Category Archives: Musik

När jag mötte Håkan

Jag har lämnat jackan på kontoret. Solen skiner. Det är september. Jag sitter och väntar på att få in elva bitar sushi. Det är lunchtid. Med mig är tre kollegor. Det är en vanlig veckodag i Sverige. Utanför restaurangfönstret i Vasastan ser jag en person gå förbi med raka långa steg. Krulligt hår, solglasögon, en jacka med kamouflage-mönster. Jag ser direkt att det är Håkan Hellström.

Tusen tankar snurrar i mitt huvud. Sekunder går.Var det verkligen Håkan? Varför tvivlar jag. Jag såg ju att det var han. Jag måste säga hej! Men vad ska jag säga? Jag kan inte sitta kvar här. Jag måste ta chansen. Jag säger till mina kollegor att jag precis sett en gammal vän gå förbi restaurangen och att jag kommer tillbaka snabbt.

Med raska steg vandrar jag efter. Han har kommit ungefär hundra meter bort och efter en minuts promenad är jag ifatt.

S: Håkan?
H: Nämen, hej!
S: Så häftigt att se dig här. Jag har velat skaka din hand i femton år!

Vi skakar hand, Håkan säger sen: “Om du velat skaka hand i femton år borde vi skaka hand igen!”.

Det som följer är vad som upplevs som ett genuint och härligt samtal om alltfrån första spelningen jag såg i Stockholm på Sjöhistoriska 2001 till Ullevi 2014, samarbetet med Björn Olsson, nya plattan, och att Stockholm aldrig blir hans stad.

Jag berättar att jag bjöd med min bäste vän på Ullevi-konserten 2014 för att jag ville att han skulle uppleva det fantastiska. Och vilken upplevelse det blev sen. Håkan säger att det vore roligt att göra något sådant igen. Där och då förstod jag inte hans hint, men några veckor efter detta tillfälle annonserades Ullevi-spelningar för 2016.

Samtalet fortsätter, Håkan föreslår att vi ska knäppa en bild, tänk om han inte gjort det? Fan vad jag grämt mig. Men nu gjorde han det. Vi tar några selfies. Efter ett tag säger jag att han ska få gå vidare, och jag måste tillbaka till min lunch som håller på att kallna. Jag hade inte berättat att det var sushi.

Jag skakar hans hand en sista gång. Personen som följt med mig genom livet sedan de skälvande tonåren upp till vuxen ålder. Men vem är jag och lura mig själv. När jag ser på mig idag har jag inte kommit en meter, jag står fortfarande fastkilad framför Hellström vid kravallstaketet.

Jag hinner gå några meter innan han ropar efter mig.

“Du, vänta ett tag!”

Jag stannar upp och vänder mig om.

“Du kan väl hälsa din kompis att jag tyckte det var väldigt kul att han kom på min konsert?!”

Kenneth Gärdestad – Sveriges R. Kelly

Jag är på bröllop. Kyrkklockorna ringer. Ljusinsläppet är fantastiskt. Solen skiner. Längst fram vid altaret står ett vitfärgat piano och bredvid den står en barnkör på rad. Jag hör en fantastisk melodi. Barnen börjar sjunga; “Om jag går ut och dansar på ett diskotek”. Det är Ted Gärdestads Jag ska fånga en ängel vi hör. Den är vald av brudgummen, det är tydligen en låt som sammanfattar hans kärlek för bruden. Han har fångat sin ängel.

Vers blir till refräng, och refräng blir till vers. Jag tänker för mig själv “hmm, detta är lite märkligt, undrar om några andra tänker på samma sak som jag”. Men minerna i kyrkan är svårtydda. Ögon tindrar och äldre tanter står på tå för att se över bänkraderna. Ingen verkar tycka att låtvalet är oklart. Men för mig är det solklart, textförfattare Kenneth Gärdestad är sprängkåt. Han vill enkom ligga.

kenneth

Bröderna Gärdestad. Kenneth t.v. 

