Phil Collins "the world won't listen"

It's a sweltering day in June and visiting a museum is perhaps not the first thing that comes to mind, especially since that kind of weather is more exception than rule in Stockholm. However it proved to be the perfect setting in which to visit Phil Collin's exhibition in an old chocolate factory turned art museum in Sundbyberg, just north of the city. Outside the entrance you are greeted by the vista of a beautiful park which reminded me of an English garden and inside there is a café serving tasty lunches.

the world won't listen is a video piece in which Smiths-fans from Indonesia, Turkey and Colombia sing karaoke versions of the songs from this famous album. The exhibition is divided into three screenings in the same room although divided by walls so that the music and three different karaoke singers are played simultaneously. Then you can choose which one you want to watch or walk between them. My friend and I were alone in the exhibition so we ran back and forth and sang along and danced! The room was pitch-black and sound-proofed with the volume of a rock concert.

It was fun to watch all the men and women in different ages sing the songs in their own way. You could tell that most of them had very personal ties to the Smiths and lost themselves in the music whilst others were a bit embarrassed. Morrissey's lyrics manage to capture the different emotions and experiences of a human being which the singers expressed through their performances. One that stuck with me was a mid-twenties Colombian guy who sang "Asleep" with such intensity that you could see the tears in his eyes. Another is the sixties-styled Indonesian couple singing "There is a light". (See clip above... There are more on youtube but I really recommend you to visit the exhibition if you get the chance!).

Spending warm summer days inside... as Moz croons put me in the mindset and flunged me back to my seventeen year old self when I first discovered them. What I find fascinating is how The Smiths have gained an audience in all corners of the world which shows that we all can relate to the themes of the lyrics in some way. The Swedish television programme "Kobra" recently did a piece on the the band's popularity in Mexico.

Phil Collins shares this fascination for how mass media and popular culture affects and shapes the lives of its consumers. He uses pop culture, low budget tv and reportage-style documentaries to explore these relationships. In a day and age when everyone can be a star the need to be unique becomes more desperate.

The theme of fandom is also visible in the series of letters that a young Morrissey wrote to music magazines in London. There are also some large prints of defaced posters of Britney Spears photographed in New York's subway.

the world won't listen is on until 24/7. For more info visit Marabouparkens website.

Primavera Sound 2011

Warning! Grainy, shaky footage...

A late night summary of my second visit to Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain!

DAY ONE
The festival got off to an unfortunate start due to the new ticket card system crashing. In an effort to create a better festival experience, electronic cards were used instead of paper tickets for drinks, food and ticket reservations. The system relied on wifi which when tens of thousands of people used simultanously gave way. However the lack of information was the most irritating aspect as people were queing to charge their cards with money they couldn't even use. I'm just glad that none of my must-see bands weren't playing on the first day! The first band I saw was Ducktails who surprised me with a more poppy sound than the experimental lo-fi I was expecting. Grinderman aka Nick Caves side-project was powerful with his familiar voice bellowing out dark lyrics over the crowd at the largest stage. Then on to cult-icons Suicide whose tunes were rather haunting played live. I stook around for "Ghostrider" and "Cheree", then peeked into the hut to see Las Robertas before heading back to the little Jägermeister stage where Ty Segall tore the place apart and I got to hear my fave tunes. Flaming Lips ended our evening and we were just in time for the big extravaganza that is their live show; confetti rain, huge balloons, sirens, girls dressed as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz cheerleading, blow up dolls... you name it! Somehow I felt like their songs didn't hold up as well live and perhaps that's why they need a lot of visuals. Coyne kept prompting the crowd to "Come on" as if they weren't giving him as much energy as he was giving them. Perhaps the card disaster had taken it's toll. The singalong to Yoshimi was nice though.



DAY TWO
I arrived early to collect my tickets to Sufjan Stevens that I won in the draw (yet another annoying change in routine). My friends had never heard him so I gave the other ticket to a happy fan from Portugal (hi Fernando!) and we managed to get seats in the front row! Sufjan's show was amazing!! Not having listened much to his latest album I was still blown away by the visuals and the band's outfits. In the middle of the show he paused to tell us about the inspiration for "The Age of Adz". It was a tender portrait of a man named Royal and Sufjan shared his own spiritual voyage with the audience which gave me a better understanding of him, both as an artist and as a person. The big finale was "Chicago" when people rushed to the front of the stage to dance and play with big balloons, perhaps borrowed from Flaming Lips?!

After Sufjan I met up with my company and had dinner on the hill at the main stage in the evening sun whilst M. Ward was playing. Add a spectacular view of the ocean to your left and the mountains with Tibidabo in the distance to your right and you've got a setting that's difficult to beat. I was curious to see the Pitchfork stage which had made a come-back from past years where James Blake was playing but you really had to get close to the stage to hear him over M. Ward. Instead I kept trekking to the far off stage Llevant which was partly on the beach where the National were playing. They did several songs from my fave album "Boxer" except for Ada (which Sufjan sometimes plays the piano on live as he arranged it!). Or maybe they did and I had already left...

Caught some songs of Jad Fair and Half Japanese and then wandered to the front of the ATP stage where Low where about to C'mon ;) It felt special to be close to the stage and get a stronger connection to them as their music encapsulated and lulled me into that soft, safe place. I then dashed back to the beach to catch a bit of Deerhunter whom I'm sorry to say, must be one of the world's most boring bands in my opinion. When they're good they're great but otherwise just meh. I felt the urge to shout "Micromix 13!" instead of one of their own songs...

Then I headed to Ray Ban to catch the last of Explosions in the sky which seemed atmospheric live but I probably had to be closer to the stage to really get into them. This year I chose quality over quantity of shows mainly because the distances between stages seemed vastly longer than before and there were people everywhere.
One of my highlights of this year's festival is a band who hadn't played a show in 15 years; PULP! Jarvis was like a new born foal in spring, running all over the stage and showing off is dance moves. It was a great big happy disco and a perfect end to a spectacular day!

DAY THREE
Always seems strange how fast the days fly past. Kicked it off with yet another dinner on the hill with the soundtrack provided by Fleet Foxes. Due to a mile-long que for the loo (those times you wish you were a guy) I missed a spot at the front of Kurt Vile & the Violators but wow, it was so great! My only complaint and others with me, is that the set was too short. However, they're coming by Stockholm in August! I was stunned that he wasn't booked for a bigger stage but glad he played Jäger which was probably my favourite stage of the festival. The rock 'n' roll party continued with Costa Ricans Dávila 666 (thanks for the tip Kelsi!) who I couldn't stop dancing to! They're coming over on Midsummer to rock the boat on Söder Mälarstrand - weehoo!

Amazingly I was just in time to see the end of Dean Wareham's set in which he played the two songs I wanted to hear the most; "Tugboat" and "Ceremony". He held up the big ATP stage very well and the sound was great. Was curious to see what Swans were all about but a craving for food won my attention mid-set. I was pretty geared up for Animal Collective having had "My Girls" on my brain radio the past month but their slot on the main stage at prime time was not well suited to their show. It never really picked up and felt introverted and just plain boring. On I strolled to Pitchfork were a happy surprise awaited; The Black Angels with a Brian Jonestownsy sound. This year was definitely in the key of rock for me.

As I waved goodbye to the festival site after another edition of fantastic music it felt good to know that I had one more show the next day before it was time to go home... Mercury Rev at the Poble Espanyol! Magical show in a fairytale setting. Just wished I'd arrived earlier on the Wednesday so I'd been able to see Comet Gain and Echo and the Bunnymen (why scheduled outside the main venue??).


Still, Primavera remains one of the best festivals in the world!