Country: Norway

Farewell to 2009

A few statistics for the year, should you be curious...

Total news items: 3880
Reviews: 77
Mp3s: 235

Top downloads (for tracks posted in 2009):
01. Florence Valentin - Spring Ricco
02. Ison & Fille - Jag skratter idag
03. King Diamond - No presents for Christmas (slightly cheating since I also posted it last year)
04. The Scrags - Psycho cyclone
05. Mercy - Heavy metal warriors

Top search terms:
01. Porno (no surprise, though I suspect most people aren't actually looking for the Swedish rapper)
02. Darkthrone
03. King Diamond
04. Melody Club
05. Black Uniforms

Remember, the mailorder goes on hibernation tomorrow so get your orders in now. Otherwise, I'm hard at work on revamping the site for 2010 and will be back with regular updates next week. Take care and happy New Year!

Sirius playlist week #52

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

01. TALK 1
02. Mattias Alkberg - Andra känner
03. Darkthrone - Launchpad to nothingness
04. Mikkel Meyer - Kokostosca
05. TALK 2
06. First Band from Outer Space - Turn left to the Mexican barbeque
07. Kråkesølv - Privat regn
08. TALK 3
09. Galaxy Safari - Save me
10. Witchcraft - Samaritan burden
11. Bad Hands - Sonnenrad
12. TALK 4
13. Lapko - I shot the sheriff
14. Siena Root - Into the woods
15. Marvins Revolt - Siberia
16. TALK 5

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.

New Haust coming in May

The new Haust album "Powers of horror" will be released in May via Fysisk Format.

WaPo Express interviews Immortal, more

The Washington Post Express has a nice long chat with Demonaz of renown Norwegian black metal act Immortal: http://www.expressnightout.com/content/2009/12/immortal-all-shall-fall-norwegian-black-metal.php
Also be sure to check out WaPo's annual Norwegian Xmas music feature: http://www.expressnightout.com/content/2009/12/stille-natt-norwegian-christmas-music.php

Motorpsycho + Supersilent = Motorpsilent

Nö Music reports that revered rock institution Motorpsycho and likewise renown avant combo Supersilent will be joining forces as Motorpsilent for a 15-date Norwegian tour in March: http://www.nomusicmedia.com/2009/12/20/motorpsilent-the-supergroup/

Sirius playlist week #51

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, special year-end top 10 edition:

01. TALK 1
02. Tyrant - The rebirth (reclaim the flame)
03. C.Aarmé - Dustin
04. Pintandwefall - Bird of the birds
05. Ironville - Sweet perfume
06. Dear Euphoria - Tell me
07. TALK 2
08. [ingenting] - Halleluja!
09. Agent Side Grinder - Die to live
10. Pistol Disco - Beat of the tune
11. TALK 3
12. The Bear Quartet - Carry your weight (Strange Maps remix)
13. The Fine Arts Showcase - Looking for your love
14. Wardruna - Dagr
15. TALK 4
16. Björn Kleinhenz - Fårö
17. Samuraj Cities - Spoonful of talk
18. David Åhlén - Stir our hearts
19. TALK 5
20. Elmo - Darkness falls

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.

Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson - To sit down or to follow, so I follow

Groove has a new track from Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson for free download: http://www.groove.no/html/news/87796959.html
The band's new 2CD album will be out in January via

Ja Ja Ja #3 lineup

The full lineup for January's Ja Ja Ja Scandinavian showcase show in London on January 21 has been confirmed and will include Simon Says No!, Leaves and Sudden Weather Change. More info: http://www.jajajamusic.com/events.php?id=6

Egil Olsen - Hard work and fate (video, feat. Jenny Hval)

Check out a video of Norwegian artist Egil Olsen performing "Hard work and fate" together with Jenny Hval aka Rockettothesky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urrol_SJM1U

Popsicle pop comps

Popsicle Recordings has posted 10 volumes of Swedish/Scandinavian pop samplers for free download: http://www.popsiclerecordings.com/samplers/
These were originally distributed as freebies with orders to Popsicle's distro, but since the bottom has fallen out of the CD market (for most of us), they are no longer being made.

Pfork best albums of 2009, pt. 1

The first half of Pitchfork's top 50 albums of 2009 are posted and Scandinavian artists featured so far include jj (#35) and Röyksopp (#30): http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7744-the-top-50-albums-of-2009/

All Scandinavian 2010 preview: Norway

All Scandinavian has Knut from the Eardrums Music blog talking about his most anticipated 2010 releases from Norway: http://allscandinavian.com/2888/best-of-2010-norwegian-style/

Top 10s for 2009: It's a Trap!

MP3: Kråkesølv - Skredder

I'm working in an office in SF this week, so in case you haven't already noticed, posting will be a bit on the lighter side. I don't intend to leave you completely empty-handed though, so to follow up on Friday's post praising Tiger/Diger/Fysisk Format, here's another fine act that came to me through them. Can't say I know much about Kråkesølv, but they sound like a restrained version of Lukestar so of course I'm all about it. They don't rock out quite as hard and the vocals stay within normal human range, but they've got similar styles as far as noisy-leaning indierock with busy drums and charming melodies go. "Skredder" is the lead track from new album "Trådnøsting" and it's a perfect introduction, layering on subtle vocal harmonies as it builds to a halting climax. I have to be honest, 80% of the new music I hear from Norway tends to be mediocre garbage that's always erring on the wrong side of tame. This is not.

Kråkesølv - Skredder

Black metal as a discourse

Slightly OT, but maybe of some interest: The NY Times reports on the Brooklyn Black Metal Symposium: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/arts/music/15metal.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss