Vi er endelig nået til juleaften, og ventetiden er forbi, så i dag vil Peter åbne den sidste låge i Regnskys julekalender. De seneste 24 dage har han afsløret sine 24 yndlingsnumre fra det forgangne år og set nærmere på andet fra musikkens verden, som er værd at mindes. Tjek dem alle ud her. Rigtig glædelig jul fra alle os på Regnsky!
Glædelig jul! Det er juleaften – dagen, mange af os har ventet på. Nogle glæder sig til, at den er overstået, mens andre ser frem til endelig at kunne hygge sig i familiens skød. Dagen i dag betyder samtidig, at vi – meget naturligt – er nået til enden på Regnskys første rigtige julekalender. Den har været virkelig sjov at lave, og jeg håber også, at du, kære læser, har nydt at følge med undervejs. Jeg tror, at de færreste har kunnet lide alle numrene, men forhåbentlig har du opdaget et enkelt eller to nye numre undervejs. Eller måske fået lyst til at tjekke et album ud. Kom endelig med feedback, hvis der er noget, du synes, at jeg skulle have gjort anderledes. Og sig da også gerne til, hvis alt bare har været helt fantastisk!
Nå, vi har nok alle ret meget at se til i dag, så jeg må hellere forsøge at være lidt effektiv. Vi starter dog lidt alternativt ud…
Årslisten: #1
Jeg har haft vildt svært ved at vælge årets bedste nummer, og det har jeg, fordi musik for mig også handler rigtig meget om den fortælling, som musikken er en del af. Jeg mener ikke, at man kan se på musik uden at se på den kontekst, den er opstået i. Derfor er jeg faktisk endt ud med at placere hele tre numre på førstepladsen, omend de hænger sammen i ånden. Eller mere præcist hænger de sammen i David Bowies ånd.
De tre numre er David Bowies egen “Lazarus” fra “Black Star”, The Flaming Lips’ cover af “Space Oddity” og ikke mindst The Flaming Lips’ nyeste single “Sunrise (Eyes of the Young)”. Tre numre som for så vidt er fuldkommen forskellige, men som alligevel hænger sammen på et dybere plan.
Da jeg interviewede Wayne Coyne under Heartland Festival, var det helt åbenlyst, at David Bowie på mange måder har været afgørende for The Flaming Lips musikalske udvikling gennem tiden, og de har langt hen af vejen fulgtes ad op igennem musikhistorien. Derfor synes jeg egentlig også, at det er meget passende, at de får lov til at flyde sammen i en skøn toenighed på toppen af årslisten.
“Lazarus” er for mig det stærkeste nummer fra “Black Star”, og det nummer, som allertydeligst understreger Bowies selvbevidsthed omkring sin forestående død. Rent bibelsk og symbolsk er selve titlen en nærmest uhyggelig anerkendelse af Bowies evne til at leve videre i rigtig mange af os efter sin død, hvilket blandt andet eksemplificeres i The Flaming Lips’ enestående cover af Bowies måske mest karakteristiske nummer, “Space Oddity”. Jeg har det normalt virkelig svært med covernumre, men The Flaming Lips har på rørende vis formået både at fange deres og Bowies ånd i deres fortolkning af nummeret, og når man samtidig kender historien om bandets kærlighed og passion for Bowies musik og person, skaber det en uimodståelig stærk hyldest, som jeg i hvert fald ikke har oplevet andre steder i de mange andre i øvrigt for det meste fine hyldester til Ziggy.
Og så kan jeg bare ikke lade være med at omtale “Sunrise (Eyes of the Young)”, som for mig er det stærkeste The Flaming Lips har lydt i mange år. Wayne Coyne virker til at være tilbage i storform, og jeg har allerede nu en forventning om, at det snart forestående album “Oczy Mlody” kan nå samme højder som “Soft Bulletin” og “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” – hvis lyd nummeret i øvrigt lægger sig tæt op af.
Årets danske udgivelse: #1
Årets danske udgivelse er den udgivelse, som jeg har lyttet suverænt mest til i 2016. Og det naturligvis JÆRV og hendes vidunderlige EP “Dit Hav”. Da EP’en udkom, kaldte jeg den for “den bedste og mest formfuldendte debutudgivelse, siden Blaue Blume udsendte “Beau & Lorette”” tilbage i sommeren 2014 – og det mener jeg egentlig stadig. Jeg vil egentlig ikke gennemgå EP’en alt for nøje, for det kan man læse i min anmeldelse fra marts her, men blot konstatere, at fremtiden tegner helt vildt lys for den mere eksperimenterende del af den dansksprogede popmusik. Jeg glæder mig rigtig meget til at lytte til JÆRVs kommende anden EP, som snart skulle være klar til at se offentlighedens lys. For lur mig om den ikke godt kunne gå hen og blive noget af det, der kommer til at få en plads i mit musikalske hjerte anno 2017.