Låten inleds som sagt med att Kenneth är ute och dansar på ett diskotek. Han är själv medveten om att han bara chansar, men han är också tydlig med att förmedla att han tar det på lek. Det är absolut inget seriöst Kenneth letar efter. Alltså inte någon att gifta sig med till exempel. Han vill hitta någon för stunden. Redan i första versen står det klart. Kenneth fortsätter genom att beskriva sin taktik. Han ska försöka se manlig ut, för då kan han hitta det han söker innan kvällen är slut.

Nu kommer vi på den andra versen och här har Kenneths taktik hårdnat. Nu har han börjat approchera olika kvinnor, eller änglar som han kallar dem, och fråga efter deras nummer. Sedan är han väldigt klar och tydlig med vad som händer när han ringer upp: då bjuds kvinnorna över till hans boende. Och där väntar ingen vila, Kanske missar du din slummer om du sover hos mig. 

När vi nu går in på tredje versen börjar det nästan bli obehagligt. Jag väljer att citera versen rakt av nedan så ni förstår vad jag menar:

Ställer du upp om du blir bjuden, även om ditt samvete kommer i kläm?
Men du är väl inte förbjuden, att följa med hem?
När ska vi gå hem?

Jag vill inte vara sån men av ovan text går det med största möjliga sannolikhet konstatera att Kenneth är villig att muta kvinnor för att de ska följa med hem till honom. Och mot slutet av kvällen blir han frustrerad. Hans taktik är utstakad i minsta detalj;
1. bjud på saker [läs. muta],
2. härskarteknik deluxe genom att nästan Jedi-tricka kvinnorna att följa med hem. Likt en storebror lurar en lillebror att palla äpplen hos grannen med taktiken; “vadå, vågar du inte?” väljer Kenneth att göra samma sak med kvinnorna på diskoteket. Men visst, det var tydligt redan från början, han tar detta helt på lek.
3. Det är inte en fråga kring om längre, nu är det en fråga om när. 

Kvällen börjar närma sig sitt slut och Kenneth trycker gasen i botten.
Tycker du det är viktigt att du känner mig kan vi börja det försiktigt, du kan lita på mig! 
Jag ska vara en ängel. 

Nej Kenneth, du kommer inte vara en ängel. I detta läge är du en reptil och du kommer slänga det där telefonnumret du fick så snart du fått damerna att dansa efter din lyra.

Ska jag vara helt ärlig har jag inte hört en mer tydlig jag-vill-ligga-låt sedan R. Kelly släppte en remix på Ignition. Frågan är om jag någonsin kommer få höra den texten i en kyrka under en bröllopsceremoni?

Now it’s like murder she wrote rkelly
Once I get you out them clothes
Privacy is on the door
Still they can hear you screaming more
Girl I’m feeling what you feeling
No more hoping and wishing
I’m bout to take my key and
Stick it in the ignition

When Noel Gallagher came back to Estadio River Plate

It’s less than a month to Christmas and Noel Gallagher is tuning up a guitar. But it is not his own guitar. As a roadie for the band Inspiral Carpets he has traveled the world during the past year. Noel roadieThe tour has come to Argentina and the band is about to play Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires. Gallagher is 24 at the time and music is his life. He watches the gig from the shadows of the stage and listens to the audience singing along to every word of the song This is How it Feels.

Christmas comes and Gallagher is back in England. His younger brother Liam has started a band called The Rain. Noel listen to them and he’s not impressed. He approaches his younger brother and tells him that he himself has written a few songs that could work out well for the band. And for Liam’s voice. Noel joins in on the rehearsals and they change their name to Oasis.

It is not 1991 anymore. It is 2009. Noel Gallagher has come back to Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires. But this time he is tuning up his own guitar. The band he joined nearly 20 years ago are only months away from dissolving. Noel knows that. He will be the one that hits the last nail in the coffin. Noel also knows he will never play Estadio River Plate again. A solo career will take off, but it will not take off as it once did when Oasis exploded into the world.

When the band comes back for an encore Noel takes center stage. The arena is filled with the young and the hopeful. Liam has stayed behind. Noel will sing the first song of the encore alone. He looks out over an ocean of people. He’s not in the shadows anymore. He’s not a roadie to another band anymore.  And this time the audience will sing along to every word of a song that he has written. Gallagher is 42 and music is still his life. And together with the audience they promise to Don’t look back in anger.
 The concert at Estadio River Plate was the bands biggest one outside of Britain and by many considered as the greatest gig of the Dig Out Your Soul-tour. 

