Birds sometimes dance

One of the most beautiful pearls of Norwegian indie pop finally shines again! And what better way to celebrate their 7-year anniversary than by naming the album name Long Live Herr Nilsson? Apart from dancing, I can’t think of a thing.

The Ruby Suns have found their place in the music scene with their masterful pop melodies and has been with us for almost half a decade now. However, this third album is a departure from the sound we know them for. It will be interesting to see if this departure is an evolution into pop gods or demons.

I’ve been looking forward  to this. I loved their EP, a great debut, and I’ve only heard good word about their liveshows, so this seems very promising. If they follow the chain of other good norwegian debuts this and last year, this is probably going to be a great album, but were my expectations to high?

Sometimes, an album can be really hard to review. Moddi’s Floriography is an album that really overwhelmed me. Usually it takes me a few days, at most a week to make up my mind and get my thoughts down in words. It’s been a few weeks now, but I think this is the kind of album that needed those weeks.

You know, when the three first songs of a record kicks ass, while the rest of the album is weaker. Well, it’s often like that, but not the case on Ancient Asobi / In Arcadia. It starts great with “Narcoleptic Highway,” “Skull & Bones” and “Jor-El,” songs that have been out for a while, and after that, the greatness continues.

Meet Sjur Lyseid, Oslo’s very own musical alchemist. That is, everything he touches seems to turn into gold. He’s produced about half of the good music that’s come out of this city the last few years and he’s contributed quite a bit in front of the mic as well as behind the levers. This time, the magic is created with his own band Monzano.

Lawrence Arabia is a one-man-show and behind the name there’s a New Zealander by the name of James Milne. And no, believe it or not, he didn’t have anything to do with The Lord of the Rings. I think? I’ll have to check that up.

Vampire Weekend have been a fresh contribution to the music scene with their unique classic and african inspired music. The music world was taken by surprise with their self-titled debut in 2008, which gained broad acclaim followed by many festival appearances. Now, they’ve released a second full-length, and it will be interesting to see if this album is a worthy sophomore effort, or just a rashful effort to cave in on fame to finance a posh dame.

It’s cold now. Really cold. So cold that there’s just one thing that can thoroughly thaw our frozen bodies; ukulele pop. It’s most likely a sound you associate more with summertime, but honestly, don’t we need it more right now?