The Copenhagen Report is a great place to start any artistic exploration of the Danish capital. Tim Anderson is one of Denmark's most prolific bloggers, with an archive well worth flicking through - The Guardian
At the beginning of the year, I received an email from the producer of a web-tv show called My Denmark TV (http://www.mydenmarktv.com) asking if I was interesting in promoting the show on my blog. This was the first I'd heard about the show, which first began in May 2009. I suggested we meet to discuss possibilities for co-operating together.
This quickly lead to me agreeing to join the team at My Denmark TV as a co-host and editor of the show. As the show is entirely self-financed with no sponsors or advertisers supporting it, this is just a 'fun' project. However, there are several facets of the show which made the decision to accept this new role an easy one for me to make.
First and foremost, I enjoy working with fascinating and inspiring people, which this team certainly is. What they have accomplished in a few short months since the show first launched, with the absolute minimum of resources, is amazing.
Secondly, the production quality of the show is superb given the resource constraints, which for me is absolutely crucial if a project like this is to be taken seriously, and ultimately have long term success. There is no question that the production and editorial quality of the show is exactly where it needs to be in this area.
Thirdly, my strengths are on the editorial and content side, something that a show of this nature can never have too much of. On top of this working with video is something I have been interested in doing more with for the past several months - so it's not at all surprising to me that an opportunity like this should come along.
And finally, to my knowledge this is the only English-language web tv show coming out of Denmark, which means the potential for future development, reaching an audience inside of Denmark and around the globe, and further developing the show and website, is enormous.
Working on camera is something brand new for me - so I face a steep learning curve. I've taped a few segments of the show already, the first of them where I am briefly introduced as a new co-host of the show is now up on the show's website ...of you can click below to watch it.
I'll be putting episodes of the show up on my blog each week, but for more info, or to sign up for a weekly email reminder when the show is released each week, click over to www.mydenmarktv.com.
I would suggest that if you only had 22 minutes to watch TV each weekday, and perhaps even listen to the news, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart might be about the best way to spend that time. Living in Copenhagen, one never has available quite the full range of American TV shows available to watch (which doesn't mean you're necessarily missing much), luckily The Daily Show is one that happens to be broadcast twice daily in Denmark, on DR2 (or you can just click over to www.thedailyshow.com to see a streamed version of every episode).
This past week has been one of the most memorable weeks in the shows history, as Jon Stewart has unflinchingly targeted his satirical guns at CNBC, the cheerleading and often mindless 24-hour American financial network, for 'missing' the fact that the market had become wildly overinflated, which included the stock valuation of countless companies. This attack by Jon Stewart in turn prompted Jim Cramer, host of one of CNBC's popular shows, to lamely fight back, which lead to an invitation to appear on The Daily Show on Thursday.
For anyone with a passing interest in journalism, have a look as Jon Stewart pulls off his comedian facade to give a little lesson in how to give a hard-hitting, uncompromising interview. It's quite a piece of work - a true moment of zen.
And if you did happen to catch the show and see Thursdays episode, it's worth taking a second view of the full, unedited version of the Jim Cramer interview (embedded below), which The Daily Show posted on their website.
Upon discovering that Transglobal Underground, one of the (many, many) favourite bands of The Copenhagen Report, was coming to Copenhagen for a show on Nov. 13, we got in touch with Tim Whelan, the band's leader, keyboard and guitar player, to find out in advance of the show about what they've been up to lately. But if you've never heard Transglobal Underground, it's a chance to check out their full-throttle live performance, which never disappoints...
It's great to see the band showing up in Denmark (and Sweden) for a few shows. You could say the shows from the current tour have been pretty scattered around - how does the band decide where to tour these days?
Most of the time we've been playing where the album has been released.....and it hasn't been released in Scandinavia so we haven't played there for 2 years up till the current invitation to play with Valravn.
TGU has been persistent over the years - a good things for fans of the band. How has the focus of the bank changed over the years, and how would you describe it at present?
We've tended to move between the more dance side of what we do....DJing, soundsytems etc, studio production work, and the live band. At the moment we're concentrating on the live band, up till the end of this year at least. There's been a big revival of small festivals in the UK, which has been important for us. We also have a DVD out with interviews and a lot of live footage, which is something people have been asking for for a while. It's hard to explain what we're all about without seeing it happen live in front of your eyes.
