A-ha - Foot of the mountain

The new A-ha single "Foot of the mountain" is now streaming online: http://universalmusic.no/ecards/aha/

A-ha to the UK in November

A-ha will be playing the UK in November as part of their fall European tour:

11/02 - NIA, Birmingham
11/03 - MEN Arena, Manchester
11/04 - O2 Arena, London

MP3: Underwater Sleeping Society - Saw you at my funeral

Underwater Sleeping Society achieves the rare feat of sounding like a million other bands while retaining a unquestionable uniqueness. There are obvious Radiohead parallels, both in sound and the reference to the "Pyramid song", but there's much more going on. The feel of the melody is far more A-ha in the way it soars, yet there's also an certain undeniable Finnish-ness to it. I think it's the morbid fascination of the lyrics, the matter-of-fact way it goes about reporting the circumstances of one's own funeral. It's a ghost story, but also, who wouldn't want to see it for themselves? It's an intriguing concept, a potential life-changing experience. This song merely scratches the surface of possibilities.

Underwater Sleeping Society - Saw you at my funeral

New A-ha this summer

NRK reports that there will be a new A-ha album in June and a South American tour in March: http://www.nrk.no/musikk/1.6451953 (in Norwegian)

Norwegian author Pål H Christiansen's cult novel "Drømmer om storhet" about A-ha has now been published in English for the very first time: http://www.norway.org.uk/culture/literature/a-ha+cultbook.htm
The new title of the translated work is "The Scoundrel Days of Hobo Highbrow".

A-ha are back in the studio working on a new album for release this coming spring: http://www.a-ha.com/NEWS/AHA_fullNews.aspx?PostID=1433

Jonas Bjerre (Mew), Guy Berryman (Coldplay) and Magne Furuholmen (A-ha) have apparently joined forces in a new supergroup under the name Apparatjik. The trio recorded the theme song for upcoming BBC2 series "Amazon", premiering on September 22, and so far has no plans to do anything else.

Morten Harket of A-ha will release his new solo album "Letter from Egypt" on May 19. Look for the first single "Darkspace" to hit Norwegian radio in a week or so.

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Britta Persson - Cliffhanger
02. TALK 1
03. Death By Kite - Sweet M
04. KVLR - Traitors and thieves
05. Anna Ternheim - Today is a good day
06. TALK 2
07. Don Juan Dracula - Take me home (Johan Angebjörn remix feat. Sally Shapiro)
08. Amorphis - Weaving the incantation
09. Thomas Denver Jonsson - Dreams at the film club (feat. Nina Kinert)
10. TALK 3
11. Don't Be A Stranger - Lonely together
12. Madrugada - Tonight I have no words for you
13. Majessic Dreams - Have to go
14. TALK 4
15. Pavan - The bird
16. Bröderna Lindgren - Om en guldfisk (feat. Kristofer Åström)
17. The Tarantula Waltz - Where I end and you begin
18. Adam Tensta - They wanna know
19. TALK 5
20. Commando M Pigg - Mot stjärnorna
21. Gravy - Rock scientists
22. Jonas Game - ADHD
23. TALK 6
24. Linus Larsson & John Roger Olsson - In the shadow
25. Idiot Kid - Go to sleep
26. Mats Öberg - Cool water - på Den Gyldene Freden
27. TALK 7
28. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
29. The Bear Quartet - I would be poor
30. Peloton - Aranburu
31. Royal Downfall - Lightning strikes twice
32. TALK 8
33. Made In Sweden - Winter's a bummer
34. Erik Enocksson - The state the sea left me in
35. Asha Ali - Coward heart
36. TALK 9
37. A-ha - Celice

Peter Morén
Live at Joe's Pub, NYC, 11/19/07

Making his proper debut solo performance (he did a warm-up last week), Peter Morén, accompanied by various friends, treated the crowd at Joe's Pub to a great set of material he has been working on, most of which leaned towards the folkier side. Opening with a cover of "Time" by Richard Hell, Morén included songs such as "My match", "This is what i came for" and "Real too real" off of his planned forthcoming debut album. With most songs containing drums and piano in addition to his vocals and guitar, Morén charmed the audience with not only his bright lyrics, but also the witty banter thrown in between each song, often explaining the subject in a manner only one using their second language can. With a four song encore that included a cover of A-ha's "Take on me" and his primary band's "Objects of my affection" (with a certain Björn Yttling joining on piano from the audience), Morén easily pleased the attendees, and in return, got the plaudits he deserved.
- Matt Giordano

Morten Harket's (A-ha) new single "Movies" is now streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/harketmorten

Morten Harket from A-ha will be releasing his new solo album "Letters from Egypt" early next year with the lead single "Movies" coming out next week on November 19. The track is a cover of "My woman" by Norwegian act The Locatmotives and originally appears on their 1999 album "Albert". Listen to it at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/locomotivesnorway

Magne Furuholmen of A-ha has fulfilled every 12-year old boy's dream and bought an F-16 Tomcat: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=69122138&blogID=326107694

Today marks the 25th anniversary of A-ha: http://www.a-ha.com/cparticle7971-417.html

Dagavisen is counting down the top 30 Norwegian albums of all-time: http://www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/musikk/article293966.ece
Summary of what's posted so far:

30. Turboneger - Apocalypse Dudes
29. Tre Så Kinesere - 365 Fri
28. Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky
27. Madrugada - The Nightly Desease
26. Kung Fu Girls - This Is The Kung Fu Beat
25. Sissy Wish - You May Breathe
24. Lillemor - Lokkemann
23. Terje Rypdal - Bleak House
22. a-ha - Hunting High An Low
21. Thomas Dybdahl - That Great October Sound