But earlier this summer the band announced that something was on the way. The single ‘Grateful‘ boded well for a return to scenes and on December 5, 2011 the EP ‘Part Of The Way‘ was released.

The single ‘Grateful’ and four brand new songs feature on the publication, and they bring back memories of the trio I heard in a small café (PC’s) in Herning almost 20 years ago.

Although Søren Lund, Hans Henrik Præstbro and Palle Hjorth appear on the EP, NLP is back to the three-man line-up; Michael and Carsten Kolster and Bo Feierskov – the essence of what it was all about from the beginning.

‘Part Of The Way’ really is how the band sounds – The sound of Nice Little Penguins.

And as the title of the EP suggests this is only ‘Part Of The Way’ towards the new album.

Five songs made it onto the EP and they are all very, very different from each other.

‘Grateful‘ has an unmistaken resemblance to the 1994 smash hit ‘Flying’. But as the song progresses into bridge and chorus you are no longer in doubt. This is a completely new song and a potential new crowd-pleaser at the 2012-festivals, no doubt.

‘Sleepy Sunday‘ is the strongest of the new songs, in my opinion. A true NLP-song with all the large major 7 (or 9) chords and beautiful Beatles-like backing vocals that the three do so well. ‘Sleepy Sunday’ is good enough to sell the entire next album.

‘Bless This Land‘ is a peculiar little piece that requires the listener to sit down, shut up and listen a few times. With a soft Tom Petty touch, guitarist Michael Kolster leads us through something as rare as a political statement. It suits the band very well indeed and is done balanced and without being completely subversive as in the 60′s and 70′s.

‘I Am Cupid‘ – Roy Orbison didn’t live in vain. I really had a hard time figuring out what this song is about – but about love itself. The personification of ‘love’ or Cupid wrapped around a very well played song. All I can say at this time is that I’m dead sure a hidden tape with some VERY entertaining recordings of this song is hidden somewhere in Bo Feierskov’s attic.

‘Crazy Love‘ – here’s another really typical NLP-song. No redundant fills. With a slightly more Beatles-touch it might as well be a song from the second or third album. And in some way this wraps up this EP nicely.

All in all – This is EP is not complete. It is… Part of the way. And it doesn’t have to be more at this time. Overall I really like the direction it sets out. It’s going to be very interesting to see and hear the full album due in the beginning of 2012. Are we to bet, I’ll put my money on ‘Very, Very Good’.

Just to set expectations where they belong

Latebar’s recommendation —> Buy the EP:
@ Amazon
@ reStorm
@ iTunes

More about Nice Little Penguins:
- Nice Little Penguins (official website)
- Nice Little Penguins on Facebook
- Nice Little Penguins on MySpace
- Nice Little Penguins on Wikipedia (DK)
- Nice Little Penguins on Wikipedia (EN)

- – - – - – -

Nik Kershaw - No Frills

As the title “No Frills” state, this album is nothing but Nik. 15 songs with guitar and vocal only…Well, except the Boss RC20XL loop station of course *hehe*.

This is Nik Kershaw! – Nothing more… and dare I say nothing less.

Let me just say it out loud – This album is a pop masterpiece!

A mix of both new and old tunes flow through the album like they were contemporaries (25 years between new and old). But with this album it really becomes obvious, that the 80′s teen idol is perhaps one of the best pop songwriters of our time – and better now than he ever was.

Kershaw’s newer albums “15 minutes“, “To Be Frank” and “You’ve Got to Laugh” are clearly more thought through productions with the man himself in complete charge. Songs like ‘Wounded’ and ‘Billy’ in the new acoustic versions sounds alot like their original studio album versions… But with no frills, of course.

Where “No Frills” becomes really, really interesting is the re-recordings of the evergreen classics: ‘The Riddle’, ‘Wouldn’t it be good’, ‘Don Quixote’, ‘Dancing Girls’ and ‘I won’t let the sun go down’. To me these have never sounded better. Especially ‘Dancing Girls’ has been tweaked quite a bit making the story within stand out much more. Marvellous!

I still recall an evening with Nik early 2009 at the Danish club ‘Fermaten‘ (Herning City), where it struck me midway through the concert just how skilled this guy is. I’m sure many guitarists can play what Kershaw does. But to be able to compose and even re-compose old and established evergreens…

And then of course – no real compilation of Nik Kershaw titles without something new for the fans

Buy the album and find out for yourself. I recommend you go directly to Nik’s official website and buy “No Frills” right away. You’ll thank me later!

