Marit Larsen - Coming home (video)
A new video from Norwegian artist Marit Larsen, this is the video for "Coming home".
Country: Norway
Morgenbladet top 100 Norwegian albums of all-time
Norwegian newspaper Morgenbladet polled 100 musicians for their favorite Norwegian albums of all time and has compiled the results into a list 100 long and here's the top 10:
10. De Press - Block to block
09. Röyksopp - Melody AM
08. Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett, Palle Danielsson, Jon Christensen - Belonging
07. deLillos - Suser avgårde
06. The Aller Værste - Materialtretthet
05. Knutsen & Ludvigsen - Juba Juba
04. Kjøtt - 12"
03. A-ha - Hunting high and low
02. A-ha - Scoundrel days
01. Radka Toneff/Steve Dobrogosz - Fairytales
For the full list, including various individual contributors' selections, go here: http://mbtopp100.no/category/listen/
If you have Spotify, listen to album #1 right here.
Black Hole X-mas
It's official: the upcoming Okkultokrati record due out in late November will be an extra-special Christmas-themed split 7" with Haust called "Black Hole X-mas". Haust contribute a new recording of the modern evergreen "No Christmas" which originally premiered during last year's Alternativ Julekalendar and Okkultokrati respond in kind with "All I want for Christmas is glue". Official release is November 25 via . If you're looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for your favorite misanthrope, this is it!
Kitchie Kitchie Ki Me O
s/t
EMI
This isn't really my thing; it's an Oslo thing. And it's my first time reviewing a band where I gotta tiptoe and use my indoor voice. Forthright impudence almost seems like it'd offend an entire national consciousness or institution, as revered as they are. But let's not forget- Oslo's music scene is the most comfortable place in the world. No political suffering, no industrial labor strikes, and no real equivalent to the dole. Hence, dozens of well-dressed boys running bars amuck and feeding off cultural-grant breast milk, or the titties of the finest groupies you'll ever see. No matter how disparate your black metal band A is from shoegaze band B to Top 40 act band C, "we're social equals" so hey, let's all hold hands, and let's be sure to do it on TV. Norgs often blur this crucial distinction between "style" and "fashion". It's like the difference between having Hepatitis B or C. Some ailments you can be born with like a genetic inclination. Style is one's raw talent, however bizarre or mutant, possessed and created only by you. Whereas fashion, like Hepatitis C, you can catch from any motherfucker.
The obvious nods by Madrugada cohorts onwards to Blixa Bargeld and Nick Cave fits extremely well into rich, dark and brooding Scandinavian territory, and has had the self-perpetuated effect of mounting them in a tiny, yet hierarchical scene as gods. But if The Bad Seeds have done it already, is the simulacrum just another fashion? The blues noir motif encompasses everything aspired in an artist's life -- glorified isolation, mystery, sexual energy, freedom. I remember my monumental realisation when Nick Cave's "God is in the house" DVD first came out. It was a signal of the times; the inexorable musicianship of this group of MEN turning something deeply of themselves into an awe-inspiring and transcendentalizing performance. The essence of "soul".
Soul is definitely not something you can just copy, it's not like you can hire a bunch of gospel-singers and assume you'll get that effect. My impression of this album is in fact, soul-searching, which is not to say it ain't solid. It's more like wandering and jamming in the key of retro-blues. At times, it does feel so grown-up and sterile I begin imagining folks in V-necked sweaters listening to the album in their living rooms on designer couches, hi-fi stereo systems and tons of high-end drugs.
But by solid, I really mean perfect. You gotta hand it to them, a total self-awareness shines through; they know who's gonna try to get a piece of 'em, so they're armed with deadly ammunition. Pristine production, fantastic percussive elements building gigantic drones, and the excellent saxophone-playing is a goodnight cherry on top. My favourite tracks, "I've been watching you (night and day)" has an infectious boogie, like Ethiopian music from the Sixties, Tilahoun Gèssèssè, Mulatu Astatqé, etc. and "After party killer" has a Bowie-air to it that's epic, classic and hit-worthy. In fact, most of these songs are.
But back to what I was sayin', KKKMEO's not exactly my thing. So why the 9? This is not a revolutionary 9. This is not a 9 for alienated subterraneans. This is a 9 for the masses. As a reviewer I tend to detect the moment in which my pure unadulterated love for music is betrayed. In this case, the flow of the album runs like butter, the tracks are easily digestible and honed to the Nordic ear. After being frustrated by many new albums of late, hearing a record that's so un-objectionable and on a higher level of musical professionalism makes me daresay I'm not allowed to object. So I do as any humble reviewer would. Give it a 9, quietly put it back on the shelf, blast "Transilvanian hunger" and make myself a cup of tea.
- Ann Sung-an Lee
Nordic Music Prize 2011
The 12 nominees for the 2nd annual Nordic Music Prize will be announced on December 1 with the winner being crowned on February 16 at Kulturkirken Jakob in Oslo during by:Larm.
Dybdahl at Daytrotter
Daytrotter has a new live session up from Norwegian artist Thomas Dybdahl: http://www.daytrotter.com/#!/concert/thomas-dybdahl/20055087-37382533
Alog recording the Sheriffs of Nothingness (video)
A look behind the scenes of the recording of Alog's new album "Underemployed", just released today via .
Apparatjik world, the album/the app
For the bourgeois, a new album from Apparatjik in the form of an iPad app: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/apparatjik-world/id476056924?ls=1&mt=8
Pelbo - Join their game (video)
New music out of Norway from the drums/tuba/vocals trio Pelbo off their sophomore album "Days of transcendence", out now via . Recommended!
99 Minutes #18: Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
A new episode of Listen to Norway's excellent podcast series "99 Minutes" is up today and it's a special feature on the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. More here: http://www.listento.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2011111016263786170748
Modular signs Young Dreams
has picked up Norwegian act Young Dreams and will be releasing their debut album in 2012. The apparently huge band features Matias Tellez alongside members from bands such as Casiokids, The Megaphonic Thrift and Bloody Beach and, if the sample above is any indication, are yet another act playing semi-dreamy tropical pop. Yawn.
Sivert Høyem/Harrys Gym on tour
Sivert Høyem and Harrys Gym are doing a few European dates together:
11/15 - Beatpol, Dresden (GER)
11/16 - Heimathafen, Berlin (GER)
11/18 - Vera, Groningen (NL)
11/21 - Luxor, Køln (GER)
11/22 - Kofmehl, Solothum (CH)
11/23 - Plaza, Zürich (CH)
The Megaphonic Thrift to release new album in February
Norwegian noiserockers The Megaphonic Thrift have confirmed that their new as-yet-untitled album will be released on February 3 via the band's own label in collaboration with .
Trond K & The Serious Issues - A ship set for Xibalba (video)
Trond K & The Serious Issues make serious music in a baritone key.
Motorpsycho + Ståle Storløkken - Orgelfest (live video)
Motorpsycho and Ståle Storløkken perform live at the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway for Orgelfest, an epic night of improv jams based around the church's organ. Motorpsycho will be doing it again at Domkirke in Oslo on November 28.