Pt. 2 is the best, but the compilation collects most of the highlights.

12: Tove Styrke - Tove Styrke
Like Robyn's poppier little sister.

13: Håkan Hellström - 2 Steg Till Paradise
A tad too 70s laidback but some of the sharpest lyrics Håkan's written.

14: Johnossi - Mavericks
Drum&guitar duo that out-U2's (in a good way!) most full bands.

15: Steget - Förändrar Allting
Naive and simple but very honest, Steget is like reading someone diary.

16: Familjen - Mänskligheten
Scania 4-ever.

17: Ga-In - Step 2/4
Tango-pop with more than a hint of heat.

18: Anna von Hauswolff - Singing From The Grave
Finds the connection between quiet piano and later-day Neubautenish noise.

19: Scissor Sisters - Night Work
Uneven, but the good parts soars.

20: Zombiekrig - Undantagstillstånd
Thrash metal in Swedish, melodic without being weak.

21: 2NE1 - To Anyone
2NE1 should rule the world. Fact.

Day 6: The wonders of Mishindie

Many years ago I got to know an Australian named Misha. We connected over love for music, old movies and quirky stuff. Since then we've been in contact, sometimes a little bit, sometimes a lot, but we really reconnected during the spring this year. And part of that was sending tonnes of music back and forth. Misha, being an indie queen, sent me all sorts of indiepop and I sent her more electronic things. And while it is a tad unnerving how much better than me she knows Swedish indiepopbands, I've found myself loving a lot of her recommendations.



My favourite Mishindie comes in three distinct flavours. There is the updated 60s girlpop, there's the fuzzy shoegaze/noisepop and then there's the 80s flavoured variety. My Favourite (who obviously formed pre-Google) goes for all out 80s love. New Order and The Smiths meet under the burning mushroom cloud of Hiroshima. Insanely strong song, amazing lyrics and there are at least 4-5 other My Favourite tunes of this calibre.



The School (whose Loveless Unbeliever will rank very high on my Best Albums of ´10 list) go for updated 60s girlband. And do is splendidly. I Want You Back might have my favourite chorus of the year.



So logically the third song would come from the noisepop. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart aren't that noisy though, despite loads of layers, feedback they're more like a John Huges movie than anything else. Dreamy recollections of teenage joy and life.



The Blanche Hudson Weekend is both proper noisepop *and* 60s girlband revival! One of the better mutations of the "Be My Baby" beat and the simple line "I could have been your baby, but now I want you dead" would make this a perfect soundtrack to some 60s exploitation flick. Preferably in black and white.



Speaking of movies, Linda Linda Linda is the kind of film that makes me believe in life, music, happiness and Ramones-inspired punkpop! It might, in fact, be my favourite music movie. Some of that comes how deftly it avoids the cliches but also from the 4 actresses actually playing the songs themselves, and doing a pretty decent job of it. Like this Ramonesy popsong.



And finally Wild Nothing's dreamy dreamy "Live In Dreams". For some reason I keep thinking of a kent song every time I hear this. Odd, as kent could never be this light and breezy. So that'd be my six favorite Mishindie songs. Even though Trailer Trash Tracys deserve an honorary mention.

Strawberries and the endless reverb.

I got a new 7" single today! It's a smelly thing, and it's red!  It's by one of my "instant purchase" groups, New York shoegazers Asobi Seksu. They specialize in making my heart flutter and my ears shiver (and occasionally blow out). In the best ways possible. The song is called Strawberries so logically the sleeve is strawberry scented. Makes *perfect* sense!

I quite like the artwork Asobi Seksu had during the Citrus era. It was messy with loads of colours and symbols but had a dreamlike quality that suited the sound. And what's not to like in a giant eye on the label, for a slight Illuminati feeling?

Ps: Asobi Seksu's Thursday is the best song of the 00s. That is not an opinion, that's a fact.

Day 5: 2NE1 and the glittery design

Something I appreciate with K-pop (and a lot of Asian music in general) is the attention put on packaging. A standard jewel case might fit in a CD-shelf, but lets face it, it is a boring way to package music. This is 2010 and who cares about a plastic case with a thin dull booklet in it?

Korean pop goes for value with their packaging. Like when girl group 2NE1 released their first full length album, To Anyone. The standard edition comes DVD-case sized. The cover is reflective silver with pink and purple tints, depending on the angle and light hitting in. The lettering sparkles in all the colours of the rainbow.

2NE1 is one of the biggest K-pop acts, they recently won Korean "Grammy's" for Artist of the Year, Female Group of the Year, Video of the Year and Album of the Year (To Anyone). Their team also won several "lesser" awards like Best Choreographer, Best Stylist (it helps being good friends with Jeremy Scott) and Best Video Director.  And when you open up the case, we find the CD, and a 50 pages thick book with lyrics, thanks you's, postcards, photos and all that jazz.

One could think that this is lavish because of 2NE1 status, as one of the bigger groups on one of the 3 major talent agencies. But in fact this is a rather ordinary k-pop packaging. All other releases I got are more extravagant. In an effort to stand out smaller agencies usually go further in their designs and packaging, which I'll show later.

What I like with 2NE1 is the attitude. Their leader, blonde CL, is pretty much one of the coolest women in pop right now. Just see how she owns the second verse of Can't Nobody. The group dynamic is good, CL being the OTT leader, Minzy the maknae (youngest member) is like a firecracker that occasionally explodes. Bom Park doing lead vocals and Dara.... well. She's the salt of the group. Not really standing out, but essential to the flavour. Here is her "Thanks" page in the book, of course designed by Dara herself.

