Happy colors! Dancing! Smiles! Craziness! Basically the opposite of my world, which is full of earth tones, sitting, frowning, and normality! Or something! I love the continual movement of the camera in all the non-dancing scenes and every little step and pause taken by Patrick and all the twirls and claps in between. Is that weird? Choreographed walking? Strolling? I don’t know. I really like the pause at the 1:15 mark, but I have no idea why.

I thought that I wouldn’t like any of his other songs—I’ve listened to bits of his older albums before and never got into them—but then a friend kindly donated the album to “Robyn’s iTunes” and it turns out that I like it. A lot. At least until I get sick of it. It’s a weird mix of…stuff. Hell, I’m not writing an album review; there are no standards here. WEIRD MIX OF STUFF, THAT’S WHAT IT IS. Stuff that expands in your brain and fills in every squishy crevice with beeps and thumps and pianos and horns and maybe the screechings of soaring fireworks.

He’s playing at Bowery Ballroom on May 9th. Which I only just realized is the day before my (second) graduation ceremony. Crap. Stupid graduation. I’ll just be very tired that day.

Um…hell yeah?

ow, my eyes

Annnnd thus I am inspired to write about the PB&J concert I went to nearly two weeks ago. (I’ve been a bit busy/lazy lately. It’s finals week and I somehow need to not fail things while say goodbye to people and eat as much in Paris as possible and buy a million gifts and blah blah blah, not that I’m complaining or anything considering that when I walk out of my apartment and turn left I have a full-on view of the Eiffel Tower.)

I disappointingly took very few trips for someone who is studying abroad for one semester, but I managed to plan a weekend trip to London that coincided with the concert. Which was great because there were no concerts I wanted to go to in Paris (or by the time I found out I wanted to go, it was too late).

twinkly

After wandering around under the depressingly early sun-less sky, I met up with my awesome host/longtime Internet friend Leanne, ate a burger for the first time in months, and we both made our way through the chilly weather to ULU.

Peter

Standing in the venue was the most New York City-esque experience I had since leaving NYC. Being squished up against the stage reminded me of the Bowery Ballroom, except…smaller. With additional legal cigarette smoke. And with everyone speaking English.

Bjorn, Peter

I was most struck by how differently they played their songs live as opposed to on the album. Not that they replaced their instruments with chainsaws or anything like that, but…ye know, more noticably different than live performances of other live artists. Either I was really tired, or they made some of their songs longer. Or maybe some songs just feel long, like one of my favorites:

Peter Bjorn & John – The Chills

It feels endless to me, but it’s only 3 minutes and 50 seconds long. Uh. Maybe it’s just my inherent lethargy.

Victoria, Peter

Victoria Bergsman came out in some ridiculously cute purple dress + vest outfit (you will rarely ever hear me comment on people’s clothing; I usually don’t give a crap) to sing her part for “Young Folks” while Peter did some furious shaker shaking. This song was obviously everyone’s favorite song.

Bjorn, John

Oh yeah, there are other members of the band; I just didn’t get good photos of them. Although Peter and Bjorn did the most talking, John did randomly get a few words in, which were somehow the only words that stuck in my head. He mentioned that the band usually ate Thai food, but went for Japanese food that night instead, consisting of some fish on rice thing. I didn’t get the impression from his nonchalant manner that he was trying to be funny; there was just…something funny about it. The randomness.

The setlist went something like:

* Let’s Call It Off
* See Through
* The Chills
* Paris 2004
* Far Away, By My Size
* Start to Melt
* Big Black Coffin
* Amsterdam
* Young Folks
* Objects of My Affection
* Up Against the Wall

…not including the possibly 4 songs during the encore.

I know this is one of the least enthusiastic reviews one could possibly write, but I really did enjoy the concert aside from the subsequent stench of smoke in my clothing. That night I ended up going to sleep much earlier than usual if it’s any testament to my tired-ness.

