anniegetyourgun

Jack White is back.

Beth Ditto and her band are back with a new single.

Arctic Monkeys' R U Mine?.

Susanne Sundfør's music video White Foxes. Can't stop listening to it.

I went to Rockefeller last night to see Mark Lanegan in concert. Wow, what a voice. He has one of the best rock voices I've ever heard, and he was just as good live as he is on his records. After the concert I even got to meet him and get two albums signed. I got my picture taken with him, but unfortunately the flash on my damn compact camera is too strong, so my picture got totally ruined. Here it is AFTER I've done my best to fix it. Do any of you know how to fix overexposed pictures?

Note to self, though: Never wear high heels to a concert ever again! I can hardly walk today!

The concert got 6 out of 6 from Lydverket in NRK, which has dubbed the band the best live act in the world. I couldn't agree more. If you understand Norwegian, read more about it here.

Christina Aguilera at Etta James' funeral this weekend. Rest in peace, Etta.

Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø must have choked on his morning coffee when Rihanna recently released her latest music video, You Da One, directed by Melina Metsoukas. In the video, she writhes around on the ground in a flesh-colored bodysuit as shadows in the shape of dots and stripes produce different patterns on her body. These scenes are almost identical to a photo series that Sølve Sundsbø did for French fashion magazine Numéro back in 2008. Rihanna's new bowl cut is even strikingly similar to the one model Edita Vilkeviciute wore in the photo series.

In October this year, Rihanna and music video director Melina Metsoukas settled out of court for an undisclosed sum with photographer David LaChapelle after plagiarizing his work in the music video S&M. They're also facing another law suit from photographer Philipp Paulus over a scene in the same video. You would think the popstar would have learned her lesson, but from the looks of it, Rihanna might be heading back to court soon.

Points a la Ligne photographed by Sølve Sundsbø in 2008.

Rihanna in her new music video You Da One.

Time for my last Advent calendar entry. I've always liked melancholic Christmas songs the best, and my absolute favorite Norwegian Christmas song has to be Mitt hjerte alltid vanker (My Heart Always Wanders). This year the Crown Prince couple released a special Christmas album to raise money for disadvantaged young people, and one of the artists contributing to the album was Gunnhild Sundli with her version of Mitt hjerte alltid vanker. I'm a die-hard fan of her folk-rock band Gåte, and I think she has one of the absolute best voices in Norway. I couldn't find a full version of the song on YouTube, but here's a teaser:

Ingebjørg Bratland is another talented folk singer. I never thought a performance on the very cheesy music show Beat for Beat would bring a tear to my eye, but she managed to do so. (Notice the mesmerized audience in the video.) Here's her magical version of the song. Merry Christmas!

Oh Holy Night is one of the most popular Christmas songs around the world, and countless artists have performed their renditions of the song. When I asked my boyfriend who has the best version of Oh Holy Night, you would think he would have answered Andrea Bocelli, Pavarotti or another great tenor. But no, he instantly answered South Park. So here it is!

Time to reveal a new song in my music Advent calendar. U2 did a cover of Darlene Love's Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) back in 1987.

Mariah Carey's gospel version of Joy to the World. Notice her chav 90s bangs and Croydon facelift, haha! But the lady has an impressive set of lungs, I'll give her that. I, however, has not an impressive set of lungs today. I'm home with the flu and has lost my voice completely.

Chuck Berry's rock classic Run Rudolph Run covered by Lemmy Kilmister, Billy F. Gibbons and Dave Grohl. I wish you all a very Metal Christmas and a headbanging New Year;-)

Andrea Bocelli's italian version of Silent Night: Astro del Ciel.

This one's for you, little bro! My little brother does the best impersonation of Morten Harket. Here is a live performance of A Kind of a Christmas Card from the 2008 TV2 Artist Gala.

Have yourselves a Merry little Christmas.

