Scandinavian Pop
165 articles
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
THINGS WERE so bad in Scandinavia, an MM reader there informed us some months ago, that Abba were regarded as a progressive rock band. ...
Profile by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, December 1976
AT FIRST glance, Abba appears on the horizon as A Bunch of Beautiful Aryans. Others, less generous, label their rise to prominence as Another Banal ...
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977
On the eve of Abba's British live debut, Harry Doherty looks at the reasons for their amazing success — and asks the rock biz for ...
Interview by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 14 July 1977
TO STIG Anderson, it's a familiar story. "I've seen it all a hundred times," says Abba's business manager, record company president and lyricist. "First, we ...
ABBA: The Phenomenal Swedes Have Yet to Conquer America
Profile by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 May 1978
FREQUENTLY dismissed as vapid and sterile, Abba may well be the world's most popular rock band currently, but the Swedish quartet clearly has a ways ...
Wigwam: Dark Album; Jim Pembroke: Corporal Cauliflowers Mental Function
Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 5 August 1978
OUTSIDE THE range of rock's organised trendy-treats industry, alien settlements and sentiments remain. Resolved. ...
ABBA: Voulez Vous (Epic Epc 86) *****
Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 12 May 1979
Fall fan's strange Abbaration ...
Report by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 19 May 1979
THE NEW WAVE OF BRITISH HEAVY METAL: FIRST IN AN OCCASIONAL SERIES BY DEAF BARTON ...
Report and Interview by Jim Farber, Rolling Stone, 15 November 1979
First U.S. tour ever ...
Live Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 17 November 1979
Breathe in that clean Swedish mountain air... and chew that high quality gum ...
Abba: Super Trouper (Atlantic SD 16023)
Review by Steven X Rea, High Fidelity, February 1981
OF THE four things Sweden is most famous for — blondes, clogs, suicides and Abba — Abba is certainly the most curious. Curious because of ...
Profile and Interview by Lindsay Hutton, Sounds, 7 April 1984
THE NOMADS hail from Sweden. Since their conception in early 1980, playing mostly Stooges covers, they've put out two 7" singles and a 12" mini ...
A-ha: A Day in the Life of A-ha
Report and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 1 January 1986
Fireworks, gold discs, spots, a lot of snogging, an interview in a pub, a TV-am film crew and two very nosey people from Smash Hits... ...
Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 25 October 1986
HERE THEY are again. Norway's finest and the group who cleaned up after the chart fragmentation of Culture Club, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran, a-ha ...
A-ha: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Richard Cook, Sounds, 3 January 1987
TEENYBOP'S REDEEMERS ...
The Leather Nun: The Vikings Are Coming
Interview by Neil Perry, Sounds, 9 May 1987
THE LEATHER NUN are going to rape your houses and pillage your women. NEIL PERRY looks forward to the event. ...
The Sugarcubes: Sweet Sensation
Interview by Robin Gibson, Sounds, 12 September 1987
Out of anarcho-punk stars Kukl come THE SUGARCUBES — the sweet taste of a bitter pop sound. ROBIN GIBSON is impressed by the Icelandic cool ...
The Sugarcubes, The Very Things: The Very Things/The Sugarcubes: Camden Workers Social Club, London
Live Review by Jane Solanas, New Musical Express, 17 October 1987
IT WAS A pretty respectable turnout considering that the Camden Workers Social Club is hardly a familiar location for gigs. ...
Report and Interview by Sylvia Patterson, Smash Hits, April 1988
Why are lots of "journalists" and "jugglers" waiting to get on a train to go and see A-ha playing live? Sylvia Patterson "investigates"... ...
The Sugarcubes: First Love Last Rites
Interview by Robin Gibson, Sounds, 7 May 1988
The ink fresh on a US record deal, and their debut LP, Life's Too Good, just out, the big money beckons for resolute indie artists ...
The Sugarcubes: Astoria, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 23 May 1988
WITH FRAIL old people packing out Wembley and the charts stuffed with the dross that even Eurovision couldn't stomach (yobbish novelty records, the pitiable Wet ...
