The Swedes are poppy, the Danes are laid back – but Norwegian musicians embrace the darkness Anyone who became hooked on Danish-Swedish crime series The Bridge knows its theme tune set a perfect mood for the gruesome, dark and grainy drama. Back in 2010 , I described Hollow Talk by Danish act Choir of Young Believers as "a melancholic Fire">Arcade Fire doing the soundtrack to Wallander" (I used them as an example of a band that made beautiful music, but couldn't or wouldn't do self-promotion on social networking sites). Seems I was just wrong about which crime series the ...

Ah lovely, just in time for summer. Brighton and London’s assorted four-piece Fear of Men have what we in the business like to call a classic “Abba split”. I haven’t been in the business for long, so I may have made that up, but it means two boys and two girls. Combining the best of [...]

Nostalgien, vemodet og bevidstheden om, at kun det tabte kan fastholdes i erindringen,  kan spores helt ud i coveret og titlen på Helsingborg-duoen This Visions nye – og andet – album. The Golden Age we lost hedder pladen, og det let grynede, analoge familiefoto på coveret minder om erindringens fastholdelse af det tabte i en [...]

Die Pop-Rocker Gossip promoten ihr neues Werk " A Joyful Noise " mit einem neuen Video. Zuletzt stellten sie noch das ganze Album in den Stream ( motor.de berichtete ), nun haben sie den Titel "Move In The Right Direction" als heiter-poppigen Dreh umgesetzt, der filmisch ein wenig an The Hives ' "Idiot Walk" erinnert. Zuvor hatten die beiden Herren und Stimmschwergewicht Beth Ditto den Song " Perfect World " als goldgetunkte Gruselkulisse inszeniert. Hier der Beweis, dass Neu- ABBA -Anhängerin Ditto und ihre Band musikalisch im Gegensatz zur 2009er LP " Music For Men " noch eingängiger geworden ist: Gossip - "Move In The Right Direction" Beth Ditto ...

[ Gelezen in NRC Handelsblad, zaterdag 19 mei 2012, geschreven door Pieter Steinz. ] Bij Waterloo begon de victorie – althans voor ABBA, het Zweedse viertal dat van het midden van de jaren zeventig tot het begin van de jaren tachtig de hitparade domineerde en daarna zou uitgroeien tot een van de invloedrijkste popgroepen aller tijden. Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus en Agnetha Fältskog wonnen op 6 april 1974 in Brighton het 19de Eurovisiesongfestival met Waterloo, een kauwgomrocknummer over een smoorverliefde vrouw. ‘Bij Waterloo gaf Napoleon zich over’, zongen de blonde Anna en de bruinharige Frida tweestemmig nadat rollende gitaren het liedje ...

Swedish group join The Beatles and Queen as the only five million album sellers in the UK.

Today, we bring you the latest episode of Pitchfork.tv's  "Pitchfork Weekly" . In this week's installment, J. Spaceman of Spiritualized answers fan questions , Killer Mike talks about his new album R.A.P. Music , and Liars give us a sneak preview of theirs.  Subscribe  to Pitchfork's YouTube channel and stay tuned every Friday for new episodes of "Pitchfork Weekly." Other new Pitchfork.tv episodes on our YouTube channel this week included the  Danny Brown documentary "Detroit State of Mind" , the full Doug Aitken "SONG 1" Happening , a "+1" with Vincent">St. Vincent , a "60 Seconds Left" with ...

Pitchfork reviews the deluxe reissue of ABBA's final album "The visitors", giving it a coveted "best new reissue" tag: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16577-the-visitors-deluxe-edition/

Welcome back to AVQ&A;, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com . Our own Claire Zulkey asks: I was listening to ABBA’s “Super Trouper” the other day and thinking about how in spite of the happy, xylophone-laden tune, the lyrics reveal ...

Britain is celebrating Music is Great week with a DVD of iconic live moments. But why has the campaign ignored the melting pot that makes British music special? Did you know this week is Music is Great week in Britain? You may think it's Music is Great week every week of the year, but this is part of the This is Great Britain campaign , celebrating everything that is British and, er, great. As part of the Music is Great campaign, backed by the major labels, a DVD of "iconic live moments" by British artists has been released with all ...

It’s been more than 25 years since Jann Wenner completed the machinations which resulted in the creation of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concept that took tangible form in 1995 when the I.M. Pei designed building opened its doors in Cleveland, Ohio. At its inception, the entire concept seemed ripe with possibilities and existed as a truly inspired focal point for acknowledging the musicians that invented, innovated and propelled rock and roll. Initially, the choices for induction hardly needed qualification; the initial class that included Chuck Berry, Presley">Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Little Richard was followed up quickly by classes that brought The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding and The Who into its then-fictional hallowed halls. With artists becoming eligible 25 years from the date of their first release, the ’90s and most of the ’00s saw many classic rock stalwarts like Elton John, The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band receive their rightful ...

Spring and summer are shaping up nicely for Opeth frontman, Mikael Åkerfeldt. In April, four of his creatively restless Swedish band's classic albums got the deluxe reissue treatment. Then the band hit the road with their American metal brethren in Mastodon for a tour that wrapped May 12 in Atlanta...

The Hives are back and have a new music video for ‘Go Right Ahead’, off their new album ‘Lex Hives’, out on the 4th of June. This video includes live footage from the recording of the album, recorded in Benny Andersson of ABBA’s new studio in Stockholm. The song is a belter, and I think you’re gonna like it.

[rating:2] Nem parece mas esse já é o quinto álbum do Gossip. Desde o último lançamento, Music For Men , para este aqui, A Joyful Noise , coisas mudaram. Gossip não é mais aquela banda de punk-indie cheio de barulheiras. As músicas estão mais dançantes por conta de dois fatores principais: o trabalho com a produtora Xenomania (Pet Shop Boys, Cher); e a nova direção musical da icônica vocalista Beth Ditto, que disse ter passado um ano inteiro ouvindo Abba.

It's impossible to conceive of any real Outsider list which doesn't include Briggs">Anne Briggs . A female singer in a folk world dominated by masculine ideals, Briggs">Anne Briggs stood out by combining incredible artistry with a genuine maverick streak. Continually refusing to play the game, the English singer fused her life and her art to create something which still inspires - more than forty years after she turned her back on the folk world for good. No meagre talent himself, James Yorkston has long spoken of his appreciation for Briggs' work. Chatting to ClashMusic, we allowed him the ...