Norway, Norway, Norway!

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Is Norway the world's greatest place? It is certainly better than Sweden, or to a lesser extent, its neighbor to the south, Denmark. Lots of interesting music comes from Norway, like Norwegian Black Metal and Norwegian Folk. You can eat lots of fresh fish in Norway, and they make good bread there too, and lefse and lutefisk. Norwegians love to drink milk. Norway is all over the arts, too. Have you ever seen a painting by Edvard Munch, or read a novel by Knut Hamsun? Great painters and writers, respectively! Norwegian people are also the friendliest you'll ever meet -- this is true. Nowhere on earth is there a greater concentration of sweeter people than in Norway. Oh, and it stays light out and dark out for like months on end or something during the summer and winter. How fucking cool is that?

― Famous Athlete, Monday, 25 November 2002 00:01 (twenty-three years ago)

not very cool actually, the idea of living in darkness for 3 months on end would piss me off after just 2 days. the coolest thing about Norway is that time they beat England in a Euro 84 qualifier (or something similar) and the Norweigan commentator's boisterous remarks 'Winston Churchill! Maggie Thatcher! Your boys took one hell of a beating!'

oh and dont forget A-Ha and the Christmas tree...

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 25 November 2002 00:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I think any country that has produced Bel Canto and A-ha has got to be PRETTY damn cool. Bless them.

― chris sallis, Monday, 25 November 2002 00:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Biosphere! Röyksopp! Motorpsycho! Kings Of Convenience! Bel Canto! Edvard Grieg!

― Siegbran (eofor), Monday, 25 November 2002 00:51 (twenty-three years ago)

I still say Finland could take Norway in a metalfite

― J0hn Darn13ll3 (J0hn Darn13ll3), Monday, 25 November 2002 01:23 (twenty-three years ago)

At the moment, even Luxemburg could take Norway in a metalfite.

― Siegbran (eofor), Monday, 25 November 2002 01:31 (twenty-three years ago)

hey, and don't forget norway's contribution to the wonderful and frightening world of the anise-flavored liqueur: aquavit.

and i want to know more about metal from luxembourg.

― geeta (geeta), Monday, 25 November 2002 01:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Not to dis the place (I have ancestors from Norway), but what is lutefisk doing in a list of the place's benefits?

― j.lu (j.lu), Monday, 25 November 2002 01:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Akvavit is great. But as an indie/glitch kid (I'm sorry) I too would have to vote for Finland, with Sweden second. Perhaps I'm biased, since I'm strangely obsessed with Finland without knowing why, but there's a lot of great music from there all the same.

(Plus considering booze prices and availability in Norway I think any alcohol-based recommendation is... well, I suppose it's ok as long as you don't actually want to drink it there ever.)

― Rebecca (reb), Monday, 25 November 2002 01:45 (twenty-three years ago)

What about Supersilent and When?

― man, Monday, 25 November 2002 01:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Supersilent is good, that's what.

― Curt (cgould), Monday, 25 November 2002 02:01 (twenty-three years ago)

When is great - I'm still hunting down Svartedauen (The Black Death)

― Siegbran (eofor), Monday, 25 November 2002 02:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh yeah, don't forget to mention the Cato Salsa Experience. Those guys put on a great show. Good band/audience interaction, lines inbetween songs like, "Okay people, deh party is going on up here. Get on dancing on your Feet!"

Friggen love those guys.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Monday, 25 November 2002 02:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Norway gave the world Turbonegro. And it has towns named Hell and Hammerfest!

― Tad (llamasfur), Monday, 25 November 2002 03:42 (twenty-three years ago)

I <3 SuperSilent

― JasonD (JasonD), Monday, 25 November 2002 04:05 (twenty-three years ago)

"I think of blood / I think of love / Erection". That's all I have to add.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 25 November 2002 04:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir Jensen (aka Biosphere) is also from Norway and some of his music definitely sounds like it could be from near the artic circle. This is not a bad thing at all.

― earlnash, Monday, 25 November 2002 04:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah well. I love what I've heard by Kim Hiorthøy.

― Rebecca (reb), Monday, 25 November 2002 04:44 (twenty-three years ago)

i have no idea what Kim Hiorthøy's music sounds like, but i LOVE all the design work (s)he does for rune grammofon

i own his/her (is it a boy or girl, it's driving me crazy!) design book called Tree Weekend.

