Love Shop has its very own unique and exceptional history in Danish rock. Two-thirds of the band’s founders – the harmonica virtuoso and singer Henry Hall and guitarist and producer Hilmer Hassig – unfortunately are not here anymore, yet the band stands strong and beautiful as ever and always with the two as invisible band members at the concerts.
Jagwar Ma
The Australian duo Jagwar Ma will release their debut album in June of this year. The band has a psychedelic pop sound somewhere in between MGMT and Tame Impala, which draws inspiration from Stone Roses and The Charlatans. The band has previously toured with Foals and The xx and both NME and Noel Gallagher have promoted the band as one worth keeping an eye on.
We are very excited to present the first Jagwar Ma show in Denmark at NorthSide.
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Passenger
In 2012 the popular English songwriter Michael Rosenberg released the album “All the Little Lights” under the moniker Passenger and that was the beginning of a success story that we have only seen the beginning of.
Previously, Rosenberg was along with five other musicians a part of the group Passenger, which in 2007 debuted with the album “Wicked Man’s Rest”. However, two years later the group disbanded, but as Rosenberg continued as a solo artist, he chose to continue to release music under the name of Passenger.
So far he has released three solo releases, but it was through the single “Let Her Go” the audience really opened their eyes to the English songwriter’s ability to write beautiful and melancholic melodies.
The single has been number one on the charts in eleven different countries worldwide, and here in Denmark, the song also topped the official singles chart. So Michael Rosenberg now has a legitimate smash hit under his belt that most people probably will be able to sing along to at his the concert at NorthSide.
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Tom Odell
The English songwriter spent three years studying music and playing gigs both as a soloist and in a band before he in 2012 was discovered by Lily Allen’s record label In the Name Of, who released his first ep “Songs From Another Love”.
From there things went quickly, and in reviews the English critics drew parallels to both Jeff Buckley and Chris Martin, and before he knew it he had been a guest on the show “Later … with Jools Holland “and had recieved a nomination for the Critics’ Choice Award at the Brit Awards.
The nomination was converted into a victory for the 22-year-old Englishman who has reached a large Danish audience after the Danish radio stations fell in love with the track “Can’t Pretend”.
Tom Odell is one of the most interesting British songwriter right now, which is evident on the debut album “Long Way Down”, and will be at the concert at NorthSide.
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Kashmir
With the release of “The Good Life” in 1999, Kashmir has established itself as one of the most ambitious names in Danish rock and sales figures and the subsequent praise, including six Grammy statuettes, showed that both their audience and reviewers were willing to go with the band regardless of which direction they chose.
The album now has status as a classic and was for instance highlighted, when GAFFA in 2006 released their counterpart to Brian Mikkelsen’s cultural canon. The success was far from an isolated occurrence, and the subsequent three releases (“Zitilites”, “No Balance Palace”, and “Trespassers”) all went to the top of the Danish album chart.
Kashmir’s latest release is the album “E.A.R.” from which the single “Seraphina” was selected as P3′s Unavoidable Track of the Week at the beginning of the year. So the list of hits for the band continues, and as always, the band has chosen to break with expectations and give us something we did not even know that we wanted from Kashmir.
When Kashmir visited Northside 2012, they came to Aarhus to present “The Good Life” for the audience and delivered an almost magical concert. We are sure that they can do it again with the material from the new album, and we look forward to experience them at NorthSide 2013.
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The Floor Is Made Of Lava
Over the course of three albums, The Floor is Made of Lava has emerged as one of the strongest rock acts we have here at home. Tobias Kippenberger, Simon Visti, Lars Rock and Asbjørn Nørgaard, have undergone a rapid development together and are with “Kids & Drunks” at the culmination of their careers.
Lava began with a debut album that was a wild and unruly size, which delivered happy punk rock at breakneck speed and established the band as a constantly entertaining live act.
The band blew off some steam with the first album, so when they returned with “Howl at the Moon”, it was a band that looked deeper and who was inspired by the history of rock. That style continues on “Kids & Drunks” where Kippenbergers rusty voice is backed up by great riffs in stadium size mixed with Americana atmosphere.
Besides having warmed up for Oasis and AC/DC, The Floor is Made of Lava was also on the poster to Northside two years ago, and it’s a pleasure to now invite them back to Northside 2013.
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Deap Vally
The California duo, Deap Vally, has been compared to both The White Stripes and The Black Keys, but that’s probably because the duo consists of a drummer (Julie Edwards) and a guitarist, who also sings (Lindsey Troy). Because if you actually listen to the music, you’ll notice that Deap Vally is much more punk, more cheeky, and more raunchy than their male counterparts.
Deap Vally was formed in Los Angeles in 2011, and like so many other great American rock bands before them, they had their first taste of success in England, where they have already played at both Latitude and Reading Festival.
They have also supported Iggy Pop, The Vaccines, and Muse, which is even more impressive when you consider the fact that they have not even released an album yet.
Deap Vally is raw energy served with the force of a military boots to the face, so get ready to get a kick.
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Peter Sommer
Peter Sommer has over the last ten years established himself as one of this country’s best songwriters, and on his latest album, “Alt Forladt”, he proves that you do not need an acoustic guitar to be troubadour.
The songwriter from Skanderborg began his career in Superjeg and in 2010 he recorded the album “De Eneste To” as part of the duo of the same name. But mainly the focus has been on the solo career, which to date has given us four releases and awards like P3 Prisen and P3 Kunstneren along with four DMA statuettes and three Steppeulven awards.
It was “Valby Bakke”, which in 2004 turned Peter Sommer into a household name, and the style was maintained on “Destruktive Vokaler”, which also gave new life to the old Superjeg song “8-6-6-0″.
