On audio input

I've developed a new habit/addiction.

I used to listen to Spotify on my way to and from work, but as much as I love music, it would eventually get boring as music frequently works more as a way of shutting out the world than to entertain or otherwise engage me. I've tried reading - while listening to music, even - but it doesn't really work (and the music or lack thereof has nothing to do with it). If I take the bus I will get travel sick from looking down too much, and if I'm on the subway it's frequently so crowded that it is difficult to find a seat, and reading standing up isn't really my thing.

However, a while back a friend told me about "Serial". The podcast. As I'm sure everyone in the entire world has heard of it by now I won't go into details, but if there are anyone left out there who hasn't listened to "Serial" I think they should. Go find it online. It's free. Listen. Get hooked.

Anyway, "Serial" is over (or at least the first season), and I needed more. With little over half an hour travel time each direction, I need more than an hour per day to fill my needs. Hence, I would need a lot of podcasts. I've tried several, and while others such as "This American Life" or "Radiolab" are good, they don't hook me the way "Serial" did, and with all of them there is a quantity problem. I need more. (I really do sound like an addict...)

Thus, I discovered audiobooks. First, I got a free trial one from Audible (which turned out to be "free", as they automatically connected that to my Amazon account, took my credit card details from there and proceeded to charge me monthly without me being aware that I had signed up for any kind of membership... Bastards!). After that, I moved onto an app called "Storytel" [sic - not a typo - one L only].

Storytel doesn't have the greatest catalogue, but for now I am satisfied. I've been through quite a lot of memoirs, which are made infinitely better when the person having written them also is the one reading (so far, I've listened to Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, Kaitlin Moran and more). Love that! I wish I could find such audiobooks from the politicians I am writing my dissertation on. Would be so interesting (I did buy another book from Amazon, since they had already charged me I might as well make use of my "credit" - but I'm not sure Jimmy Carter reading about something other than the topic I am researching will have the same effect, and at any rate there is no hope to find anything from Nixon or Ford, and I don't think Kissinger is the greatest audio performer - though he is unmatched when it comes to the written word).

I like thematically appropriate listens, so when I was meadering around on a U.S. university campus (specifically University of Michigan in Ann Arbor) this spring, I listened to Stoner by John Williams. The world of academia is more than a mere setting in this novel; it's almost a character of its own. Thus my circumstance made an already interesting book even more captivating, though I am sure I must have looked odd to the people around me - walking around with my ear plugs staring at campus buildings as though I saw them in 1915 rather than 2015.

When I came home I went back to podcasts for a while, having discovered Neil deGrasse Tyson's "Star Talk", where he enter into discussion about topics reaching far beyond the extent of his field of study (which is saying something, seeing as he basically is studying the universe...). Funny and interesting. After having gone through the entire backlog of this podcast, however, I went back to audiobooks. 

This time I've finally settled for something that will keep my addiction covered for a while. After the season finale of "Game of Thrones" a few weeks back I realized I craved more. Thus far I'd been staying far away from the books, or rather, I started reading them, but they did not appeal to me, This was way back when the first season aired, and the show was following the book closely enough for me to feel it redundant to read them. In addition, the books felt "wordy" to me, which is weird, because I normally really look big, fat, wordy books. 

Anyway. Now everything is different. First of all, it's been four years since I saw that first season. Even if the first book is following it closely, it doesn't matter, as I've forgotten a lot. A lot. 

Secondly, it's almost an advantage that the books are wordy. It means they last longer, and seeing as I listen to them during my commute where constant distractions might interfere, it isn't so problematic if I miss a detail here or there. 

Finally, I really like the guy who is reading (which is a BIG deal for audiobooks). He even does different voices, which I adore. I could listen to him forever (a good thing, seeing as each book is about 30 hours,,,) 

Yeah, that's right. Each book is about 30 hours. And there are five of them (with two more in the making, but as everyone knows by now the release dates of those are anyone's guess). 

I'm already halfway into book number two, though, so I'm wolfing them down a little faster than I'd planned. Somehow, my commute time tends to stretch out these days... The way it looks, I'll be hunting for more sustenance to feed my addiction come autumn. (Insert mandatory "Winter is coming") 

Any suggestions? 