The Sugarcubes: Astoria, London
Live Review by Keith Cameron, Sounds, 28 May 1988
BJÖRK AND EINAR'S LAUGHTER SHOW ...
Björk, The Sugarcubes: Rock From Reykjavik: Behold Bjork and her Sugarcubes
Interview by Gerrie Lim, Exposure, September 1988
THEY COME FROM a land of ice and snow, where volcanic peaks and photogenic glaciers surround settlements given to fish factories and sundry cottage industries, ...
The Sugarcubes: Iceland's "Little People" Make a Big Noise
Interview by Amy Linden, Musician, October 1988
THE SUGARCUBES are not only a new band, and a very good band, but they are probably (no, let us make that definitely) the only ...
The Sugarcubes: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Icecubes from Sugarland
Interview by Mat Snow, Sounds, 10 December 1988
Paying the price of fame and fortune, The Sugarcubes have talked and I smiled themselves through a seemingly endless round of interviews and gigs. Now ...
The Sugarcubes: Sugarcubes: Yule Never Björk Alone
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988
THE SUGARCUBES' BID FOR WORLD DOMINATION IS ALMOST COMPLETE. FOR CHRISTMAS THEY'LL BE RETURNING HOME TO ICELAND TO START RECORDING THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE LIFE'S ...
The Sugarcubes: Reykjavik, Iceland
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 26 August 1989
ICE CREAM ...
The Sugarcubes: The Art of Contradiction
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989
IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE CHRIS ROBERTS FIRST HEARD 'BIRTHDAY' AND PLUCKED BJÖRK AND CO FROM OBSCURITY. NOW THEY'RE THE SUCCESS STORY OF THE DECADE, ...
Roxette: Oh no! Hide your hairspray, mother! It's... Roxette!
Profile and Interview by Siân Pattenden, Smash Hits, 27 June 1990
They may look like two solemn foreign persons with debatable hairdos but ROXETTE are, in fact, incredibly rich and famous pop heroes across the globe. ...
A-Ha Have the Last Laugh on the Teeny Tag
Profile and Interview by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 14 December 1990
Groups come and go in a flash but the boys from Norway seem to have staying power. Lucy O'Brien reports ...
808 State, Björk: 808 State plus Björk: Lido, Reykjavik
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 23 February 1991
CUBIK ICELANDIK ...
808 State, Björk: Björk & 808 State: In Yer Glacier!
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 23 March 1991
I love the smell of God's farts in the morning... It smells of Reykjavik to me! Deep in the Icelandic countryside, surrounded by vile-smelling sulphur ...
Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, July 1991
Guilty pleasures are the best kind ...
The Sugarcubes: Still Crazy after all these Beers
Report and Interview by Bruce Dessau, Vox, February 1992
IF IT'S 4.30 on a Friday afternoon, it must he Reykjavik. Actually, it turns out to be Keflavik, 40 minutes away from Iceland's capital city ...
The Sugarcubes: Joyriders On The Storm
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 1 February 1992
"The shock of the renewed" is how ANDREW MUELLER magnificently greets Stick Around For Joy, The 'Cubes' return to the forefront of the fray. Hang ...
The Sugarcubes: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 March 1992
HIT THE NORTH ATLANTIC ...
The Sugarcubes: Nordic By Nature
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 28 March 1992
Hamsters of the gods, inventors of hip hop, Phil Collins fans extraordinaire… life's still too good for reality on the planet of The Sugarcubes. Stephen ...
ABBA: The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra Plays ABBA Classic (Atlantic)
Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 16 April 1992
IT'D BE REAL easy to make fun of this one. But think about it: It was ABBA, after all, that most successfully turned postrock pop ...
ABBA, Bjorn Again: ABBA: The High Priests of Euro-naff
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 September 1992
The sateen-flared Swedes are back again. Caroline Sullivan on Abba — The Revival ...
Interview by Simon Witter, The Sunday Times Magazine, 21 February 1993
A brief interview piece from early '93, just before her album Debut came out. Nobody, least of all her, had any idea how huge it ...
