Billboard reports that has purchased Denmark's , parent label to , and Sweden's , among others: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/universal-music-acquires-denmark-s-mbo-group-1005339372.story
has launched a new website called "Copenhagen Beta" featuring all sorts of various multimedia content from the label's roster, including live sessions, interviews and more: http://www.copenhagenbeta.dk/
The nominees for Gaffa's Danish music awards have been announced:
Album:
De Eneste To - De eneste to (/)
Efterklang - Magic chairs ()
Kashmir - Trespassers ()
The Floor Is Made Of Lava - Howl at the moon ()
The Rumour Said Fire - The arrogant ()
Band:
De Eneste To (/)
Efterklang ()
Kashmir ()
The Floor Is Made Of Lava ()
The Rumour Said Fire ()
Female artist:
Fallulah ()
Henriette Sennenwaldt (
Male artist:
Jacob Bellens (Murder) ()
Jesper Lidang (The Rumour Said Fire) ()
Kasper Eistrup (Kashmir) ()
Søren Huss ()
Tobias Kippenberger (The Floor Is Made Of Lava) ()
Newcomer:
De Eneste To (/)
Fallulah ()
Ginger Ninja ()
The Rumour Said Fire ()
Vinnie Who ()
Hit song:
Dúné - Dry lips ()
Dúné - Let go of your love ()
Hej Matematik - Party i Provinsen ()
Nephew Feat. Landsholdet - The Danish way to rock ()
Turboweekend - Trouble is ()
Music video:
Burhan G Feat. Nik & Jay - Tættere på himlen (dir: Michael Sauer Christensen) ()
De Eneste To - Morten (dir: Casper Dalhoff) (/)
Kashmir - Still boy (dir: Jakob Printzlau) ()
The Floor Is Made Of Lava - Leave me now (dir: Casper Balslev) ()
Under Byen - Unoder (dir: Manyar I. Parwani) (
Full list: http://gaffa.dk/nyhed/44683
has signed Danish act Apollo and will be releasing their debut album this coming August.
The opener "10,000 nights of thunder" is the kind of music that seems effortlessly conjured up. It's a healthy dose of ABBA, a touch of Scissor Sisters, some 60s pop and lots of enthusiasm mixed together while drenched in sass and fun. Add some delightful dueting between singers Anders and Stine, hooks that could capture a great white shark and we're looking at an instant spreader of joy, not to mention a song impossible to sit still to! But there is a problem. The album never again reaches the same dazzling heights. Instead of uplifting retropop, it sometimes loses its way with prolonged songs about rubber boots and Macintoshes. Or songs lacking energy and spark, songs that merely become hollow shells of retro fascination. However, when it works (and to be honest it work more than it doesn't), like the fabulously bouncy "Fascination", or the Stine-lead anthem "Boyfriend", then Alphabeat is an instant sunny cure to icy spring chills. A giddy party cocktail from the best of the 60s and 70s that may not change your world, but at least brighten it.
- Hanzan
This Danish quartet is led by a talented female vocalist who is somewhere between Melissa Etheridge and PJ Harvey on the "gritty pipes" spectrum. She also reminds a bit of Sofia Hardig, a Swedish vocalist who mines similar brooding, guitar-based indie rock territory. There's an emotional edge to the 13 tunes here that's really gripping. "Turn around" is a particularly great song, with its artfully muted background ambience and intimate upfront vocals; when strings enter the mix subtly, the effect is spine-tingling. The single "Seldom lost" is a sharply arranged guitar rocker, and if you're the type that digs brooding mid-tempo indierock, you'll reach nirvana in tunes like "Frosty fingers", the kick-ass "Pressure" ("I put pressure on you to leave me be/I put presuure on anybody who'd prefer a smile"...lines that sum up Kira's aesthetic nicely), the bluesy jangler "Let it out", and the achingly lovely acoustic tunes "Sullen girl" and "I won a while". Serious attention seems to have been paid to the overall pacing of this album and the very potent rendering of both the vocals and the often fiery, '60s-influenced guitar work. It has paid off nicely; this is probably one of the sturdiest and most consistent Scandi-rock platters of the year.
- Kevin Renick