Meanwhile I will leave you with ‘Don Quixote‘ where both Nik, his guitar and the Boss loop station is in action. And then hope Shorthouse Records will allow us this copyright exception.

More about Nik:
- Nik Kershaw (Official Website)
- Follow Nik on Twitter
- Wikipedia

During that time at lot of things has happened to the ever-smiling 39 year old Martin. He’s become a father of twins, come out as gay, changed political side from Republican to Democrat and thrown himself into the battle against child exploitation and trafficking with his Fundación Ricky Martin.

And I don’t think it’s only me. You can hear it in between the beats and lines – Ricky Martin has matured a great deal. And it suits him really well!

First single ‘Shine‘ from the album was released just before Christmas 2010, and just yesterday (January 10th, 2011) the video for ‘The Best Thing About Me Is You‘ was released. A straight forward Ricky Martin-song and lovely duet with the awesome Joss Stone – and a song that also comes in an even better spanish version feat. Natalia Jimenez* (Lo Mejor De Mi Vida Eres Tu).

I don’t know what Ricky Martin does to you. But sitting at work looking out on the ever-so-grey winter sky hanging low over Denmark, ‘The Best Thing About Me Is You‘ surely brightens my day significantly for the full 4 minutes.

*) Fun trivial info: Ricky Martin and Natalia Jimenez shares more than just the song ‘Lo Mejor De Mi Vida Eres Tu‘ – they’re both born on Christmas Eve. Ricky in 1971 – Natalia in 1980.

Wonder Rubber Stars in their rehearsal studio in Copenhagen. Photo: Nicolai Kofod Larsen

And behold – we bring you the Danish band Wonder Rubber Stars.

Wonder Rubber Stars (WRS) have high expectations for 2011 – and I have high expectations for Wonder Rubber Stars.

Their first EP “Life Danced In The Flesh” is released on iTunes tomorrow (January 2, 2011).

Since my last post about Wonder Rubber Stars, I interviewed lead guitarist, Samuel Medina, and later lead singer, Nicolai Noa, kindly shared the next two songs on the upcoming EP with me: “The Sun Poured Over” and “Throwing X’s“.

Again, I have to say this – Nicolai’s voice is a chapter of its own. The sound, expecially on “The Sun Poured Over”, reminds me of Robbie Robertson/The Band/Neil Diamond. Nicolai sounds like a peyote smoking Shaman – old and wise. Nicolai is not an old shaman. And he’s not 21, as I claimed in my latest post – he is 19. He was 14 when the band started playing together, and even then his voice sounded older than his age, Samuel tells me:

“People usually expect to see a huge guy, and then this short dude walks in and you can almost hear their jaws drop. It’s really funny!”

The band members met and started playing together in school.

“We practically grew up together, both as individuals and as musicians. The other three guys had known each other bascially always, and I met them at boarding school when I was 15. We hung out together, did everything together, and we still do”, Samuel says.

The band first called themselves Wonder Rubber Stars, and from the start, the sound was pretty much what it is today. For a while they experimented with a different sound under the name Whitelights. (Which actually sounds pretty awesome, too.)

“But that didn’t do Nicolai’s voice justice, which was a shame, actually, so we eventually returned to Wonder Rubber Stars”, Samuel explains.  “But it’s an exciting process, and we hope that it comes across in our music and performances how well we know each other, both personally and as musicians. I think with other bands you can always tell when they’ve been through things together, and that’s what we hope to be able to deliver as well. ”

Recording music can be a real challenge if you can’t agree on a direction, but the guys are always very aligned.

“Kristian [Lorenzen - drums and lyrics] and I write the lyrics, and when it comes to the music, it’s 25% from each of us. It might take longer than if one person just showed up with a final version of a song, and the rest are just hired hands, so to speak. But it’s well worth the extra time spent. The result is just so much better. For the most part, the vocals on the EP are all first cue takes for the songs. We did several takes on each song, but the cue takes turned out to be the most solid performances. They were just spot on.”

The band has recorded other songs in various studios over the past few years, so they had some studio experience before starting the work on the new EP.  They met the producer of the EP, Thor Kortegaard, through one of the band member’s mother.