But with “Til rotterne, til kragerne, til hundene” the audience was introduced to a darker side of Peter Sommer, where the guitar was electric, and the musical development has taken another step with “Alt Forladt”.
However, this time Sommer has gone in a more electronic direction in collaboration with Stefan Kvamm, who also toured with Sommer as part of De Eneste To. The album has been called his career best (GAFFA), and we are very pleased to be able to present the songwriter at the peak of his career.
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Frightened Rabbit
When Frightened Rabbit released the album, “The Midnight Organ Fight”, in 2008, it received six stars from both GAFFA and Soundvenue , who called it a “phenomenal and completely flawless second album from the amazing Scottish folk ensemble” and “the cursedly well-written songs ensure that albums grows and grows and is difficult to let go”, respectively.
The album has subsequently and completely deserved appeared on a bunch of lists of the previous decade’s best records and has established the band as one of the best Scotland has to offer.
Since then “The Winter of Mixed Drinks” and “Pedestrian Verse” have been released, and again the reviewershave almost tried to outdo each other in compliments for the Scottish band whose musical tone perfectly matches the dark and melancholic lyrics delievered by frontman Scott Hutchison.
Hutchison also brings a rarely seen the presence of his songs, which means the quiet and introspective songs can easily match the more direct and rocking songs in intensity and strength.
In other words, Frightened Rabbit is a musical experience you should not deprive yourself of for anything in the world.
The Frightened Rabbit concert is presented with support from ETEP (European Talent Exchange Program).
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Mø
The singer on the Danish music scene with the most potential star quality right now is Mø, which the stage name of the 23-year-old Danish R & B comet, Karen Marie Ørsted, who is a student at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
After touring in Europe and the U.S., where she among other gigs supported Purity Ring, Mø is in the process of finalizing her debut album with the Danish producer Ronni Vindahl.
But even before the album is ready, there is plenty of attention being paid to Mø due to the singles “Pilgrim” and “Glass”. Pitchfork was quick to praise the Danish singer and NME were not slow to jump on the bandwagon, either.
Attention has been converted into concert offers, so this summer Mø will feature at a large number of Europe’s biggest festivals. But fortunately there is also room in the calendar for a gig at NorthSide, where you can look forward to experiencing the Danish singer with the international potential.
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Left Boy
As an eighteen year old, Ferdinand Sarnitz moved from Austria to New York, and since then he has been releasing music under the name Left Boy. First initiative was a mixtape titled “The Second Coming”, where the rapper borrowed tracks from everybody from The Beatles to Blind Faith, and through a series of imaginative and crazy Youtube videos the now 24-year-old musician has quickly built up a large fanbase.
Later came tracks where the Eurythmics, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Vanessa Carlton got the Left Boy treatment, but because he has not secured the rights to his samples, official releases from Left Boys hand have been sparse. Still the rapper succeeded in securing jobs at a number of the largest German festivals and venues in both 2012 and 2013, when his party-oriented show is backed by dance troupe Urban Movement.
The man behind “Jack Sparrow” and “Black Dress” comes to party, so bring your dancing shoes, and then let Left Boy do the rest.
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Fallulah
Fallulah’s first single, “I Lay My Head”, was P3′s Unavoidable Track of the Week in 2009, and it gave the Danish/Romanian singer her breakthrough, which was followed up with the success of “Give Us a Little Love” and “Bridges”, which was the most played song on P3 throughout 2010.
All three songs can be found on the debut album, “The Black Cat Neighbourhood”, which was rereleased in 2011 featuring the single “Out of It”. The song was written for the television series “Lykke”, and appeared on the rerelease after going number one on both the Danish single and airplay chart.
The song was the most played on P3 and P4 in 2011, and at the Danish Music Awards 2011 Fallulah won awards for Danish Hit and Danish Producer of the Year (sharing the last one with Fridolin Nordsø), both for “Out of It”. Before that the successful singer had already won P3 Prisen and the accompanying 100.000 Danish kroner and a GAFFA Award for Danish Hit of the Year, so the singer was quickly running out of space on the shelf for trophies.
Album number two, “Escapism” was released in February 2013 and includes the hit “Superfishyality”, which has also been P3′s Unavoidable Track of the Week. The album was also received with great reviews from the Danish critics, and as you could experience at NorthSide in 2011, watching Fallulah is a unique live experience, which we are very pleased to be able experience again this year.
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Kristina Renée
Over the last two years, Kristina Renée has supported The Kooks and Jamie Woon, played at the Spot Festival, and was special guest at The William Blakes’ annual Halloween concert. Quite good work from someone who has not yet released a debut album.
The singer is working hard on recording songs with Frederik Nordsø for the first full-length album, which will follow her ep release “For Now”, which came out last year.
The ep festures songs like “We Know No Pain Tonight”, which got a lot of airplay on Danish radio, and the same can be said for the single “Sorrow Knows”, which is the first release from the upcoming album.
Both songs are examples of a more electronic approach to the singer/songwriter genre than you would normally see, and the inspiration for this style actually came via the aforementioned support gig where Renée was impressed with Jamie Woon’s ability to blend electronic elements into his music.
The musical revelation has led to a wide range of musical experiments, which will be rolled out on the album this June. But before then it is possible to hear how it all sounds live when Kristina Renée performs at NorthSide 2013.
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The William Blakes
It’s the great artists that inspire the band The William Blakes, which has evolved from a dogma trio into a hyper productive quartet since the release of the debut album, which as the band name draws inspiration from an artistic genius – namely, The Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne.
The debut album was recorded in just six days in a summer residence in Sweden, where none of the band’s three members could veto in the creative process. The experiment was a success, and in GAFFA the album was called a “very awe-inspiring debut.”