I'm a kid at heart, and I absolutely love cartoons. So instead of presenting a Christmas song today, I've chosen a Christmas cartoon. How The Grinch Stole Christmas is based on a book written by Dr. Seuss, and it's considered to be a classic in America. I'm not quite sure why it hasn't caught on in Norway, but I love it.

Part 1

Part 2

Sissel Kyrkjebø's rendition of Deilig er jorden.

Brenda Lee's Jingle Bell Rock. Another Christmas classic.

This song takes me back to Spanish class. Good times! ¡Feliz navidad!

Annie Lennox' fantastic version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I was a die-hard Mariah Carey fan in my early teens. I never listen to her music anymore. Except at Christmas time. Her first Christmas album will always be the ultimate Christmas album to me.

The Muppets ringing in Christmas.

Speaking of the Muppets, the old gang is now out with a new musical movie. However, here in Norway we have to wait patiently until February 17 to see it. In the mean time, why not wear an OPI nailpolish from the special Muppet collection to your Christmas parties this year?

These two spectacular shades are called Fresh Frog of Bel Air and Getting Miss Piggy With It.

Andrea Bocelli's beautiful rendition of Ave Maria.

I love this song.

Maria Mena released this beautiful Christmas song last year.

Rammstein is out with their first Best Of album, Made in Germany. In addition to six different covers to choose from, the album comes in three different editions: a one CD Standard Edition, a two CD Special Edition and a Limited Super Deluxe Metal Box, which contains two CDs and three DVDs. All three editions contain their 15 biggest hits plus their new single, Mein Land.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Happy Christmas (War is Over).

Last year Lissie performed an awesome cover of Slade's Merry X-Mas Everybody at Senkveld. I love it!

It's December 3 and time for a new Christmas song in my Advent music calendar. I know this isn't technically a Christmas song, but it's one of my favorite classical songs, and I listen to it a lot at Christmas time.

Good morning! Time for a new Christmas song in my Advent music calendar. Kurt Nilsen released a Christmas album last year, and it's very good. This is one of my favorite Christmas songs ever.

Black Sabbath are coming to Oslo on May 31, and I have tickets! Yay!

Christmas is a magical time of the year. It's the one good thing about winter, and I especially love all the Christmas preparations during Advent. I've had an Advent calendar every year for as long as I can remember, and this year is not going to be any different. I'm going to have an Advent music calendar here on my blog, presenting a new Christmas song every day. Brenda Lee's Rocking Around The Christmas Tree gets me into the Christmas spirit every year.

What do you give the boyfriend whose CD collection is threatening to take over the apartment, whose closet consists solely of jeans and black band t-shirts, and who answers "socks" for the third year in a row when you ask him what he wants for Christmas? Why, Metallica Monopoly, of course!

A coffin shaped Metallica lunch box, anyone?

Or perhaps a cozy Metallica blanket?

Pimp up his car with these snazzy Metallica floor mats.

Keep his beer cool with a Metallica ice pack.

You might convince him to go to Thailand this winter if you buy him a Metallica beach towel.

Don't stop there. Wrap the gifts in Metallica wrapping paper.

And why not decorate the tree with Metallica Christmas ornaments?

All items available in Metallica's online fan store.

Chris Cornell's new acoustic live album, Songbook, is in store now. Call Me a Dog is one of the songs on the album.

A masterpiece.

Monarchy of Roses. It's a really cool, animated video. And Anthony Kiedis looks like Freddie Mercury with that mustache.

Rock dinosaurs Black Sabbath announced yesterday that they are working on their first album in 33 years, and that they are going on tour next year. They are headlining the Download Festival in Leicestershire, England in June 2012. It's hard to imagine that the now lethargic, quivering Ozzy Osbourne known from the reality show "The Osbournes" once made brilliant music, but he actually did. It'll be interesting to see if the old farts still have it in them.

Lately I've been listening a lot to Djerv's debut record that was released earlier this year. Agnete Kjølsrud, former frontwoman of Animal Alpha, kicks ass in this song. Some call her Gwen Stefani from hell. I wish I had a voice like that.

I know this song is a few months old already, but I've had it on my brain lately. I love it!

Sivert Høyem's new single, Long Slow Distance.

Jonas Alaska is from my old hood in the south of Norway, and he's now out with his self-titled debut album. He graduated from Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts this spring, and has already been nick-named "the Norwegian Bob Dylan". He wrote this song, October, about three guys that were out to pick up lobster traps in the ocean outside of Lyngør in Tvedestrand. Suddenly a big wave came out of nowhere and capsized their boat. They didn't have life-jackets on, and two of them drowned. One guy managed to swim to an islet and was stuck there for several hours waiting for help. I knew one of the guys that drowned and the one that survived, so this is a very moving song for me.

Two iconic rock albums, Nirvana's Nevermind and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik, celebrate their 20th anniversary today. Smells Like Teen Spirit was the song that made me start listening to rock music, and Nevermind is one of mye favorite albums to date. Both albums changed rock history forever. Nirvana were poster boys for the grunge revolution and have inspired post-grunge rockers well into this century, while Red Hot Chili Peppers started the trend of mixing rock and rap, which later developed into the nu metal genre. 1991 was a magic year for music, because just weeks before Nevermind and Blood Sugar Sex Magik came out, Metallica released their iconic Black Album and Pearl Jam made their debut on the music scene with Ten, all of which are albums that I still listen to today. So congrats, Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Last night R.E.M. announced that they are breaking up after 31 years. Lead singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bass player Mike Mills released this statement:

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."

Stipe, Buck, Mills and drummer Bill Berry (who left the band in 1997 after a brain aneurysm) formed R.E.M. in 1980 in Athens, Georgia. Their debut album Murmur came out in 1983, and since then the band has released an impressive 14 studio albums in total. They enjoyed a cult status as an underground band until their big break into mainstream music with their fifth album Document in 1987, which included hits such as The One I Love and It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). However, their 1992 album Automatic For The People is considered to be their best and most successful album, which had hits such as Everybody Hurts and Man on the Moon.

I'm very sad to hear that they are breaking up, especially since I never got the chance to see them live. And now I probably never will. But I guess they want to quit while the going is good. Stipe said: "A wise man once said, 'The skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave. We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it."

Here's my favorite R.E.M. song, from the album Automatic For The People:

The Smashing Pumpkins are coming to Oslo Spektrum November 4, and tickets will be on sale from tomorrow morning. I'll be in Africa in the first week of November, so unfortunately I can't go. I love all the old bands from the grunge era, so this would have been a fun concert to go to. One of my absolute favorite songs is Bullet with Butterfly Wings. I listened to it over and over again when it came out. Frida Snell, a Swedish one-hit wonder, covered the song about ten years ago. She received a great deal of harsh (but in my opinion unduly) criticism for this cover, but I think it's an interesting version of the song. The very different tone of the song makes it sad and depressive instead of angry. And I guess you're bound to be criticized whenever you cover a classic, not to mention if you are a girl covering a male rock song. That was also the case when Ingrid Olava covered Jokke og Valentinerne's classic Her kommer vinteren. Another good cover, in my opinion. Here's Frida Snell's cover of Bullet with Butterfly Wings:

This is so funny.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have just premiered their new video for The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie, which was shot on the Venice Beach boardwalk just a few days before I came to Venice. I'm so bummed that I missed this! The song is so-so, but it's cool to watch the video and actually recognize the buildings.

Pearl Jam's music documentary "Twenty", directed by Cameron Crowe, will come out in theaters in fall 2011.

In memory of singer Amy Winehouse, who was found dead in her London apartment over the weekend. She was a troubled soul with a beautiful voice. Rest in peace, Amy.

A great The Cardigans cover by Deftones.

Love this Røyksopp remix of Lady Gaga's Judas.

Don't miss Metallica live from Gothenburg at NRK 3 tonight at 9:25 PM. This is one of my favorite songs ever:

An old Elton John cover by Nickelback. I'm celebrating my birthday today! Have a good Saturday night, everyone!

