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Your search returned 138 results. Viewing results 106-120The nominees for this year's Spellemann (the Norwegian Grammy) have been announced:
Female artist:
Ane Brun - A Temporary Dive (Det Er Mine/V2)
Lene Marlin - Lost In A Moment (EMI)
Marthe Valle - It's A Bag Of Candy (Grammar Records)
Maria Mena - Apparently Unaffected (Sony BMG)
Simone - Last Days And Nights (Daworks)
Male artist
Alejandro Fuentes - Diamonds Or Pearls (Sony BMG)
Magnet - The Tourniquet (Atlantic)
Robert Post - Robert Post (Universal)
Sofian - This Is Sofian (C+C Records)
Pop group:
Jim Stärk - Jim Stärk (Sweet Recordings)
Ravi & Dj Løv - Den Nye Arbæidsdagn (Sony BMG)
Röyksopp - The Understanding (EMI)
Electronica:
Alog - Miniatures (Rune Grammofon)
Datarock - Datarock Datarock (Yap/VME)
Toy - Toy (Smalltown Supersound)
Rock:
Bigbang - Poetic Terrorism (Gransport Records)
JR Ewing - Maelstrom (Sony BMG)
Madrugada - The Deep End (EMI)
My Midnight Creeps - My Midnight Creeps (MMC Records)
Serena-Maneesh - Serena-Maneesh (Honeymilk)
Metal:
Audrey Horne - No Hay Banda (Dog Job/Tuba Records)
El Caco - The Search (Black Balloon Records)
Extol - Blueprint (Century Media)
Stonegard - Arrows (Bonnier)
Hip-hop/Rnb:
Cast - Problembarn (Pass It Records)
Paperboys - When Worlds Collide (Bonnier)
Tommy Tee - Tommy Tycker Om Mej (Tee Productions/C+C Records)
Jazz:
Hans Mathisen - Quiet Songs (Curling Legs AS)
Jimmy Rosenberg/Stian Carstensen - Rose Room (Hot Club Records)
Karin Krog/Bergen Big Band - Seagull (Grappa Musikkforlag AS)
Sigurd Køhn Quartet - This Place (Heidi Køhn)
Solveig Slettahjell - Pixiedust (Curling Legs AS)
Open class:
Arild Andersen Group - Electra (ECM/Grappa)
Beady Belle - Closer (Jazzland)
Jaga Jazzist - What We Must (Smalltown Supersound)
Nils Petter Molvær - Er (Universal)
Shining - In The Kingdom Of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster (Rune Grammofon)
Best newcomer:
Animal Alpha - Pheromones (Racing Junior)
Audrey Horne - No Hay Banda (Dog Job/Tuba Records)
Draumir - Draumir (Playground/Little Hill)
Marthe Valle - It's A Bag Of Candy (Grammar Records)
Sofian - This Is Sofian (C+C Records)
Best song:
Alejandro Fuentes - Stars (Sony BMG)
Kurt Nilsen - Never Easy (Sony BMG)
Madrugada w/Ane Brun - Lift Me (Det Er Mine/V2/EMI)
Maria Mena - Miss You Love (Sony BMG)
Ravi & Dj Løv - Tsjeriåu Me De Månråus (Sony BMG)
Music video:
Maria Mena - Miss You Love (Sony BMG)
Animal Alpha - Bundy (Racing Junior)
Ravi & Dj Løv - E-Ore (Sony BMG)
Robert Post - Got None (Universal)
Röyksopp - What Else Is There (EMI)
For all categories, go here: https://www.ifpi.no/spellemann/nomlst.html
Winners will be announced on January 28.
Cake on Cake
Live @ Radio Cherokee, St. Louis, MO, 12/15/05
I was stunned when I learned that Sweden's Cake on Cake would be performing at a tiny coffeehouse here in St. Louis. Hey, it ain't cheap to fly newbie artists over from Scandinavia, and clearly, the profit margin won't be high playing at venues with a capacity of a mere coupla dozen enthusiasts. Nonetheless, Helena Sundin, who pretty much IS Cake on Cake (assisted by label boss and sideman Josh Penn onstage), was here in the flesh, and I couldn't have been more delighted. "I see no stars", Cake on Cake's debut, manages to be both lush and lo-fi at the same time: Sundin plays all manner of instruments on the disc, with piano, metallophone and melodica the prominent musical elements. Sundin overdubs harmonies, but for the live show, Penn sang the harmony parts (and a couple of tunes featured tape loops over which Sundin sang and played along). Early problems with mic feedback were handled deftly and charmingly by Sundin; she just patiently waited for Radio Cherokee's sound guys to get it right. The music was sweet, sincere and melodic. Sundin played about ten songs and her wispy, girlish vocals had the rapt attention of the small crowd. Highlights included "Pictures from 1964" (about "the time when my mom was young"), the curiously titled "Fell asleep like an acrobat, woke up like a rock" (which Sundin said was about going out to night clubs) and the sublime "Animals and humans", which was delightfully quirky and managed to make Sundin thoroughly compelling simply by doing an elementary rhythm part with an egg maraca. Sundin's cover of Mojave 3's "Tomorrow's taken" had an extra emotional edge, as she told everyone how much she liked the song, and clearly it had some deep personal connection for her. It's always amazing to me to see artists get a full piano sound out of a tiny onstage electronic keyboard, and Sundin made the most of hers, serving up one childlike little melody after another. She's a soft breeze of an artist, this woman, and despite the modest presentation of both her CD and her onstage performance, Sundin has a substantial, multi-faceted talent that is sure to only get more interesting as time goes on. I left utterly entranced.