ABBA: Why ABBA Can Never Return
Interview by Mal Peachey, Mail On Sunday, 23 May 1993
EXCLUSIVE: EUROPE'S POP VETERAN SITS BACK AND WATCHES HIS CHILDREN WATCH HIM ON TV Mal Peachey on a legend that will not be Björn again ...
Review by Tom Graves, Rolling Stone, 2 September 1993
MONTHS BEFORE the Sugar Cubes' first album debuted in the United States, a heavy buzz began to circulate about the group's lead singer, Björk. ...
Interview by Graham Reid, Vox, April 1994
From earthquakes in LA to cyclones Down Under, wherever Björk walks, mesmerized crowds and natural disasters follow ...
Ace Of Base: The Sign (Arista)
Review by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 21 April 1994
AS FAR AS I can remember, 'All That She Wants' by Ace of Base is the only hit single ever to talk about a lady ...
Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, September 1994
A new remix album and video? The perfect excuse for a celebratory night of rock'n'roll excess with Queen B. ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Ray Gun, May 1995
HER HOUSE IS set back from the street, on a wide avenue in Maida Vale. A pair of imposing, wrought iron security gates shield it ...
Report and Interview by Craig McLean, The Face, June 1995
Two years ago Björk drove herself into the nation's hearts with Debut. Now she's back with a new LP that's even stranger and more compelling. ...
Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 1995
The Voice of Future Past ...
Boyzone, Whigfield: Grand, London
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 14 June 1995
Quick, nurse the screams ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 24 June 1995
NOW HERE'S what you know about Björk. She's tiny, elfin, mad as a rabbit, childish, arty, trendy and Icelandic. ...
Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1995
ICELAND, OR Lydvelid Island to give it its native name, is the westernmost state of Europe. It is a land of magnificent geo-physical architecture; three ...
Live Review by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 1 September 1995
Britpop may be bland, but the Reading Festival shows we are over the dark days of last year ...
Björk, Goldie: Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 3 November 1995
Björk Plays to Her Strengths With Reflective, Lyrical Style ...
The Cardigans: Swedish of the Day
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 2 December 1995
If you like St Etienne, Stereolab and Dubstar, you'll love THE CARDIGANS, Sweden's leading sugar-pop weirdos. SIMON PRICE hails their happysad music. ...
Ace Of Base: The Bridge (London 529 655)
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 8 December 1995
THEY MAY have sold 19 million copies of their debut album, Happy Nation, but the Swedish boy-girl quartet is still a long way from justifying ...
Ace Of Base: The Bridge (Arista)
Review by J.D. Considine, Spin, February 1996
IF EVER A group appeared to consist entirely of shiny, happy people, it's Ace of Base. Simply looking at them is enough to give most ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 14 September 1996
BEACHED WAILS ...
The Cardigans: First Band On The Moon (Mercury) ****
Review by Jason Cohen, Rolling Stone, 14 November 1996
IN THIS WORLD of cookie-cutter,post-alternative bands, the Cardigans are fueled by a deep and abiding faith in novelty. ...
Daft Punk: Homework (Virgin CDV 2821 £14.99)
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 17 January 1997
ONE OF the intriguing side effects of the techno revolution is the way it has re-trained the ears of the pop market to accept instrumental ...
ABBA: Welcome to the Palindrome
Review by Nick Hornby, MOJO, June 1997
Reissues: Their entire oeuvre freshly silvered, remastered and mid-priced. RING RING/ WATERLOO/ ABBA/ ARRIVAL/ THE ALBUM/ VOULEZ VOUS/ SUPER TROOPER/ THE VISITORS/ ABBA LIVE Agnetha, ...
Björk: Homogenic (Elektra) ***½
Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 21 September 1997
Björk's Quirks Give Way to a Enchanting Vision ...
Review by James Hunter, Spin, October 1997
THE SINGER throws up lyrics about pursuit and desertion. A snare drum lightly skips across a series of bass pinpoints, an organic foundation unthinkable before ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, May 1999
Here a full transcript of the interview conducted with Bjorn Ulvaeus for a MOJO feature published in 1999 to mark the opening of Mamma Mia!. ...
Sigur Rós: This Week's Best New Band is... SIGUR RÓS
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 10 November 1999
STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL SOUNDSCAPES ...
Sigur Ros: The Band at the Edge of the World
Interview by Andrew Mueller, The Face, December 1999
Sigur Ros have a singer who sounds like a whale. Their lyrics are in a secret language. And they want to perfume the world with ...
Sigur Rós: Haskolabio, Reykjavik, Iceland
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 1 December 1999
IT'S A sound that feels like it's been travelling through the universe for a million long, lonely years. It starts somewhere in the middle distance, ...
Sigur Ros: Iceland's Magical Visionaries
Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 January 2000
ASK PARENTS on Iceland's northernmost shore, and they'll say the kids are alright when Sigur Ros arrive. Their trademark mix of gently persuasive confidence, humble ...
The Wannadies: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Keith Cameron, The Guardian, 20 January 2000
THE OLD ADAGE says that a pop song is only truly popular once postmen are heard whistling it, but the approbation of bar staff isn't ...
Report and Interview by Amy Linden, Vibe, May 2000
In the urban global village, SWEDEN is holding its own — pumping out some of today's most popular chart-topping teen R&B tunes and boasting its ...
Björk: SelmaSongs (One Little Indian TPLP1 51 CD)
Review by David Toop, The Wire, November 2000
THE FIRST admission to make is that I haven't yet seen Lars Von Trier's Dancer In The Dark, the film that stars Björk and features ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, 'Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music', 2001
Benny Andersson, b. 16 December 1946, Stockholm, Sweden; Agnetha Fältskog, b. 5 April 1950, Jönköping; Anni-Frid Lyngstad, b. 15 November 1945, Björkasen, Norway; Björn Ulvaeus, ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
Magne Foruholmen, b. 1 November 1962, Norway; Morten Harket, b. 14 September 1959, Norway; Pal Waaktar, b. 6 September 1963, Oslo ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
Per Gessle, b. 12 February 1959, Halmstad, Sweden; Marie Fredriksson, b. 29 May 1958, Halmstad ...
Sigur Rós: Desolation Angels: Icelandic music
Report and Interview by Rob Young, The Wire, January 2001
Spearheaded by Sigur Rós, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and the Kitchen Motors collective, Iceland’s hardy children of nature are proving stubbornly resistant to the World Rock ...
Sigur Rós: Incoming: Sigur Rós
Profile and Interview by Craig McLean, Spin, January 2001
IT COULD BE said that the Icelandic quartet Sigur Rós are slightly weird. ...
Interview by David Toop, Rock's Backpages audio, 5 March 2001
Björk talks about making Vespertine, her working process and how much she reveals herself; about storytelling and relationships, abstraction versus narrative, nature and technology, fantasy and reality; about her vocal progress from Homogenic to Vespertine... and about having dinner with David Attenborough.
File format: mp3; file size: 69.8mb, interview length: 1h 12' 45" sound quality: ****
Sigur Ros: So good they make you vomit
Report and Interview by Andrew Smith, The Observer, 15 April 2001
ON THE OTHER side of the door is a sprawling south London estate gathered round an old factory turned business park, as oppressive an environment ...
Björk: The Last Great Pop Star
Interview by Nick Coleman, The Independent, 9 August 2001
She thumps reporters, wears funny clothes and thinks she was born in the wrong century. Now she's made an album about her kitchen. Nick Coleman ...
Björk: Alone in the Dark: Björk on Vespertine
Interview by David Toop, The Wire, September 2001
Björk's eerie night songs are infused with the mythological landscapes of her native Iceland and the concrete fjords of Manhattan. She tells David Toop about ...
Björk: Radio City Music Hall, NYC
Live Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 5 October 2001
IT'S RARE WHEN a pop star is also a prophet. The awesomeness possessed by those few who transcend celebrity to enter the echelons of cult ...
The Soundtrack of Our Lives: Welcome to the Infant Freebase
Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 8 October 2001
FIRST, I'D LIKE to devote a little time to talking about schizophrenia. There are those who toss the word around often, especially those whachamacalit academic ...
Sigur Rós: Cool Band from a Cool Place
Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, Daily Telegraph, 10 2002
THE MUSIC OF Iceland has a presence on the world stage that far outstrips its influence as a country, a phenomenon of which the country's ...
The Hives: Modesty is a virtue... but not in a band
Profile and Interview by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 27 January 2002
IF YOU'VE BEEN to the cinema recently, you may have choked on your popcorn while being confronted with the sight of Kylie Minogue riding a ...
The Hives: Junction, Cambridge
Live Review by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 10 February 2002
The Hives put on a fine imitation of garage rock. And the garage is where it would be best appreciated ...
Sigur Ros & Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson: Odin's Raven Magic
Preview by John Lewis, Barbican show programme, 21 April 2002
• Sigur Ros, Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson and Steindor Andersen with the London Sinfonietta and members of The Sixteen Choir • Music composed by Sigur Ros and ...
The Hives: Could this cocksure Swedish pop-punk quintet be the new Strokes?
Report and Interview by Toby Manning, Blender, June 2002
DESPITE THEIR immaculate black-and-white shirt-tie-and-shoes ensemble, Swedish garage-rockers the Hives have a disconcerting habit of stripping in front of strangers. ...
Live Review by Ian Watson, Yahoo! Music, September 2002
YOU OFTEN hear the invisible when you go to see Sigur Ros live. As the bowed white noise fades into an eerie serenity or the ...
Interview by Will Hermes, Spin, March 2003
Do you suffer from skammdegispunglyndi? For many Icelanders, the cure for this brand of wintertime depression — in addition to drinking — is making weird ...
Sondre Lerche: Bowery Ballroom, New York
Live Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 24 June 2003
SONDRE LERCHE is a tease. He'll pause dramatically in the midst of a song to give the audience a mischievous wink, inciting us to squeal ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Word, July 2003
"I LOVE HIM, I love him, I love him, I love him/ This time, I'm gonna keep it to myself." Björk is swaying as she ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, July 2003
Success came swiftly for Röyksopp, their smart, guileless electronic pop becoming ubiquitous on high-earning TV soundtracks. But this doesn't sit comfortably with a complex Norwegian morality. "We're ...
Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 9 April 2004
As you might expect, there isn't a big rock scene in the farthest reaches of rural Norway. But Madrugada are more than making up for ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 9 April 2004
Can Helsinki's brand of retro rock conquer our charts? ...
Björk: "This Time It's Intuition Only – No Brain, Please"
Interview by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 14 August 2004
Icelandic singer Björk has made a compelling new album that contains not a single musical instrument and is named after the Latin for 'marrow'. Robert ...
Interview by Martin Aston, MOJO, November 2004
"Elfish Icelandic pixie" Björk made her first LP at 11, then dived into Crass-approved "existentialist punk jazz". Now, fresh from playing to four billion people, ...
Turbonegro: Clowns Of Evil Go on the Rampage
Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Observer Music Monthly, May 2005
THE STREETS OF Hamburg are awash with piss and broken bottles and cock-eyed sailor boys with queer intentions. A two thousand-strong army of Turbonegro fans ...
Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 28 August 2005
SIGUR ROS aren't big on putting what they do into words: this, after all, is the band who called their most recent album ( ), ...
Review by Will Hermes, Spin, October 2005
Proof that there's an Icelandic word for uplift — and we can't pronounce it ...
Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, November 2005
IN 2005, there are few cooler pop names to drop than a-ha. Coldplay and Travis are not just avowed fans but sometime collaborators with the ...
The Knife: A Curious Exoticism
Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Daily Telegraph, 13 April 2006
YOU MIGHT NOT have heard of the Swedish brother-sister duo the Knife, but there's a fair chance you've heard their music. ...
Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 15 September 2006
SWEDEN'S INDIE BANDS are invading the UK, armed only with talent, style, ambition and government grants. Time to surrender, says Jude Rogers ...
ABBA: Arrival (Deluxe Edition)
Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, October 2006
'DANCING QUEEN', 'Fernando', 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' and 'Money, Money, Money' – these four tracks all belong at the top of the list of ABBA's ...
