Saturday, December 11, 2010

Top 5 Norwegian Releases In 2010

Still around 20 days to go until 2010 is over. But since people already started to post their favourite albums, songs, tv-moments, movies, books, vacations and whatever, I will follow this trend and present you now the five most special and extraordinary album releases from Norway (as you might have noticed: I love Norwegian music!!) of this year.

And remember that Christmas is coming soon, so maybe you find a nice gift among these CD's. To your luck, all of the albums are available on CDON.com (where you can order from many European countries). Anyway.. here we go. My favourite Norwegian album releases.


1. Post - Common Rand Of People

After listening to this record several times during the last months and writing a enthusiastic review on my MySpace page (BTW: MySpace started to suck!!) it's probably not surprising that Common Rand Of People made a high rank in my listing. It's the way they put their songs together, the controlled chaos and the wide range of instruments used that make their sound so unique.
You will just feel the urge to replay the album over and over again without really knowing why - and this is what I love about it so much.

Common Rand Of People consists of ten piercing, thrilling and electronically flavoured pop songs and is at the same time the debut record of Post. The record can be bought on CDON.com and on iTunes.

Released: 27th of September 2010 with Karmakosmetix Records




2. Thelma and Clyde - White Line

Another debutalbum I can't get enough of. Finally hearing the songs of the Norwegian electronica / electropop duo I've been waiting for so long. And they didn't let me wait in vain. Now, just about a month ago they came up with this (as the Norwegians would say) "kjempeflott" album. Think of all you always wanted to hear and all you didn't know you wanted - you'll find it on White Line. Perfectly mixed by Jan Bang and Erik Honoré and enriched with lots of samples the album will make you dance and shiver with the lyrics and beats while you get soaked into this mysterious and gloomy bubble. 
If you read my blog regulary you might have noticed that I also wrote a more extended review about the album - it's because it's really good, cool and new. 

Put White Line on top of your wishlist, you won't regret it. And don't be surprised if you crave for more once you listened to the full record. Buy the album on CDON.com or iTunes.

Released: 8th of November 2010 with Karmakosmetix Records



3. Anne Lene Hägglund - Bird Cherry Grove

I bought this album although I had heard only one song of it ("Big Men") - therefore I didn't know what I would get. How I would describe the sound? It's a combination of bitter-sweet reality and fluffy fairytales. It reminds me a lot of.... of circus music: These pop-flavoured songs are enriched with violins, organ-sounds, glockenspiel, bowed instruments and percussion full of cymbals and drum rolls and lead to thoughts of red-yellow striped tents, dancing elephants, fire-breathers and sword-swallowers - that makes it so special. 
I've never heard something like this and even listening to the album up and down won't make me get tired of it. 

Buy Bird Cherry Grove on CDON.com or iTunes if you're in mood for odd and twisted fairytales. 

Released: 11th of January 2010 with Swingaround Records



4. Grande - You Are The Night

It's some of the finest music you'll get to hear from Norway. A travel in time. Cigar smoke in a piano bar where men would wear suits and women pearl necklaces, scotch and brandy would be served or a car chase on the high way. Grande is everything between the glorious 30s and 70s. The guitar, drumming, piano, bass playing blues and rock - all at once. Grande has some great skills as guitarist and songwriter and with his unique sound this album shouldn't be left unnoticed.

The music on You Are The Night will catch you - so you'll even feel nostalgic when you grew up in the 80s. Buy the album on CDON.com or iTunes.

Released: 19th of April 2010 with Fabuloso Records



5. Elin Synnøve Bråthen - The Anchor And The Dream

What I love most about this album is that you can concentrate on the individual instruments or Elin Synnøve's voice that is capable of high and low pitches. The piano comes with crystall clear sound as well as the percussion and drums. The lyrics are tender and thoughtfull and combined with the music it creates a visual atmosphere. I think a great job has been done on arranging the songs on the album. And the most precious song (at least to me) is "My Honesty" - even after hearing the song countless times my heart would stop beating because of the drums, the piano makes me shiver and Elin's voice and the male choir gives me goosebumps.

So if you favour jazz flavoured pop, make sure to buy The Anchor And The Dream on CDON.com or iTunes.

Released: 8th of March 2010 with Curling Legs




Monday, November 29, 2010

A tribute to Ronny!!!


Back from Norway!

Now I'm already back in Vienna for a bit more than a week after a couple of wonderful days in Norway. It was so much better than I could have ever expected. I was in Oslo and in Fredrikstad. 

Oslo is a great city to spend some time in. I saw all the sights I wanted to see like the opera house, the city hall, the harbor, Aker Brygge, the royal castle and Karl Johans Gate. I liked Aker Brygge in particular with its wooden panels as flooring. I was walking (and jumping) up and down on them just because I liked the sound so much the wooden panels made. I guess, people thought I was weird. And they had so many nice little restaurants - people would sit outside even if it's freaking cold. The place there is rustic and romantic at the same time. Water was around me all the time and I met so many cute seagulls - gave them all names: Kjell, Thor, Trygvald, Kåre, Anders, Kjetil, Magnus, Bård, .... after a while I run out of names so I called them Kjell II, Thor II, Trygvald II, Bjørn, Blomst, Fugl, Ikkemat. 

BTW: Do your animals in Norway speak Norwegian?! I'm not sure cause I met many seagulls, police-horses and ducks and I was like: "Hei du!! Hva heter du? Jeg heter Marion. Du er søt. Vil du ikke komme med meg?" - AND NO REACTION AT ALL!!


Aker Brygge

One of the best evenings in 2010 I had when I went to the Thelma & Clyde album release gig on 13th of November at Blå. The show was mindblowing. The music, the costumes, the video visuals in the background, the way they moved to the music. And I think I'm in love with those disco ball tiles they glued on their hoodies.
I also bought their album White Line there (of course I did!!) - and I love it, listening to it non stop now for a couple of days. 
But the whole night was great because I met so many nice and interesting people - which was really inspiring!! Jan (and his wife) from Karmakosmetix Records, Hanne and Trygve of Thelma & Clyde, Gunnar who plays drums in several bands I like, the famous Ronny who is a restless multitalent, Morten the very cool bass player and owner of his own record studio in Kristiansand. All of them great people! And both, Trygve and Gunnar gave me a beer each. :D

But seriously, I gotta practice on my pick-up phrases next time I come to Norway. ;)

sculpture by G. Vigeland

I loved the Frognerpark/Vigelandpark with all the sculptures. I must have spent almost three hours there studying every sculpture. It was very quiet there. Not many people. I should probably mention that the weather was not too good. Cloudy and cold and temperatures around zero degrees (we had around +18° when I left Vienna). But the fact that not many people where there made me enjoy that place a lot. I was very relaxed. And in the end I got some sunshine. Fantastic day!

very peaceful day in Frognerpark


another sculpture by Vigeland

There is much to see in Oslo. Many cute hidden places to discover. And shopping?! Shopping might be expensive but who wouldn't pay almost any price for something you desired for such a long time?! Means of course I went shopping to Platekompaniet!! Heaven on earth for me. I saw so many records of all the artists/bands I love. I bought myself then four CD's: Bird Cherry Grove by Anne Lene Hägglund, Earthly Things by Eliksir, Floriography by Moddi and You Are The Night by Grande!! 

Speaking of shopping. I probably found the most awesome product I had ever seen: LICORICE FLAVOURED CHEWING GUM!! I had sparkles in my eyes when I foud it. "I AM MOVING TO NORWAY FOR GOOD" - I said over and over again. Austria is more or less a licorice-free country - so hard to get good stuff here. And for someone addicted to licorice like me this is one of the greatest inventions ever.

old town of Fredrikstad

Fredrikstad is a nice, little and quiet place. I visited a friend of mine there who lives just next to the water. And let me tell you, seeing the sun glittering on the water is not the worst thing to wake up with. And I had fish for breakfast. It was some kind of marinated fish - tasted sweet and salty. Funny combination but veeeeery delicious (another reason for moving, if you ask me).

The old town of Fredrikstad is kinda cute. You find all those red wooden houses there you usually see on postcards. 

