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I have had the privilege of listening to the new Oh No Ono album, and I must say that I am very impressed by this giant leap towards excellence in the art of music. “Eggs”, as the album is entitled, is so brilliant, layered and thought through, and should be considered a great example for everyone who is a recording or performing artist. The album and the material sounds to be largely inspired by The Beatles and probably their later more experimental works. This is however not a problem for me, as I think Oh No Ono manages to pay homage to the great masters of Liverpool, as well as many other great bands, but still going their own way, in their own shoes and their own time.

I only have a long line of superlatives for this album, and to prevent that from flooding this blog I would just say that, you should pre-order the album now, and then go wait by the mailbox till the 20th of April when “Eggs” is released.

Go to their website to listen to the new songs.

Soundvenue uploaded a video today from the recording of my new album. The text that accompanies the video says that I am releasing two albums come May. This is not entirely true anymore, as I have changed my plans about the release just a little. I am releasing one album – WHT – in the beginning of may, but the second album – BLCK – will be split into EP’s that will be released during the fall. Confused? Don’t be. I will post more details later on. In the meantime enjoy the video.

I am beginning to think that my government is using the current gun violence situation, as an excuse to instigate harder punishments against immigrants. A new gang bill has been proposed by the Danish Minister of justice. If it is passed, people without citizenship (which is hard to get these days) will be deported by default, if they are convicted of either or all of these charges:

Violence
Illegal possession of a weapon
Encouragement to commit a crime

I don’t like senseless violence, guns or people pressuring others to commit crimes, but this is too far reaching. It basically means that people who are born here can be deported for – on a larger scale – minor felonies. Now I believe in consequence, but this is out of proportions, and is targeting only a specific group of people – the immigrants.

Peter Skaarup of the Danish National Party called the situation on Nørrebro a display of “middle eastern violence culture” which should not be tolerated. I can’t believe he is getting away with saying things like that. This has nothing to do with ethnic origin, but a lot to do with frustration over people like Peter Skaarup himself, who refuse to see any good in anyone who’s not from around here.

Brian Mikkelsen, our Minister of Justice, said today that “It’s obvious that the current situation is not tolerable, and therefore calls for extraordinary measures.” And so he proposed the new gang bill which is most likely to be passed. The extreme-times-call-for-extreme-measures-rhetoric has always been a convenient excuse for oppression, discrimination and if taken far enough genocide. It’s a slippery slope, for sure.

We already have far reaching terror legislation which is in violation with the human rights. I hope – though I know it is not happening – that this new bill will not be passed. If we keep fighting fire with fire, we’ll burn down the country.

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of The William Blakes. After a great debut album “Wayne Coyne” from last year, they are back with a collection of nine songs under the title “Dear Unknown Friend“.

I love almost all of the songs on the album and the ones I don’t love, I admire. I admire that this band is not afraid of being art – or at least try to be. So many bands and artists (myself included – and this I struggle with) are afraid to let go and be creative for real. We have all these templates and certain ways of doing things, and our habits shackle us more than they help us. It is a kind of self censoring that has been cultivated through generations of musicians and that has us all in a tight grip. We need to break out of our mind loops, that is what we need. I’ve talked to so many of my colleagues about this, and I think I could write a book on the subject if I weren’t so lazy. We’ll boil it down to this: Turn off your screen and make music. Or: You don’t need to make a great art every time, as long as you learn.

Anyways, the new William Blakes album is great. It is for and about you. You are William Blakes.

Buy “Dear Unknown Friend” on CDON or through iTunes

William Blakes – This Thing We All Believe In

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William Blakes – Our Moment

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Jeg bor på Nørrebro. Det vil sige, jeg bor faktisk lige nøjagtig i nordvest, lige ved Nørrebro Station, midt mellem Mjølnerparken, parallelt med Svanevej hvor Hells Angels klubhus ligger, midt i orkanen med min gravide kæreste i en toværelses lejlighed. Jeg har boet her i snart tre år og er egentlig ret glad for et kvarter som er fuld af liv og mange, meget forskellige mennesker. Der er en sjov dynamik og det virker som om der generelt bliver sat pris på forskelligheden i mit kvarter. I perioder er der clashes mellem meninger og kulturer og der bliver råbt højt og der bliver smidt med ting, men sådan er det vel i alle sammensatte familier.

På det sidste er det hele kogt over og der har været utallige skudepisoder på gaden og i lige nærheden. Jeg oplever at jeg tit er nervøs for min kæreste og mit ufødte barns helbred, nervøs for at de skal blive ramt af en stray bullet, eller endnu værre; én der virkelig var tiltænkt dem. For der findes mennesker i verden, og også i mit kvarter som ikke tænker mere. Folk som har mistet noget af dem selv og noget af deres menneskelighed og derfor kan finde på at skyde tilfældige mennesker, i tilfældige biler, på tilfældige gader.

Min familie er nervøs for os og ringer dagligt med gode råd om muligheder for at flytte og at “nu skal i altså finde et andet sted at bo”. Det er rigtigt at problemerne ville stoppe – for os – hvis vi flyttede, men hvis vi flytter er der så ikke bare lidt mere plads at lave krig på? Desuden er der overvejelsen om vi overhovedet har råd – økonomisk og åndeligt – til at flytte. En SU og en musikerløn er ikke meget og vi kan ikke nødvendigvis bare flytte fra det hele. Jeg tror mange herude er i samme situation.

Jeg ved ikke helt hvad det her blogindlæg går ud på andet end frustrations outlet. Jeg har ikke magt til at stoppe alt det her guns and violence, hvor meget jeg end gerne ville. Det kan jeg ikke. Jeg må tro på at de involverede parter, rockerne, banderne, supporterne, drengene der gerne vil ses og pludselig har våben, alle sammen er mennesker der forstår fornuft. Jeg bor her og i bor her. Don’t shit where you eat.

International readers: This is a piece in the increase in gun violence in a certain area of Copenhagen called Nørrebro. I live in that area. I have to let out some steam, and it has to be in my native tongue. Sorry.