ABBA: ABBA – The Album (Deluxe Edition)
Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, October 2007
AS CAREER trajectories for top-level pop groups go, certain aspects of the ABBA story could almost serve as a textbook example. "The first tentative steps", ...
The Raveonettes: Good Things Come To Those Who Wait
Interview by Ken Scrudato, SOMA, February 2008
THEY WERE a glorious sight, appearing gorgeously on the horizon. Modern day Vikings, they came from the land of Hamlet, pastry and strikingly progressive politics ...
Interview by Jude Rogers, The Lipster, March 2008
BACK IN OCTOBER last year, in the misty early days of The Lipster, I e-mailed Björk's publicist, telling him about the plans for our website, ...
Annika Norlin, Hello Saferide: Modern Stories from Östersund: Annika Norlin
Interview by Lindsay Hutton, Rock's Backpages, December 2008
YOU MAY NOT be familiar with Annika Norlin's name yet but I hope that one of these days you will be. The organic rise of ...
Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 2009
Robyn's fronting on mighty pop moments such as 'Konichiwa Bitches', 'U Should Know Better' and 'Criminal Intent' have projected the Swedish star as a bad-ass ...
Review by Graeme Thomson, The Observer, 15 March 2009
IT'S 2009, AND everything has been stripped bare: assets, confidence, reputations, lives. ...
Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 26 March 2009
• Fever Ray is Karin Dreijer Andersson, who found fame as one half of Swedish electronic duo the Knife alongside her brother Olof Dreijer. ...
Robyn, Röyksopp: "There's This Idea That You're An Oddball, Far Up At The Top Of The World"
Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 5 June 2009
Love songs to robots, cement-mixer music, trios with houses on their shoulders… No wonder Scandinavian artists get noticed. Jude Rogers kicks off our Scandipop special ...
The Cardigans, The Concretes, Fever Ray: Sweden: State-sponsored Rock Valhalla
Overview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 24 July 2009
IN POP MUSIC at least, Britain still imagines it rules the world. The Beatles, Kinks, Bowie and Blur are looked on as an unassailable heritage ...
a-ha: Even Better than Spinal Tap
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, September 2009
FOR 25 YEARS, Norway's pop gods have harboured a deep, dark secret that even the most dedicated News Of The World smut-sleuth would never have ...
Britten Sinfonia, Efterklang, Jaga Jazzist: Efterklang: The Barbican, London
Preview by John L. Walters, Barbican Show Programme, 28 October 2009
Programme notes for Barbican Hall performance of ...
Jenny Hval, rockettothesky: Jenny & the Jets: The Musical Universe of Rockettothesky
Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 12 January 2010
Rockettothesky's Jenny Hval may have made little impact outside of Scandinavia, but that needs to change. According to Wyndham Wallace, she's one of the most ...
Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, May 2010
The lead singer of Sigur Ros, Jón "Jónsi" Þór Birgisson talks to John Lewis about David Attenborough, Bing Crosby and getting shitfaced in advance of ...
ABBA: A Matter Of Blood, Sweat And Tears: ABBA's Voulez-Vous (Deluxe Edition)
Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, 31 May 2010
HINDSIGHT IS A wonderful thing. When studying the track list of compilation albums such as ABBA Gold, or perusing chart statistics, it is easy to ...
Review by David Hepworth, The Word, July 2010
HEY, THIS IS a first. I'm reviewing this record on an InterCity train. I've accessed it via Spotify and been able to put it — ...
Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 19 July 2010
"DON'T FUCKIN' tell me what to do," chants reformed teen-pop prodigy Robyn. No worry, girl, things are under control. ...
Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, 6 August 2010
A DOUBLE CD celebrating the retirement, after 25 years, of what was once dismissed as a little more than a prototype Norwegian boy band seems ...
Report and Interview by John Lewis, German Wings, October 2010
ICELAND MAY be bankrupt, its population might be fleeing the country and its volcanoes bringing the world to a standstill. But they can still produce ...
