Interview: Annie

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:

01. Diverse artister - Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2009
02. Solveig Slettahjell - Tarpan Seasons
03. John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen - For Sant Til Å Være Godt
04. Kings Of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence
05. OnklP & Jaa9 - Sellout!
06. Thomas Dybdahl - En Samling
07. Jan Garbarek Group - Dresden - In Concert
08. Ghost Dog - First Book of Samuel
09. Mari Boine - Sterna Paradisea
10. Steinar Engelbrektson Band - Minna Som Eg Har
11. Alexander Rybak - Fairytales
12. Paperboys - oslo Agreement
13. Stavangerensemblet - Samlekasse
14. A-ha - Foot Of The Mountain
15. Röyksopp - Junior
16. Espen Lind, Kurt Nilsen, Alejandro Fuentes og Askil Holm - Halleluja Live Vol. 2
17. Bjørn Berge - Fretwork
18. Hilde Heltberg - Elske Fritt
19. Contrazt - Uten Kart og Kompass
20. Eriksen - De aller beste

Beezewax reunites for debut album reissue

SellOut! Records, in collaboration with UK-based label Boss Tuneage, will be reissuing Beezewax's first, long out-of-print 1998 debut "A dozen summits" on November 2 in a new remastered edition, complete with two bonus tracks from their demo. The band will also be coming back together in their classic 1999-2003 lineup for a record release/one-time reunion show at Revolver in oslo on October 31.

MP3: Kornstad - Oslo

I'd like to think that all of my regular readers have investigated Håkon Kornstad by now considering how often I talk him up, but just in case, here's yet another chance. "oslo" is what I'd guess you call the single off his new solo album "Dwell time" (out now on Jazzland Records), that is, if jazz albums had singles anymore. Thematically, it's very much in line with his acclaimed Ingebrigt Håker Flaten collaboration "Elise": organic and spiritual, calm and focused. Unlike his previous (also excellent) solo outing "Single engine", the material here is purely performed solo, though helped along with loop pedals and such. On this piece Håkon effortlessly layers phrases on top of one another in a way that never calls too much attention to itself; it ebbs and flows naturally rather than with a clever wink. He also wisely holds back, maintaining a consistent mood throughout even at the peak and through to the end when he lets it taper off into silence. Also, no matter how many times I hear it, this is a piece that always seems to end far too soon despite its near five-minutes runtime. Easy to listen to, easy to enjoy. Hope you'll agree.

Kornstad - Oslo

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:

01. Diverse artister - Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2009
02. Solveig Slettahjell - Tarpan Seasons
03. Jan Garbarek - Dresden
04. Thomas Dybdahl - En Samling
05. Paperboys - oslo Agreement
06. Mari Boine - Sterna Paradisea
07. Ghost Dog - First Book of Samuel
08. Contrazt - Uten Kart og Kompass
09. Stavangerensemblet - Samlekasse
10. a-ha - Foot Of The Mountain
11. Alexander Rybak - Fairytales
12. Superfamily - Guns Tonight
13. Ulf Risnes og Øyvind Holm - Safe and Sorry
14. Röyksopp - Junior
15. Espen Lind, Kurt Nilsen, Alejandro Fuentes og Askil Holm - Halleluja Live Vol. 2
16. Bjørn Berge - Fretwork
17. Valkyrien Allstars - To måner
18. Narum - Samma Hen Du Fær
19. Erik og Kriss - Tabu
20. Lollipop - Lollipop - 50 beste

New Supersilent album in October

Rune Grammofon will be releasing the new Supersilent album "9" (their ninth release, obviously) on October 5. This is the Norwegian freejazz group's first album without drummer Jarle Vespestad and this release all three remaining members playing Hammond organ, recorded live (as always) at Henie Onstad Art Center just outside oslo.

MP3: My Little Pony - Capital of Norway

My in-laws are in town, so I'm taking the day off to hang with them. Lucky for you, contributor Vasilis Panagiotopoulos sent me an mp3 to share so your Friday won't go empty-handed...

This is the first sample of new material from oslo's twee-popsters My Little Pony after the brilliant "Think too much" of 2008. Their influences remain very close to Belle and Sebastian and Camera Obscura, but the Norwegian ponies are developing their sound even further by keeping the girl/boy dynamics and adding well-arranged strings, good hooks, and a much better production. This track will appear on the "oslo 2" compilation, set to be released on November 2 via Spoon Train Audio.

My Little Pony - Capital of Norway

Diger new release preview

Diger, the distribution arm of oslo, Norway's best indie record store Tiger, has a new myspace page where you can streaming new singles from Children and Corpse Playing In the Streets, Angora Static and others: http://www.myspace.com/digerdistro

New Sally Suicide 7" on Oslo Grammofon

Sally Suicide's new 7" "Black pop" is out now via oslo Grammofon: http://www.oslogrammofon.com/
1 song per side plus another two with the download card.

Sirius playlist week #35

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Elmo - Blind heart
02. TALK 1
03. Moritz von Oswald Trio - Pattern 3
04. Carpet People - All that ails must pass
05. Fronda - Andas
06. TALK 2
07. Siena Root - Time will tell
08. Cortex - No connections
09. Kornstad - oslo
10. TALK 3
11. The Silent Section - In snow forever
12. Familjen - Huvudet i sanden
13. Band in Box - B33
14. TALK 4
15. The Bear Quartet - Northern

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

Håkon Kornstad - Oslo

Acclaimed Norwegian saxophonist Håkon Kornstad has posted the track "oslo" from his new album "Dwell time" as a free download: http://www.kornstad.com/dwelltime/

Presenting: Bouvet

Check out Bouvet, a new oslo-based act featuring members from Death Is Not Glamorous and The First Cut: http://www.myspace.com/bouvetband
My first impression is that they're doing a heavy/melancholy alt-rock thing kind of like Lapko or maybe Heroes and Zeros, but not nearly as melodramatic as the former. Look for their debut 7" via Sound Fiction this fall.

Tiger begets Diger

Groove reports that oslo-based indie record store Tiger (also, propietors of the excellent label Fysisk Format) have started their own distribution/marketing company and have named it Diger. Read more here (in Norwegian) or head to Diger's new website: http://diger.tigernet.no/

BigBang to film live DVD

BigBang will be filming their performance at the Norwegian Wood Festival in oslo on June 13 for an eventual DVD release. Expect various guests to join the band on stage for the special event.

Hank Von Helvete turns to Jesus

Turbonegro frontman Hank Von Helvete is following in the footsteps of Ola Salo (The Ark) and will be appearing as Jesus in a Norwegian stage production of "Jesus Christ Superstar". The show opens on September 3 at Det Norske Teatret in oslo.