The line-up of TGU is always evolving, giving each album it's own personality, with different influences. Tell us about the current line-up and its influence on the sound of the band - both on-stage and on the current album?
The line-up coming to Denmark is Tuup on vocals and percussion......singer, MC, poet, storyteller and around TGU since the early days; Krupa on vocals, who's worked with One Giant Leap, Sista India and made her recorded debut with TGU on 'Moonshout'; Sheema Mukherjee on sitar and bass.....the best British born sitarist going and well known in her own right in the UK; Hamid ManTu on drums who also does much of the programming work; Rav on dhol and tabla who we kidnap from his normal weekend work on the club and bhangra scene from time to time; and myself on machines and guitar.
There's 3 or 4 others involved in the current touring group from time to time, but in general we try to stick to a six piece band
Personally one of my favourite tracks from 'Moonshout' is 'Spice Garden' just because it has so much emotion and it's so different from pretty much anything else I can think of from the back catalogue (of course, finding 2 similar TGU songs isn't exactly easy...). How did that song come to be?
A few years back we worked with the legendary vocalist Yanka Rupkina and the Trio Bulgarka in Sofia. 2 songs we recorded with them came out on our previous album 'Impossible Broadcasting' but Yanka also sang a solo piece over a very sparse backing we'd recorded. It took us a couple of years to find the right atmosphere for it; after that the instrumentation was recorded very quickly.
Can you pick a couple of favourites songs from the current album? And how about all-time favourites?
Well everyone in the groups got their own favourites and they change at different times! Right now mine would be 'Mera Jhumka' and 'Mag ak Ndaw'
How did the Alex Kasiek/Tim Whelan alter ego (among others, I suppose) come to exist?
Since in the early days of TGU there was no line-up, a number of names were invented and different people used different names at different times. Alex Kasiek turned up so often in these days that he turned into a real person and now lives in retirement in the Bohemian countryside, with several years supply of beer and sausage and a large unfriendly dog.
Any future plans beyond the current album and gigs?
We have some great remixes of 'Dancehall Operator' coming out in January on vinyl and mp3.
To close the interview: I was recently asked a question about Copenhagen as a city that I'll rephrase and re-direct to you in a different form: If TGU was a person, how would you describe them?
A big friendly giant.
Thanks to Tim Whelan for taking the time to answer our questions. Transglobal Underground play Kulturhus in Islands Brygge on Sunday, Nov. 13. Tickets 140 kr+service charges at www.billetnet.dk.
One of the best deals out there for a night of entertainment happens on a Friday night at Tivoli Gardens - the amusement park in the center of Copenhagen. Well, not just any Friday, but some of them. In case you live in Copenhagen, but under a rock, every week Tivoli hosts a Friday concert ("Fridagsrock") series, where for the price of admission you get a 'free' open air concert. And every now and then a major international act turns up - such as this past week - along with plenty of worthwhile Scandinavian names the rest of the weeks. Admittedly, not every one of them is exactly worth the price of admission, and there are times when Tivoli's lousy sound system can be problematic. But if you get yourself into the right position, and the band has decent sound guys, it can be pretty damn good.
This past Friday The Flaming Lips rolled into town and played a Friday concert at Tivoli. It was an impressive performance, to say the least, as The Flaming Lips take their stage show pretty seriously...well, sort of. Maybe seriously is the wrong word for a band that plays a nearly 2 hour show with a bunch of Teletubbies dancing along beside them. Yes, Yoshimi Battled the Pink Robots. Do you realize? Enough said.
On Thursday, the annual Copenhagen Distortion Festival hits Nørrebro. Last year it was a great evening, with the police even cooperating and closing down some streets to traffic until extremely late in the evening (as the music played on...). Tomorrow threatens to be even better - the weather looks to be just perfect, and the Festival gets more and more word of mouth and media attention every year. And it's good. Always. If you're into this sort of thing, at least occasionally.
On Friday the festival hits Vesterbro, and then on Saturday is the Final party. But there's something about a mid-week party that can be a welcome relief, even if only once in a while. And the area around Sankt Hans Torv is just the right size to have an intimately massive little happening.