I'm off to the Foo Fighters concert at Telenor Arena. Yay! Have a great weekend!

pepsimax

Music festival season is upon us. Yay! I'm trying to win a festival pass to Hove Music Festival in Arendal, and I thought I'd share a few of my concert snapshots over the years. Are you going to Hove this year?

Turboneger

Foo Fighters

Audioslave

Madonna

Rammstein

Muse

Span

Metallica

Velvet Revolver

Pearl Jam

Kaizer's Orchestra

Apocalyptica

Till Lindemann and I

As you probably can tell, I love rock music, and I would love to accompany Ida Wulff to Hove to blog about the concerts, the camping and the festival outfits. My favorite bookings at Hove this year are The Mars Volta, Kasabian and Linkin Park, and I think it's going to be an awesome festival.

I'm a HUGE Rammstein fan, so I was pleased to hear that the band is planning to release a Greatest Hits album with two previously unreleased tracks in September 2011. A European tour is supposed to kick off soon after, and hopefully they'll come to Oslo. I've seen Rammstein in concert twice, and they're just phenomenal. When they came to Oslo in February 2010, I was lucky enough to meet them and get my Liebe ist für alle da album signed by all of them.

I'm one of 20 finalists in a blogger competition at www.escada.blogg.no, so make sure you give me your vote! I can win a trip to India, and I really want to go! You can vote once a day for five days, so make sure you vote every day. And spread the word! Thanks guys!

Till Lindemann and I.

Richard Kruspe.

Oliver Riedel and Christoph Schneider.

Paul Landers and Oliver Riedel.

Till Lindemann and Flake.

Pictures from the concert:

Their music videos are always funny. This is my favorite.

I can't decide whether this song is catchy or just annoying.

A Perfect Cirle is touring again for the first time in six years. As of now, they've only announced concert dates in North America, but I'm hoping they'll come to Europe as well. I absolutely love this band. Maynard James Keenan's voice can be both angelic and raw, and he masterly builds up tension in all his songs till they come to a boiling point and explode. He truly uses his voice as an instrument. This song is about addiction. I always though it was about drug addiction until I read somewhere that it's actually about addiction to chinese food... I don't know if that's true, but it's a fun theory for sure.

To me, summer equals music festivals. Audioslave is one of my favorite bands of all time, and Chris Cornell has one of the best rock voices in history. Audioslave released three albums, and I saw them two times in concert in the short time they were together. Once at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, and once at the Quart Festival in Norway. Sadly, these festivals no longer exist. But here's a clip from their concert at the Quart Festival in 2005. They opened with Your Time Has Come, a big hit that summer.

I stood right in front of the guitarist, Tom Morello. It's not a very good photo, but people were jumping up and down, pushing me and waiving their hands in front of the camera. Good times!

Good morning! I've been listening to this song a lot lately - an old, but forgotten classic.

Since last year, rumors have been going around that Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor will be Velvet Revolver's new vocalist. Even though the claim has been denied, VR bass player Duff McKagan now has confirmed that Taylor has recorded several tracks with the band.

"We recorded a bunch of songs with Corey," McKagan told Music Radar. "I think he's fucking great - he's the best voice of a new generation and I'd be proud to do anything with him."

However, VR guitarist Slash is currently on tour, and McKagan will hit the road soon, too. Consequently he doesn't know when the band will have time to get together and work on new material.

"The truth is, I can't see Velvet Revolver happening until at least the autumn," he said.

We'll just have to wait and see if this collaboration will bear fruit. In the mean time, here's my favorite song from their first album:

Foo Fighters release their new studio album today, Wasting Light.  Run to the record store and buy it today!

On this day nine years ago, Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley passed away. Throughout his music career he struggled with drug addiction, and spent the last six years or so of his life in a constant heroin haze, hiding in his condo with his cats as his only company. Family, friends and band members tried to get him to rehab, but he wouldn't hear of it, and he became even more isolated in the last few months of his life. He had been dead for two weeks when he finally was discovered in his Seattle home. The autopsy report later concluded that Staley had died after injecting a mixture of heroin and cocaine known as a "speedball". The coroner estimated that he had passed away on April 5, on the same presumed date that fellow Seattle musician Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994.

