Today – Thursday – the only music you’ll hear on Danish radio is by Danish groups (some of which also sing in English), Danish songwriters, Danish producers etc. But if you’re interested in Hit Lists and what you’d normally expect to hear around these parts – and what people actually buy and add to their collections – then take a look at Hitlisten.nu where you’ll find every official Danish list.
And what I’m I currently listening to? Well – selvfølgelig – the latest album from Magtens Korridorer! Where my sweetie friend R is a guitarist… It’s called “Før alting bliver nat” (Before everything turns to night). Magtens K. are nominated again (again, again, again) for this years Danish Music Awards. This time in the category “Best Live Act”. Yep, no doubt about that – they’ve been called Folkets Rockband(“The Danish People’s Rockband”)! Two thumbs up! Or should that be – as in their logo – one thumb up and two fingers forward? 😛
Here’s one of their quieter offerings from the new album, complete with beautiful images of Copenhagen by night and, hey, even the lyrics – so you can practise your Danish and sing along!
Happy ‘Spil Dansk‘ Day! Remember to turn it up to 11!
With the excitement of Eurovision behind us, my kids are now eagerly counting down to the strangest day on the Danish religious calendar. Okay – let’s be honest – they’re really just counting down to yet another day off school! 😉 On Friday they’ll be able to have a lie in because it’s Stor Bededag. ’Big Prayer Day’! Yep, those crazy Danes decided back in 1686 that there were just too many religious holidays during the year. So they lumped the minor ones together, four weeks after Easter, and – voilà – Stor Bededag was born. Big Prayer Day was traditionally a time to fast and pray. And, though I’ve yet to meet a Dane who willingly goes to church (apart – selvfølgelig – from christenings and weddings), a lot of Danes will be attending church this Friday. Not for regular church services but for confirmation ceremonies.
But the biggest tradition associated with Stor Bededag is eating hveder on Thursday night. What are hveder? Large, fluffy, pale, basic white bread rolls which you halve, toast and butter. You’ll find them on sale at the bakers but be warned that – despite their modest ingredients – they don’t come cheap!
I gave up queuing for them at the bakers years ago and just buy the ready-made ones from the supermarket. Best enjoyed warm with a nice cuppa! 🙂
After you’ve had your hveder, you’re supposed to go for a stroll around the city ramparts at Kastellet (Copenhagen Citadel). You don’t live near Kastellet? Well, sit back, relax and enjoy Denmark’s finest rock band, Magtens Korridorer singing about a picnic at the Citadel… (If the guy pretending to sing in the video looks familiar, it’s Nicholas Bro, an actor who was in the The Killing (II) and Borgen…
Did you guess right? It’s Spil Dansk Day – “Play Danish Music” Day! Umm, you don’t know what that is? Then here’s a piece I wrote last year, updated for your listening pleasure. Read on, sing loud and don’t forget to turn the (Danish) music up to 11! 😉
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Yes, it’s the last Thursday in October which – selvfølgelig – means that it’s Spil Dansk or “Play Danish Music” Day! The day when Danish music is played, performed, promoted and celebrated. Which means that radio stations play Danish music. All. Day. Long. Danish bands who sing in Danish. Danish bands who sing in English. Music produced by Danes. Music written by Danes for other artists. Anything and everything with a Danish connection. A whopping half million Danes – at home, work, in their cars, schools or old people’s homes – will tune in to radio station P4 between 11 and 11.30 am for a live singalong of old and new Danish classics.
But maybe you’d rather catch some live music out in the streets? You’re in luck! There are over one thousand events and concerts all over Denmark today. If you want to find out what’s happening near you, the official Spil Dansk websitehas a nifty event finder, just click here.
Here are a few of the bands you’re likely to hear if you listen in to the main national radio channel, P3…
Magtens Korridorer Veto Turbo Weekend Whomadewho Søren Huss The Blue Van Medina Burhan G Fallulah The Asteroids Galaxy Tour Spleen United I Got You on Tape Choir of Young Believers (remember The Bridge/Bron/Broen?) When Saints Go Machine The William Blakes Nabiha Specktors L.O.C. Ida Corr Nephew Rasmus Seebach Aura Dione Shaka Loveless Alphabeat Tina Dickow Efterklang Lukas Graham Quadron Pharfar Djämes Braun Christopher Burhan G Ulige Numre MØ Kashmir Julias Moon The Mountains Ukendt Kunstner The Raveonettes The Floor is Made of Lava Klumben Lucy Love KIDD
Meanwhile I’d like to leave you with a little masterpiece by my all time favourite Danish rock band…those little sweeties Magtens Korridorer (nominated – again, again, again – for the Danish Music Awards) !