Det var så enden på årets julekalender. Jeg håber som sagt, at du har nydt den. Hvis du skulle have misset nogle afsnit, kan de alle findes lige her. Vi har stadig en lille smule opsamling fra året, der snart er forbi, i denne kommende uge her på Regnsky, men hvis vi ikke læses ved inden da, vil jeg gerne ønske dig og dine en glædelig jul og et godt nytår!
Vi nærmer os så småt juleaften og for at gøre ventetiden lidt kortere, vil Peter hver dag frem til juleaften åbne en låge i Regnskys julekalender. Her vil han blandt andet afsløre sine 24 yndlingsnumre fra det forgangne år og se nærmere på andet fra musikkens verden, som er værd at mindes. God fornøjelse og god jul!
I dag er det Bubbers og Fandens fødselsdag. Og jeg kan forsikre dig om, kære læser, at der ikke er nogen sammenhæng mellem de to. Jeg har haft fornøjelsen af Bubbers selskab flere gange, og jeg har aldrig mødt så sødt og oprigtigt interesseret et menneske i mit liv. Den oprigtige interesse er til gengæld noget, som Bubber har til fælles med de to artister, der figurerer på dagens lister. Lad os da bare få afsløret, hvem det er.
Årslisten: #14
Hvis du endnu ikke har læst interviewet, jeg lavede med Benjamin Francis Leftwich endnu, så gør dig selv en tjeneste og tjek det ud her. Det kan nemlig give en større forståelse for, hvorfor Ben Leftwich har fundet vej til 14. pladsen på årslisten.
For mig er hans musik indbegrebet af inderlighed og følelsestæthed, og det stråler ud gennem hele hans fænomenale andet album, “After The Rain”. Ligesom jeg havde det med Blood Orange i går, så har jeg også haft svært ved at vælge ét nummer. Albummet fungerer nemlig klart bedst som helhed, og det er egentlig også derfor, at der ikke er noget enkelt nummer, som har kunnet klemme sig højere op på listen. Jeg har valgt nummeret “Summer”. Det har jeg blandt andet, fordi det markerer et vendepunkt på albummet. Et optimistisk pusterum midt i Bens sørgmodighed og selvpinsel. Som jeg dog er ked af at pille ud af sammenhængen på albummet, hvor det alt andet lige står stærkere. Så hvis du har tid og lyst, så tag og lyt til hele albummet, så alle nuancerne kan komme med.
Årets udenlandske koncert: #1
Mit bud på årets bedste koncert med en udenlandsk artist bør ikke komme som nogen kæmpe overraskelse. Det er naturligvis The Flaming Lips’ koncert fra Lowlandscenen på den første udgave af Heartland Festival – læs i øvrigt vores interview med forsanger Wayne Coyne her.
Lad mig sige med det samme, at det rent musisk teknisk langt fra var den bedste koncert, jeg har været til i år. Wayne Coynes i forvejen ikke voldsomt stærke vokal er tydeligt mærket efter en lang og livsrig karriere, og han gør det ikke ligefrem nemmere for sig selv ved at springe rundt på scenen og rulle rundt ovenpå publikum i en stor plastikbold. Men det kan heldigvis være fuldstændig lige meget, for The Flaming Lips ved om nogen, hvordan en koncert skal skæres. Det er anden gang, jeg har været til koncert med bandet, og det er så meget mere end en almindelig koncert. Det er et teaterstykke, det er performance, og det er en kærlighedsfest i form af verdens største fælleskram – tilsat konfetti (selvfølgelig), balloner, absurd udklædning og i det hele taget et kollektivt syretrip uden lige. Gaffas fotograf tog et billede af mig under koncerten, hvor jeg står og kigger op mod den konfettifyldte aftenhimmel med verdens største smil – det er også sådan, jeg husker koncerten.
Så er det i morgen, vi skal til det: Årets bedste danske koncert. Jeg vil for en gangs skyld ikke komme med nogen hints, men bare sige, at vi ses her på bloggen igen i morgen. Glædelig jul!