― JasonD (JasonD), Monday, 25 November 2002 05:07 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.mpfamily.net/media/pix/kim01_250_291.jpg

just found out, thanks

― JasonD (JasonD), Monday, 25 November 2002 05:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir Hongro to thread!

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Monday, 25 November 2002 11:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I saw Spunk a few weeks ago, i wish i hadn't.

― leigh (leigh), Monday, 25 November 2002 11:35 (twenty-three years ago)

my wife was born in Bergen! The only hate I have for Norway is the damn Christmas dinner I have to eat every year. Mutton Ribs! bleckkkkkkkkkkkkkk.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 25 November 2002 15:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Liiminara (or whatever they're called)!

― hstencil, Monday, 25 November 2002 15:29 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.patrick.fm/boobies/boobies.php?text=Norway

― kicken, Monday, 25 November 2002 17:53 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

IFPI (International Federation of the Phonografic Industry) Norway

Spellemannprisen 2002

nominations for Norway's music awards:

Oseberg Kulturhus, Tønsberg
22.februar 2003

De nominerte til Spellemannprisen 2002

Viser
ELIAS AKSELSEN "Hjemlandsklokker" VIA MUSIC
KARI BREMNES "11 Ubesvarte Anrop" KIRKELIG KULTURVERKSTED
ODD BØRRETZEN
og LARS MARTIN MYHRE "Kelner!" TYLDEN & CO
BJØRN EIDSVÅG "Tålt" PETROLEUM/SONY MUSIC
VAMP "Månemannen" MAJORSTUDIO

Rock
AI PHOENIX "Lean That Way Forever" RACING JUNIOR
GLUECIFER "Basement Apes" SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
JR EWING "Ride Paranoia" PRIMITIVE RECORDS
MADRUGADA "Grit" VIRGIN RECORDS
VIDAR VANG "Rodeo" CAPITOL RECORDS

Metal
IMMORTAL "Sons Of Northern Darkness" NUCLEAR BLAST
RED HARVEST "Sick Transit Gloria Mundi" NOCTURNAL ART PRODUCTIONS
SATYRICON "Volcano" CAPITOL RECORDS

Hip-Hop
APOLLO "Mine Damer og Herrer" UNIVERSAL
EQUICEZ "Live From Pass It" PASS IT RECORDS
PAPERBOYS "No Cure For Life" BONNIER AMIGO MUSIC NORWAY

Popsolist
THOMAS DYBDAHL "…That Great October Sound" CCAP
MARIA MENA "Another Phase" SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
MARIA SOLHEIM "Behind Closed Doors" KIRKELIG KULTURVERKSTED

Popgruppe
DADAFON "Visitor" VIA MUSIC
EPHEMERA "Balloons And Champagne" EPHEMERA RECORDS
MINOR MAJORITY "If I Told You, You Were Beautiful" BIG DIPPER RECORDS
POPIUM "Permanently High" MUSIC NETWORK
THE MARGARETS "What Kept You?" UNIVERSAL

Elektronika
BIOSPHERE "Shenzhou" BEATSERVICE RECORDS
KIM HIORTHØY "Melke" SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND
SALVATORE "Tempo" RACING JUNIOR

Årets Nykommer
GÅTE "Jygri" WARNER MUSIC
JIM STÄRK "Ten Songs And Hey Hey" GP
MARIA MENA "Another Phase" SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
THE MARGARETS "What Kept You?" UNIVERSAL
UGRESS "Resound" PORT AZUR

Åpen Klasse
MARI BOINE "Eight Seasons" UNIVERSAL
SIDSEL ENDRESEN
og BUGGE WESSELTOFT "Out Here, In There" JAZZLAND
JAGA JAZZIST "The Stix" WARNER MUSIC
NILS PETTER MOLVÆR "Np3" UNIVERSAL
ULVER "Lyckantropen Themes" VOICES MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT

Jazz
COME SHINE "Do Do That Voodoo" CURLING LEGS
FOOD "Veggie" RUNE GRAMMOFON
VIGLEIK STORAAS "Sub Sonic" CURLING LEGS
HELGE LIEN TRIO "Spiral Circle" DISK UNION
URBAN CONNECTION "French Only" BERGLAND PRODUCTION