Spil Dansk! And don’t forget to turn the stereo up to 11!
I consider myself pretty cool when it comes to music. I grew up with
punk, lived through new wave and pop, and have settled down to rock and
electronica – primarily Scandinavian. My radio is tuned to Danish Radio’s P3
(mainstream) and P6 (DAB channel, indie and rock). And hubby and I are regulars
at Vega (Copenhagen’s finest concert venue). Not bad for a couple of 45 year
olds, right? And, hey, we even have a rock star friend and often get to hang
out backstage!
Magtens Korridorer at Pumpehuset, January
2013
But I’m beginning to have an identity crisis. Perhaps it’s a mid-life
crisis? You see, I’ve started listening to jazz. Is that a sign that I’m
getting old? Like, really old? I suppose it’s not really so strange, as my Mum and Dad are huge
traditional and New Orleans style jazz fans, so I’ve had plenty of
exposure. Hubby and I took my parents to see Mads Mathias – a young Danish jazz
crooner/saxonfonist/multi-talented musician – a couple of years ago, when we was
performing Christmas jazz (together with the Magnus Hjorth Trio). And he blew
us all away – literally.
Mads Mathias with Magnus Hjorth Trio at Jazzhouse
Montmartre, December 2012
He also plays with the band Six City Stompers. Well, we bought some of Mads’ CDs as a
gift this Christmas for my Dad – and ended up buying a copy for ourselves. And
now I’ve been to see him live again. Ummm, okay, make that twice within the last month!
Yep, Mads Mathias really is that
good. Even if you don’t like
jazz! Oh, and he recently won “Best New Danish Jazz Artist” at the Danish Music
Awards…
The kids had their last day of school today and that means one thing – the summer holidays are finally here! Thanks to Flylady routines, this year I made it through to the end unscathed… And without leaving a trail of destruction (and dirty washing) behind me! ;D
It also means that, along with my 44th birthday tomorrow (I love this age, life has never been better!), I’m celebrating my second full year here on the blog… Where does the time go? Seriously?
Look what I got as a birthday present this morning from my dear friends:
Anyway, it’s time to shut up shop. Time to tidy my blog desk. Time to sleep longer in the mornings. Time for trips down to the local beach. Time to read our books in the garden after dinner (swaddled in blankets). Time to pack our suitcases for our trip to Spain and France. Time for the kids to make me pancakes for breakfast. Time to sleep in the tent in the back garden. And, of course, lots and lots of skinny dipping!
.
Don’t worry about your hairy (freckled) knees…take the plunge! 😀
Here’s wishing you a long and wonderful summer. See you at the end of August! 😀
DD9 looks like me (see here), has similar character traits (um, did someone say stubborn?!) and – yes, yes -she’s also extremely enthusiastic about the things that she loves and just can’t ‘get her arms down‘…
I discovered yesterday that she has – hooray, hooray – inherited one of my amazing talents! My ability to guess a song within the first second, or the first few bars. Which may not sound like much to you, but has been my saving grace on many occasions. At music quizzes. When discussing music with friends and fiercely defending my position as the know-it-all Music Police. Or down at the disco. When you a) need to get on to the dancefloor as soon as humanly possible when the DJ starts mixing in your favourite track and b) need to get off the dancefloor as soon as humanly possible when the DJ starts mixing in an artiste that you ‘Do Not Dance To’.
Here’s the track DD guessed. And she guessed it before the music started, just from the sound of the subway train… [Magtens Korridorer – “Pandora”]
I have to say, it brought chills to my spine. Because it took me right back in time – to when I, too, was just a young whipper snapper – to the opening seconds of this song… [The Jam – “Down in the tube station at midnight”]
Have a fantastic Friday, a wonderful weekend and let’s keep those ears open! 🙂
It’s our Danish Copper Wedding today…12 and a ½ years of wedded bliss!
For the non-mathematicians amongst you, that means we got married on 11 April 1998. (If you’d like a – sort of – explanation of this quaint Danish tradition…I already wrote one for you, it’s here.)
Instead of celebrating the traditional way – a formal dinner for family and close friends – we’ve decided (is this beginning to sound familiar?!) to do our own thing… At the end of this month we’re throwing a big ‘let your hair down’ party with retro food, a DJ and – the icing on our Copper Wedding cake – a live performance by (our own personal favourites) Denmark’s finest rock band “Magtens Korridorer”. Just because we’ve been married for so long, doesn’t mean we have to act like it too..? And – just like at our wedding in Scotland – standing on the chairs will be allowed! 🙂
Have a marvelous married Monday!
