Danish music is on top form these days. Exciting stuff. This is some high-grade electropop for you from a band that’s been hiding for a few years and is back. Check out here.

Danish pop lady Clara Sofie has outdone herself with this 90′s throwback track that sounds like a mesh between Emeli Sande and some good old Massive Attack. I hope she does an English version, because it’s great.

Noosa take’s on Cinnamon Girl’s amazing ‘Devil In Me’ and makes it sound so lush.

Dans le port de Copenhague, la Sirène d’Andersen, serait-elle bien plus qu’un symbole?  Aglaophème, Thelxiépie, Pisinoé et Ligie, ces sirènes qui ont traversé les siècles, de par leurs voix mythiques, m’ont désorienté. J’ai fini par m’échouer sur les rivages du Danemark, d’où s’échappent avec excès et poésie moult sons déchirants et envoûtants…

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Barbie girl – 1997

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Peut-être pas celui-ci! Mais avec cette vibrante “ballade” dance des 90′s, Aqua révèle au monde la scène danoise, dans sa part exubérante. Le Danemark répond aux stéréotypes des pays scandinaves, aptes à produire un son simpliste, coloré, voire perforant, comme s’il s’agissait de briser l’enveloppe glaciale qui transit le nord de l’Europe. Eh bien non! Avec le temps, le Danemark a imposé bon nombre d’artistes de talent, qui se sont établis dans la quasi totalité de la sphère musicale. Et comme un temps correspond à une mode, laissons-nous aller à un peu de Gagaïsme avec la chanteuse Medina…

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For Altid - 2011

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Medina est le parfait produit marketing dance, pop et r’n'b danois… Si l’univers de la jeune chanteuse est pétri d’évidences “gagaesques”, le texte en danois a le mérite de séduire par son côté folklorique. Après tout, qui peut se vanter d’avoir déjà entendu une chanson en danois? Même lors du concours de l’Eurovision, les Danois ont capitulé devant la prégnance de l’anglais. Mais heureusement, et c’est là toute la magie de la scène musicale danoise, Medina ne représente qu’une part infime,  certainement la niche productiviste, de la créativité musicale danoise. Pour preuve, récemment, la jeune Agnes Obel a inondé les ondes européennes avec brio…

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Riverside - 2010

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Oh oui, Agnes, nous nous laissons balader! Nous voilà arrimés sur les berges de la folk. Agnes Obel, tout au long de “Philharmonics“, propose une musique de chevet fragile, aux accents d’une pureté cristalline, telle une fugue mélancolique, toujours délicate, qui pas à pas se fait câline et sensuelle. Bref, un univers apaisant, presque fascinant. Une première expérience, comme une ébauche… Mais déjà, l’élégance d’Obel se fait chahuter par la délurée et énergique pop de Maria Apetri, alias Fallulah…

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Hey you - 2011

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Une main de fer dans un gant de velours… Ou peut-être est-ce le contraire?! La voix de Fallulah se joue aisément des nuances et permet à la chanteuse d’installer un univers gentiment débridé, qui n’est pas sans rappeler Florence & the Machine…

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L’ambivalence vocale et rythmique de Fallulah la libère des pesanteurs d’une pop régulée, se parant de l’impétuosité de l’indie. Bing et bang, Fallulah taquine et accroche notre émotion musicale. Que le voyage sur les eaux danoises devient intéressant…

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 Out of it – 2011

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On glisse lentement mais sûrement de Fallulah au groupe Turboweekend, bijou danois d’électronique rock… Du rock sans guitare, avec une grosse dose de synthé et de séquenceur…

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Trouble is – 2010

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La voix de Silas Bjerregaard est truculente, s’affirmant au fil des morceaux, balançant à merveille une musique saccadée avec goût et un certain talent. A la croisée du rock et de l’électro, la batterie, la basse et le synthé fusionnent pour former un mélange rythmé, aux tentatives vocales à l’envolée…

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After hours – 2010

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On se pose sur la piste du rock pop made in Mew…