In light of the ongoing Natfilm Festival 2008, here is the shortest of posts, one with only two purposes:
1. A little cinema tip: For those visiting Copenhagen (or brand new to the city) and looking for a cinema with a bit of character and an above average programme, Grand Teater would not be a bad place to start.
2. For looking for one and only one film to see this year at the Natfilm Festival, might I suggest Honeydripper. A beautiful film sure to put a smile on your face. And still one more showing at this year's festival. Grand: Let the show begin...
The annual Copenhagen nightfilm festival is back - having started last Friday. The Natfilm Festival is a fantastic 10 days of lesser-known films from around the world and it's another outstanding line-up this year. A quick skim through the program turns up a plenty of choice not a lot of time - with most films only showing a couple times and around 25 to 30 films showing each day around town, it's just not possible to see everything you might wish to.
the old-school charm of Posthus Teatret One thing that is always great, is the chance to watch films in smaller theater's that one doesn't always frequent - for example, Husets Biograf, (or my personal favourite) the tiny family-run Posthus Teatret (entrance pictured), which is down in the center of town and only open on special occasions. It's a one room theater that hasn't changed much in 35 years. What it misses in modern comforts, it more than makes up for in charm - which it simply oozes. Nothing better than grabbing a beer or glass of wine at the bar, taking 3 steps over to your (padded wooden) seat (or if you're quick, grab one of the front row couches...), then settling in for the show.
A short time back I wrote a short entry bemoaning the fact that Swan Lee, one of the best Danish bands to be found, split up (it happend a couple years back) while another even more known Danish band that mercifully split up some years back announced they were getting back together. Well, the mystery about what alluring Swan Lee lead singer Pernille Rosendahl would do next is no longer.
The answer is The Storm, a project with her boyfriend Johan Wohlert (former bass player from Mew, another popular Danish band). I think I can follow her boyfriend's motives in leaving Mew, because frankly if I was waking up beside Pernille Rosendahl everyday, I'm sure wouldn't be too keen on getting out of bed each morning, and I certainly wouldn't be keen on touring around Europe without her. So perhaps it was a clever move...
The Storm has a Myspace site, www.myspace/thestormdk with one decent sounding track called 'Drops in the Ocean', and a few announced gigs - including one at Store Vega in Copenhagen in April. We'll see what comes next...
So out doing a bit of bar-hopping/bar-crawling or whatever you want to call it on Saturday, I ended up grabbing a magazine that caught my attention as I was ordering a beer at Jolene on Sorgenfrigade in Nørrebro (an intentionally kitsch funny kind of place - DJ and an acceptable selection of beer - which I was kind of thankful closed at midnight not because I'm getting old and wanted to go home (I didn't) but because it was a decent evening and an alright vibe but the night was kinda going nowhere and when Jolene's closed it obviously forced us to go someplace else and we otherwise may not have since it was kinda shitty weather outside and we were kinda comfortable sitting there on Jolene's couch).
Anyway, this morning when I woke up I found this magazine stuffed into my jacket pocket waiting for me so I got to flipping through it to be pleasantly surprised. There's not so many Copenhagen mags out there that are written in English, especially ones actually worth reading (actually, there are basically none that I know of...) which is kind of a shame not only for me (well, I can manage to read Danish with effort and patience and a dictionary) but because I think Copenhagen has a lot to offer but it's kinda hard to show all this stuff to the world even though a lot of it should be and it does get written about but there's often no English translation available. So that's why I grabbed this one. An edgy city mag that digs into the counterculture of Copenhagen is always welcome, especially written in English.
Bitchslap is it's name. It's chalk-full of pleasingly scruffy writing, pixel-perfect images complemented by top-notch design and production making it a juicy little piece of work and one quite aptly named. Amateur journalism often is the most invigorating to read when done right.
In the case of issue 7, which happens to be the issue that I got ahold of (they're all available at www.bitchslapmag.com), I'd go as far as saying one article about Simon Strange, the vice-cultural major of Copenhagen (who happens to be 26 and seems to get the essence of what punchy politics can do for a city) deserves an award in itself for worthwhile journalism. And besides offering a fascinating little profile of Simon, the article in itself is a nice little bitchslap to complainers who don't bother to actually get off the couch.
