Pitchfork: What's the matter with Sweden
Pitchfork covers the topic of government/public support for the arts in Sweden/Scandinavia and beyond: http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7776-whats-the-matter-with-sweden/
Country: Norway
Sirius playlist week #13
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Brothers of End - Beats for you (Rasmus Hägg remix)
02. TALK 1
03. Haust - A final effort
04. Rasmus Kellerman - Five years from now
05. Echo Is Your Love - Playlist song
06. EL-SD - Walking sideways
07. TALK 2
08. Axe - Harm
09. Khoma - From the hands of sinners
10. Zeigeist - Bunny
11. C.Aarmé - Assuan
12. TALK 3
13. The Fine Arts Showcase - This is the day
14. Sonic Ritual - Early graves
15. Death By Kite - Pills
16. Susanne Sundfør - O master
17. TALK 4
18. Simian Ghost - Star receiver
19. Moloken - Untitled III
20. Darkthrone - I am the graves of the 80s
21. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:
01. Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel
02. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
03. Aleksander With - Still Awake
04. Diverse artister - Melodi Grand Prix 2010
05. Jenny & Arne - From Our Hearts
06. Thom Hell - All Good Things
07. Raga Rockers - Shit Happens
08. Jahn Teigen - Teigen - 40 Største Hits
09. Ingrid Olava - The Guest
10. Navigators - The Straight And Narrow
11. WigWam - Non Stop Rock'N'Roll
12. John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen - For Sant Til Å Være Godt
13. Batteri - Batteri
14. Burzum - Belus
15. Sigrid Moldestad - Sandkorn
16. Frøya - My American Dream
17. Britt-Synnøve Johansen - Skyt Meg Med Tre Roser
18. Röyksopp - Junior
19. Audrey Horne - Audrey Horne
20. Vidar Vang - Sleepless songs
Free EP from The Opium Cartel
Norwegian prog act The Opium Cartel is giving away a 3-track digital EP featuring an alternative mix of "Beach house" as handled by Mike Senior (Wet Wet Wet, The Charlatans, Nigel Kennedy) plus two bonus tracks from the vinyl edition of "Night blooms": https://rcpt.yousendit.com/842061357/ed2ee79dc0b806f0dfa05a585a7610d1
Mosorobie back in swing this spring
Swedish jazz label hasn't put out anything new since May of 2009, but they're coming back in full effect this spring with a tremendous lineup of new albums:
Mats Öberg Trio - So very Mats (out now)
Nicolai Dunger & Jonas Kullhammar - Vallmo OST (180g vinyl only, 300 copies)
Kullrusk - Digital (180g vinyl only, 525 copies)
Nacka Forum - Leve Nacka Forum (also vinyl only, I think)
Jonas Kullhammr Quartet - Från och med herr Jonas Kullhammar
Espen Aalberg Trio feat. Jonas Kullhammar & Torbjörn Zetterberg - tba
Zanussi Five - Ghost dance
The Core - tba
Magnus Broo - tba
Gilbert Holmströms Kvintett - Utan misstankar (Remastered reissue, first time on CD w/20min bonus track feat. Åke Johansson)
Please note that aside from the vinyl releases which I saw listed in Hot Stuff's newsletter, the information provided from the label is vague and possibly subject to change.
MP3: Margaret Berger - Will you remember me tomorrow?
I still remember, though I'm getting awfully impatient about a new album/single/anything. "Pretty scary silver fairy" is one of my favorite Nordic pop albums, but it's 4 years old now and aside from Robyn, I don't think I've heard anything else since then that can touch it. So what's the deal? Did drop the ball? That seems likely, as I'm sure those post-Idol contracts are brutally restrictive. Or did you simply move on to other things? That too is understandable. Still, I'd just like to know one way or the other.
Margaret Berger - Will you remember me tomorrow?
MP3: Darkthrone - Those treasures will never befall you
Darkthrone doing vocal harmonies? Holy shit! They regressed to the most primal form of black metal a few years back and now they're slowly evolving forward again with "Circle the wagons". And really, aside from the overall rawness of their sound and a few extra-blackened riffs, the Darkthrone of 2010 is not far from the glorious sound of prime-era 80s Heavy Metal, a sound I'm learning to appreciate more and more with each passing day. All the fools who continue their race to the bottom, chasing down the harshest, most inept and racist/nationalist/totalitarian black metal possible to fulfill whatever pissing contest obsessions they have can fuck right off; I've got no use for that garbage and neither should you.