Since then, the trio expanded to a quartet, and Kristian Leth, Bo Rande and brothers Fridolin and Frederik Nordsø have jointly released a record each year, so the band now has five full-length releases since 2009, including the album “The Way of the Warrior”, which in 2011 secured the group two awards at Danish Music Awards.
The William Blakes is now out with a new album “An Age of Wolves”, which Soundvenue has praised with the words: “This is and remains the best album, The William Blakes has yet exercised”, and there is no reason not to believe that this will rub off on the upcoming concert at Northside.
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Imagine Dragons
The Las Vegas quartet has taken America by storm and impressed everyone by reaching the second spot on the U.S. album chart with debut album “Night Visions”. Sales have been helped quite a bit by the hit single “Radioactive”, which was Danish P3′s Unavoidable Track of the Week in late 2012, and their most played track in the early months of 2013.
But success did not come quickly for the band, which has released four EPs since 2009 before they could finally release their debut album in September 2012. The last ep, “Continued Silence”, should be seen as a prelude to the album with four of the songs including “Radioactive” and “It’s Time” featuring on the full-length release.
The strategy worked, so when the album finally hit stores the band immediately hit the charts, and since then it has only gone one way for Imagine Dragons. The band’s popularity is mildly put constantly increasing worldwide, so it is very much a bunch of rising stars who are on their way to Aarhus.
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Daughter
Success has come very quickly for the English band Daughter, who in 2011, after two having release two self-distributed ep’s on their own label, released the ep “The Wild Youth”. The reviews were very positive and after playing a headliner gig in front of 700 people (without having released an album), they got a recording contract with the prestigious company 4AD, which also releases albums by Bon Iver and The National.
The BBC has been very supportive of the group, and Radio 1 named the single “Smother” Single of the Week. Shows like “Skins”, “The Vampire Diaries”, and “Grey’s Anatomy” have all taken a shine to the group, which has helped raise their profile in the US.
The trio has been called a cross between The xx and Cat Power, and especially singer Elena Tonra’s beautiful voice and melancholic lyrics are highlighted when reviewers are lining up to throw compliments at the band. There can be no doubt that Daughter is one of the most exciting new acts in the UK right now, so we are very excited to be able to present them at NorthSide.
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Everything Everything
The Manchester-quartet got their Danish breakthrough with the single “Kemosabe” from the acclaimed album “Arc”, which is filled with energetic and catchy songs that blend pop, indie rock, and electronica. But at home people already started listening, when they heard the group’s first single.
In fact, the song “Suffragette Suffragette” has one of the most discussed lyrics in recent years, and although the band insists that Jonathan Higgs sings “Cause you’re gonna sit on your fence when I’m gone”, most people hear something with a lot more sexual undertones.
Those undertones also appear when the band goes on stage, and NME has, among other things, called their performances “baffling, bizarre, beautiful, and bawdy”, so there is definitely something to look forward to.
Everything Everything debuted in 2010 with the album “Man Alive”, which later that year was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize. Intense touring followed including gigs with Snow Patrol and when “Arc” was released in early 2013 the national fan base was so great that the album entered the top five on the UK album chart.
The success has now spread into Europe via the singles “Cough Cough” and “Kemosabe”, so we’re welcoming a band with a lot of momentum to Red Stage.
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Phoenix
“Bankrupt” is the fifth album from the French band Phoenix, and the release follows the successful album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”, which in 2009 gave the group their big break. The album secured them an American Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album, and the subsequent world tour was documented in the film “From a Mess to the Masses”.
Phoenix has since 2000 been responsible for danceable and polished pop music that captivates like the biggest hits of the 80s. But when it is served with a French touch it gives the music a both modern and sophisticated style, and this can be heard on singles like “Entertainment”, “Lisztomania”, and “Everything is Everything”.
Phoenix came up as part of a wave of French atcs in the late 90s and have maintained their relationship with the French scene through, among other things, a cooperation with Air on the album “The Virgin Suicides”, and when the band performed at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2010, they invited Daft Punk to join them for the encore.
The French band has not played in Denmark since 2009, so it is with great pleasure that we have added to Phoenix to the poster for NorthSide 2013.
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Tegan and Sara
The Canadian sibling duo consisting of identical twins, Tegan and Sara Quin, has since 1999 issued records with everything from dirty indie rock to sharp synth pop and along the way acquired a slew of awards in their home country. However, it took a little time before the duo broke through outside Canada, but their first taste of success came with the single “Walking with a Ghost”.
The song was in fact shortly after re-recorded by The White Stripes and released on an EP with the same name, which helped introduce the sisters to a lot of new fans. The impact was soon felt, so when “The Con” was released in 2007, the duo suddenly experienced commercial success in the United States.
Sales were helped along by the single “Back in Your Head” and the success, as well as the collaboration with producer Chris Walla (who is daily guitarist in Death Cab for Cutie), continued on the album “Sainthood”.
But when the Quin-sisters were getting ready to record their seventh album, they were very conscious that they wanted to try something new, and therefore brought in pop producer Greg Kurstin (Ke$ha, P!nk), hiphop producer Mike Elizondo (Eminem, 50 cent), and Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who among other things has produced the latest album by M83. The result was the album “Heartthrob”, which GAFFA called “irresistibly catchy”, and the new style can really be heard on the hit “Closer”.
So we are very much looking forward to being able to present the duo’s new style at a concert in the festival’s new tent, Red Stage.
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Shaka Loveless
The 28-year-old singer has had an active music career for more than 10 years, and way before “Tomgang” was inevitable in last summers radio speakers, you could hear him deliver soulful vocals and playing bass as a member of the groups The Gypsies and Are We Brothers?.