So call me a (new) fan and check it out yourself if you want to see a picture of Copenhagen that is bang on but that you'll never hear about in the tourist 'literature'...
This years line-up for the annual Roskilde Festival is looking pretty good. It's likely not the best ever, but it's pretty solid. A nice mix of the tried and true alongside the untested and new. And with the release of the daily program yesterday, the final countdown is now on.
Myself, I've seen The Red Hot Chilli Peppers (outstanding performance), Bjork (memorable) and Basement Jaxx (great to dance along to) performing at Roskilde before. This year among the biggest names, The Who should be a treat, and perhaps the Beastie Boys, as well. The two I'm most anticipating are The Killers and The Sounds. Arcade Fire (from my home country Canada) should be very good along with Trentemøller (to throw in a bit of Danish content).
And there are plenty of diversity amongst the lesser-knowns, which suggests plenty of potential to surprise, which is generally what separates the good Festivals from the great ones. Pleasant surprises always happen wandering from concert to concert.
Oh, and the Roskilde Festival also happens to be sold out (once again). That's 75,000 tickets, I believe. So if you want to go and you haven't got your ticket already, well, you're probably going to have to be creative to get one (or fork over a lot of money). If you're determined enough, there's always a way to get there for free. There's something like 10,000 volunteers doing a variety of job - from glorious to gruesome - the general agreement is for you work 3 x 8 hour shifts, and for that get into the festival for free. The range of jobs I've known people to have run from being the mc introducing the bands on one of the stages (what more could you want?) to cleaning washrooms (yes, I'd sooner pay for the ticket twice over...). Stage security at one of the smaller stages is also a good one, and the classic (and perhaps most common) job of working at one of the take-out stands is never a bad deal.
And the best thing of all about going to Roskilde Festival, aside from the music, is avoiding that horrible feeling of regret that tends to hit the week of the festival when Copenhagen's bars and clubs become oddly quiet. And plenty of grubby but excited individuals with backpacks and boomboxes can be seen at the train stations all across Copenhagen.
The Nørrebro street party that knew no end... Though I missed most of the Distortion Festival (summerhouse trip...), I made it out to a pretty cool Distortion evening in Nørrebro on the second evening. Thank goodness I did.
It turned into a true street party, a real happening (as Isabel from Eyes Wide Shut put it perfectly - Isabel, whom I just last week had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out on Thursday at Distortion, writes some great stuff over at her blog and takes fantastic pictures that tend to put mine to shame). She has some great pics from Thursday on her blog, quite unlike crappy ones I managed on my phone...
the sound of street music...
So I'll add my own two cents kroner. It's stuff like the collective planned events and semi-planned happenings that make the Distortion Festival the one-of-a-kind event that is is, and this sort of stuff is also precisely what make Copenhagen such a great place to live, because it is precisely this that sets the city a lifetime apart from most other more staid and conservative places. It's this esoteric ability that enough people in Denmark seem to understand, about what makes a great vibe and how to create it - and they are actually permitted to do so. It makes all the difference. I've written about it before (for example here).
On Thursday the Distortion street party in Nørrebro was supposed to end at midnight. However the Copenhagen police, in a remarkable show of sensitivity (that they don't always show in other situations when it is surely called for), opted to simply close the street to traffic, where it all was happening, after a while. And the shop responsible for the music (who did a fantastic job all night) decided to keep it pumping way past the time it was supposed to end, which was midnight, and so the street party went on to around 3AM. They also opted to keep on selling beer...
There was also the Official Distortion Party Bus, well worth a mention here. Whoever the f&*king genius was who found the busdriver for that one (pictured below), give them a good hardy pat on the back (and maybe a raise and a key to the city). Too f*%king perfect.
So on we hopped, not knowing where it would take us (which proved to be just around the corner to the next party - but it was just so much more fun then walking ever would have been, anyway). Onboard, music blared, people danced, and beer was drank. I can assure you that if such a thing ever was to occur in my home and native land of Canada, the bus would have been immediately impounded and the organizers arrested (yes, another answer snippet from the often posed question 'why did you choose to live in Denmark instead of Canada?'). But this is Denmark, a more sensible place, at least in relation to these sorts of issues.
I've seen it happen again and again over the years in Copenhagen. It's actually possible to create a public, or semi-public, event with spirit by actually allowing it to take on a life of it's own as it's happening - which is true in so relatively few places in the world. Because all too often, when something cool starts happening, it is forced to end prematurely for one silly reason or another.
See, because spirit is not a tangible thing, those who don't get it should never be in charge of staging events - and they definitely shouldn't be in charge of regulating them. Fortunately, such people have been kept well away from the Distortion Festival in Copenhagen.
A happy Distortion street partier indulging in the unofficial food of the Distortion Festival - the schwarma.
How many times do I have to say it: I love midweek concerts.
Balkan Beat Box arrived on stage at Rust in Copenhagen last Wednesday evening (taking a route straight through the packed crowd as they played the first song of the evening, pounding away on drums and saxophones). It certainly set the tone for the show.
I'm a bit late with the review on this one, so I'll just keep in brief by saying a couple things.
Firstly, check out their myspace page for an idea of what they're all about, but be warned the tracks you'll here there sound rather tame and hardly representative of the unwavering on-stage energy these guys put out for the entire duration of their performance. I for one didn't stop moving the entire show.
Secondly, when you notice that the band's sound guy - an individual who has surely watched countless performances of the same songs - just can't stop bouncing along with the band, well, you know that this is a band that's got something special to offer.
no shortage of street level promotion around town...
It's become something of an annual institution in Copenhagen, The Distortion Festival. A 5-day extravaganza of fantastic underground electronic music. And it all starts tomorrow evening.
It's also a classy demonstration (clothed in wonderfully trashy garmets) of just how to keep what has now (after 9 years) become a gigantic, hyped and much-talked about annual festival, as uncommercialised and underground as possible.
The formula remains pretty simple. While the promotional efforts are fairly intense, the line-up can never be accused of being even the slightest bit mainstream. During the festival each year, no venue gets used more then once, and each night, the events of that evening are concentrated into a different area of Copenhagen.
I've had some excellent Distortion evenings evenings over the years - one of the best was three years ago at Halvandet, which I mention as this year, this also happens to be the venue for Distortion's big Saturday night party. That's promising.
And I'm looking forward to wandering around Nørrebro on Thursday night to check out the local Distortion events of the evening - just a short stroll from my flat. I'm sure they'll be some good stuff...
'These Danes don't really know how to dance to this, do they?' 'No, but they are smiling and cheering...'
This past weekend, as each year on this final weekend of May, come rain or shine the Copenhagen Karnival happens at Faelledparken in Østerbro.
Now let's be straight about things - Copenhagen ain't, has never been, and will never be, Rio De Janeiro. Because Denmark just ain't Brazil. Maybe that's why they spell carnival with a 'K' in Copenhagen. But for a brief 48 hours, here in Copenhagen, a bunch of people try really hard to simulate something akin to the carnival atmosphere from some latin country. Which is no easy feat. So obviously the result, well okay, it doesn't quite compare, but given the latitude and longitude coordinates of Denmark, well, it's not such a bad attempt.
maybe to cold for shorts and t-shirts, but still fun to see for a short while...
I've been to quite a number of carnival's Karnival's over the years in Copenhagen. They don't really change that much from year to year, but they are fun to wander around for a while. Because it's one of the rare moments when you will find vast numbers of people of diverse nationalities coming out and having fun. It creates an excellent spirit. These are people whom, frankly, you rarely see (at least in such numbers) on the streets of Copenhagen (which is really a shame). In fact, I am amazed each year during the Karnival to discover that Copenhagen actually has such a volume of diverse nationalities.
As for what actually happens at the Karnival - the entertainment - well, there's always a bunch of Latin American and African inspired dancing, drumming, singing and so forth performed by a bunch of people who, by in large, have no direct descendants from any of these areas of the world.
one, two, three, four, bang, bang, bang...come on white boys!!
There's also all the typical low-tech, mobile entertainment you would expect to find - nearly unwinnable games with cheap prizes that in themselves barely justify the cost of playing. Bumper cars, spinning rides and so forth. And lot's of simple and not terribly heathly, but rather tasty food. Especially if you happen to have had a big night of drinking the night previous...
