robert post touring and music journal

I finally got one of my full-length albums on vinyl. My new record RHETORIC was released on November 4 on LP and CD, as well as the modern way of buying or listening to music… digital download and streaming. Anyways, let’s focus on the fresh smell of this black circle of beauty. From before I only got a couple 7inch singles out (Got None and Beirut) so this is the first Long Player I have put out on vinyl.

When I was a kid, my brother and I threw half of my dad’s record collection as Frisbees all over the vast fields outside my grandpa’s house and all the way down to the ocean. And they all got smashed. I remember that they wore different colors and that there were lots of them. We didn’t know what was on them. It was a lot of fun. We left the small pieces of plastic to be buried and forgotten between growing green grass and wild flowers. Later I found out that there was music on these round plastic plates that I so playfully tossed away.

I discovered another passion in life. It’s just the feel when I lay down that crooked arm, the paper sleeve…

Just like Eddie Vedder sings it in the song Spin The Black Circle from Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy. “Viva la Vinyl” – scribbled down next to the lyrics in the booklet. It was huge for me to understand that my biggest idol at the time had the same love for vinyl records as myself at a point where the CD took over the whole market and LP’s were being stopped manufactured (at least from the major labels). I kept trying to get hold of any record that I loved on vinyl. Most of them I got from record dealers selling old records. New releases on this format were few and far between, but Pearl Jam kept it real all along and that’s why I got to collect LP’s of their complete catalogue up to this day. They even put out Christmas singles on 7inches just for the fans and members of the Ten Club. I always loved them for doing that.

So when I was invited to a student’s club night in Oslo called Vin & Vinyl (Wine & Vinyl, see how similar Norwegian is to English?) to play and talk about vinyl and also do a show I had no choice but to pay tribute to the number one band of my teenage years. I covered the aforementioned song. Here’s a video clip of it:

-robert

Frontline

Cross the lake / Don’t give, just take / Over on this side it’s much nicer / Leave old habits / Come on catch the rabbits / We’re looking for toy soldiers in line / You’ve never heard screams / At least don’t know what it means / Not so many of them can be trusted / It’s a certain call if you don’t accept the call / We have won the war on both sides already

So hold on to your dreams / And I will find a meaning / While you fight the frontline

A fallen boy in a frame is nothing without a name / That’s why we keep hiding the tracks / So if someone needs a hand / Don’t forget about the plan / First look for victory then the man / There is the one and only truth that’s been given / And after that there’s a world of misguided souls / So don’t give in / You know you will win / Even if it’s in your grave you first find forgiveness

So hold on to your dreams / And I will find a meaning / While you fight the frontline

Now remember your brothers / Get them over the borders / Leave a country of mines left for the innocent / There’s nothing you can do / Now you have seen them chase their own / Just leave your hat on and run / Run

So hold on to your dreams / And I will find a meaning / While you fight the frontline