DK: Absolute Absolute Music (P7 Mix)

The Absolute Absolute Music podcast is a systematic review of all 29 Absolute Music compilation CDs. In each episode, host Mads Gundersen reviews one compilation, along with a guest who is a celebrity or was a celebrity in the 1990s when the Absolute Music compilations were released.

(c) DR

I stumbled upon the podcast one random afternoon when I was listening to flow-radio (the now decommissioned P7 MIX) on my way home from work in the November darkness, and I was immediately captured by the ability of both the guest and the host to evoke and convey very specific memories relating to, in this case, a specific N*SYNC song, and add depth to the songs with background facts about the artists and their careers before and after the Absolute Music era. Facts such as the fact that Jamie Walters today works as a firefighter, and that his acting career faded after he pushed Donna down the stairs in Beverly Hills 902010. Or the fact that the lead singer of 4 Non Blondes also wrote the songs for Pink's breakthrough album. After having listened to this first episode, I started hearing the episodes that were about Absolute Music 4, 10 and 7, albums that I suddenly felt an unexpectedly intense attachment and commitment to, not unlike the feeling that can be evoked by cheering on a racehorse one has just made a bet on, or enjoying the foods of your home country after a long journey abroad. However, not all the songs on the Absolute Music albums bring back nostalgia or even remembrance, and although Mads Gundersen and his guests do a great job of also promoting the more anonymous songs, I began to lose interest after the greatest hits had been covered.

Later on, I found out that what I had heard that dark November afternoon was actually an episode about the compilation series NOW Music, which is a spin-off to the podcast series of the 29 Absolute Music compilations, and it wasn't N*SYNC I had heard but the Justin Timberlake of the 00's. So if your nostalgia leads you towards the '00s or even early '10s, the Absolute Absolute Music podcast series will also cater to your needs.

How to get started:

In total, this podcast series sums up to at least 131 hours of radio. If you want to start on a high note, I recommend listening to episodes about the compilations you remember from your past. Alternatively, I recommend the following three, all of which were huge commercial succes'es and therefore in a way the most epic albums:

• Absolute Music 4 - guest: Henrik Milling.

• Absolute Music 5 - guest: Abdel Aziz Mahmoud.

• Absolute Music 10 - guest: Anders Breinholt.

Listen to the program here or in DR's app