Once again I'm gonna turn over the reins to Simon Tagestam for this week's Friday pick. Take it Simon:
I'm an album man, I'm not into compilations or singles. When I check out a band that has been around for a while I rather get one of their albums than a best of compilation. Nothing too crazy about that, huh? And since I work five days a week, I like to listen to new albums when I get the time, not the radio or some crazy mp3 mix (although there's a time and place for those as well). So what about those excellent singles that feature on crappy albums? Well, I never got time for them, which is a shame. A band that made one of these songs that I never listen to, but when I do my heart melts is The Plan which is the side project of Theodore Jensen who normally plays bass in Swedish indie darlings Broder Daniel (he, at the end of 2003, left Broder Daniel to concentrate fully on The Plan, although he has now returned). The Plan's self titled debut album (from 2001) is a nice little affair (their second album is a botched affair), with a few good songs on it, but most of them are overshadowed by the monster hit "Mon amour". But ignore "Mon amour" for the moment, and allow me to be bit snobbish and point out the brilliance of the acoustic version of the song "Stay right here", which I believe is a b-side. The original version is fine, but it got too much of a tropicana vibe, and whereas the acoustic version is dark and haunting the album version takes the first lines "The sun it shines. I've been drinking all day" and conjures images of pina coladas at the beach, rather than uselessness and despair, which is of course to prefer. Now, this is a very sad song, but more in "screw-you-I'm-alone-and-strong-and-depressed-but-I'm-fine"-sort of way. Now listen to the pretty song, please.