Hercules and Love Affair concert

Thursday night concert at Vega
The funkiness of Greek mythology hit Copenhagen Thursday night.
Hercules and Love Affair has been in my ears for the last few months making me dream of shiny New York nightlife at studio 54. Especially "Hercules’ Theme" and "Blind" has had me swinging a little extra on my bike on the way to work.

So naturally when the Gods of cool music visit your town, you go. And even though it unfortunately was without Anthony (of Anthony And The Johnsons) the rest of the band did manage to create a party at Vega. The strength of Hercules wasn’t really there to begin with, though. The two singing goddesses; the small and masculine Kim Ann and the tall bombshell Nomi both seemed distracted or nervous for the first few songs – too bad. Nomi at first reminded me of a bored pole dancing drag queen, but she really came to life when she pulled an awesome costume change and sang 'you Belong'. Her moves definitely made the guys happy...

And in the end they both delivered some genuine disco funk to the happy crowd. Especially ‘Athena’ and ‘Blind’ had the house partying. Speaking of the crowd –it’s a fact that I’m too short for concerts… for some reason I always end up behind tall guys – last time it was cute Swedish boys- this time it was huge – really huge- dancing gay guys. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the really good music – with a Hercules lookalike on drums – that much I could see!

Place of the month in June: The French Patisserie Le Montmartre

Well, I don’t really have the old Cliff Richard in my ear singing ”Summer holiday” these days.Lately Copenhagen has returned to its usual highly unreliable summer weather: Showers and heavy wind with the occasional 10 minutes of full hot sun. And this basically means that you’re uncomfortable no matter what you’re wearing.

So yesterday, on a rainy Sunday I visited the French patisserie Le Montmartre at Vesterbro with some good friends. This place is the Place of the Month in June, simply because, there you feel like it's summer all the time, no matter how much it rains out side.

This place is just what you need for a summer like this one – simple decoration, smiley charming French waiter and the most delicious cakes you can imagine. And the pieces are generous and not expensive at all.

I had a creamy vanilla and raspberry cake with a double espresso, which was just excellent – strong and bitter, but not too heavy.

Inspiring illustrations

The young and very talented artist Nan Na Hvass has worked in many fields and blessed many things with her drawings. I’m a total fan of her work for all the life and colours in that bizarre supernatural universe.
She has made the video for the Danish band Efterklang’s Mirador and also the cover for their album ‘Under Giant Trees’ - as you see above - these are really good examples of her style. But Hvass has done munch more than that.
She’s also the artist behind a great mural at VEGA nightclub here in Copenhagen and has created illustrations for t-shirts and this bag that I especially like.
I guess, what I find inspiring about her work is the many dimensions she can add to a single picture – it sort of pulls you in, in a weird almost surrealist way. Her style reminds me of a mixture of Danish artist HUSK MIT NAVN and the ever so cool Kitsune Noir – and then maybe just a little bit a Dali -without all the odd sex fantasy stuff though.

Film noir, Disney and a sprinkle of erotica

Those are the ingredients to the chic and sophisticated shoes by Finnish shoe designer Minna Parikka.

Her designs have it all: girly hurly happiness, burlesque mystique and then the über cool details – what more could you want?! -

Just look at her – a shoe designer who combines a sense of style with a sense of humour in the best way possible.

Do you believe?

She’ll be visiting this year’s Roskilde festival – and even though I’m way too nerdy to get into the muddy mood of festival going - I really wouldn’t mind hearing her live. Brooklyn hipster Santogold makes just the kind of music you want to hear on a summer evening like this.

Summer has for some reason decided to come early to Copenhagen and these past few days you completly forget that this is a so called nordic country of wind and cool air. - oh no, the heat is on and in this hot city, you need an energy boost with good vibrations.

Santigold reminds me of M.I.A. but her tracks vary much more in style and tone. I think she might even prove to be more interesting than M.I.A in the long run. Take a look at her video for LES Artistes: