"Like it or Not" with Madonna

OK. Here it is. The inevitable "Confessions on a Dance Floor"-review.

I have to state right away that even if I am as much a Madonna fan as your average gay guy (I’ve done my share of Vogueing and the movements in "Express Yourself", I’ve seen the "Blond Ambition Tour on VHS so many times the tape broke, and I have all her albums in one way or the other), I can’t say I know every song she’s done, and I haven’t cared much of her albums since Ray of Light"…and before that I guess the last record I bought with her Madgesty where "Dick Tracy"…
…so the complete flow of unconditional love that will flush over you in this review is not some kind of "Madonna is my goddess" type of love…is just my love for pure, danceable pop-music.
Just so you know….here we go:

Hung Up
Madonna, Stuart Price, Björn&Benny
Everybody knows it by now, and I’ve already talked about in this blog. It’s a huge hit, it’s as gay as a tune can be, and I guess its only flaw is that you might get tired of it sooner than you expect. But it is a great start of this album, and a great come-back single for Madonna.
Get Together
Madonna, Anders Bagge, Peer Åström
Not one of my favourite tracks, but I really can’t say why. I guess that even if the base is nice as hell and it is very well produced, I think the song never takes off. It just goes on…which can be nice….but I wouldn’t have put this as number two on the album…it’s more like a number eight or something…and it also has the unfortunate placement between two of the albums best and most catchy songs…
Sorry
Madonna, Stuart Price
…since this is one of the best dance/pop-songs of 2005. It’s the next single, it is pure Madonna, pure pop, and pure fantastic. Once again (last time was "Material Girl") she borrows the base from Jackson Five’s "Can You Feel It" (but this time it’s actually another loop) and the result is amazing. The text is cool (it’s more important to act decent than be an idiot and the say you sorry), and it is impossible to tell what’s most catchy; the verses or the chorus. Your feet can’t possible stand still when you here this, and I can hardly wait for the remixes… The only thing I miss is a "Förlåt!" when she says "Forgive" me in different languages…but I guess you can’t have everything.
Future Lovers
Madonna, Mirwais
I’m not a big fan of Mirwais, but I am a big fun of songs where people talks in the beginning. And even if this song never reaches the heights you might suspect in the beginning, it is a distant cousin of Kylie’s "Light Years" – and you can have a lot worse relatives than that. You just keep on dancing.
I Love New York
Madonna, Stuart Price
The first line ("…I love New York, other places makes me feel like a dork") and the strange decision to sing "F-off" rather that "fuck off" makes this song a little hard to love…and as I read somewhere: this song is more fun than good. But at the same time the beat is fantastic and it grips you by the balls and makes you dance your head off while shouting "Get off my street!"…and oh; I love the siren at the end. That’s really New York!
Let It Will Be
Madonna, Mirwais Stuart Price
You might have guessed that I love most of the songs on this album – but this is one of my three favourite songs among the twelve (the other two are "Sorry" and "Jump"). The strings are fantastic, Madonna almost hisses out the text and sounds incredible, the production is impeccable, and once again there’s a chorus that makes you want to throw your t-shirt off and dance until you get unconscious. This must be a single?? I demand at least three or four fabulous remixes.
Forbidden Love
Madonna, Stuart Price
Madonna tells us a story about forbidden love and manages to revive the voice-coder that Cher killed in the nineties. If the previous songs have been songs you dance yourself to death in clubs at – this one has more of "lets-do-something-very-nasty-while-dancing-to this-how-about-something-as-close-as-sex-as-it-gets"-kind of wibe. And I love the countdown at the end, which leads us right into…
Jump
Madonna, Joe Henry, Stuart Price
…this favourite of mine. This song sounds like Madonna-in-the-eighties meets the production of the 21st century, and it borrows its synth-loops from Pet Shop Boys and adds some well placed hand-claps. I loved it from the first time I heard it…I guess this is how I want my music.
How High
Madonna, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winberg, Henrik Jonback
One of the songs written by Swedes on this album; a disco-march with a heavy beat and a text about success and fortune and if it all matters in the end. Not bad at all, but not the strongest pupil in this school.
Isaac
Madonna, Stuart Price, Yitzhak Sinwani
The song that has infuriated Madonna’s kabbalah-gang (we all know that religious people have no sense of humour or self-distance, so what did she expect?) starts of with a male Ofra Haza and the crashes into something reminding of her previous hit "Frozen". A very intense guitar and a heavy beat lifts this song from just being bizarre to be a favourite that stands out from the rest of the gang.
Push
Madonna, Stuart Price
Slow, oriental, and constantly repeating the line "You push me" makes this my least favourite song of the album…a bit like how Guy Richie (Madonna’s husband, which the lyric is all about) is one of my least favourite directors now a days. What saves it from being a total disaster in my book is the chorus, which in some way reminds me of a slow-beat "Like a Prayer".
Like It or Not
Madonna, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winberg, Henrik Jonback
"Better the devil you know" she sings, but I don’t think that is a tribute to Miss Minouge, more than the lines "…sinner, not a saint" is a tribute to Alcazar… This is just a very nice ending of a marvellous album, and it is a cool, heavy-beated, Swede-written tune about who Madonna is – and that we can love her or leave her; she don’t care. Well, I love you Madge! And if I like this album or not? Well, tuff call…I love it! 10 disco balls out of 10!

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Like it or Not" with Madonna

"Vi Mot Världen" with Kent

OK, it is Friday and time for this week’s chart!
But to manage to do this in a good way we have to play a little mind-game:
We have to imagine that I haven’t jet heard the new Madonna-album...
‘Cause if I should list my ten most heard songs on my iPod right now...they would all come from "Confessions on a Dance Floor", and that would be quite a boring list...
Next week I might have cooled down a bit Madge-wise and then I might be able to place two or three songs – it feels like Utopia today - from the album on the list (like I did with Lena Ph last week), but for now the prerequisites are that I have only heard the single...nothing more.
So here’s the chart of the music I listen to this week – or at least what I listened to this Wednesday or something...

This Week/Last Week/Peak/Weeks on Chart/Artist - Song

01/01/01/04/Madonna - Hung Up
02/NE/02/01/September - Cry for You
03/NE/03/01/Kent - Vi Mot Världen
04/05/04/02/Lena Philipsson - Jag Sover Hellre Ensam
05/NE/05/01/We're from Barcelona - I'm from Barcelona
06/09/06/02/Lena Philipsson - Det Ringer på Min Dörr
07/02/02/04/Sugababes - Red Dress
08/04/04/02/Lena Philipsson - Han Jobbar i Affär
09/03/03/04/Andy Bell (feaut. Jake Shears) - I Thought it was You
10/08/02/06/Depeche Mode - Suffer Well

Madonna is still on top, breaking her own record on this chart.
Septembers last single "Looking for Love", which turned out to be a huge flop in the Flip/Flop, has grown a lot the last weeks – but her next single (well, it must be!?) is even better. It’s good for real. An obvious number two.
Kent is one of my favourite bands ever, and new material from them is always a huge thing. Their new EP is very, very Kent, and "Vi Mot Världen" is the first track and the one I think is the best (possible in competition with "Ansgar&Evelyn" which just didn’t make into the chart...but if there had been a number eleven spot it certainly had parked itself there this week).
With Madonna sampling ABBA and paying the millions, Kent being the biggest band in Sweden, and September being more a product than an artist, it is nice to find a song from a guy who just wanted to make some music, gathered some friends, recorded a single, and released it on the internet. That’s the case with We're from Barcelona – new at number five – and it is already a minor hit on Swedish radio. Genuine!
The rest of the chart is still dominated by Miss Philipsson, and notably Gorillaz fall out from the chart after a record-breaking eight weeks (!). Welcome back boys!