I weekenden gik en stor drøm i opfyldelse for mig og min bedste og ældste barndomsven, Frederik. Vi var taget på Heartland Festival på Fyn. Og selvom både musikprogrammet og omgivelserne fremstod fantastiske, så var det et eksklusivt møde, som på forhånd stod som festivalens ultimative højdepunkt. Mødet med vores helt store ungdomsidol, som musikalsk er vokset op sammen med os. Forsanger og hovedgeniet Wayne Coyne fra amerikanske The Flaming Lips.
Vi er ikke helt enige om, hvad der er højdepunktet i bandets efterhånden 33 år lange levetid – for Frederik er det det vidunderligt støjende og eksperimenterende tolvte studiealbum Embryonic fra 2009; for mig er det det ti år ældre niende studiealbum The Soft Bulletin, som vel kan betragtes som bandets store folkelige gennembrud – hvis de da nogensinde reelt har fået et sådant gennembrud.
Men én ting er vi dog enige om, og det er kærligheden til Wayne Coyne, som i vores begges øjne må betragtes som en af vor tids største legender. Netop legender er noget af det, som har fyldt meget i 2016, hvor vi blandt andre har mistet Prince og en af Wayne Coynes egne helt store idoler, David Bowie. Det blev omdrejningspunktet for vores snak med den 55-årige verdensstjerne, som vi var så heldige at få godt en halv time i selskab med.
Jeg har undtagelsesvis valgt at skrive interviewet på engelsk, fordi jeg gerne vil have alle nuancerne i Wayne Coynes svar til at stå lysende klart. God læselyst!
When you visited Denmark back in 2013 to play at Northside Festival, you played David Bowies “Heroes”.
Oh, we did, that’s right! We would always play some David Bowie song. I don’t really know what his meaning is, but that’s a cool song. It sounds triumphant. We would sing it, because it’s great.
What is your relationship to David Bowie and his music?
Well, when we were growing up in America, there was a time where we became very aware of this David Bowie-character. You know, my older brothers, they had the “Ziggy Stardust“-record, but we lived in Oklahoma, so it wasn’t as if any of us would have seen him then.
I think he came in at a time where older hippies like my older brothers’ friends would have said, “he’s a faggot!” or something and been like “what is this stuff?” It was radical for people that he was just such a weird, skinny freak. But we were young enough, so we just thought he was cool. It didn’t occur to us, him being gay or not gay. That wasn’t ever part of it for us anyway, you know.
You wouldn’t hear much of his music back then, but in the late 70’s disco was everywhere in America. It was all everybody was listening to. Bowie has this song “Fame” that was a big top-40 American disco hit. That’s one of his favorite songs of mine.
David Bowie – Fame
After that, he became popular and everybody started to know who David Bowie was. Not very many people knew about the weirder records like “Low” and “Station to station”, but then “Scary Monsters” came out. By “Scary Monsters” (1980), all of the old people who thought he was a faggot; they didn’t exist anymore. Everybody just knew he was David Bowie. By the time he does “Let’s Dance” (1983), he’s just a big mega superstar that fills stadiums.
But we always liked almost everything that he did. I don’t think there is much stuff that we would listen to after “Let’s Dance” – there would be a few things, but it wouldn’t be that much. Little by little, we would go back when the records would be re-issued, and I think “Hunky Dory” (1971) became the favorite of ours.
You know, those emotional types of songs that he does. He is just such a bizarre songwriter! I mean, when we did the David Bowie tribute a couple of months back, you’d think you know these songs, because you can drive your car and you can sing along to them, but he is such a weird songwriter, even in the way he’d record. He does these things, and you’re trying to count out how many times this happens and this happens – and you just can’t. You just have to know them and know them and know them. It’s just strange, difficult music to play and try to remember!
Of a lot of people that have died, his death really hit us. I think we had considered that David Bowie was not doing well for a long time. I think we all knew that he was sick, but then again you don’t think about it that much. And we didn’t realize how connected we were to so much of his music. Then when it was announced that he died, I remember we all texted each other: “Oh my God!” Sometimes you don’t know how much someone has affected your life until they’re gone. I think that is a powerful thing.
Now that he is dead, he quickly goes into the realm of the John Lennons and Santa Claus and, you know, Jesus and everybody that’s just so mythological. They are beyond that they were ever human, but we already thought he was like that. Then when he died it’s one of these things where you go: “Oh my God, he was a man!”
