Goodbye Norskmusikk, Hello Nö Music

Well, after a brief but enjoyable life Norskmusikk is winding down. Isn’t that sad. Well, no, it isn’t actually. Because Norskmusikk is joining forces with a much bigger, more comprehensive, more frequently updated, better looking, more easily accessible, and just all-round cooler Norwegian Music website: ladies and gentlemen, we give you Nö Music.

All the latest news, all the best reviews, all the best live photos, all the best new videos and all the best interviews on the web’s foremost Norwegian music bonanza.

Want to know all about Röyksopp’s soon-to-be-released third album? Dying to learn more about Annie’s forthcoming Don’t Stop? It’s all there, and you should be too.

 And thanks for reading.

www.nomusicmedia.com

Fame And Fortune? Lionheart Brothers Too Poor To Do British Tour

It seems that having a universally acclaimed album on both sides of the North Sea, being upheld as a shoegazing Beach Boys and being handpicked to join the Drowned In Sound Tour doesn’t necessarily translate into monetary success. Oslo’s The Lionheart Brothers have recently suffered a double blow as far as UK summer music festivals are concerned; first they had to cancel their trip to Scotland’s Rock Ness festival because the helpful types at (budget) airline Ryanair wouldn’t let them take their equipment on the plane, and now the remainder of their British Festival dates have also been called off because The Lionheart Brothers simply don’t have enough wonga. ‘When we looked in our wallets we couldn’t find any money’ the band explain in an update, going on to reveal that this unfortunate situation is partly down to events closer to home:  ‘as you all know we lost a BIG income when the Quart-festival was washed down the drain..( not blaming anyone)’.

The cancelled dates are:

08 Aug: Leicester – Summer Sundae

10 Aug: Bristol – Bloom Festival

30 Aug: Stradbally Estate – Electric Picnic Festival

It’s not all doom and gloom, however, as the band now have a lot more time on their hands to develop new material: ‘don’t wanna say too much but we are working on new sounds..’ they tentatively offer, ‘we’ve individually went(sic) underground, writing,thinking.loooking, fighting.. it’s been a long time since dizzy- and I don’t know quite where we’ll end up with this album yet, but there are some amazing wibez(sic) in the hood’.

Maybe they can find a minute to work on their grammar too…

Diskjokke In A Town Near You, Offers Free Live Recording

Diskjokke, or Joachim Dyrdahl as this Oslo-based music-maker is more prosaically monikered before he changes into his dj-ing supersuit in a nearby phonebox, has been steadily garnering enthusiastic reviews and an ever swelling fanbase after the release of his debut longplayer Staying In on Smalltown Supersound earlier this year. British and American journos have been desperately trying to outdo each other in praising the man who is at the forefront of the so called Oslo-disco scene. Staying In is a ‘mini-masterpiece’, gushed the UK’s The Guardian. ‘Technically impressive and effortlessly appealing’ Pitchfork countered, before the good old BBC triumphantly trumpeted that ‘Staying In just might be the new going out if it’s as much fun as this.’

Still not convinced? Then let the man himself win you over. Fresh from flogging his wares at the Molde Jazz Festival Diskjokke, clearly not a guy to rest on his laurels, is trekking across Europe and the US in various guises bringing his bubbly blend of Italo-disco and glacial Scandinavian electronica to a club near you:

29 Jul: Glasgow – the Buff Club (as Diskjokke Laptop Live)
01 Aug: Strømstad – Sunset Vibes Festival (as Diskjokke Laptop Live)
02 Aug: Eastnor Castle – Big Chill Festival (dj set with VinnyVillbass)
08 Aug: Oslo – Oya Festival (as Diskjokke Band)
09 Aug: Oslo – Sunkissed Boat Trip (dj set with Vinny Villbass)
18 Aug: Oslo – Cosmo (dj set)
22 Aug: Stockholm – Debaser Medis (as Diskjokke Laptop Live)
29 Aug: Copenhagen – Karrierebar (dj set)
05 Sep: Stavanger – NuMusicFestival (as Diskjokke Band)
06 Sep: Oslo – The Villa (dj set with VinnyVillbass & Style of Eye)
10 Sep: US tour Sept 10-15 Venues TBA (as Diskjokke Laptop Live)
20 Sep: Barcelona – The Loft (as Diskjokke Laptop Live)

If you don’t live near one of those towns, or just want a taste of the Diskjokke live experience then Joachim has an answer to that as well, as he’s offered up a free download of a recent live show. Is there anything Diskjokke can’t do?

