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Three Love Songs and a Swan Song

– Chamber music to the poetry of W. B. Yeats” will be performed at Asker Litteraturfestival on October 28th 2021.
10 years have passed since the release of “Nine and Fifty Swans – Music to the poetry of W. B. Yeats” – and this project is a small celebration, with a selection rearranged for the ensemble soprano (Amadea Reksterberg), cello (Ingvild Nesdal Sandnes) and classical guitar (Ole Martin Huser-Olsen).

Platemesser vår 2014!

P1030467 FairyMusic er klar for Platemesse-sesong, med 5 titler og tilhørende vinyl (3 nyheter siden sist!)
Tar også med spesialutgivelser disse lørdagene (LTD farget vinyl).
 Rockefeller lørdag 8. april 10.00 – 15.00
 Fredrikstad lørdag 15. april 11.00 – 16.00

Um himinjǫður – out now!

Um huminjǫður

Um himinjǫður: Like previous releases the music exists in a vivid, acoustic soundscape with harmonious cello and mellotron arrangements, beguiling electric guitars, dynamic percussion and enchanting vocal harmonies. The elements stretch from Norse Mythology through Mediterranean instrumentation, to a universal sound picture with a core of Nordic melancholy  – all in a delicate mix of folk, progrock and ambient music.

Out on CD, VINYL and on all digital platforms

So rodde dei fjordan…

Another favourite of mine this summer has been the album “Songs by Geirr Tveitt” by Slagr and vocalist Camilla Granlien. Performed skillfully by Slagr’s musicians (Hardanger fiddle, cello, vibraphone and tuned glasses, that is)  the songs fit beautifully into the open and subtle arrangements of  Sigrun Eng, my long time friend and cellist!

Song by Geirr Tveitt

Geirr Tveitt was from Hardanger in West Norway, where nature and landscape remained an inspiration for him as composer, and gave sound to his characteristic folk influenced tunes. During his years in NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), he composed music to the poems of many a Norwegian poet he presented on his broadcasts. Those works became some of his very best, and a selection is presented on this album.  Don’t miss it, “Songs by Geirr Tveitt” is nothing less than an evocative and wistful piece of Norwegian soul!

More baroque!

I have just been introduced to this wonderful baroque ensemble by my friend Fathi, and it has become a new favorite of mine. The group consists of the irresistible  instruments of lyra, harp, psaltery, lavta, theorbo, cornetto, harpsichord, Mediterraneo-Arpeggiata-cover1-150x150chitarra battente, bass and voices – performed with such precision and feeling- all in the appealing arrangements of Christina Pluhar. The ensemble, which is called L’Arpeggiata, is a gathering if musicians from France, Italy, Greece and Spain, and is presently touring with their new album Mediterraneo. Right now they are actually on their way to Norway, where they will perform on Bergen International Festival.

Mixing of album

This month we’ll start mixing the next album- with Øystein Vesaas at Lydkjøkkenet studio (where A Dance with the Shadows was recorded)!
Without revealing too many secrets, I want to mention the musicians participating on the first part: Edvin Syren (bass), Tonje Ettesvoll (vox), Susanne Fuhr (vox), Jan Tariq Rui-Rahman (vox, flute), Klearchos Korkovelos (tsimpalo), Alexander Stenerud (vox), Sigrun Eng (cello), Nils Einar Vinjor (el.guitars) and myself (on vocals, acoustic guitars, violin, keyboards, drums and percussion). Some known names, some new…

Vernissage

Friday 9th we’ll be playing at Sjur Odden Skjeldal’s vernissage. It will be a  short performance together with other musicians and artists. Doors open at 7 pm. at Perla Mediterranea, Bjerregaardsgt.1, Oslo.

Vidda

..is one of the most spectacular bands I know. I had the pleasure of experiencing them live at their reunion gig in June. The band was formed in 1996, with the particular goal of NOT reaching any audience.  As a consequence of failing this unusual task  -says the band-  they broke up a few years later. Apparently, on this beautiful evening of summer solstice, they hadn’t played live in 14 years, so the expectations were high amongst the midsummer dressed audience. They were to perform the «Evinnelige Viddas Vidunderlighet:  1st & 2nd movement″, the beginning of a composition that will be continued for the rest of their career.