I think $15 is alright for their Mercury Lounge show. WHY MUST YOU WHINE? The London show was 10 pounds, aka almost $20. Yes, that exchange rate makes my eyes bleed too. The only souvenirs I brought back from London were four packs of biscuits and a Cadbury advent calendar.

— update-ish —

The Mercury Lounge shows seem to have sold out already. Oooops.

YouTube…what have you done to me?…

I’m not really into tea, but I do love scones. Plain scones. No tea.

[via the very tasty Becks & Posh]

(I couldn’t take hi-res videos, but the sound’s pretty good.)

Besides that most of us probably won’t see him with a full band, there’s also that outdoor stage …thing. Hm. For some reason I don’t remember much about the performance. I’m sure it was good. Yeah. It started raining by the end, which was a nice touch. THANKS, NATURE.

I like his solo shows the most, but it’d be cool to see another show like this again.

Live Magnet doesn’t compare to anything else for me, but I’m usually dissatisfied with live recordings. It’s like maybe I happen to see him when everything goes perfectly…or they put something into the air. “The Pacemaker” sounds beautiful live, very different from the studio version, but I think “Hold On” and “Deadlock” lost something in the acoustic versions. I’d probably think differently about the songs if I had actually been there though.

The live version of Where Happiness Lives in minor key is one of my favorite live songs. I don’t know if he plays that version much anymore but I like it more than the original. Here’s one he played on WFMU from November 29, 2001 (a night I remember well because I left my radio on, enduring a crapload of brain curdling punk music to get to Even’s bit, and then I found out it was available online):

Magnet – Where Happiness Lives (WFMU) [removed]

I read Q magazine’s review of The Tourniquet, calling it dull and other stuff. I kind of agreed, if I had to compare it to On Your Side. …but then I listened to The Tourniquet a few times in it entirety and I still love it. Sooo. Hm.

On Tuesday 16th Magnet will appear on Tom Robinson’s show on BBC 6 Music for an acoustic session and interview & on the same day will also appear on Lauren Laverne’s XFM show playing a solo session. “Hold On” is Lauren Laverne’s Single of the Week on XFM this week.

Magnet will tour UK in October as main support to Engineers. The dates:

* Sun 9th Oct: SOUTHEND, CHINNERY’S – 01702 467 505
* Mon 10th Oct: BRIGHTON, KOMEDIA – 01275 647 100
* Tues 11th Oct: BRISTOL, THE FLEECE – 0117 929 9008
* Thurs 13th Oct: LONDON, THE SCALA – 020 7734 8932 or 020 7403 3331
* Fri 14th Oct: NORTHAMPTON, SOUNDHAUS – 01604 250 898
* Sat 15th Oct: NOTTINGHAM, RESCUE ROOMS – 0115 958 8484
* Sun 16th Oct: LEEDS, COCKPIT – 0113 245 5570
* Tues 18th Oct: GLASGOW, KING TUTS WAH-WAH HUT – 0870 169 0100
* Wed 19th Oct: MANCHESTER, ACADEMY 3 – 0161 832 1111
* Thurs 20th Oct: LIVERPOOL, BARFLY – 0870 907 0999

Tickets also available online via www.gigsandtours.com.

Check out the latest press from the UK:

* The Times: Bergen, Norway – it’s the new Seattle
* NME: “The Tourniquet” review
* Music Week: “The Tourniquet” review
* NME: “Hold On” single review
* Manchester Online: “Hold On” single review

Time Out and The Evening Standard recommend seeing Magnet perform in London next Wednesday at 93 Feet East. The show is sold out, so we hope you have your tickets!

Hello Magnet friends,

The new album from MAGNET “The Tourniquet” is released on Monday 22nd August in UK.

It’s preceeded by a very limited single “Hold On” the week before (15 August). This comes in a twin 7″ only format and the tracks will also be available for download via I-tunes. A limited number come with a hand-written note from Even, and all 7″ contain Magnet stickers. The single includes exclusive tracks “The Mute” and “Good Mourning”.

One of the 7″‘s will also contain a VIP Atlantic Gold Pass, the person who finds this gets a flight to Norway to see Magnet perform!

To celebrate these releases MAGNET makes a rare live appearance (with full band) in London.

Wednesday 17th August

LONDON 93Ft EAST, Brick Lane, EC1

Tickets are available here or by calling 020 7403 3331 or 020 7734 8932

We hope you’re all keeping well and hope to see you at this show.

We’ll be back in touch shortly with news of the Album and Single in more detail

Until then…

homeofmagnet.com

Oh. My god. I WANT A TICKET TO NORWAY! DAMMIT!

AGRHARGARH ARHA HHGAHGRHGAR!!! *spittle*

As far as I know, there isn’t a set US release date for “The Tourniquet”.

I’m not insane. Really! But I feel compelled to do a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-esque search for the ticket, which makes no sense (nono, I’m not crazy enough to do that…don’t worry). I hope that whoever gets the ticket deserves it muchly because come to think of it, I don’t deserve anything like that. I SPENT $6.25 ON A SHACK SHACK “CONCRETE” LAST NIGHT. I squander my money on tasty chocolate-filled calorically-dense dairy behemoths while in another country, $6.25 could feed a family of four for a month.

I just wondered why I updated this page before home of magnet. …because I can go insane here (ie, be myself) before having to pretend I am not insane. Or something.

The nice thing about the album is that each song flows into the next. Kind of. Um. Listen to these songs in this order:

Amusement Parks On Fire – 23 Jewels [removed]
Amusement Parks On Fire – Venus In Cancer [removed]

…you better like it. Or deathy.

Check out this weird video for I Am Kloot’s new single “Over My Shoulder”. I like the crate stuck to the shoe. Oh, and the song is fun too.

Remember that Beck’s new album Guero comes out soon, as in next week, unless you live in Europe or someplace cooler than the US (NYT just reviewed it)! I haven’t even ordered a copy yet, but I’ll get my hands on that deluxe DVD + book thing at some point. I’ve been putting up news at beck beck beck but there’s loads of stuff at stewoo’s board (and Stewoo has emerged, which means he is ALIVE, which is a big thing for those of us who thought he was…dead).

Quickie that I’ll edit later or else I’ll forget, some songs that were played although not in this order:

• Twist
• To You
• Morning Rain
• Proof
• Strange Arrangement of Color
• Cuckoo
• No Fear of Falling
• Life in a Day

…oh crap, that didn’t really work. I can’t remember the other songs and I’m sure there were others that I knew. There were a few songs I didn’t know; I ought to get Natural History. I think they played a new one as well.

Anyhoo, it was cool. Diana and I stood right in front of John Bramwell, giving me a clear view of his guitar playing, which was pretty awesome because…because. No pick. I don’t like picks. The band played nearly perfectly as far as I could tell.

—– [returns much later to blab some more] —–

My ears didn’t ring this morning! It’s a miracle! The show was awesome and was a damn good way to spend $8. Also good was BC Camplight, which I found out stands for Brian Christinzio…Camplight. He had the flu but still sang well; I was impressed. Drinking like a fish, he apologized for sounding more manly than usual (he said he’s supposed to sound like a girl) and pounded out lovely tunes on the piano with a drummer, bassist, and acoustic guitarist in tow (and a few times, a female singer, as in the photo). I love his voice (if you didn’t download the mp3s, go download!) and it was a bit weird hearing it in all its…manliness. But he was funny and all was good. And stuff. And he’s playing at SXSW so if you’re going to that you should see him. I was feeling poopy all day but BC Camplight tunes cheered me up so I’d be ready for I Am Kloot.

I Am Kloot was great and seemed to enjoy themselves (they looked happy!). The show was sold out, the crowd was good, it was the first time I saw someone use a crate in lieu of a guitar strap, all the songs sounded solid, and…the end. If you can, see them during their tour. For more Kloot-ness, they’ve got a new album and single coming out! I LOVE the single “Over My Shoulder”, a version of which (I’m assuming it’s not the same?) you can download at epitonic.

On a completely unrelated note, pancakes are a very good thing.