The Copenhagen Report

I'm a big fan of Tina Dickow - I'd go as far as saying she is one of my favourite Danish musicians. Her songs tend to grab you after a couple of listens ...and then you just can't get it out of your head. Sometimes the first listen gives you completely the wrong impression, because her melodies are so often so simple, yet they are incredible and powerful - it just takes a couple listens for them to sink in.

She recently debuted her new song "Copenhagen" on Anders Lund Madsen's 'Det Nye Talkshow'. I have to admit I thought the lyrics were a bit cheesey the first time I heard them, but after seeing a few friends linking to the clip I gave it a second listen ...and there you have it again, her songs inevitably grab you.

And hey, it's about my beloved Copenhagen!

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The impossibly seductive Pernille Rosendahl (and Co.), live at Vega on Thursday evening, concluding a month long tour around Denmark.

There's always a risk of having to listen to a lot of not so great-filler whenever a band with only one album is headlining a show, but The Storm didn't waste anytime moving firmly from one solid track to the next from their excellent debut album during their high-energy show on Thursday. I certainly wouldn't hestitate to plunk down my cash to see them again in the future.

The Storm features a bit heavier sound than the now-defunct Swan Lee, but there's no denying Pernill Rosendahl is one hell of a talented singer - and they are a pretty decent songwriting duo as well, with the promise of more to come. Let's hope so.

by: Timothy Anderson (timothyanderson2005@gmail.com)

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.

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.


Yoshima battles the pink robots...


Do you realize?

Okay, this post comes a bit late but who cares (as I mentioned recently, too much sun these days to be posting very regularly). So the annual Eurovision Song Contest (or 'Melodi Grand Pris' in Danish) has come and gone. No 'Fly on the Wings of Love' this year for Denmark, the song that won it a few years back for this country.

But I did really enjoy the French entry this year, which a friend pointed me to (it also didn't win). This is actually a very non-Eurovision song, by a very cool non-Eurovision artist, who made a great non-Eurovision style video for the song.

Sebestien Tellier's Divine - enjoy! (I still am...)

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...


'The Storm'

This Danish band broke up a couple years ago, and many wondered if they'd lost their minds - and just what the real story was. And many are still waiting for them to figure out that they had a f*%king good thing going and should just get it back together. Really, they're bound to figure this out themselves one day.




Swan Lee live in concert...

This Danish band broke up a few years ago, and everyone (with at least an ounce of musical taste) breathed a sigh of relief. Then they recently announced they were getting back together. What the f*%k? Why? Why?


If you don't know who they are, don't worry. Ignorance really can be bliss.

Mofo Steel at Boutique Lize

Copenhagen has an astounding capacity to genuinely surprise. This is perhaps the biggest strength of the city. Then again, there are quite a few strengths of the place, which I've mentioned in a few articles on this blog in the past.

So wandering along Istedgade last night turned out to be a good choice - in fact, it was something of an instinctive feeling, an intuition you could say, that lead us there. I could almost a little voice in my head at the beginning of the night saying 'even though it's Wednesday night and there's always some interesting music at Cafe Tjili Pop on Wednesday, skip it and go out in Vesterbro tonight instead!'.

I don't know what went on at Tjili Pop, but Vesterbro indeed proved quite a more than worthwhile diversion on an otherwise quiet Wednesday night.

The evening began in Boutique Lize (okay, actually it began with a drink at Darling across the street, but it reeeealy began at Boutique Lize). There we discovered, much to our surprise, that a band was playing. This was the first time I'd actually seen a band playing there. In my mind, the place is only a cocktail bar, but apparently they are trying to branch out a bit.

The band very quickly caught our ears - it was a Danish one that we'd never heard of called Mofo Steel.

And what a band they were - 5 fantastic musicians, clearly with a wide range of influences, and a style that would be impossible to pin down to anything other then fantastic songwriting. I can only hope that they keep at it - they're the kind of band you want to see go far - it would otherwise be such a tremendous waste of potential. A extremely tight and immensely talented ensemble from the keyboards (often on the wonderful Hammond organ setting), through the bass player, guitarist, drummer and lead singer.

Their next gig, we found out, is at Loppen in Christiania on Sept. 27 if you're curious. I'm certainly considering checking that one out after what I heard last night. If I was from a record label and had stumbled into last nights show at Boutique Lize unaware, I would have been crapping my pants in excitement at the prospect of the discovery.

But the night was not over.

Following the show, we were wandering along Istedgade discussing where to go next (it was still not even 11) when we heard plenty of noise coming from a little clothing shop called 'Dig' (a shop that I had never noticed before) and people spilling out the door onto the sidewalk. As we discussed whether or not to check it out (of course sheer curiousity would compel us to) I noticed that none other than the suddenly famous (in Denmark) Trentemøller was behind the decks in this tiny place. We wandered in, handed over 20 kroner for a couple glasses of punch (the only drink being served), and proceeded to dance along to frantically energetic Trentemøller DJ-set (accompanied on the decks by another female friend whose name I never found out) for the next 90 minutes. You really can't ask for anything more fantastically spontaneous then that.