 

Noel Gallagher goes record shopping in Australia

The year is 1998. The Gallagher brothers are continuing their coke quest around the world on the infamous Be Here Now-tour. The third Oasis album sparked a world wide inverted embargo that was exported to five continents for a total of 83 gigs. Nothing would ever, in the history of Oasis, come up to the same level of madness as the Be Here Now-tour. The album itself was made in haze of glory and if everything was super-sized on the album it was nothing compared to the tour.

The place is Melbourne, Australia. The British band first flew in to Perth from Hong Kong, a trip that caused younger brother Liam to be banned for life from airline Cathay Pacific. Liam’s rebuttal on never being able to fly with Cathay Pacific again was concise and clear; “I’d rather walk!”.

The band is drinking heavily during their Oceanic leg of the tour and one day Noel Gallagher wakes up hungover yet hungry for music. He goes for a stroll to find a good record store. The rest of the story is his to tell.

I went into this shop and picked out a load of records. I had a spectacular hangover but was in their for over an hour. These records were in fucking great nick, all vinyl. So I put them on the counter and this bloke said, “Can I have your name please?”. So I said it was Noel. And then he asked me for my last name and I said “Gallagher”. He punched it into a computer and I thought, “this is a bit fucking fascist!”. He then asked if I had an address, and I said, “Yeah, in England”. Then he told me my name wasn’t coming up on the computer and I said, “Why would my fucking name be coming up on your computer?”. Then he said, “Because this is a library”. I left all the records at the counter and went back to the pub where I should have stayed in the first place. 

Watch this interview for an insight in Noel Gallagher’s state of mind during his Australian spell in 1998.

The Sad Fairytale of New York

What’s the first thing you think of when I say Kirsty MacColl? Probably the song Fairytale of New York by The Pogues. Kirsty features on this always-voted-number-one-Christmas-song that each December makes it possible for Shane MacGowan to order in another round of yearly gin and tonics. The story you are about to read is not a fairy tale at all. Its a tale and verdict on how horribly cruel life can be at times. So cherish the moments we are here for.

Besides being blessed with a heavenly voice Kirsty was also one of the few people to get really close to Steven Patrick Morrissey. kirsty-morrisseyThe two friends cherished moments and memories together. When Morrissey moved to Los Angeles they remained in contact and for Christmas in the year of 2000 Kirsty wanted to go on a sunny holiday with her two children. She knew that Morrissey had spent a lot of time in Mexico and called her old friend to get some good insights. They spoke for great length about nothing at all and everything at all. Kirsty ended the conversation by asking Morrissey about Mexico. The front man of The Smiths gave his blessings of the country and told Kirsty about how much he loved it there and how he travels across the border every each week. It was decided. Kirsty was to spend her Christmas holiday with her children far away from Galway Bay and cars big as bars.

Mexico lived up to Morrissey’s promise and the MacColl family spent their days by the water.

On December 19 Morrissey hear his phone ring while back in the United Kingdom where he is to celebrate Christmas. On the other side of the line he can hear a voice telling him that Kirsty is dead. She was killed when saving her two sons from being hit by a speeding powerboat while they were snorkeling.

Morrissey travels back to Los Angeles after New Years Eve. When he enters his home he can see a postcard on his hallway floor. He looks at it and it features an overview of the blue sea and a lovely beach. He flips the card and on the back of it he reads:
Steven, its wonderful here. 
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love x Kirsty 

Wikipedia entry on the death of Kirsty MacColl

Dansken

Det är svårt att sätta ord på lycka. Men riktig lycka uppkommer först efter lite motgång. Så måste det väl vara? Ty livet ska vara som en EKG-linje – det måste gå rikligt upp och ned för att det ska kännas att man lever. Lever man livet som en rak linje kan man lika gärna vara död. Det är mer spännande att åka bergochdalbana än godståg.