Blues
BJØRN BERGE "Illustrated Man" FARMEN
KRISTIN BERGLUND "Where's The Soul Gonna Go" BLUE MOOD PRODUCTION
NORSK UTFLUKT "Det Blå Arret" TYLDEN & CO

Klassisk Musikk
LEIF OVE ANDSNES "Schubert; Pianosonate i A-Dur D959" EMI
GRIEG TRIO "Beethoven/Kaipainen" SIMAX CLASSICS
TRULS MØRK "Grieg Cello Sonata Op.36. String Quartet" EMI

Samtidsmusikk
FRODE HALTLI "Looking On Darkness" GRAPPA MUSIKKFORLAG
TRULS MØRK "Dutilleux" EMI
OSLO STRYKEKVARTETT "The Silver Cord" AURORA RECORDS

Folkemusikk/ Gammaldans
PER ANDERS BUEN GARNÅS "Åleine" NYRENNING
ANNBJØRG LIEN "Aliens Alive" GRAPPA MUSIKKFORLAG
ØYONN GROVEN MYHREN
og ODD NORDSTOGA "Nivelkinn" HEILO

Danseorkester
CAN DANCE "Vårslepp" TYLDEN & CO
DÆNSEBÆNDET "Får Vi Lov?" TYLDEN & CO
GLUNTAN "Flaks" GM PRODUKSJONER

Barneplater
ØYVIND GRAVDAL
og PETTER MOEN "Lyriaka" MOGRA BARNEKULTUR
IVAR NEERGAARD, "Mulle Miktor" BERGEN RECORDS
NRK BARN "UHU! Vol. 2" EGMONT SERIEFORLAGET

Årets Låt
"Forever Not Yours" fremført av A-HA, tekst Morten Harket og Ole Sverre Olsen, melodi Magne Furuholmen og Morten Harket.
"Mysteriet Deg" fremført av BJØRN EIDSVÅG, tekst og melodi Bjørn Eidsvåg.
"My Lullaby" fremført av MARIA MENA, tekst og melodi Maria Mena.
"Barcelona" fremført av PAPERBOYS m.MADCON, tekst og melodi Kake, Vinni, Kaprikorn og Critics.
"Remind Me" fremført av RöYKSOPP, skrevet av Svein Berge, Torbjørn Brundtland og Erlend Øye.
Musikkvideoprisen 2002:
A-HA "Lifelines" Warner Music Norway
KAIZERS ORCHESTRA "Mann Mot Mann" Farmen
RALPH MYERZ & THE JACK HEERON BAND "Nikita" Tuba
RÖYKSOPP "Remind Me" Virgin Records
TUNGTVANN "Hold Kjeft" Capitol Records

Also see
Music Information Centre Norway for the latest news on music from Norway.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 20:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Metal
IMMORTAL "Sons Of Northern Darkness"
RED HARVEST "Sick Transit Gloria Mundi"
SATYRICON "Volcano"

(i.e., the obvious winner and two random crap albums to make it seem like a competition)

― Siegbran (eofor), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 23:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Your not on the Judging committee then, Siegbran ? All 3 albums made it on to the Terrorizer end of year poll.

What is the obvious winner?

What was overlooked? from Norway - Madder Mortem?

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 00:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Anyone, know what does Åpen Klasse refer to?

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 00:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Isn't Sondre Lerche getting a lot of buzz right about now?

― Kim (Kim), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 00:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Your not on the Judging committee then, Siegbran ?

Ha! If only...

Anyway, the obvious winner is Immortal. OK, I'm exaggerating a bit, the Red Harvest one is actually quite decent, but "Volcano" is hopelessly weak, even by Satyricon's already low standards. Sons Of Northern Darkness is just in a whole different league than the two others. I can't really say much has been overlooked, it's just that the times when 20+ great metal albums were produced in Norway each year are long past, and it's obvious we'll have to make do with these.

Åpen Klasse = "open class", apparently "any genre not covered by the other categories", I guess...

― Siegbran (eofor), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 00:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Sondre Lerche - yes picking up praise in US, UK and rest of Europe. However the album was released in Norway in 2001, therefore no mention in the 2002 awards.

according to the Music Information Centre Norway - a new Sondre Lerche album is on the way 2003.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 01:01 (twenty-three years ago)

What about Arcturus?