Two surprises in one evening - and both within 100 meters of each other. Now that's Copenhagen at it's best.


the sight and sounds of an unexpected street-level party on Istedgade...


the man of the hour - Mr. Trentemøller

The rain may have (basically) stopped after Thursday, but the mud had nowhere to go. Nonetheless, it was a Roskilde Festival worthy of it's somewhat legendary reputation. The big names didn't really disappoint - with the exception of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which I will get to in a moment.

As is always the case, it was the unexpected bands that carried the festival. Because it's these bands that one fills the hours in between the big acts playing at the Orange stage.

This year, I'd highlight 3 in particular that stood out: Nortec Collective from Mexico (a fantastic take on electro music with a mexican twist - 5 guys on laptops, 2 horn players, an accoustic guitar player and an accordian player), Goose from Belgium (pure synthesiser focused energy - non stop bouncing for an hour), and 120 Days from Norway (extended electronic tracks with a deceiving amount of power and energy).


Nortec Collective at the Roskilde Festival

But the guy who arguably stole the show this year was Trentemøller. Coming somewhat out of nowhere in Denmark over the last 18 months, with his live performance at Roskilde on Friday evening, he cemented himself a reputation as a live performer of the highest caliber.

Which brings us to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Watching Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Keidis on screen, with black bags under his eyes, well, he looked rather tired. It was only later that I learned why - it seems the Chili Peppers played 3 shows in 24 hours, first in Paris yesterday evening, then earlier in the day in London, before hopping on a plane and arriving in Copenhagen for their 1 AM show at Roskilde. Sadly, it was their fans in Roskilde - and I am without question one of them - that suffered from this ambitious bit of scheduling on their part.

It was lackluster performance. No, I'm being kind. It was outright shitty and somewhat embarrassing and worse of all, standing watch it, it felt like we were all unwitting victims to some sort of inside joke the band was playing. A joke that went something like, 'if we pretend we are a bunch of teenagers jamming for 2 hours, will 50,000 people still cheer'. The second part of the joke was, 'how few songs can we squeeze into 2 hours'.

Here's how it went:

When they were playing their hits they were fantasic and the crowd was into it. Unfortunately, it was the space between the hits that was the problem. During these times, we were treated to an extended warm-up session. It was painful, being subjected to guitarist John Frusciante's endless guitar-wanking. The band sounded like a bunch of kids trying out instruments in a music shop. It would have been cool if this had a couple times during the show, but it happened between every single song they played. And by the end of the 2 hours, they could have easily played at least 5-6 songs more - and it's not like they have a shortage of songs to play! No question the 50,000 plus people watching would have responded energetically, if they had.

Instead, when the band left stage before the first encore, after feeling kind of like we had been stuck in very slow moving traffic that started in stopped for 2 hours - you'd move a bit, then things would crawl to a stop, and so on for the entire performance - it was a feeble cheer that the crowed mustered before the encore. The encore proved to be another couple guitar wanks, then 'Give it Away' now (again, excellent), followed by another 5 minute guitar wank to end the show (Anothony Keidis having already left the stage by this point).

In retrospect, I realise that the fact they opened the concert with a 3-minute jam session/guitar wank was actually a warning for what was to come.

And I know they can put on a great show. Last time they played Roskilde, they packed their set with pretty much all the biggest hits from their albums.

But as I said, Chili Peppers aside, it was an outstanding festival, especially given the weather conditions. The camping area may have been a sea of mud (that I all but avoided, opting instead to take the bus into Copenhagen each evening to sleep in the comfort of my own bed). You see, at a festival years ago I learned that human beings can live in mud, much to my surprise, and I didn't need a second lesson this year around.

By: Tim Anderson (timothyanderson2005@gmail.com)


That's The Killers, live onstage, if you were wondering...

Yesterday the music started at the Roskilde Festival. And the rain continued. I was there. I will sum it up in some detail below.

Mud mud mud rain rain.

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By the way, The Killers, playing at the outdoor Orange stage, were outstanding in spite of the mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain, mud mud mud rain, rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain mud mud mud rain rain, as were Arcade Fire.



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I can barely wait to get back to Roskilde this evening for more of it.

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.

So much for this weeks show - the Modest Mouse concert at Vega, which was supposed to happen tomorrow night, has been rescheduled to July 2. Just a couple weeks a way, so it certainly could have been much worse. (For instance, when exactly will that Feist concert that was cancelled some time ago, apparently to be rescheduled, reappear on the upcoming shows list...I'm not holding out much hope given her tour schedule on her website is looking pretty full for quite some time.)

Still, discovering that a concert you have been looking forward to has been postponed is always such a disappointment.

Editor's Note (added later): Here's the review from the Copenhagen concert that finally happened. And the Copenhagen Feist concert has now been rescheduled for Oct. 1.

by: Tim Anderson (timothyanderson2005@gmail.com)



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...