Norway was so nice to me. I've never been that relaxed and never felt so much like home. I do miss Norway already. And all my friends there. The friendliness of the people, the licorice flavoured chewing gum, my new seagull-friends, Oslo, Fredrikstad - I miss all that and I want to come back as soon as possible.

sunset in Fredrikstad

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thelma & Clyde - White Line

"When you walk, I'm right behind you; Don't know what I'm getting into" - It's a line of Ice, I'm quoting here. The first track on Thelma & Clyde's recently released album White Line. When you listen to the songs you can try to catch every soundsample, can try to catch the sense of the lyrics and you will get close to its meaning. But still... you won't know what you're getting into.

There is probably no other Norwegian electronica duo that has aroused as much interest as Thelma & Clyde during the last weeks. Now their debutalbum was just released and more and more people get soaked into this whole new universe. The duo, consisting of Hanne Kolstø and Trygve Tambs-Lyche, clearly differs from other electronica/electropop constellations and come up with their very own sound and style using elements from trip-hop, rock and hip-hop.


Photo by Per Sveinung Larsen


They create a gloomy and mysterious atmosphere with their songs. And you will notice that within the first 3:46 minutes of the album. The lyrics of Ice are well thought-out, the samples and programming elaborated to perfection. At this point should be mentioned that the album was mixed by the renowned producer duo Jan Bang and Erik Honoré (except for track no. 3 which was mixed by Thor Kvande) who took all the good material that has been recorded with Thelma & Clyde and transformed it into something stunningly great. And that kind of perfection can be heard on every track.

If you had known Thelma & Clyde before; if you already know the tracks they had on their EP you might feel a little overload in all the electronics, samples and synths for a moment but then you get carried away by the very powerful tracks Lockstitch, Hibernation and Crosscheck (featuring a rap by Salvador Sanchez known from Darkside Of The Force). Just go with the flow and the beats! ;)

Worth mentioning is also their first music video to Lockstitch. Directed by Per Sveinung Larsen. Great atmosphere in the video and suiting well to the song.




I absolutely recommend to listen to the whole album twice or more before you judge it. It grows! Take your time, lock yourself in a room, close the shutters in front of your windows and simply concentrate on the music, on Hanne's voice and the lyrics. Seperate the beats from the samples; the percussion from the synths; the keys from the bass. Enjoy every bit of it and the whole mix. It is worth it.

White Line comes with great lyrics. Some will make you shiver others will make you sing along. Some lines you won't be able to get out of your head again. "Big surprise; You were made out of worries and lies" - Bubble, Ice, Wicker, Sleep Slow - strong lyrics that will make you ponder for a while. In any case do the lyrics suit to Thelma & Clyde's style.

Also their live shows shouldn't be missed. A great example is the live video of Elusive Girl that can be watched on YouTube. The live shows are arranged in details: Matching tracksuits with glass tiles on the hoodies, lots of choreography and dancing, video visuals in the background, Hanne's pink wig, Trygve's glass-tile-glasses....

On White Line you get 11 electronica-tracks that will make you want to hear more of Thelma & Clyde. You will dance along, sing along.... and if you feel the urge to buy a pink wig or to smash a disco ball to glue its tiles on a black hoodie of yours - that's normal. By the way, the record is also available on vinyl for the special audio experience.


Thelma & Clyde's debut album White Line was released on the 8th of November 2010 with Karmakosmetix Records. All songs can be bought on iTunes



Album cover by Per Sveinung Larsen


Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Elusive Girl

A bit of a foretaste of what I can expect on the upcoming Saturday.

Thelma and Clyde performing a song of their recently released album "White Line" at Sørlandets Kunstmuseum in Kristiansand. Visually and acoustically a top act.
Their next gig is this Saturday at Blå in Oslo, Norway. Be there!!!






Saturday, October 23, 2010

Making plans!

Today it hit me like a thunder stroke when I realised that I'm already supposed to be in Norway in exactly three weeks. I'll be in Oslo and around for a small trip I had already planned to do months (!) ago. 

Now, it's about to make some plans!!!!

Basically I haven't arranged anything yet but the flight. And since already this flight is making my wallet appear as thin as a piece of paper I will be very limited in my expenses there. No idea where I should sleep or how I actually should get to Oslo from the airport with a very little amount of money only. (And Norway is expensive!!)

Plus: I need to save some money for at least one concert ticket and one CD, I'm planning to buy there. BTW: How crazy is it to travel to Norway for a concert?! Hmm, actually I don't care 'cause I know it's worth it. 

But besides of the concert I'm also planning to do some sight seeing. My plan is to see as much as possible in the less time. For this occasion I bought one of these city-tourist-guide-books (including a map of Oslo). So if you see someone weird-looking with a city map in the hands running though Oslo - that's me!

And of course I will spend some time on meeting some friends there or gaining new ones maybe. That reminds me of something else now: I need to learn some pick-up phrases in Norwegian. Something like: "Er du sliten i bena? Du har vandret rundt i tankene mine i hele dag."

So folks, contact me if you want to give me some shelter while I am in Oslo, or if you have some tips for me about what I should see in Olso, or if you want to teach me some pick-up lines. And if you're a cute guy, don't forget to leave me your telephone number. Thanks. ;)



Friday, October 22, 2010

POST (music video)

A common rand of people and fun in the pool with POST.

I once told about my perfect "soundtrack" for this October before: Post's album "Common Rand of People". Listening to this album is a great pleasure and good treatment for wellbeing, as I think. And I was quite successful listening to it pretty much every day. Now they came up with some visual backing for their song "A Common Rand of People".

It's a nice video. Simple but sincere and slightly touched by synchronized swimming. The video suits the song by all means. But watch for yourself!!





Tíminn og vatnið


The Time and the Water
by Steinn Steinarr


Time is like the water,
and the water is cold and deep
like my own consciousness.

And time is like a picture,
which is painted of water,
half of it by me.

And time and the water
flow trackless to extinction
into my own consciousness.



I stumbled over this poem while I was looking through the pages of a book about the history of Scandinavia's literature. It's the first part of Steinn Steinarr's "Tíminn og vatnið" (=The Time and the Water). He was an outstanding and great Icelandic poet. I like these words a lot and Icelandic is a beautiful though difficult language. Iceland might not be one of the biggest or richest countries but they brought us many great artists also beside of Steinn Steinarr, right? :)





Monday, October 11, 2010

What music is making me do...

Sometimes I'm listening to music and I enjoy it. Music does many things to us - we become happy; we become sad; we start to sing and to dance. But sometimes (and this is what I love the most) music, songs, bands and artists can be so brilliant that you would get outside to feel the wind circulating around your body. When music is piercing every cell of your body so you just feel like a pile of molecules. I love it when music makes you get up at 3 a.m. in the morning to listen to that one song again you can't get out of your head. Losing a feeling for time. Or when you feel the urge to jump into a lake with all your clothes. When you would just stare at the ceiling while you would just feel the goosebumps all over your body. When you don't care taking the longer way home just in order to be able to listen to the music coming from your MP3-player longer. Brilliant music will make you dance in the rain half-naked and will make you touch concrete ground just to feel the hard, cold and rough reality. The feeling you get when you close your eyes pretending there is nothing but YOU! And when you can't help listening to one and the same song again for several hours. I love what music does to me...


Saturday, October 9, 2010

High expectations!

Music, bands and upcoming albums. It can be a good or a bad thing to have high expectations in albums. For some albums you wait a long time and you end up disappointed because they didn't meet your expectations others will surpass them.
This year I experienced both: Some albums were more brilliant than I expected them to be while others should have been better. But no matter what, the last weeks before a new record is released are always quite exciting, especially when you get to hear the first streams of the songs. 

Thelma and Clyde will release their album "White Line" on the 8th of November. Now that I spend several hours (!!) listening to 30 seconds of each song (-> here!) I can say I'm very satisfied. I already knew most of the songs and of course it's not possible to judge the album by these little sound-files, but still.... 

:)

Friday, October 8, 2010

Vi snakker bare norsk! Del 2

Had my second Norwegian lesson yesterday; now we're talking!! Hva heter du? Og hvor kommer du fra? Hvordan har du det? Vil du ha en kopp te? Infinitiv, Presens, Preteritum, Perfektum.... og så videre.

It's great fun so far. Probably because these things aren't yet very challenging and isn't it always exciting to learn something new?! :) The more I learn the more confident I get when I have to talk Norwegian myself. And I just can't wait to prove my skills when I get to talk to my Norwegian friends. ;)

Speaking of my Norwegian friends - Some of them are already speaking ONLY in Norwegian to me, completely resisting to talk English. It's fun and a good way to get used to the language. 