The Flaming Lips – Space Oddity (David Bowie tribute)
People would say that David Bowie, “he is like an alien from outer space.” I’d say that does him a disservice; he is a man just like me and you. And yet he was David Bowie. He did this stuff and wrote this music and that’s why we should elevate him. If he came from outer space, it’d be easy; he is just not like us. But to be one of us and still do that…
Do you think there will still be legends like David Bowie in 20 years?
I think so. Do you think there wouldn’t be?
I don’t know. We don’t have a lot of these superstars who make hundreds of hits like David Bowie or Prince…
Right, right. I don’t know. I mean, we are living in America now, where – like it or not – there is this entity Donald Trump. You don’t even have to care about him, yet you still know all this stuff about him, because he is just so controversial or just so stupid or just so whatever. And you can’t deny that popularity has its own thing. Once something becomes so popular, it influences so many other things. I think people want there to be a Jesus, they want there to be someone, where they can say, “oh, they are special” and “they are this and that – and I’m just me.”
It allows you to listen to them and believe in them. I would think it would probably always be there. I think that’s why something like Jesus and Santa Claus exist. I think that’s why it’s part of the way people tell stories, part of the way they believe in stuff. I think it will probably become even more, because if you had some music or a thing that you wanted to do, there would have been ways in the past that you’d have had to have done it to get your shit out there.
Where as now, you can really just start to do it. And if enough people think you’re interesting, you can get 20 million followers on YouTube and no one would even have to know who you are to begin with. You can just do it, and I think that’s like the greatest thing ever. It’s like you don’t even have to wait for anybody to help you; you just start to do it. I think that’s got to be good for art and music and people being individuals and all that.
The Flaming Lips – Silver Trembling Hands
But do you think people will be as devastated about legend losses in the future as they were with David Bowie and Prince?
Yeah, I do. It’s these people that you get to love from a distance. Sure, it’s painful when people that you actually know die, but with these artists… You believe these people – you sing their words.
There is probably some artist now, but since I’m older I probably wouldn’t have this subconscious connection to it. But if you get exposed to it, when you are young and it becomes part of your life, I don’t think you have that much control over it. I think if you believe it and you love it, it goes into an area that is not up to you to decide.
When John Lennon died, it was the first time that my older brothers and older sisters and their friends were truly devastated. Before then, there was a lot of the John F. Kennedys and all these, but because I was born in 1961, I didn’t really care about them, because, you know, they didn’t speak to us.
But you want to get affected by these things! I think it would be a great loss not to have these things in the world that makes you think: “Aw, man, they are cool. I want to be like them!” And probably better that it’s not someone that you get to know. The minute you start to know someone, it’s just not as magical, you know. I would think there is always going to be a good escapist need for that kind of fantasy entity. Otherwise, we would make them up! We’d want there to be. But what do you think? You think maybe not?
I hope so. We talked about someone like Miley Cyrus with whom you’ve been working with. Do you think any of the people you have collaborated with will turn out to be legends or mega superstars?
Well, some of them. We collaborated with Nick Cave and for me Nick Cave is one of those. He is one that you think would already be dead by now. It’s like, “Nick Cave? He is gonna die.” But then he lives forever and Prince is dead…
But yeah, Miley Cyrus could be one of those. When I have been around her and she’s with her fans, which are young; a lot of them are girls and a lot of them are young. She is not speaking to me and you, she’s speaking to them. It’s love. It’s not a pose.
The Flaming Lips & Miley Cyrus – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
I think that’s the thing with Justin Bieber as well. I don’t know him that well, but even being around Justin Bieber; it’s not a pose. It is absolutely the real thing! It’s just not music that you dig, because you’re an older dude, but to those people it’s real.
He came to Oklahoma City – that’s where I’m from. My older sister’s daughter was about 13 years old, when Justin Bieber came into town, and one of the guitar techs invited me to the show. He said, “hey, come to the show and you can meet Justin and whatever.” So I went to the show with my sister and her daughter, and she wanted to get a picture with him.
And there was this line of 500 girls waiting to take a picture with him. And part of you says: “Well, what is this?! How can this be?” But I can tell you, to every girl that was in line this was the greatest experience they had ever had. They came out crying and they just couldn’t believe it.
Some people want to devalue that, because “oh, that’s not real”. It’s real when you are 13, it’s real when you are 14. To say that his music isn’t real; it’s real to them! It may not be real to you, but it’s real to them. Music is like that. It doesn’t really matter what it is.
