Nordic music

Robert Post – “Beirut”

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music, Songs | 2 Comments

Robert Post is a Norwegian artist I just like, no matter what he do and how he does it, – I just like him and his music. It has something to do with the way he writes his songs, – both intuitive, accessible and at the same time quite challenging. It also has something to do with his personality. I don’t know the man personally, but he seems very down to earth and at the same time a pure artist.

When he released his debut album a couple of years ago, he got a lot of positive press coverage in the largest newspapers in Norway. The album was a good one, it got him several hits, and he got some attention also outside of Norway. He has spent the last years touring and writing songs, and parts of this time, he has been living in London. Around 2006, he was trying to find inspiration for new songs, and the war against the Hezbollah and the bombing of Beirut dominated the newspapers. Post especially found interest in a blog called “Beirut Update” that had been printed in The Guardian, and wrote a lyric directly inspired by words from the blog. He contacted the writer, Zena el Khalil, and she approved of the lyrics. Robert finally decided to release the song as his new single, and it is dedicated to Zena and her writings. Her painting “Hope” is also the cover art of his new release.

I really like this one, and it’s a song you just HAVE to listen to from beginning till end, – wonderful things are happening late in the song.

MP3: Robert Post – Beirut

Here is an acoustic version of the song.

You are in love
you are in love
they drop bombs
they sail their sons home in caskets
she’s in love with a god from above
the same god that’s in love with war
who wants to bear a baby into this world?
into the streets of Beirut
she’s in love with a god from above
the same god that’s in love with war
in Beirut

Musette – “Datum”

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | 2 Comments

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I’ve had the pure pleasure of listening to Musette’s new album “Datum” for a while now, and the music is just as beautiful as the cover art. This is instrumental music, – calm and soothing. The man behind this wonderful music is the Swedish composer and pianist Joel Danell, and on his debut album “Datum” he creates amazing musical landscapes of muted pianos, acoustic guitars, melodica, violin, accordion, whistling, dobro, sounds of running water, sounds from the woods, birds and bees. The songs all have names after dates, and they are like Joel Danell’s notebook of moments in his life, – a view from a balcony in a Stockholm suburb in late October, a remembrance of the rushing bicycle and the passing landscape in the beginning of June. This album is highly recommended!

“Datum” is due for release on the new label Tona Serenad on February 24th, and this is also the debut of the label.

MP3: Musette – 14 April

New free Hiawata! single, with 9 b-sides from the best bands of Norway’s pop scene: Monzano, Dylan Mondegreen, Harry’s gym, I was a king, My Little Pony, The Little Hands of Asphalt, Ingeborg Selnes + more

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | 1 Comment

Hiawata! is one of the Norwegian bands I have high hopes for in 2009. I am finally starting to be proud of the pop-music from my own country, and I can thank among others the bands who feature on this free release from the SellOut! Music label for that. ‘These boys and this band is all i know’ is the title of Hiawata!’s upcoming album, and after having the chance to pre-listen to an early version of the album, I can tell you it is filled with melodic pop-gems. Great music!

Now the band and their label has released a free single from the album with 9 (!) b-sides. The b-sides are other bands’ remakes/covers of some of Hiawata!’s songs, and some of them are absolutely brilliant!

The whole thing is free, and you can get it from here.

Here are a couple of my own favourites:

MP3: Dylan Mondegreen – Animal
MP3: Monzano – Shake it off

(The Dylan Mondegreen-song is available in its original version on the new Hiawata! album)

If you go to Hiawata!’s myspace, you can listen to some of the original songs from the new album.

Free EP from The Little hands of Asphalt

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | Comments Off

The Little Hands of Asphalt has released a free EP called “Spit back at the Rain-EP” exactly one month before his debut album “Leap Years” will be in the shops on March 9. The EP has 5 songs, including “Blue & Green” which we had on our “Summer’s here!” compilation and four tracks that didn’t make it on the album. If these songs are “left-overs” I am even more looking forward to the album! These are wonderful songs, all of them. The EP comes with a beautiful front and back cover + a printable lyric sheet.

You can download the EP from here.

Here’s one of the songs:

Listen/Download: The Little Hands of Asphalt – Julie

Norma Sass – they must have a four leaf clover hidden somewhere… Luck: Yes, Talent: Definitely!

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | 1 Comment

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Remember Enorma Sass from our compilation “A Good Crop”? They have now changed their name to NORMA SASS, and things have really started to roll for this band now. Seems to be a combination of pure talent and lots of luck (and of course everything started with the Eardrums compilation, I’m sure! ).

This is what has happened so far: First, the Eardrums compilation, as you know,… Then:

* They were chosen as “Ukas Urört” (“this week’s untouched”) on Norwegian broadcasting corporation’s (NRK) website for new and unsigned bands, NRK Urört.

* They were asked to play at Öya-festivalen in Oslo, which is a very popular festival in the middle of Oslo (… and I’m deliberately using the letter Ö instead of the Norwegian/Danish letter Ø here, because the Norwegian letters seem to become messy on this blog for some unknown reason).