Overview by John Doran, Drowned in Sound, 22 October 2010
THIS LIST HAS been designed to upset you. It's not a best of Norwegian metal. It doesn't offer a comprehensive guide to any Norwegian genre ...
ABBA: Expanding the boundaries: The making of Super Trouper
Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, May 2011
FOR A BAND whose music has sometimes been described as being born out of the long dark hours of the Scandinavian winter period, it may ...
Björk: Is Björk the last great pop innovator?
Comment by Simon Reynolds, The Guardian, 4 July 2011
EARLIER THIS YEAR I interviewed Amanda Brown of cult band LA Vampires and was surprised when she announced that "every day I wake up and ...
Björk Brings Her Biophilia Concert Extravaganza to Iceland
Live Review by Kieron Tyler, Billboard, 13 October 2011
REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Two days after the release of Biophilia, her new multi-platform project, Iceland's foremost sonic auteur Björk took the stage in her hometown ...
Björk: A New Map to Björk's Music
Report and Interview by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 18 October 2011
IT'S A SAD IRONY: The digitization of music has impoverished the average listening experience. Not only do compressed files sound meagre compared to the sonic ...
Loney, Dear: "I Love Crying": Loney Dear's Lovely, Lonely World
Profile and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 17 November 2011
Emil Svanängen's sixth album has just been released to quiet but universal acclaim, yet still he's not happy. Wyndham Wallace explores the intimate, ingenuous universe ...
Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, Boston Herald, 6 December 2011
YES, OH LAND is her real name – sort of. "My friends and family call me Nanna and I would like it to stay that ...
Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, May 2012
IF THE RELEASE of Sigur Rós' last studio album, Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, led people to fear that the band's days crafting ...
Sigur Ros: Valtari (Parlophone)
Review by John Lewis, Metro, May 2012
WHEN LEAD singer Jónsi Birgisson apologised that Sigur Rós's recent albums had been "too joyous, too festive", he must have momentarily convinced himself that he ...
Report and Interview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 19 May 2012
SIGUR ROS vanished four years ago. In their absence the band who are, after Bjork, Iceland's biggest musical export, saw their atmospheric music, with singer ...
Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, November 2012
WHEN HANS-PETER Lindstrøm released Six Cups Of Rebel earlier this year, fans of the Norwegian producer might have wondered what they were putting in the ...
ABBA: Really Doing Something: The Making of the ABBA album
Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, November 2012
WHAT WOULD you do if you were a Swedish band who had just won the Eurovision Song Contest, a victory that resulted in the first ...
Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 19 November 2012
IN APRIL 1975, ABBA were worried that the heady days were over. 'Waterloo', their song about one girl's surrender in the battle of love, had ...
Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), December 2012
IT'S TRUE: drinking to excess really does makes you rich and famous. The temperance movement might shake their heads in despair, but for Icona Pop's ...
Björk: Thrall of Sound: An Elemental Conversation With Björk
Interview by Ken Scrudato, Filter, 7 January 2013
"They only live who dare." ...
Björk: Still underestimated after all these years
Comment by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, 3 September 2013
Ben Thompson salutes the maverick Icelander's cunning, as she prepares to play her most recent album, Biophilia, in London for the first time. ...
ABBA: Ring Ring (Deluxe Edition)
Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Records, October 2013
The First Step: The Making Of The Ring Ring Album ...
Neneh Cherry Talks Her Weird Punk-Pop-Jazz Trajectory, and the New Blank Project
Interview by Richard Gehr, Spin, 24 February 2014
A JAZZ EXPERIMENTALIST in her teens and a pop star in her twenties, Neneh Cherry has enjoyed a career unlike any other singer of her ...
Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, March 2014
Heavy sorrow and the revealing light of Los Angeles combine on the third album from emotional Swede. ...
ABBA: Reaching Out: The making of Waterloo
Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Records, April 2014
THE DATE IS April 6, 1974, and the scene is backstage at the Dome in Brighton, England, the spectacular building hosting the BBC's production of ...
