Birds sometimes dance

COU is the solo project of Jørgen “Sissyfus” Skjulstad, the.. boss? Guru? I think I’ll go with spiritual leader, of the Oslo-based underground music collective Metronomicon Audio. After finishing an album trilogy about time and space last year, he has now released something you and I both have always wanted, a Levitating Disk!

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.

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.

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?

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.