Artist: The White Birch
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The nominees for the 2006 Spellemannprisen, the Norwegian Grammy, have been annnounced:
Female artist:
Elvira Nikolaisen - Quiet Exit (Sony BMG)
Marit Larsen - Under The Surface (EMI Music Norway)
Mira Craig - Mira Mira (Homemade Records)
Male artist:
Bjørn Eidsvåg - Nåde (Petroleum/Sony BMG)
Odd Nordstoga - Heim Te Mor (Universal Music AS)
Thomas Dybdahl - Science (Universal Music AS)
Pop group:
Delillos'85 - Suser Videre (Universal Music AS)
Jim Stärk - Turn Around And Look (Sweet Recordings)
Minor Majority - Reasons To Hang Around (Big Dipper Records)
Electronica:
Lindstrøm - It's A Feedelity Affair (Smalltown Supersound)
Splaxxter Watts - The Shakeout (Cafe Superstar DA)
The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams (Smalltown Supersound)
Rock:
120 Days - 120 Days (Smalltown Supersound)
Bonk - Bonk Against Nothing (Racing Junior)
Madrugada - Live At Tralfamadore (EMI Music Norway)
The Low Frequency In Stereo - The Last Temptation Of... (Rec 90)
The School - Espionage (Kong Tiki Records)
Metal:
Benea Reach - Monument Bineothan (Tabu Recordings)
Enslaved - Ruun (Tabu Recordings)
Gorgoroth - Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam (Regain Records)
Keep Of Kalessin - Armada (Tabu Recordings)
Hip-hop:
Darkside Of The Force - El Dia De Los Puercos (C+C Records)
Karpe Diem - Rett Fra Hjertet (Bonnier Amigo Music Norge)
Tungtvann - Siste Skanse (C+C Records)
Jazz:
Atomic - Happy New Ears! (Jazzland)
Helge Sunde/Norske Store Orkester - Denada (Act)
Håkon Kornstad/Håvard Wiik - The Bad And The Beautiful (Moserobie)
Ken Vandermark/Paal Nilssen-Love - Seven (Smalltown Superjazzz)
The Thing - Action Jazz (Smalltown Superjazzz)
Open class:
Hanne Hukkelberg - Rykestrasse 68 (Propeller Recordings AS)
Kristin Asbjørnsen - Wayfaring Stranger - A Spiritual Songbook (Universal Music AS)
Mari Boine - Idjagiedas - In The Hand Of The Night (Universal Music AS)
Terje Isungset - Igloo (All Ice Records/Grappa)
Wibutee - Sweet Mental (Sonne Disk)
Best newcomer:
120 Days - 120 Days (Smalltown Supersound)
Elvira Nikolaisen - Quiet Exit (Sony BMG)
Marte Wulff - Jacket (It's Definitly Records)
Mira Craig - Mira Mira (Homemade Records)
Rockettothesky - So Sing You Apple Trees (Trust Me Records)
Music video:
Bjørn Eidsvåg M/Elvira Nikolaisen - Floden (Sony BMG)
Christel Alsos - Come On (Sony BMG)
Grand Island - Us Annexed (Racing Junior)
Marit Larsen - Don't Save Me (Emi)
The White Birch - Seer Beliver (Racing Junior)
The rest of the categories are here: http://www.spellemann.no/nomine.html
Sometimes you admire an album more than you actually enjoy listening to it. I guess that was the case for me with Denmark's Lis er Stille, a four-piece that favors the "surging rush of sound" approach. There are only four tracks here, all roughly about ten minutes in length, and if you've heard one, you've pretty much heard the album. They really like their pounding drums, their whirling keyboard/guitar blend, and their slightly retro organ riding atop the vigorous waves of sound. The songs generally begin with a quiet intro, with the vocalist sounding not unlike Ola from The White Birch (and at times he reminded me of Grandaddy, as did one of the keyboard sequences on track 2). Then things build in intensity, with simple guitar chords repeated insistently, possibly shifting into a different tempo or mood, then getting intense again. Track 4 holds the most interest, as there are compelling shifts from minor key to major key and a better dynamic balance overall. On a really great stereo, I imagine that this album would sound pretty kickass, especially if you just played it for a few minutes. But as an overall listening experience, it just didn't maintain my interest over several plays, although I would hardly count the band out. With the singer coming more to the fore and some added diversity in the arrangements, a future Lis er Stille album could be very promising indeed.
- Kevin Renick
Neumu on Norwegian slowcore trio The White Birch: http://www.neumu.net/fortyfour/
Norwegian slowcore act The White Birch has announced that members Hans Christian Almendingen and Ulf Rogde are leaving the band, the former to concentrate on other musical endeavors and the latter to spend more time with his family. Don't despair - frontman Ola Fløttum will soldier on and is already composing material for the band's next album. Your last chances to see the old lineup:
08/09 - Øyafestivalen, Oslo (NOR)
08/18 - Mudd Club, Berlin (GER)
08/19 - Off Festival, Myslowice (POL)
Speaking of The White Birch, here's a review of their latest over at PopMatters: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/the-white-birch-come-up-for-air/
Rune Grammofon has announced that the label retrospective "Until human voices wake us and we drown" 5x10" vinyl box-set is just about done and should be available for mailorder. The set includes a 16-page booklet illustrated, as always, by Kim Hiorthøy and will be limited to 1000 copies. A definite collectors item. Also on the way is a new 10" from Deathprod featuring remixes he's done for Nils Petter Molvær (2), Murcof, Larsen and Cloroform as well as the track "Deerstalker" from the "Money will ruin everything" comp. And lastly, RG will also be doing a vinyl edition of "Come up for air", the latest album from Norway's The White Birch. The record was produced by Deathprod/Helge Sten and features guest vocals from Susanna Wallumrød (Susanna and the Magical Orchestra), so it's only natural that RG get involved. They'll be doing a CD version for the US and Asia, too. Exact release dates and more details soon.