PS: Those of you familiar with Magtens Korridorer will no doubt remember that their very first hit was “Lorte Parforhold“. Rather apt in the circumstances? [ I have refrained from translating the title for fear of offending my more genteel readers…. Use ‘google translate’ at your own risk! 😛 ]
I’m running errands today to try and avoid the crowds tomorrow. The shops will be busy because of the public holiday on Friday. Which means the whole country shuts down and people go off to their ‘summer houses’ or get busy with garden tools and barbecues (if the Danish weather gods have mercy on us).
Which public holiday? Stor Bededag. Which translated means ‘Big Prayer Day’. No, I’m not making it up. Those crazy (yet practical) Danes decided there were just too many religious holidays during the year so lumped them all together! In days gone by it was a time to fast and pray. These days it means that – the night before (Thursday) – you toast some hveder (very plain bread rolls), spread them with butter and wash them down with lashings of tea…
When you’ve had your fill of hveder (to tell you the truth, they’re huge, fluffy and pretty tasteless) you can then stroll around the city ramparts at Kastellet. Immortalized by my sweetie friend Rasmus and his band, Magtens Korridorer, in their (hit!) song, “Picnic på Kastellet”. Watch the vid hereon youtube…enjoy! 😉
Mondays here on the blog are me days. Not about little old me. Oh, okay then, maybe just a teeny bit! 😉 More about the things I can do just for me to recharge my batteries. Creative ways to be nice to myself! 🙂
Music is my world. The one thing that can change my mood in a heartbeat. Or a single guitar riff 😉 And if films should be seen on the big screen, then music should be experienced live. Last weekend DH and I went to see the Swedish rock giants, Kent. And I’m still high, 10 days later! 🙂 This week I’ve got not one but two (count ’em) gigs to look forward to…
Thursday night I’m taking a trip down a 1990s memory lane with Heaven 17, those awfully clever boys from Sheffield, on their Penthouse and Pavement Live tour. And sometimes they add in a little number by the Human League too, so fingers crossed! 🙂
Friday night is going to be a Copenhagen classic. Denmark’s finest punk rock band Magtens Korridorer (which means The Corridors of Power). Click on the link and then move your mouse over those handsome boys, one by one – you won’t be disappointed! 😉 My sweetie friend Rasmus is their guitarist.
They’re playing – as always – at my favourite, favourite Copenhagen concert venue, VEGA. Built in the 1950s, it was named Folkets Hus (People’s House) and was a kind of headquarters for the unions. Today it’s a listed building and still s-u-p-r-e-m-e-l-y stylish. Mahogany wooden floors, the ubiquitous Danish design lamps, elegant staircases (that don’t always lead where you think – or maybe that’s too many G+Ts on my behalf?), woodpanelled walls, snug bars. Sometimes I think I should have a beehive hairdo to fit in with the glamorous feeling of the place. If you’re interested in architecture or style there are lots of great photos of the various rooms here. All in all, it’s going to be a great night. By the way, if you want to come along to Magtens K on Friday, you’re too late. It’s a sell out. Yay! 🙂
Have you had a little bit of what you fancy recently? Rock, theatre, stand-up comedy? Then maybe it’s about time you treated yourself. Just remember to do the Flylady thing and book your tickets well in advance…
We’ve five extra kids coming for dinner tonight. It’s DS10 turn to ‘host’ the school ‘dinner group’. We take four kids (two boys, two girls) from his class home with us and they play together and then eat with us. Their parents turn up around 6.30pm and stay for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine before they all go home. It’s a nice arrangement – allows the kids and grown ups to get to know each other better and, ultimately, helps keep bullying at bay 🙂 If you want to read more about the social side of things at school, you can read a previous post on it here. Today we’ve also invited one of DD7’s friends to play and dine…the more the merrier! The kids will set the table and prepare the food themselves. Menu is chicken fajitas with lots of fresh salad/veggies, brownies and icecream for dessert.
Friday
Have invited friends for dinner. We’re going to watch”P3 Guld” show on Danish TV. It’s a music awards show and we’re hoping my sweetie friend Rasmus and his colleagues in Denmark’s finest rock band Magtens Korridorer are going to win! They’re nominated in two categories – best song and best live performance of the year. Cross your fingers and vote “P3 Guld Magtens” to #1212 😉 When we’re not holding our breath we’ll be eating smoked salmon, rucola and honey/dild mustard on my homemade foccacia bread. Then lamb steaks with twinkies salad and rösti potatoes and some kind of sauce. Before downing a yummy strawberry/marcipan cake from Lagkagehuset bakery (and, no doubt, squirty cream for extra effect).
