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If you want something slightly less whacky, try this version with Gorillaz’ “Kids with Guns” thrown in for good measure:

Meanwhile, the real-life bridges are giving us some major problems.

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Comple’ely unrela’ed to anything to do with poli’ical science or politics in general. But a great song and a hilarious video.

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I suspect that my relationship with The Beatles is like that of a lot of people: The Beatles have been part of the environment since time immemorial and over the years I have bought a selection of various Beatles records but there was always some serious parts (and albums) missing. So why not go for one of the remastered boxes released on 09-09-09.

But which?

Most people would probably head immediately for the stereo box which after all give the more modern sound and the full set of Beatles albums. The mono set is not only more expensive but also lacks three albums: “Yellow Submarine“, “Abbey Road” and “Let It Be“. For the extra price, you get one channel and three albums less. On the other hand, the set has careful reconstructions of the original LP covers with rice-paper sleeves included. The nostalgia factor is incredibly high, especially when you remember the LPs of the 1970s.

But wait, the audiophiles say, there is more. The thing is, that in the 1960s pop and rock records were mainly distributed and played in mono even when multi-track masters and stereo mixes existed, so artists and producers put their main effort in the mono mixes while stereo mixes were added as an afterthought – and, it should be added, often in a terrible quality with a huge gap between the two channels. This also meant that much of the Beatles I knew had a strange ethereal character and lacked the – for lack of a better word – body we came to know from the 1970s onward.

And this is where the mono mixes of The Beatles’ albums and singles is a revelation – even when you listen to the music through headphones on an iPod: In mono, the songs have a lot more physical presence and, especially on up-tempo songs, the band emerges as one of the hardest rocking acts in rock and pop music. Add the well-known vocal harmonies and the song-writing and even in 2010 it is obvious why The Beatles would make such a massive impact on audiences back in 1963.

So, my advice is that if you want to go for the full experience, get a copy of the mono box-set and add “Past Masters”, “Abbey Road” and “Let It Be”. (The “Yellow Submarine” album isn’t really essential) I should note though, the one song in the mono set which is not given full justice is “A Day in the Life“: The massive build-up of noise at the end of the song really works best in stereo and as the song is a classic you might want to add at least “Sgt. Pepper” if you don’t own the “1967-1970″ compilation.

If I should make some comments about the individual albums, my favourites are “Rubber Soul”, “Revolver” and “Abbey Road” – and I find it very hard to choose between the three – but as there are plenty of great songs in the rest of The Beatles’ production, they should be completed with the “Red” and “Blue” compilations as the very least.

And the songs … oh, there are just too many. I would disagree with Rolling Stone though: “Paperback Writer” and “I Feel Fine” ought to be somewhere in the top-ten.

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But if you want money for people with minds that hate
all I can tell you is brother, you have to wait

Of his solo production, I have always found “Instant Karma” to be a favourite with “Imagine” being a bit too syrupy and the different “Peace” songs a bit too obvious.

And yes, I am familiar with the “count me out/in” story.

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Any similarities with the coverage in Berlingske Tidende and Jyllands-Posten of the Swedish election campaign are purely … obvious.

(Actually, the title of the song is “I’m just an ordinary man“)

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Okay, okay… If you are interested, here are the links to the manifestos of the major parties:

• The centre-right “Alliance”
• The red-green coalition

What is interesting here is that both sides present common manifestos. The blue corner had one i 2006, but it is a first for the red corner.

• Social Democrats
• Moderates (Link goes to election site. As far as I can see, M has no manifesto of its own)
• Centre Party
• Liberals
• Christian Democrats
• Greens
• Left Party
• Sweden Democrats (Link goes to election site, I suspect that the “shadow budget” is the closest to a dedicated manifesto.

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Aus aktuellem Anlass, as they say south of the border.

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• The winning formula for Germany is: The neighbour’s daughter. Kawaii.
• The losing formula for Germany is: Everything else. Especially anything involving irony
• Lena’s “English” was among the most bizarre I have ever heard. And remember that I’m used to hearing Danes abusing the language.
• One of the writers behind the winning entry lives in Århus. The other is American.
• Most women will look good in a black cocktail-dress.
• I have absolutely no idea about how the names of the Danish performers are supposed to be written, yet alone pronounced.
• “Big in Russia” is the new “Big in Japan”.
• Yes, it was a bizarre rip-off of The Police and Army of Lovers. Another victory for the mash-up strategy.
• Having David Miliband perform a tired piece of early 80s pop is not a winning formula.
• The Armenian Angelina Jolie-lookalike was 1.9 m tall? Awesomeness.
• Not all women look good in latex catsuits. The Romanian singer is an exception to this so what the h%€k was she doing sitting behind a piano for most of the performance? What were you thinking?
• Sweden loves the ESC. The ESC does not love Sweden. I wonder what Ingmar Bergman could have made of this.
• There was a Belgian entry?
• Brunettes are in fashion. Even in Russia. I’m definitively not complaining.
• The Turks should have let the robot sing.

And just in case you should get the idea that the Germans are taking it easier when it comes to life and culture these days, I point you to Süddeutsche Zeitung for a thorough discussion of the pros and cons of having Ms Meyer-Landrut representing Tschörmänie.

By the way: Lena’s Satellite wasn’t the first to reach the skies of the ESC. Back in 1979, the talented Ted Gärdestad (whose career was tragically cut short by psychiatric illness) performed this at the ESC. For some reason it was a complete dud back then, but as pop songs go, I actually like it.

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Wikipedia article on the song.

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