Stars

In this world of YouTube, MySpace, Google and libraries you extremely rarely have to buy a piece of music to hear it - mostly you've heard a preview, a song or maybe even the whole thing online before investing in an album. At least that's the way it has become. When I was little and just started being interested in music (I think was about 11, and - whisper it - Maroon 5 were my first favourite band after I'd grown out of Aqua and Britney Spears) I remember the excitement of actually going to the store, buying the CD and hoping it had more good music on it than just that one song. Back then I probably bought two CDs a year and then listened to them over and over and over - while nowadays it's quite different. It varies depending on how much money I've got but I don't think there's been a month this year where I haven't bought at least five-ten CDs and often many more. It is not only a consequence of me having gotten my musical horizons broadened and my wallet having gotten bigger but also one of the internet. There is almost no music you cannot find buried on the web somewhere - which is quite handy as you don't have to buy anything before you've heard at least a part of it. It's practical if you want to avoid buying something that might turn out to be crap but also takes away some of the pleasure of buying a record and being excited about getting to hear it. So sometimes I like to do really spontanous buys just to feel that little excitement again. The last time I did one of those spontanous was when I went to Aarhus to see Efterklang. Before the gig my friend and I went into my favourite record shop (called Badstuerock) and looked at used CDs. Between the new albums I couldn't find anything I wanted that I couldn't get for less on the Rough Trade website though and I was feeling slightly desperate to buy something. As my friend looked through all the older, used CDs in there he showed me 'Set Yourself On Fire' by Canadian band Stars and told me it was good. Stars were the kind of band I'd only heard about but never actually heard any music by - but from what I'd heard about them I assumed I would like them, so I bought it and gave it a listen the next day. I really liked it. It's becoming a cliché for me to say it but I'm a sucker for good pop music. And 'Set Yourself On Fire' contains lovely, lovely pop music with boy-girl vocals, horns, strings and electronics.