In the former constellation Shaka, among other things, warmed up for N.E.R.D., The Roots and Fugees , and toured the country as backing band for Outlandish and Jokeren, and the work with Are We Brothers? included a tour in France. But since the beginning of 2012, Shaka Loveless has been focusing on his solo career, and it has been successful.
The first step was a YouTube video of an acoustic live performance of the song “Tomgang”, which began to flourish in the social media. When the song was later released as a single, it emerged into one of the biggest hits of 2012.
The success continues with the debut album, which was recorded in collaboration with Donkey Sound (Fresh-I and Pharfar), where Shaka as a soloist mixes reggae with rock and pop with a great skill, which will be a pleasure to experience this summer.
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Modest Mouse
Since the mid-90s, Modest Mouse has been one of the most interesting and critically acclaimed acts on the American indie scene, and with the single, “Float On”, in 2004 they finally got the hit they had deserved for so long.
The song can be found on the phenomenal album, “Good News for People Who Love Bad News”, which received a U.S. Grammy nomination and secured the band success far beyond the faithful indie audience.
Subsequently frontman Isaac Brock started a cooperation with the former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who joined the band for the subsequent album, and that heightened the band’s profile even more. So when the album, “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank”, was released in 2007, it went in at number one on the album chart in the U.S., and not surprisingly, expectations for the next album are huge.
It has been six years since Mouse Mouse last visited in Denmark, so it’s just fantastic to be able to welcome them to NorthSide this June.
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Rasmus Walter
After having released four albums with his band, the Grand Avenue frontman made the decision to try life as a solo artist. The first step in the new direction was the single “Dybt Vand”, which quickly showed that Rasmus Walter was more than capable of handling the transition from singing in English in a band to being a solo artist singing in his mother tongue.
“Dybt Vand” is featured on the solo debut album from 2011, and here you will also find the hit single “Det Stille Angreb” and the duet with Julie Maria, “Så Det Synger”.
This spring will see a follow-up album to “Rasmus Walter”, and the warming up has already started with the single “Endeløst”, which went right to the top of the list, when the listeners of Danish P3 had to vote for the Unavoidable Track of the Year in 2012.
Rasmus Walter’s second album carries on in the style we know and love, and we’re very much looking forward to experiencing the new material at NorthSide.
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Keane
6 million albums sold and platinum records all across Europe was a really good start for Keane, who debuted in 2004 with the album, “Hopes and Fears”. The trio received the Best Album award from Q Magazine, frontman Tim Rice-Oxley got an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting, and then band was also awarded Best Album and Best Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards.
The album was also the first of four to go straight to the top of the British album chart, underlining the group’s ability to write catchy and effective pop songs that become big hits like “Everybody’s Changing”, “Somewhere Only We Know”, “Is It Any Wonder?”, and “Crystal Ball”.
Most recently the album “Strangeland” was released in 2012, and here the band has been expanded to a quartet, which has added some more guitar to the piano-driven band’s sound.
Keane has since the beginning been loved by the Danish audience, and we are therefore very pleased to be able to present the band’s first Danish festival concert.
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Biffy Clyro
In January of 2013, the Scottish trio Biffy Clyro released their sixth album, “Opposites”, and after nearly twenty years as a band the members could finally see one of their albums go to the top of the British album chart.
Simon Neil and twin brothers James and Ben Johnston is not an overnight success, but a good example of a band that can still take the traditional trip to the top through support gigs jobs and hard work, where success comes one fan at a time.
The band debuted in 2002 with “Blackened Sky”, which together with the next two releases quietly helped lay the foundation for the band’s status as a well-known rock band. But with “Puzzle” from 2007 Biffy Clyro took a big step towards the stars, and since the subsequent months included gigs with Muse, The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, Linkin Park, and Queens of the Stone Age, the band quickly expanded its fanbase.
The hard work paid off, so when “Only Revolutions” was released in 2009 it was not surprisingly the band’s most successful release to date. The album was nominated for the coveted Mercury Prize, and the subsequent tour secured them an NME Award for Best Live Band in 2011.
Most recently, the band has had a hit with “Black Chandelier” from the album “Opposites”, which went straight to number one on the UK album chart. So it’s a band at the peak of their career that is making the trip to NorthSide 2013.
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Bikstok Røgsystem
The Danish dancehall trio Bikstok Røgsystem grew out of the underground environment around RubA’Dub Sundays at the club Stengade 30, which since 2002 has been a gathering place for the Copenhagen reggae community. It was here Eaggerman, Pharfar, and Malk de Koijn-rapper Blæs Bukki played the first concerts as Bikstok Røgsystem, where, among other things, they were assisted by Natasja on track “Cigar”, before she released her first solo album.
The debut album “Over Stok Og Sten” was released in 2005 and spawned hits like “DK’s Koner”, “Fabrik” and “Cigar”, and reviewers and audience alike agreed that the first Danish-language dancehall record ever was something special. GAFFA gave six stars, and the trio ended the year with two Danish Music Awards and a GAFFA Award for New Danish Act of the Year.
Bikstok Røgsystem followed the success with a series of concerts, but only eighteen months after the release of the debut album Blæs Bukki left the group to focus on Balstyrko and other projects. The two other members have also had plenty of success outside Bikstok in Eaggerstunn (Eaggerman) and as producer of Natasja, Shaka Loveless, and Wafande as well as a member of Djosos Krost (Pharfar) respectively, but luckily they had not completely forgotten about Bikstok Røgsystem.
The trio was in fact reunited at a memorial concert for Bob Marley’s birthday in 2009, and this summer the colourful dancehall band can be experience in the original line-up at NorthSide.