Since there might be a possibility that we will need to Flip/Flop September’s tune if it is released as a single (we have to make it up for her...all three of us regrets flopping "Looking for Love"), I pick Kent as the song of the day.
The song is also almost the direct opposite to the Madonna-mood I’m into right now, and sometimes it might be necessary with something complete different!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Vi Mot Världen" with Kent

"You Raise Me Up" with Westlife

I’m sorry but my world is just "Confessions on a Dance Floor" and Madonna right now...
So to focus on something else, the Flip/Flop this week will try to find out if Westlifes 13th number one hit in England where fair or not...

D-man: Flop
Probably a very sweet and likeable tune if you're a 14-year old ugly girl high on hormones, without any boyfriends whatsoever, who’s only companion is a lollypop and a soft cuddly bear, without eyes, of course, that also is very ugly. And probably she has no parents and is crying constantly in front of iTunes every day as the song goes on repeat, since you can't tell when the song starts over again, really. That's not why she cries though, she cries 'cause she is utterly miserable, and since she's ugly she can have that.

E-man: Flop
Pointless, utterly pointless. Regular pretty boy-band style "oh-help-me-I-just-want-to-be-loved-and-why-is-it-always-raining-boo-hoo" but with none of the panache that made this factory-produced music style popular in the 90s (and I didn't even like it when it was fresh). Nah guys, time to call it quits I say. To express it in the lingo of their target audience: "U suck!"

K-man: Flop
It starts slow as a hymn. It includes Irish violins and flutes and sounds like something from a movie soundtrack to Braveheart, the closing track to any Disney-movie ever made, or your average "poor-people-on-Ireland"-flick. Then a quire turns up. My god...this one has all the tricks in the book...no wonder it gave Westlife their 13th number one (which is a record tie with the Beatles). But sorry guys; You've done this song (the other 12 number ones I presume) over and over and over again, so many times it is not funny anymore. And to include "new acoustic versions" of your previous biggest hits on the single just screams "We’re desperate!!!!" It doesn't get to me at all...it just feel fabricated...and by the way: Boybands are so over it is not even fun in an "I feel sorry for you who didn't manage to get a solo career"-way. Where's Madonna?

No question about it; Westlife is over.
Boyband are over.
Boybands singing Disney-ballads are over.
Forget about this tune as soon as possible.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "You Raise Me Up" with Westlife

"B What U Wanna B" with Darin

This is the day when I finally got to hear Madonna’s new album "Confession of a Dance Floor"…
*pure happiness*
…I’ll get back to that some other day.
I guess I have to digest it a bit first.
But it’s clearly a good first impression.

Today is also the day when someone outed the Swedish pop/girl/teen-idol Darin in a blogg. (I got the tip from the fabulous blog of Johan Hilton – a must-read every day!) Rumours say that he has snogged his 30 year old male manager at the TV-house.
…and I surprised my self by thinking: "How could he?"
Not snog a guy.
Almost everybody knew that he would/wanted to do that.
I guess it was one of these George Michael, Ricky Martin, Peter Jöback cases.
No I was upset that this teenaged guy kissed a so much older guy.

…and then I realised that I will be 33 in about four months and got an anxiety attack…

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "B What U Wanna B" with Darin

"All in the Game" with Fame

Why does there always have to be an official song for each sport event there is?

This summer we had an official song for the World Championship in track and fields (a song by Amy Diamond that I never heard), of course every soccer World Cup seems to have at least two different songs (an official and one un-official), and today I heard the official song for the Swedish Winter Olympics team 2006...
It is sung by the melodifestival-group Fame (it's not Fame in the picture - it's the official OS-outfit), it is called "All in the Game", and it is truly awful...
OK, I guess this little song isn't worse than anything else...it is just so mediocre and unnecessary.
Who will be inspired by such a blunt little tune?
Who will ever play it? Buy it?

Or maybe it was written to match the Swedish achievements in the last winter Olympics?
Awful. Mediocre. Unnecessary. Blunt.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "All in the Game" with Fame

"We’re from Barcelona" with I’m from Barcelona

I’m just too tired to blog today.
I feel quite strange, and when I got a massage earlier (yeah, we get that at work sometimes) I started feeling sick and dizzy, and had to stop.
Not fun at all...
So today I just throw the song of today right at you.
It’s a very nice little tune – frequently played at the Swedish radio channel P3 right now – called "We’re from Barcelona", that makes me happy when I’m feeling as tired as I do right now.
And one more thing – you can actually download the song legally!
Right here!
Isn’t that nice.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "We’re from Barcelona" with I’m from Barcelona

"Turn back Time" with Aqua

Winter time!
Tonight we put the clock back one hour and could sleep that hour once again.
Well, that’s the kind of mini-jetlag that I like!
Rough night though...
...people are strange sometimes.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Turn back Time" with Aqua

"Baba O'Riley" with The Who

To finally have been to New York is like having been told a big secret that you knew everybody except you were into before. Now I can look at TV-shows from Manhattan and smile at the locations because I know where they are geographically and in reference to each other…

Like today I was watching "CSI:New York"…
…by the way, they have made some huge changes in season two; Vanessa Ferlito (she played Aiden Burn) is out and Anna Belknap is in as Lindsay Monroe (I really like her). Hill Harper (who plays Sheldon Hawkes) has been put out in the field, the series has turned a bit brighter and less gothic and bluish – and Melina Kanakaredes shows a lot more cleavage in every episode… But I like it - and it is starting to be my favourite CSI. I’ll make the song of today the theme from CSI:NY…
…and there was a murder right outside the restaurant in Little Italy where we ate ore last evening in New York!
I’m finally able to make remarks like that…and it feels great!
=)

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Baba O'Riley" with The Who

"Red Dress" with Sugababes

Last week my music chart had vacation, but now it’s back with full power!
Almost…

In NYC I didn’t have the time to listen to much music, and since I got back it has been mostly the same songs as on the last chart (well, I shall be honest…it has just been Madonna over and over and over and over again) – until this Wednesday when Lena Philipsson released her new album and it almost completely took my iPod in its possession.

Just look at the chart for yourself!

