In theory. Imagine when I get the album and it plays more as a spiritual sister to Asteroids Galaxy Tour (one more band and it's officially a movement), a faulty electro-Motown update that I can't even dignify with the term pastiche, as the internet connotation of that word is moving ever so slightly towards "encomium" in our nostalgia-driven society. The sprightly percussion and electro-punk lean of album opener "Hawk" -- maybe the only redeemable song on this mini-album -- can't save SGSM from an overall lack of catchy choruses or cohesive arrangements. Typical of a crop of rising pop outfits in Scandinavia, SGSM tries to look in too many directions at once. Here's a nod to Pink Floyd, here's Le Tigre, and let's steep that all in the tinny pulse of turn-of-the-80s Krautrock! Overly smitten critics use buzzwords like "ELO" and "Kraftwerk", and in the process they forgive them for a dearth of palatable songs.

I don't know. Maybe the iPod commercialistas who find these bands great in 15 second snippets will continue to force feed us downmarket ethereals like SGSM in order to heighten the pop-futuristic appeal of tablet-based products. Maybe it's what we deserve. Whatever the case, I'm not nearly satisfied with Denmark's recent pop output. The country of Roskilde and indie greats The Raveonettes, Efterklang and Under Byen, to me, is of late lagging behind its Northern cousins in the pop arena. Whatever. Maybe we'll get lucky and the new Alphabeat album will become the Danish pop savior of 2010. Hah.]]> Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:35:37 -0700 reviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/31371-new-alphabeat-in-october http://www.itsatrap.com/n/31371-new-alphabeat-in-october http://www.itsatrap.com/n/31371-new-alphabeat-in-october#comments Danish pop act Alphabeat will release their new album "The spell" on October 19. The first single and title track is out August 31.

Groningen is a small student town in northern Netherlands. Normally it's pretty calm, but at the beginning of every year it becomes home to one of Europe's busiest music industry gatherings. Eurosonic - along with its only for Dutch artists younger brother, Noorderslag - offers the opportunity to see over 200 performing artists in various venues and has a total number of approximately 18,000 visitors of over 30 nationalities. Apart from the night time gigs, a music industry conference takes place during the day and offers professionals plenty of opportunities for networking and shoulder-rubbing.

The Scandinavian presence at Eurosonic is substantial. Actually there's a mini-Nordic invasion taking place! In total, 32 Scandinavian bands were performing this year (11 Swedish, 6 Danish, 6 Norwegian, 4 Finnish, 4 Icelandic and one Faroese). Furthermore, the conference was attended by various Scandinavian music export associations, ministries, festival bookers, record labels, along with several press and media representatives and other curious types like me.

Day One

The evening programme starts at 8pm and the first band I go to see are Danish act Vincent Van Go Go, playing at the Vindicat which normally houses one of Groningen's student societies and their countless piss-ups. I assume the diabolic similarities of the band's name with the famous Dutch painter must have puzzled the organisers. They play a mixture of reggae and afro-beat, combined with electronic elements. It is still the beginning of the evening and the venue is semi-empty, but the people who are here seem to be enjoying themselves with these well-presented Danes.

Immediately after the gig finishes I rush down to De Oosterpoort, the main conference venue, to see the highlight of this year's festival, the European Union's "European Boarder Breakers Awards" (EBBA). The awards show is broadcasted throughout Europe (or at least this is what the organisers told the journalists) and is presented by veteran BBC host Jools Holland, who's in good form tonight. Among the 10 awarded artists, three are Scandinavian. Not bad! The artists in question: Danish soul diva Ida Corr, pop sensation Alphabeat and emerging Swedish indiepop talent Lykke Li. Alphabeat are not here to collect their award, but Lykke Li and Ida Corr are present, modestly-dressed as the occasion requires, and they deliver professional performances. Although award ceremonies can be sometimes quite amusing, the fact that 5 of the 10 awarded artist didn't bother turning up is quite telling of their enormous popularity. I won't mention now the ridiculous amounts of confetti I had to suffer in order to take some decent pictures...

Later on I head to the USVA, a cultural student centre a couple of minutes away to see Marching Band, a Swedish indiepop pair from Linköping. These guys must have been listening to a lot of The Shins, Belle and Sebastian and Sufjan Stevens. Their upbeat power-pop is equipped with good harmonies and the crowd is very engaged and smiling, despite not knowing the tunes. They clearly steal the tonight's show and on the way to the next gig I just can't stop singing the melody of "Make up artist", their latest single. I hope I get to see them again soon.