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Gogol Bordello
The band takes its name from the renowned Ukrainian writer, Nikolai Gogol, whose work in the 1800s introduced a Russian audience to Ukrainian culture. Inspired by this singer Eugene Hütz decided to assemble a band that could introduce Ukrainian culture to the world, and that was the beginning of Gogol Bordello.
The band calls their music style gypsy punk, which is also the title of their third album from 2005, which marked the band’s breakthrough. The album contains the song “Start Wearing Purple”, which is also available on the band’s debut album. The song later appeared on the soundtrack to the film, “Everything is Illuminated”, where Eugene Hütz has a supporting role and the rest of the band is also featured.
Since then two more albums have been released, but it is the band’s tireless touring that really put them on the map. The band’s colourful and energetic concerts that blends Balkan music with punk rock, can lift even the saddest concertgoer up in a euphoria, and the hard-working frontman does everything in his power to reach even the people the back row.
Gogol Bordello is a unique orchestra that combines an anarchic savagery with engaging song writing, and it will be interesting to see how few minutes they need to convert NorthSide into a Balkan party.
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Kings of Convenience
Few have been able to start a musical wave with an ingenious album title, but as Uncle Tupelo did in 1990 with “No Depression”, Kings of Convenience inspired a slew of bands who were hailed in the British music press, when they in 2001 released the album, “Quiet is the New Loud”.
The two Norwegian songwriters Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe have known each other since grade school and after a series of musical experiments, they formed the duo Kings of Convenience in 1999. The debut album came two years later and was an instant success especially at home, where it went to the top of the Norwegian album chart.
The subsequent release, “Riot on an Empty Street”, was an even bigger success, and on the album, you can experience Erlend Øye in duet with Canadian singer Feist on both “Know-How” and “The Build-Up”.
In a subsequent break Øye focused on his side project The Whitest Boy Alive, who released two albums before Øye returned to Kings of Convenience to record the album, “Declaration of Dependence”.
The duo has throughout their careers been praised for their fine harmonies, bittersweet lyrics, and exquisite detail in both melodies and arrangements, where Kings of Convenience cultivate the fragile with a rarely seen success. So we expect the concert at NorthSide 2013 to be nothing else than a beautiful experience.
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Spleen United
Stylish and uncompromising Spleen United debuted in 2005 with “Godspeed Into the Mainstream”, and with singles like “Heroin Unltd.” and “In Peak Fitness Condition” they moved appropriately quickly from obscurity to mainstream success.
The first year offered warm-up jobs for Nephew, Mew, and Massive Attack and a concert at the Tycho Brahe Planetarium, where the band was the first ever to play a concert in the projections of the starry sky.
When it was time to record album number two, the band took the trip to Los Angeles to record “Neanderthal” with producer Michael Patterson (Beck, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club), and the result was an album that drew towards a more electronic direction and that raised the group’s popularity.
The group’s third album, “School of Euphoria”, was somewhat slower in the making than originally planned, but the result was well worth the wait. The group’s continued development and willingness to experiment suits them well, and besides great reviews, Spleen United could also collect the GAFFA Award for Best Electronic Album of the Year in December 2012, just one month after they won for Danish Rock Album of the Year at Danish Music Awards.
In May, NorthSide booked Spleen United to play with Veto for a unique concert at the roof of Godsbanen during Spot Festival. The band now reunites with NorthSide, but this time the concert takes place at the actual festival, where Spleen United will be able to unfold their unique universe for the audience in Ådalen.
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Kaizers Orchestra
The founders of one of the most successful Norwegian bands ever have a past in the bands Blood, Snått & Juling and then Gnom, but in 2000 frontman Janove Ottesen and his musical cronies switched gear and formed Kaizers Orchestra.
The timing was perfect for the five Norwegians who the following year generated a great deal of attention on the Norwegian By: Larm Festival, and when the debut, ” Ompa Til Du Dør”, was released in 2001 it was celebrated with both a Spellemannpris and two Alarm Awards.
In Norwegian Black Metal it is quite normal to sing in your native language and a number of these bands have experienced international success. But Kaizers Orchestra is the only act outside of this genre, which has sung in the Norwegian language around Europe with success.
The success has been particularly big in this country, and in 2005 they recorded a live DVD in Copenhagen in connection with two sold-out concerts, and generally, Kaizers Orchestra have been a popular live act in the Danish music venues and festivals.
In 2011, after having released five studio albums Kaizers Orchestra launched the album trilogy, “Violeta Violeta”, and the final chapter was released in November 2012. The trilogy was the result of a creative period in which Janove Ottesen wrote two or three songs a day, and these songs later became the basis for the development of the theme, which is flowing through in the trilogy.
Incidentally, the concert at NorthSide is the last opportunity to experience Kaizers Orchestra live for a long time, as it is the band’s last show before they start a break of indefinite length. So we are very much looking forward to Kaizers Orchestra’s arrival with oil barrels, gas masks, a pump organ, and an accordion and start a party at NorthSide, as only they can do it.
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The Knife
The Swedish duo debuted in 2001 with the album “The Knife”, but the real breakthrough came two years later when siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer released “Deep Cuts”, which contains the hit “Heartbeats “. The song’s success was extended, when it a few years later appeared in a television commercial in an acoustic version recorded by fellow countryman José González.
By this time, The Knife, however, had made there name as one of Scandinavia’s most interesting acts both through their unique approach to electronic music as well as their reluctance to play concerts and talk to the press. However, in connection with the release of their third album the duo selected to play a few concerts, and here was the Swedes’ approach to the concert as an art form was praised by, among others, Soundvenue, who in a 6-star review wrote: “You were exposed to an emotional rollercoaster which by no means cut to the bone, but on the contrary exhibited an artistic vision of a different world to ensure the survival of the concert as an art form”.