Your brain is so fucking good at compartmentalizing music. You really can’t help it. And I think that’s why it works. It gets in you, and then your subconscious gets to take over. If you’re young enough that shit gets in you. If you’ve played someone’s music 10.000 times and you believed it. That’s in you, you know. I’ve done that. That’s what music does; you get so addicted to it, and it tells you so much about your identity. So I’d think it’d always be here. We would want it to be here.
What makes someone like Miley Cyrus so special to you?
She is smart; she is so smart, but she was very young when all of her stuff started to happen. She’s 23 now, and like anybody, if someone had you make music when you were 13 and it became popular and you got to make more and more and you got to decide what it was gonna be, you’d probably be quite embarrassed by it now that you’re 23.
Luckily, we didn’t make music when we were 13, so no one knows what it would be. But I swear, if you were around her for five minutes, then you’d just get it. You’d get her this second. She’s so cool; she’s so badass. And when she’s with her fans, she’s so amazing. She’s cool; she’s really cool!
Miley Cyrus – Milky Milky Milk
She’s quite talented too, right?
To me, she sings in a way that I like. I don’t really know talent, but if I like someone that’s good enough for me. I just like her vibe; I liked her before I became friends with her. We just thought she was saying some crazy shit for as young as she was. Just to see the things that she stands up for. When she fucks up, she’ll say, “hey, I’m stupid, I’m sorry, I fucked that up.” I think the world would be a better place if there was more of her out there. She really does stand up for what she believes. It’s cool.
That’s all about legends.
Oh yeah? Fuck ’em!
Ha ha. Let’s talk about you instead. You’ve been doing your thing for more than 30 years now. Don’t you ever get tired?
Well, no, because I really love it. I guess I’m obsessed. I don’t really think about it as being something that I’m doing…
We love to record, so we get to spend a lot of time always fucking around with our recordings and other people’s recordings and all that. We never get tired of that. Then you get to perform. We are not really performers, but we get to make this whole thing, and then we get to sing our songs. As time has gone by, there is more and more things involved, where you get to make videos and movies and things that just compel your visions.
You’d think that it would be like: You make a record – that takes you a little while – then you go on tour for a couple of years, then you do nothing for a couple of years. But I’ve never done that. I’m just always doing something. It doesn’t seem that weird. Most of the people that I’m around are the same way. They get up and they do their thing and it’s never, “oh, I can’t wait for this shit to be over.” I just never considered it like that.
I really do get to do my thing and I go for it all the way. If I get to wake up and spend part of the day recording, part of the day working on videos, do some painting and stuff every day, I’d do that. But I think most people are like that. They like being in their element doing their thing. When it’s all working and people like it, it’s great.
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1
When I was younger I used to think, “will I one day wake up and just not be interested in this?” But I don’t think that happens. I think the more you do it, the less you’re doing something else. It’s the only thing you’re doing. Your world becomes very much just about you doing your thing; everything that works for you, you include, and everything that doesn’t work for you, you just get rid of.
I’ve never really taken a break. I don’t really want a break. If I have to go on a vacation, I’ll always include, “what else do I get to do?” I can’t just sit there; I’d have to do some drugs and just kind of don’t give a shit. Which I think is great! I think there are some drugs that really do help me, because I think I’m just too intense. I’ll just always go, go, go!
Can you be too intense?
Definitely. You can’t do anything just from intensity. It has to be from love. Love will show you that intensity isn’t love. Intensity is just: “My way! My way is better than your way!” That’s not love. People want to do stuff with you, if you love them. And people will love what you do, if you love them. I know that sounds hokey, but just being about you and being intense about it; that doesn’t work.
I don’t think I’d wanna be too intense. I don’t think I’d like our music, I don’t think I’d like what would happen. It’s definitely not part of my personality. I like our music a lot more, when we don’t know what we’re doing, and we’re vulnerable and we’re scared. Whenever we feel like, “yeah motherfuckers, we know what we’re doing”, our music never works very well. It only works when we’re like, “what just happened?”
Yeah, what can I say? The music has probably told us more about who we are than we’ve done to the music. We’ll do something, and it’s just, “oh wow, that’s so cool.” And then we’d think, “oh, but we made it! Oh, oh, cool!”
Speaking of making music, do you have anything coming up in terms of collaborations?
Yeah, there is this comedian/musician-guy in America. His name is Reggie Watts. I met him six years ago. He’s fucking funny!
Oh, he is the one with the big…
…the big afro, yeah yeah.
