Unexpected late 3rd birthday gift: Say Lou Lou 's debutalbum 'Lucid Dreaming' (Vinyl review)

A couple of years ago I went to Eurosonic-Noorderslag in Groningen to see and listen to the latest upcoming acts from Europe. Although, if I recall correctly, Finland was in the spotlights a Swedish twin managed to attract my attention. Not just the female aspect as well their music: eighties-like popmusic with pleasant vocals by the ladies. They called themselves Saint Lou Lou but changed it only a few months later into Say Lou Lou and played some gigs as support-act for Hurts. That was in 2013. In the last two years they released some singles on vinyl but recording their actual debut album took some time. February 23rd 2015 the

wait was over. Or at least, for the happy few living in Scandinavia. The worldwide release will be april 6th.

Recently I visited their management-team in Oslo during by:Larm-festival and my eyes got hold of their vinyl-release. In the line of their previous vinyl-sleeves clean yet quite artistic and appealing. Next stop: the recordstore. I bought my copy at the physical shop www.tigernet.no and had to wait a couple more days to put the needle on the record. My previous hesitation if I actually should buy it vanished instantly. This was far better than I had expected! Apart from one of their previous singles 'Better in the Dark' all their great songs are there. Including several other beauties! What about their collaboration with Lindstrøm 'Games for Girls'? A catchy tune with a real eighties feel to it that will get you moving. But as SLL is better known for heartbroken songs the fans will love this record. Previously they released 'Julian' but my favorite is most likely 'Angels (above me)'. Soothing tunes to recover from heartache.


The Scandinavian birthday-presents keep on coming!


Surprise-factor: 7/6 ;-)

Wow-factor: 5/6

Download-code included?: Nope (unfortunately)

Live review: Tula (SE/DE) doesn't play covers.

Some bands just seem to stay under the radar until they play some song that attracts more audience than just their inner circle. The partially Swedish partially German band 'Tula' initially wrote their own darkish electronic music with female lead vocals until they recorded a cover "Wicked Games" of Chris Isaac. A wonderfully fragile electro-infused re-interpretation of a classic popsong. It got picked up by German radio and it turned into a hit. Unfortunately I hadn't heard of it until an announcement of their upcoming gig in SugarFactory (Amsterdam) popped up on www.nordicvibes.com. "Tonight, beautiful minimalistic Scandipop for just 5 euro!". Their own Facebook however could make your eyebrows raise a little. Genre: "Whatever". 

The night started of with the support-act singer-songwriter Stuart Mavis (NL). Interesting choice yet very entertaining with some good songs in Dutch and English.  About half an hour later the headliner of the night took the stage. Tula began their performance with a low-fi yet strong intro. A great start of the night! Unfortunately after about 3 songs it all sounded alike. Surely the melodies, drums, bass were not the same but the first impression of "Nice!" faded away quite soon. The singer couldn't change the wearing of as also in the vocal-parts there were many repeats in lines and vocal-manners. In the end it got on my nerves. But they could still score bonus-points. The crowd called out for "Wicked Games" as Tula returned for a reprise. The reply astounded me the most: "we don't play covers". After about an hour of more or less the same the band bowed for their audience leaving some of them disappointed.

Tula wasn't really bad, but they just couldn't live up to my expectations. Especially not playing their breakthrough cover-song. The Woohoo's and cheering from their German fans in a crowd of just about 25 people made it even worse. Especially as they woohoo'd during some of the songs. Hopefully they'll manage to get a real good producer to salvage their songs otherwise they are prone to fade away. The band probably would reply: whatever.

Live-performance: 4/6
Music-Wow!-factor: 1/6

Nordic Adventures 2015. Part 2: The PO-12 rhythm

In part 1 of my 2015 Nordic Adventures I discovered the latest inventions of the Swedish electronic/design brand Teenage Engineering which teamed up with the Swedish fashion brand Cheap Monday. Three small pocket-sized musical instruments which you could compare with Korg's small size Monotron-synthesizers.  As soon as I returned home I did some research watching the youtube-films on Cheap Monday's website. Although the actual instruments look really really unfinished (they are shipped without a casing which you can buy them separately or make your own) looking at the displays you can see the fun of engineering it. The OP12-Rhythm (drumcomputer) has a sewing machine stitching rhythms while the OP14-Sub with the looks of a submarine generates the bass. Finally there is the OP16-Factory manufactures melodies.

At first I was keen on getting the Factory but as the youtube samples really didn't arouse me I decided to buy me a OP12. Only 3 days later I still feel very lucky. It took some time to get to know the basics as some functions are hidden. It is a fun item to work with and with the proper know-how it will find it's way to the stage as it IS a true musical instrument!