Very unconventionally The Knife then again selected to pull out of the media spotlight to take a break from the duo. Karin Dreijer Andersson spent time launching the successful solo project Fever Ray, while she and her brother worked on the music for the Danish opera “I Morgen Om Et År”. The show was based on British scientist Charles Darwin’s masterpiece “On The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection, Or The Preservation Of Favoured Races In The Struggle For Life”, and the music was later released under the title “Tomorrow, In A Year”.
The next chapter in the history of The Knife is the album “Shaking The Habitual”, which is followed by a brief tour that brings the ground breaking and tremendously innovative duo to NorthSide, where we are very proud that they will give one of their rare and highly anticipated concerts.
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Alt-J (∆)
The members of the British quartet Alt-J (Δ) got together at Leeds University in 2007, and after completing their studies and moving their instruments to Cambridge, the band began to record music for a four track EP.
The release of the EP paved the way for their debut album “An Awesome Wave”, which was released in May 2012. The album was well received internationally and also went into the top twenty on the UK album chart. But like most great records the album needed a little time to grow, and as the nominees for the prestigious British reviewer’s award, Mercury Prize, was announced it was clear that Alt-J (Δ) was the favourite.
And it was indeed the four guys who snatched the price in front of acts like Django Django, Ben Howard, Michael Kiwanuka, and Lianne La Havas, which really sent the band into the general public’s consciousness.
However, here in Denmark the radio station P3 was quick to discover Alt-J (Δ) and as early as the summer of 2012 the single “Tessellate” quite often began to appear on Danish radio waves, and it has undoubtedly helped make Alt-J (Δ) one of the most requested new acts by the NorthSide guests.
When Joe Newman, Gwil Sainsbury, Thom Green, and Gus Unger-Hamilton pass by NorthSide it will be to give their first Danish concert ever. We will greatly appreciated their visit and we look forward to experience this fantastic band for the first time on Danish soil.
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Ellie Goulding
Ellie Goulding exploded onto the British music scene in 2010 with the album “Lights”, which went platinum twice in her home country, and the same year earned her Critics’ Choice Award at the Brit Awards. She was also at the top of the BBC’s Sound Of 2010-list, which no other artist besides Adele has achieved in the same year.
This ensured success in the UK, so the ambitious songwriter quickly set course for success in the rest of the world. The title track from the album came out the following year as a single in the U.S., and here it went platinum three times and lifted her to international stardom. The 25-year-old soprano obviously took this as an invitation to challenge her talent, so when she earlier this year released “Halcyon” it was clear that she had undergone a rapid development and had positioned herself as one of the brightest talents on the English music scene.
In Denmark, the radio station P3 was really liked the singles “Starry Eyed” and “Under The Sheets” from the debut album, and the latter was P3′s Inevitable Track of the Week in 2009. Recently, however, it is “Anything Could Happen” from “Halcyon”, which has set radio’s playlist on fire and has helped strengthen her popularity in this country.
We have high hopes for the concert with the English star, whom we are very pleased to have convinced to make a stop in Aarhus.
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Portishead
The English musician Geoff Barrow grew up in the 80s in the city of Portishead outside Bristol, and when he got together with Adrian Utley and Beth Gibbons in 1991, they chose the name of his hometown as the name for their trio.
The group debuted three years later with the album, “Dummy”, which subsequently was awarded with a Mercury Prize and generated top twenty hits with the singles “Sour Times” and “Glory Box”. The album is now considered a modern classic that always pops up on music magazines’ lists of the best releases of the 90s, and there is even a volume in the publishing house Continuum’s “33 1/3″ series on the album.
The success continued with the album “Portishead” three years later, but even though you’d think the band would then do anything to maintain their success, they chose instead to take a nearly ten-year break from Portishead.
Along the way, live albums were releases, the occasional concert was played, and a tribute to Serge Gainsbourg and a collaboration with Tom Jones were recorded, but mostly there was silence surrounding Portishead. During this period one could however hear Beth Gibbons with Rustin Man on the album “Out of Season” or in collaboration with Annie Lennox, Joss Stone, and Jane Birkin, while Barrow and Utley was involved in other projects including the production of an album by The Coral.
But in 2008 the silence was finally broken, and the band returned with the album “Third”. Music magazines and newspapers like The Guardian, NME, Pitchfork, and Uncut paid tribute to all the trio’s resurrection, and in Denmark the maazine Soundvenue called the album a “marvelous masterpiece” and gave it six out of six stars.
Therefore, there is obviously huge expectations for the group’s fourth album, which has not yet been given a release date. But the date has definitely been set for a visit from this phenomenal trio, who will guest NorthSide 2013, which we are confident will be a great experience.
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When Saints Go Machine
Things are moving really fast for the electronic Danish act When Saints Go Machine, which has evolved from a group of aspiring talents to an established name on the Danish scene and enjoyed international success in just a few years.
When Saints Go Machine debuted in the summer of 2008 with an EP that six months later secured them the P3 Talentet award and helped pave the way for their debut album “Ten Makes a Face”. The album was met with great enthusiasm, not least by Soundvenue, whose writers elected it the Album of the Year, and subsequently international websites and magazines started showing an interest in the band.
When Saints Go Machine signed an international record deal in 2010, which meant that the album “Konkylie” came out in the rest of Europe in 2011. At home the band had a big hit with the single “Kelly” from the album, and the success was celebrated at Danish Music Awards last year, where the band won two statuettes including the Group for the Year.
