New stuff from Primal Scream

Bobby Gillespie and his crew got a new single and vid out. At first listen I'm thinking: crap. The second listen while checking the video out tells me it's catchy stuff. Do I like it? No, this one's for the kids, Bobby needs to make a buck, he's got a family to support. The video is tongue in cheek as always, beautifully shot in contemporary style.

The Soccer Solution # 2

People love soccer, all over the world, except in the USA. The usual complaint being: "They don't make hardly any goals. 90 minutes and 1 goal is just too boring". Blasphemy to the sacred church of football of course, but I think they have a point. The games are kind of dragged out, when there could be more excitement. My kids play handball, and those games end like 23-27. And the outcome is usually uncertain, and one team can be down 7 goals, and then go up on par in five minutes. Thrilling!
If it was easier to score in soccer, the games wouldn't be set after 2-0 and 20 minutes.
Solution: Make the goals 1 meter wider, and 20 cm higher, and there would be a new uncertainty to the games outcome, making the sport more thrilling.

The Soccer Solution

Okay, I am NOT a huge football fan, but I always watch Sweden play in the Euro and World Cups. Now I have come to realise some facts that will probably make me watch fewer games in the future:
Sweden is a small country. 9 million, compared to, say Russia, 250 million, Spain, what 70 mill, germay, 80, and so on. Out of so few people, we can scrape together a few superstars, say 1, or at best 3 if one is generous. Then we have a bunch of pros that are good enough for the major European leagues. But compare us to other countries, usually they have around 10 superstars in their national teams, where we have like 2.
So my point is: Because of Swedens small population, we can never get a competitive team. Period. Realise the facts, we'll never win, and normally not even make it past the first qualification.
Solution: Let the Scandinavian countries + the baltics put together a joint team. Together we'd be around 20 million people, which would let us have probably twice as many stars as today, which would give us a little bit better odds.
Sad but true. Wont happen. We'll keep biting the dust 4-ever up here in the cold north. But we don't give up. As long sa there is hope. For a miracle. Like someone finding a pair of magic soccer-shoes. Or something.

Price of bubbly still higher than oil

Just back from the French Riviera. Checked out the Le Corbusier-designed hotel Byblos in St. Tropez, among other things. Their nightclub Le cave de Roy had an interesting Champagne-menu, check out them prices on my picture here. Apparently, if you order the most expensive supersized bottle, it is the size of about 20 ordinary bottles of bubbly, they turn down the music and put a bunch of spotlights on you, whilst a dozen of fussy waiters bring you the giant tray. Do they have happy hour....?

The Hives, WTAI, Stockholm 08

Here's a little film I took of great Swedish rockers The Hives at Where The Action Is in Stockholm saturday June 14th. This is one of their three really great songs:

Rage Against The Machine Hultsfred 08

What a gig. Just an amazing band. One of the best gigs I've seen. There are a few bands out there that just has this amazing energy, and RATM are one of them. If you ever get the chance, go see them. Rock'n'roll don't get much better. Here's a little film I did at the gig during "Sleep Now In The Fire", where Zach makes one of his little speeches:

Festival Time is Upon Us

Rage Against The Machine at Hultsfred tomorrow, it's gonna be fantastic.
Just an amazing band, so groovy, great rap, so angry, just listen to that guitar.
Check out this classic video from 1999, directed by Michael Moore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz8wU9DdbqU

Are you N.E.R.D.y enuff?

The new N.E.R.D. album is pretty funky. Better than the last one, not as sinister. But don't think they are taking the easy route, this is intelligent, quirky music for smart hipsters with colorfoul clothes all over the world. One listen says I will listen to this one a bit this summer. Hail Pharrell, that kid is too cool for school, but this time, he's cool enough for me to upload it to my phone. That definitely don't happen to all albums. That doesn't make me a hipster in colorful clothes, FYI.
Check out great cover illustration: http://www.n-e-r-d.com/
And funky video with sticky crunked-out shouting:

Apple Ihone 3G - a probable killer

The new Iphone 3G on sale for 199 dollars from July 11th will probably be an insane success.

The Onion Movie Review

It's funny as h**l, go see it. It's clever, bold, and full of crude stuff. The only thing negative is that it is built up around a bunch of sketches, that gets tied together in the end. But it lacks a bit of narrative, wich can make one feel a bit restless. It changes subjects all the time, simply put. It can be downloaded too, if you're into that.

RAWK in STHLM

Where The Action Is in Stockholm seems to be a pretty interesting gig. Faves of the lineup are Dinosaur Junior, QOTSA, The Hives and Mando Diao. As things are turning out, I am going! I wanna Rock'n'roll all nite, and party every day!

This American Life

Radio show turned TV-show, from Public Radio in Chicago. Supposed to be super-good. The six TV-episodes are downloadable. The host is Ira Glass, you can read about the show here. This is quite intellectual stuff, kind of in the vein of The Believer. There are smart, subtle people in USA too!

RIP Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley passed away today, sad. Saw him play live one night in Stockholm in a surprise gig at Melody Club in the late 80's. I had hardly heard of the old black dude in a hat, glasses and a suit, ripping away on a square Gretsch. The gig was fantastic, and he was a total pro on stage, playing amazing guitar. He is said to be the founder of rock'n'roll guitar. May Bo play forever in heaven now, unless he signed a contract with the devil, at the crossroads, well, the way he played guitar, he probably did...

The Onion Movie

The Onion is usually very funny, both as a website, and newspaper. Now they have a movie out. As I understand it, it is out straight on DVD. Anyhow, it seems hilarious in their ususal smart manner, check out a trailer: