by.Larm 2013

Norwegian singer songwriter Monica Heldal is just 21. Even before she started to write her own songs, she was offered a record deal, and whoever it was that gave her the contract was damn right. Heldal’s unique voice, her guitar technique and charisma are all that she needs to break through. Ben Howard apparently thought the same and asked her to support him on tour. If you listen to her first recordings, you can’t help but get very curious about her. Even when she covers “Something Fine” by Jackson Browne, the song fits perfectly with her own songs. Which says it all.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/12443

Broken Twin is the moniker of a young woman with good stories to tell and a magical way of doing so.
Drawing upon the eerie sounds of the Northern hemisphere and musically related to acts such as Feist, Nico and Anthony and the Johnsons her simple setup of bass, piano, guitar, vocals and percussion intertwines in a whirlwind of creaking piano stools, floating vocals and cantankerous guitars. With ease this 24 year old Dane creates sensations that move the listener, taking them through a maze of emotion, nostalgia and even lonesomeness that one cant get out of, while simultaneously unconsciously not wanting to.
”I like to work within my own little bubble whenever I write songs so no one can hear me. It’s a very personal process and the songs have a strong connection to my self; a theme, a feeling, an experience or a state of mind.”
During the recording of her EP ”Hold on to Nothing”, she and her former bandmate had teamed up with various well-known producers, but in the process they found their own sound and decided to produce the four songs fully on their own, at their own pace and with their own hands.
In the final stages of the process Brian Batz from Sleep Party People mixed the EP and added that trademark otherworldly sound he is so well known for.
Broken Twin’s songs encircle loneliness, love and reflect the thoughts of a girl entering adulthood, while fixating on the notion of touching people by bringing something beautiful into the world.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13279

Sin Fang is the main project of Iceland’s king of lo-fi layered lushness, Sindri Már Sigfússon (also the founder of the Icelandic indie pop collective Seabear). Sin Fang’s music oscillates wildly unearthing glimpses of familiarity – vintage Flying Nun here, Paw Tracks there and a Belle and Sebastian pop nous – while retaining the own stark originality of this übertalented artist and producer who was dubbed the “Icelandic Beck” by Rolling Stone magazine.
Sigfússon is a pretty unlikely ambassador of the Icelandic indie pop scene, in his teens he was a skateboard and hip-hop aficionado, his arms are covered with a colourful mess of self designed tattoos and besides doing visual arts his true favourite obsessions are soccer and pizza; what makes him pretty much an antidote to the all too present cliché of the Icelandic nature boy.
In February 2013 Sin Fang releases “Flowers”, his third and most accessible full length album to date (recorded & produced by Alex Somers (producer of Sigur Rós & Jónsi).

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13291

The Sincerely Yours signed Swedish duo JJ are serenity personified; strings, piano percussion and electronics all topped off with Elin Kastlander’s ethereal vocals.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13245

Indians universe is magical, full of fables and (painful) love. The music is dreamy, with roots in the psychedelic folk, and fingers deep in today’s poetic and romantic topsoil.
Indians played their first concert in February 2012, they released two songs (“Magic Kids” and “New”) on 7" vinyl on their own label TWIMM Rec in April ’12.
“Their debut single caught our ears with the kind of pop that is hauntingly sophisticated. “Magic Kids” introduces us with a delicate instrumental establish with woven chimes and toll with a hint of melancholia." – NME

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13238

Kid Exodus (Peter Estdahl) is the man behind the much played track “Brother”. The debut album is released February 4 and is ram jammed with musical references – James Blake, Daft Punk, Friendly Fires, Florence & The Machine – whilst still being very much his own pop sound, with constantly evolving mature songwriting.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/11914

Delay Trees were formed late 2007 in Hämeenlinna, Southern Finland.
Since 2009 Delay Trees have released two EP’s and albums – “Soft Construction EP” (2009), self-titled debut album (2010), “Before I Go Go EP” (2011) and “Doze” (2012).
Since their first release Delay Trees have been enthusiastically received all over the world, with their music reaching audiences in the USA, Germany & Japan.
The band have been tagged as cinematic pop, shoegaze, kraut pop, slowcore, postrock, ambient pop and indie rock. Delay Trees feel dream-pop comes closest to describing their sound.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13263

Mariam Karolina Wallentin Riahi was raised in the suburbs of a small town; she never felt she belonged there but never really needed to either. She has a Swedish mom born far up north, and a dad from Iran, who now lives in Brazil, she worked calling numbers in a smoky Bingo hall, she sometimes doubted everything, she had nodules on the vocal cords and thought that she would never be able to sing again, she travelled the Trans-Siberian Railway alone, lived in Beijing, toured Sweden when she was nine dressed as a mouse, she cleaned staircases in Gothenburg, she grew up with Persian cats, was dubbing cartoons as a kid and got married young. She lived nomadic life and toured around the world with a vocals / drums duo for four years in a row, she thinks thats what’s interesting arises in the spaces between, that the energy is everything, she has at times not known where to go to, but yet always landed somewhere, but what’s most: music, to try to reach right in there. She wanted to begin playing electric guitar, so got herself a cream white Gibson in New York and started this project. She started her own label Repeat Until Death, ‘cause this is what she’ll do until she dies. Every new creative project feels as if starting all over, yet at the same time this is where she is always trying to reach, to reach the core of everything.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13244

Dance-floor friendly folk rock is the name of their game and although the members of Tusmørke have previously been known for their work with acts like Årabrot, This is Music inc., Wobbler and Momrakattakk, that has little to do with their sound. The basic premise is to find a makes-you-wanna-dance feeling that is perhaps sometimes a bit lacking in guitar bands, but without that rock-blues-guitar bullshit that they abhor. They’re inspired by the sounds around them, from walks in the fields and from old records.
Their debut album “Underjordisk Tusmørke” was released on Termo Records in November and a follow up will be released sometime in 2013.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/12916

Forever fascinated by the purest possibilities of sound, since forming in 2001 Efterklang have consistently adjusted their sonic modus operandi to suit very specific inspirations. The results the Danes have produced so far – most notably across three acclaimed albums, 2004’s “Tripper”, 2007’s “Parades” and 2010’s “Magic Chairs” – have each explored different directions, each an end product of remarkably studied songcraft and emotional resonance.
Their latest release (“Piramida”) on the reverred label 4AD is perhaps the bands finest to date. The album features guest appearances from Nils Frahm and Earl Harvin (Tundersticks) and took its start from a 9 day audio expedition to Svalbard in August 2011. Here Efterklang visited the ghost town Pyramiden (Piramida as it was called by the Russians that lived there until 1998) and collected more than a 1000 field recordings which was then used for the song-writing and recordings back home in Berlin.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/12343

Valgeir Sigurðsson is a composer, producer, engineer, musician and founder of Greenhouse Studios and the Bedroom Community record label, based in Reykjavík, Iceland. He has released three solo albums (“Ekvílibríum”, “Dreamland” and “Architecture of Loss”) and has collaborated artists such as Björk, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, CocoRosie, Feist, Damon Albarn, The Kronos Quartet, Nico Muhly, Ben Frost and many many others. Valgeir has composed music for film, stage and dance and his work has been performed by The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, The Chiara String Quartet and others.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13246

The wider public will know him as Alis from Klovner i Kamp. Jazz aficionados will remember him as the bassist from Shining and Jon Eberson Quartet, Now, ten years after his previous release, he is back with a project which putting it very simply, is a bit of a roundup of what he’s been up to musically in the interim. Get ready for sampled beats, massive synths and experimental basslines, but not without some catchy licks of course. There are two reference points that are clear as day here: Kanye West and Miles Davis. Davis’ 1985 release “Tutu” is a record that Hartberg always points to in interviews. A record where Miles Davis has a field day over the contemporary programed backing tracks by producer Marcus Miller. Likewise Kanye, the boundary breaking hip-hop producer was also a key role model for the project. With some wacky programming, dancey beats and nigh on shameless use if taboo effects like autotune and ostentatious 80s sound West is an obvious inspiration. Aslak Hartberg is a composer and author as well as a rapper and a bassist. He’s won Spellemann awards for both his work with Klovner i Kamp and the rock band Yoga Fire. He also won a prestigious Alarm prize with Shinning, TONO’s Edvard award for best film soundtrack for his performance at the Kosmorama Trondheim international film festival in 2008. He’s done soundtracks for films such as ”Kompani Orheim”, ”I et speil i en gåte”, ”Keeper’n til Liverpool” and ”Tatt av kvinnen” as well as the Danish TV series “Pakten”.
The line-up on the record is Sjur Miljeteig (trumpet), Bugge Wesseltoft (keys) and Aslak Hartberg (bass, vocals and other instruments).