The international deal also meant international jobs, and last summer the band played at international festivals like Sonar in Barcelona. Unfortunately, some of the bands equipment got lost on the way home, which meant that they unfortunately had to cancel a planned concert at NorthSide.
There were many, who were sad when When Saints Go Machine had to cancel, but luckily we managed to get a new deal with the band, and thankfully we’re able to present them at this year’s festival.
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The Eclectic Moniker
The seven men in The Eclectic Moniker got a great start, when they were selected for DR’s career canon in 2011, where they ended up being one of the three winners. The competition and the many concerts that came with it, helped introduce the band to a whole new audience, which collectively fell in love with the group’s fresh and summer-like sound.
With the great-bearded singer Frederik Vedersø in front The Eclectic Moniker offers 12 summery pop songs on their debut album, that draws on both Afropop and indie rock. But it was the calypso rhythm on “Easter Island” that really went to the heart of the concert guests as well as the radio listeners when it came out as a single in a freezing cold February week of 2012.
The Group has successfully added a lot of joy and exotic rhythms to the Danish music scene with the material from their debut album, which has been extremely refreshing. The reaction has also been overwhelmingly positive every time they have gone on stage, which was also seen, when they saved the evening with their tremendous show after various accidents at GAFFA Award 2012.
The Eclectic Moniker is well on their way with the recording of their second album, so expect new tones and lots of energy when the band goes on stage in Ådalen.
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Fun.
The American trio Fun. is one of the biggest success stories of 2012, because of the hit “We Are Young”, which has sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. alone. The song has been number one in the United States, Canada, Australia, and on the pan-European charts and was undoubtedly one of the biggest hits in the world last year.
However, the success was not that easy to predict, when frontman Nate Ruess after seven years with the band The Format decided to form Fun. together with Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff. The trio debuted in 2009 with the album “Aim And Ignite” who didn’t garner much attention for the band, and the second album could have suffered the same fate. But in the months after the release of the single “We Are Young”, the song was used in both an episode of the TV show “Glee” and a television commercial, and then five months after the release the song climbed to the top of the U.S. single chart.
Since then, the success has continued at a fierce pace for Fun. and the title track from the breakthrough album, “Some Nights”, has also been a big hit for the band. Also live, the band has impressed with their mix of extremely well-composed songs delivered with grand gestures, huge amounts of energy, and a good dose of grandiosity. It is also worth mentioning that the band members did not just call themselves Fun. just for laughs, which they proved last year at an engaging and highly entertaining concert at Store Vega in Copenhagen.
Fun. is one of the hottest names in the world right now and it is a great pleasure to be the first Danish festival to present them live to the Danish festival audience.
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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
In 1983, the Australian musician and songwriter, Nick Cave, formed the band Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds after having started his musical career ten years earlier with the band, The Birthday Party. Since then, Cave has worked as a solo artist and as part of th band Grinderman, while keeping busy with writing film scores, manuscripts, and publishing books. But he keeps returning to his Bad Seeds, and it is also in the constellation, he will perform at NorthSide this year.
For many years the band had a fine career as a critically acclaimed act with a solid audience and an ever-growing status as one of rock’s most uncompromising bands. However, in 1994 the band had its first taste of success with the album, “Let Love In”, which generated the single, “Do You Love Me?”, which gave them their first top twenty hit outside the home.
But the big breakthrough didn’t come until two years later, when the Australian crooner surprised everyone and everything by allying with pop princess Kylie Minogue on the ballad, “Where the Wild Roses Grow”, which became a hit worldwide. So did the album, “Murder Ballads”, which also features a duet between Cave and PJ Harvey on the song, “Henry Lee”.
The subsequent album, “The Boatman’s Call”, was also a great success for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and thus the band’s position as uncompromising cult band was changed to international superstardom without having done anything but doing what they have always done: writing raw and dark rock with germane and challenging lyrics.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds continue their roll on the latest album, “Push the Sky Away”, and it is an absolute pleasure to welcome this legendary band to our festival.
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Trentemøller
The Danish producer and composer, Anders Trentemøller, made a name for himself with a series of remixes for acts like Röyksopp, Moby, and The Knife. But simultaneously came singles under his own name like “Rykketid” and “Physical Fraction”, and in 2006 Trentemøller was finally ready with the long-awaited debut album, “The Last Resort”.
The album showed a new side of Trentemøller, and the quiet and evocative album was praised both at home and by the international press. The album secured him four awards at the Danish DeeJay Awards, and in the beginning of the following year he was able to pick up two statuettes at the Danish Music Awards.
2007 was also the year when Trentemøller brought together a band and went on a tour that both brought him to Danish venues and to festivals around Europe. However, the Danish producer was still in high demand and remix duties up continued to emerge. So acts like Depeche Mode, Robyn, M83, and Franz Ferdinand all got a chance to have Trentemøller put their music through his electronic wringer.
In 2010 Trentemøller followed up his debut with “Into the Great Wide Yonder”, where the style moved towards an indie-rock sound with distorted guitars, dynamic range, and melodic vocals. A third album is on the way from Trentemøller, and as always expectations are high, when it comes to material from one of this country’s greatest artists.
There are not a lot of Danish musicians who have achieved the same international respect as Trentemøller. He has with his band played on a wide range of major festivals around the world, so it’s something special to the first time be able to present the popular and critically acclaimed producer and musician at NorthSide, where he’ll perform one of his very rare shows on Danish soil.
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Nephew
The headliner of the first edition of the NorthSide Danish act Nephew, and now the country’s biggest rock act is back to thrill our audience once again as only they can.
Nephew has dominated the Danish music scene since they in February of 2004 became P3′s Unavoidable Track of the Week for the first time. The single was “Movie Klip” and since the band has had a plethora of hits, sold-out concerts, platinum-selling album releases, and a streak of winning music awards that few can copy.
The success continues with the current album “Hjertestarter”, which includes hits like “Klokken 25″ and the album’s title track, and even though the band has once again stirred the pot and changed their musical expression they have kept their faithfully fans. Or one is almost tempted to say that perhaps this is why they’ve kept them. Because Nephew has never been afraid to push the boundaries. Whether it was by working with L.O.C., Henriette Sennenvaldt from Under Byen, German act Polarkreis 18, international superstar and producer Timbaland, or the Danish national football team, Nephew always been open to a new challenge, which has helped make them one of the most important acts in Denmark the last ten years.
This status has not only achieved through the many hits, but also through their always visually impressive concerts, where frontman Simon Kvamm allows himself to work as a the whip, crowd seducer, and center of attention. We are looking forward to let ourselves be carried away by Nephew this summer, and so should you.
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Band of Horses
One of the greatest concert experiences at NorthSide in 2011 came from Band of Horses, who gathered a massive the crowd to sing along to “Is There a Ghost” and “No One’s Gonna Love You” from breakthrough album “Cease To Begin”. The band subsequently expressed a desire to return to NorthSide, so it is with great pleasure that we can once again welcome Ben Bridwell and the rest of the band to NorthSide armed with the new album “Mirage Rock” and ready to play yet another terrific concert.
Band of Horses was formed in Seattle in 2004, and when they released the debut album “Everything All The Time” on the legendary company Sub Pop it generated a lot of publicity and great reviews. However, the band subsequently had to say goodbye to several members, and Bridwell decided to move the group to North Carolina, where he grew up. Here began the band’s development towards a more classic rock style inspired by everything from southern rock to Neil Young.
The first step in this new direction was the album “Cease To Begin”, which gave the band a surprise hit with “Is There A Ghost”. The song was chosen as P3′s Inevitable Track of the Week in 2007, and since then the band has had a lot of success in this country that has gotten even bigger because of a series of Danish concerts where their easygoing and relaxed style has lifted the mood of the audience to euphoric heights.
Recently, Band of Horses released “Mirage Rock”, which is the group’s most country-inspired release to date. But the band still has the energy or the captivating melodies and in Ben Bridwell the band still has one of the best voices in rock today, so it’s perfectly okay to have high expectations for the band’s upcoming concert at NorthSide.
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Arctic Monkeys
The Sheffield quartet, Arctic Monkeys, has had the most impressive career of an English rock band in many years. The album “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” from 2006 became the fastest-selling debut album ever with about 120,000 sold on the day of its release in the UK alone, and besides reaching number one in the album chart the debut also won the Album of the Year Award from NME, Q and Time Magazine and secured the group the Brit Awards for Best British Album and Best British Group along with that year’s Mercury Prize.
The subsequent three full-length releases have also all gone to number one at home, but success is far from just an English phenomenon. The band has played the biggest stages around the world, and Danish rock fans have from the beginning loved them. That has been evident whenever Arctic Monkeys has been nominated for GAFFA Awards – they have won for Foreign Album of the Year (“Whatever People …”) and Best New International Act – and at their concerts where they repeatedly have garnered great reviews from the Danish newspapers and music magazines.
The band’s status as one of England’s biggest acts was made clear in the summer of 2012 during the Olympics in London, where the band went on stage at the opening ceremony to play their hit, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” and a cover the the Beatles classic, “Come Together”.
Arctic Monkeys are well underway with preparations for their fifth album, which will be released during 2013. We’re very much looking forward to the new release, and we look forward to presenting them at NorthSide 2013.
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The Flaming Lips
A lot has happened and a lot of weird notes have been played, since Wayne Coyne in 1983 along with his brother Mark and bassist Michael Ivins formed the band The Flaming Lips in the city of Norman, Oklahoma.
The band existed in relative obscurity through the ’80s, and even though they secured a record deal with Warner Bros. in 1990, the band’s weird psychedelic rock did not become more accessible for that reason. But in 1994, the band suddenly got its first hit with a little help from a couple of strange characters.
Television’s Beavis & Butt-Head had taken the time to make fun of Wayne Coyne and the song “She Do not Use Jelly” on MTV, and a year after the release of the album, “Transmissions From the Satellite Heart”, the band suddenly had a song in the charts, which landed them a job at The Peach Pit in the series “Beverly Hills 90120″.
The band continued in the same style on the album “Clouds Taste Metallic” that ended an era in the band’s career, where the focus had been mainly on the noisy indie rock. The next album, “Zaireeka”, was an art project consisting of four CDs to be played simultaneously for maximum effect, and subsequently, like a bolt of lightning, the band shifted their style again, which propelled them towards to the international stardom they have today.
In 1999, The Flaming Lips released the masterpiece “The Soft Bulletin”, which got the rare 10.0-rating on Pitchfork and subsequently it was declared Album of the Year by NME. It was during this period that the band first began playing concerts where they incorporated balloons, confetti, UFOs, spectators dressed as bears, and all the other bizarre shenanigans, which characterize the totally life changing experience a concert by The Flaming Lips is today.
Incredibly, the band just got even more popular with the album “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”, which contains the incredibly beautiful ballad, “Do You Realize?”. The song was later selected for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation documentary series “Modern Classics”, and in 2009 it was chosen as the official rock song of the State of Oklahoma, where the band already has a street named after them in the capital, Oklahoma City.
It can hardly be overstated how great an experience it is to see The Flaming Lips live, so it is with great pleasure and awe, we welcome them to NorthSide 2013.
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