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.
It doesn’t get much smoother than this. Ambient electro with a sort of roaring 20s vibe underneath it. Kwamie Liv operating out of Denmark has an EP lined up for release by the end of summer. Follow You is the first single, does come with a beautifully shot video too.
Outrageous, egregious, preposterous! London singer Nao just unleashed this bad boy of a song like it’s nobody’s business. Featuring A.K. Paul who apparently is Jai Paul’s brother – if he even haaas one. For all we know is, this IS Jai Paul. Nao meanwhile will be playing Electrowerkz July 15th, London obvs. Raise the roof. Hit it!
