There will be a special Norwegian music series at this year's Portland (Oregon) Jazz Fest: http://pdxjazz.com/blog/?p=2827
Artists featured include ECM acts Frode Haltli and The Christian Wallumrod Ensemble plus the fantastic trio In The Country.
Norwegian rockers Bloodlights are now streaming samples at their website from their upcoming album "Simple pleasures": http://www.bloodlights.com/
The official release date is March 1 for Europe, February 28 for Germany.
Toby Vail wrote a great essay on what it means to be an aging punk in the new issue of "Nuts!", our local zine, a subject never too far from my mind as the age of my show-going peers gets progressively further away from my own. "I am happy to be alive here in Olympia which is still a thriving punk scene largely unconcerned with trends, careerism and marketability. I just hope the next generation of punks take it seriously. Because what we do can make a difference. We have the power to change things and our actions are connected to history and impact the future. Hopefully you won't all move to Portland or Brooklyn or whatever when your own punk rock mid like crisis at 20 or 25 or 30 or 35... because this is a cool town and it'd be rad if some of you stick around." Those words resonate with me; I was jaded in my early 20s, but I turned it around and turned my back on the city, on the pose, on false aspirations and all the other things that don't matter. It's a bit part of why I live where I do today. And that's why when I come across bands that share those same ideals, it gets my attention. This is the dark side of the same coin: "Drugged SS takes no part of the already established positive hardcore scene in the big cities... Drugged SS are from Setesdal and are going to stay in Setesdal." I can relate to that. I can also relate to the raw, ugly sounds they're making because while in many ways I am getting mellower as I get older, I am not getting complacent. Dark times, dark music.
Drugged SS are a new signing to , the label run by the folks behind Okkultokrati and Haust. They are also the first band they've signed from outside their extended band family. A 6-song demo tape is in the works and will be out soon.
Drugged SS - Slurpee dream
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:
01. Bjørn Eidsvåg - De Beste
02. Frøya - My American Dream
03. WigWam - Non Stop Rock'N'Roll
04. Motorpsycho - Heavy Metal Fruit
05. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
06. Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit
07. Sivert Høyem - Moon Landing
08. Stage Dolls - Always
09. Dina Misund - Listen
10. John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen - For Sant Til Å Være Godt
11. Shining - Blackjazz
12. Claudia Scott/Casino Steel/Ottar Big Hand Johansen - Honky Tonk Night - The Best
13. N'Jie Haddy - World of the free
14. Vidar Johnsen & Peter Nordberg - Ild & Vatten
15. Dum Dum Boys - Tidsmaskin
16. d'sound - Starts and Ends
17. Torbjørn Egner - Samlede CD-er
18. Jahn Teigen - Teigen - 40 Største Hits
19. Jonas Fjeld feat Henning Kvitnes - Den Gamle Veien
20. Ihsahn - After
The Silent Ballet weighs in on Shining's highly regarded new album "Blackjazz": http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3087/Default.aspx
Listening to Norway, part 2. I'm still concentrating mostly on traditional folk records because that's more where my mood's at, but I am pulling a few other selections from the stacks, especially the ones that fall under the category "heard of, but never heard." Trinacria is a band I've always wanted to check out and I even remember hearing about them when they first got going, but somewhere along the line I dropped the ball and never investigated further. Not sure why though 'cuz their album "Travel now journey infinitely" is killer. For the uninitiated, here is a summation of the band as lifted straight from their bio: "Trinacria was originally a composition by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved), Maja S. K. Ratkje and Hils Sofie Tafjord (both from Fe-mail), commissioned by Rikskonsertene for a concert series. The line-up was completed by Grutle Kjellson, Ice Dale (both from Enslaved), Iver Sandøy (Emmerhoff) and Espen Lien. In short: after working together briefly, the composition turned into a vital project which, after touring, became a fully welded band." So yeah, in short: Enslaved + Fe-mail = awesome. Hardly a surprise, though sometimes the marriage of metal and noise is not so hot. Neurosis and Man is the Bastard were the first bands I ever saw who did it and did it well, many others followed. Cult of Luna is one, Pig Destroyer is another, and of course Bastard Noise continues to bring the brutality as only they can provide (check out the new Endless Blockade split if you haven't already!). Naturally, Trinacria lean more towards the epic, blackened end of the metal spectrum as would befit their pedigree, but song-wise, the structure is more postrock-like as they build the pieces into huge crescendos over repetitive riffs and escalating chaos. Any of the six tracks contain therein would probably make for a suitable intro to the band, but I think the title-track closer is best as it's the most epic of all this epicness. Definitely an overlooked gem.
Trinacria - Travel now journey infinitely
Norwegian artist Ingrid Olava has a new website to coincide with the release of her new album "The guest", due out February 15: http://ingridolava.com/
MIC Norway talks with Lars Horntveth of Jaga Jazzist about their new album "One armed bandit": http://listento.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2010020412084763804989
will be releasing a new Motorpsycho 7" on February 22 featuring a short version of the track "X-3 (knuckleheads in space)" b/w "I.C.U (boinganoid)", an unreleased track from the recent "Heavy metal fruit" sessions. 1000 copies in a Kim Hiorthøy (as with all RG releases), preorder available soon.
Norwegian rock act Howl are streaming the new track "Urgency" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/howl1
Look for the band's new album "Cold water music" to be released on March 8.
Blabbermouth reports that Gaahl (Wardruna, ex-Gorgoroth) was named "Homosexual of the Year" at the Bergen Gay Galla: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=134544
I think it's great that he's speaking out so much about intolerance within the metal community -- it's long overdue.
For the few of you out there who might be interested, I've added Twitter integration to label pages (see Adrian Recordings for example) and I've also updated it so I'm pulling profile pictures and am doing a better job at parsing links, including those @whoever tags and so on. Want more? Give me ideas, make requests. That goes for any/all site features -- I've got the content, now I'm looking for better ways to leverage it to suit your needs.
Next Life will be supporting Owen Pallett for a few European dates:
03/23 - Botanique, Brussels (BEL)
03/25 - Millennium Music Hall, Cardiff (UK)
03/26 - Koko, London (UK)
03/27 - The Deaf Institute, Manchester (UK)
I promised you something on Next Life in my recent mp3 post on labelmates Haust and I aim to deliver. Haust's side of the two bands' new split 12" on is pretty ruling, but Next Life ain't no slouches either. If pressured, I might even concede their side to be the better of the two, but let's not go there, alright? Let us stick to the facts: this release celebrates the mental/metal act's 10th year and marks the very first time they are joined by a human drummer on record, the very-capable Anders Hangård (ex-NoPlaceToHide). A few of the tracks are re-recordings of old material, a few are not, all are ridiculously concise math-metal ragers clocking in at two minutes or less. A full album of the group's full-throttle, video-game inspired music can be a bit much to take, but one side of a split EP is just about perfect as small doses inspire more repeat listens. And for a very small dose, here's opening cut "Anti matter". It's amazing how much action they pack into such a short amount of time.
Next Life - Anti matter
PopMatters praises the new Shining album "Blackjazz": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/119585-shining-blackjazz/