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Scène danoise oblige, l’influence electro bouscule l’atmosphère pop… Mew accouche d’un rock plus convenu, plus propret, enchanté par la voix fluette de Jonas Bjerre. Ne pas s’inquiéter, tout est normal, c’est ce qu’on appelle de la dream pop, et si on est plus ambitieux, on parlera de shoegazing! D’où cette impression, chez Mew d’une adolescence timidement exprimée, avec une voix en retrait, et une multiplication pléthorique des sons électro…

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Beach – 2010

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Toujours dans l’electrorock, mais cette fois-ci, plus agressif: VETO, le groupe ambivalent… Ce mélange d’électro affirmé et d’un rock musclé trouble à la première écoute. Mais on se fait vite à un univers musical rythmé, lequel remixé pourrait très bien servir le dancefloor…

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Spit it out - 2008

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You say yes, I say yes – 2008

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The Raveonettes

Du shoegazing au rock indie, en passant par le décalage électro, on en revient aux arrangements de Sune Rose Wagner et Sharin Foo, qui parviennent à mélanger avec plus ou moins de clairvoyance ces univers, tout en le confondant à l’originalité scandinave. Cette périlleuse entreprise (parce qu’avec les Raveonettes, tout n’est pas toujours réussi) accouche d’un son métallique, troublant, résolument plus sombre qu’une bonne partie de la scène édulcorée danoise. Bref, Raveonettes s’impose comme un détour obligatoire pour saisir l’essence de la musicalité danoise…

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I wanna be adored

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On quitte les chemins sinueux du rock alternatif danois pour la dance, point commun à tous les pays scandinaves. Les Danois semblent puiser une part non négligeable de leur inspiration dans les années 80 et réinventent, à leur façon, une sonorité disco… En somme, ils excellent dans l’Eurodance, personne ne le contestera. Et, dans ce domaine, Infernal constitue la part émergée de ce mouvement…

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Downtown boys – 2008

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Stine, Troels, Rasmus, Anders, Anders et… Anders d’Alphabeat nous invitent dans leur danse, quelque peu surannée. La nostalgie pour les années 80 et 90 s’est changée en habitude pour les groupes à coloration pop et électro. Qu’on se le dise, la réalisation n’est pas toujours parfaite, mais l’entrain est communicatif.

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Fascination

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En voilà de la club-pop sucrée, glacée, filtrée… Stine et Anders, rarement haletants, vont de l’avant, sans cesse. Alors celui qui  prétend à l’immobilisme sera floué, car face à cette déferlante d’énergie, le corps n’a pas d’autre choix que de répondre par de petites saccades. Oh rien d’extravagant, juste des petites secousses timides. Hommage en passant au jeune Madéon…

DJ – by Madeon

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Oh Nana Oland Fabricius, alias Oh Land, avec toi, on rentre dans le vif du sujet… Des accents qui rappellent La Roux (chanson Voodoo), vite pardonnés, puisque le reste est totalement Oh Land! Facile d’inventer un nouveau courant musical, quand on offre une vraie personnalité aux mélodies…

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Une pop alternative, un lo-fi balancé par des percussions douces, à leur tour bousculées par des sonorités électro accrocheuses… Wolf & I, un univers onirique parfaitement servi…

Wolf & I

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Sun of a gun

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Une pop qui flotte çà et là, des chansons humbles, une voix cachée derrière un effort esthétique et ludique qui ne dit pas son nom. Attention cependant à ce que la tentation lyrique ne laisse pas planer le doute du vide…

We turn it up

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Finissons donc en beauté, avec LE groupe qui promet de s’exporter au-delà des frontières étriquées de ce minuscule royaume nordique: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. Un groupe alternatif, indépendant, quasi psychédélique… Et voilà comment un groupe contracte l’originalité de la musique danoise, qui tend à s’éloigner des codes de la pop commerciale.

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 The Golden Age – 2011

Les instruments en fusion se mêlent à la magie du numérique dans un cocktail explosif, celui d’une pop dopée à la folie de ses instigateurs. Certes, ils sont malins, ils ont opté pour l’éclectisme sonore, instrumental, vocal pour nous servir des morceaux désarticulés mais envoûtants! Ne reste plus qu’à se saisir de leur fréquence pour un voyage sur orbite, à bord de la fusée danoise propulsée par ce groupe en devenir…

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Heart attack – 2012

Tour incomplet, détour par mes coups de coeur… Les sirènes danoises auront peut-être à vous proposer un tout autre destin!

