Nordic Noises

somethingaboutmusic:

SXSW was packed this year, and now some impressive numbers are surfacing.  According information this morning from festival organizers, the number of registered SXSW attendees reached 13,022 for music alone, an 89 percent gain over last year.  The figure does not count the swarm of non-registered attendees, many of whom spent significant amounts of money.  A total of 1,981 bands performed. (from digitalmusicnews.com)

                              

This year, all in all 15 Norwegian bands and artists were represented at SXSW. Alternative rockers Serena Maneesh were one of the bands who flew across the pond to strut their stuff in Texas. Check out this link for an interview with frontman Emil Nikolaisen.

In their 17th year of existence, after having released 3 previous studio albums, of which two have been nominated to Pop Album of the Year in Norway (The Alarm Prize), The Loch Ness Mouse release their major work “New Graffiti”, their most ambitious and also most critically acclaimed album to date.

More demanding and less commercial than its predecessors, the album could be seen as first tryings of leaving a more conventional figurative style for an abstract one,  remaining within pop structures, but still: the artists’ first attempt of mixing elements into something completely new. The album blends organic, band played r’n’b with  jazz, pop hooks and hip-hop hints, flamenco chords and modal jazz melody, inspired by everything from The Roots to Picasso to Coltrane.

(Loch Ness Mouse Official Website)