Czwartek 31 Gru 2009, 7:35
My beautiful fiancé, northern_soul_, named 2009 her Yevgueni year. Unlike her, I had no particular band to guide me through these past twelve months of music magic. But despair not! For I had multiple cheery highlights I'd love to share with you. Here are my top nine music moments of 2009, in no particular order.
Hit it, Shaffer!
1. Getting "Poker Face" stuck in my brain for the one thousandth time
I'm no lover of pop, female lead singers who mostly get by on their looks or gambling, but the fact is that, months after its release, this song is still churning about in my head as if constantly playing from millions of tiny speakers hidden throughout the world. Also, Lady Gaga's role in DJ Steve Porter's Auto-Tuned recap of 2009 was one of my personal highlights from the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZpf3wflu3E
2. Listening to ZZ Top's «Velcro Fly» after reading about it in Stephen King's Dark Tower series
…and reading the following quote among the track's shouts on Last.fm: «Everyone here has forgotten the faces of their fathers!»
3. Immersing myself in upbeat music on my way to work
My 20-minute walk to my workplace is a perfect opportunity to crank up my MP3-player and shake off that last little bit of morning drowsiness. It has allowed me to discover new sides to The Who's «Baba O'Reilly», «Won't Get Fooled Again» and «Bargain», along with some tracks from Lostprophets' Liberation Transmission, Jason Mraz' «The Remedy (I Won't Worry)» and «Circle of Life» from The Lion King. And nothing beats strolling through the doors at work to the velvet thunder of Beck's «E-Pro».
4. My father-in-law's insane record collection
I visited my fiancé's family for the first time this summer, and the one thing you'll notice about the house is all the records. Literally thousands of CDs and vinyls are piled from floor to ceiling along almost every wall. He was more than happy to lend me a few, and so my jazz horizon was muchly expanded in a very short period of time. I can't wait to experience more from Josse M.'s treasure chest of music.
5. The 2009 Dour Festival
During the visit to my fiancé's home country of Belgium, the two of us went to the Dour Festival in the southwest of the country. Among the great concerts we went to were: Malibu Stacy (indie Walloons), Arsenal (what Toto would be like if Bobby Kimball was a rapper and Stephen Lukather was a DJ), and one of my favorite punk bands, Dropkick Murphys. Apart from the little clouds of ganja smoke drifting across the sea of people from the dreadlock-heads who'd come to see Winston McAnuff and the Homegrown Band, it was excellent. I'd love to go there again.
6. Moving together with my girlfriend and her music
We've been living together for three months now, and I'm still only getting to know all the wonderful things about her. Which is great! We listen to music together, watch R.E.M. DVD's together and even make little music quizzes for each other. Among her great Christmas presents for me was a CD labeling kit. The first one I make will be for her.
7. My Christmas presents
I've already mentioned the CD labeling kit. Opening yet another present from my fiancé and seeing R.E.M.'s latest release, Live at the Olympia, inside was probably the biggest moment of Christmas '09 for me. Along with, of course, playing Guitar Hero 5 with my girlfriend and little sisters for four days on end.
8. Seeing Marit Larsen live
It was every bit as magical and fun as listening to her music is. It was also a bit unreal, having someone's songs being pumped into your ears from the radio for years on end and then suddenly seeing them on stage right in front of you, breathing new life into the music and communicating it to the audience in the purest way you can imagine. Live music kicks ass, and Marit Larsen kicks ass. So, that evening kicked ass. If she ever comes back to Tromsø, I'm taking northern_soul_ along to the concert so we can share that experience together.
9. Seeing Norway win the Eurovision Song Contest with folk dancing and a fiddle
Alexander Rybak was the first-ever Norwegian finalist I actually believed could win the whole ESC, and then he did. I was stunned and elated. Sure, I don't give a rat's behind about the contest the other 363 days a year it's not on, but winning is always fun, you can't argue with that. And «Fairytale» ranks high on my personal soundtrack to 2009. Give the happy fiddler a scrobble!
Erlend A.
Tromsø, December 2009