A-team of pop music

Norwegian 80-heroes A-ha, is back in the spotlight. The first single from their upcoming album is called “Foot of the mountain”. The album won’t be out until June 2009, but in the meantime you can enjoy the single, which Norwegian tabloid newspapers more or less describe as “epic pop for people in their 40s”. If you haven’t heard the song yet, but find the tune familiar when you do, it’s no big surprise. The band has simply recycled parts of the song «The Longest Night» - from bandmember Magne Furuholmens soloalbum «A Dot of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss». - It’s no biggie, says A-ha. -It happens all the time in the pop music industry.

Norwegian pop-rock comet at Jay Leno

Dagbladet reports that “Fortress around my heart”, the debut album from the Norwegian rocker Ida Maria, was released in the US today. The rumor says that things are going pretty well for Ida Maria “over there”. Music critics seem to like what they hear, and next Friday (24th), TV-viewers across the nation will get to know Ida Maria even better as she is scheduled to appear at Jay Leno.

Her management and label is excited, and with good reason: Her performance at the talkshow may reach out to as much as 5 million viewers. Let’s hope she’ll put on a good show, without breaking any valuables.

Visit Ida Maria: www.idamaria.co.uk

Oslo goes heavy

If you like your music heavy, Øya in Oslo might be the right festival for you this summer. Several heavy bands have already been confirmed to play at the festival, such as the Norwegian metal band Enslaved, and the noise rockers from Årabrot.

Enslaved is one of those band who seems to have been around forever, and they’ve had huge international success with their experimental progressive metal through the last 18 years. In Norway they have been rewarded with several prizes (Alarmprisen and Spellemannsprisen). If you’re visiting Øya this summer, be sure not to miss out on these metal-legends!

Årebrot is an up-and-coming hard hitting rock band from the western part of Norway. Their music may be characterized as an unique mix of noisy rock and extreme metal. If you don’t mind a solid beating to the brain, check out Årebrot!

Visit Øya: Øyafestivalen

5 reasons to fall in love with Swedish music

Are you looking to fall in love this spring? Well, look no further. I have gathered videos from five great Swedish artists who will make your heart skip a beat.

Up and running!

I'm excited to announce that my new blog, NordicNoises.com finally is up and running! For now, it may not look like much, as it will take some time to fill in the various categories of my blog with informative articles, but make sure to check in regularly for the latest updates.

Little person, big music

Laleh is the Swedish artist who will make your heart ache and your lips smile, all at once. Her musical universe is rich, influenced by a variety of musical genres such as folk, reggae, soul and indie. She writes and produces all of her music herself, delivering her lyrics in Swedish, Farsi as well as English.

In 2005 she released her first single "Invisible (my song)" and her second single "Live Tomorrow" made it to the hit charts in both Sweden and Norway. Her second album "Prinsessor" was released in 2006, and brought her several Swedish Grammis-nominations.

As a live performer, Laleh displays a fabulous sense of musical timing and emotional engagement. She is an unbelievable generous artist, charming her audience by sharing details concerning the origins of each song. She also possess a rear ability to  maintain an ironic distance to the sadness in her music. When listening to Laleh, there's a short distance between tears and laughter.

Lalehs latest album Me and Simon is out now.  Be sure to check it out! Find out more about Laleh at official homepage.