I am not going to describe the evening here, since I find it impossible, and even unfair to the actual event if I should try to do so. But I can reveal that the band guided us to the most extraordinary and hidden corners of our minds – musically and visually – and left us relieved and new afterwards. Just as a true Catharsis ought to do. If you want, you can follow them on Facebook, or dare to have a closer look and listen! Best thing is to show up on their shows.

Spring note!

It has been a while… having focused much on promotion and distribution of the albums lately.  Anyway, we have gotten some nice feedback the last months, and I frequently add them to my Fb Music Page. Cheers and good evening!

Folk – fra Ås

There will be a singer songwriter evening at Ås Kulturhus, with 6 bands and artists performing their songs. We will participate with a small set of 4 songs from the Yeats album, with cello, flute, guitar and vocals.
The doors open at 19.30
Entrance fee 50,-

Record and CD fair!

It is soon time for the seasonal record fair again. As the previous time, we will show up together with Oslo Rockantikvariat (the horseshoe stand around the staircase). I’ll bring everything available from the FairyMusic catalouge (may be a few left of the numbered LPs with signed poster). And: Autumn Whispers’ debut cd, signed by the band! See you on Rockefeller, Oslo, March 10th –  from 10 am to 3 pm.

 

Live!

Yesterday we had our first little showcase at the local library, playing four songs from “Nine and Fifty Swans”. The setting was intimate, with a clear, low-key sound engineering to set the right mood. We played The Fisherman, Before the World was Made, Parting and To a Child Dancing in the Wind with the instrumentation of flute, cello, guitars and two vocals.

Autumn Whispers and Valentine’s Day

February 14th is the day! Autumn Whispers releases the album “Cry of Dereliction” and we will all be surrounded with pink hearts. Meanwhile, please enjoy the video presentation of the album!

The illustrations are made by  Kjersti Kaasen Elvevold, and reflect the contents of each song. I can reveal that the CD cover itself has turned out quite sweet, with a 24 paged booklet and a three folded paper digipack cover. Something to dwell in while you listen through the album. I especially like the image for The Dreamer, a song dedicated to Michael Piper, our friend that passed away in 2008. I like to think that this is the way he will be welcomed, wherever he might be going. The other images are equally deep, sometimes telling a hidden meaning in the song. For instance, what is Sokrates’ beard doing in the song Julia? 😉

Musicians participating are:

Dino Steffens: Acoustic guitar, vocals; Tirill Mohn: Violin, vocals, percussion, nylon string guitar;Liew Ceng Teng: Keyboards; Theodoros Kouelis: Bass guitar, contrabass; Nils Einar Vinjor: Electric guitar; Nick Jones: Drums; Vangelis Kalamaras: Drums; Aleksander Koefoed: Bass guitar; Sigrun Eng: Cello.

The album is available for preorder at autumnwhispers.com

 

 

Happy New Year 2012!

2011 kind of rushed away with the preparations and releases of the three albums. I must admit that there have been some challenges (with deadlines and so), but also much fun! I am very impatient to get ahead with the next one. But wait! There is one more in line before that. The Autumn Whispers’ debut record will be out on February 2012. We are quite excited about it, after many months of recording and preparing. Feel free to have listen at Autumn Whispers MySpace. I will keep you posted about the progression of this release, as well as other things I want to share in the year to come!

Season’s Greetings!

I know this is not the best production – and some of you have heard this arrangement before. But I love this old tune, and I think the recording with its unspeakable low key quality has a kind of charm to it. So here it is, a version of the 16th century traditional tune from England; Autumn Comes.

Platemesse

Saturday 10th of December (soon, oh soon) I will show up together with Oslo Rockantikvariat  (the most charming old record shop in Oslo), at their stand at NORGES CD- OG PLATEMESSE.  I will be signing vinyls and cd’s from 10 am to 4 pm. There will be a nice “førjuls” – discount on the albums this day, which will definitely pay back the 40 kroner entrance fee. AND the hall will be filled with rare and beautiful vinyl and cds for you to explore.

Wanna hold it in your hands?

To give you a feeling of how the cover artworks look like (I am not huge fan of downloading digital albums myself;  I still prefer the physical ones!) The albums are now available at Big Dipper (Torggata Platebar) and Oslo Rockantikvariat – for those of you who live in Oslo and prefer to shop from a real record store. The newest cd is also available for sale at Asker Bibliotek.

Our WEBSHOP is still the solution for internet purchases.

Day of the release..

..is here! And we want to celebrate it with this new video clip. The images are from Coole Park and other places relevant to Yeats’ life and work.  The song is based upon the poem Before the World was Made,  from The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1933).

