THELEMURBLOG.COM IS UP! :)

New year, new blog, new apartment, new music


THE LEMUR BLOG MOVED TO

http://thelemurblog.com/

Check it out! It launched yesterday and I'm very excited for the future right now.

Make sure to change your links and let me know if you would like a link exchange!

The Sound Of Arrows - M.A.G.I.C. (zshare)
The Sound Of Arrows - M.A.G.I.C. (ysi)

New The Lemur Blog relaunching soon! CSS Aid and help appreciated!

Yes! Sorry to keep you waiting! I'mma have to do that just a little longer, though. You see, my own server isn't exactly responding to the custom template I've downloaded and uploaded to it. That's why I can't launch the new The Lemur Blog quite yet! I want:

THIS

to look like:

THAT

why doesn't it look like THAT?

I can't take much more of that server host mumbo jumbo and CSS fiddling. Bleh. I just want it fast, I want it to work, I want it for free and I want it to look good! That's more my style :D. So if you want to see The Lemur Blog up again you better find a friendly CSS-magician to help me out! Thanks!

Chat/send email to thelemurblog@hotmail.com if you have the CSS-help I'm seeking!

Have the spanking new fantastic Coralcola tune in exchange!

Universal Studios Florida - Capri Sun Caravan (Coralcola Dawn Edit) (zshare)
Universal Studios Florida - Capri Sun Caravan (Coralcola Dawn Edit) (ysi)

thelemurblog.blogspot.com has finally found peace...

I feel that in the anticipation of what 2009 has to bring, especially the Röyksopp album, it is time to move on. My friend Will of The Cold Cut has already done it and I'm curious to see what he will be able to bring up with his new site.

I won't go as far as to moving to USA as him, however, but at least it's time for me to reveal the human half of my twisted anthropomorphic persona. You can see it above. That's just a preview of what is to come.

I'm incredibly proud of what I've accomplished through and sometimes, sigh, without Blogger's help with The Lemur Blog. I will in a not too distant future move The Lemur Blog elsewhere. But I will certainly let this site stand here as a monument of what music is really capable of. I've brought people closer. Artists closer. Listeners closer. The music closer. Closer to a common ground and just maybe a sometimes well needed alienated relationship. And that is all I could ever ask for.

Let the music play! Thank you for reading! I hope you will follow my future projects on and, if we're lucky, off the world wide web! Any news will be posted here as soon as they're ready so check back! And check the back catalogue! A whole lot of stuff is still available through zshare, folks! Not to mention videos, reviews, and general chatting away.

The last thing I want to say is unless you are able to let go of your grip and throw yourself out there, you might not reach any further than you do now. It takes courage to enjoy it: The hardcore and gentle BIG TIME SENSUALITY!

So I end with the same track that I started with, almost two years ago.

Björk - Big Time Sensuality (Fluke Minimix) (zshare)
Björk - Big Time Sensuality (Fluke Minimix) (ysi)

P.S

Looking for a writer?

Although I will be starting my own new blog soon, I'm always open for collaborations. If you need a hand and an experienced blogger for your blog/magazine/website, then I'd be happy to join and offer my musical knowledge and passion for free! Browse this blog as my merit reference and see if I'm your choice. Genres is no obstacle! :)

New Röyksopp Single Preview: Happy Up Here

I'm loving it! Aren't you? This is the new single due out on January 18 on Wall Of Sound. Grab the 1:00 preview below! I'm happy up there right now :) Pre-order the single here!

Röyksopp - Happy Up Here (Preview) (zshare)
Röyksopp - Happy Up Here (Preview) (ysi)

Röyksopp Album News

I end my hiatus temporarily to direct your attention towards the info on the new Röyksopp album that surfaced today. The album will be called Junior, will be released March 23 and will feature Robyn, Lykke Li, Anneli Drecker and Karin Dreijer as guest vocalists. The tracklist is below. Go to royksopp.com to read more!

Junior

Tracklist

1. Happy Up Here
2. The Girl And The Robot
3. Vision One
4. This Must Be It
5. Röyksopp Forever
6. Miss It So Much
7. Tricky Tricky
8. You Don't Have A Clue
9. Silver Cruiser
10. True To Life
11. It's What I Want

Röyksopp - 40 Years Back/Come (zshare)
Röyksopp - 40 Years Back/Come (ysi)

Announcements of change

I have decided that I'll be having a hiatus, a sabbath period, for this first week of the year. I think there will be a few changes in the blog for the future, I have new projects I would like to finish and also start new ones. Don't despair. Feel no fear. Me not blogging about music would feel so unnatural for me that I couldn't stay away for too long. Until further notice and updates, have a mystery track.