― man, Wednesday, 8 January 2003 14:45 (twenty-three years ago)

four weeks pass...

Read an interesting article on the music coming out of Norway now. Anyone heard any St. Thomas. Pretty good, I reckon.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 14:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Kings of Convenience are very good. I like Erlend Øye's electronic solo album as well.

― codotusylv, Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:26 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

POPIUM "Permanently High" MUSIC NETWORK
THE MARGARETS "What Kept You?" UNIVERSAL

And here is when some of the best Norwegian music was finally mentioned. And only in a quote, sadly...

(The Margarets didn't win either, which they would have deserved...)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 10 April 2003 23:52 (twenty-three years ago)

St Thomas is wonderful.

That is all.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Friday, 11 April 2003 08:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I like St Thomas-I LOVE Norway. hence the handle, obv.

Don't forget Mortiis!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Friday, 11 April 2003 09:01 (twenty-three years ago)

St. Thomas, anyway, is the ultimate proof that a Norwegian artist doesn't to have a perfect English pronounciation to have fans outside Norway. :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 11 April 2003 16:27 (twenty-three years ago)

And let's not forget Mr. Sweden, Hideki Kaji, Japan's biggest Norwaphile.

― Mary (Mary), Friday, 11 April 2003 16:56 (twenty-three years ago)

The White Birch is also great.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Norwaphile! Great word, Mary!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

My wife is 100% Norwegian, I'm a Norwaphile.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Norwegens ?
They're ok but a little too norwegencentric, if you get my drift. They're a bit like the irish. You never hear people writing about the great german writer , blah blah. But always hear people saying the great irish writer james joyce or the great norwegen writer...blah blah. Thats the impression i get. Small countries who have spent much too much time talking to each other about how cool they are... ;-)
Homogenous populations go stale very quickly.
Still Motorphyscho rocks.

― kevin brady (groeuvre), Thursday, 17 April 2003 08:46 (twenty-two years ago)

They're ok but a little too norwegencentric, if you get my drift. They're a bit like the irish. You never hear people writing about the great german writer , blah blah. But always hear people saying the great irish writer james joyce or the great norwegen writer...blah blah. Thats the impression i get. Small countries who have spent much too much time talking to each other about how cool they are... ;-)

Your impression is quite spot on.
I have heard that all non-Norwegian travel handbook stress that foreigner visiting Norway should tell the population here how beautiful everything is, and a lot of other positive things about Norway. :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:41 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

I just heard Maria Solheim's 'The snow has killed' on the radio. It made me feel all Christmasy.

"It’s Christmas time and you’re hurting me again"

― Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.mariasolheim.com/images/frontside2.jpg

I'm sure we had a chair covered in this fabric in the 70s.

― Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Dokkers er alle gay - OK, takk, hej

― Baaderonixxx le Jeune (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

six years pass...

One of my fave radio shows played these Norwegian bands in a row yesterday:

The Megaphone Thrift - The Undertow (Decay Decoy)
The Low Frequency in Stereo - Big City Light (The Last Temptation of the Low Frequency in Stereo)
The Hero Cycle - Lover's Crime (Lakes and Ponds)

I haven't really paid attention to the scene there in a number of years. Are there some good compilation(s) to give me an idea what's rocking the underground in Norway?

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 24 March 2011 01:03 (fifteen years ago)

don't have an answer to your q but the megaphonic thrift are one of my favourite new bands right now. the album is goood.

― ˆ°ᴥ°ˆ (electricsound), Thursday, 24 March 2011 01:04 (fifteen years ago)

the idea of living in darkness for 3 months on end would piss me off after just 2 days.

I suppose that is part of the reason why 90 per cent of Norway's population lives in Southern Norway.

Not very familiar with neither Megaphonic Thrift, Low Frequency In Stereo nor The Hero Cycle. The latter I haven't even heard of actually.

― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Thursday, 24 March 2011 01:06 (fifteen years ago)

the megaphonic thrift are one of my favourite new bands right now. the album is goood.

Yeah, I dug the Myspace samples enough to grab it, looking forward to a proper listen. Nice to find exciting underground rock out there!

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 24 March 2011 01:55 (fifteen years ago)

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