Strong support

I'm still living in a bit of an Ark bubble. Last night I went to see them in concert and they were, quite frankly, fantastic :o) But there was also a very pleasant surprise in the form of the support act, a Tromsø fivesome called The Fernets. Never heard of them before but I was very taken by their catchy jangly pop. Hopefully I, and lots of you, will be hearing a lot more of them in the future. Check out their myspace page.

Hey ho

This is, imho, one of the best Norwegian songs ever. Just so you know :)

But who was Susannah?

Don't worry I haven't given up on the blog just yet :-) But I've had The Ark's CD on constant repeat most of the week so blame them for not letting me hear anything else!

Therefore I'll take this opportunity to turn the clock back 10 years and see what was number one in Norway in April 1997. And rather happily it was a Nordic song. Indeed, a Norwegian song. Tromsø boy Espen Lind was the wonderboy of Norwegian pop at the time and even managed to score a hit in Germany with this song. I'm not usually one for soppy ballads, but I really love this one. Espen is in fact one of the finest pop composers in Norway, but apart from this song has not had as much success as he really deserves, what with Norwegians being a bit wary of all things commercial. That said, he did have the biggest selling album of 2006, a live concert recording along with three other blokes with guitars. You see, that's what it takes for Norwegians to pay attention - a guitar. If you have a guitar it means you're a real musician! Apparently.



Espen has also co-written some rather good songs for others. These for example.

Next-door neighbour, mother and saviour

The Ark have been around for a good few years now. For those not in the know (where have you been btw?!), they're a Swedish sextet who hover somewhere between pop, glamrock and rock (and with a recent dose of schlager). They also have some great witty and intelligent lyrics courtesy of lead singer Ola Salo's pen.

The group's fourth CD, Prayer For The Weekend, has just been released and is, frankly, very good indeed. Actually, it's better than that. It's FAB! Loads of trademark catchy Swedish choruses and abovementioned cool lyrics. If I may, let me quote what must be one of the best middle eights in history (please stop me if I'm getting carried away). From Death To The Martyrs:

"Now you are so grand
You claim you built the fundaments on which I stand
You are the man
But you prefer the gentle fan I was before
But now it's time to be unkind, to speak my mind
And if you ask why I'm so blunt
It's cos I care for you, you cunt
You're no longer wild at heart
You're just a boring junky fart
And if you really wanna die, alright
Then die then you old tart"

Gosh.

So here are two songs from the album, neither of them the strongest on offer, but they're the ones on Youtube so far :-) The first single Absolutely No Decorum, and the second, their Eurovision entry (yes, they really are doing Eurovision) The Worrying Kind.

She has arrived

Or rather, her CD has. Here's the title track.

http://www.rogepost.com/n/2111675570

Daughter of Hjartar

Still on Iceland, and may I introduce you to the wonderful Hera Hjartardóttir, or just Hera to makes things a bit easier. Yes, I know, shock horror, it's another whimsical girl! But she deserves a mention. Unfortunately the only videos she has made are for anything but her best songs, but I've put one here anyway to give you an idea. I strongly recommend you pay a visit to her myspace to hear some more.

Icepop

As I mentioned, I am partial to the female singer-songwriter type. And that is rather evident looking at the posts so far :-) But I do listen to other stuff too. Here's a rather fabulous tune from Reykjavik trio Ampop. Or actually AMPOP if they have it their way. They've released three albums to date, two of which were in 2006. How efficient!

And here's a Finn

Just to prove I'm not only going to write about Norway! Her name is Irina and I know nothing whatsoever about her other than that I love this video. Serious case of split personality though!

The Next Big Thing(s)

How nice to see a Norwegian in the Swedish singles chart. What a shame that it's Lene Alexandra :-s