Kurt Cobain was the frontman of Nirvana, possibly my favorite band of all time. He too struggled with heroin addiction during the last years of his life, and decided to end his life by shooting himself on April 5. An electrician found him in his Lake Washington home three days later with a suicide note addressed to his childhood imaginary friend, "Boddah".

Nirvana's 1991 breakthrough hit, Smells Like Teen Spirit, marked a dramatic shift in popular music - from poodle rockers to the more stripped down grunge sound - and Kurt Cobain was hailed as the spokesman of "Generation X". Alice in Chains was also considered to be part of this grunge or alternative rock movement, although their sound is much heavier than Nirvana's.

When Kurt Cobain died, his band died with him. Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic gave up music completely, while drummer Dave Grohl went on to form the band Foo Fighters. I didn't think Alice in Chains was going to resurrect either, but they brought in a new lead singer, William DuVall, in 2005, and in 2009 they released their first studio album in 14 years, Black Gives Way to Blue. I had low expectations for this album, but it's actually very, very good. In my opinion, it was one of the best albums released in 2009.

R.I.P. Layne and Kurt.

I had this music video on tape when I was little, and I used to watch it over and over again. I suddenly remembered it today and thought I'd share it with you.

Foo Fighters' new video, Rope.

One of the cutest songs of all time. Enjoy.

Rihanna has already sold out two concerts in Norway this year. One in Bergen on August 17 and one in Oslo on October 30. For all of you who didn't get tickets to the Bergen show, Live Nation has announced that there will be an extra concert at Bergenhus Festning on August 18. I'm spending so much money on travel this year, so I'm going to pass.

If you're a member of Live Nation, like I am, you can buy up to four tickets in the presale today between 10 AM and 8 PM. Tickets will be available for everyone tomorrow at 9 AM at www.livenation.no and www.billettservice.no.

First come, first served! Get your tickets now!

Today Soundgarden release their very first live album, Soundgarden - Live on I-5. About time! The album title is a reference to Interstate 5, a highway on the West Coast of the United States, where they toured back in 1996. The album was recorded on that tour. The band had originally planned to release the live album right after the tour, but they broke up and the plans were shelved. Now they're back together again and about to record a studio album. I can't wait for it to come out! There are 17 tracks on Live on I-5, including Black Hole Sun (my favorite song of all time), Spoonman, Rusty Cage, Burden in My Hand and Fell on Black Days, as well as cover versions of The Beatles' Helter Skelter and The Stooges' Search and Destroy.

Despite their announcement that they had gone on hiatus last year, one of my favorite bands of all time, Pearl Jam, will be back in studio come April to start working on their follow-up album to 2009's Backspacer. Yay!

Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament told American magazine Billboard: "We did a whole bunch of demos and everybody's got a disc of 25 [potential songs]. April will be the time where we get together and learn to play all these demos and figure out which 12 to 15 of them float to the top. Hopefully we can get something done this year."

"There's been so much focus on the past that I think all of us are really excited to make a new record," he added.

The band has recently focused on re-releasing their past albums, and they have also worked with Almost Famous director Cameron Crow on a documentary celebrating their 20th anniversary. Frontman Eddie Vedder has been a busy bee and will release his second solo album in June this year. The record is currently untitled. Drummer Matt Cameron is also about to record a new album with Soundgarden, another favorite band of mine, and Jeff Ament is planning on releasing an album with his side project Tres. Mts.  Additionally, Pearl Jam is also making plans for a special 20th anniversary festival.

Pearl Jam's Last Kiss live in Argentina. Enjoy:-)

Absolutely beautiful.

Former Alice in Chains bass player Mike Starr was found dead on March 8. Alice in Chains was and still is one of my favorite bands of all time. Rest in peace, Mike, and say hello to Layne...