I sent him this spoken word thing about a week ago, ‘cause I’m trying to insert it into a couple of these new tracks that we’re doing. And he said that he’s going to do it and I kept bugging him. And finally on the way flying here – I don’t have my phone or I’d show you – “Bing!” I finally got it. I think this thing that we did will lead to us doing a few more things, so we can just keep going.
Oh, will that be on a new album?
Yeah yeah, it will hopefully be on the new Flaming Lips album. And there will be one more song with Miley Cyrus on there. So there will be a couple of collaborations. I don’t want to do too many, because when we’ve done the Sgt. Pepper’s record or the Pink Floyd record, there are so many people involved that you can’t really do anything. Everybody is just waiting and getting permission. As much as I love that stuff, it’s just like trying to get all your friends together at the same time. It fucking takes forever. By the time you get there, everything that you were trying to do is already over.
But the Miley Cyrus-thing is great. It’s a song that we’ve been trying to finish and get on her record, but we couldn’t quite get it. And then in the last month or so, we finally got it in a way that is really great.
Do you know when the album will come out?
We talked about it coming out in October, but now people are talking about maybe January. We’re always trying make like videos and things to go with it, because we don’t always like doing all the promo stuff. Sometimes we just wanna make a record and not worry about all this stuff, you know.
Other times you kinda embrace that you get to just talk about your shit with everybody. Sometimes I think the music really needs that, so people can understand and grab a hold of what we’re doing. But I think all that stuff is fun. It’s like talking to you guys; it’s not that bad. I mean, I’ve had better for sure… I’m joking, of course!
Ha ha, we are really looking forward to the album. Will you have time to see anything, while you are here at Heartland?
We are gonna go see what that Brian Eno-thing is all about. I would have loved to have seen him talk tomorrow (lørdag, red.). He is one of the great. He just says it.
The Flaming Lips – The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Is he a legend too?
He is indeed. I would be very sad, if he died. I think as he gets older, he is just wiser and wiser and wiser. You need people like him. You need people to talk. Otherwise, you’ll be thinking and you won’t know, “is this real? Am I stupid?”. And you’ll hear someone else that you know is not stupid say something similar and you’ll be like, “yeah!”. When I hear Bryan Eno talk, I’m like, “fuck, yeah! He is right.” It just helps you along.
I like the idea of articulating. You’ve got all these things in your mind, but until you have to actually say it, they just sit in your mind. But when you’re doing what I’m doing now – trying to articulate – you have to connect all of these things. And that coming out is a cool thing. Because it’s like you’re saying it before you’re even thinking it. It’s not like I’m sitting here thinking; it’s just this magic in that you can put together things that you wouldn’t do just by contemplating it.
I met Brian Eno about five or six years ago, and we were all partying backstage; getting drunk, taking some drugs and stuff. I don’t know, if he was taking drugs, but he was having fun. He had just done his first Coldplay record. And I said: “What is it like working with Coldplay?” And you could sort of tell; he was like (demonstrating lifting a beer to his mouth): “Oh, let’s not talk about Coldplay. Let’s get wasted. Let’s not talk about that.” I was like, that’s enough. What could you say? I’d say he tried, you know…
Ha ha, that’s a funny story. Thank you so much for your time!
No, thank you!
The Flaming Lips – She Don’t Use Jelly
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Det var alt fra vores møde med Wayne Coyne på dette års Heartland Festival. Nu er der ikke andet for end at vente på det kommende album fra The Flaming Lips, der som nævnt nok kan forventes omkring årsskiftet, og som kommer til at indeholde numre med Miley Cyrus og Reggie Watts.
Lad mig lægge ud med at understrege en ting, hvis du har travlt og ikke lige har mulighed for at læse hele indlægget: Køb for alt i verden billet til Heartland Festival 2017, så snart det er muligt. For trods nogle forventelige børnesygdomme levede 2016-udgaven af den spritnye festival fuldt ud op til mine høje forventninger.
Lige nu sidder jeg med begyndende festival-blues og et voldsomt søvnunderskud efter at være kommet hjem for få timer siden og vil forsøge at gøre status over festivalens største op- og nedture. Lad mig begynde med det dårlige, så vi kan slutte af i godt humør i stedet.