Next on my list are Icelandic 'chamber-pop' (is that a genre?) Hjaltalín, who are playing in the Stadsschouwburg, the Groningen theatre/opera house. Their large lineup which consists of, apart from the usual instruments, a piano, accordion, bassoon, clarinet, cello and a violin is perfectly suited for this type of venue. The crowd is mesmerised by their melodies and their Icelandic chart-topping song "Þú komst við hjartað í mér" (Icelandic for "You touched my heart") is the strongest moment of their set. And the singer is insisting that it doesn't sound that cheesy in Icelandic...

Final band for today are playing in the Magic Mirror, a tent on the main square, they are from Malmö, and are called Billie the Vision & the Dancers. Such an unusual name and such an unusual lot! They're definitely not easy to forget, dressed-up like a travelling gypsy circus, and with a drag queen for a singer. But it's not just the looks; their music is profound and leaves you with a strange and beautiful bittersweet taste. Nice!

Day Two

Back again at the USVA, I am chuffed to see at last the Danes Our Broken Garden who are signed by US label Bella Union (Explosions In The Sky, Fleet Foxes, The Dears). They are slow-tempoed and have a vintage feel, with the soft voice and strong presence of Anna Brønsted. A lot of interesting elements here: the guitar is channelled through some sort of an analog synth and is making weird noises, they are using an e-bow and an original Fender Rhodes keyboard; but most interestingly they have a Hammond organ on stage, complete with a not-so-portable Leslie rotating speaker. It's very rare and cool to see bands playing with such vintage instruments, when they could always opt for a digital and much more compact and reliable option.

Folksy First Aid Kit are playing next in the Grand Theatre. Although from a Stockholm suburb, these checker-shirted girls play convincing Americana and their harmonies are perfectly in tune. Despite their young age they prove to be very comfortable on stage. It remains to be seen to what extent a stripped-down, back-to-basics show of just voice/keyboard/acoustic guitar can be interesting for a full-length gig. These girls have got huge potential, especially if they were properly backed-up by a full band.

Next stop is the jazz bar De Spieghel. If this is the first time you're reading about The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, I assure you, it's definitely not going to be the last. Even before these Danes released their first single, Apple chose their song to support the iPod Touch campaign. This band has all the elements it takes to make it big, let alone the attitude, a stunning female singer and good tunes. Musically they remind me of Morcheeba, with a couple of afro-reggae elements, along with some saxophone and trumpet support. I am in the first row and dancing non-stop. What a show!

Young shoe-gazing Icelanders For A Minor Reflection are a good follow-up to the poppy Danes. Their Mogwai-influenced postrock is very sincere and energetic. Unfortunately, it's only me who is getting really tired at this stage!

The last band for tonight, again in De Spieghel, are Norwegians Casiokids, and they are having immense fun on stage. They come with lots of synths and funky dance moves and a deal with British label Moshi Moshi in their back pockets. The fact that they sing in Norwegian alienates the crowd a bit at the beginning, but slowly people start engaging with their naïve electropop. Ones to watch.

I am now knackered and head back to my hotel. Eurosonic was great fun, and although it's an extremely tight schedule involved lots of running between venues and negotiating with Dutch bouncers, it was definitely more than worth the mid-winter hassle. I am already looking forward to next year.

Words and pictures by Vasilis Panagiotopoulos

10/20 - Carling Academy, Liverpool
10/21 - University, Newcastle
10/22 - Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh
10/24 - ABC, Glasgow
10/25 - Academy 2, Manchester
10/27 - Waterfront, Norwich
10/28 - Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
10/31 - Anson Rooms, Bristol
11/01 - University, Plymouth
11/02 - University, Southampton
11/03 - Concorde 2, Brighton
11/05 - Carling Academy, Oxford
11/06 - Roadmender, Northampton
11/07 - The Leadmill, Sheffield
11/09 - Kasbah, Coventry
11/10 - Trent University, Nottingham
11/11 - Metropolitan University, Leeds

