Barrio Chino, New York
Todays blogpost is from Jesper Majdall, partner in Volcano Management in Denmark. Volcano Management promote artists such as Nephew, Veto and The Floor Is Made Of Lava. Jesper loves Barrio Chino, a mexican restaurant in New York.
French Films debut album coming out!
“French Films” as previously seen in our blog is releasing their debut album “Imaginary Future”. It´s coming out on the 21. september. Check it out!
GEAE Booking and Records has this to say about the album:
The album contains 10 songs about being alive and about the struggle between the fading dreams of
childhood and the growing cynicism, forced upon by the surrounding reality. With its combination of sunny
and cloudy sounds, wide echoes, young energetic drive and escapistic vocals sung by several lead singers,
the music creates its own world full of islands, mountains and celebration, where the joke is on those who
praise the unequal system and the questionable truths. But when the last track ends, you wake up to the
reality again and remember that it’s not the worst, yet. This album is an ode to the young and
young-hearted minds.
We are looking forward to listening to the album! Check it out people!
Lofoten, Norway
Bendik plays dreamy, haunting pop, drenched in harmonies and reverb. Originated as the solo project of singer and multi-instrumentalist Silje Halstensen, Bendik grew it’s branches and became a trio this winter, embracing Erlend Elvesveen and Eivind Helgerød, all living in the beautiful city of Trondheim, Norway. They are already playing on numerous norwegian festivals this summer, including Slottsfjellfestivalen in Tønsberg, Huset ved sjøen-festivalen in Nesodden, and Pstereo in Trondheim!
To Bendik, nature has a special room in our hearts, and we all know many beautiful places we would love to share. And some to keep secret. But we all share a dream of visiting what we know will become one of our favorites - Lofoten in Northern Norway! We dream of sleeping in the open under the midnight sun, hiking the mountains, dive in the sea, and listen to the silence of the prettiest place on earth. One day soon!
Bakklandet, Trondheim, Norway
Photo: Scanpix
Angelica’s Elegy plays melancholic indie pop inspired by Beach House, Deerhunter, Yo La Tengo og Madlib. The band was started by Simen and Erik at Trøndertun Folk high school. They have cooperated with people from Dråpe and Bendik (who’ll appear on this blog on tuesday).
Our favourite place is more of an area of the city we live in, than a specific smaller location. The place is called Bakklandet, and is an old part of the city laying next to the Nidaros river. This place is all “brick road, old tree houses, old shops and bridges”, with several cozy pubs and coffee shops. Also, the fact that Simen and Karl’s Greener Productions is located in a studio called Trondheim Studio at Bakklandet makes this place very relevant when we reminisce over “what made all of this the way it is?”, “how did Angelica’s Elegy come to this point?”
Angelica’s Elegy is playing at Slottsfjell festival in Tønsberg this summer!
Bergen, Norway
Foto: Embla Karidotter
Razika is the most honest indie-ska-punk band in Norway at this time. Their first album, Program 91, was released 2nd of may 2011 and their single Vondt i Hjertet is currently B-listed on NRK P3.
Our favorite place on earth is Bergen. All of us are born and raised her, this is the city we have a relationship with. We are all city-kids from the centre and “need” what a city can offer: shops, cafés, parks, cultural offers etc. And in addition to that, Bergen hare 7 amazing mountains and a harbor. Can it possibly get any better.
Yes, it’s one of the cities in Norway with most rain, but when the sun is out the city just explode! Everybody is outside and there’s a good atmosphere everywhere. Also, Bergensere (people from Bergen) is without doubt the coolest people in Norway. As Agnar Mykle once said, Oslo is the dog, Bergen is the cat. We support each other in Bergen patriotism. Just like the amazing musical environment: there’s no competition because everybody does their own thing and therefore everybody support and help each other. If it wasn’t for Bergen, the coolest city in the world, there wouldn’t be any Razika!
The Ark, Corfu, Greece
Christoffer Timoteo sing and play guitar in the band Memetics. They’re a indiepop band from Sandefjord, Norway and have been playing since 2009. They recently released their first EP: “Generations EP”, and will be playing at a couple of festivals this summer (one of them is Slottsfjell festival in Tønsberg, Norway).
My favorite place in the world must be “The Ark” lounge bar on the island Corfu in Greece. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there, but I can recall everything as it was yesterday. An open space with huge sheets as roof and the soothing sounds of the waves washing up on the clear white beach. This was also where I first got in touch with the game Backgammon, and I believe this also was where I had my first glass of wine. I was 13, so I felt really grown up playing backgammon and drinking wine with my older brother. Great place, on a beautiful island, filled with magnificent people!
Slottsfjell artists
We are, as everybody else with a little sensibility, super excited about the festival summer. I can’t wait to get dirty feet on festival ground, buy the funkyest hat I can find, hang out with my old friends, make some new friends and sing on the top of my voice! I am also pleased to see that some of the bands that contributed to this blog is playing at the Slottsfjell festival in Tønsberg, Norway, one of the festivals I’m definitely going to :D
If you work with music and want to contribute to this blog: send an e-mail to marie@ufa.no and tell me about your favourite place and who you are (about your career) and a picture of the place.
Dragon Spring, Helsinki, Finland
French Films is a five-piece band from Espoo/Järvenpää, Finland. Their music is often described as sunny garage pop from the 60’s combined with 80’s punk and new wave. The band was formed in February of 2010 and has already been getting attention all over the world after releasing the debut EP, Golden Sea, in October of 2010. Currently working on their debut album, they’re also getting ready for touring Europe in May.