On soundtracks

There was a thing a while back - I can't remember if it was a blog thing, a Facebook-thing, or maybe some other thing... A thing, anyway. The - thing - (now I'm obsessing about the word "thing". Should I say meme? But would it BE a meme if it was a thing OFF the internet? But then again, what are the odds it was off internet? Everything I know, I know from the internet. Shh... Don't tell anyone!)

This thing. This thing was a thing to do. (Get to the POINT, already!!!) Something (thing!) to make. You had to make this thing.

Thing. Meme. Whatever.

You were supposed to make a "soundtrack of your life". (Isn't that a movie? TV-show? Band? Something like that?)

I can't remember how "well-developed" the thing/meme was, but the general idea it gave me was pretty simple. Make a list of songs you feel represent your life, the same way a soundtrack to a movie would represent the movie. Man. I just killed the definition of "soundtracks", didn't I..?

Aaaaanyway. Short story made much longer than necessary. Here is the soundtrack of my life:

1) Vangelis - "West Across The Ocean Sea" (from the album 1492)
Ironically, this is from another soundtrack, from the movie 1492, about Christopher Columbus' travels to the Americas. I vividly remember how one of my sister's early boyfriends brought this CD into our house, and it never left again. My dad loved - loves, actually- it, and I knew it by heart by the time I was seven. So well, in fact, that when I actually saw the movie a few years ago, much of the plot was spoiled for me, because I could *always* tell from the music when something scary/exciting/romantic/bad would come up.

2) A-ha - "Crying in the Rain" (Everly Brothers cover)
It's difficult to escape a-ha in Norwegian music history (not that this is Norwegian music history, but since I am Norwegian, and this is my music history...). "Take On Me" might be the most famous hit they ever had, but this is the track I remember listening to over and over and over again, rewinding the tape (you know, back when we listened to tapes) until it was worn and forlorn.

3) Vivaldi - "Piccolo Concerto In C Major"
My dad has always been the one controlling the music in our home (and by "controlling" I don't mean that he is the music dictator or anything - that sounded way worse than it really is... But my mom couldn't care less about music, so dad takes the lead). This is another favourite of his. It one of those pieces I've heard so many times, that I know exactly what CD and at what track to find it.

4) ABBA - "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"
My parents were ABBA-fans, so their songs have been a natural part of my upbringing. From before I knew English, actually, and I frequently made of lyrics as I thought I heard them... Which leads me to why I picked this particular song - for the longest time I was certain the song went like this: "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! I'm bad after midnight!"

5) Backstreet Boys - "As Long As You Love Me"
These guys. Ah. They were my heroes! My friends and I used to know all their songs, make up special dances to them, have big posters with their pictures on our walls. And so did every other girl at my age. I even remember we used to go to the mall, daily, to buy gum which contained stickers of the Backstreet Boys in the wrapping. I had such a collection!

6) Morten Harket - "A Kind of Christmas Card"
This list is giving a disproportionate impression of a-ha's Morten Harket's importance in Norwegian music, perhaps, but this was the very first CD I got, along with my very first CD player (that worked in perfect condition till last year, when it finally started giving up).

7) Céline Dion - "My Heart Will Go On (Theme From Titanic)"
I was a little too young to go see the movie in theaters, but with a little make-up and a lot of self-confidence, I did anyway. Twice. And then I saw it four more times when it came out on VHS. Not DVD. VHS. Leonardo was the cutest guy I'd ever seen (even counting all the Backstreet Boys), and I wanted to be Rose, or Kate or whatever her name was. The music was the cherry on top og the ice berg.

8) Håkan Hellström - "Kom Igen Lena"
Sweden's favourite nerd-meets-powerboy made young girls' hearts beat extra hard all over Scandinavia. There is a change from the previous musical (and otherwise) crushes, though. This one I actually can stand by, even today, musically. Håkan Hellström (and before he went solo, his band Broder Daniel) has a sound I liked and like - and this might be one of the transitions for me, taste-wise. A meagre beginning from liking something because everyone else does, to liking something because I actually think it is good. I may have started liking Håkan because everyone else did, but that is not why I stayed.