This Week/Last Week/Peak/Weeks on Chart/Artist - Song

01/01/01/03/Madonna - Hung Up
02/02/02/03/Sugababes - Red Dress
03/05/05/03/Andy Bell (feaut. Jake Shears) - I Thought it was You
04/NE/04/01/Lena Philipsson - Han Jobbar i Affär
05/NE/05/01/Lena Philipsson - Jag Sover Hellre Ensam
06/NE/06/01/Andy Bell - Caught in a Spin
07/NE/07/01/Robbie Williams - Sin Sin Sin
08/04/02/05/Depeche Mode - Suffer Well
09/NE/09/01/Lena Philipsson - Det Ringer på Min Dörr
10/09/01/08/Gorillaz feaut. Shaun Ryder - Dare

Well, Madonna is of course parked at the top spot, and the Sugababes is holding on as well.
Andy Bell takes the bronze with his and Jake Shares camp "Scissor Sisters-meets-Erasure-in-gay-heaven" song, and he also manages to get another song from his solo-album on this weeks chart.
The Gorillaz keeps beating their own record – now for the eight week on the list!
Robbie’s new single also sneaks into the chart – but it is Lena who dominates the newcomers with a total of three entries! Her upcoming single is the highest entry, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the others (or maybe one of the other songs on the album which is not on the chart this week) will climb higher in the future as well.

Welcome back next week for more music!

...and for the song of the day...
Well, Madonna had her day two weeks ago so I brought out the 'babes at number to for you!

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Red Dress" with Sugababes

"Han Jobbar i Affär" with Lena Philipsson

Well, yesterday I gave you and old pre-NYC Flip/Flop, but today (‘cause it’s Thursday = Flip/Flop-day) I serve you a completely fresh one!
The new single from Sweden’s schlager-queen number one:
Carola WHO???
Lena Philipsson of course!!

Here new single is written by Orup (as all songs on her new terrific album) and is called "Han Jobbar i Affär" (He Works in a Store). Lets hand it over to the jury!

D-man: Flip
One question though, why couldn't she be a bit more specific? Just a tad. She sings about a store (what store?), his hair (what does it look like?) and a bunch of different more or less diffuse things that are to her likings. She has bought almost everything that she can from this presumed store, but it leaves a lot of questions. She has not bought everything apparently, but why not? Was it a men's store? I still like it though, despite its cornyness. Or perhaps everything that is played about 400 times in two days gets to you? :)

E-man: Flop
Flop. Sorry babe, but the sound is getting tired. This was fresh with "Det gör ont" and right after that, but this endless rehearsal of how Orup would sound if he had a career at the moment doesn't hold my interest any longer. Can't even be bothered with listening a second time before passing judgement and getting back to work.
Whippety-booo!

K-man: Flip
Even if this isn’t the best song from her new album, it might be the best Lena&Orup schlager since "Det Gör Ont" and with that statement I guess you already know where this is going... It's a clearly a Flip for me. It's also a much better song (although it has flaws of course; the lyrics partly stinks and the production is a bit too much of "bonn-disco" in the verses) than her previous single and I adore the chorus. And I adore Lena. Maybe not a hit on Tracks - but Svensktoppen is next! And don’t forget listen to the album!

The Flip/Flop was fresh…but the result was as old as Alice Timander.
Flip from Mr D & Mr K and a Flop from Mr E.
It’s a 2/3 Flip again!!
What’s new?
Lena’s album, maybe…

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Han Jobbar i Affär" with Lena Philipsson

"Sin Sin Sin" with Robbie Williams

OK, just before we left for New York there was supposed to be a "Flip or Flop" of the new single from Mr. Robbie Williams, but there wasn’t time…
…but here we go instead!

D-man: Flip
Easy one this week. Nothing compared to Angel, perhaps, but a nice flow and my feet were dancing. Such a nice lullaby. I think I can grow quite fond of this tune, reminds me a bit of J.Cash's covers but with Robbie's voice and of course more upbeat. Play it again Robbie!

E-man: Flop
Well, grumpy's back (me, not Robbie). I like Robbie, but this doesn't wake me up like his old stuff used to. I generally like the save-the-world pathos of the lyrics on his new album, but the music is a bit tame. Granted, I am a bit tired at the moment so it's not an easy job. But with the money he makes off of it, I expect him to deliver more. So, that's a flop if you didn't catch that. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got sleep…err, work, to catch up on.

K-man: Flip
Everything Robbie does turns into gold - that's some kind of unwritten rule nowadays. It might be because he is the world’s only male solo pop artists...or maybe there is someone else...but then at least I can't remember him right now. So of course this "this-time-I-sound-like-I-am-David-Bowie-doing-"Heroes"-in-the-verses"-single is a hit, even if I personally think it is more due to Robbie than the song itself. And Bowie then.

I guess everything is back to normal in the Flip/Flop-world.
A 2/3 Flip, where E-man is waving his red flag as usual…

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Sin Sin Sin" with Robbie Williams

"My Heart Will Go On" with Celine Dion

I’ve never been this tired in my entire life. Is this how it is to have jet lag? It feels like my heart should stop and I would fall down dead (or at least sleeping) on the ground.
But I guess that won’t happen, and that my heart will go on…

Oh my god! Wasn’t that the worst link to the song of today EVER???

Fortunately there is another link:

Yesterday I bought the new four-disc DVD of the movie "Titanic".
I know the Titanic-backlash was one of the greatest in movie history, when it went from "the movie you have to see" to "I promise, I haven’t seen Titanic" in a about a year…but I never understood that.
I love that movie, and have been waiting for this Special Edition forever.
I have seen it in the movie theatre more than any other movie..
…and I always cries at the end when the old Rose dies and she arrives at the Titanic and Jack is alive again and everyone applauds.

…and now I can do that every, single day if I want…

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "My Heart Will Go On" with Celine Dion

"Leaving New York" with REM

My First Trip to New York, Part VI

…trapped in a jumbo jet with a huge, fat man beside me (who was flowing his stomach over to my seat) * the worst turbulence I have ever experienced * panic * darkness * scared as hell * Frankfurt * finally found the After Shave I looked for since London…and also added a Bacardi Razz to my shopping basket since I had survived that flight * boarding a plane again (for a much smoother flight this time) while H-babe & Co remained in Frankfurt for €250 * home!!

Then the try-to-stay-up-for-30-hours-in-a-row-to-avoid-jet-lag project started - with power walks (half a sleep) with F1 and ESC-watching with Johan – but that’s another story.

I guess REM is right in several ways when the sing: "Leaving New York is never easy".
I want to go back right away. And I am already afraid of the flight.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Leaving New York" with REM

"New York" with U2

My First Trip to New York, Part V

Hang over * breakfast at Starbucks * hang over * a last-minute-buy (necklace) at American Eagle Outfitters * bus ride (about eight streets) to BB King’s for brunch buffet and a gospel show with Harlem Gospel Choir * leaving Manhattan for Newark * spending time on a very boring airport without anything fun to do except being afraid * boarding the plane * and then the perception of time and days went a bit weird, but I guess it was about Monday in Sweden by then…