Judging by the creative name you probably never would have guessed it’s a Chinese restaurant we’re talking about. It’s located in Kamppi, in all aspects a very central part of Helsinki. Right next to the restaurant is Finland’s most well-known music venue Tavastia and the hectic shopping center / bus terminal –combo “Kamppi”.
About the restaurant itself… Let’s keep it simple. Whenever we’re playing a gig nearby or just strolling around town, Dragon Spring is for us the place to eat and have that relaxing moment to ourselves. The food, as in almost every Chinese restaurant around here, is generally very basic and somewhat influenced by Finnish food customs. There are of course a few exceptions that make Dragon Spring a place worth mentioning: Try any dish that involves sweet & sour sauce, the must-have beef with mushrooms and bamboo shoots, or perhaps most importantly the garlic-chili paste that’s on every table. Vegetarian meals do really good job aswell! Just don’t try the whatever with curry sauce unless you have no idea of what real curry tastes like…
In addition to the food, the atmosphere is something else. The staff welcomes you with sincere smiles, takes your orders way too fast, and, after you’ve been to the place a couple of times, starts guessing what you’ll have this time. In other words, it’s utter perfection.
All in all, if you are nearby and happen to have a thing for Chinese food, give Dragon Spring a chance. It might not give the Sichuan cuisine connoisseur a new, mind-blowing gastro-experience, but it will definitely leave you with a satisfied feeling and a smile on your face. And at what price? During lunch hours (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) you can get the whole three course deal for less than 10 €. Bié kèqi!”
Chinese restaurant Dragon Spring
Urho Kekkosen katu 4 – 6
Helsinki. Map
Everywhere by Nive & The Deer Children
Sort vinyl & Kaffe
Nive Nielsen & The Deer Children are from Nuuk, Greenland. They recorded their debut “Nive Sings!” with John Parish and some help from Howe Gelb and friends from a.o. The Black Keys & Wolf Parade. Called “heir to the Arcade Fire” by Filter Magazine, they sold a whopping 5000 copies of their self-released debut back home (on a population of 56.000 people), played 80+ international concerts last year alone (a.o. SXSW, NXNE; Eurosonic, Pop Montreal, Secret Garden Party, Iceland Airwaves), won an IMA independent music award in the US, and made the soundtrack for Greenland ´s first ever feature film “Nuummioq”. Snow songs? Eskimo folk? Arctic Indie? Do check ‘em out!
I´ve travelled a LOT last year. Which lead to many new favorite places and hang-outs - this is the best thing about touring: finding these cool little amazing spots where you want to go back to, so the next visit becomes something to really look forward to. And well there´s an ever growing array of such cool spots… In Tucson AZ there´s Little Poca Cosa, with the best chile relenos ever. I got into the whole desert music thing by just eating there, over and over again. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
In Austin TX there´s Domo Bookstore which is the perfect place to lose track of time browsing the weirdest magazines and art books… They also arrange cool experimental concerts and let you hang out as long as you want, and they´re not hipsters, which gives ‘em a bonus :)
In Copenhagen, DK no visit is complete without a quick stop at Sort Vinyl og Kaffe (the picture), a tiny coffee shop with super espresso and a wicked selection of LPs.
Also, I´m always looking forward to traveling through Antwerp, Belgium where there’s Cafenation, with the best coffees I ever had (and I have had many) - the people working there make you feel super welcome and let you sit and browse magazines all day if you want. It´s my little refuge when in Belgium, I´m there every day.
In San Francisco I always end up at Aquarius Records which comes as close to music paradise as possible - plus the people there are super nice. Portland OR has Mississippi Records.
Montreal, kind of my second home, has the Drawn & Quarterly bookstore, and Cafe Olympico which is my favorite hang out to just sit and sip ice lattes and watch people and shoot some pool… So so so many good places.
Risør, Norway
Bergtatt is a folk rock band, containing members from the southern and the western part of Norway. The band’s music is a blend of rock music
and traditional folk music, and one of its trademarks is the
combination of old acoustic folk instruments and the classic rock band
instruments. And the cherry on top? Intriguing, powerful female
vocals! The band released it’s debut record “Røtter” in 2009 to
critical acclaim and is currently testing new material live as part of
the work for the second album.
When I was asked to write about my favourite place, I immediately
thought of my home town Risør. This small, peaceful, secluded and
idyllic town is crammed between rocky hills and has the ocean as its
closest neighbour, surrounding most parts of it. All the houses are
made of wood, painted white and lies on each side of the harbour. Just
wandering in the streets is soothing and if you’re anything like me,
it can make your mind drift away, thinking what it might have been
like here long ago. Because when visiting Risør, it is pretty evident
that it’s quite an old town and that it has a lot of history to it.
The church in the town centre dates back to 1641, and in the 1700s and
1800s Risør was an important and prosperous town in Norway for the
expanding ship building industry. The marine culture is still very
prominent in Risør and is still a vital part of the town’s identity.
The outskirts of Risør consist mainly of woods and wild nature, and
two of Bergtatt’s members grew up here. This, combined with the
previously mentioned fascination and interest of the past, makes up a
big part of what Bergtatt is influenced by as a band, as well as our
songs.
Like most of the many tourists that visit Risør and people that spend
their holiday here would say, I would agree that Risør is at its
finest during summertime. It’s at this time of year that the town gets
a special, almost magical, glowing aura. Try having dinner at
“Stangholmen” (a restaurant lying on a close-by island) late in the
evening, or quench your thirst with some beers on the rooftop of the
good old bar “Prommen” during sunset, and you’ll see what I mean. Yes,
I am biased, being from Risør and having my mind packed with memories
of growing up in this place, but it’s definitely worth a visit!
By Rolf-Erik Solstad Karlsen for Bergtatt
Risør is here