Unfortunately pricing went up.. It costs about $59 worldwide but about 69euro's in Europe. Nevertheless it is actually worth it. And to be honest, I think it is superior to any of the Monotron's.

Nordic Adventures in 2015. Part 1: Flying to Oslo.

I guess I'm really starting to become more nordic minded as I expected. Only 2 months after leaving Helsinki after the new years celebrations I'm on my way back. This time with destination Oslo for the by:Larm music festival.  The latter wasn't totally unexpected as the plans unfolded 6 months earlier. But still, with already another trip scheduled for May to do some running and meeting my Finnish sweetheart(s) a bimonthly Nordic trip is apparently necessary to satisfy my Nordic needs ;)

Flying to Oslo by SAS also has another advantage, the 'Scandinavian Traveler' magazine. Now I'm totally up to speed on several topics. And some advertisements are really so down to earth and honest. What about a orthodontist/dentist  with a far from perfect smile advertising for his treatment to get the perfect smile. Perfection, it ain't all but you can find it here. As are our designs. Perfect and highly appreciated designs for instance by Teenage Engineering (check out the OP-1 synthesizer which is used by artists like Jean-Michel Jarre and Apparat Organ Quartet). Did you know the founder of Teenage Engineering, Jesper Kouthoofd, was also one of the founders of Acne (the well known fashion brand)? When I translate his last name into English it would mean Cold Head. According to his story and the bits of dandruff floating in his hair he is probably the opposite. But geniuses are entitled to. Their latest inventions seem to be a touch of such a genius. Three small synthesizers with a price-tag of just $59,-. Cutting on the manufacturing price wasn't easy but without a package or bag and the display-handle included in the body they succeeded. Most ironic fact? You can probably get your own piece of musicality at the nearest Weekday-store! Cool! I can hardly wait to get my own copy ;) Now I only need to find myself a Weekday in Oslo..

Update: As the Weekday-store in Oslo didn't have the actual items I started looking for those on the Internet. At Teenage Engineering they were available no less than €69 in Europe and $59 worldwide (ex P&P). Luckily Their collaborator Cheap Monday was as the name suggests cheaper. On a Monday night I bought myself an OP-12 for €59.. and a T-shirt of their collaboration. Can't hardly wait to start making music!

The Perfect Birthday Gift part 2: A concert by Team Me!

In the category how to discover a band and fall in love with them the Norwegian 'Team Me' is probably one of the weirdest. In the fall of 2011 they played at Iceland Airwaves and were announced in the program as one of the biggest promises from Norway. As their artwork looked pretty seventies-daft I didn't really look further into them and forgot all about them until I was standing in line for NASA (one of the historic venues of Airwaves). I actually wanted to see Beach House but although I joined the line 1 hour before the gig I was still in line after the gig. Eventually I did get in and the band which was gonna start on stage was.. Team Me. I was cold, wanted to have a drink and listen to some music. As soon as they started playing they sort of hit the right button in my head. So much enthusiasm on stage, the 5-fold harmonic vocals and the highly contagious melodies. My scepticism was completely overruled and I've been following them around for the past few years. Utrecht, Amsterdam, Brussels, Trondheim, Oslo.. I was even planning on attending all their 2012 gigs in Holland. Unfortunately another trip to Iceland Airwaves made that impossible..

Team Me (NO) @ Paradiso, Amsterdam. February 23rd 2015.

After seeing them for the last time in Holland in october 2012 it was not until march 2014 when I first saw them live again.. in MONO in Oslo during by:Larm 2014. Probably one of their most intimate gigs in years. Not just the venue was (too) small but also the stage wasn't big enough for the band and their equipment. But attending a gig in between some of their biggest Norwegian fans was great.

The greatness returned when the band released their second album in september 2014 in Norway. As I didn't want to wait until it was gonna be released in The Netherlands/Europe months later I was very grateful to one of the Norwegian recordstores for having an (international) online store so my appetite for new Team Me-material could soon be satisfied.  A great album although it took some time to get really appreciate it fullest as I missed the live experience.

After touring Norway this spring their Blind As Night-tour finally brought 'Team Me' back to The Netherlands. To my surprise they sort of made it for me extra special as they were gonna play one of those gigs on my birthday! Not many people who can say they "booked" one of their favorite international bands for their birthday-party! ;-)

Team Me (NO) @ Bibelot, Dordrecht. February 22nd 2015.