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "New York" with U2

"New York City Boy" with Pet Shop Boys

My First Trip to New York, Part IV

Breakfast at Starbucks * yet another day of seminars (this time with role plays) * yellow cab with F-man and E-babe to 86th Street for a quick bagel and a walk outside of Guggenheim, the Met and in Central Park – than a cab down to 5th Ave * Disney Store * Trumph Tower * GAP * all the limousines everywhere (actually everywhere in NYC…I’ve never seen that many Limos in a town before) * Sephora * Grand Central Station * Toys’R’Us at Time Square (with its in-door Ferris-wheel) * yet another pre-party at our room * bus ride down to Little Italy * the very fun dinner at Ristorante La Puglia with (excellent company at the table as usual, and) fantastic wine and vegetarian food * the waiter who poured wine into CarlB’s camera-bag * the song(?) from the new employees * Jorge Buccio * rain * strong drinks at a sports bar at Beeker Street * more drinks (getting quite drunk now) at the Union Square Coffee House Bar * very drunk

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "New York City Boy" with Pet Shop Boys

"New York, New York" with Ryan Adams

My First Trip to New York, Part III

Spending the whole morning trying to find F1 who hadn’t returned to his bed in our room for the whole night (he finally appeared at noon and told me he had found some new Australian “best friends” at a seedy bar, and slept at their place) * sitting in a dark room at a seminar just wanting to get out in the big apple * going down to SoHo again for lunch at Starbucks, to meet FF and Mie for yet another Starbucks visit, and to buy X-mas cards and a Sex and the City-book at Urban Outfitters * fast visit to Macy’s to discover that the knitted sweater I liked was too big for me * cab ride to Upper East Side and Rockefeller Center – and for the first time since I arrived really getting the feeling that I love NYC * the famous ice-skating rink you’ve seen so many times before – but never in real life * my first raisin and cinnamon bagel * the NBC store with all its fantastic TV-thingies * we did MoMA; the best museum of contemporary art that I have ever visited, in under an hour. Blasphemy of course, but it was nice anyway and a joy to be there with F-man and H-babe * walking along Park Avenue in some form of ecstasy over the fact that we were walking along Park Avenue * drinks at some bar * dinner at Café Centro at the back of Grand Central Station * even more drinks at the bar

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "New York, New York" with Ryan Adams

"New York, New York" with Frank Sinatra

My First Trip to New York, Part II

The pancake breakfast at the diner in the hotel * Meeting FF (with F-man, E-babe & H-babe) at the Flatiron Building (which unfortunately was covered in scaffolding) 9 o’clock in the morning and having a whole exiting day of a new, big, newly awaked town in front of you * Ground Zero; realizing just how huge the WTC must have been * Century 21 and the first shopping in NYC (a DKNY wallet and two pair of CK underwear) * Abercrombie & Fitch – the best store I went into in NYC – where I bought a sweater and two t-shirts…and regret not buying more * Taking a Vanilla Latte at the end of the Brooklyn Bridge * Canal Street/China Town * Walking along Broadway and jumping in and out of shops * Lunch in SoHo * The first drinks/beers at the Union Square Coffee House Bar * another pre-party at our room * dinner at Charley O’s * overpriced and ultra strong drinks at the (rotating) sky bar at Marion Hotel, with a fabulous view of New York and a drunk F1 * beers at a shabby bar on 9th Avenue with ABBA playing in the jukebox * almost impossible to sleep that night due to the jet lag

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "New York, New York" with Frank Sinatra

"Manhattan Skyline" with A-ha

My First Trip to New York, Part I

The flight went fairly well; nice company on my row of seats, my own little screen with movies and games, 150 Sudokus, and lots of alcohol (though I had colleagues who got a lot drunker than I) * the fabulous view of the Manhattan skyline when the bus drove from Newark * arriving to the Hotel New Yorker where I and F1 got a room on the 22nd floor * Jens and I running through Macy’s * Looking at Macy’s overwhelming Christmas department with all the X-mas trees * the first NYC coffee at Starbucks * Time Square with so many lamps that you didn’t think it was possible for a place that look that tacky * the jet lag kicking in and you feeling more tired than ever before in your life – and it’s just 5 o’clock p.m. * the first pre-party at our room with the wash bowl completely filled with ice and beer * the totally chaotic dinner at Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Manhattan Skyline" with A-ha

"New York is Waiting" with Björn Skifs

We were supposed to have some "Flip or Flop" today…
…but I guess Erik had to work or something 'cause it all went down the drain…
...or maybe we all were just to obsessed with our trip to New York tomorrow.

I know I am.
I’m totally psyched actually…

Flight anxiety, a throat infection that won’t stop hurting, trying to do some packing (and have to keep all U.S-restrictions in mind)...
...and really feeling some sort of complete, hysterical, disgusting panic that just makes me crash on the sofa solving some blogs instead of doing the things I should.

I really, really hate feeling like this every time I am going to fly.
And I am really, really tired of my f*cking throat.
But at the same time I am really, really longing for New York...
...and to meet Fredrik at flatiron at Thursday!

New York - here I come!
I sincerely hope...

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "New York is Waiting" with Björn Skifs

"No Limit" with 2 Unlimited

Some time ago a colleague of mine raised a very interesting question when we had our afternoon coffee break in the sun on the roof of our office:

If there is no limit the credit card you get from Eurocard...why don’t you by the company Eurocard with that credit card?

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "No Limit" with 2 Unlimited

"The Fly" with U2

The weather today is f*cking gorgeous! I have been sitting outside in the sun and just enjoyed the crisp, cold air and the sun. Marvellous! It is actually quite hard to get inside and start packing for NYC, where it looks like it will be rainy but 24 C…
But that’s not what today’s blog should be about at all.
It should be about something I have tried to avoid for several months…but I have finally given up and started to do it like everyone else.
Its one of the biggest "things of the year" - or "one of this year’s flies (flugor)" as we would say here in Sweden – together with blogging (well, I’m already doing that) and the little coloured rubber-bands around your wrist (I’m really, really not going to do that…unless they makes a "I’m single, come and love me"-rubber band…then we can start talking).
Of course I am talking about Sudokos.
These little Asian cross-number-thingies, which have dominated all newspapers and book stores since this spring, have finally taking over my life….and it’s that bloody throat infection that is to blame for this also - staying at home for a week really gives you the time to do a lot of things you have avoided before…
Well, I can finally confirm it: It is as stupid as I thought…but it is much, much, much more habit-forming then I ever could have imagined. You really can’t stop. Not a chance.
My new plan is to buy a book full of Sudokos, and use this book for my flight over the Atlantic this Wednesday. Right now flying for such a long time just seems terrifying, but maybe some Sudokos can change that – I know cross-word puzzles have done it before.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "The Fly" with U2

"Sista Morgonen" with Niklas Strömstedt

This morning was the last one I ate my Klacid medication – tomorrow I am supposed to be well again. Hm. Strange that I still have a soar throat then… keep your fingers crossed! I really want to go to NYC on Wednesday… Anyway, that’s one of the reasons for the song of today ("Sista Morgonen" actually translates to "The Last Morning"), but there is an additional one:

Yesterday after work, a couple of us (E-man, D-man, E-babe and so on) went home to E-man and his wife to blow off some steam over the passed week. It was a very nice evening – even though I didn’t drink anything with alcohol (but rather about two litres of Coca-Cola), and the other ones had beer and wine – and I didn’t get home until about 8p.m.
Not that it’s late or anything, but I missed half an hour of "idol 2005"…which really didn’t matter at all since the party was much nicer…but that’s not the point….and I only catch about half of the songs…
…and my god was that a blessing.
The theme were "Swedish Hits", and the contenders where butchering songs from Kent, Håkan Hellström and Eva Dahlgren…or just singing awful songs by people like Tomas Ledin. Actually, the only good thing I heard was from a girl called Sibel (she is usually one of the contestants that I really can’t stand – but who is constantly celebrated by the jury) who sang Niklas Strömstedts "Sista Morgonen".
My thoughts where; damn, she actually can sing without wailing every song to the grave, and damn, she sings much better in Swedish.