Saturday
Will be waking DH with flags and a song today…it’s his 43rd birthday – woo hoo! 😉 Going out for lunch or dinner. Not sure yet. Will see how the land lies…
Sunday
Haven’t made Blender Quiche in a while, so will do that with any leftover meat and veggies we have. I found the recipe on http://www.recipezaar.com/ (one of my favourite food sites) and you can see the (easy peasy) recipe here.
Monday
Lasagne made in the crockpot. Love to use my crockpot on Mondays – because I always feel so tired by the afternoon! 🙂 Eternally grateful to Krista at http://www.typical-ramblings.blogspot.com/ for having opened my eyes to the wonders of lasagne in a crock!
Tuesday
Scout night for both DD7 and DS10, they come and go at different times. So always something easy. Today it’s Danish suppe (meatball and dumpling soup). From a bag in the freezer. I just add chicken stock and carrots. And homemade bread from the breadmachine.
Wednesday
Didn’t make crockpot chili or breaded chops as planned last week (our plans changed – as they often do…) so think I will do the chili today. The minced beef is already browned and in a bag in the freezer. I just have to put it into the crock with the other ingredients. Simple!
I don’t normally do ‘wordless’ posts (‘chance would be a fine thing’, as DH would probably say, ho ho). But today DH and I are out to dinner and a rock concert (yeehaw!) with my sweetie friend Rasmus and Magtens Korridorer. Pre-Flylady I would be running out the door, shouting instructions to the baby-sitter, frantically looking for my ‘evening’ handbag, telephone half-charged, DH and the taxidriver waiting impatiently for me. Changed days. Lookey here – two (count ’em) coats – and I’ve still an hour to go! 😉
It was “Spil Dansk” (Play Danish) day in Denmark last week. Which meant that the public radio stations played Danish music. All day. Only Danish music. The funny thing is that I didn’t even realise that they weren’t playing any ‘foreign’ artists because there’s just so much darn good Danish music around! 🙂
So you don’t know any Danish groups? Hmm. What about Aqua and their global hit “Barbie Girl”? Or are you trying to forget? 😉 Alphabeat, Safri Duo, Infernal and Junior Senior have all had success in the UK.
Here’s my personal top 10 of current Danish bands – in no particular order. Some sing in Danish, some sing in English and some do both. Yep, those crazy Danes are also rather clever:
Magtens Korridorer (my sweetie friend Rasmus and the boys, currently at the top of both the album and singles charts – go Rasmus!)
Spleen Utd (great name, never tire of them, give me more!)
Sterling (more clean, catchy rock with a twist – saw them in a small concert venue and, mid-song, the lead singer jumped up on to the bar where I was standing – luckily none of my G&T was spilt in the process…)
Kashmir (the legendary David Bowie asked – and got – to work with them, the result was “The Cynic“…need I say more?)
When Saints Go Machine (from very disco to very down-in-the-dumps, their song Spitting Image was instrumental, if you forgive the pun, in getting me through my last 5k race)
I wrote a blogpost a couple of weeks about ago about Oprah (Winfrey) filming a show here in Copenhagen with the snappy title “Oprah on Location: The Happiest People in the World”.
The show was televised in the US last week and I’ve just seen it on youtube. Go take a look! 🙂
There are just a few things I’d like to point out:
It is true that the Danes really don’t have a lot of ‘stuff’. I’m still working on this one myself with the help, of course, of the Fabulous Flylady… 🙂
The Danes are not big church goers. Really not. Unless it’s the church service on the morning of 24 December, when the Danes officially celebrate Christmas. On that one day they have to bring in extra chairs to cope with demand… It’s true – believe me – I’ve sat on them! But all Danes pay a ‘church tax’ (which is 0.5 to 1.5%, depending on where you live).
I’m glad to say that the teeny tiny kids’ bedroom you saw on the film is not representative. But the size of the kitchens (and fridges and freezers) are spot on.
I know you’re not going to like this one but – yes – Danish women really DO look like that!
And finally, this didn’t make it into the Oprah film, but I think I heard somewhere that Oprah was blown away by my sweetie friend, Rasmus, and his rock band Magtens Korridorer (currently number 6 in the Danish album chart and number 15 in the Danish singles chart) and said “I love those guys. Can I take them home with me?”. At least, I think that’s what I heard... 😉
OK, it’s lunchtime. And ‘whaddayaknow’? I’m having a sandwich with some of that ryebread that Oprah was snatching out of the mouths of Danish babes…
Greetings from Wonderful Copenhagen, hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday! 🙂
Still on the music theme and still on list-making – two of my favourite things 🙂
Ten unforgettable concerts. Gosh, where do I start? Have seen more rock concerts than I can shake a really big stick at. Grew up with punk, then new wave, new romantics, ska, etc, etc and these days I’m listening to rock and electronica. Have resisted the urge to go look at the Edinburgh Gig Archive because I’ll be sucked in – once again – to that fabulous time machine…
Before we start, here are a few of the other bands I’ve seen (some of them several times): Ian Dury + The Blockheads, Glasvegas, James Brown, Orange Juice, Beck, Blondie, The The, Bad Manners, Prefab Sprout, Prince, Altered Images, The Fratellis, The Farmer’s Boys, Kent, Hall & Oates, New Order, The Klaxons, Hue and Cry, MC Solaar, The Proclaimers, Heaven 17, The Boomtown Rats, OMD, Robert Palmer, Sterling, INXS, Penguin Café Orchestra, 1990s, Michael Jackson, UB40, The Tourists, Simple Minds, Spear of Destiny, Thomas Dolby, Franz Ferdinand, The Smiths, The Nits, Tina Turner, Spleen Utd, Michael Simpson, The Human League, Cocteau Twins, Tue West, Sting, Friends Again, Love and Money… ** I shall add to this list as they pop into my old head 🙂 **
So here’s the ‘official’ top 10 list. Due to having given birth twice, I’m a bit hazy about some of the dates. And, as so often happens with these ‘from the hip’ blogposts, will no doubt think of 10 more concerts as soon as I hit the ‘publish post’ button! 😉
THE BUZZCOCKS + JOY DIVISION, Edinburgh 1979
My first ever concert. Little did I know back then that the support, Joy Division (lead by Ian Curtis, who hanged himself months later), would be iconic in music history. Only thing I remember about the Joy Division part of the evening was that Ian Curtis was a weird dancer. And not a happy chappy.
THE HIGSONS, Edinburgh University, 198?
My Dad was annoyed when he discovered, on dropping us off, that the concert didn’t start until 10pm (my friend Gillian and I were schoolkids) and that he would have to come and collect us at midnight on a schoolnight 🙂 Most memorable today because the lead singer was Charlie Higson, now a well-known comedian (“The Fast Show” and “Swiss Toni“).
KRAFTWERK, Edinburgh, 198?
You would think that a group who stand stock-still for most of the time would be boring. Not.
KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS, Edinburgh, 1983
A big party.
SQUEEZE, Edinburgh, 198?
Found out just before the concert that they were splitting up and this would be their ‘Farewell’ tour. (Though they, of course, reformed and toured again…) My pals and I cried after the show (ah, we were so young!) because it had been so fantastic and went for a hot chocolate at a café on Leith Walk afterwards. Memories 😉
THE CLASH, Edinburgh, 1984?
Saw them a few times. The last time I saw them I knew that punk/new wave was finally dead because Joe Strummer told the audience to stop spitting on them, or they would leave the stage 😉
ELVIS COSTELLO
I’ve seen Elvis Costello more times than I can remember. First saw him in the late 70s. If I look at my (alphabetically organised) CD collection, he fills a very large space. Hard to choose but will say Falconer, Copenhagen, 200?. Stage crew started packing up and he kept on singing for us acapella. My fave song is Pump It Up and I still love him – please watch the video, those legs are fantastic 😉
MUSE, Copenhagen 2007
Where do I start? Everyone needs to experience Matt Bellamy live. As I’ve said before, a few days after the Muse concert a religious group came a-knocking and asked if I had a God. Was sorely tempted to reply, “Yes, and his name is Matthew Bellamy”, but very much doubt they would see the funny side.
THE STRANGLERS, Copenhagen 2009
Wasn’t expecting much more than a nice trip down memory lane (I saw the Stranglers 7 or 8 times in the 1980s) but was completely blown away. Especially by Baz Warne, their new singer. Even DH was impressed and said that he would like to come back in another life as Baz Warne. I’d like him to do that too… ;D
MAGTENS KORRIDORER, Copenhagen
Can’t make this list without mentioning my sweetie friend, Rasmus, who twilights as guitarist in Denmark’s finest rock band Magtens Korridorer (which translates as The Corridors of Power). Always a fantastic atmosphere at their concerts – like being out partying with friends (including the beer and the singalong part). And, yes, we always buy our own tickets for the concerts. And, yes, we get to go to the After Parties – though I haven’t seen that free beer they keep promising me yet… 😉
Happy Friday! Hope you get a chance to enjoy some live music soon 🙂