… and he’s back with a big clubby track. Yes, it’s in Danish, as are all of Thomas Holm’s releases but who cares- I love it!

I can’t explain to you how excited I got when I heard this track by Copenhagen native SLOWOLF- the song’s already topped the Danish iTunes Electronic Song Chart and chosen as Pick of the Week on Danish National Radio (equivalent to BBC Radio One). This is epic on so many levels. Check out here.

Im really loving this new single from Cinnamon Girl- hope it brightens your Monday afternoon! You can download the track for free here.

Danish shoegaze that feels a bit sixties, it’s nice. Check out here.

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Copenhagen-based duo with a dreamy, synthy sound which they describe as ‘Arabesque Pop’. Check out here.

This band have been around since 2003 but I’ve just learnt of them, so they’re new to me! Quirky Danish pop that has a nice epic feel to it. Check out here.

Well, this is different… Slick Danish ‘post-rock’. Check out here.

If you’ve been at the Roskilde Festival, then you probably know the legendary Orange Stage. The stage where the likes of  Prince, Roger Waters and Kanye West all have preformed. What many people outside of Denmark are unaware of is the fact that a danish up-and-comming act is opening the big stage each year. And this year is of course no exception. The rock band, Kellermensch, is really a band on the rise and are known for their energetic live performances. You could compare them to The Gaslight Anthem with their punk-rock-springsteen style, which I dig immensely.  For those of you going to Roskilde: Screw you! These guys are just what the rock doctor ordered!

Yaaaaay finally Turboweekend is ready with a their third album! The last one “Ghost of a Chance”, which they released back in March 2009, is one of my favourite albums of all time with great songs like Holiday, Trouble Is, After Hours and Something or Nothing (live version in the video above – great song and great live recording!)
The band consits of four Danish dudes that play an exciting mix of pop, synth and rock – all spiced up with the amazing voice of lead siger Silas Bjerregaard. They always put on a great show live and I’ve been blown away both times I’ve seen them in concert. IMO one of the best Danish acts out there right now.

The new album “Fault Lines” is set to release June 25. Here you can hear the first single On My Side.

Go Turbo!!

Foto: Louise McLaughlin

……. I know its been a bit quite here for a while, but I’m in the middle of moving to London so there is a lot to take care of. Anyway I really hope to get some more time on my hands soon. I just have a quick recommendation for you this evening (or morning). They’re from Copenhagen, they’re super cool, they’re called Virgin Suicide. Leadsinger and guitarist, Martin Grønne, is a very good friend of mine so that might cloud my judgement, but I really think that these guys are amazing. With a hint of those lovely noisy guitars one might find in Yuck/Best Coast, Virgin Suicide, could be destined for something big. I’m really looking forward hearing more from these guys. They are currently working on new material, but for now take listen to “Just Don’t Let Me Know” and go give them the thumbs up on Facebook

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/virginsuicde

Scarlet Chives – In A Ground Floor Apartment

A warrior or a worrier?

Beautiful new song by Danish band Outlandish. Thoughtful and mature… And the lead singer Isam B’s voice is one of the most beautiful and powerful ever. Always hits me. Hard!

Further proof of just how diverse Denmark is with it’s recent pop offerings, this track by Jeffrey is catchy as hell and brilliant. In my opinion.

Well, this year, I’m actually looking forward to the Danish performer for Eurovision 2012, Soluna Samay with her song Should’ve Known Better.
I mean, it’s still pop and it will still make you want to stab your ear drums with a hot spoon after they’ve played it over 1000 times on the radio and television. And sure, Soluna could use a heavy duty, steel-tipped hairbrush in the video below.
But hey, at least it’s not Burhan G. (Please watch at your own risk. We are not responsible for any spontaneous vomiting that may occur)

Brilliantly catchy indie pop from Denmark that has a very distinct 90′s vibe around it. It’s impossible not to smile when you listen to this! Check out here.

