Twee!

In case you've been wondering what Swedish bands I'm listening to right now, since all cute bands seem to be Swedish these days, my Scandi band of the week - even though they've been around for ages - is Club 8. (Not to be confused with S Club 7.) Another adorable duo with requisite blond hair and stunning cheekbones.
Whatever you want
I'm not normally keen on songs with 'Jesus' in the title, but go to their myspace page here and listen to the song 'Jesus, walk with me'. It's haunting and I can't stop humming it. Pitchfork had a video of them performing it a while back.

And, just for kicks, here's a (Swedish) Tough Alliance video I like: New Chance

We spent last weekend in Bristol and quite liked it. It's not a huge city - the centre is walkable in a day - but there are lots of cafes, laid-back neighborhoods and a Whole Foods, so we were happy. In a rather granola bistro cafe in Clifton Village we heard a song I would never, ever in a million years have expected to hear in such a place: 'Poison' by Alice Cooper. It's not just Alice Cooper, it's 1980s Alice Cooper, and therefore not remotely cool. To me it says 'hockey arenas' (along with Def Leppard, Poison and Skid Row), though that could just be that I spent a lot of the 80s in hockey arenas. I have since found out that 'Poison' was a UK #2 hit. I just don't associate that kind of music with the UK. Okay, so musically there wasn't much else happening in Canada, but in the UK there was SO MUCH GOOD MUSIC going on. Who in heck was listening to Alice Cooper?

Incidentally, did anyone else notice that 'Sebastian Bach', erstwhile lead singer of Skid Row and inhabitant of Peterborough, Ontario, was on at least one season of The Gilmore Girls? That is one casting meeting I'd have liked to sit in on. I think he might be losing his edge.