I hope you liked that Macbeth quote. Guess who's little writing hobby, someone's small side project, someone's little fun-thing-on-the-weekend, yeah I'll do this sure why not casual music writing thingie (which is now taking almost as much time as my real job) has earned them a place as a delegate at Denmark's own version of SXSW, the SPOT Festival? Me! I am so excited, Rob Helbig, founder and giant creative brain behind Nothingbuthopeandpassion, asked me to come along. Launch day is this Thursday, when we board a bus with a bunch of other German media people to take a nine-hour ride to
Århus. Read the blurb we wrote here, I'm very proud of my "use other buzzwords" sentence and the cigarette analogy. Rob and the nice people over at Nordic by Nature came up with a Top 21 Hottest Acts of SPOT 2013. Memorable acts that have gotten started here are Sigur Rós, The Raveonettes and Spleen United. Tune in to NBHAP for updates and shenanigans.
In honor of my third trip to Denmark in less than a year, I want to share this picture of the Redflesh (Danish hardcore) 7" I purchased at Spillestedet Stengade during the Distortion Festival. I did it because M- told me to. I didn't even have a record player. At 4 a.m. we saw someone set a bike on fire. At 6 a. m. we were still walking around Copenhagen talking about Phillip Roth. Nørrebro kærlighed. Since then, a whole perfect series of events have led me back, and the Waldo and Marsha interview I did in Århus in December was my ticket into Nothingbuthopeandpassion. See, dreams do come true. At least indie in Denmark dreams.
Well, it's all over the internet now, with reviews in PASTE and PITCHFORK and what not, but here is mine, courtesy of NBHAP. Just so you know, I was listening to this band in August, check out earlier review here. They are playing Berlin February 13th at Bii Nuu.
Coming up soon on NBHAP, an interview I did with Rover, a tragically talented musician who is as good as he is gregarious. Be sure to check back for the link. Tomorrow I'm off to see Spleen United at Berghain Kantine, turned down an opportunity to see Conor Oberst, I guess I want to dance with some Danish guys more than anything....
Scandinavian Showcase at Fritzclub in Postbahnhof, Berlin, September 6, 2012
So it's the second night of Berlin Music Week, and a short walk from Ostbahnhof finds us in Fritzclub, a posh(er) club with a rock and concrete block landscape outdoor area under red umbrellas provided by this philanthropic tobacco corporation telling me not to "be a maybe", and the brilliant touch of not one but two stages, so waiting around for soundcheck is a thing of the past.
Sandra Kolstad and Swedish noise musician Francis Peter Eldh (I think...)
I caught the last three songs of this Norwegian gem, think of Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, except blonde and busting out some solid danceable electro. With an explosive stage presence and the musicianship (of classically trained pianist) to back it up, Kolstad is hard to pin down, tracks that are slow and introspective to start can explode into disco themed pop that begs to be danced to.
Then it's off to the next room, a larger space that for some reason reminds me of a high school gym, except like so many Berlin shows people are too cool to get right up to the stage, but I like my fellow American who soaked it up close (dude it the striped shirt, I knew him from the Danish Invasion night, where he asked Schultz and Forever "Where are you guys from?" Earnestness masks our true ignorance, folks).
he's a fan
The initials stand for Le Corps Mince De Francoise, and this is like if Salt and Pepa grew up in Finland with a lot more synthesizers. The bass is so loud you can feel it your ribcage, and it's thumping pop with a rap that is surprisingly not annoying. Made up of two sisters, Mia and Emma Kemppainen, LCMDF busted out electro-pop with some polished catchy hooks. And who knew Finns could rap...
Okay, and the last of the groups to round out my budding love affair with all things Scandinavian, here comes Spleen United. Yeah, I was expecting maybe metal band (!) because of the name, but instead enjoyed some (post-industrial, does that exist?) electro rock that won me over when they sampled the Flaming Lips "Do You Realize???". Another brother-led (what's with the musical families?) this band from Aarhus, Denmark is made up of Bjarke (Vocals/Guitar) and Gaute Niemann (Bass/ Synth), Kasper Nørlund (Synth/Backing vocals), Rune Wehner (Synth) and Janus Nevel Ringsted (Drums). (Yeah I copied that part because who the fuck knows where those weird letters are.) If industrial techno had a post-apocalyptic aftermath, you know when everything is covered in ash and life is changed forever due to fallout, it would sound like Spleen United.