Mystery Track (zshare)
Mystery Track (ysi)

The Lemur's Favourite Top 10 Songs Of 2008

1. Pacific! - Hot Lips
(zshare) (ysi)

It was released as a single in 2007. And for all that is holy, I haven't yet gotten hold of the LP which is sold out since long. Can someone out there, who has it, PLEASE SELL IT TO ME! I have chosen this song as song of the year twice. Check out last years equivalent to this post. I think this fact pretty much says all about how good I think this song is.

2. Glasvegas - Geraldine
(zshare) (ysi)

Geraldine has a melody which you can spend a lifetime looking for. Because one needs it so badly, longing for it. Then add James Allan's thick Scottish and the dark rock stains and you'll have the strongest song that can befall you.

3. Glasvegas - Daddy's Gone
(zshare) (ysi)

Of course Daddy's Gone deserves to be on the list together with Geraldine for just about the same reasons. Plus the brilliant la-ya-ya-yaaah's before the break.

4. Chris Brown - Forever
(zshare) (ysi)

I'm not making a statement putting a mainstream artist, who's album clearly suffered from the disadvantages a mainstream sound can bring, on this list. Forever doesn't even sound original upon hearing its name. But Polow Da Don somehow helped produce Chris Brown's song into a pop perfection that in the most beautiful way lives up to its name better than any other namesake. I'm absolutely crazy about it. It's probably the most played song in my ipod. The break towards the end is sheer bliss and genius songwriting. My spirit goes up 200% whenever I hear it. There's no doubt that there is some hope left for Brown if he wants to come over to the alternative side of things. Forever is one of the very best singles and songs to have been released in 2008.

5. The Presets - Together
(zshare) (ysi)

I have only imagined what this can be like to experience live. Those who say that this is a simple and dumb rave banger are ignorant. The insane beat, absolutely nutty bass and crazy synths beside, the stuttering effect of the first half and a truly majestic Julian shouting: "Who do we think we are?! / Running around all sweaty?! / Baby I would wait for you / If we could be together / Such a lovely face / Such an ugly city / Baby I would wait for you / If we could be together forever". The Presets brought the true rave back to life!

6. Cut Copy - Feel The Love
(zshare) (ysi)

FEEL THE LOVE! There's so much to love about this song I don't know where to start. Maybe the robotized vocals of the chorus? Maybe the sincere feeling of freedom together with that special someone that it brings? Pretending that they sing "Being with you / Without something to do / Could this be true / It all comes back to you".

7. Alphabeat - 10,000 Nights Of Thunder
(zshare) (ysi)

10,000 Nights Of Thunder is the foremost proof that Alphabeat are the new saviours of pure pop music. It doesn't matter how faggot my fellow Swedes think I am but I just love singing to Alphabeat anywhere whenever I hear them, and especially this song. Yes! Even the girl parts! It's such a lovely duet! Alphabeat are addictive and irresistible!

8. Northern Portrait - I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me
(zshare) (ysi)

Even more pop perfection! I foolishly try to imitate the lead singers fantastic crooning because it is just so irresistible! A flawless melody, and wonderful retro jangling guitar work make this song a must have and Danish trio Northern Portrait one of the hottest tips for 2009!

9. MGMT - Time To Pretend
(zshare) (ysi)

The lyrics regarding rock clichés. The absolutely brilliant crossover genre production with airy, ethereal atmospheres. This song is the releasing factor of breaking the chains and capturing a mental freedom. My favourite part, however, reflects how you miss what you're leaving: "I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms / I'll miss the comfort of my brother and the weight of the world / I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home / Yea, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone".

10. Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
(zshare) (ysi)

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Walking On A Dream was an instant infatuation and it has only grown stronger. The cocky-sounding vocals of the verse, the smooth falsetto of the gorgeous chorus and the overall composition is pop perfection!