Of course the jury said exactly the opposite.
Either they or I have no clue at all…

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Sista Morgonen" with Niklas Strömstedt

"Hung Up" with Madonna

Friday! Next week by this time I'm supposed to be in NYC (keep your fingers crossed that my throat infection is completely gone by then...) so I guess the list will take a paus or just be a bit late. But this week it's here of course - and with a new song at the top spot!

Since a short snippet of this song leaked into the internet I've been dying to hear the complete song...and now the day have come!
Well, I've ordered in the Flip or Flop-jury for en extra session, and you can read the results after the list in this blog. Do I need to say more?

What can I say about number two? I love my Sugababes, I've listened to their album non-stop since I got it - and "Red Dress" is the best song on that album. Written by the same people who wrote their previous hit "Round Round", this is a fabulous tune with no less than two (!) choruses. Superb.
I flopped the bananas yesterday, but they managed to climb to stay at number three anyway. That's strong.
Andy Bell lost his long-time-on-the-chart-song "Crazy", but replaced it with two other songs from his supreme new album. The song with Jake Shears is certainly "a grower, not a shower". I didn't think much of it at first...but slowly it started to dominate my iPod and finally managed to get into the list.
Another record for the Gorillaz also! Six weeks on the list. That's a helluva hit!

This Week/Last Week/Peak/Weeks on Chart/Artist - Song

01/NE/01/01/Madonna - Hung Up
02/NE/02/01/Sugababes - Red Dress
03/03/03/02/Bananarama - Look on the Floor (Angel City Short Mix)
04/02/02/03/Depeche Mode - Suffer Well
05/NE/05/01/Andy Bell (feaut. Jake Shears) - I Thought it was You
06/01/01/02/Eurythmics - I've Got a Life
07/06/06/02/Sugababes - Ugly
08/NE/08/01/Andy Bell - Electric
09/04/01/06/Gorillaz feaut. Shaun Ryder - Dare
10/05/01/04/Danielle - La Poupe

Now for the extra "Flip or Flop"-session!
Of course it's the new single "Hung Up" from Madonna, that's in the air this Friday in our room.

D-man: Flip
Madonna marries ABBA, Guy Ritchie marries Madonna, Alexander the Great invaded Greece and Cleopatra spoke a dozen languages. This is a dance floor smash hit to be and I'm certain it will get all the attention it deserves. Partly 'cause it's a dance floor filler, partly cause it's Madonna, but mainly cause it's Madonna and ABBA combined. A combination that would make Alexander the Great envious and lure Cleopatra to learn how to speak Swedish.

E-man: Flip
Well, not unexpectedly perhaps, a big flip. Even with the huge expectations on a new song from an artist of Madonna's calibre, this is good sh*t. The sounds, the lyrics, and the spine-chilling voice of Madonna just combine into a fantastic tune. Add to this that I am genuinely impressed with the fact that she manages to renew herself musically and even wrestle a sense of nostalgia by using an ABBA sample (a group with which I have absolutely no listening experience), and I am just left in awe. A big flip and a peck on the cheek for you, Madonna.

K-man: Flip
It's Madonna. It's ABBA. If I flopped this I would go against everything that's sacred for me and for my whole race as a gay man. This might be one of these rare matches made in heaven. I'm still feeling sick, but when I hear this song I immediately want to put on ridiculously small t-shirts and dance on pedestals. It's a Flip bigger than life it self. Go Madge! She's back and she has married a disco ball!

What can I say?
The biggest Flip of the year?

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Hung Up" with Madonna

"Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)" with Bananarama

I can't tell you how glad I am that we're all back together in the room for another round of "Flip or Flop"!
Well, I really loved D-man's ambitious blog last week...but I think it's something very special about sitting here in the room all three of us and listening to a new single...
'Nough said;
The single up to test this week is the new one from Bananarama called "Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)". We've listen to both the "Single Version Radio Edit" and the "Angel City Short Remix".

Bring in my boys! Here we go!

D-man: Flip
Geeee... this one was a hard one. I really like how it takes of, and what sounds as Alexander Bard on acid. Then it doesn't really keep up. It gets a bit dull. It doesn't do anything for me. But then it once again reminds me of the intro-tune, which I really like. Then suddenly it is over. What happened? No more acid? My first guess was that this actually was a new one from Army of Lovers, but apparently it's not. This one gets a FLIP only 'cause the intro made me smile at the last listening occasion.

E-man: Flip
Not a convincing one, but nevertheless a flip. That goes for the original version, however. Not the Angel City Short Mix. More about that later.
The original has a nice ring and stands out a bit form the crowd, while still being easy listening. I really like the blend of the electronic and the harmonious synthpop. The lyrics, well, that's just your mainstream "girl meets boy and really wants boy to go home with her". Not much to be said.
Now the remix. Better production, but in that it manages to take away exactly the sounds I like in the original. Too much like the rest, could be just about any third rate song playing at the moment. So, a flip it is, with the reservation that it applies ONLY to the original single version (radio edit).

K-man: Flop
This is a hard one – it might be my hardest Flip/Flop yet. I can’t say I dislike it - in contrary I often turn the volume up when it hits my iPod - but I guess I just expect more from my Bananas...or well not EXPECT nowadays...there hasn’t been much to celebrate lately....no I just WANT more from my fruity ones. More party, more glamour, more eighties, more Stock, Aitken & Waterman... So the "Angel City Short Remix" is much more my cup of tea, than the single version. The Radio Remix is just too damn average! So sorry, girls; There’s no big comeback outside the London gay-clubs this time around either...

My god.
E-man flips... And then D-man also flips!! And the K-man flops!?
A Bananarama single!?
I guess now hell has frozen over, Jesus has returned and Kikki Danielsson might be able to win the melodifestival also...
Somewhere the K-man is deeply satisfied anyway (since - as I said - I somehow like this tune), but felt the need to call it a flop to set an example for the bananas. The really have to shape up!

Even so; a Flip it is. And not even a very small one.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)" with Bananarama

"Little Boxes" with Malvina Reynolds

Last episode of the new tv-series "Weeds" was aired at the American tv-channel Showtime this week. Right now (if you live in Sweden and have cable) I think you can catch it on Canal +.
Absolutely do so.
It is really one of the best new tv-shows this year.
It’s about a single mum who has to sell weeds to support her family – but it is really not as tragic as it seem. The opposite actually. It is fun, heart-warming and the lines are hilarious:

Andy (after having received a note from the army): I’m not going to Irac to fight in some bullshit war about oil-money!
Dough: Bullshit war? What about 9/11? Didn’t Iran hide the terrorists?
Andy: We’re fighting a war against Iraq….Dough…and neither country had anything to do with blowing up the World trade Centre.
Dough: Well…. They both have sand.
Andy: Bush invaded a nation and defies it to the UN; he’s a war criminal, and now I am supposed to be one of his disposable thugs with a fucking target on my head, in the middle of the desert waiting to be blown up by a car-bomb rigged by a twelve year old who loved Friends and Metallica until one of our missiles blew up his house?? I don’t think so.

