Norwegian pop singer/songwriter Marit Larsen has started to stream songs from her album at myspace and will continue to swap out new ones for the next week or so: Larsen" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/maritLarsen

Danish indie act Larsen & Furious Jane is offering up the song "Dancing bear" as a free download via myspace: Larsenandfuriousjane" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/Larsenandfuriousjane

Infamous Norwegian black-metal act Gorgoroth will be going into the studio on August 25 to begin work on a new album. The lineup will be core members Gaahl (vox), King (bass), Frost (drums) plus Teloch and Ice Dale on guitar and Herbrand Larsen (Enslaved) in the producer's seat.

Fluxblog on the new Marit Larsen single: https://www.fluxblog.org/2008/08/swallow-half-moon.html

Watch Norwegian artist Marit Larsen perform her new single "If a song could get me you" in three different locales: https://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=71387372&blogID=422826688

Norwegian artist Marit Larsen will release her sophomore album "The chase" this coming fall with the first single "If a song could get me you" hitting radio on August 11.

Watch Norwegian roots/country act Olav Larsen and the Alabama Rodeo Stars perform a cover of the Hank Williams song "I saw the light": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNUM3KexshA

Larsen & Furious Jane
Zen sucker
Morningside Records

Despite the laughable name of both the group and their album, Larsen & Furious Jane are by far one of the best bands I've heard this year. An amalgamation of the melancholic immediacy of fellow countrymen Kashmir and the more contemplative vein of Interpol's register -- though this American influence only extends so far, most notably on "A deathbed conversion". A naming of influences also does little with an act like Larsen & Furious Jane; the majority of the record is difficult to place in this way. "Zen sucker" is a wonderfully luxuriant album -- its various components are in no hurry, despite the rather short length of the songs (only two tracks break the 4-minute mark), taking their time to build off the first moments of a composition and creating a extraordinarily functional mass of instrumentation, the timbre of the voice chosen to appropriately settle into this mixture: an almost Ian Curtis/Paul Banks tone adopted on "A deathbed conversion"; a somber, nearly-spoken register taken with "Snakes in the grass"; a contemporary Brit-pop style utilized within "A car that comes with the job"; a very Scandinavian quality (similar to The Radio Dept.'s approach) imbued into "Fine". In the end, "Zen sucker" is a record painted in almost every despondent, sorrowful hue that we've come to expect from Kashmir's contemporaries, but that somehow fits into these early summer days. There is a fragile sense of a hope intertwined in the beauty of Larsen & Furious Jane's music -- sometimes that's all you need.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Olav Larsen of Norwegian twang act Olav Larsen & the Alabama Rodeo Stars will be collaborating with Nashville-based poet/artist Tom House on lyrics for a song to appear on his next album. Read more: https://www.alabamarodeostars.com/news.html

Danish indie Morningside Records is offering up a few new tracks from Larsen & Furious Jane for free download: https://morningsiderecords.dk/?page_id=48

Morningside Records has confirmed that the new Larsen & Furious Jane album "Zen sucker" will be out on May 19. Expect samples to be online soon.

Norwegian act Animal Alpha has confirmed that their new album "You pay for the whole seat but you'll only need the edge" will be released on January 28. Said album was recorded live at Propeller Studio in Oslo with producer Mike Hartung (JR Ewing, Skambankt, Marit Larsen, etc.).

The winners of this year's Alarm Awards, Norway's Grammy alternative:

Newcomer of the year: Moving Oos
Video of the year: Tungtvann - 2 uka
Song of the year: Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
Alarm award: Ida Maria
Pop: Marit Larsen - Under the Surface
Electronica: Kim Hiorthøy - My Last Day
RiksAlarm: Ungdomsskulen
Jazz: Shining - Grindstone
Rock: My Midnight Creeps - Histamin
Metal: Dimmu Borgir - Insorte Diaboli
Live: Superfamily
Hip-hop/rap: Karpe Diem - Rett fra hjertet

The nominees for this year's Alarm Awards have been announced:

Rock:
120 Days - 120 days
Big Bang - Too much yang
My Midnight Creeps - Histamin
King Midas - Sorry
The Lionheart Brothers - Dizzy kiss

Pop:
Marit Larsen - Under the surface
Rockettothesky - To sing you apple trees
Superfamily - Warszawa
Magnet - The simple life
Susanne Sundfør - Susanne Sundfør

Metal:
Dimmu Borgir - In sorte diaboli
Satyricon - Now diabolical
Audrey Horne - Le fol
Mayhem - Ordo ad Chaou
Keep of Kalessin - Armada

Jazz:
Supersilent - 8
Shining - Grindstone
Håkon Kornstad - Single engine
Tord Gustafssen Trio - Being there
Hanne Hukkelberg - Rykerstrasse 68

Electronica:
Kim Hiorthøy - My last day
Lindstrøm - It’s a feedelity affair
Pleasure - Pleasure 2
The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams
Bjørn Torske - Feil knapp

Hip-hop/Rap:
el Axel - It is what it is
Karpe Diem - Rett fra hjertet
Darkside of the Force - El dia de los puercos
Tungtvann - Siste Skanse
Samvirkelaget - Musikk

Newcomer:
Susanne Sundfør
Moving Oos
Ida Maria
Rockettothesky
Elvira Nicolaisen

Live:
Big Bang
Superfamily
King Midas
The Grand
Samvirkelaget

Go here for more details or to vote for your favorite: https://www.alarmprisen.no/2007/index.php/og-de-nominerte-er/#more-76

Festival report: Roskilde