However I couldn't resist, and naturally attended both gigs. The first one in Dordrecht was probably their best one to date in The Netherlands. Apart from one song with a bit too much white noise the sound was excellent and the performance exhilarating. The largest part of their setlist were from their latest album and what I had hoped for became reality: they were even more sparkling in a live performance! To top it off they closed their show with the beautiful, uplifting and most peculiar song(title) "With my hands covering both of my eyes I am to scared to take a look at you now". Marius climbing on Uno's back while singing/playing in front of the stage made it yet another historic night. On my birthday-night in Paradiso unfortunately they had to cut back on the amount of songs as they weren't the only band on stage that night. Apart from the fewer songs I really had the time of life up front near the stage. They were awesome and can't hardly wait seeing them live again! Tusen tusen takk Team Me for fantastisk kvelder!

The perfect birthday gift: Breakage by Sea Change

It is about a year ago I first heard of 'Sea Change' while I was listening to the line-up of by:Larm-festival 2014. Sea Change was just one of those hidden musical gems from Scandinavia that I wanted to see live. Unfortunately during by:Larm I wasn't able to attend any of her gigs due to a full venue and a tight schedule. Therefore I had to settle at first with the first two singles ('Bursting' and 'Let's Dance') on 7"-vinyl I obtained from the actual artist behind Sea Change: Ellen A.W. Sunde.

A couple of months later I finally met Sea Change during SPOT-festival in Aarhus. A small girl with big potential. After touring extensively through Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Germany she eventually found time to record her debut-album in the fall of 2014.

In January 2015 she gave a rather intimate gig during the Eurosonic-Noorderslag-festival in Groningen.  Accompanied by a second keyboardplayer and a guitar-player/percussionist her music came to life live. Electronic dreamscapes with a solid yet dreamy voice. Afterwards I was presented a copy of her debut-album. It turned out to be rather difficult to stop playing the record. From the first song 'Wooden House' until the last song 'Raan' Sea Change manages to attract the attention. The earlier singles also found their place on the record neatly tucked in between the album tracks. It makes it an album you really can put on either repeat or infinite shuffle and enjoy the album over and over and over again. And every time you can discover a new layer of the changing sea-scape. Probably to her own surprise apart from making a beautiful album Sea Change also gives me the perfect birthday-gift. Her debut-album 'Breakage' will be released on my birthday, february 23th!

On April 11th 2015 you can discover Sea Change yourself when she's playing live in Rotterdam during the Motel Mozaique-festival!

Her record "Breakage" is released on february 23th '15 and can be bought online

Website of Sea Change

Nordic Delight (Festival) presents.. Iceland.

A couple of weeks ago a selection of the Icelandic Music scene flew over from their rough, vulcanic Island to impress the European festival-bookers and international music-journalist during the Eurosonic showcase festival in Groningen. In the slipstream of Eurosonic the Nordic Delight Festival in Utrecht arranged an even more exciting festival in EKKO, Utrecht. As follow-up to their previous sold-out and extra-ordinary Nordic Delight Norwegian Night they managed to organise an evening with 3 excellent performing live-acts, a couple of short Icelandic films and for some early-bird ticketholders a 3-course dinner! The only thing missing? Schnapps like Brennivin and Opal.

Dinner for starters..

The evening started off when I joined a couple of my Iceland music friends at the dinner table. Discussing the music for the night the first course was served. Tapas! Not actually something you would expect from Iceland but indeed an interesting menu-choice as it consisted of air dried haddock, rye bread and sour herring.  The main course was a bit more predictable but yet again very tasteful: braised lamb with mashed potato's and.. berries and spices from the currently active volcano-area Bárdarbunga. To finish of the culinary part of the evening a rhye pancake with oven baked rhubard, whipped cream and blueberries was served. Delicious!

Valdimar

The music part of the evening started just after 8pm with Valdimar Gudmundsson and his band: simply Valdimar. I had seen his name and records many times in recordstores in Reykjavik but never listened to their music before. It probably has something to do with my nose for good music in combination with appealing recordsleeves. Somehow Icelanders seem to making great music but hide their treasures in less appealing packages. But I do have to admit, if Valdimar had put himself on the cover it would not have been his biggest sellingpoint. My point? Valdimar sounded amazing! Rich music, fine vocals and a singer who easily managed to impress the crowd while one of the guitar-players controlled his pedals barefoot.  Next time I'll be in Reykjavik/Iceland I really hope to see these guys play again.

Low Roar

Originally from the USA the musician Ryan Karazija (of the band Audreye Sessions) moved to Iceland a couple of years ago. Enchanted by his new homeland he started a new band: Low Roar. It's first album in 2011 was a collection of songs written to express his experiences of starting his new life on Iceland. Titles like "Give Up", "Help Me", "Patience" and "Nobody Else" are sort of exemplary for the feelings of hope and despair he must have experienced in the beginning. In the fall of 2014 Low Roar's high anticipated second album "O" came out. During Iceland Airwaves '14 their performances were well attended and as one of the 19 Icelandic Erupting acts during Eurosonic '15 the band got many great reviews from press and audience. After two performances in Groningen and one in Amsterdam saturday night was Low Roar-night at Nordic Delight presents Iceland. Or so it seemed. Although there must have been some people watching movies during this one night festival in EKKO the was little room left in the venue as the room was packed. The electro/ambient-like music combined with guitar and emotionally touching vocals took the audience on a breathtaking journey. In contrast with their previous gigs the lightshow was rather dark which made it even more intense. However, as I was trying to capture some of the magic with still photography my attention dropped after about 30 minutes as the music started to sound the same. Nevertheless, somehow they managed to turn the tide and reclaim my attention as I wanted to hear more at the end of their show.