Or this one from my favourite character Celia (after she has fond her 10 year old daughter kissing her friend):

Celia: OK…you…cannot….become a lesbian just because you don’t wanna loose weight. The only girl you should be seeing is Jenny Craig.
Isabelle: What?
Celia: I know. I know. You see people like Rosie O’Donnel and you think: "Hey, she can find love!" But that is NOT where lesbianism is going, Isabelle… Look at the "L-word"!
Isabelle: I love Peggy. And she loves me.
Celia: She’s a little Asian girl, they look like boys already, you might as well go for the real deal…
Peggy: Hey! I have boobs.
Celia: Those…are not boobs.

A really, really wonderful show, with good actresses such as Mary-Louis Parker in the lead and Elizabeth Perkins as Celia.
A must see!

And the song for the day is of course the shows (quite disturbing) theme tune.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Little Boxes" with Malvina Reynolds

"Back at Work" from Thoroughly Modern Millie

Back at work.

It feel like you’ve been gone forever (it was just a week, right?), the mailbox looks like you’ve been gone forever, you’re body feels like if a week with fever and without food has made it quite a conquest just to take the bus…
….and you’re colleague have hardly noticed you’ve been away.

"Had a cold or something?"

I know this is not because I have bad colleagues or because I am Mr Anonymous at my work.
No. Not at all. I love (most of) my colleagues. And I think they like me.
But I know how they are feeling.
The feeling that at work...
…at work time stands still and nothing happens.
Every day is almost the same as the one before and therefore time outside the office is running much slower.
Six days at home are about one day at the office.
And don’t mix this up with thinking that the days at work speed by fast as lightning. No. One day at work feels like six days at home…

This week I hope to meet H-man.
H-man has been away from work for a year living in the States.
But I know that when I meet him it will feel like he left the office last week.

"Hey H-man! Had a cold or something?"

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Back at Work" from Thoroughly Modern Millie

"Bitter Pill" with Siobhan Fahey

If this is what it takes to cure me from an average throat infection – what would it take to cure me from something really serious?

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Bitter Pill" with Siobhan Fahey

"The Final Countdown" with Europe

Today it’s time for my 125th song here at the blog – and of course that means a recap.
But!
This is the last recap of its kind...
...at least for every 25th day.

When I started to write these recaps it was mainly because:
A) I would like to se for myself how I varied my songs
B) I hadn’t that much to write about every day and that saved one day…
Now I really like this blog and find things to write in it everyday. I adore the "Flip and Flop"-sessions with the guys at work, I love to write my list on Fridays and I easily find a lot of music-related (or not-so-music-related) things to write about here.
I really don’t need the recaps…or maybe just every 50th or hundred day or something.

And yet another thing!
My sister – who might be the only one I know regularly is reading this blog – hates everything that looks like a list here…and she won’t escape the others I had to let this one go.
So this is the final countdown (and I guess that gave away song number 125).

101 "Unga Pojkar & Äldre Män" with Lena Philipsson
102 "Dare" with Gorillaz feaut. Shaun Ryder
103 "Time After Time" with Cyndi Lauper
104 "Get Me to the Church on Time" from My Fair Lady
105 "If The Milk Turns Sour" with John Murphy & David Hughes
106 "Spice Up Your Life" with Spice Girls
107 "Domino Dancing" with West End Girls
108 "Perfection (Turn Me Upside Down)" with Dannii Minogue & The Soul Seekerz
109 "Die Mauer" with Ebba Grön
110 "La Poupee" with Danielle
111 "Spelling Bee Interlude" with Missy Elliott
112 "Neverending Story" with Limahl
113 "Take it Easy" with The Fugees
114 "Morning Papers" with Prince
115 "Looking for Love" with September
116 "A Pain That I'm Used To" with Depeche Mode
117 "Mer Jul" with Adolphson & Falk
118 "Go to Sleep" with Roxette
119 "I’ve Got a Life" with Eurythmics
120 "Supersonic" with Oasis
121 "All By Myself" with Eric Carmen
122 ""Doctor! Doctor!" with Thompson Twins
123 "Suffer Well" with Depeche Mode
124 "Viktiga Små Ord" with Nanne
125 "The Final Countdown" with Europe

Keep readin’.
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "The Final Countdown" with Europe

"Viktiga Små Ord" with Nanne

Yesterday my friend Fredrik told me (in reference to the HIV thing I wrote in Thursday’s blog) that:
"You have to stop worrying about things all the time. You have to stop seeing your whole life in black… Otherwise you will never be completely happy!"

Smart words from a smart man who I really respect.
But it is just a bit hard to encapsulate something like that when you can’t eat, and are recovering from 40C fever…
But smart words which I will consider, and since I think he might be the one who know me best right now he is probably right.

I also got a tip on a text message from my colleague Emil:
"If you're bored; download/buy a cassette-book, listen to it and just get irritated (or laugh) at the way the person is reading"

That’s a lot easier to follow. Have to try that some day.
Two tips in one day. That’s nice.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Viktiga Små Ord" with Nanne

"Suffer Well" with Depeche Mode

Today it is Friday, and it is time for this week’s list.

It is not as fun as usual… usually I have listen to a whole lot of songs in my iPod, and I present the list for my collegues in my room at work right before we leave for some beers before the weekend…now I just sit here sick by myself and it is hard to choose from all the happy, good, new music that I’ve got this week.

I guess the list would have looked a bit different a "normal" week. Andy bell has released a really fun solo album, and a normal week he would have had one or several new entries – but I haven’t had the strength to listen to it as much as I had wished for… But Andy can still celebrate since "Crazy" has been on the list for five weeks now, and, together with Gorillaz "Dare", that are the longest time a single song been on this ever changing list. Five weeks are a loooong time in my iPod, since I can get tired on a song in the time between to lists… But keep looking for some more Andy bell on the list next week.

The new entries then; I love the new Eurythmics single (as you may have noticed in this weeks Flip or Flop), and new singles from Bananarama and Sugababes are almost like compulsory on this chart. The Bananarama single is not as good as I had hope in it’s original Radio Version – but Angel City Short Mix is fantastic.

The Sugababes…
Well I just have to obsess a little bit about the Sugababes.
Their song "Push the Button" has turned out to be quite a hit this autumn here in Sweden (it was actually on my list already in August ;-)) and when you see the video it isn’t hard to understand why…
Damn, these babes look good!
If it wasn’t for that cardigan/t-shirt-guy showing off his stomach at one point (and well, for the other two hot guys as well) that could have been "The video that turned gay men straight".
At least for 3.38 minutes
Anyhow.
Their upcoming single is not as catchy as "Push Their Button". It is a guitar-based, low-key song about the right of being yourself and to look as you want. Not a party starter…but hey. It’s the ‘babes. Of course they are on my list!

This Week/Last Week/Peak/Weeks on Chart/Artist - Song

01/NE/01/01/Eurythmics - I've Got a Life
02/05/02/02/Depeche Mode - Suffer Well
03/NE/03/01/Bananarama - Look on the Floor (Angel City Short Mix)
04/02/01/05/Gorillaz feaut. Shaun Ryder - Dare
05/03/01/03/Danielle - La Poupee
06/NE/06/01/Sugababes - Ugly
07/01/01/02/Depeche Mode - A Pain That I'm Used To
08/06/06/03/Dannii Minogue & The Soul Seekerz - Perfection
09/07/01/05/Andy Bell - Crazy
10/04/03/03/Rachel Stevens - Crazy Boys

Since the number one song already been song of the day (this Monday) I’ll pick number two…
…and I guess it is a little bit more aligned with how I feel right now, or as Depeche sings:
"I just hang on. Suffer well. Sometimes it’s hard…"

I really want to be in the sun at the Tres-terrace having a beer with my work mates right now…

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Suffer Well" with Depeche Mode

"Doctor! Doctor!" with Thompson Twins

Yesterday I wrote about how it is to feel all alone – and I guess I can’t stress that about feeling enough. It was about how it feels when your home sick. Not that I am all alone and everyone hates me. I know that I have great people around me in life:
I have talked to (poor) Fredrik almost every second hour since I became sick, and he has been as supportive as ever. My mum calls me five times a day (which is very nice, but a bit hard when you can’t actually speak due to that bloody swollen throat). My sister have called me, my colleagues have sent me several text messages and also called me. Johan called (and I know he’d been here with useful stuff if his car hadn’t broke down…). Ante called. Fredrik1 called. But I guess the best thing was when I was completely beaten out after a strange day..

…I went to see the doctor (and it is actually a minor miracle to manage to get an appointment at you local doctor the same day you call here in Gothenburg…but all hail to Vårdcentralen Ekmanska. I am so lucky to be in their district) and she first did a test to find out if I had tonsillitis…but that test came back negative… So then she thought it might be Infectious mononucleosis (which would be devastating since it takes about three weeks to recover from and I have a New York trip in about two weeks) and I had to take new tests. Fortunately these tests also came back negative…so then she thought it was tonsillitis again (don’t ask me why) and wanted to give me penicillin. Unfortunately I am allergic to penicillin so I had to get something else called "Klacid" – but I guess I at least have some pills now, which also hopefully will make me better…

…and suddenly the door-bell rang. There was Javad – my "I work 80 hours a week, and have recently moved in to a villa that needs a lot of work in my spare time" friend – with some oranges, I magazine, and some candy. I was so happy I almost cried. What a friend! And I couldn’t even get him a hug, since I was to damn afraid to transmit my infection to him…and I could barely thank him either since I can’t talk…but I think he saw how happy I was. He really is a very, very important person in my life that guy.

So, let’s lay our hope upon those pills now, and that I have some strange bacteria.
‘Cause as I said yesterday I am a hypochondriac…
…and the first symptoms of HIV are similar to tonsillitis and Infectious mononucleosis.
*gaaaaaah*

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Doctor! Doctor!" with Thompson Twins

"All By Myself" with Eric Carmen

Fortunately, I am sick very seldom.
Well…I’m a total hypochondriac and I always believe I’m sick. I get anxiety attacks, and headaches. I always think that I have a fever (and I always carry a thermometer with me for this purpose) and I often suspects cancer of different forms…
But I haven’t been sick for real for ages.
Until now.
Now I suddenly have become sick for real, and it is totally dreadful.
I have 39-40˚ of fever (that’s Celsius – it is about 104 F) ad my throat is so swollen I only can swallow water and maybe some soup.
I have no strength to do anything useful, and I just lay in my sofa watching TV or sleeps – and that may sound nice…but it really isn’t when you can’t swallow or answer the phone (since it is in another room, and you’re to tired to go there).
It also strange how terrible lonely you feel when your sick.
Usually I’m not that bothered of being single, and I think I manage to have people around me as much as I can and like…but when you get sick it is pretty obvious that you are in fact: All. By. Your. Self.
No one can bring you a cup of tea when you are too feverish to make one yourself. No one will go to the pharmacist and pick up some Alvedon to make your temperature drop. No one will do the dishes when you to tired to even remove your soup-bowl from the coffee table, and no one will be there to say "It is going to be alright" when you wake up at 3 a.m. and have delirium and think you are going to die since you can’t breathe.
No, I don't want any pity - but it is really quite disturbing and it makes you think about the way you live your life.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "All By Myself" with Eric Carmen

"Supersonic" with Oasis

Today I just use my lunch-break to summarize some short facts from my day and week so far:

• Yesterday F2 called and had figured out almost my complete weekend from the short Sunday-blog. That’s someone who knows you really well, when he can read almost three sentences between every written line! =)
• My throat is so soar today that I eat about two Fisherman’s Friend (the light-blue, striped one) every five minutes just to survive. I guess I’m off power walks and going to the gym for the rest of the week, then. Damn!
• Today I read that my favourite TV-show right now (Prison Break) was picked up for a full season by Fox last week. Hurray! New episode today...
• Turkey and Croatia are ready to get into the European Union somewhere in the next ten years. Well, I guess that means it will be easier to control the amount of money you spend when you are about to haggle at the bazaars in Istanbul next time.
• The weather today is spot-on autumn-perfect. Couldn’t it have been like this last Saturday instead?? Now I’m sick and at work... What’s the use?
• With E-man off to surgery, D-man and I excess in old Oasis tunes. I sometimes forget how much I love their first two albums – they really subscribe to two places of my "The ten best albums I have"-list...one of them is clearly top5 (and someday I will tell you the others...I promise). Anyway, the song of today had to be something from either "Definitely Maybe" or " (What’s the Story) Morning Glory"...so I went with this one.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Supersonic" with Oasis

"I’ve Got a Life" with Eurythmics

Monday.
Feels like it always is nowadays...
*sigh*

Well, since E-man is leaving us for an operation tomorrow (and because I will play this song over and over again this week) we will have a "Flip or Flop" right away. Today we will observe the new single from the 80’s icons Eurythmics very closely and try to figure out if we think it’s a flip or a flop.

D-man: Flip
I've been a sucker for monster ballads since the days of good old Meatloaf. This builds up perfectly with a very strong voice, then breaks out in a rhythmic beat with background vocals. I'd preferred a more "I cry out my sorrow and don't give a crap about if you can dance to this or not"-kind of song, but still like what I hear. Perhaps not that much of a monster ballad in retrospective then, but it'll still wobble my desk this day.

E-man: Flop
I like Annie, with her symphonic pop and save-the-world pathos, but this is just too weak. Realizing that this is in fact Eurythmics coming back just makes the disappointment a bit bigger. I was waiting for my spine to tingle, a bit like it does with "Walking on Broken Glass" or "Here comes the rain again". Never happens. Annie’s voice sounds tired, and her voice was sort of the point with the band for me. Flop-a-froggin'-froo.

