Speaking of A-ha, they recently did a bit of Q&A on their website: http://www.a-ha.com/cparticle6783-417.html

Also at Stylus today is their review of recent singles including tracks from Nightwish, A-ha and Bodies Without Organs: http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=2107

Top 10s for 2005: Popsicle

Top 10s for 2005: It's a trap!

Podcast: Best of 2005

The latest Norwegian top 10 album chart:

01. Sissel - Nordisk vinternatt
02. Maria Arredondo - Min jul
03. Ane Brun - Duets
04. Erik Bye - Høvdingen - De aller beste 1
05. Oslo Gospel Choir / Mia Gundersen - Lys i mørket
06. A-ha - Analogue
07. Vamp - Siste Stikk
08. Tone Damli Aaberge - Bliss
09. Maria Mena - Apparently unaffected
10. Halvdan Sivertsen - 40 +

New mp3 today from Brighter Death Now. No, I'm not trying to atone for last week's A-ha post, but I do admit that it's quite a contrast. BDN's skull-rattling throb is about as far away from pop as you can get. Which is not to say that you can't enjoy both - I had 'em on shuffle in my car over the weekend and had nary a problem. But enough of my jabbering, this post belongs to Simon Thibaudeau:

Roger Karmanik has been doing noise, or power electronics as he likes to call it, since the early eighties. Since then, his vision never wavered: Creating challenging music for the forward thinking mind. With the harsh debuts of Lille Roger to diverse Brighter Death Now, his violent and dark world has evolved and refined to the point where now, Roger Karmanik is a cult figure in the genre. His frustration in releasing music lead to the creation of Cold Meat Industry records, a label that has concentrated on various denominations of Swedish dark electronic artists, since 1987. Although the label did a few forays in Norway and created sublabels for international artists, the base of this operation has been Sweden and the artists that adhere to his vision. The quality of the music released is such that I would gladly take a subscription to his label to get everything he releases. Anyway, here is a song off his latest record as Brighter Death Now, "Kamikaze kabaret". "Testing" has more crossover appeal than anything he released in my opinion, at least the music I have heard. Enjoy this song from a master of noise.

MP3: Brighter Death Now - Testing

New mp3 today from Brighter Death Now. No, I'm not trying to atone for last week's A-ha post, but I do admit that it's quite a contrast. BDN's skull-rattling throb is about as far away from pop as you can get. Which is not to say that you can't enjoy both - I had 'em on shuffle in my car over the weekend and had nary a problem. But enough of my jabbering, this post belongs to Simon Thibaudeau:

Roger Karmanik has been doing noise, or power electronics as he likes to call it, since the early eighties. Since then, his vision never wavered: Creating challenging music for the forward thinking mind. With the harsh debuts of Lille Roger to diverse Brighter Death Now, his violent and dark world has evolved and refined to the point where now, Roger Karmanik is a cult figure in the genre. His frustration in releasing music lead to the creation of Cold Meat Industry records, a label that has concentrated on various denominations of Swedish dark electronic artists, since 1987. Although the label did a few forays in Norway and created sublabels for international artists, the base of this operation has been Sweden and the artists that adhere to his vision. The quality of the music released is such that I would gladly take a subscription to his label to get everything he releases. Anyway, here is a song off his latest record as Brighter Death Now, "Kamikaze kabaret". "Testing" has more crossover appeal than anything he released in my opinion, at least the music I have heard. Enjoy this song from a master of noise.

Brighter Death Now - Testing

At the risk of losing whatever cred I've built up, I'm just gonna come right out and declare it: the new A-ha album "Analogue" is fantastic. It's exactly the kind of big, mature pop album that career bands of A-ha's status are supposed to make. Y'know, the kind of record that you'd expect from lifer acts such as REM or U2. The kind of record that bands like Kent so desperately want to make. Even if you haven't heard A-ha since "Take on me", their sound is instantly recognizable and oh-so catchy. It's also worth noting what it lacks - the pathetic pandering to younger audiences that so many older acts fall susceptible to. This is just A-ha doing what they do and doing it well. The darker-tinged melodies of the first track "Celice" are what hooked me in, but I'm finding that I'm loving the entire album the whole way through, moreso every time I listen anew. Along with Tiger Lou's "The loyal", this is one the best new records I've heard this fall.

MP3: A-ha - Celice

At the risk of losing whatever cred I've built up, I'm just gonna come right out and declare it: the new A-ha album "Analogue" is fantastic. It's exactly the kind of big, mature pop album that career bands of A-ha's status are supposed to make. Y'know, the kind of record that you'd expect from lifer acts such as REM or U2. The kind of record that bands like Kent so desperately want to make. Even if you haven't heard A-ha since "Take on me", their sound is instantly recognizable and oh-so catchy. It's also worth noting what it lacks - the pathetic pandering to younger audiences that so many older acts fall susceptible to. This is just A-ha doing what they do and doing it well. The darker-tinged melodies of the first track "Celice" are what hooked me in, but I'm finding that I'm loving the entire album the whole way through, moreso every time I listen anew. Along with Tiger Lou's "The loyal", this is one the best new records I've heard this fall.

A-ha - Celice

Ane Brun has been selected to open for fellow Norwegians A-ha on a few select UK dates:

12/03 - NEC, Birmingham
12/04 - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
12/06 - MEN, Manchester, England
12/07 - Wembley Arena, London

A-ha on tour in the UK:

12/03 - NEC, Birmingham
12/04 - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
12/06 - MEN, Manchester
12/07 - Wembley Arena, London
12/09 - Nottingham Arena, Nottingham
12/10 - Brighton Centre, Brighton
12/11 - Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff

MIC Norway spotlights the new A-ha album "Analogue": http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2005110811382748217898
I managed to get a copy of it yesterday and I have to say that I find myself really enjoying it. I can't say that it's mind-blowing or anything, but it is a solid, classy and mature pop album. Who knows, maybe I'll even post a track from it at some point.

The next single from the new A-ha record will be "Birthright".

Check out the "adult version" of the new A-ha video "Celice": http://mms.sonix.de/universal/pop/aha_celice_adultversion_300.wmv