9) Broder Daniel - "Luke Skywalker"
Speaking of Broder Daniel... It's impossible to write a "soundtrack of my life" without including this track. It reminds me of those glorious months after my friend got her car, and we no longer had to walk to school (which, in retrospect, I recognize as a bit of a shame, as I could have used the exercise). But the car rides - not just to school and back, but also separate roadtrips, became musical adventures for me. And this song - that we used to put on max volume and sing along at the top of our lungs - is the symbol of everything great about that.

10) Jon Bon Jovi - "Living on a Prayer"
The final year of high school this became a bit an an anthem for me, because it was the finale song for our school show (though with different lyrics). I remember the year thereafter, when I'd started university, I went to a party and this song came on. I couldn't help but sing along with the alternative lyrics - and the funny part is that so did another student - a guy who also went to my school.
11) Simon and Garfunkel - "The Sound of Silence"
Another musical hand-me-down from my parents, but one that I've grown to appreciate more and more with time. I rarely listen to the lyrics when there is music on, but I make an exception for Simon and Garfunkel.

12) Kent - "Den Döda Vinkeln"
Sweden, again. If Kent is my favourite band, then this is one of - if not the - favourite song of mine (of mine of theirs? I'm gammatically challenged in this sentence. Or just in general...). I said, "if", though. I still really like Kent, and it would be completely unnatural for me to make a list like this without mentioning them, but maybe we've grown a little bit apart the last few years? I've discovered so much new music, and I've come to a point when I find it's difficult to pick favourites. Recently, when people ask me what sort of music listen to, I reply "Spotify". Because I do - every single day I use this music streaming service, but what I listen to on Spotify is completely random. Whatever strikes my fancy then and there. Kent has become a seasonal thing for me, though. Winter is Kent-time. When the cold sets in and our Nordic light disappears, there are few bands that capture my mood so thoroughly as (particularly early) Kent.


There you go. The list will continue to grow with time, but for now this is a pretty accurate soundtrack of my life, up till now.

On intense investigation

I once knew someone whose favourite song was Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved".

I never quite got why, and I never asked. I listened to the song, and concluded that it was okay, but not great. Hardly a song worth listing as a favourite, I thought. Not even the best by Maroon 5.

I tried some more. The rhythm is ordinary. The melody nothing special. Could it be the lyrics?

I listened to the lyrics. Looked them up online. Read them several times. Noticed they were meaningful, but failed to see spectacular. Kind of a happy-sad song. It didn't make me happy, though. Or sad.

In the end, I accepted that we had different taste.

I moved on.

It wasn't until recently I rediscovered the song. This time I thought it sounded pretty awesome.

If nothing else because it reminded me of an old friend.

On why people think I am mad (but Queen is not)**

Is this the real life

Is it just fantasy

Caught in a landslide

No escape from reality

Open your eyes

Look up to the skies and see

I’m just a poor boy

I need no sympathy

Because I’m easy come easy go little high little lowany way the wind vlows doesn’t really mater to me

To me

Mama, just killed a man

Pulled a gun against his head

Pulled my trigger now his dead

Mama life had just begun

But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away

Mama, ooooo

Didn’t meant o makeyu cry

If I*m not back agains this time tomorrow

Carry on, carry one, as if nothing realy natters

Too late

My time has come

Sent shivers down my spone

Body’s aching all the time

Goodbye everybody

I’ve got to go gotta leave you all behind and face the trought

Mama, oooo

I don’t wanna die

I sometimes wish I never been born at all

(guitar)

(too fast)

I’m just a poor nobody loves me, he’s just a poor boy from a poor family,

No we will not let go

Lt him go

We will not let him go

Let me go

No no no

Mama mia let me go

Belzebub devil got a side?

(More guitar (fortuanateluy)

So you think you can stone me and spend my eye

So you think you can love me and leave me to die

Ooo baby

Can’t you list to me baby

Just gotta get out

Just gottaget right outta here

Ooooo

Oh yeah

Nothing really matters

Anyone can see

Nothing realy matters

Nothing really matters to me

(choir )

(end)

(phew!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*(unintentional star. Sorry)

** Why, yes, I did try to remember the lyrics to "Bohemian Rhapsody", then failed, then decided that it would be a good idea to type them while listening to the song. All this while I was in a coffee shop. And then I thought it was a good idea to make the result a blog post. 