The Lemur's Favourite Top 10 Albums Of 2008

1. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
(It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry: zshare, ysi)

Glasvegas is the Scottish quartet who did what Interpol and Coldplay never mustered, even with (Untitled) (Turn On The Bright Lights) and Fix You (X&Y). Not to mention thousands of other emotionally provocative altenative rock bands of the last three decades. Geraldine and Daddy's Gone are such emotional highs for me that they're not even on the radar. Glasvegas takes you on a ride from the lowest gutters to the highest starry black night. There's absolutely no question what album is best in 2008. With contempt I sniff at all lists that not contains this album and especially at Ohh! Crapp...'s Hercules And (not &!) Love Affair.

2. Cut Copy - In Bright Colours
(Out There On The Ice Again: zshare, ysi)

I'm embarrased that my fellow Swedish journalistic staff has not yet understood the greatness of In Ghost Colours. Cut Copy aren't gods everywhere in the world it seems. But with this second album of theirs, they deserve to under any circumstances not be taken lightly on. Glorious melodies, innovation mixed with classic touches and that forever trendsetting production technique makes this an album which must not be missed!

3. The Presets - Apocalypso
(This Boy's In Love: zshare, ysi)

Well, what can I say? We all know that 2008 was Modular's and Down Under's year. And another group to release their second album was The Presets. Apocalypso is such a fresh danceable pop album with so many tops, hooks, and striking compositions that it absolutely craved to end up on the top ten list. The ridiculously handsome beginner banger Kicking And Screaming, the ludicrously elegant electropop anthem This Boy's In Love, probably the best electropopfunk fusion ever created Yippiyo-Ay, the peak of the addiction-factors Talk Like That and the absolutely mind-blowing Together which is one of the best club-tracks to have come out ever, all send Apocalypso up in the skies.

4. The Futureheads - This Is Not The World
(Walking Backwards: zshare, ysi)

I don't care what anyone says. The Futureheads' third album is a comeback as majestic as it is triumphant. ARRROUSAL as Björk would've put it, is what I feel while I listen to This Is Not The World. Music aficionados, experts and hardcore critics may slaughter the very thought, but my honest opinion is that The Futureheads is saving indie rock and post-punk. At least they're saving it for me.

5. Metronomy - Nights Out
(Heartbreaker: zshare, ysi)

Metronomy took their first album for an experimental detour á la Hot Chip and returned with an insanely brilliant album á la... well Hot Chip. The truth is that Nights Out can't really be compared to anything else this year or throughout history. It's dumb, intelligent, sheer fun,mind-cravingly contemplative, simple, complex, carelessly liberating and emotionally compatible at the same time.

6. Pacific! - Reveries
(Break Your Social System: zshare, ysi)

The video for Hot Lips had barely appeared on ZTV or the internet before I immediately fell in love with Pacific! way back in August 9, 2007. Their sipmlistic electropop with a breeze of The Beach Boys is completely irresistible. The melodies are as pure and minimalistically strong as the Gothenburgian duo's visual dimension. This is the ultimate album for summer reveries.

7. Foals - Antidotes
(Balloons: zshare, ysi)

The perfected beginning duo of The French Open and Cassius are alone worth the spot on here. Number 7 is earned by the fact that Foals filled their much anticipated debut album with groundbreaking indie rock that makes The Futureheads not alone in saving indie rock for me. The ability to mix such lush atmopsheric elements with a quirky light-groove shall of course also be credited to Dave Sitek, who weren't always supporting the same vision as Foals during the recording process. The album came out intriguing, suggestive and, needlessly to say, brilliant anyway.

8. Kleerup - Kleerup
(Longing For Lullabies: zshare, ysi)

An overall dejected album touched me deeply this year. Kleerup may be some weird sort of commonly known hipster, but it's like you can taste the bitterness after his breakup with the girlfriend in this electronic pop masterpiece. It's synthetic til the point where the raw sensation of teflon, sweet female voices and airy synth blips and blops creeps under the very skin of you.

9. The Dying Seconds - The Dying Seconds
(In The Dying Seconds: zshare, ysi)

In the beginning of 2008, it's as good as a year back now, I stated that it was the best album that far, together with Reveries. Many albums have come since then as you can see above, but I keep my other words: "The Dying Seconds are magic. True magic.". Exploring the possibilities of the effect of lo-fi rich layered sounds, The Dying Seconds build up a shoegazing pop world of its own.

10. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
(Ragged Wood: zshare, ysi)

One of the most celebrated albums of the year has deserved all the praise in the world. Folk indie rock songs orchestrated with fantastic vocal echoing soundscapes whose sincere harmonies thaws any heart up without falling back into the "cosy-grandpa-chair". Channeling past times and decades in a seemingly effortless way, Fleet Foxes has created a vital debut album to cherish for years to come.

Sooo close runner-ups worthy a mention, in alphabetical order:

Aether - Artifacts
Alphabeat - This Is Alphabeat
Boy Without God - Your Body Is Your Soul
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
D. Lissvik - 7 Trx + Intermission
Frida Hyvönen - Silence Is Wild
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
Hanne Hukkelberg - Rykestraße 68
Hello Saferide - More Modern Short Stories From Hello Saferide
Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
Juvelen - 1
Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Parker Lewis - Parker Lewis
Rex The Dog - The Rex The Dog Show
The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Windsurf - Coastlines

Happy New Year!

Just a humble little post wishing you a Happy New Year to come!

Thank you for reading the blog! Thank you for sharing the fantastic music year of 2008 with me! I've hope you've had quite the ride like I have! I'm ever so glad if you've even once found your way onto this blog and encountered something you've liked. That's what blogs are for!

"And now, the end is near,
And so I face the final curtain.
My friends, I'll say it clear;
I'll state my case of which I'm certain.

I've lived a life that's full -
I've travelled each and every highway.
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way."

Frank Sinatra - My Way (zshare)
Frank Sinatra - My Way (ysi)

SirBilly - Emotional Hooligan Edit EP

I can't thank SirBilly enough for bringing new life into the 80s, and other decades for that matter, in a more direct way than anyone has the last few years. The Italian vinyl master's editing style does not take away the vintage sound of his LP collection and the songs are exquisitely retouched with such care that his works are perfect school material for ignorant students.

With the digital release of his Emotional Hooligan EP he offers a new set of edits, ranging from experimental new wave (Associates), proto-funk post-punk (Magazine), bluesrock (James Taylor) and fonky indie rock (Campag Velocet). The four-track release showcases even more of his talent to in a true and sincere way showcase good DJ-manners when choosing oldies goldie tracks and a good sense for how to give them a new touch with winds of the contemporary. Get ready for the SirBilly retro experience!

Associates - White Car In Germany (SirBilly OneAn Edit) (zshare)
Associates - White Car In Germany (SirBilly OneAn Edit) (ysi)

Campag Velocet - Ain't No Funky Tangerine (SirBilly Schiaparelli Edit) (zshare)
Campag Velocet - Ain't No Funky Tangerine (SirBilly Schiaparelli Edit) (ysi)

James Taylor - Knocking Round The Zoo (SirBilly Knock On Wood Edit) (zshare)
James Taylor - Knocking Round The Zoo (SirBilly Knock On Wood Edit) (ysi)

Magazine - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (SirBilly DevotEdit) (zshare)
Magazine - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (SirBilly DevotEdit) (ysi)

You can download the EP as a zip in its entirety instead if you'd prefer that.

SirBilly - Emotional Hooligan Edit EP (zipfile) (zshare)
SirBilly - Emotional Hooligan Edit EP (zipfile) (ysi)

Manowar - Warriors Of The World (Topper Harley Edit)

I always say that there aren't enough metal represented on the hardcore electro-inclined music blogosphere so I have Topper Harley of Munich-based party association Acid Kids who now also run a record label for additional info, to help me out with that issue. Adding a steady beat and restructuring Manowar's Warriors Of The World United from 2002 into a slightly longer electro-rock piece, oughta make any hipster kid realize the great ancient power of metal. Let this edit rock and unite your friends on New Year's Eve!

Manowar - Warriors Of The World (Topper Harley Edit) (zshare)
Manowar - Warriors Of The World (Topper Harley Edit) (ysi)

New Kent song!

I'm really enjoying Kent's latest song. As a lighter Glasvegas, På Drift delivers a catchy na-na-na melody and enough disted guitar-blackened cold atmospheres to confirm a Swede's melancholic state of mind as it commonly appears in this darkest age of the year. It was available for free download at their site as a Christmas gift, so feel no fear when downloading it here.

It's being used in an alternate version in a TV advert for Friends' latest step in their anti-bullying crusade. My heart breaks a little bit each time the dark-haired girl appears on the screen and sings the somber-sweet melody and Berg's cold but emotionally striking words.

Friends Advert


Kent - På Drift (zshare)
Kent - På Drift (ysi)