K-man: Flip
Oh, I adore this. It starts like some sort of Disney-ballad and then turns into something clearly Eurythmics/80’s/synthish. I don’t know if it will at the top of the charts – I guess the song is a bit too strange for that – but it will sure be at the top of my list and dominate my iPod for a while. Welcome back, Annie&Dave!

I guess it is lucky that E-mans nose collapsed and he will be away from our room for the rest of this week, ‘cause the song is a Flip – at least a minor one...and with him out of the room it actually a two flip out of two! I foresee that it will be played a lot in the future...

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "I’ve Got a Life" with Eurythmics

"Go to Sleep" with Roxette

It was a great party yesterday. Very fun to pre-party at Fredrik’s with Hilda and my sister with friends…and even if the session at the club GayStraight2Hell where a bit expensive it was much fun and a bit rewarding…
…but today I’m so tired I didn’t believe it was possible.
So now I will go to bed and sleep this weekend off.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Go to Sleep" with Roxette

"Mer Jul" with Adolphson & Falk

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas in our room at work…just for the fun of it. We had decided that it was too long to the 24th of December, so we decorated our tree (actually an some sort of giant plastic plant), drank glögg (mulled and spiced wine) and ate gingerbread, listened to Christmas songs and exchanged presents.
Very nice.
The strange thing is that it seems like it has spread…
Today when I went to the shopping centre Nordstan in town the placed was completely flooded with people, just like it usually just is in the Christmas rush.
Strange how big we’ve got to be starting trends at the Azylum…

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Mer Jul" with Adolphson & Falk

"A Pain That I'm Used To" with Depeche Mode

Today we're actually celebrating X-mas here in The Azylum...but more about that tomorrow I guess.
Today it is time for this week's chart!

My life right now is mostly devoted to the new TV-season, so my music chart is quite static.
Some new Depeche Mode songs have slipped out to the net and they're really good. It looks very promising to have concert tickets for their Scandinavium appearance next year.
Jay-jay has been waiting to enter the charts for several weeks now, and in a slow week he took his chance.
Darin just slipped into number ten in the last minute, after a strong competition with Hello Saferide's latest single. This is an album track from his latest album, and I know everyone will hate this track (pathetic lyrics! children's choir!!) but I really can't help myself liking it...

This Week/Last Week/Peak/Weeks on Chart/Artist - Song

01/NE/01/01/Depeche Mode - A Pain That I'm Used To
02/02/01/04/Gorillaz feaut. Shaun Ryder - Dare
03/01/01/02/Danielle - La Poupee (Radio Mix & Extended Mix)
04/03/03/02/Rachel Stevens - Crazy Boys
05/NE/05/01/Depeche Mode - Suffer Well
06/06/06/02/Dannii Minogue & The Soul Seekerz - Perfection (Turn Me Upside Down)
07/05/01/04/Andy Bell - Crazy
08/NE/08/01/Jay-Jay Johanson - Mirror Man
09/04/04/03/Le Sport - Tell No One About Tonight
10/NE/10/01/Darin - B What You Wanna B

New chart next Friday!
Have a nice weekend.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "A Pain That I'm Used To" with Depeche Mode

"Looking for Love" with September

My blogging ideas nowadays are not what they should be...so lets do a "Flip or Flop" again, since we like it so much...and it is Thursday. The "Flip or Flop"-day after all.
The song of today is Septembers new single "Looking for Love".

D-man: Flop
"For a gym-group-session a la body pump this works nicely and I bet it'll also move some bodies around the dance floor...but to me it's a bit dull. I'd expected more. The thing is I've heard the same thing before. It smells of old socks rather than fresh. Brings back memories from the days during the 90's when I was out clubbin' with E-type and Stakka Bo. These retarded men were not kind enough to buy me beer therefore I tied 'em up and forced 'em to listen to this old sock over and over again. Or perhaps I'm the one with a faulty brain. Go figure"

E-man: Flop
"I'm hesitating. Good stuff in it self, but since it is inevitably measured against "Satellites" it just doesn't hold up. Not catchy enough, which is critical for me in this type of music. Had this come first and "Satellites" later, I would probably have flipped both. But now I don't. Sorry September, but I'm (reluctantly) flopping you this time."

K-man: Flop
"Some part of me likes the disco beat and if...let's say Dannii Minouge...had done this with a real producer it might have been an ok dance tune. But now... Hm. This comes across as a sort of B-class Da Buzz-act. And I don't mean that in a good punky kinda' way. It might still be a small hit on commercial radio, but for me... Well, I guess it's the end of September in many ways this week."

So now you know!
It’s a Flop.
No question about that.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Looking for Love" with September

"Morning Papers" with Prince

Everyday at my power walk in the morning I pass a newsstand with the free morning paper "Metro". Since there are no Metros on my buss 17, I always take two when I pass the stand.
One for me - and one extra just to make someone on the bus happy.
It is quite fun.
Sometimes people ask if they can take it ad thank med, sometimes people just snatch it and look tired. Either way I feel like I've made a good thing every morning.

Today a man took about 40 or 50 Metros right in front of me at the newsstand...
...maybe he makes his whole bus happy?
Or sells fish?
Or maybe he just needed them for some large papier-mâché build at home...

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Morning Papers" with Prince

"Take it Easy" with The Fugees

Well, since this song where released to public dissection today, let's go all "Flip or Flop" over it right away - even if it is not Thursday.
The song I speak about is of course The Fugees new single "Take it Easy"

D-man: Flop
"Fugees? Really... I'm a tad disappointed. Had anticipated their comeback to be celebrated all week, but not if it's gonna sound like this. Me dislike. Wyclef (apart from having a freakin' weird name) is usually as sweets for the ears, but this time the bag did contain one bad piece of candy."

E-man: Flip
"DING-DING-DING-AWHOOOO! Flippety-doo-daa! Oh, I'm so happy. Some fat beat hip hop on the table at last, and Fugees reunited at that, with as heavy a sound as they ever had. As usual with the Fugees, Lauryn could have pulled it off on her own, but this is good s***. The only context where Pras can do anything well: Accompanied by Lauryn and Wyclef. Oh, if you didn't catch the verdict: This is a flip!! :)"

K-man: Flop
"Oh, this is clearly not my cup of tea. Is this really a song? A big comeback single? It feels just like an intro for something? Maybe for a better song... I remember Fugees as some sort of rap-based cover band: Killing Me Softly and all that. (Did they do anything that wasn’t sampled or a cover?) Now it seems that the members clearly seem more talented on their own than in the group...and by the way: Lauryn Hill sounds like Crazy Frog when she starts to shout "bing!". Sorry guys. I flop this."

So now you know!
It’s a Flop...but not a complete disaster.

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Take it Easy" with The Fugees

"Neverending Story" with Limahl

Okay, today it is time to celebrate again.
I know this blog may seem to have been turned into some sort of birthday-card substitute…
…but since it is my fellow room-mate (and Flip&Flop:er) here at work I of course have to congratulate him.
Hip hip hurray for David! 26 years old (young) today.

As a present from me to him (well, I’m saving money for New York…I have to be cheap!!) I let him choose the song of today…
…and well…
Let’s say I take no responsibilities for this!

Keep readin’
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Neverending Story" with Limahl