Check out http://www.myspace.com/cphdistortion for more info.

by: Tim Anderson (timothyanderson2005@gmail.com)


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 latest video from Denmark's Trentemøller, for his track Moan, can only be described as weirdly fantastic. It also happens to be a brilliant track to boot.

The first time I heard the track, it was at about 4AM in a rather underground club in Berlin some friends and were directed to during a recent visit last month (located not so underground on the 15th floor of an office building...). An appropriate way to be introduced to this one, I can assure you.

Somehow Trentemøller's international stature has grown significantly during 2006, he's still pretty 'local' in Copenhagen, the only difference from past years is that now he does solo shows that sell out, rather than low-key club appearance on keyboards (alongside his DJ buddy Tom Von Rosen).

Enjoy!



Or check out his myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/trentemoeller

I was rather disappointed when I received an email in my inbox today informing me that the Feist concert in Copenhagen tomorrow (that I was supposed to attend) has been cancelled.

Last time Feist played in Copenhagen, she put on a great performance - it was a sold out show at Lille Vega for 300 people of so. This one was supposed to be at Store Vega in front of an even larger (and again sold out) crowd...apparently it will be rescheduled.

About Feist.

Feist is one of those artists that just grows on you. It doesn't take long. She writes brilliant songs that are seductively simple. Her voice is utterly unique and her videos, though relatively simple productions, have this compelling quality about them that just kind of grabs you. Just like her concerts.

My first introduction to Feist was about 3 years ago, one of those seemingly random happy coincidences that occurs from time to time. While passing through Calgary during a visit to Canada in 2004, Feist just happened to be playing a concert in town that night. I'd never heard of her, but a friend we were visiting there was a big Feist fan, and he suggested we go.

As it happened, Feist actually grew up in Calgary, though at that time she was relatively unknown - there and in the rest of Canada. She first gained a measure of popularity in France and England and a few other countries around Europe, before people back in her home country began to catch on to her. So all of this made for an excellent backdrop for an introduction to Feist's music.

Here's her latest video from her new album (The Reminder) for one two three four. It's almost like a dream which fluttered into reality from some deeper subconscious level. It's just so damn uplifting, you gotta smile watching it.



And here's a video from her last album (Let It Die), another catchy song called one evening.

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.

by Tim Anderson (timothyanderson2005@gmail.com)


Ratatat in Copenhagen...

There is pretty much no better way to break up the week a bit then to stick a nice, loud guitar driven concert (preferably with an electronic edge) right in the middle of it. Last night Ratatat, a band straight from none other than New York City, was a perfect fit for the job. And they delivered the goods.

In choosing to play in Copenhagen at Loppen (in Christiania), the guys couldn't have made a better choice. Loppen has a capacity of 200 people, though nobody seemed to be counting last night. There was rather more people then that stuffed into the place.

The sonic boom of Ratatat's rumbling (and remarkably clear) bass sound literally shook the walls and floor at times (and of course whenever enough people start jumping a little bit in Loppen, the place actually moves). But the remarkable wooden beams of Loppen (a common feature of Copenhagen's often ancient architecture) have proven again and again capable of standing the test of time (and a lot of excited people).

Ratatat's music is raw and full of power. It is in your face. You can feel it reverberating through your bones. It gets you moving. Subtle, it certainly is not. It sounds pretty good on CD (or mp3...), but seeing them play live one quickly understands what they are really all about.



Ratatat's songs are essentially an exploration of a distinct and unique style and sound - characterised by a particular set of chords structures, keyboards, elements of distortion and a unmistakeable and kind of wailing harmonic guitar sound. And no vocals.

Listen to a couple songs on Ratatat's MySpace page to get a pretty clear idea of what I'm referring to (or click over to their homepage). And Ratatat are hardly unknown, but they certainly aren't well known either - even if their song Wildcat has been played some 525,000 times on their MySpace page...

Now in art, there is a long tradition of artists choosing to explore certain thematic areas and confining themselves for a while to a (oftentimes surprisingly) limited artistic space within which they let their creativity to wander, rarely venturing outside of it.

To mention a couple random examples, think of the countless water lily paintings of Monet's (inspired by his own back garden). Or perhaps the best example, the pop art of Andy Warhol. In other words, creativity does not necessarily need to be sprawling and ever-shifting to be captivating.

So though the uninitiated may be tempted to level the obvious criticism at Ratatat that their music is prone to a certain and distinct 'sameness' (you could essentially put all the songs from their two studio albums into one big pile), this is what the group is all about (thus far into their career, at least). However, because Ratatat's songs are full of moments of genius and brilliance and are so distinct, in spite of being confined to this specific and fairly narrow sonic space, to accept them for what they are is the most fruitful approach to take.

If anybody had predicted that the cold, snow and bluster of the weather in Copenhagen yesterday would have been enough to keep away the crowds for the Ratatat concert last night at Loppen, it would have been a very wrong prediction, indeed.


a full house in Loppen...


and plenty of snow outside...