Årets nedture på Heartland Festival:
Der var heldigvis ikke mange af dem, men jeg bliver simpelthen nødt til at påpege det helt absurde fejlskøn, der var blevet lavet fra festivalens side på madfronten. Seks deciderede madboder (og en i øvrigt charmerende rød bus ved campingområdet) skulle brødføde det sultne festivalpublikum på en håndfuld tusinde gæster. Det var dømt til at gå galt, og det gjorde det desværre også den første aften, hvor to af boderne tidligt måtte melde udsolgt, mens de andre kæmpede med nærmest uendeligt lange køer, som for de fleste betød missede koncerter og talks. Det er ekstremt ærgerligt, men det er trods alt, hvad jeg vil kategorisere som en børnesygdom, som Heartland Festival da også skal have ros for at rette op på på andendagen med en ordentlig omgang hasteindkøbte sandwiches og ekstra personale.
En ting vil jeg dog sige: For en festival, som i den grad også har slået sig op på, at de vil være noget ved kødgryderne, så kunne jeg kvalitetsmæssigt ikke smage forskel på maden her sammenlignet med udvalget på eksempelvis Roskilde og Northside Festival.
Årets eneste musikalske nedtur kan man dog ikke forklare sig ud af, og jeg kunne egentlig godt tænke mig at høre Susanne Sundfør om, hvad der gik galt. Jeg elsker den norske sangerinde, og efter hendes fremragende koncert på Roskilde Festival i 2014 var mine forventninger skyhøje, men jeg er aldrig før blevet så skuffet over en koncert. Det lød mere eller mindre som om, at koncerten blev spillet nede i en papkasse med en trommeslager, som tilsyneladende aldrig havde slået på en lilletromme før. Hovedpersonens vokal drukende også – ikke i musikken, men udelukkende i sig selv.
Inden koncerten sad jeg nede ved mit telt med mine venner og lyttede til hendes fantastiske nummer “Delirious” på min telefon uden højtalere – og helt ærligt, så følte jeg et større nærvær ved den performance, end jeg gjorde ved koncerten 20 minutter senere. Det var en ekstremt underlig oplevelse, og når jeg tænker tilbage på det, så er jeg måske egentlig mere forvirret, end jeg er skuffet. For jeg ved, hvordan Susanne Sundfør skal lyde, når hun er bedst. Men det gjorde hun i den grad ikke i aftes.
Årets opture på Heartland Festival:
Der var heldigvis langt flere opture end nedture på årets festival, og det vidner om en ung festival, som ved, hvad den vil. Først og fremmest var der under hele festivalen en fantastisk stemning på pladsen præget af kærlighed og hensyntagen til hinanden. Måske var det de smukke omgivelser, der smittede af på folks væremåde, men aldrig har jeg på en festival set så mange mennesker rydde op efter sig selv, være opmærksomme på børn og andre lave/mindre mennesker til koncerter, og i det hele taget behandle stedet og hinanden ordentligt. Det samme gjorde sig gældende i boderne og blandt de frivillige, som for alles vedkommende var propfyldte med overskud og godt humør. I sandhed en hjertevarm oplevelse!
Musikalsk sad det meste også lige i skabet. Chinah og Blaue Blume viste med stor tydelighed, at nutidens danske musik har det fantastisk, mens Anne Linnet mindede os om, at en god omgang fællessang heller ikke er af vejen, når man er på en festival for mennesker i alle aldre. Mark Ronson leverede en gigantisk fest, som var den eneste rigtige måde at slutte førstedagen af på, mens Låpsley, Michael Kiwanuka og Ásgeir beviste, at vokaler kan fremkalde gåsehud – uanset om de kommer fra England, Uganda eller Island.
Men for mig var der én artist, som strålede over alle de andre. Billedet i toppen har sikkert allerede afsløret det for nogle af jer, men det er selvfølgelig Wayne Coyne og The Flaming Lips, som gjorde Heartland 2016 til noget ganske særligt. Jeg gik ned til scenen en time før, koncerten skulle begynde, og jeg stod derfor helt forrest, da Wayne Coyne allerede før koncerten begyndte at skyde konfetti i hovedet på publikum. Siden hen blev der kastet og skudt mere konfetti, enorme balloner, endnu mere konfetti og sågar Wayne Coyne selv, da han i en stor gennemsigtig bold dansede ud over publikum i bandets fremragende cover af afdøde David Bowies “Space Oddity“.
Flaming Lips – Space Oddity
Inden koncerten havde jeg fornøjelsen af Wayne Coynes selskab i små trekvarter, og der fortalte han blandt andet, at hans musik er bedst, når han ikke ved, hvad han laver. Hvis det står til troende, så anede han ikke, hvad han lavede fredag aften, for alt gik op i en højere enhed. Wayne Coynes vokal bliver aldrig spektakulært stærk, men til gengæld var det en vanvittig sjov og inddragende oplevelse, som alle formentlig vil huske i lang tid. For mig er festen i hvert fald ikke slut endnu, og jeg finder stadig konfetti de mærkeligste steder i mit tøj.
Der kom i øvrigt også andet ud af samtalen med Wayne Coyne, og det vil man kunne læse her på bloggen inden alt for længe.
Så alt i alt, tl;dr: Tag på Heartland Festival næste år, for folk er virkelig søde, stedet er virkelig smukt, og musikken er virkelig god!
På fredag og lørdag løber Heartland Festival af stablen, og det vil være en underdrivelse at sige, at jeg glæder mig. Det er første gang, Heartland Festival bliver afholdt, og det kommer til at foregå ved det smukke Egeskov Slot ved Kværndrup i hjertet af Fyn. Da festivalen er spritnyt, er jeg meget spændt på at finde ud af, hvilket publikum festivalen appellerer til, og i det hele taget hvilken stemning der vil være de to dage.
Heartland Festival adskiller sig fra de største danske festivaler i den forstand, at de ud over musikken har valgt at fokusere på også at give publikum noget til mund, øjne og sågar hele kroppen i form af flere daglige yoga sessioner. Derudover vil man kunne opleve samtaler med interessante personligheder lige fra Christian Lollike til Brian Eno, som også udstiller på festivalen med installationen “The Ship”.
Men jeg vil nu alligevel her i min optakt sætte fokus på musikprogrammet, for det er nu en gang det, jeg er til for. Og det, musikprogrammet, er fyldt med så mange lækkerier, at man godt helt kunne glemme at deltage i en af de lækre middage, som festivalen også byder på.
The Flaming Lips Fredag kl. 23:15 på Lowland Stage
For mig er fredagens helt naturlige højdepunkt de amerikanske veteraner fra The Flaming Lips. De behøver ikke nogen nærmere introduktion for de fleste, men jeg kan sige, at det er psykedelisk rockmusik, som udmærker sig ved at være musikalsk virkelig detaljeret og gennemført i en grad, som gør, at man kan lytte til det samme nummer et utal af gange og stadig opdage nye detaljer og nuancer i musikken. Det er efterhånden et stykke tid siden, at bandet udgav et decideret album, men den karismatiske forsanger Wayne Coyne udgav sidste år sammen med Miley Cyrus albummet “And Her Dead Petz”, som man kan lytte til her. Jeg er ekstremt spændt på at høre, hvad bandet har at byde på, men det ville overraske mig meget, hvis ikke der indgår en hyldest til et af bandets idoler, David Bowie, der som bekendt gik bort tidligere i år.
Blaue Blume Lørdag kl. 12:30 på Highland Stage
Koldingensiske Blaue Blume åbner musikprogrammet om lørdagen, og jeg vil da anbefale folk at være oppe til den tid. Jeg hørte sidst Blaue Blume sidste år, da de gav en fremragende koncert i Store VEGA, så mine forventninger er vanvittigt høje til bandet, som med “Syzygy” har skabt nyere dansk musiks bedste og nok også et af de mest personlige album. Blaue Blume er inderlighed, følsomhed og storslået nærvær, og jeg tror på, at det vil passe perfekt ind i de smukke omgivelser ved Egeskov Slot.
Låpsley Lørdag kl. 15:00 på Highland Stage
Det sidste navn, jeg vil give en ekstra stor anbefaling, er den unge britiske sangerinde Låpsley. Holly Lapsley Fletcher er blot 19 år gammel, men allerede i 2014 spillede hun på den gigantiske britiske festival Glastonbury, og hun er uden tvivl et af de største talenter til at komme ud af England. Hendes musik er elektronisk med klare tråde til RnB, og den udmærker sig især ved en gennemført produktion og en mangefacetteret vokal, som både formår at vise ømhed og kraftfuldhed på samme tid.
Jeg kunne også snildt have fremhævet artister som Asgéir, Susanne Sundfør og Chinah, men programmet er simpelthen så stopfyldt med lækkerbiskener, at jeg umuligt ville kunne få det hele med, hvis artiklen skulle holde en nogenlunde længde. Men et er at læse nogle anbefalinger, noget andet er at lytte til musikken. Så hvis du alligevel ikke har noget vigtigt for fredag og lørdag og har hjertet på det rette sted, så skal der lyde en klar anbefaling herfra til at skynde dig at købe billet og tage af sted mod Fyn og den festival, som jeg har glædet mig allermest til i år. Heartland Festival.
