9:27am July 4th, 2009Feeling naked - the stache’s gone

Yesterday I just shaved it off! For the first time in 2+ years the upper lip is bare and it feels soooo naked… Weird feeling…

5:23am June 29th, 2009Peace & Love recap

First off I want to thank those of you who showed up for the gig. The indoor festival venue was kind of tricky to find, (being, as it was, an outdoor festival) resulting in a frustrated flow of text messages and missed calls on the cell during and after the show. In any case, we had a real blast and felt that we really managed to represent ourselves well on the biggest festival in Sweden.

Besides yours truly, a bunch of other bands played too of course. I had the pleasure of attending some good gigs, especially The Wildhearts and Faith No More. I first saw Faith back in 1998 on their very last tour when they visited the Lollipop Festival in Stockholm. That gig was not very good, the band looking painfully tired of touring, lacking the energy in the performance and output. This time was a lot different. It was one of the best live shows I’ve seen. I was amazed at how good a frontman Mike Patton really is, with his mezmerizing gaze and wild bursts of energy, frantically waving a white cane in the air whilst switching back and forth between opera-like vocals and growling. If you get a chance to see them on their reunion tour, regardless of whether you’ve heard them before or not, take it!

The big disappointment at this festival was, sadly, Chris Cornell. Oh, how far the mighty have fallen… I still don’t get why the f*** he decided to throw his career away and start experimenting with Timbaland. Something is really very wrong. The band backing him isn’t the best either, despite the fact that they’re all skilled musicians. There’s just very little chemistry on stage. The magical moments are sparse, but at least they’re there during “Spoonman” and “Black Hole Sun”, and Chris is definitely lucky he’s got that voice of his, otherwise I’m sure I would have left during the middle part of the show where he only served new crap and some boring Audioslave songs.

Anyhow, all in all this was one of the best festivals I’ve had the pleasure of attending. The last night after the last show most of the bands and artists gathered in the backstage area for a few beers and socializing. So Morty and I didn’t get to bed until about 5.30 in the morning - some nights you just don’t want to end! It was a good thing we had to drive back to Stockholm in the morning, thus preventing me to devour excessive amounts of alcohol and managing to avoid hangover altogether.

So, what’s next? Some well deserved time off, maybe some rehearsing and perhaps I will get into the mood of songwriting again. Now I’m off for an afternoon beer in the sun. Cheerio!

10:01am June 21st, 2009Peace & Love on Thursday

Thursday’s the day when The Genuine Fakes enter the Orion stage at the Peace & Love Festival in Borlänge. 6.30 pm is the time. Check out the calendar for more information.

5:47am June 11th, 2009Essential powerpop albums #5

The next must-have in this powerpop album collection is Jellyfish’s masterpiece “Spilt Milk” from 1993. I only just got into the band a few years back, having missed them completely throughout my youth for some reason. This is a true gem, and the last of the two albums that Jellyfish released before they disbanded in 1994. It includes the epic song “Joining a Fan Club” which is a tribute to the music fans, collecting 8×10s and putting up posters on the wall. The song is built up in the same way as “Stairway to Heaven” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”, consisting of many different parts merged together in one huge masterpiece.

This is yet another album you’ll be hard-pressed to find any flaws on. Andy Sturmer (lead singer/drummer/main songwriter) worked meticulously for a long time to finish it, at a tremendous cost for the record company. But the result speaks for itself. Tunes like “Bye, bye, bye”, “Sebrina, Paste and Plato”, “Glutton of Sympathy”, “New Mistake” and “The Ghost at Number One” hit you like a brick in the head with intricate arrangements and crisp production. For those of you who are vocal harmony junkies, you will find that Jellyfish will give The Beach Boys and The Beatles a run for their money any day. Now run down to the record store and get a tangible copy of this album, you won’t regret it. Happy listening kids!

Here’s a live performance of “Joining a Fan Club”.

10:04am May 31st, 2009The Genuine Fakes cover Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable”

If you haven’t noticed yet, the praised TGF version of Beyoncé’s ballad “Irreplaceable” is now available for listening over at http://music.thegenuinefakes.com. Much enjoyment!