Archive for May, 2008

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Of Montreal, 08 May

May 12, 2008

Of Montreal?

Of Montreal?

Of Montreal, fronted by Kevin Barnes, came for a quick last minute-curated visit to Paris, and gave something like a one and a half hour concert at Point Éphémère. The band from Athens, GA – though coming off at a slow start – successfully managed to make the crowd drip out of sweat (The party’s crashing us) towards the last four or five songs, and that not just only because of the otherwise close to unbearable heat of Paris this evening. New songs from the album ‘Hissing Fauna’ were mixed with mainly the strongest tracks from the past, for example Oslo in the summertime, I was never young, So begins our alabee, all from the brilliant 2004 album ‘The Sunlandic Twins’.

Of Montreal also put on a somewhat unique and refreshing stage show, with men wearing wolf- and Venetian masks, crawling around on stage, sitting on top of each other waving girlandes-sticks, dancing under silvery glittering cloaks and so on in equally fascinating manners (upon being asked of the thought behind it all, Barnes replies, performatively, that ‘more than anything else, it simply looks cool’), effectively or not, placing the crowd in what appears to be an absurd dream.

tmG

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An Ålandic pop icon (Debaser 5 May)

May 5, 2008

For twelve years, the club Sunkit has stubbornly insisted on playing music that has been forgotten, or in best case remembered but ridiquled.

The full interview with the organizers in Swedish here.

For the second time in his career, Sixten Jansson – a.k.a. Pop-sixten – is performing at Debaser, in Stockholm, whereto Sunkit has moved temporarily. Pop Sixten made his break-through with the song ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ in 1980 and has been an icon in his (and my) home island ever since. It can be listened to at his Myspace here (at your own risk).

How do you book an artist to a club that plays pronounced bad music, without insulting the artists?

-We don’t mock the artists, we’re on their side, the organizer and DJ Burt von Bolton explains.

It will be a great show for sure.

-Erik

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Festivals in this summer

May 2, 2008

BESIDES the usual big festival attractions in Scandinavia such as Roskilde and Hultsfred, there are a couple of attractive and unexpected happenings in Finland.

THE main event of the year on my home island is this year better than ever. The Rockoff festival (18-26.7) is always something of a spectacle as our sleepy country-town is filled with buzz. Both an aging Thin Lizzy (what’s left anyway) and Swedish pop-act Håkan Hellström with a newly released album are playing.

THE Porijazz festival (12-20.7) is another festival with some unexpected gems. Besides all the new funk, jazz and R&B, both Tower of Power and Chick Corea are playing. Who would have thought!

FINALLY, Interpol and the National are playing - among with the usual suspects of the Finnish metal scene – at Ruisrock (4-6.7) in Turku.

Erik