01. The Copenhagen Experience - Copenhagen
02. Alphabeat - Fantastic 6 (Muzzle Flash Remix)
03. Aura - You Are The Reason (DJ Disse Raiser Remix)
04. When Saints Go Machine - You Should Be Someone Else
05. The Floor Is Made of Lava - Ho (Tomboy Remix)
06. Simon Brenting - Fake Money
07. Booty Cologne - Shake Wut Ya Mama Gave Ya (Don't Feed The Monkey Remix)
08. Wong Boys feat. Anna - Wurld Peace
09. Klovn - I Want You
10. Trentemøller - Weit (Andi Müller Fuck Up)
11. As in Rebeka Maria - She Lion (Kasper Bjørkes Blush Remix)
12. Fagget Fairys - Uzela
13. Figurines - Silver Ponds (Ben Watt Remix)
14. SuperTroels MishMash af Suspekt & Mikael Simpson - Jeg sidder Kinky Faster

Album: Natasja - I Danmark Er Jeg Født
Group: Dúné - We Are In There You Are Out Here
Female Artist: Natasja - Natasja
Male Artist: Thomas Troelsen - Private
Newcomer: Dúné
Hit: Alphabeat - 10.000 Nights Of Thunder
Rock: Dúné - We Are In There You Are Out Here
Pop: Alphabeat - Alphabeat
Electronica: Efterklang - Parades
Hip-Hop: Suspekt - Prima Nocte
Hard Rock: Hatesphere - Serpent Smiles And Killer Eyes
Songwriter: Natasja
Producer: Private - My Secret Lover (Thomas Troelsen)
Music Video: JaConfetti - Step Up (Mary Mary)
Artwork: Efterklang - Parades (Hvass, Hannibal & Ufex)
IFPIs Ærespris: Anne Linnet

Album:
Efterklang - Parades
Natasja - I Danmark Er Jeg Født
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Tina Dickow - Count To Ten
Volbeat - Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil

Group:
Alphabeat - Alphabeat
Dúné - We Are In There You Are Out Here
Efterklang - Parades
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Volbeat - Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil

Female Artist:
Anne Linnet - Anne Linnet
Ane Trolle - JaConfetti
Natasja - Natasja
Annisette - Savage Rose
Tina Dickow - Tina Dickow

Male Artist:
Isam Bachiri - Isam B
Jens Unmack - Jens Unmack
Thomas Troelsen - Private
Sune Wagner - The Raveonettes
Michael Poulsen - Volbeat

Newcomer:
Alphabeat
BliGlad
Dúné
JaConfetti
The Kissaway Trail

Hit:
Alphabeat - 10.000 Nights Of Thunder
Infernal - I Won't Be Crying
KNA - Connected Fibs (Løgn & Latin)
Private - My Secret lover
TV-2 - S.O.M.M.E.R

Rock:
Dúné - We Are In There You Are Out Here
Figurines - When The Deer Wore Blue
The Kissaway Trail - The Kissaway Trail
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Volbeat - Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil

Pop:
Alphabeat - Alphabeat
Isam B. - Institution
Private - My Secret Lover
Tina Dickow - Count To Ten
TV-2 - For Dig Ku' Jeg Gøre Alting

Electronica:
Efterklang - Parades
JaConfetti - The Rainbow Express
People Press Play - People Press Play

Hip-Hop:
Booty Cologne - BC
Marwan - P.E.R.K.E.R.
Suspekt - Prima Nocte

Hard Rock:
Hatesphere - Serpent Smiles And Killer Eyes
Mnemic - Passenger
The Psyke Project - Apnea

Songwriter:
Jens Unmack
Natasja
Thomas Troelsen (Private)
Sune Wagner (The Raveonettes)
Tina Dickow

Producer:
Natasja - I Danmark Er Jeg Født (Pharfar)
Private - My Secret Lover (Thomas Troelsen)
Suspekt - Prima Nocte (Rune Rask & Troo.L.S)

Music Video:
Efterklang - Mirador (Hvass, Hannibal & Ufex)
I Know That You Know - You Need Paths To Draw Maps (Fabulab)
JaConfetti - Step Up (Mary Mary)

Artwork:
Efterklang - Parades (Hvass, Hannibal & Ufex)
Savage Rose - Universal Daughter (Nego & Brando)
TV-2 - For Dig Ku' Jeg Gøre Alting (Jo Dam Kærgaard)

Read more: http://www.dma08.dk/