The web shop is now open for safe and easy purchase of the physical albums! For digital download, Amazon is the first one being on schedule!

We hope that you will enjoy the music!

Tokso

means bow in Greek, and is the name of the string quartet I had the pleasure of listening to a few days ago. The quartet consists of musicians from France, Greece and Norway, playing the traditional instruments nykkelharpe, cello, Cretan lyra and Hardanger fiddle. Together they create an intercultural, yet impressively authentic sound of folk music.

The songs are composed and arranged by the members of the group, and each song has its recognizable signature  from the nationality of the particular songwriter. The band is touring frequently in Europe. If they pop up in your neighborhood, you wouldn’t want to miss them! Tokso

I love baroque music

And this summer I had the pleasure of experiencing two very beautiful baroque performances. The first one was Henry Purcell’s “The Fairy Queen”, a libretto written in 1692 based upon W. Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. It was performed in the most wonderful garden theater at Ramme Gård in Hvitsten. The scenery changed place more than once, and the audience was guided and lured around by a flock of dancing fairies to the appropriate stages. And then there was music! And how beautiful was the sound of original baroque instruments outdoors, in combination with the spacy, elvish sound landscape coming from different amplifiers in the garden. This was certainly taking place on a midsummer night, with warm breeze blowing through the trees and mixing into the sounds of the play, under a quite light evening sky that you only see at this time of year. But whether it was all a dream or not, I am still not quite sure.

 

The second experience was in the beautiful baroque church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the city of Krakow. I don’t know if this baroque architecture was somehow made in order to reflect the sounds of that time, but I have never heard the acoustics of baroque instruments being reflected so well before. It gave a very soft, but still clear sound. Like a mix of velvet and diamonds.

Norway

I would never imagine that my next post would contain of anything related to terror. Most of you have probably heard of the happenings in Norway. It was a very shocking and surprising attack, for all of us. Though, if you were in Oslo right now, you would see a huge amount of people gathering for a peaceful meeting in the city center, and you would see them spreading the word of love, support and openness. Not fear or hate. We would be very grateful for anyone out there who would join and support us in this way towards healing. For everyone involved.

The creation of cover artwork

is as time-consuming as it is funny and creative. At least when you are doing three of them simultaneously! Soon the summer will have passed by like an express train, and all I will remember of it are templates and fonts, pictures and resolutions, calculations and a lot of emails.
I love the summer. But the autumn has it’s own way of sorting things out. I believe that we will be satisfied with the results.

Remix finished!

Parenthesis has made a remix of June’s Flowers, which will appear as one of the bonus tracks on the re release of A Dance with the Shadows. (Now called Tales from Tranquil August Gardens – available on CD, vinyl and MP3 download from October)

The time has come..

..to announce that the release of “Nine and Fifty Swans” will happen this autumn, through my own label FairyMusic. As some of you already know, the CD will contain 10 songs based upon  the lyrics of W.B.Yeats. The cover artwork will have an Irish touch to it, with images from places relevant to Yeats’ life and work. The CD will be available through the web shop to- come on this site,  from October 2011.

There will also be a re release of my previous record “A Dance with the Shadows”, which has been out of stock for several years. It will contain two bonus tracks, new cover and even a new name,  “Tales from Tranquil August Gardens”. The reasons for this change are several, but the most important one is a longing to get back to the original idea of the visual expression of  this album. Time of release will also be this autumn.

Magical Maere

This summer we can expect a beautiful fairytale compilation coming from Germany.  Several  bands from different parts of the world are participating with a music fairytale. You will find more info at Maere Music

2010

It has begun quite cold here up North; cold an very beautiful with pure, glimmering snow; pink and frosty sunsets and moonlit, white  nights – as you rarely see them anymore. I love a real winter – because it is real, and because  its strength gives a wider dimension to things.  You can not delete it, or push a button to remove it. King Winter is strong, he’ll just come, as the ambassador of nature itself, to shake us up from our sleepiness, and awaken our presence . It makes the errors of humanity seem smaller. I love it.  Come, King Winter, shake the bones of us sleepy Northerners  “not to be disturbed”. I think we need it.

Happy Wonderful New Year, folks!

New interview

The present issue of the greek music magazine Metronome contains Aleksis Vakis’ interview from the music trip to Athens in December last year. It was also a pleasant surprise to see the portrait of Katerina Papadopoulou in the same magazine, as I find her voice and expression fabulous.