Fufanu
The closing act of the night and one of the highest anticipated new bands from Iceland was Fufanu. Originally they started off as the quite successful techno-duo Captain Fufanu. They made many remixes, played lots of gigs but never released an album as such. Around 2013 they wanted do broaden their musical horizon and added live instruments (guitar & live-drums) to their music. They lost the captain-part but returned as the much stronger Fufanu. Post rocking new wave is the new future! I had seen them twice before (Airwaves & Eurosonic) and the first thing I noticed was a change in the line-up. In the process of the Fufanu-evolution the third man of the band who joined in 2013, drummer Frosti Gnarr, had left the stage.  After Frosti left the band returned to it's original line-up with Kaktus and Gudlaugur. However, live they are joined by a bass-player, an electronics/keyboard-player and a new drummer. Frosti's replacement on stage made the looks and sound of Fufanu even better. Although the venue was less crowded then during the Low Roar-performance these guys rocked! The sound was good, Kaktus was definitely the best singer and frontman of the night. Or at least the most convincing. I can hardly wait until their debut-album comes out. In an earlier interview they mentioned all the music was recorded, it only had to be mixed and mastered. Exciting times ahead. These Icelandic guys are really gonna be big!

Next?
Unfortunately after the performance by Fufanu the Icelandic night came to an end. But nothing to worry about. Low Roar is gonna return for the Motel Mozaique-festival in Rotterdam in april. It would surprise me if Fufanu isn't gonna pop up in at least 1 or 2 (Dutch) festivals in the near future. And I suggest to watch out for new activities by the Nordic Delight Festival-staff. Rumor has it they are preparing for a Danish Delight-night. Or was it Swedish? It actually doesn't really matter which Nordic country they'll pick. It is gonna be another great night. I can assure you!


More pictures can be found here.

"The Man Machine" live. How I got disappointed in Kraftwerk for the first time.

Ever since 1986 when my music teacher in highschool played Radioactivity I've been in love with the music and musical art by Kraftwerk. In retrospective I experienced and bought almost all their music  on vinyl and CD. The first opportunity to see them live was during their "The Mix"-tour in 1991 in the old Vredenburg Utrecht. At that moment Wolfgang Flur had already left the band due to artistic disagreements. Eventually Karl Bartos left the band after this tour while Florian Schneider remained a member until 2008. Unfortunate but after their album "Electric Café" (currently re-issued with the more suitable title "Techno Pop") they've only really re-invented themselves on the sort of best of album "The Mix". Their first performance I attended after the minimization of the band to Ralf Hütter and 3 extra's was in Randers (Denmark). Amazing, as this was one of the first gigs where they used 3D-images but only for a half of their show. In 2013 I saw them again 3 shows in a row with a full 3D-show in Eindhoven (NL) and Reykjavik (IS). Although their setlist was the same and they had some technical difficulties they electrorocked and amazed me again and again.   

After their "catalogue"-performances in e.g. New York and London in 2015 they would bring the catalogue to Paradiso in Amsterdam. Eight nights in a row performing one album integral a night with "some" extra's. During their performances in 2013 I got especially aroused by the live-version of "Space Lab" so when choosing which album I really wanted to see, hear and experience as a whole it would be "The Man Machine". I guess the real-diehard Kraftwerk-fans who attended the whole series of eight concerts weren't that bothered but I was devastated and annoyed by the setlist. What supposed to be an integral performance of "The Man machine" from A to Z was in fact "The Man Machine" on shuffle in a jukebox. Expecting The Robots they started off with the last song of the album "The Man Machine" followed by the second song "Space Lab". Next up? "The Model" and "Neon Lights" to close off the album-performance with "Metropolis" and still no "The Robots". It took almost 1,5 hours until finally the heroes of the album came on stage.. for ONE song. Apparently Kraftwerk decided they wanted to have one thing in common for every show: starting their encore with "The Robots". It actually ruined my whole night and Kraftwerk really disappointed me for the first time. The extended version of "Autobahn" and yet again goosebumps during "Radioactivity" couldn't make up for that. I would not have bought myself this ticket if I had known.. Even fans can experience artistic disagreements with Ralf Hütter.