Jag tror nog Kim Larsen beskriver detta bergochdalbaneliv bäst i sitt monumentala minspel och lyrik till låten Gør mig lykkelig.

Den åldrade och allegedly alkoholiserade dansken kan sin sak.
Se, njut, lyssna, och lär:

Hvis du føler det er færdigt før det er forbi hvis du fælder en tåre af melankoli

Melankoli

Melankoli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Så lad mig sige dig dette

Oraklet

Oraklet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

husk vel derpå af skuffet kærlighed skal verden bestå

Och när livet är som tyngst för gode Kim, då hittar han ljuset i tunneln. Ur sviken kärlek uppkommer tydligen någon form av lust och fägring stor. För när det är som mörkast, då släpper han sin gitarr, lutar sig bakåt, och sedermera torrjuckar i takt med bryggan. En brygga som sedan brister ut i sommardoftande tuggummipop och den finaste av refränger. Och att någon i publiken samtidigt viftar med en krycka, i detta underbara liveklipp, det är ren och skär lycka.

Larsen4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lycklig

Lycklig

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hoppas att han återigen ska bli lycklig. Eller Lykke Li som han säger. Och jag kan bara hoppas att det var härifrån popdrottningen tog sitt namn. Det hade varit hennes största bedrift i min bok.

The Greatest National Anthems of the World

So, every nation worth mentioning has their own hymn, their own song, their own national anthem. I like to travel, I like people from all over the world, and I like music. So what I thought of to do was to make a list of my favorite national anthems. I hope you enjoy it and play it on repeat.

5. Great Britain – God Save the Queen

4. France – La Marseillaise

3. The Soviet Union –  Государственный гимн СССР 

2. The United States of America – The Star Spangled Banner 

1. Ecuador – Ecuador

Oasis > Beatles

On our left we have Ringo Starr, or Richard Starkey as his real name reads, the drummer of The Beatles and also the father of the man on the right. On our right we have Zak Starkey. drummer in Oasis from 2004 to 2008.Ringo Starr and Zak Starkey

On our left we see Andy Bell, former Ride-member and bass guitarist in Oasis between 2000 and 2009. On our right we have the late Stuart Sutcliffe, original Beatles bass guitarist.Andy Bell and Stuart Sutcliffe

On our left we see keyboardist Jay Darlington, also known as Jesus, of Oasis, and to our right we have George Harrison, guitarist of The Beatles.  Jay Darlington and George Harrison

To our left we have Gem Archer rhythm-guitarist in Oasis and former right hand man to Noel Gallagher, On our right we have Paul McCartney of The Beatles.  Gem Archer and Paul McCartney

Liam Gallagher, front man and singer of Oasis on the left. His idol and hero John Lennon of The Beatles is featured on the right. Liam Gallagher and John Lennon

So what about Noel Gallagher then? Well, nobody looks like him. He’s a unique specimen.

Noely G

All things must pass

George Harrison once said, and I quote, “It doesn’t take long from being 17 to 57. Forty years just goes like that. You know? Now I understand about 90 year old people who feel like teenagers. You know? ‘Cause nothing changes. It’s just the body that changes. The soul in the body is there at birth and is there at death. And the only thing that’s George Harrisonchanged is the bodily condition. So, you know? All this stuff, about where, you know, age-groups fit or don’t fit, or where the music belonging to age-groups fit or doesn’t fit is stupid. All it does is limit the potential of the marketplace or the audience.

I find this quote great from three different angles. First of all George sums up the extreme pace of time, and the fact that it flies. I can feel that it is extremely worrying that my own take on this is that each new year passes by faster than the one before. But at the same time I find a strong connection with him in the sense that I feel the same in the sense that I am the same person now as I was five, ten, or even fifteen years ago. Of course I’ve changed in bits here and there but I still carry the same dreams, hopes, and beliefs. Thirdly George attacks the people that appoint certain aspects of music to different age groups, may it be genres, bands, artists, or whatever. I can also interlink with this mindset and at times here in Stockholm when we have had Justin Bieber and Bruce Springsteen sell out three shows each within two weeks the topic is more than relevant. Of course each person that listens to music, and let’s be honest, any human being with a soul should have an interest in music, goes through phases. But I do not think it has anything to do with age, I think it has more to do with more important things that just a number.