Obituary by Bill Brewster, The Guardian, 1 April 2014
Trailblazing American record producer and club DJ hailed as the Godfather of House ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 5 May 2014
ON HER TWO previous albums, Youth Novels and Wounded Rhymes, Li perfected a strain of forensically intense Scandi-pop that majored in brooding atmospherics, glacial synths ...
Lykke Li: Village Underground, London
Live Review by Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk, 9 May 2014
A bold night of new songs from Sweden's sorrowful singer-songwriter ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, November 2014
ABBA NEVER REALLY wanted to bother with performing live at all. They would have preferred to be a studio band, a bit like Steely Dan, ...
Björk: Vulnicura (One Little Indian)
Review by Frances Morgan, The Wire, March 2015
The grand drama of the latest Björk album reveals command of texture and mood as her survival mechanism. ...
Björk: Manchester International Festival
Live Review by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 5 July 2015
Despite basing her show around heartbreak, Björk was clearly having fun, says Rob Hughes. ...
A-ha: Their Valuable Hunting Life: The Rocky Road to A-Ha's Hunting High & Low
Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 22 September 2015
Thirty years after a-Ha unveiled their debut, Hunting High & Low – and as they release a new album, Cast In Steel – Wyndham Wallace ...
Björk on Iceland: "We don't go to church, we go for a walk"
Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 16 November 2015
Björk used to walk across the tundra singing at the top of her lungs. John Grant left America for its rocky grandeur and Sigur Rós's ...
Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, The Independent, 25 January 2016
JUST WHEN WE thought we didn't have any more space in our life for 21st century Denmarkia, along comes another slice of Danish. This time, ...
A-ha: The Highs and Lows of being a-ha
Retrospective and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Financial Times, 18 March 2016
How many farewell tours can one band have? Magne Furuholmen talks about stardom, group therapy — and why his music is more than just fluff. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 March 2016
LUKAS GRAHAM FORCHHAMMER, to give this Danish songwriter/frontman his full name, has scored the biggest hit of 2016 so far with '7 Years'. ...
A-ha's Morten Harket: "I'm not an entertainer, I'm an engager"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 May 2016
The A-ha frontman talks longevity, Kierkegaard, Uriah Heep, why John Barry rubbed A-ha up the wrong way, and the problem with large breasts ...
Interview by Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk, 15 October 2016
The Danish singer-songwriter opens up about her third album Citizen of Glass ...
Retrospective by David Burke, Classic Pop, December 2016
WE CAN TALK about the ephemeral magic of pop music. About the quick fix, the instant buzz, about getting off or becoming blissed out on ...
Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now (Heavenly)
Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, February 2017
OVER THE course of five albums, Sweden's Jens Lekman has established himself as a worthy successor to the likes of Jonathan Richman, Edwyn Collins and ...
John Grant's North Atlantic Flux festival, Hull
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 3 May 2017
The American singer-songwriter played a rapturously received selection of barbed ballads at his own boutique festival. ...
Susanne Sundfør: FjordFlyt, Hov, Norway
Live Review by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, September 2017
Norway's singer of siren songs unveils her new album aboard a raft on a fjord. By Kieron Tyler ...
First Aid Kit: MOJO Working: First Aid Kit
Report and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, November 2017
Sweden's Soderberg sisters return, with electric guitar, more keyboards, members of Midlake and Wilco, and Peter Buck. ...
Report by Carl Magnus Palm, MOJO, July 2018
Abba authority Carl Magnus Palm examines their shock reformation. Plus! Benny on the tape archive. ...
Interview by Henry Yates, Classic Rock, December 2018
The Europe frontman on football, politics and his band's hard road to credibility… ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 20 November 2019
IS IT A concert, theatre or an avant-garde work of art? A futuristic, flute lovers' nature show, perhaps, with heavenly Icelandic choir, multiple environmental warnings ...
Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 4 October 2020
Co-producer AG Cook strips back Jónsi's first album in a decade to a clever mix of crunchy electronica and floating vocals. ...
Annie: Dark Hearts (Annie Melody)
Review by David Bennun, Metro, 22 October 2020
HEY ANNIE – well, look at you. ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, February 2023
"I CAN'T believe it," sang the Who in A Quick One. "Do my eyes deceive me?" ...
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