Birds sometimes dance

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?

With the conclusion that the people who didn’t end up liking them after the previous album wouldn’t change their minds with the next one anyway, Now We’ve Got Members have decided to screw those people and rather make even more obscure music.

Spoon Train Audio are here with another Oslo compilation, showing yet again how much great music the capital’s independent pop scene has to offer. There’s been a lot of talk about Bergen being the musical capitol of Norway, but for every time I play through Oslo 2, it gets clearer and clearer that Oslo really is the capitol of Norway, musically too.

I remember a Facebook group named something like “Since when did Indie Rock refer to pussies afraid of amps?” Here’s a band that should crush such beliefs. Oliver Ackerman and his band aren’t exactly afraid of amps. Just like their first album, this one is full of noise, distortion and fuzz on every level. Even the drums are distorted.

Kråkesølv is the band I’ve been waiting for for a long time now. They are the fresh breath I needed. Their complex songs are sort of a mix of post-rock, 90’s emo (bands like Mineral, The Van Pelts and Cap’n'Jazz, not the newer kind) and contemporary bands like Death Cab For Cutie. Add in some vocals in a Norwegian dialect and you have something really magical.