Finnish music blog Lupatarkastaja has posted a new 5-track mix with excellent selections from Denmark's Neon Machine, Finland's Boys of Scandinavia, Norway's The White Birch and more: http://lupatarkastaja.samizdat.info/2006/02/18/luuvitonen-indie-week-7/
Check out the video for "Seer believer" from Norwegian melancholy rockers The White Birch: http://thewhitebirch.one.no/video/SeerBeliever900K.mov
MIC Norway profiles quiet melancholy act The White Birch: http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2006021511024359426871
This record is so fragile it makes you want to walk around on tiptoes while listening to it, lest you disturb the mood. And that mood is Nordic--not the sunny daydream of Århus or Stockholm in July, but the frigid calm of Norway (or Iceland, or Finnish Lapland) in the dead of winter. Everything revolves around Ola Fløttum, whose delicate guitar and piano parts blend into his lilting voice, which drifts in and out of falsetto. Bassist/keyboardist Ulf Rodge and percussionist H.C. Almendingen add elements impressive in their subtlety, because they blend in seamlessly. Tracks like "The white birds" and "June" are experimental, dreamy and seemingly in slow motion, which have made Sigur Rós comparisons come fast and furious (though, to be fair, the Oslo trio has been around longer). There are plenty of differences between the two, especially in Fløttum's use of English lyrics. Those expecting a fast song every now and then will be frustrated; "Come up for air" never breaks from its wintertime pace, which adds even more fragility and beauty to this impressive release.
- Matthew W. Smith
Norwegian melancholy rock act The White Birch will release their new album "Come up for air" in November via Glitterhouse Records. The band's name does indeed come from the Codeine album, so that you give you a good idea of their sound. Download the first single "Your Spain" from the band's website: http://thewhitebirch.one.no/
The Soundtrack of Our Lives will be on the radio program World Cafe today at 2pm Eastern. Listen live here. I'll try to record it, too.
Washoe, the band featuring Uffe from Entombed along with Patrik Wirén, Patrik Thorngren and Olle from Misery Loves Company have officially changed their name to Alpha Safari. Their next show is March 23 at Skylten in Linköping.
Here's a list of the bonus tracks revealed so far for the upcoming Union Carbide Productions box-set:
Senile Man (rehearsal demo -86)
Duck Song (rehearsal demo -86-87)
3 or 4 tracks from CBGB's
Puppet On a String (-88)
Swedish Meatball Revival (alt. mix -89)
Here Comes Kjell (rehearsal demo -86)
So Long (instrumental -87)
Transaction
Hello
Planet Caravan (1990)
Let Me Come Down
SF Boogie (Instrumental)
Banana Split (ex. Get Riddley)
Doin' Time
Swing (demo version)
Chameleon ride (Demo version)
High Speed Energy (Unfinished "from influence" outtake)
Off The Wall
I'm Alive
Future Now (MC 5 cover 1992)
Anytime Of The Day (demo)
Turn Off The Blues (single version)
www.unioncarbideproductions.com also reports that the album "Swing" will be reissued like the vinyl version, with the band's preferred song sequence and new artwork that the label didn't approve of.
www.thearkworld.com has posted a bunch of pics plus some audio and video from The Ark's performance in Vaxjo last Friday.
Startracks has revealed they will be doing a label comp to come out on March 10. They are of the opinion that such comps "are the lowest and worst shit you can do," but "it was the cheapest way to get the word out there, it will be great, cheap and with at least one exclusive song so you end up buying it." More details when I get them.
I should've posted it a couple days ago, but Supersilent's new album "6" is one of the featured new releases on the Aquarius Records new release list. Read the review and listen to samples here. Mega indie-rock site Pitchfork Media also reviewed it today and gave it a 9.1 out of 10.
The Norweigan label Racing Junior will be holding a mini-festival at The Spitz in London on February 19-20. The groups confirmed to play are Hello Goodbye, Salvatore, Ai Phoenix, Tøyen, Portrait of David and The White Birch. Read more here.
69-Hard and Puffball kick some Danish ass at Stengade 30 in Copenhagen Denmark on Thursday, March 20. Tons of new material will be showcased!
That comes straight from Metz of 69-Hard. The new album "Blues from Hell" comes out March 28 on Idle Hands Records.
Sentenced has decided to take a much-needed break following the recent completion of their successful European tour with Lacuna Coil. Guitarist Sami Lopakka plans on spending time with his new child while singer Ville Laihiala and guitarist Miika Tenkula continue writing for the next record. However, they still plan to release a four-song EP with leftover tracks from "The Cold White Light" later on this year.