How did you guess? 

On the road (again)

I’ve had the pleasure of being a Spotify user for almost six months now. Since I spend most my days in front of a computer, trying to make some sense of the random bits of information that one day is supposed to turn into my master’s thesis, and since I do this in what can only be described as an office landscape with up to 100 other frustrated students (but fortunately many of them stay at home a lot), I tend to listen to plug in music to block out sounds. Thus I listen to music from Spotify almost on a daily basis.


The music library there is vast, though with a few notable emissions. For instance, you can’t find any Beatles songs on Spotify, due to copyright issues (I think). You can, however, find a massive collection of Beatles tribute bands (everything from bluegrass to classical piano. Not that you’d want to…) Because the music selection is so huge, however, it can be more than a little challenging to know where to look for new music. If you know what you’re looking for it is simple – you merely type the name of the artist/band, song, album or record label. Within seconds you have all the available tracks ready for listening (interrupted by the occasional commercial break). If you know you’d like something similar to, say, Cat Stevens, it is also quite simple. By searching for a specific artist you also get suggestions for other artists “you might like”. I love “you might like” functions, be it in books, movies, or music.

Lately, however, I have been experimenting on new tactics for finding random music. I have simply typed keywords I imagine are popular in song titles or albums. My first attempts, “rain” and “sunshine”, proved fruitful, though a lot of the music there I already knew. Plus, you can only listen to “Walking on Sunshine” so many times before you tire completely.

There are also certain keywords you’d want to avoid – “love” comes to mind – at the risk of blowing up the entire search function (well, not likely, but the number of hits make it almost redundant to search at all).

The other day, however, I found a good one by accident. In an attempt to find a song I remember I used to like when I was younger (which turned out to be “The Way” by Fastball, and which wasn’t on Spotify at all. Must admit I was disappointed), I typed “road”. While it didn’t get me the song I wanted (obviously), it did give me an interesting listening experience. I didn’t listen to all of the 30.393 tracks that came up, but I randomly ticked off a fair share of them and what I got was a collection of more or less listenable songs all pondering over the apparently mind-boggling stretch of road. They ranged the scale from “the road home”, “getting away”, “the freedom of the road”, “the road of dirt”, “the road to heaven/hell/love/hate/perdition(theme)/nowhere/Georgia” and not to forget, Weird Al’s “I love Rocky Road”.

From this long list of more or less interesting songs, I picked a playlist that I intend to find a way of taking with me on my annual road trip this summer (“find a way” because all the music on Spotify require an internet connection, and this might prove challenging while driving. But surely many of these might be downloadable?). For those of you still reading, you might be interested too. The songs I picked were:

On the road

Who Built the Road/Mark Lanegan, Isobel Ca..

On the Road to Find Out/Cat Stevens

Further Up the Road/Johnny Cash

The Rocky Road to Dublin/Damien Dempsey

The Long and Winding Road/Count Basie Orchestra, Ray Charles. As mentioned, the original Beatles is not on Spotify. However, I like this big band version so much that I am almost okay with it.

Hard Road/The Shore. This band reminds me slightly of Oasis (you know, if Oasis had been from the US) with a blend of such melodious rock/pop bands as Snowpatrol and perhaps even Kings of Leon. In short, I like the sound.

Cross the Road, Molina/Songs:Ohia

One For My Baby [And One More For The Road]/Frank Sinatra. I always come back to Sinatra, somehow. His life and personality fascinates me, and his songs make me want to sing along.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road/Elton John. Need I say more?

For those who have Spotify accounts, here is the link to the playlist.

I am actually going on a little roadtrip today. It’s got to do with a wedding, a cake and a historical museum (long story...). The wedding in question will probably have me occupied for most of the day and night tomorrow as well, though, so let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy weekend!