- Kevin Renick
Two new 7"s coming from Finnish avant label Fonal in February:
Ville LeiNonen & Valumo - Varpunen / Hei, Sisareni
Risto - Hessu Kostaa Ja Muita Hiirtitarinoita
Mother Goose
Obvious works
LampLite
Suddenly I am thrown back 15 years and listening to a Dead Milkmen record. Not a good one at that. For those not in the know, the Milkmen were this low-fi punk rock band from the eighties that had a large cult following and None of the songs to back it up. Mother Goose have the same problem. It is all good to have a defined sound, but songwriting is important too.
- Simon Thibaudeau
Satanic Surfers
Taste the poison
Bad Taste Records
With new releases this year from Millencolin, Randy and now Satanic Surfers, it feels like I'm 12 years old again. Fortunately, None of these bands sounds like they did in the beginning of their careers, which is cool since it means that I can think of myself as 'mature' instead of 'old' (I hope that makes sense; perhaps you need to be 25+ to understand). Anyhow, aging paranoia aside, Satanic Surfers' new album is not as emo, poppy, or sugary sweet as their last great album ("Unconsciously confined" from 2002), but it's still as good as Satanic Surfers always have been. If you've never heard SS, think of something like As Friends Rust at their best (early EPs), but less hardcore and more melodic (it's basically melodic punk rock). It's very comforting that that a lot of these Swedish (melodic-) punk veterans that I've sort of grown up with still got what it takes, without me having to shield myself behind some dire nostalgia while listening to them.
- Simon Tagestam
Alf
Alfs andra
Dolores
Alf's first album (from last year) was superb and although it got a lot of critical acclaim, Alf's career never properly took off. His second album is a really nice follow up to all those super melodic songs from "Augustibrev", since it feels like Alf's taken a step forward, without leaving his first album completely behind him. The songs are more complex, and where "Augustibrev" stuck in your head at first impact with your ears, "Alf's andra" (Swedish for "Alf's second" – what an clever title!) took me a few listening before I really got into it. The lyrics are also a bit darker, which works as a nice contrast to the happy-go-lucky songs from "Augustibrev". Thankfully, None of this means that Alf isn't able to write hits anymore (see "Kunde vart jag"). So, if you're hungry for some catchy Swedish music sung in Swedish, you should get this album (preferably accompanied by "Augustibrev").
- Simon Tagestam
The Lovekevins
Blame the English 7"
self-released
I'm not really sure what we're supposed to blame the English for. Coldplay? Steak and kidney pie? Tony Blair? But I do know that The Lovekevins are a new upcoming band from Sweden, and they're excellent! I've been blessed to see them twice this summer, and both of those performances blew me away. This seven inch got three excellent poppy songs that are so catchy it hurts, and one ("Taking David (by strategy)") that's sounds much murkier (a tiny bit like Radio Dept.), but it's Nonetheless great - just too bad it's so short. If The Lovekevins will ever release an album that will put both of these sides of them on display, I'm certain it's going to be magnificent.
- Simon Tagestam
The Budgies
Summertime obsessions
Popkonst
This isn't original in any way whatsoever, but it's charming, inoffensive, non-subversive, and innocent, just like toddlers making crazy faces, kittens going nuts, puppies yawning, and really old people trying to dance. A whole album of this stuff would be too much, I guess, but I can easily stomach four songs, especially since None of them are over two minutes long. If you're a hardcore twee fan, and scared of the dark, I think you will find that the The Budgies could be your wettest (i.e. pretty dry) dream come true, if you're not this sort of person I still think you should go to their website and check some of their songs out since I bet you, just like me, will find their soothing and pleasant songs great for playing violent video games to.
- Simon Tagestam
Norwegian singer/songwriter Robert Post will support Scottish act Texas on tour in the UK:
09/29 - Carling Academy, Glasgow
09/30 - Carling Academy, Glasgow
10/01 - Usher Hall, Edinburgh
10/04 - City Hall, Newcastle
10/05 - University, Liverpool
10/06 - Carling Academy, Birmingham
10/10 - Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
10/11 - Carling Apollo, Manchester
10/13 - City Hall, Sheffield
10/14 - Forum, London
Check out the video for his single "Got None": https://www.universalmusic.no/video/RobertPostVideo.wvx
Caesars
Live @ ULU, London, 05/25/05
Caesars had fierce competition this night, from the Champion League Final between Liverpool and Milan that was on TVs in a adjacent bar (if you're American you probably haven't got a clue what this is, but let's just say it's a very important soccer game). Whereas the sport event was full of excitement and drama, Caesars' gig was quite ordinary, non-spectacular, and pretty tame. Caesar Vidal, the lead singer, looked utterly bored and None of the other band members' efforts could make up for his lack of charisma. Caesars got plenty of good material so for them to mess up a gig like this is pretty weird and I left ULU feeling a bit cheated, just like all those Milan fans.
- Simon Tagestam
The Lost Patrol Band
s/t
Burning Heart Records
I loved Refused. I found The (International) Noise Conspiracy intriguing in the very beginning of their career, before they turned extremely boring. I liked the first Lost Patrol album and wasn't too keen on the second one. What about this new album from the ever-so-creative Dennis Lyxzén then? Well, there's None of the slower beautiful stuff that can be found on "Songs in the key of resistance", and too many songs sound like something by T(I)NC. Surprisingly enough, there are 5 fantastic pop songs on this album, that in a fair world should all be released simultaneously worldwide, then all entering the top 5 all over the globe (with "Golden times" occupying the #1 spot everywhere, of course).
- Simon Tagestam