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/12877

Sax player and composer Frøy Aagre has exhilarated audiences the world over with her unmistakable sound and unique ability to combine the beautiful and accesible with more complex and off kilter ideas.
Aagre has now taken her first tentative steps in the the world of electronics, embarking on a new project with drummer Jonas Barsten Johnsen and Andreas Ulvo, who is one of Norway’s most in demand keyboard players, who has previously worked with the likes of Mathias Eick, Shining, Thom Hell and Jarle Bernhoft. After nine years performing live as an acoustic quartet, Aagre and Ulvo have expanded and developed their sound taking in a wide range of influences from other genres along picking up ideas from Radiohead, Bon Iver and Steve Reich along the way.
Frøy’s third album “Cycle Of Silence” was released in 2010 by the respected German imprint ACT and was internationally critically acclaimed, leading to sold out tours in Germany, England, India and Australia.
“Aagre’s composing leaves an impression that ripples on long after the disc has stopped spinning.” – The Guardian

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/12881

Having served as the group’s enigmatic, melancholy front woman for over a decade, Victoria Bergsman left The Concretes in 2006 following the release of the group’s sophomore album, “In Colour”. Her departure also came on the heels of the much-hyped release of “Young Folks,” the first single from Peter Bjorn and John’s third album, which featured Bergsman as a guest vocalist. Bergsman didn’t waste any time following her split with The Concretes.
Taken by Trees’ first full-length, “Open Field”, was released on Rough Trade in 2007.
For the next Taken by Trees’ album, Bergsman wanted to try something different so she and recording engineer, Andreas Söderström, traveled to Pakistan to record with local musicians. The resulting album, “East of Eden”, was released in 2009.
Her next record was inspired by a trip to Hawaii and the notion of making music that combined the lazily sweet, Hawaiian-inspired “Diamond Head” by the Beach Boys with Augustus Pablo’s deeply dubby “AP Spezial". Working again with Söderström and for the first time with producer Henning Fürst (of Swedish duo the Tough Alliance), Bergsman recorded most of the album on the Island before shifting to L.A., where Dan Horne and Farmer Dave Scher (of Beachwood Sparks) added some sounds to the mix. The finished work, “Other Worlds”, was released in October of 2012 by her new label Secretly Canadian.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13255

Two year’s after Bodø’s Kråkesølv last release, the band are now primed to drop their third full length effort “Alle gode ting” (All good Things). With their 2009 debut “Trådnøsting” and the Spellemann award winning sophomore album “Bomtur til Jorda” in 2010, this is a band who have already demonstrated that they are a force to be reckoned with.
The record picks up where the previous one left off, and nothing has changed about their vocals sung in their native North norwegian dialect or their jangly guitar based sound but the framework within which they operate has expanded somewhat. Martin Bowitz from Cold Mailman has come in to record, mix and master the album which was recorded in its entirety at Store Studio in Bodø. The band continue to play with subtle metaphors, interspersed with societal critique, but their palette is more diverse than ever.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13264

We are happy to announce the addition of Nordic Music Prize nominated Neneh Cherry on the by:Larm program. Neneh came back last year with the critically acclaimed album “The Cherry Thing” with The Thing.
At by:Larm she’ll be joined by Radiohead favorites RocketNumberNine. They played together for the first time at Giles Peterson’s Worldwide Award in January and by:Larm will be their second show together.

http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/13314