On the Eurovision Song Contest (yes, you heard me…)

I wasn’t going to blog about this. Actually, I wasn’t going to blog at all today, but there you go… See, the Eurovision fever has invaded Norway. For those of you who are not European, I will explain. For those of you who are, cover your ears (or actually, your eyes, since I am not reading this out loud) for the next paragraph or so – as I am sure you are accustomed to doing during the Eurovision final anyway…


The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is an annual spectacle where performers from all over Europe (one from each of the European Broadcasting Union countries) gather to show off their feather boas, fake folk costumes, hair extensions, silver hot pants (worn by men, I kid you not) and glittering veils. There are wigs, and epaulettes and skin-tight costumes that would make both Lady Gaga and Borat envious. Also, there are some songs, but generally the dancing and the costumes are more elaborate than the actual vocal performances. Frequent elements in the actual songs, however, include terrible English pronunciation or lyrics in obscure languages (like Norwegian, but it’s been a while since we sent a song with anything else than English lyrics), key changes, and – speaking of key – voices so off-key that it will burn your ears off unless you are careful. The purpose of this torture/so-bad-it’s-almost-good-sort-of-fun is to vote for a winner whose home country will be the host of next year’s final.

The ESC is one of those things you either love to hate, or hate to love (I have heard rumours that there also are those who love to love it, but I have never actually met any…). It is very nearly impossible to avoid, at least here in Norway it is a pretty big deal, and this year the deal is slightly bigger than usual. Last year’s final took place in Moscow, and the winner – you all guessed it, right? – was Alexander Rybak from Norway! Now, I am saying this in a “I-used-to-think-it-was-sort-of-cool-we-won-because-it-was-such-a-long-time-since-last-time-we-won-(1995, and then 1985 before that)-but-now-I-am-so-over-it-and-I-will-only-watch-parts-of-the-show-this-year”-ironic sort of tone. I’ve heard last year’s winning song, “Fairytale”, so many times I almost fell off my chair in spasms from just trying to find a YouTube clip of it for this post. Norwegian media have been filled with ESC stories for months – who will host, what will they wear, what will the intermission act be, what do the foreigners really think of us? That last part is the core of the motivation for every country hosting the ESC final – it’s a way of showing the rest of Europe what your country can offer. In Norway’s case, it’s probably going to have to do with either skiing or trolls, I’m sure.

Hosting the ESC is expensive, and with several European countries at the brink of bankruptcy it seems evident that they are sending poor contributions to avoid having to host the final next year. Actually, that could explain a lot historically as well… Norway has made sure that we won’t win two times in a row, since we’re sending a ballad (and only France and Switzerland has ever pulled those off – the latter only because they had Céline Dion, for some reason. Isn't she Canadian?). The Norwegian song is furthermore two parts cliché and one part overkill, so there shouldn’t be any risks that we win. In addition there are long traditions in the ESC history to only vote for your neighbor. Back when the Broadcasting Union only consisted of Western European countries we tolerated this, but the last decade a number of Eastern European countries have performed something of a coup d’état since there are so many of them. All of a sudden the Western European states have realized that the voting system is unfair… Every now and then a non-Easter European country still wins, like Norway did last year (though the aforementioned Alexander is originally from Belarus, so it might not actually count…).

One happy thing to report, though – Sweden didn’t make it past the semi final. The ESC is, along with Winter Olympics, the one competition Norwegians cannot stand to lose to Sweden (even though we frequently do). Since Norway is pre-qualified to the grand final we have already beaten them. Yay!

I do not recommend cancelling any important appointments to catch the final tonight, but if you are not doing anything other than sitting around the house drinking martinis anyway, watching current or past ESC clips on YouTube certainly can be entertaining. I’ve assembled a few samples for you to get started, just to give an idea of the treat you’re in for…

Portugal 1981 (the actual song starts at about 1:07, but it might be worth to listen to the Monty Pythonesque narrator as well…)

Finland 2006 (they actually won…!)

Belgium 1973 (LOOK at those costumes!)

And last, but not least, Johnny Logan, Ireland, 1987:
(this suit is almost as bad as the previous ones…)



(If this gets bagpiped up, it's just because I haven't ever posted videos on here before, so I'm not 100% sure it works...)