Darkthrone - Those treasures will never befall you
PopMatters reviews "Edendale"
PopMatters reviews Norwegian MOR act Bigbang and their new record "Edendale": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/121969-bigbang-edendale/
Sirius playlist week #12
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, a special post-SXSW extra-mellow episode:
01. TALK 1
02. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Lost & losing
03. Raison d'Étre - Withstand the fire
04. The Bear Quartet - Carry your weight
05. TALK 2
06. Rasmus Kellerman - Five years from now
07. Jóhann Jóhannsson - Theme
08. Håkon Kornstad - Oslo
09. TALK 3
10. Patrik Andersson & Vegar Vårdal - Gråtaren
11. Folkvang - Myrmark
12. Hello Saferide - Arjeplog
13. David Åhlén - Great is thy faithfulness
14. TALK 4
15. Tsukimono - Gloomy Sunday
16. Hearts No Static - Happy holidays
17. Ted Gärdestad - Come give me love
18. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
MP3: Camilla Granlien Band - I Hellarskogen
Two great poets from Lom: Tor Jonsson (1916–1951) and Olav Aukrust (1883–1929). Though their views of rural life were far apart, it held a great influence on them both. Tor Jonsson faced much hardship in his youth and came to be critical of the closely-knit rural society, while Olav Aukrust, a champion of religious and national causes, held a more positive view of rural communities, people and lifestyles. Differences notwithstanding, it is obvious from the titles and form of their poems that both drew inspiration from traditional music. We have set some of their poems to traditional tunes both old and recent, and included a few songs they might have heard at home.
Another dose of Norwegian folk to close out the week (this is "Listen to Norway" #6). Same label as last time (), but with a far more robust lineup of musicians: Camilla Granlien Band features the namesake vocalist flanked by full band, though in this example, "I Hellarskogen", it's a more subdued arrangement of guitar, contrabass and organ. Of the course the main attraction is Camilla's expert vocals and she is marvelous at putting Olav Aukrust's words to a melody of her own creation. Just as naturally, I am drawn to the tune's melancholy qualities which made it stand out among its album-mates. Maybe not the most appropriate selection for what has turned out to be a sunny, spring day, but beautiful nonetheless. Enjoy!
Camilla Granlien Band - I Hellarskogen
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:
01. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
02. Diverse artister - Melodi Grand Prix 2010
03. Thom Hell - All Good Things
04. Raga Rockers - Shit Happens
05. Aleksander With - Still Awake
06. Navigators - The Straight And Narrow
07. Jahn Teigen - Teigen - 40 Største Hits
08. John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen - For Sant Til Å Være Godt
09. Ingrid Olava - The Guest
10. Sivert Høyem - Moon Landing
11. WigWam - Non Stop Rock'N'Roll
12. Burzum - Belus
13. Dum Dum Boys - Tidsmaskin
14. Audrey Horne - Audrey Horne
15. Bjørn Eidsvåg - De Beste
16. Batteri - Batteri
17. Diverse artister - Dugnad For Haiti
18. Frøya - My American Dream
19. Kråkesølv - Trådnøsting
20. Kollwitz - Like Iron I Rust
Ja Ja Ja metal showcase set for April
I knew that April's Ja Ja Ja showcase was going to be metal and now the lineup is confirmed: Thunderstone, Solstafir and Vreid @ The Lexington on April 15. Full details: http://www.jajajamusic.com/events.php?id=15
The Out Door: Darkthrone
Pitchfork talks to Fenriz of Darkthrone in their new column "The Out Door": http://pitchfork.com/features/columns/7777-the-out-door-1/4/
Susanne Sundfør - The brothel + Turkish delight (live video)
Watch Susanne Sundfør perform two songs for the Norwegian TV program Lydverket: http://www.nrk.no/lydverket/livelater-med-susanne-sundfor/
I just got her new album the other day and it is way dense. This one will take awhile to absorb.
Eskatol
Blodørn
Kjepp Kjappesens Raske Skiver
It's a safe bet that if you were to check a thesaurus entry for the word "furious" one of the synonyms you'd find would be Eskatol. This Oslo six-piece is one of the few bands out there who have successfully managed to marry all-out hardcore aggression with metal technicality and melody to create an astounding body of work that sounds as if the two subgenres were made for each other. It's not often that this works but, by hell, it does this time! Best examples are evident on the likes of "Feierferd", "Med knyttet hånd", and "Hellig system" with their pure metal melodies and leads, touching on a math metal complexity in places and, above all, encrusted in an extreme hardcore angst that furnishes the album with integrity and passion. It's clear that Eskatol are a genuine band far from the confines of pandering to an audience or contriving a unique sound. Yes, their sound is unique, but the fact that it plays out so naturally shows just how authentic these guys are. There's an unbridled intensity on display here and, with only three of the fourteen songs clocking in at the 3:00+ mark, it's clear that there's a heck of a lot going on within each tune. It must be said that, as with most hardcore-based albums, "Blodørn" does have a few moments where there's repetition in the air. Thankfully, these moments are very few and far between on this. Crust, hardcore, death metal, melodic metal: Eskatol have all corners of the extreme covered. And for those of you who like your music extreme, Eskatol have you covered!
- John Norby