Actually I think I would be a bit lost if I didn't knew already a phew phrases. From beginners to experts you'll find all sorts of students in our course and I guess it's a bit difficult at the beginning - especially when it comes to the 'odd' pronunciation. At least it would be difficult for me.

Well... I got some Norwegian home-work to do now. Sooo... ha det!! :)






Monday, October 4, 2010

Vi snakker bare norsk!

I had my first Norwegian lesson today. Our teacher started to talk Norwegian right away welcoming us to the course. After talking about some administrative matters we got asked if we'd already understand a few words. Most of the students were shaking their heads while (brave me)...... was almost hiding under the table thinking: Jeg snakker INGEN norsk. :o) 

Some of us introduced themselves - since we're around 60 people in the course only a few had the chance to talk. And I almost fell off my chair when one of the students revealed that she is from Oslo!! OMG, I'm going to look so much like a loser in comparison to her - I was thinking. Some of us spent some time in Norway and could already speak a little bit norsk. I enjoyed a lot to listen to the language thinking how long it would take until I can talk that fluently. And although there might be so many who are already able to speak Norwegian, I'm not too worried because there are others in the course to whom this language is completely new. 

Our teacher is from Norway and when she told a few things about herself I was quite happy to be able to understand her (since I thought I could only understand Norwegian when it is written down - it seems the countless hours watching interviews/TV and listening to radio programmes in Norwegian finally payed off ). :)

We spoke about our reasons for learning Norwegian and our teacher told us about a student in the advanced course who started to learn norsk because of her favourite band: Kaizers Orchestra. I had to laugh; once more I'm soooooo busted. ;) Although the fact that I love so many Norwegian musicians/artists is only a small part for my reason to learn norsk.

Some minutes of the lesson we spend with learning a few things like saying/asking for the name or where someone is coming from and the pronouns (but that wasn't new to me).

Next lesson is on Thursday and I got some homework to do. I'm looking forward to learn something new. :)







Friday, October 1, 2010

Autumn is on its way...

October 1st: Colored leaves are falling, it's getting colder outside and the days are getting shorter (well, they still last 24hrs - but you know what I mean). The new academic year at the university has started today while lectures will start the upcoming Monday. Shops started to sell candies and chocolate for christmas (yeah, we're still talking about autumn, I'm sure). And there is a cute raccoon living in my garden these days - I called him Bjørn Magnus.

After an exciting summer with some cool concerts and festivals I'm now looking forward to a peaceful fall. But there is so much cookin' and since I am having some plans (traveling! and more concerts!!) I need to figure out and organize I won't have much time to rest.

But I already found the perfect soundtrack for October: POST's debut record "Common Rand Of People" which was just released a couple of days ago (available on iTunes). I wrote a small review of the album on my MySpace page and I would recommend you to listen to the tracks the album. It's dreamy, piercing, strong and creative.
And you should absolutely check out this video of Hanne Kolstø, who is a member of Post, performing their song "Broken". This song is simple but so beautiful - I can't help myself clicking the reply button over and over again.
BTW: My review has been posted on the Facebook pages of both, POST and their label Karmakosmetix Records. (Ahhhh! - the sweet taste of fame!! ;) )

And now... enjoying the last bits of warm sunlight.





Wednesday, September 29, 2010

How to start?

How is the first post of a blog supposed to look like? How do I start? Do I have to introduce myself? Do I have to welcome you? I'm saying "You" - is there anybody reading this anyway?

Since I signed up here I've been wondering on how I should start this blog.... I still do not really know. I could tell you who I am but I'm sure you already noticed this little introduction about me just below the title of my blog and my picture - and since I don't want to scare you away I will stick to this little biography of mine.
(BTW: I'm still figuring out how everything is working here and I'll probably post more stuff about me within the next few days.)

Speaking of my blog's title - Last To See. I've chosen this one because it was, first of all the only option I typed in and that still was available, and on the other hand it's also the title of a song I like. "Last To See" by Love:Fi is probably one of my favourite songs ever.

Ahhhh, music. I guess I will write a lot about music (like I already did on my MySpace page) since music is my biggest passion and inspiration.
Blogs are cool. You can write down everything you like when you feel like you want to share something (like music) with the whole world and you don't want to bother your friends with the same story another thousand times. :)

Anyway... Welcome!