" We dont do Dancing Queen " - Marty & Elaine at the Dresden Bar

In a weak and slightly confused moment I told the barmanager at the Hotel I frequent that their music is sub par and they need to sharpen the game. They responded "sure thing....can you spin some records here on the 11th of October?"

And I said of course I can.

And now its turned into some kind of small monster that both entices and terrorizes me. Before I go to sleep I start thinking of the first song Ill be playing or the last one.

What should I play? Ill be bringing my 7" collection which is probably 4-500 singles now. I need a single roadie. That sounds weird.

People drink and mingle but it still needs to have that kind of hotel bar classiness to it. Modern and old. I love the fact that just playing vinyl limits a couple of things. What songs I play and also how long my pee breaks will be. Do you take requestes..."No we dont do Dancing Queen". The other day I looked at Alannah Myles Black velvet on 7" and a voice in my head kind of spluttered and said NO.

Åsa is getting closer to finishing the Akaba album which feels great. Yesterday she mastered 94 with Björn Engelman. This Picture means next to nothing but it breaks up the words in a way that makes my rambling easier to tolerate.

Here is another picture from the Akaba "finishing the album sessions" please note the difference.

Yes! You guessed it! Åsa is on the right side of the man in front of a computer.

We also received two mixes of Lifetimespenders from Giles Martin. This track features one of Swedens best guitarists, Einar Baldursson. I also apparently play the Cabasa on the track which is interesting as I despise the Cabasa just as much as it despises me. Its not a love-hate relationship. Its all hate. Problem is that it sounds really nice...So apart from my troublesome Cabasa playing things are moving forward rapidly. I think the idea is to have the album mastered and done next Friday. It is the only album that has had parts recorded in all 5 Roth Händle studios.

Now playing: John Coltrane - My Favorite Things

Possible final mix for Akaba...

Its been going on for a while now but its seems like the Akaba album is finally done. I did a first mix on the final track yesterday (It has a working title to horrible to mention so Ill just call it Voldemort). Voldemort was very refreshing to mix as it is a track that has less than 24 tracks on it and it was recorded without a clicktrack. Its got that cool acoustic live feel that everybody likes.

Its a pianobased song with Tobias Ljungkvist playing the grand Piano and then there is the Roth Händle Pipe organ in the choruses and a splash of Mellotron at the end. Its really cool. Now we just need to figure out how to place it on the album...If you put at the end it sort of becomes "the quiet ending track". Voldemort is fairly depressing for being a first track...Its too different to just put in the middle. It sounds like theres going to be discussions.

We will be doing final editing tomorrow and then it is off to Abbey Road and Giles Martin for mastering.

There is also small Kaukasus mumblings going on as Im uploading files for a new track to the others. Its a 11 minute thing with the working title "Sliding Blue". Its gonna be great.

NP: Elliott Smith: No Name#3