The fact that the booklet is filled with the members handwriting is a nice touch. The music is decent enough, some really really good pop hits, some filler, but everything with strong urban touch and attitude. They don't fall into the saccharine "cute" concepts Korean girlgroups often have, instead project a strong, determined femininity, and being four girls with distinct images and opinions. The big downside is the overuse of autotune. The girls get few chances to prove just how well they can sing and that saddens me. Of all k-pop acts who wants an English career, 2NE1 might be the ones with the biggest chance to success. Their sound is much more westernised, they are distinctive (remember the "all Asians look like" clichë ?) and they have connections in the US fashion world. And they sing nonsensical but awesome things like "Fiancé? Beyonce! I'm walkin' out of destiny" and "We're Asian, we rise with the sun."

Go Away deserves a mention. It's the one track where the autotune really grates, but has a superb "arms waving in the air, chanting along" break and the video goes to some surprisingly dark places. Abuse, vengeance, death, CL giving a look that could shatter ice and watch carefully what actually happens in the end. No happy ending here. On the more humorous side, the video also includes some really unconvincing "we're rocking out as a band" segments that are good for a few laughs. Can Minzy be kept at 2 meters distance from all drumsticks in the future, please?

Day 4: My Chemical Romance or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Colours.

Originally titled "10 reasons I dig the new My Chemical Romance album" and posted at my private Livejournal. But well worthy of being a part of my "Highlights from 2010" advent calendar thing. I do like this album quite a lot.

Vampire money, a New York Dolled-up glampunk blast that gives the finger to the whole Twilight phenomena in a most hilarious way. "Gimme gimme some of that vampire money c'mon!". It was apparently written as a reply to Summit wanting them to do a tune for a Twilight soundtrack. It rocks, name-checks Bowie *and* Bolan, got a incendiary guitarsolo, intro stolen from Ballroom Blitz, the opening lines "3, 2, 1, we came to fuck" and ends with the band apologizing for playing too loud. The chorus drives the point home, but best line is "Sparkle like Bowie in the morning sun".

Hair back, collar up, jet black, so cool!
Sing it like the kids that are mean to you (c'mon!)
So you wanna be a movie star (c'mon! )
Play the game and take the band real far (c'mon! )
Play it right and drive a Volvo car (c'mon! )

It's just one of the most joyfully punk one-fingered salutes I've heard in ages.

Bulletproof Heart sounds like their attempt to rewrite Born To Run for the 21st century. There can only be one Born To Run and of course they fail, but Bulletproof Heart mines the same territory of escape, finding something better, living your life on your terms and dreams to great effect. As the second track it brings home one important point: My Chemical Romance have left The Black Parade far behind, both musically and in worldview. The whole album is really uplifting, without coming across as cheesy. A very tough trick to pull off.

Na Na Na, the most invigorating rock'n'roll in years. It's the kind of songs that starts at 100% and just revs up.

The Kids Of Yesterday is apparently the bands favourite track. It sounds very much like The Smashing Pumpkins on a serious 1979 trip. With added cowbell! How can that be wrong? It can't. There is a lot of nostalgia sparkled around this album, at the same time as it's about the band growing up. It's the band daring to do whatever they want, however they want it, without sacrificing what made them into who they're now.

"Cause you wanna live forever in the lights you make
When we were young we used to say
That you only hear the music when your heart begins to break
Now we are the kids from yesterday,
today"

Summertime on the other hand could've one of The Cure's poppier numbers and no one would've noticed. Well, if Robert sang it, obviously. It's also a lovely lovesong, which I always have a soft spot for.

Dystopian optimism. The album is very uplifting and quite optimistic. It's all about fulfilling your dreams, and that you can do what you want. At the same time it is "set" in a dystopian totalitarian future, and each video released this far has ended up with the band defeated/shot down. That dichotomy exists throughout the album and adds tension to the songs.

Planetary (GO) rushes ahead at breakneck speed, with moroderseque synths in the background. It sounds like My Chemical Romance doing a dance song but actually good, if that explanation makes sense. There is so much energy in the song. Actually there is electronics sparkled all over the album. Synths squeal, sequencers bubble and samples flare. But it's still a rock'n'roll album at heart.

S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W is at heart a stadium anthem where people wave lighters, sing along and sway from side to side. So the band drapes the guitars in a psychedelic haze, puts weird effects on low-mixed vocals but keeps the stadium drums loud and clear. The end result is hypnotizing enough to make me forgive the title.

Save Yourself (I'll Hold Them Back) would deserve a mention even if the line "We can live forever if you've got the time" was the only good thing with the song. But it also ties in with the dystopian optimism thing I mentioned earlier. It's the hardest, most aggressive cut on the record, but doesn't forget about those great melodies that always been My Chemical Romance's hidden weapon.

Salvation. The Black Parade was such a statement. I consider if one of the best rock albums of the last decade, and it still holds up when I play it. But the band couldn't go any darker, couldn't move any further down that line. And media took the blackness/emo thing and ran with it. The Black Parade must've been like a prison, because Danger Days sounds like the band throwing a live grenade at the perception of what My Chemical Romance is supposed to be. And then they dance in colourful outfits and lasers beams while The Black Parade blows up. Will Danger Days last like The Black Parade? I'm not sure, but it sets the band on a new path, musically and visually. And does so without losing the energy, the comic book flair that is integral to the band's heart. It feels like they're free to go any which way now, and I hope they'll do just that.

Ok. Tomorrow I promise I get back to artwork and stuff. ;)