'And would you like them with ice cream and sugar?' 'But of course!!'
And dancing. It's pretty much the only event in Copenhagen, and perhaps Denmark, where you will see families and kids just dancing for the sake of dancing around in public, rather uninhibited.
'Let's dance!'
'hello there!' It's a lot of sights and sounds that one just doesn't come across during day to day life here in the city. Except for this one weekend each year. Which is the main reason why most years I normally try drop by for an hour or two when it is happening, just as I did this year.
Now that I've got my own tickets safely in hand before the show sells out (and I highly suspect it will), I think it's a good time to mention that Modest Mouse is playing at Vega in Copenhagen June 13. These guys are definitely well worth seeing. It's kind of a shame they didn't wait a couple weeks and just play at the Roskilde Festival instead, but no matter, I'll cough up the dough to go see them anyway.
Check out their myspace page for some songs from their current album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank.
And here's the funky little video for 'Float On', from their previous album. It's a song I really love, though I think I'd have to single out 'Black Cadillacs' as my favourite on that album. Their newest albums seems to be standing the test of time fairly well, as well...
sorry, only grainy mobile phone pics once again...
The guys from Komponent struck again on Friday night (May 11), booking The Books, the fantastic guitar/cello duo of Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto from New York.
These two guys know how to put a song together. Their music is a series of beautiful and emotional guitar/electric cello pieces, complete with vocals and plenty lots of electronic effects. The result is an original, distinct and compelling sound which quickly hooks the listener.
Moreover, what Paul and Nick really know how to do is put together a stunning performance befitting of their songs.
Each and every song is complimented by a purposefully created visual presentation that Paul and Nick have created, synced to the music - the guys queue the videos themselves at the start of each song. Filled with vibrant themes created using an assortment of random video images, old home videos and computer graphics, each one of them powerfully transformed the accompanying song into something more akin to a sort moving painting with sound. And each video oozes a certain joy of life.
The result is a feeling that you are witnessing, right in front of your eyes, a force being tapped into that is far greater than the sum of the visible parts. And you are invited to partake in whatever it is. A rare feeling, indeed.
There are few greater pleasures then happening upon a fantastic band whom you have never heard of previously. As I had overlooked the Komenent mail in my inbox at the end of last week, it took a last minute SMS from a friend to get me to the show. Ironically, I managed to arrive at Lab in Vesterbro where the event was staged before those whom I was to join - and by the time they arrived all tickets had sold out. Which meant they themselves couldn't get in. Now that's injustice.
The Books audio/visual performance leaves a lasting impact - it's not at all one that fades from memory shortly after you leave the concert.
The Sounds - struttin' their stuff at Vega in Copenhagen
As I've mentionned before, there is nothing better than having a good, loud, guitar driven rock band to watch in the middle of the work week to liven things up a bit.
Last night at Vega in Copenhagen, a fairly excitable crowd witnessed an outstanding performance by The Sounds, from Sweden, and Under The Influence of Giants, from California.
In a way, the concert was something of a throwback. A true rock 'n roll show.
Both bands have evidently earned Master's degrees at the University of Rock 'n roll (or are well on their way to doing so), with the stage presence of the lead singer in each band more than worthy of the moniker 'rock star'. If any of the numerous performers who could be counted among the Gods of Rock had witnessed last nights performances - one of those performers who has wandered through the hallowed halls of rock 'n roll stardom - they would have surely nodded their heads approvingly. And when The Sounds lead singer Maja Ivarsson - one of those lead singers who really is quite easy on the eyes - started stage diving, well really, what more could you ask for?
I would happily check either of these bands out again, next time they come around. And particularly in the case of The Sounds, given they are from the country just across the channel, I'm sure they will.
One very positive thing that can be said about living in Copenhagen is one is generally spoilt for choice when it comes to non-Hollywood films on offer. Cinemateket plays several films each day from around the world, 6 days a week. Besides that, there are several annual film festivals that take place in Copenhagen.
At the moment with the 2007 Night Film Festival in full swing - running until April 1, well, there's so much good stuff playing that it's almost impossible to choose on some days.
Full or Empty at the Nat film festival 2007 - an outstanding film from Iran
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