Here are four songs that I always turn back to and listen to when I need a little bump on the shoulder, a boost up from the sofa, or just a quick fix in what we call life.
They are not my favorite songs, no, but listening to them will always make me feel good, even great.

Dire Straits – Walk Of Life
Just the synthesizer intro gives me the goose bumps. So simple, yet so great. And this version with Eric Clapton on the side. It’s from 1988 and the birthday party of Nelson Mandela. Speaking of a different kind of walk of life.

Patti Smith – People Have The Power Patti Smith
Any song which will highlight the small over the big, the people over the corps, or David over Goliath, always gives me hope of that anything can be reachable. During this epic anthem Patti Smith truly does so when proclaiming:
People have the power, the power to dream, to rule, to wrestle the Earth from fools but it’s decreed the people rule, but it’s decreed the people rule. Listen, I believe everything we dream can come to pass through our union, We can turn the world around, we can turn the Earth’s revolution

Oasis – Whatever
This song was never released on an actual album, however I reckon it’s one of their best ones. When those first chords ring out from the guitar a feeling of freedom washes over me in an awesome wave. When I listen to this song anything is possible. Every single dream I’ve ever had and aspired for can still happen. And it’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

George Harrison – What is Life
Most people would probably state Here comes the Sun as their favorite uplifting song penned by the late George Harrison. I don’t agree. His album All Things Must Pass released in 1970 holds an absolute gem in the truly great What is Life.

A Graceless Journey

This journey starts on a rainy summer day in 2011. I was locked inside, laying in bed, slightly hungover, watching the world outside my room through my Twitter-feed, while listening to damp heavy raindrops dripping down the window. Suddenly I come across a link to a video with what to me was a completely new band called Sulk.

What I then hear when I press play are John Squire-esque guitars, Suede-choirs, a deep bass over a heavy hitting drum, and an overall sound that could be taken straight outta Nowhere by Ride. It was a mash-up of everything I loved. Mixed together it felt new and fresh. I was mesmerized.  The song I was listening to was called Wishes. And I kept listening to it while the leaves switched colour, and those raindrops turned into snowflakes.

The more I listened to Wishes the heavier became my addiction. I needed more, and I needed stronger dosage. I told my friends about this new band and when I realized that they too loved them, the stronger became our friendship. And the stronger became my eagerness to hear more from Sulk. A while after Wishes was released second single Back In Bloom hit the shelves. And me oh my, this was just as good. I bought both singles on 7 vinyl and I even got one of them signed by all band members, as a gift from a lovely lady I saw at the time. Everyone in my circle of trustees knew I was hooked, and there was really no way out but to keep the consumption flow going. Wishes and Back In Bloom

I started searching the net for material. I listened to remixes of the songs, read article after article, followed the band on Facebook and Twitter, watched all the videos I could find from gigs and also from the earlier constellation of the line-up when the band was called The Ruling Class.

Days, weeks, and months went by and all while I was waiting for Sulk to release their long awaited debut album, life happened.
Liam Sulk I started to question why no record label had picked them up. Is the music I prefer and listen to that dead? I started questioning my own musical taste. Was I wrong? But how could I be since not only did all my friends love them (the ones which have a musical taste I agree with), they also got the approval from my other peers. Not the ones I have a pint and listen to music with, but the ones that write the music I listen to while I have a pint. Mani and Jon

But as 2012 became 2013 Sulk announced that their debut album, titled Graceless, would be released on April 15. My feelings to this surprised me. I did not feel the happiness and relief I had believed I would. Rather I felt a feeling of emptiness and fear. Is this it? Is the journey over now? And what if the record is shit? Obviously I pre-ordered the record, both on vinyl and CD, and when I came home after work on Monday, April 15, postman Pat had delivered it to me. I opened the same window I had been staring out of when I first heard the band in the summer of 2011, almost 20 months ago. This time the sun was shining. I pressed play. Sulk Graceless

So was it any good? Well, that you’re gonna have to figure out for yourselves. But I will tell you this, it was well worth the journey getting there.
Johnny Marr and Sulk