Giana Factory are giving away a rather fabulous un-released album track from their forthcoming debut ‘Save The Youth’. The track is called ‘Dive’ and is perfect for fans of dark synth-pop with beautifully icy female vocals from the Danish trio.

I wanted to cry when I watched this video because it is terrifying and just plain weird. But I can’t deny the beats are immense. Check out here.

“the music chose me”

I’ve been totally swept away by the beautiful magnificence of this music and couldn’t help but download her album this week. Agnes Obel, a 32 year old Danish divine and most extraordinary album of exquisite melodic magnificence.

Agnes Caroline Thaarup Obel (born 28 October 1980) is a Danish singer/songwriter. Her first album, Philharmonics, was released on the 4 October 2010 in Denmark, Norway, Germany and has won five prizes for: Best Album Of The Year, Best Pop Release Of The Year, Best Debut Artist Of The Year, Best Female Artist Of The Year and Best Songwriter Of The Year. You only have to listen to one of her songs to understand why. It moves you completely.

She took her biggest inspiration from in Jan Johansson‘s work, in addition to influences by artists such as Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell and PJ Harvey, and also by the French composers Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Eric Satie. she’s produced these incredibly beautiful European folk tunes done in a jazzy style, have influenced the young musician a lot.

In 2009, Obel put a demo of “Just So” on Myspace. The telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom used “Just So” in an advertisement and, after this great opportunity, Obel encountered less difficulty in finding a label for her first album.

She also likes Edgar Allan Poe and photographers Sybille Bergemann, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tina Modotti and Alfred Hitchcock, stating”I adore his enigmatic style, his sophisticated esthetic but always with an extreme simplicity.” The cover of her first album, photographed by Berlin photographer Mali Lazell, is an ‘homage’ to The Birds (film).

She writes, plays, sings, records and produces all her material herself. “The orchestral or symphonic music never interested me. I always was attracted by simple melodies, almost childish.(…) I put a long time before writing texts because the music seems to tell already a story, to project images.” Her piano is really much more than an instrument : “The piano and the singing are two equal things to me – maybe not inseparable but very connected. You can say they are like two equal voices.” For her : “The music is the most obvious means to express what I am, where I am.”  ”I don’t have the feeling of being motivated by anger, revenge or frustration. I do exactly what I always wanted to do. In fact, I don’t have the feeling to have chosen music. The music chose me.”

For the promotion of Philharmonics, Agnes Obel appears (under the lenses of Mali Lazell) beside an impressive and worrying owl. This is clearly a reference to Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic The Birds (film). However there is no owl in Hitchcock’s film and many people find more connection with Ingmar Bergman universe. “Agnes, really superb, looks like Liv Ullmann in Ingmar Bergman’s Persona (film) or Tippi Hedren disguised in a proud Marnie (film) rather than to its catatonic character of The Birds (film)“.

Philharmonics has garnered generally positive review with for example James Skinner from BBC saying that “the compositions… are slow, sombre, sepulchral even, but not without a sense of occasionally singular beauty”. In the French cultural magazine Les Inrockuptibles, Johanna Seban speaks about a “disarming purity” and states: “There is, in these deeply melancholic ballads, the clearness and reassuring nobility of bedside discs.” At last, in Musicomh, Ben Edgell writes: “Obel sings with a hushed and tender grace that waxes wistful and serene over yearning cello, harp, and piano vignettes. She’s a fey siren, with a dusky, near-whispered vocal that speaks to Ane Brun or Eva Cassidy.” French journalists have called Obel : “A revelation to follow”.

This first album has become a critical and commercial success. Philippe Cornet underligne that Philharmonics is “A success that hypnotizes a greedy era of peace and redemption.”

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Agnes Obel at the Cirque Royal, Brussels (2011)

The composer is currently working on a new album. Obel explains : “There will be new melodies that do not take origin on my life in Berlin or when I was a teenager. I will begin recording this summer when I can take a break from my tour.” About her new album : “I started to write new pieces, but all were instrumental ones, with the piano alone… In this moment, I feel more inclined to compose instrumental pieces. I already started to write some texts, but for me, it’s more difficult to compose melodies.”

I’m really looking forward to whatever she brings forth next. Extraordinary. No other word for it.