“She had met ‘this guy who owns a studio nearby’, and she thought maybe we should contact him. At first we thought, no, we want to record in Copenhagen or Århus, and weren’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of recording in a studio in the middle of nowhere. But then we met Thor, and the chemestry was just right. He is extremely professional, has a lot of experience and isn’t afraid to tell us ‘well, this will sound great live but it won’t work for a studio recording.’ Which is why it’s so important to work with a producer who understands what it is you’re trying to achieve. He really gets us.”

2011 looks like a promising year for Wonder Rubber Stars. In addition to the EP release, concert dates have been booked in Denmark and Germany. The band is currently in dialogue with a record company. Future tour dreams include the UK and Benelux, and the ultimate dream is touring the US.

“Things are happening pretty fast right now and we want to roll with it. This is a perfect time for us to make the most of this. Everyone has finished school now, so we can really focus on making things happen now,” Samuel concludes.

Check back later for a review of the EP. Until then, here is a taste of what awaits you:

Click to play Wonder Rubber Stars – ‘Throwing X’s’

And make sure you visit iTunes to buy the EP!

Wonder Rubber Stars are: Nicolai Noa (lead vocals and keys), Samuel Medina (lead guitarist, lyrics, backing vocals), Kristian Lorenzen (drums and lyrics), and Thomas Halkier (bass).

Admitting to the fact that I am biased as hell, it seems I’m not the only one with positive phrases.

PopMatters give it 9 of 10 and writes:
“For the first time in a very long time, Duran Duran sounds like they’re having fun, like they remember what it means to actually be Duran Duran ..//.. All You Need Is Now isn’t Son of Rio, but it’s the best album Duran Duran has released since then.”

The Evigshed blog is equally happy:
“After getting lost on the way musically, the band is back with what they do best, their own romantic new wave 80s sound with a little electro pop / rock and a modern beat. Honestly, it’s awesome.”

Billy Manes from Orlando Weekly concludes the following about ‘All you need is now‘:
“The anthemic chorus lights up like all of the CGI fireworks in the classic ‘New Moon on Monday‘ video, floating on a bed of keyboards directly lifted from that very song. Duran Duran are back, and what’s more, they’re paying tribute to themselves.”

The album also called ‘All you need is now’ will come out two times – on the 21st of December 2010 exclusively on iTunes in a 9 track edition. Consequence of Sound (among others) has a tracklist. And then in the beginning of February 2011, the hardcover ‘real’ 12 track album comes out.

Needless to say – It’ll be part of my collection on that very day.

On the 30th anniversary of the death of John Lennon – one of the greatest musicians since Mozart – Britain’s most successful band since The Beatles, Duran Duran, releases the first single ‘All you need is now‘ from their upcoming 13th album.

Coincidence or not I chose to look at it the same holostic way I’m sure John Lennon would have done – that it is all together a reminder of the fact that our own time on this planet is brief and that we all should enjoy and appreciate the ‘now’ much more. Because that’s really all you need!

‘All you need is now’-cover made by Clunie Reid

Enough of the overly philosophical discoursing here. Fact: They’ve done it again!

Duran Duran once again let a young musician into the studio to play. This time shooting star Mark Ronson was welcomed inside to produce.

May I just pay my undivided support and appreciation for that decision. Letting young guitarplayer Dom Brown in to pick up the plectrum after Andy Taylor, who left the band (again) a couple of years ago, was an excellent choice that showed exquisite taste. Later letting Justin Timberlake and Timbaland produce the latest album ‘Red Carpet Massacre‘, was perhaps one of the bravest decisions in many years, leading to a superior album. With Mark Ronson onboard this time the link to the next generation is made.

Let this be a reminder: This is the way to continuously develop an established sound, keeping it alive and interesting after 30 years. (If in doubt, ask David Bowie.)

‘All you need is now‘ is a hit! At least it should be. I’m sure the hardhitting synthetic intro will make a brilliant lift-off to every concert on a hopefully very long tour in 2011-12. One really needs to be very rhythmically disabled NOT to be jumping like a Mad Hatter with the rest of the crowd just one minute into the gig, singing the very melodic chorus:

and we will sway in the moon
the way we did when we were younger
(when we were younger)
when we told everbody
all you need is now

stay with the music let it
play a little longer
(a little longer)
we don’t need anybody
all you need is now

There can be absolutely no excuse for NOT giving this first single 5 of 5 stars. Although I have a strong feeling something even greater is in store for duranies around the world.

Stop reading – go fetch this piece of British brilliance on iTunes for free (at least in some regions) … now!

