Happiness in three minutes and forty seconds is this synth-loaded banger by Copenhagen’s Night Sports. The Danish pop machine is trying to be marketed as the “demonic Rick Astley” but Team Poule feels like this is a bit more sizzling that good ol’ Rick. Also Night Sports aka Caspar used to play in an ensemble that supported The Drums on gigs across the old continent, so maybe this is more like a demonic Jonathan Pierce kind of thing. Attached is Substance, the first of a few singles to follow. Proper.
This guy, My Heart The Brave just released one of the best debuts that crossed our little desks here at Poule d’Or headquarters this year slash ever. And we had been warned. My Heart The Brave, the solo project of Copenhagen-native Caspar, had already shared a brilliant electro pop banger titled Keep Me From It for the 12th Poule d’Or compilation back in January, but this great self-titled six-track-EP is from beyond, from a different place. A 30-minute beauty, produced to perfection. Because on top of being great electronic pop with [tweetable alt=”@myheartthebrave: piano-leads that are miles deep and drum lines that put a smile on your face, via @pouledor”]piano-leads that are miles deep and drum lines that put a smile on your face[/tweetable], it sounds absolutely fantastic.
This is no coincidence of course, Caspar spent most of his time in the studio with other bands, producing, mixing, mastering with The Eclectic Moniker, Hymns from Nineveh and Jetsi Kain just to drop a few names. The hours obviously led to a very fine set of ears and a clear sense of beat. His debut really sounds unlike anything else.
Exhibit A, the track Meditation Two off his debut is attached below. Glad that Caspar had a few moments to sit down, digitally, with Team Poule and tell us a little bit more about My Heart The Brave, long nights in the studio and his gig at Roskilde Rising, tomorrow July 1st.
Where are you right now?
At home, staying up waay too late as usual!
Having mostly produced and mixed for other bands in the past, what made you want to change sides, sort of?
I’ve made music since I was a child, but there were a number of years where I was focused on my education as a classical pianist, and didn’t really take an interest to writing music myself. Both things, I find, really need your full attention. When I wanted to get back into doing my own stuff, I sort of stumbled into producing and mixing for others by chance, and since then, people kept asking. I’ve had a lot of great experiences working with bands and continue to enjoy it. But it sort of feels like a return to something that I’ve always done for as long as I can remember.
Danish über-Festival Roskilde is about to start this weekend. Some people say Roskilde is so big, it’s the only festival you can see from space. And others were heard saying Roskilde is so big, it has different time zones. Now, while the head liners include some minor bookings like The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder, like ever so often it’s the smaller stages where the lovely shit happens. So, Roskilde Rising is where you want to look for the shweet little joys of life. One of them is Blaue Blume for sure. The Copenhagen quartet has been hypeddd for some time, and they should be among the one to watch in Roskilde. Blaue Blume play on Monday June 30, 17h00.
Likewise, hip hop fused Danish delight Kill J will showcase her energetic live set. Attached below is Phoenix, her smash hit single. And you know that she is one of those artists who will absolutely murder things on stage. Should be a great gig. Kill J plays on Wednesday July 2, 18h30.
The most spectacular show for Team Poule though: My Heart The Brave. The super producer from Copenhagen just released one of the best tapes that crossed our little headquarters’ desks this year. Organic electro pop with a drum line that will stay stuck in your head for days. My Heart The Brave will play Tuesday July 1, 18h30.
These two sweet hearts above are Linnéa Atieno and Joakim Buddee from Stockholm. They make music as Heart/Dancer and quite spectacularly so. Waterfalls, attached below, is THE song, the only one that made it to general public yet, and after a mere 3 minutes and 50 seconds leaves you longing for more. Beautifully precise production, minimal and vast at the same time and vocals that are the icing on this indietronic pop tart. Ha! Well, the best news among a whole range of good news is, the single just came out this week via Sweden’s hottest label Sommarhjärta and the two of them are going to spend the summer not-getting-a-tan in the studio, recording, having knäckebröd and coffee:
What’s the last thing you ate?
We just had the standard Heart/Dancer afternoon breakfast with grapefruit, Swedish knäckebröd and lots of coffee in the studio.
How did you two meet?
We met through a collab with a mutual friend. After a weekend of writing Swedish pop music and drinking loads of red wine, we started sending songs to each other. That in turn led to a not too serious song called “Massmurderer From Hell (I Cut Your Brain)” under the name The Kaktus, and after that we met up and wrote the songs that are now Heart/Dancer.
Joakim, your roots lie in hip hop, if I’m not mistaken, east or west coast, or maybe even dirty south? Do you have a favorite hip hop artist?
J: Mainly I grew up with Swedish rap music by artists like LoopTroop and Timbuktu. I never was that interested in what was what when it came to the American rap scene, but I bought “Mos Def & Talib Kweli (Black Star) – Respiration” on vinyl. I think that song is kind of a good representation of the music I listened to back then.
Heart/Dancer on song writing, wikipedia and more
Fellow Hamburg music blog and all around expert on Danish delights Camels & Lions is taking his online business into the very real world, hosting Copenhagen Calling next weekend: a Danish music night featuring some of the finest recent exports from Germany’s northern neighbours: Ice Cream Cathedral, The Migrant and The New Spring. All nicely hosted under the clear sky in the patio of Altona’s city hall, part of the cultural program of this year’s altonale. Be there July 5th, 19:00. Entry is free, but places are limited. All information, here.
Attached is the epic The Swans by Copenhagen (obviously) ensemble Ice Cream Cathedral. Sounds delicious.
Dreamy perfection coming in from the Land of the Rising Sun. Left Right Arms just released his new EP titled Scapes straight from his Tokyo bedroom. Now, Team Poule has never been to Japan but I imagine it to be a rather small bedroom. His music however is quite grand and a lot more tropical than your average idea of Japan. Straight in that MillionYoung Washed Out vibe, with a distant metropolis flair underneath it. Attached is the tropical opener Casement. Great EP, out for free via bandcamp.