* When I spoke to them during the “A Good Crop” process, their dream was to play on By:Larm (Scandinavias largest music conference, – sort of SXSW in Norway). They sent in their demo, but was not chosen to be one of the participants. Recently, one of the artists who originally were going to play at the festival had to cancel, and who got the job instead? Well, you guessed it, Norma Sass!

and if that weren’t enough…

Every year there is a concert series in Norway called Zoom, sort of like a national “battle of the bands” thing. This years winner was announced today, and guess who? NORMA SASS!
The winner of Zoom will go on a 16 concert tour around Norway paid for by the organizations behind the Zoom arrangement. All the previous winners are well known names in Norway now, and some have made it abroad, like Ida Maria, 120 Days and The Jessica Fletchers.

So, talent or luck? I will say a huge bit of both! I’m really looking forward to seeing what the next step for these girls will be. Congratulations and our best wishes from us to them!

LISTEN HERE:

MP3: Norma Sass – Japan

MP3: Norma Sass – In The Playground

MP3: Norma Sass – June

Finally, new EP from Suburban Kids with Biblical Names!

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music, Songs | Comments Off

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Finally, after a 3 year long hiatus, SKWBN are back with a new EP on Labrador records. In good old Suburban kids-tradition, they have named the EP “#4”. It has 4 songs on it, and will be released on February the 4th. The song we have received as a preview is called “1999”, a typical SKWBN-song, playful and catchy and this time with a bouncy disco-beat! My first reaction was “eh, what is this??”, but when the vocals started SKWBN had won over all my critic remarks. Love the song and can’t wait to get my hands on the EP.

You want to listen?

Ok. Here you are:

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names – 1999

Harry’s Gym – Top of the hill (video)

Posted on January 15, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | 1 Comment

A beautiful video for a beautiful song from the Norwegian band Harry’s Gym. Here is their new video for the song “Top of the hill”, one of my favourites from their self-titled 2008-debut.
I love this!

New song from Cats on Fire: “Horoscope”

Posted on January 13, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | Comments Off

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Finland’s Cats on Fire is soon out with their new album “Our Temperance Movement”, and now they have a new song from the album up on their myspace player. It’s called “Horoscope” and sounds absolutely brilliant. The album will be released on the 11th of March on the very interesting Finnish label Johanna Kustannus, home of great bands like Regina and Kiki Pau.

Head over to Cats on Fire on myspace to have a listen!

Before you do, check out this video of one of the songs from their first album “The Province Complains”, – here’s “draw in the reins”:

Burning Hearts – one part Cats on Fire and one part Le Futur Pompiste, with debut on Shelflife Records

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Nordic music, Reviews | 3 Comments

The fine indiepop-label Shelflife Records will release the debut album from Burning Hearts on February 10, 2009, and this is a release I have been waiting for with great expectations. The duo behind Burning Hearts are Cats on Fire drummer and multi-instrumentalist Henry Ojala, and Le Futur Pompiste singer Jessika Rapo, – two key members from two brilliant bands.

“Aboa Sleeping” is the title, and it comes with a brilliant cover art and 9 wonderful pop songs. The melodies and harmonies are fantastic, but the arrangements on some songs really blows me away. I am a huge fan of indie-pop, but I must admit that clever arrangements are rarely the genres strongest side. Melodies, harmonies and sometimes a whole lot of charm, yes, but arrangements, well, not always. On Aboa Sleeping, I’m loving the melodies, the harmonies, the charm, AND I’m also loving the way they have arranged the songs. Songs like “The gallopping horse”, which contain really clever rhythm elements that you need headphones to hear properly, – the almost Bowie-like “We walked among the trees” and the Stereolab-esque “Sea Birds” are only a few examples on songs that makes this album stand out among other releases in the genre. Clever, creative and most important- really beautiful to listen to.

Jessika has definitely taken parts of the Le Futur Pompiste sound with her, and the Cats on Fire-sound may also be recognized, but at the same time, – this is something very different than both of those bands.

It’s a bit early to announce “album of the year” yet, but 2009 will be an impressive year of music if this album won’t be among my top 5 this year.

Here’s a taster for you:

Burning Hearts – I lost my color vision

The album is already now available on an exclusive presale at shelflife.com, and you know what to do!

Auton – the perfect music to calm down to

Posted on December 21, 2008 by Knut in Bandprofile, Nordic music | Comments Off

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For some reason I’m really into calm music these days. Maybe I’m creating some kind of defence against all the Christmas stress? Anyway, one of the records that really calms me down at the moment, is from a Swedish project called Auton. They have a wonderful album out now called “Anywhere out of the world” on the structures sonores-label.

Auton are Rikard Heberling, Douglas Holmquist and Petter Samuelsson and their music is quite difficult to define. It’s very, very melodic, – some jazz structures and some folk structures, instrumental, very much based on organ and acoustic guitar, very beautiful and easy to dream yourself away to.

I think their short-film for the song “Slagskepp” is perfect for their music.
Watch, listen and then close your eyes and listen once more…

Auton – “Slagskepp” from Viktor Sjöberg on Vimeo.