Food & Tunes

Tjena läget hur mår du? I should know more Swedish than that considering I’ve been best friends with a Swede for five years. Well, I know a couple more things, but basic anatomy only gets you so far.

While I might not have picked up much in the way of vocab, I have been able to get my ears onto some fantastic Swedish pop. I don’t feel as though I came into the friendship particularly green (after all we did meet partly because I was able to rattle off a few Swedish bands), but I do have to give credit to Magnus for the introduction to Tiger Lou and many others.

I instantly fell in love with the first album Is My Head Still On? and everything since. Now, technically Tiger Lou is no more, but it’s some consolation that the man behind the moniker, Rasmus Kellerman, has continued to write music. His 2010 album under his own name was fantastic, and he has just announced that he’s formed a new band. Have a listen to what he’s achieved so far and decide for yourself, but personally, I can’t wait to hear what’s coming next. Puss och kram!

Slow Club’s ‘Yeah So’ made a lot of 2009’s ‘Best Of’ lists, well at least the ones I was reading. It was definitely one of my favourites that year. The reviews floating around were all very positive, but I have to admit it took me a while to get fully into the record. It was a post by the lead singer of one of my favourite bands, saying that Rebecca’s voice was the best female vocal he’d heard live that year, which truly piqued my interest in seeing them live. Quite high praise. They toured as part of Sydney Festival 2010, supporting Camera Obscura (sometimes you get extra lucky with supports; seeing Darren Hanlon supporting Bright Eyes was a recent unexpected win). Needless to say I was sitting at my computer madly clicking refresh on my browser when tickets for the Sydney Festival show went on sale.

After seeing them live, I had to agree, in person they are something else entirely. Rebecca’s voice is enthralling (and I guess I have a thing for singing drummers), they’re both confident and relaxed in front of a crowd, great banter, plus there’s a suspicious comfort between them on stage. The crowd was utterly absorbed (and keep in mind, we have to assume that most people were really there for Camera Obscura).
 
Last year saw the release of their second full length Paradise, and it’s a similar experience this time around. ‘Two Cousins’ (which inspired a one off Arab Strap reunion to record a cover version) is instantly likeable, the rest takes some time to get into. After putting the time in, I think the new album is great, but it’s seeing them live again that I’m really looking forward to. They’re playing GoodGod on March 1st (buy tickets here) and are also playing a free warm up show the night before on February 29th (no, that’s not a typo) at Beach Road Hotel in Bondi.

There’s a lot to like about Cardiff, the bay, the castle, Millennium Stadium, constantly being asked if you want a double.. But my favourite thing to come out of Cardiff is definitely Los Campesinos!

I stumbled across them on a blog a few years ago, just before they released We are Beautiful, We are Doomed. Since then I’ve been trawling the net for B-sides and rarities, and breathlessly awaiting each new release. They’ve recently put out their 3rd LP Hello Sadness, and the title is definitely an indication of the general direction the band seems to be heading. The songs are generally darker, slower, heavier, but I guess it’s all relative.

It can be hard to listen to a band grow up. With each album they can start to move further and further away from what you loved, to the point where they’re hardly distinguishable from the band you fell for in the first place. I guess that can happen with other things too.

I love the new album, but I do catch myself listening to their old stuff with a sense of nostalgia and yearning. I definitely miss the guy/girl duets since Aleks left, as well as the youthful exuberance that was unmistakable on their earlier records. There’s less glock, less yelling, less rambling these days. A bonus disc of demos from their first album came with pre-orders of Hello Sadness and seemed to highlight how much they’ve changed. I should probably grow up and fully embrace the more mature, sophisticated band that they are now, but there’s always part of me that wants to be on the dance floor with the nineteen year olds at Purple Sneakers (when it use to be at the dirty, old Abercrombie, before the trendy refurb), arms and legs flailing, bouncing along to the old Los Campesinos! It’s you! It’s me! And there’s dancing!

Want to learn more about Simon? See here

We have some very exciting news for all the F&T faithful…. Our family is growing!

Hold your horses, there isn’t a little one on the way… Rather, after years of heated yet always insightful discussions about music and sometimes food, we’ve decided to bring on the expert opinion of a close friend of ours. May we introduce him?

SIMON SAYS…

Most of my email is newsletters from venues/mailing lists, offers for enlargement, or cut price prescription meds. I don’t get nearly enough funnies - I can’t remember the last time I received a “motivationals” or “fail” compilation. The other week I had an email from Naany and Jess, asking if I’d like to contribute to their blog Food & Tunes. Well, here I am.

FOOD: I’m the first to admit I probably won’t have much to contribute to this part of the blog. As a child I used to dream of a pill I could take instead of eating, I was just like Gregory the Terrible Eater, never wanting to eat my shoes and tyres. Fussy didn’t come close. I’m about sustenance, I’ll leave food appreciation to the experts.

&

TUNES: Diplo, Krafty Kuts, Justice, Yuksek, SBTRKT, Kitsune, Cassius, Brown Bear. Who are these people, Naany? Why can’t you tour bands I’ve heard of? I like music to hold hands to, sometimes something you can dance to is the last thing that you need. Others eventually toured many of the bands I was incessantly requesting, which suggests I’m not the only one who likes holding hands. I guess that’s why I’m posting here on Food & Tunes. A bit of diversity. Something for the lyric driven, indie pop fans out there. Let’s broaden the scope of Tunes ever so slightly. Simon says… Hit the indie button.

I’ll be chipping in with a post every couple of weeks, spruiking music and venting about what vexes me. Talk to you soon!