Ralph Myerz Make It On GTA IV Soundtrack, But Miss Kiss

Yes, the world’s most popular computer game is united with possibly the world’s most entertaining live band: Bergen Kiss-lovers and purveyors of finest rocktronica(?) Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren band have found their way onto the in-game radio soundtrack of the recently released Grand Theft Auto IV. ‘The Teacher’ from the 2006 album Sharp Knives and Loaded Guns is the track in question, which surely exposes the trio to a far wider audience than their music has ever met with before. Are the band unhappy that their tune will be the accompaniment to millions of kids dealing drugs and shooting hookers? Um… no. ‘We are soundtracking the sweet sweet violence in the worlds most KICK ASS game!!’ they trumpet on a recent blog update.

Meanwhile drummer Tarjei Strøm was recently forced to make a difficult choice. Strøm had dreamed for years of seeing heroes Kiss perform in his home town, but the irresistible opportunity to tour in the US with pals Datarock reared its head at the same time as the glam-metal legends confirmed a first concert in Bergen in June. Let’s hope for his sake (if nobody else’s) that Kiss return one day.

Annie Briefly Offers Album Sampler, Wants You In Next Video!

Bergen pop-princess Annie has launched her new website as she prepares to unleash sophomore release Don’t Stop in September. Alongside the usual offering of videos, bio, gig dates etc, the site briefly let impatient Annie fans have a listen to a snippet of each track off the new album, although this function has since frustratingly been disabled. While you wait for this mouthwatering medley option to be reinstated the dancers among you have a once in a lifetime chance to get far closer to Annie and her new material than any tantalising album taster ever could: she wants you in her video! As Annie outlines, all you have to do is send in a clip of you throwing shapes to Don’t Stop’s flagship single ‘I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me’ and the winner will end up in the singer’s next promo, gracing tv’s across the world. And Annie’s own best dance-move? ‘I don’t really have one’, she begins in the video, ‘but I guess it goes something like this (cue drunken ninja impression)… that wasn’t too good was it’. You know what Annie, no it wasn’t, but we still love you.

First Names For Ekko Fest

Bergen’s Electronic Music and Art Festival; Ekko, has released a few tantalising details about this years bash, with the promise of further revelations on Wednesday 2nd of July. Canadian instrumentalists Holy Fuck, local punk-jazz collective Syntax Terrorkester and DJ Asel will all be playing at the event, which last year boasted performances from Sissy Wish, Skatebård, Ungdomskulen, Rubies, Familjen, Metronomy and Robyn collaborator Kleerup alongside Dj sets from Bergen bigshots Datarock, Erlend Øye and Annie (although she was forced to cancel). The festival is also changing venues this time around, eschewing the arty and intimate Landmark building in favour of culture centre USF Verftet.

Ekko is scheduled for the 5th and 6th of September, and if you can’t afford the probably very reasonable entrance fee then the organisers are still looking for helpers: those wishing to exchange brains and brawn for a complimentary ticket can email frivillig@ekkofest.no .

Turbonegro Guitarist On Road To Recovery

Back in March Euroboy, axe-wielder-in-chief for glam-punk dinosaurs Turbonegro, was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease; a type of lymphona, and luckily one of the most curable forms of cancer. This was understandably a traumatic shock for the guitarist (a.k.a Knut Schreiner) and the band, and Turbonegro was forced to cancel an appearance at the prestigious Coachalla festival in the Colorado Desert, but it seems that Euroboy is well on the way to recovery. In an update on his condition on the band’s website the guitarist stated “I expected the treatment to be a bit hellish, but it’s actually not that bad. Ironically, I was the first one I knew of to be “googling for wigs”, as we’re singing in Hell Toupee. But fortunately for a rocking cat like meself, I haven’t lost my hair (yet). It also looks like I won’t be allowed into the handicapped area, rolling in on a wheelchair, at this summer’s stadium concerts in Oslo. Seriously, the treatment doesn’t wear me out. I’m basically able to carry on as normal, just staying at home and taking it a little easy.” Like any rocker worth his salt Euroboy isn’t letting his treatment get in the way of making music, however, revealing that “Tom and me sat down to write some new shit. (Now we finally have the chance to take use of the old turbo working album-title “TUMOURS” with certain credibility). One of the new songs, entitled Destroy All Monsters, was recorded this weekend. It’s our first recording to feature our new drummer Tomas Dahl. The song is a dark, almost industrial-sounding mid tempo rocker, with a great chorus, if you ask us. It’s going to be used on the soundtrack for the Age of Conan online game.” You just can’t keep these guys down!

Members of the Turbojugend can catch their heroes on their remaining European dates this summer, including a full performance of most famous album Apocalypse Dudes at Øya Festival, and hopefully Kurt will be there for those shindigs, preferably with a full head of hair. Get well soon!