((Thanks to Simona Barberis for being such an angel – Grazie, Bella Donna))

Holy vinyl, Batman.

Wonder Rubber Stars - under cover, for now. (Source: http://www.myspace.com/wonderrubberstars)

Think Simple Minds, paired with U2, the early years, Suede, and lead vocalist Nicolai Noa’s delicious Nick Cave-ish voice, which sounds like an ancient soul trapped in a 21-year-old vessel, and you have something so ominously, intensely dark – a beautifully intoxicating abyss you just can’t help falling into. Each instrument tells its own story, and the stories are tied together so solidly you just want to read the story all over again as soon as you reach the end. I love this! You can smell the hours of practicing in the garage from miles away.

So after I had let myself become absorbed in this abyss for a while, I decided to find out a little more about these guys.

Basic Blue Book stuff: In addition to Nicolai Noa, Wonder Rubber Stars are Samuel Medina (lead guitar, backup vocal, lyrics), Kristian Lorenzen (drums, lyrics), and Thomas Halkier (bass). They formed the band five years ago while they were all still in school.

Last year, they made it into the Danish National Broadcasting rock competition “Rocktoget“. They won the 2010 Jam Contest (a battle of the 25 hottest upcoming Danish bands), and they have just completed the production of a four-song EP to be released any minute now.

I emailed Samuel Medina, who agreed to let me interview the band. So I will. And I promise to post it here asap.

For now, visit the band’s myspace profile. I can’t wait to hear more!

Luckily there are exceptions. The recent David Bowie tribute album ‘We were so turned on‘ features a no less than excellent cover of ‘Boys keep swinging‘ by the outfit designed to make you party, Duran Duran.

And the reasons I find this good:

1) Duran Duran have their own unique sound – This cover sounds like a real Duran track.
2) This cover is made with great respect to the original piece by David Bowie.
3) This piece sounds like something that could have been a hit in 1979, when the song was originally published.
4) This piece sounds like something that could be a Top-10 hit next week.
5) The song holds this acute balance on the razor’s edge of 80′s synth and O2-arena live, that ties such a strong musical bond between then and now. It’s like the time didn’t pass anyway.
6) Nick Rhodes is one of the most gifted musical craftsmen of our time. Period! Don’t deny it, Nick.
7) And equally important – The album is for a great cause supporting ‘War Child‘.

Nick Rhodes on the Duran version of ‘Boys keep swinging’.

I’ve put in both tracks – the original (and best) Bowie version and the new (well done) Duran version. Enjoy both!

The 1979 David Bowie hit from the album ‘Lodger’.

The 2010 Duran Duran hit-to-be from tribute album ‘We were so turned on’ (nevermind about this unofficial video).

But Rhodes also comforts the many duranies around the world that 9 out of 12 songs are more or less complete and a new album is due in the beginning of 2011.

Nick Rhodes, by the way, turned 48 this tuesday. The day was celebrated by many fans in the virtual world of Second Life, where a list of 50 favorite songs picked by Nick were aired in the legendary Club Interference.

(Thanks to Peter Jones for the tip and the link)

Three albums, several massive hits and 100s of sold out gigs later, Carpark North has finally matured enough to take over the world. A new international contract was announced early May 2010 and the band’s world debut ‘Lost‘ awaits just after the summer holidays.

Carpark North is famous in Denmark for being very communicative with its fans. Recently the band used its YouTube channel to present Soren, Lau and Morten to the world.

The band signed with notorious Sony Music. Even though Sony is a huge international label with the power to really create megastars, it must be a bit worrying news to Carpark North’s dedicated and faithful fans. Sony Music – along with EMI – has a somewhat tarnished reputation for making barriers between their artists and the fans. Most YouTube-users outside USA know booleans ending with ‘Sorry, you’re not allowed to view this video in your country’ – a result of the music industry’s hopelessly oldschool approach to social media.

The day that I’m not allowed to view a Carpark North video AND embed it to this blog with praising words, organic manure will be finding its way to the Sony Music HQ.

Anyway, let’s hope it never ends there

First video from the international debut album ‘Lost’ has just been released. ‘Just human’ was actually released earlier in Denmark under the title ‘Human’, featured on Carpark’s 2005 album ‘All things to all people’.

(Congrats to director Martin de Thurah – a job well done)

Wanna know more:

- Carpark North website
- Carpark North YouTube
- Carpark North Facebook
- Carpark North on Wikipedia
- Buy first three albums at iMusic