Euro Dates

14/6 – Hartera Festival, CRO
4/7 – Kongsvingerdagene, Kongsvinger, NOR
11/7 – Fotballflora, Florø, NOR
12/7 – Norway Rock Festival, Kvinesdal, NOR
17/7 – Gurten Festival, SWZ
2/8 – Putte I Parken, SWE
7/8 – Øya Festival, NOR
22/8 – Rocco del Schlacko Festival, Püttlingen, GER

The Road To Wycombe’s Ears

There are numerous small music festivals springing up all over Britain these days, each offering some Unique Selling Point; from being child friendly to boasting poetry readings or being accompanied by wake-boarders on the nearby ornamental lake. One such offering comes in the form of High Wycombe’s grandly titled The People’s Festival. So Wycombe doesn’t really set the pulse racing, and the headliners establish the festival as some distance from the cutting edge: Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry would be welcome anywhere, but the wider public could be forgiven for thinking (and not caring) that Finlay Quaye had long laid his radio friendly cod-rock to rest, and Jah Wobble is hardly a name on hipster’s lips. Of more interest to Norkmusikk, however, is the name that surprisingly pops up on the Transplant Stage in between Peter and the Wolf and Parka (me neither): none other than Haugesund’s melodic-rock-merchants The Alexandria Quartet! The foursome have already played a handful of British gigs, including gracing the Camden Barfly, and they recently released their self-tilted debut in Norway on YFM/Universal to a mixed reception. At their worst they sound distinctly like mega-bores Keane, but at their best singer Odd Martin Skalnes’ marketable voice soars like Buckley’s best bits; and one thing is for sure, The Alexandria Quartet have a real ear for a killer melody. So if you’re down Wycombe way ( I don’t know where it is either), then spurn Finlay in favour of a Norwegian act who you may well be hearing all over the radio very soon.

Mp3: The Alexandria Quartet – Justine

The People’s Festival takes place on 23rd August

Lindstrøm Reveals Debut Tracklist, But Pushes Back Release

Hans-Peter Lindstrøm has released a lot of music since his emergence on the Oslo electronica circuit in 2003, including numerous collaborations with compatriot and fellow producer Prins Thomas, the acclaimed EP collection It’s A Feedelity Affair two years back and a slew of remixes. Apparently none of these constitutes a full debut, however, rather that honour goes to the forthcoming Where You Go I Go Too, which was due for release last week. For unstipulated reasons our expectant ears will unfortunately have to wait until August 18th, as the record has been delayed. The keen-eyed, or should that be keen-eared, folks at Pitchfork have revealed a few details about the album to keep us going though, including some teasing tidbits from Mr Lindstrøm himself.  Apparently the sound on Where You Go I Go Too is “the opposite of minimalism,” and the record is divided into just three epic songs: “All the tracks are between 10 and 30 minutes long… and it might be a challenge for some people to listen to it from start to end. It’s perfect for a long walk with headphones, or when travelling by train or aeroplane.” Just the thing for making all that late-summer journeying that little bit more bearable then.

If August is just too far away, however, bosom pal Prins Thomas has cut one of the new tracks down to a less challenging six minutes or so:

Mp3: Lindstrøm – ‘The Long Way Home’ (Prins Thomas Edit)

Not taking up much space, here’s that tracklist:

Where You Go I Go Too:
01 Where You Go I Go Too
02 Grand Ideas
03 The Long Way Home

Meanwhile those of you in France or Germany will have the brief chance to experience the new material in a live environment, as Lindstrøm will jet into Toulouse and Berlin on an equal billing with his laptop:

28 Jun 2008, 20:00 -  Lindstrøm Laptop Live @ Les Siestes Electroniques Festival, Toulouse

4 Oct 2008, 20:00 – Lindstrøm Laptop Live @ Watergate / Berlin

The Fall Confirmed For Stavanger NuMusic Fest

An initial raft of names has been confirmed for Stavanger’s NuMusic Festival, scheduled to take place from the 4th to the 7th of September, including Manchester miserablists and John Peel favourites The Fall. Joining Mark E. Smith and co. will be Stavanger experimentalist and Mike Patton collaborator Kaada and French lounge collective Nouvelle Vague, as well as several other fresh-faced local names. Expect numerous mouthwatering additions over the coming months however, as last year’s party included Diskjokke, 120 Days, Lindstrøm, Coldcut, Frost, Ost & Kjeks, sultry German dame Trost and Japanese weirdo DJ Scotch Egg. This year Stavanger is European Capital of Culture alongside Liverpool, so surely they will pull some even more tasty names out of the bag.